Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes (Culinary Competition Mysteries Book 3) by Janel Gradowski
Authors: Janel Gradowski
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make me feel better." Sophie picked at a dab of dried frosting on the front of her apron. "Because Luke is still gone. My boyfriend has lost his best friend. A good man is dead, whether murder was this psycho's plan all along or not."
The earlier conversation on the kitchen floor replayed in Amy's head. Even the tiniest clue could help Shepler. "You keep referring to the extortionist as a he. Do you know for sure it's a man?"
"There was no way to tell from the emails. The person literally pushed me down in the parking lot. I never got a look at the attacker, but it seemed like the person was quite a bit taller than I am so I assumed it was a man." Sophie shrugged as she shuffled past Amy in the narrow passageway to the door.
Shepler held up his hand to beckon Sophie to stop. "Wait. Do you have a security system here? Did any alarms go off this morning? Did you check video surveillance?"
Sophie placed her hand on the doorknob and rested her forehead on the metal door. She didn't say anything, so Amy answered the question. "There are security cameras inside the café and pointing at the parking lot, just like at Finley & Crowe. According to the timestamps on the footage, the cameras stopped recording at 3:30 a.m. then magically started working again at 6:00 a.m."
"So somebody shut it down remotely or reprogrammed the settings."
Amy held up a finger. "Or erased the files after they broke in, then scheduled when the taping would resume. It's a digital system, so there's no physical videotape being recorded."
Shepler raised his eyebrows at her. "You could very well be correct about the video being erased. Thank you."
CHAPTER TEN
Carla took another moment to inhale the intoxicating bacon aroma before pushing open the door of Past To Present Vintage Clothing. It was midmorning, and at the other end of the strip mall, The Breakfast Spot was churning out cheesy omelets, biscuits with sausage gravy, and bacon breakfast sandwiches for hungry customers. Apparently lots of bacon, considering the cloud of mouth-watering, smoky scent enveloping the entire mall.
The door to the clothing store thumped shut behind Carla. The atmosphere inside the little shop was mercifully more flower-scented fabric softener than hearty breakfast. Drooling down the front of her gorgeous bridal gown wouldn't be good for the delicate fabric.
"Hello! You must be Carla," a woman wearing a wildly patterned wrap dress said as she emerged from a hallway at the back of the store. The huge, colorful tropical flowers on the silky fabric swayed and shimmered as she wove between low clothing racks. "Congratulations on your upcoming wedding."
"Thank you. I'm thrilled with the dress, but so sorry to rush the alterations like this."
"I'm so glad you found something you like. Don't worry about the alterations. They won't be a problem." She took the garment bag containing the wedding dress from Carla. "My name is Michelle. Why don't we get you into this and see what changes you'd like to make?"
Five minutes later Carla was staring at herself in a full-length mirror fastened to the wall of a dressing room. She looked as though she had stepped out of the pages of a 1950's fashion magazine. Retro sexy. That was the description Amy had come up with after Carla chose the dress. Actually, it had been more like one of those sappy, woo-woo things where the gown seemed to magically choose her for its next owner. When she walked away from the bridal salon, disappointed that none of the new dresses matched the vision in her head, she had no idea that a previously owned dress would be the remedy to her nightmare. Carla had certainly never thought of checking out vintage stores, since she never shopped at them herself.
There was a soft knock on the door. "Ready?"
"Come in."
Michelle slipped into the small room. A fabric tomato pincushion was tied onto her wrist with green ribbon. She wore a yellow tape measure around her neck like a lariat necklace. Michelle tilted her
The earlier conversation on the kitchen floor replayed in Amy's head. Even the tiniest clue could help Shepler. "You keep referring to the extortionist as a he. Do you know for sure it's a man?"
"There was no way to tell from the emails. The person literally pushed me down in the parking lot. I never got a look at the attacker, but it seemed like the person was quite a bit taller than I am so I assumed it was a man." Sophie shrugged as she shuffled past Amy in the narrow passageway to the door.
Shepler held up his hand to beckon Sophie to stop. "Wait. Do you have a security system here? Did any alarms go off this morning? Did you check video surveillance?"
Sophie placed her hand on the doorknob and rested her forehead on the metal door. She didn't say anything, so Amy answered the question. "There are security cameras inside the café and pointing at the parking lot, just like at Finley & Crowe. According to the timestamps on the footage, the cameras stopped recording at 3:30 a.m. then magically started working again at 6:00 a.m."
"So somebody shut it down remotely or reprogrammed the settings."
Amy held up a finger. "Or erased the files after they broke in, then scheduled when the taping would resume. It's a digital system, so there's no physical videotape being recorded."
Shepler raised his eyebrows at her. "You could very well be correct about the video being erased. Thank you."
CHAPTER TEN
Carla took another moment to inhale the intoxicating bacon aroma before pushing open the door of Past To Present Vintage Clothing. It was midmorning, and at the other end of the strip mall, The Breakfast Spot was churning out cheesy omelets, biscuits with sausage gravy, and bacon breakfast sandwiches for hungry customers. Apparently lots of bacon, considering the cloud of mouth-watering, smoky scent enveloping the entire mall.
The door to the clothing store thumped shut behind Carla. The atmosphere inside the little shop was mercifully more flower-scented fabric softener than hearty breakfast. Drooling down the front of her gorgeous bridal gown wouldn't be good for the delicate fabric.
"Hello! You must be Carla," a woman wearing a wildly patterned wrap dress said as she emerged from a hallway at the back of the store. The huge, colorful tropical flowers on the silky fabric swayed and shimmered as she wove between low clothing racks. "Congratulations on your upcoming wedding."
"Thank you. I'm thrilled with the dress, but so sorry to rush the alterations like this."
"I'm so glad you found something you like. Don't worry about the alterations. They won't be a problem." She took the garment bag containing the wedding dress from Carla. "My name is Michelle. Why don't we get you into this and see what changes you'd like to make?"
Five minutes later Carla was staring at herself in a full-length mirror fastened to the wall of a dressing room. She looked as though she had stepped out of the pages of a 1950's fashion magazine. Retro sexy. That was the description Amy had come up with after Carla chose the dress. Actually, it had been more like one of those sappy, woo-woo things where the gown seemed to magically choose her for its next owner. When she walked away from the bridal salon, disappointed that none of the new dresses matched the vision in her head, she had no idea that a previously owned dress would be the remedy to her nightmare. Carla had certainly never thought of checking out vintage stores, since she never shopped at them herself.
There was a soft knock on the door. "Ready?"
"Come in."
Michelle slipped into the small room. A fabric tomato pincushion was tied onto her wrist with green ribbon. She wore a yellow tape measure around her neck like a lariat necklace. Michelle tilted her
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