Chocolate Chocolate Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 56

by Susan Gillard

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  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s 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

  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 1

  Heather had found herself in plenty of uncomfortable situations before. While investigating cases, she had been shot at, chased and poisoned. However, as she squeezed and struggled to pull herself into a potential bridesmaid dress, she felt hard-pressed to think of a time she had ever felt more uncomfortable. The dress was tight where it should have been loose and loose where it should have been tight. It also didn’t help that the dress was a bright fluorescent orange that clashed horribly with her red hair.

  Heather waddled because that’s how the dress forced her to move, to the dressing room door. She thought to herself that she better not have to chase any criminals in a dress like this. However, she put a false smile on as she moved into the lobby-like area of the changing rooms. It was all about the future bride Mona today. If there was even a chance that Mona would like this dress, then she had better practice grinning-and-bearing-it. As Heather caught more reflections on herself in the semi-circle mirror display, she thought to herself that it was more likely that her dog Dave would sit up on a piano stool and play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony than Mona would like the look of this dress on her Maid of Honor.

  She accidentally allowed a frown to fall across her face as she checked how the dress looked from behind. She was thinking that it would be impossible to find an uglier dress when she was joined by the co-Maid-of-Honor and her best friend, Amy.

  Amy usually looked nice in anything she wore, but this dress was certainly trying to make her look ridiculous. The teal color was pretty, but it was made entirely of ruffles that were threatening to engulf her.

  “I need more of that champagne,” Amy grumbled.

  Heather laughed, and the two of them did take a glass of the complimentary bubbly. Amy suggested a toast, “To Maids of Honor truly willing to do anything for the bride.”

  Heather let her glass clink against her bestie’s and they both took a sip.

  “Of course, Mona would never actually choose one of these dresses,” Heather said.

  “I don’t know why we even came to this boutique,” Amy said. “It’s not like we’re going to buy anything here.”

  Heather nodded but soon had to retract that nod. Mona Petrov emerged from her dressing stall in a wedding dress that could only be described as magical. With Mona’s dark hair and beautiful eyes, she probably would love lovely wearing a burlap sack, but there was something about this dress that made it special. They could tell right away that this was “the one.”

  “I feel like a princess,” Mona said. She gave a little twirl as she joined them to let the fabric swirl around her. “I’d be able to dance in this too.”

  “I have to admit,” Heather said. “I think we’re going to have trouble finding a dress that’s better than this. It looks perfect.”

  “It feels perfect,” Mona said, practically glowing with happiness.

  “How lucky can you be?” Amy asked. “The first dress you try on is the right one.”

  “I wasn’t so lucky with husbands,” Mona reminded them. “But I know that Col is the right man for me. My true love. And having something go right with wedding plans is such a relief. I was starting to think that our marriage wasn’t meant to be.”

  “You’re both madly in love with each other,” Heather said. “Of course, it’s meant to be.”

  “You do look like a princess,” Amy said, focusing on what she said when she joined them instead of the mushy stuff about true love. “But, right now, we are your lowly peasants.” She touched a ruffle that was as large as her hand. “Or maybe your jesters right now.”

  “They’re not that bad,” Mona said.

  They were about to protest with Heather suggesting that Mona’s joy from her own dress might be clouding her judgment and Amy using stronger language when they were joined by the owner of the boutique. Sheila Lordlittle was an overpowering woman. She had long graying hair pulled back into a pony tail, and wore all black. When they had entered the shop, Amy had joked that she looked more ready for a funeral than a wedding. Sheila Lordlittle had responded that she was an artiste.

  “Mona, my dear, dear Mona,” said Sheila Lordlittle. “This dress was made for you. And as the one who makes all these dresses, I can say that with certainty.”

  “You make all these dresses?” Amy asked, comparing the difference between the wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses.

  “I design them all, yes,” said Sheila Lordlittle. “My assistants do help with the sewing. Abigail! Ollie!”

  The two assistants ran into the room. They were both also all in black and had a look of slight fear.

  “Do we need to call the police again?” Ollie asked. He had perfectly styled hair and looked ready to bring out his cell phone.

  “No, not at all,” his boss told him. “I just wanted to show off that all our work is handcrafted.”

  Abigail showed off her hands to the group.

  “Don’t be smart,” Sheila Lordlittle said. “Now I believe this lovely bride here would like this dress. Would you get the veil to match it?”

