Dead As A Donut Read online

  Dead As A Donut

  Olivia Faulkner Mysteries – Book 2

  by

  Kathryn Lin

  Books in the Olivia Faulkner Mysteries series:

  A Pie To Vie For (Book 0.5)

  Maple Syrup And Murder (Book 1)

  Dead As A Donut (Book 2)

  Raspberry Tart Revenge (Book 3)

  Tea Time Treachery (Book 4)

  more titles to be announced soon!

  Join my mailing list to get new release alerts and a deleted scene from the series. It’s free!

  http://eepurl.com/cYBNgn

  Text copyright 2017 Kathryn Lin

  All Rights Reserved

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Books by Kathryn Lin

  Chapter 1

  The last thing I expected when I opened the Faulkner Café this morning was to find a dead body.

  The morning started out normally enough. The café was buzzing with the noise of our regular townie customers—people who lived in Grand Arbor Township—and students and scholars from the university located in the center of town.

  Grand Arbor was a township of around 600 people and nothing exciting really happened here. Still, everybody knew everybody else’s business at all times. Even when my parents were in charge, the café had always been the place to people watch and to catch up on the latest gossip, but now even more so.

  You see, a professor at the university was murdered with a poisoned pastry from my café several months ago. Initially, the police suspected that someone working in the café added rat poison to the baked goods. Business picked up once the café was cleared of any involvement and it hadn’t slowed down since. Now it seemed that customers came in for the delicious pastries as much as for the chance to witness something exciting.

  Like I said, not a lot happens in Grand Arbor.

  All of the tables in the dining room were filled, but the table of three old ladies next to the window at the front of the shop stood out. They each had a bit of aida cloth in a wooden hoop on their laps which they worked on in between sips of coffee and bites of chocolate croissants.

  Even though they looked innocent enough working on their cross stitch projects, they were not to be underestimated. Maude Porter, Trixie Roterman, and Helen Hardgrave were the source of all gossip in Grand Arbor. They controlled the flow of information through the township grapevine and wielded their power and influence like the geriatric mafia.

  “Any more coffee, ladies?” I lifted the pot of coffee in my hands and motioned toward the empty carafe on their table.

  Maude Porter looked up at me from behind her tortoise shell colored horn-rimmed glasses. She looked like she stepped straight out of the seventies in her mustard yellow sweater vest. “Oh, yes, please. Thank you, dear.”

  “You look a bit tired, dear. Do you need some help?” Trixie blinked her owlish eyes at me.

  “That’s very kind of you, Miss Roterman, but I’ll be alright. It’ll take some time before I get back into the swing of things.” In my mind I could see the three of them grilling my customers for the latest gossip while they brought out plates of sweets.

  “You never should have left Grand Arbor for Chicago, Livy. You know, my son used to have the biggest crush on you. We could have been family!” Helen stared at me with her piercing gaze.

  I let out an awkward laugh and tried to think of a way to get away without coming across as abrupt.

  “Some service today would be nice.” The loud gruff voice pierced the pleasant murmur of noise in the dining room. Saved by the bell. I mumbled an apology to the ladies and turned in the direction of the voice.

  A tall middle aged man in a running outfit tapped his hand fingers impatiently on the front counter. I wanted to tell him to wait his turn. He wasn’t the only customer in the café.

  Instead, I pasted a wide smile on my face and asked sweetly, “What can I get for you today, sir?”

  He sighed and shook his head at me as if he was disappointed in my ability to do my job. Be nice to the customers, Olivia, I repeated in my head. I wasn’t a confrontational person, but I hated rudeness and this jerk was trying my last nerve. Unfortunately, this brute was also a regular customer who stopped in every morning since I took over the café from my deceased parents. I couldn’t go around telling off loyal customers even if they were jerks.

  “Yeah, four of each of your raspberry jam, chocolate glazed, and powdered donuts.” He almost jabbed me in the face with his stubby finger as he pointed to the donuts on display behind me. “And hurry up. I don’t have all day.”

  “Certainly. Just one moment,” I replied.

  I fumed silently as I folded his bakery box and packed his order. In my mind, I pictured myself shoving a whole donut into his mouth.

  “What the—”

  The man jerked suddenly and shook his leg as if he was trying to dislodge something.

  I heard an excited yelp below the counter and leaned over to see that it was Mochi, Carly’s new Labrador puppy, who was now yapping happily and clambering onto the man’s leg. The man pulled back his leg and made a motion to kick at Mochi.

  “Mochi!” Carly ran out from the kitchen and grabbed her energetic puppy just in time.

  “What kind of coffee shop is this? He better not have rabies, I’ll sue you out of business if I catch anything from that mutt!” His face turned an alarming shade of red and drops of spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed at me.

  “I—I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,” I shot a sideways glance at Carly and motioned that she should take Mochi to the back office before the customer did something violent. She picked up the excited puppy in her arms and gave the rude man a dirty look.

  “Hmmph,” he huffed like a bull.

