I pushed the bakery door open and stepped into the warm shop. Inhaling, my nose was filled with the sweet scent of donuts and cookies. “Sure smells good in here.”
Angela Karis was sitting on a stool behind the counter and she looked up and smiled at us. “Hello, girls,” she said, slipping off the chair and coming to the front counter. “How are you two doing today?”
“We’re good,” Christy said. “We’re just in need of some sugary sustenance.”
She chuckled. “Well then, you’ve come to the right place. What can I get for you?”
I looked into the display case at the rows of donuts. She had more left than I had imagined she would. She did her baking in the morning and many times by the afternoon there wasn’t a lot left to choose from. “I’m so glad you still have a lot of donuts,” I said.
“I baked a few extra this morning. We’ve been running out earlier and earlier it seems, but of course, wouldn’t you know that today wouldn’t be one of those days?”
“It figures,” I said and smiled. “I think I want one of those Boston cream donuts.” I pointed at the two that were left on the tray. “I think Mom would like a blueberry donut.” The blueberry donuts were frosted with vanilla bean frosting and I knew Angela had used fresh blueberries when she made them.
She nodded and got a small box to put them in.
“I think I want a raspberry jelly donut, and a sprinkle donut.” Christy pointed at the sprinkle donuts.
Angela nodded. “You got it,” she said.
I glanced at Christy. “Two donuts?”
Christy wrinkled her nose up at me. “Yes, I’m hungry this afternoon.”
I turned back to the donuts. “Why don’t you add another blueberry donut and another sprinkle donut to the box?” I turned and looked at Christy, giving her the eye.
“Copycat,” she hissed.
I chuckled. “How are things going around here, Angela?” I asked.
She looked up as she was setting the Boston cream donut into the box. “Things are going okay. Vincent and I have been talking about adding other items to our menu. Like maybe some fancy French pastries,” she said. “I just want to make something new.”
I wasn’t a fan of Angela’s, but I was glad to see she was thinking about changing up what they offered here at the bakery. In a small town, sometimes businesses got stuck in a rut and didn’t offer much variety to their customers. This was good news.
“That would be awesome,” I said. “I hope you do it.”
She nodded. “I’ve been itching to make a change.” She put the rest of the donuts into the box. We gave her our coffee orders, and she went to make them for us. When she had finished, she set them on the counter and turned and looked at me. “So, I hear Ethan’s on another murder investigation?”
I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”
She nodded. “I heard that. I heard it was Logan Michaels.”
I smiled. I wasn’t going to give her any information, if that’s what she was looking for. “Yes, it was Logan.”
She shook her head, making a tsk-tsk sound and began ringing up our order. “I hate to hear it. Does he have any idea who killed him?”
“You know how it is,” I said glancing at Christy. “He’s investigating.”
She stopped and turned to me and nodded. “Oh yeah, sure. I’m sure it takes a while to figure out who the killer is when a murder occurs.”
“Yes, unfortunately killers don’t like to volunteer the information.” I said it lightly, but once it was out of my mouth, I realized it might have sounded smart alecky.
She turned and glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. “Well, I don’t want to gossip, but I heard that he and Fred Tillman got into an argument not long ago.”
“Fred Tillman? What would he get into an argument with him about?” I asked.
“I heard Logan took his car in to the garage and Fred overcharged him for the work he did.” She finished ringing up our order, and I paid for it.
“Shouldn’t he have gotten an estimate before the work was done?” Christy asked.
Angela slid the box of donuts across the counter. “Yes, and apparently he did, but then when Fred got to work on the car, he said he found something else that needed to be fixed. And when Logan went to pick the car up, and he got the new bill, he blew his top.”
“Who told you that?” I asked. Angela liked to gossip, so I wasn’t putting a lot of credence into what she was saying.
“Janice Lee,” she said. “She came in here a few days ago and told me that she was there having her car worked on and she heard the entire argument. According to her, Logan was hot about it.” She nodded.
I knew Janice Lee, and she was as big a gossip as Angela was. It wouldn’t surprise me if what was really a simple discussion in her mind turned into an argument. I nodded. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t be too happy about it if I had some work done on my car and was given an estimate for one amount and ended up being charged another.”
“He should have called Logan and told him that more work was needed before doing the work,” Christy added.
She nodded. “Right? That’s exactly what I told Janice. But I guess Fred just thought the car had to have that work done, so he did it for him without asking.”
“I don’t think I would’ve paid for it, then,” I said.
“Yes, but then what if he wouldn’t give you your car?