  Her assistants agreed and left together. Sheila Lordlittle was about to compliment Mona more to make sure she secured the sale, when Heather asked, “Why did you need to call the police?”

  “Oh, a trifling matter,” Sheila Lordlittle said with a shrug. “A customer was unhappy with a dress. All I can say is that I am not responsible for the bodies that visit this shop. Certain styles will look better on certain brides. They can listen to me or not. All I am responsible for is assuring you that every dress here is one of a kind. No other wedding party will have the exact same look as you.”

  “I should hope not,” said Amy.

  Sheila Lordlittle decided to take that as a compliment. “And now this wedding dress is a definite. But which of these bridesmaid dresses do you want?”

  Heather and Amy exchanged a look as Mona seemed to really consider the options. Finally, she put them out of their misery by asking, “Do you have anything in pink? I’ve been considering having pink roses at my ceremony.”

  Abigail and Ollie returned with the veil, and then Sheila Lordlittle sent them off again to look for more bridesmaid dresses. Heather wanted to let out a sigh of relief was but starting to find the dress too tight to exhale or inhale deeply.

  Sheila Lordlittle put the veil on Mona so that it flowed down her back, and Heather’s tho
ughts about her own uncomfortableness disappeared. She felt only joy for her friend.

  “I feel like a bride,” Mona said. Happy tears started to form in her eyes.

  “I’m glad this is working out for her,” Amy whispered to her friend. “Because I feel like I’d rather be facing a crazed killer than wear this dress any longer.”

  “Be careful what you wish for,” Heather joked back.

  Chapter 2

  “You two really are the best co-Maids-of-Honor that a girl could ask for,” Mona said.

  “And you say that before we provide you with donuts,” Heather said with a smile.

  After a morning full of trying on dresses, they had come to Donut Delights to have a snack and relax. Since Mona had found her dress so early, she had been able to recline on a couch with champagne as her friends put on a fashion show of potential bridesmaid dresses. Sometimes it felt like a comedy show more than a fashion show. In the end, they had not found a dress that Mona liked. Both Heather and Amy were grateful that she hadn’t selected some of the unusual choices.

  “I wonder if that’s done on purpose,” Amy said. “Make the bridesmaids look terrible, so the bride looks better.”

  “It might be because she has every dress is one of a kind,” Heather said. “Maybe she started to run out of ideas after being open for so long.”

  “All I know,” said Amy. “Is that I would rather have my bridesmaids in a dress that another wedding somewhere wore than to have them in a dress with a squirrel tail like that one I tried on.”

  “I’d have to be nuts to pick that one,” Mona joked.

  They groaned and laughed, and Heather decided it was time to bring out the donuts.

  “What flavor is it this week?” Mona asked. Mona was a fan of the new flavors of the week both as a friend and as a business ally. Mona’s fiancé was Col Owen of Owen’s Tea Shop, Heather’s joint venture partner. Thanks to their working together, Heather was able to see Donut Delights’ business expand. Recently their online orders had really been picking up steam; so much so, that a new investor was trying to convince her to open up another location in Florida.

  “This has been a stressful time,” Heather said. She had been finding the decision to move a big and stressful one but wasn’t ready to hear all her friends’ reactions to it yet. Instead, she focused on wedding plans. “Wedding planning can be stressful, so I thought we needed something most women love as a tension reliever. I’d like to introduce the Chocolate Chocolate Donut.”

  “Delicious, delicious,” said Amy.

  “I do like the sound of that,” said Mona.

  “I bet we’ll like the taste even better,” Amy said.

  Heather delivered a plate of the new donuts on their table, and the women appreciated the smell of the freshly baked donuts.

  “This looks more like a Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Donut,” Amy said.

  Heather laughed. “Yes, there are more than two parts of the donut that are chocolate. But I think that name would take too long for customers to say when ordering.”

  “It might hold up the line,” Amy agreed. “Because a lot of people would still order them.”

  “The Chocolate Chocolate Donut name comes from combining dark chocolate and milk chocolate flavors into the donut. It has a dark chocolate inspired cake base, so it is rich and a little more savory. Then it is filled with a milk chocolate inspired center for sweetness. The icing on top is also chocolate. And I could resist adding some mini chocolate chips on top,” said Heather.

  “I can’t resist taking a bite,” Amy said, and then she did. The other ladies joined her and smiled as they enjoyed the chocolate flavors mixing together in their mouths.