  Seeing that I wasn’t going to win him over with kindness, I settled for getting rid of him as soon as possible. “That will be ten even.”

  He slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter and left with his box of donuts without so much as a thank you.

  “What an ass,” Austin said. The harsh words were unusual for the gentle giant. Austin Parma was a townie like myself who was now in charge of running his father’s hardware store. His balding head reflected gleamed under the overhead lights and he had a round face with kind features. Austin was two grades ahead of me in high school, so we didn’t really know each other too well, but we both shared a certain camaraderie and respect as we were both owners of a family business on Main Street.

  I shrugged helplessly. “All a part of running a business. What can you do?”

  Austin tapped his travel mug on the counter. “Can I get a refill, please?”

  “Of course, Austin.”

  “How’s business?” I asked him while I poured coffee into his mug.

  “It’s been better.” He sighed and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.

  “No thanks to that piece of work.” Austin jerked his head in the direction of the front door where the rude customer just left.

  “I’m ju
st another number on a spreadsheet to him, but he’s going to ruin my business.”

  I shot him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

  “You know the new mall on Packard Boulevard?”

  I shook my head. As a bored teenager growing up in Grand Arbor, I always wished for a shopping mall in town, but our township was too small to support a large project like that. Until now.

  Austin sipped at his coffee and leaned on the counter. “That was Edward Banks, founder of Banks Development, the company that owns the mall. You should see it. The place is a soulless collection of big box stores. I can’t compete when they’re selling double the amount of Chinese knockoffs at half the price I’m charging for just one item.”

  “You don’t have to worry, Austin. Everybody will still go to Parma Hardware. You know how to fix everything. That’s the kind of service you can’t get at chain stores.”

  He nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Be careful, Olivia. The sharks are moving in and tiny fish like us are going to get swallowed whole.”

  Shaking his head sadly, Austin picked up his mug and walked out of the café.

  I turned his words over and over again in my head. The Parmas had lived in Grand Arbor for generations, just like the Faulkners. Parma Hardware was as much a part of our town’s history as the Faulkner Café was. Grand Arbor without the friendly family owned shops on Main Street wouldn’t be the same. Austin was probably just stressed and overwhelmed. There was no way that the people who lived here would abandon our shops in favor of saving a couple bucks.

  “Hey, Ms. O!”

  “Hey, guys. Everything’s all set. Just keep an eye on the shop and unload the dishwasher when the cycle finishes. Carly and I will be back in an hour.”

  Stacy and Steve Stafford were a brother and sister team that worked in the café after classes finished at Grand Arbor High. They came in early today since they had a half-day at school, which meant that Carly and I could take a late brunch break away from the café and have a picnic in the park.

  I went back into the kitchen and saw Carly preparing the ham and Swiss cheese and avocado sandwiches for our picnic. She shook her head as a lock of chestnut hair fell in her eye from her chin length bob. Carly Vitello was my best friend ever since we were both in diapers. While I moved away to Chicago after college, Carly stayed in Grand Arbor and worked in the Faulkner Café with my parents.

  Even though it was only the first week of September, the air was already cool and crisp with a bit of morning frost. The long sleeves of her fuzzy purple sweater were rolled up to her elbows and she wore a long white apron to protect her clothes while she worked in the kitchen. I made a note to finish unpacking my winter clothes which were still in moving boxes.

  The back office was next to the kitchen and I peeked through the open door to see that Mochi was secure in his crate.

  “The twins are here. I bet Mochi would love a run in the park to burn off all that excess energy.” I helped Carly cut the sandwiches into halves and wrapped them in parchment paper.

  “I’m so sorry about Mochi! Did you have to comp the customer? I don’t know how Mochi got out of his crate. Had I known he would be this much trouble…” She trailed off and chewed her bottom lip.

  My friend tended to be a worry-wart and I rushed to calm her anxieties. “It was fine. He paid and then left. You can bring Mochi in with you until he’s older and trained. I wouldn’t expect you to leave your new puppy at home by himself locked in his crate all day.”

  Carly let Mochi out of his crate and attached his leash while I carried our food. “Okay, but maybe I’ll keep him on a leash tomorrow.”

  “Relax, I think everyone else in the café got a laugh out of his antics.”

  “G’morning, Olivia, Carly,” Mike our mailman greeted us as he slipped a couple envelopes into the mailbox next to the café’s front door.

  “Morning, Mike! Busy day?”

  Mailman Mike as we knew him had worked the Main Street route ever since I was a kid. I remembered waiting excitedly for the mail as a kid and Mike would hand the envelopes over to me to give to my parents. As a four year old, it felt like the most important job in the world. Mike was almost sixty now and still preferred to work his route instead of retiring.

  Mike patted his heavy mailbag. “Lots of Halloween and Christmas adverts starting this week.”

  “Don’t work too hard, Mike. Stop by sometime for a cup of coffee and donuts. It’s on the house.”

  “Will do, Olivia.”

