Susan Gillard - Strawberry Sprinkled Swirl Murder

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Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright 2017 by Guardian Publishing Group - All rights reserved.

All rights Reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Table of Contents

They look so lovely, Eva said. Theyre pretty in pink.

Its nice to see a snack so pink and cheery, Leila seconded. Of course, well probably eat them so quickly that we wont be able to appreciate the color for long.

The two older ladies giggled. Heather smiled at her two favorite customers over the donut counter. She had been seeing more of her two friends since they started staying at her house while their home was being repaired, but she still loved seeing them at Donut Delights. They loved all of her specialty creations and werent shy about telling her.

They smell as nice as they look, Eva said after they recovered from their bout of giggles. Are they strawberry?

Heather nodded. This is the Strawberry Sprinkled Swirl Donut.

I can see where it gets its name, Leila said. She twirled her finger in a circle, trying to match the swirl design of the donut.

It has a sweet strawberry cake base. The swirl design on top is a white chocolate icing. Well, with our coloring, its white chocolate and pink chocolate.

I love the way those two colors swirl and twirl about on top, Eva said.

Especially with the sprinkles, Leila agreed.

Heather finished up with her donut description by explaining how the fuchsia sugar sprinkles added more shades of the pink color in an eye-catching and tasty way.

I cant wait to try the Strawberry Sprinkled Swirl Donut! Eva said, trying out the name first.

That could be quite a tongue twister, Leila said, before licking her lips in anticipation.

It will be if we try to order seconds with our mouths full, said Eva, about to giggle again.

Heather prepared plates for the excited ladies and brought the pink donuts to their usual table. They each took a bite, and their faces lit up. They gave their compliments quickly so they could continue munching on their treats. After they both finished a donut and licked their fingers, they were all content and ready to talk again.

They chatted about their plans for finding the right person to rebuild Evas house. They had encountered a very enthusiastic renovator (while investigating her sisters murder of all things) who was chomping at the bit to do the remodel and had given them a good bid on the project, but they were still evaluating their options. Eva and Leila wanted to choose the right person but also wanted to start soon.

They told Heather that they wanted to get out of her hair and stop taking up her living room. Heather assured them that she loved having them as houseguests, and she appreciated them being in her hair or rather in her daughters hair. The two women had given Lilly a beautiful French braid the day before and styled some ribbons into it this morning.

Then their talk returned to donuts. Since the Strawberry Sprinkled Swirl Donut had several Ss in its name, they were coming up with more S adjectives to describe the sweet.

Scrumptious.

Savory.

Salivating-y. Leila said with a smile, Well, its got my mouth watering.

These donuts are so delicious, Eva said. Im surprised customers arent breaking down the door to get them.

Immediately after she said that a new customer rushed inside, pushing the door roughly in her haste. Heather chuckled at the timing. Her assistant Angelica had taken over working the front counter, but Heather decided to greet this new customer herself. She looked frazzled and might need extra help. It was unlikely that she was going to break down the door to get her donuts, but she did look like she was close to a breaking point.

Welcome to Donut Delights, Heather said. Can I help you?

Oh, I hope so, the woman said. She ran a hand across her hair, making sure her formerly tight bun hadnt become too messy in her rush. Then she held out her hand to shake Heathers. Im Caroline Humly. The new owner of the Hillside Humly Hotel.

Im Heather Shepherd, owner of Donut Delights, she replied. She refrained from adding private investigator to her introduction. While that was true and she had certainly helped solve her fair share of murders, it didnt seem relevant to this customer who was eyeing the donut counter hopefully.

Have you ever heard of the Hillside Humly Hotel? Caroline asked.

Heather tried to think of the polite way to say never in a million years. Caroline must have recognized the look on her face.

Thats all right. The name is new. Its the old hotel that was off of Blackbird Court.

Heather went through the Hillside geography in her mind and nodded slowly. She vaguely remembered an old hotel, though if it was open, it never seemed very busy. It used to have a more avian name too.

Was it formerly the Blackbird Hotel?

Yes, it was. Actually, it went through several names and several owners through the years. Its never been a bustling hotel, but Im trying to change that. I have a bunch of ideas to get the Humly Hotel humming. My first one is to have monthly Business Breakfasts.

What do you mean by that exactly?

Im trying to attract some customers from the larger cities. Im going to have these Business Breakfasts that all our guests can attend. There will be complimentary breakfasts on regular days too. But on these days, there will be a guest speaker that gives a talk and gives business tips. It will be great for networking. People already seem excited about it. I think this business idea will be great for my business.

It sounds like a great idea, Heather said. She was still waiting to see how this related to her. So whats the problem I can help with?

Originally our first speaker was going to be George Mapleton. He runs a successful pancake house. He had to back out. Now Norton Worthers is going to be our speaker. He might be more impressive, so it works out in that regard.

Heather nodded. Norton Worthers was a name that appeared in the papers every so often with his successful business deals. She could see why guests would want to see what he said about business. He was a millionaire, after all.

Where doesnt it work out?

George Mapleton was also going to help out with the breakfast part of things. I just realized that now we wont have the pancakes for people to eat. So I had to hurry and figure out something else that everyone would like. This is our first meeting, so it has to be impressive. Ive heard such good things about Donut Delights. I thought maybe I could order our breakfast here.

Wed be happy to take that order. And I think this will work out great. Donuts are my favorite breakfast. Actually, theyre my favorite anytime food.

Its so wonderful that you get to work doing what you love then. I hope Im doing the same. I always wanted to own a hotel. I hope I can make this work. This is my big chance.

Youve got good ideas already. Im sure you can make it work. So, what sort of order would you like to place?

Could you have two hundred donuts by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning?

Ive never checked into a hotel so early, Amy said.

Were not really checking in. Were just checking up, Heather said to her bestie. Making sure that the donuts are displayed properly and look ready to be eaten.