Black Bottom Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery Book 6 (Frosted Love Mysteries) Read Free

treated his wife, Mavis, pretty roughly,” she explained
sadly. “He’d tow people in a no-parking zone no matter what the reason. The
other drivers around here make exceptions for certain situations, but not Sid.
He once threatened to tow a car parked in front of the hospital when the owner
was giving birth in the back seat.”
    Echo’s
mouth dropped open in shock. “Wow, that’s crazy!” she exclaimed, shaking her
head in disbelief. “But that still doesn’t mean that he deserved to die, and I
didn’t even know him – why on earth would I poison him?”
    “Exactly
my point,” Missy leaned forward. “No one, that I know of anyway, liked Sid. He
had no friends, and lots of people who had reason to be upset with him. His
prices were the highest in three counties, and he would sell folks’ cars right
out from under them if they couldn’t afford to pay. It’s silly for the police
to point at you as the suspect when there are so many other possibilities.”
    Echo
nodded sadly. “You and I know that, but I’m a newcomer around here. I don’t
have the same accent as everyone else, and my lifestyle is a little
weird…different. It’s easy to suspect the outsider.”
    “Especially
when these ignorant hicks couldn’t find a criminal if he came up and seated
himself in their patrol car,” Safflower sneered from the other room. Echo
glanced in her direction and ignored the comment as Missy frowned and pursed
her lips, refraining from pointing out that at least “ignorant hicks” have
better manners than certain visiting sisters.
    “Well,
now that I know who the victim is, I can help by asking around and trying to
find out who might’ve been angry enough with Sid to kill him,” Missy assured
her rattled friend. “I’m having dinner with Chas tonight, I’ll see if he has
any ideas.”
    “Thank
you so much, Missy. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Echo hugged her
friend gratefully, while Safflower sighed audibly from the other room.
    Finishing
her delicious tea, Missy stood to go. “Well, I don’t want to keep you. Hang in
there, okay? We’ll get this figured out, and tomorrow I’ll stop by with some
vegan cupcakes to raise your spirits,” she promised.
    “Yeah,
that’ll make everything all better,” Safflower drawled sarcastically.
    Missy
looked at her, raising a reproachful eyebrow and noting that the insolent girl
didn’t even have the common decency to appear chagrined. She made her way to
the front door, Echo trailing along behind. When she stepped onto the porch,
she was surprised that her friend followed her.
    “Look,
I’m sorry about the way that my sister is behaving. She didn’t want me to move
to Louisiana in the first place. We have different…priorities,” she explained
awkwardly. She loved her little sister, but was mortified at her appalling
unwillingness to be polite.
    “It
certainly seems that way,” Missy responded, choosing diplomacy over expressing
how she really felt about the rude visitor.
    “Thanks
for understanding,” Echo hugged her again. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Missy
texted Chas when she got into her car, letting him know that she was available
for dinner. She wasn’t looking forward to another encounter with Safflower the
sourpuss tomorrow, but was resolved to be there for her friend until this mess
was resolved. She was relieved to open her own front door to an exuberant
welcome from her golden retriever, Toffee. Sloppy kisses and running her hands
through silky fur really helped melt the stress away at the end of the day, and
taking the sweet and gentle animal to the park for some fresh air did both dog
and owner a tremendous amount of good. Chas texted while they were in the
middle of a game of fetch to let Missy know that he’d pick her up at 7:00 for
dinner. Glancing at her watch, she noted that there was plenty of time to
finish her game with Toffee, walk home at a leisurely pace and get showered and
ready for dinner.

Chapter