A Taste of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Alaine Allister Page B

a loan,” he shrugged.  “Whatever.”
    Clarissa reached for the twenty dollar bill and then hesitated.  She looked up at Parker, locking eyes with him.  In the midst of all her indignation, she had really forgotten her manners.  In fact, she had behaved horribly.  Maybe Parker deserved it, maybe he didn’t.  Either way, there was no excuse for how rude she had been.
    “I haven’t been very nice to you,” she told him sheepishly.
    “No, you haven’t,” he agreed.  “But,” he added, “I suppose I didn’t make the best first impression either.  You made it very clear you wanted to work alone and I kept pressing you to team up with me anyway.  Sorry about that.  I’m so fixated on rebuilding the Chronicle’s reputation that I can get a bit overzealous sometimes.”
    “Huh,” Clarissa said in surprise.  “That was rather insightful.”
    He gave her a half-smile.  “Don’t get used to it.  That was probably a one-off,” he quipped.
    “Good to know.”
    “Are you alright getting home?” he asked.  “Is your tank right on empty?  Do you want me to follow you to a gas station to make sure you make it there okay?”
    “I’ll be fine,” Clarissa assured him.  “Thanks for the loan.  I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
    “Uh huh, I’ll be lurking in the shadows behind you,” Parker nodded.  Then he grimaced.  “That sounded way wittier in my head.  Note to self:  stalker jokes always fall flat.” 
    “Well not always ,” Clarissa corrected him, making a point of trying to be nicer.  “Those of us with twisted senses of humor enjoy the occasional stalker joke.”
    “You have a twisted sense of humor?” Parker asked with a grin.  “I’ll keep that in mind.  Hey, are you sure you don’t want to grab that cup of coffee?” he asked again.  “I don’t know about you but I’m getting bogged down in all the details of this investigation.  It might be helpful to talk things out.”
    “I’m not really a ‘talk things out’ kind of person,” she told him.  “Sorry!”
    “It was worth a try,” he smiled.  “Drive safe.”
    “See you around!”
    ***
    “Okay Cat, we need to talk this out,” Clarissa announced a while later as she marched into the living room.  She kicked off her shoes, flopped down on the couch and waited for her new, not-so-welcome little companion to acknowledge her.
    The cat opened one eye and gave her a long, disdainful look.  Then it rolled over on its head and went back to sleep on the chair it had claimed as its own.  Clarissa couldn’t imagine that sleeping on one’s head was the least bit comfortable.  But then again, no sense no feeling.
    “A lot of help you are,” Clarissa grumbled. 
    This time the cat didn’t even bother to acknowledge her.
    “Fine, you hold down the chair and I’ll talk it out.” 
    She picked up the notebook she had retrieved and prepared to jot down notes as she spoke.
    “Suspect #1 is Bonnie Black, Clarissa said to no one, since the cat was completely ignoring her.
    Clarissa glanced out the window toward the thickly treed forest, but she wasn’t focused on the view.  Her mind was a million miles away.  Tapping the pen against her chin thoughtfully, she contemplated all that she knew about Jed Black’s widow.
    Bonnie was the obvious choice.  She would have had access to the murder weapon.  And if one believed the small town gossip, it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that Bonnie must have wanted her husband dead.  She was, after all, trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who was cheating on her. 
    But maybe ‘trapped’ wasn’t the right word at all.  Bonnie and Jed apparently had an arrangement.  Bonnie helped him portray a certain image and in return, she got to live in his mansion and spend his money. 
    The arrangement was mutually beneficial, so what motive would Bonnie have to kill Jed?
    Of course, Bonnie could be lying about the arrangement.  She had every reason in the