  Mochi tugged excitedly on his leash and pulled Carly after him. “Nice talking to you, Mike!” she called out as they ran across the street.

  I made my goodbyes and jogged after Carly and her pup.

  Chapter 2

  I leaned back on my elbows and basked under the afternoon sun. My belly was full and my entire body was relaxed and loose. The weather was the perfect combination of cool with a slight breeze and a bit of warmth from the sun.

  Carly and I had just finished our picnic lunch at the park next to the university quad and while I dozed on the grass, Carly was playing fetch with Mochi. Rather, she was attempting to teach Mochi how to play fetch. Judging by the confused, but happy expression on his face, the pup didn’t seem to quite get the concept yet. I watched with amusement as Carly ran back and forth throwing a tennis ball and fetching it herself, mimicking what she wanted Mochi to do.

  “I give up!” Carly huffed in between gasps as she caught her breath.

  She dropped down next to me and I handed her a bottle of water.

  “He’s still young. I know he’ll graduate at the top of his class when puppy training classes finish.” Mochi he ran back to our picnic spot and let out a couple of excited yelps in agreement. He flicked his tail back and forth and looked up at me expectantly so I obliged and rubbed his head.

  “Speaking of…I met someone at last night’s class.”

  “Is this a male someone?” I was definitely intrigued. Carly was traditional when it came to relationships and if she felt this someone was worth mentioning to me, then he must have made quite an impression on her.

  She nodded and grinned. “His name’s Kevin and he has a wicked sense of humor. He has a cute Shiba Inu puppy, Molly, and he works as a camera man for Channel 4 News.” Carly’s cheeks took on a rosy color as she talked about Kevin.

  “You really like him, don’t you?”

  She nodded again. “We’re going out for dinner after class this Thursday. Nothing too fancy—just coffee. There’s something different about him, Liv, I can just feel it.”

  “I’m really happy for you, Carly, you deserve it.”

  “What about you and Ben?”

  I picked at some imaginary lint on my jeans. “What about Ben?”

  Ben Kemper was our mutual other best friend. He was also my high school sweetheart. We drifted apart after we both moved away from Grand Arbor. To my surprise, I found out that I wasn’t the only one who had abandoned life in a busy city in favor of a quiet life in little Grand Arbor. Ben had ditched his high profile career in New York and moved back here a couple years ago and opened up a small workshop making bespoke handcrafted sailboats.

  Carly gave an exasperated sigh and even though I wasn’t looking at her, I knew she was rolling her eyes at me. “You two have been cozy these past couple of weeks.”

  “We’re just friends, Carly. He hasn’t indicated that he wants more than that.”

  “Argh, you two are hopeless. You know that right?” She shoved my shoulder playfully. “It’s the twenty-first century, Liv. The guy doesn’t have to make the first move. You should ask him out.”

  “Maybe—”

  Mochi gave a rapid series of barks and ran away from us towards the bushes and trees at the edge of the park.

  “Mochi, no!” We both sprang up and ran after the mischievous puppy. He had a good head start on us though and disappeared into the thick overgrown plants.

  “Mochi, come here boy.” I peered behind a large shrub
that smelled like lavender, but he wasn’t there.

  “Let’s split up,” I said to Carly, “I’ll take the left side and you search from the right. We’ll meet in the middle.”

  “Mochi, where are you?” I cooed in a sing-song voice. Thorny plants scratched my arms and low lying branches whacked my head. My efforts were rewarded when I saw a brown tail waving back and forth over the top of a dried out bush like a flag.

  “There you are,” I whispered as I knelt down to grab Mochi by the collar. “I found him, Carly. We’re over here!”

  “You scared us, Mochi!” Carly reattached Mochi’s leash and tugged. “We should get back to the café.”

  Instead of following us, Mochi pulled on his leash in the opposite direction and barked at the bushes.

  “What’s gotten into you, boy? Come on!” Carly tried again to pull him away.

  He only pulled harder on his leash and barked again before letting out a pitiful whine at the oblivious humans who didn’t understand him.

  “Maybe he smells something in there,” I suggested. As I was barely over five feet tall, I couldn’t see very well into the bushes and since I didn’t want to crawl into the thorny growth, I stood on my tip toes to get a better look. “I think I see something.”

  “What is it?”

  The area was heavily shaded with trees so I wasn’t sure if my eyes were playing a trick on me, but it looked like a man’s tennis shoe. What stood out to me was that it was still attached to a leg.

  Despite the weakness in my legs and the shiver creeping up my spine, my sense of curiosity won out. I needed to get closer to see who it was. Ignoring the painful pokes of thorny branches, I crept closer to the body.

  It was the surly customer from this morning. I didn’t need to ask if he was okay or to check if he was breathing. An ice pick protruded from chest and a puddle of blood pooled on the ground around him. He was dead.

  Scattered on the ground next to him was the box of donuts he purchased from the Faulkner Café. I couldn’t tell if the red on the box was blood or raspberry jam.

  I stepped away from the body and hoped that I wouldn’t trip over my weak legs.