  “I wish I had never tried this,” Mona said suddenly.

  Heather was concerned for a moment. Had she miscalculated in her recipe? Was she receiving a complaint?

  “Because,” Mona said. “I’m going to want to keep eating these and I have a wedding dress I’m going to have to fit into.”

  They all laughed.

  Then Mona said to Heather, “I do really want to thank you for everything. I know you can get really busy with your shop, and sleuthing and raising a family.” She turned to Amy and continued, “And with your sleuthing too, and moving into a new house.”

  Amy nodded but didn’t comment. She and her boyfriend had just moved into a new house, but after their landlord’s recent murder they weren’t sure how long they would be able to stay there. They were still waiting to hear what the family that would inherit the house planned to do with it.

  “Thank you for taking the time to help me with my dream wedding,” said Mona.

  “That’s what the job of Maids of Honor is for,” Heather assured her.

  “We take this very seriously,” said Amy.

  “I know,” said Mona, “but I still appreciate it.”

  “We will always make time for you,” Heather said. “You’re our friend, and we want this wedding to be as perfect as you do. Don’t you worry about that.”

  She was about to recommend seconds on donuts before they started deciding on table settings (luckily cake tasting was another day so they could enjoy as many donuts as they wanted) when someone joined them at their table.

  Rudolph Rodney tipped a hat towards them and gave them his greetings.

  “How is this fine day treating you, ladies? With delicious donuts in front of you, I can imagine it is going rather well,” he said.

  They agreed that they had been having a nice day and told him about the new Chocolate Chocolate Donut.

  “That does sound wonderful and probably worth double the compliments,” he said. “I hope you’ve been seriously considering my offer to start a Donut Delights in Key West. Now that I’ve been thinking about it, I don’t think I could stand to return there without knowing I could get these fresh donuts there every week.”

  “You could order them online,” Amy said, making her feelings towards a potential move known. “Like other out-of-towners do.”

  “What’s this about Key West?” asked Mona.

  “I’ve made Heather a splendid offer about opening a second shop in one of my properties in Key West. It’d be a prime location, and I know it would do well. I’m even bribing her with one of my housing properties,” Rudolph Rodney said. “But she seems to be dragging her feet.”

  “So, you’d have to move?” Mona asked.

  “This is all just an idea,” Heather said. “If I became serious about it I’d, of course, have to talk to Col about it. He is my joint venture partner. And I wouldn’t just abandon your wedding.”

  Rudolph Rodney seemed to sense that he had created some tension at the table and decided to depart gracefully. “I think I’ll just go and order my donuts now. I’m picking some up for my nephew Roadkill and myself. I’m visiting him this afternoon. So nice seeing you all.”

  He left, and the women continued their wedding planning with less enthusiasm than before. Heather thought that he couldn’t have come at a worse time if he planned it.

  Chapter 3

  That night Heather set the table, grateful that her husband Ryan had picked up dinner on his way home from work. They both had some annoying information to share and were updating each other on their days.

  Ryan was between cases at the Hillside Police Force, but there was still a mystery to be solved at headquarters.

  “I don’t understand why they’re giving Hoskins credit for a case that we solved,” Ryan frowned.

  Heather rolled her eyes. Ryan’s partner Detective Hoskins had proven to be an inept investigator on many cases. He was much better at finding candy to snack on than finding clues at a crime scene. However, on their last case, he had been the shoulder to cry on for a woman who had just lost her father. It turned out the woman worked for the mayor and was now praising Hoskins’s police work.

  “I guess the victim’s daughter has a lot of sway in town,” Heather shrugged.

  “But did the chief forget all the
times that Hoskins left chocolate fingerprints on evidence folders?” Ryan asked.

  “I might leave chocolate prints places sometimes,” Heather said. “But I’m always cognizant of when it could affect an investigation.”

  “If they’re fingerprints because you’re making those Chocolate Chocolate Donuts, then you are forgiven,” Ryan said. “I know I shouldn’t let this Hoskins thing bother me. As long as a case gets solved and a killer is off the streets, it shouldn’t matter who gets a pat on the back from the town.”

  “I understand why it bothers you. It bothers me too,” said Heather. “And we have to be careful if we tell Amy because it will bother her so much that she might go yell at City Hall.”

  Ryan laughed.

  “I can give you a pat on the back,” Heather said. “A lot of murderers have been stopped because of you, Shepherd.”