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“WOW, IT’S AMAZING WHAT people would do for money. Sheesh! So he just made up Luke Roberts when you mentioned the names L. Roberts and Luke to quickly cover his tracks,” Katie said as she sipped her coffee at the Café the next morning. The café was about to open and they took a break from early morning preps.
“Yep. He got fearful that his scheme was going to be exposed. His eyes opened wide when I’d asked him about L. Robert’s pen. You see he’d just finished telling me that he’d found Mrs. B’s niece Brenda. No way did he want me to realize that she was really Lucinderalla Roberts. According to her old Facebook page, she hated her name so much that she only abbreviated it whenever she could. That’s why it was L. Roberts on her credit cards and her personalized belongings like her pen.”
“So L. Robert’s pen and credit card were really her own ID. Not the belongings of some imaginary crazy boyfriend.”
“Yep.”
“And Peter was really the crazy ex who wanted his cut of the inheritance money as a finder’s fee for coming up with the phony heiress.”
“Yep, again.”
“Wow! It is a shame, isn’t it? Going through all that trouble for money.”
“Money bewitches people, Katie. It make people do some crazy things.”
“So he wanted to get the commission from Mrs. Barinotta to locate an heir. Found out the heir was dead so hired his actress girlfriend to dye her hair and play the part since Mrs. B already filled him in on all the details and never knew her niece. Not since birth and we all know nobody looks like their baby picture.”
“I thought it was odd that she was planning her twenty-eighth big birthday bash as a milestone. That was a giveaway. The real Brenda was twenty-eight, but Lucinderalla was turning thirty. Another clue. Most people wouldn’t consider twenty-eight to be a milestone.”
“Because she was really thirty not twenty-eight. Good thing you looked up this L. Roberts character.”
“Good thing I noticed that Brenda’s date of birth, according to a copy of the will, was in December and not in May as L. Roberts date of birth is.”
“Nice observation, cuz.”
“No wonder he lost his license to practice law.”
“He’d been disbarred?”
“Yep. That’s what I found out. For misconduct.”
“Go figure. Good thing you looked everyone up.”
“Well, you know me. I’m a stickler for details. I try not to leave any stone unturned.”
“Speaking of unturned stones. What’s up with you and Detective Troy?”
“Dana flushed. “Um...nothing.”
Katie arched her brow. “You sure, cuz?”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
Dana still wasn’t ready to tell Katie about seeing Troy on the side, not that they’d had much time to see each other since they’d both been busy in their own lives. Troy handling all the murder cases in the town and Dana busy with the café and snooping around trying to hunt down the killers in said cases.
Still, Troy wanted Dana to meet his mother and she was nervous as sin about meeting Mrs. Anders. Did this mean he wanted to take things to the next level? Well, she was good at solving cases but this situation was another deal.
But she’d think about that tomorrow. One day at a time, as Grandma Rae would say. One worry at a time.
THANK YOU FOR READING Dana Sweet Cozy Mysteries Books 1 - 8.
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A DANA SWEET COZY MYSTERY series:
Strawberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 1)
Blueberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 2)
Chocolate Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 3)
Strawberry Meringue Cupcake & Murder (Book 3.5) *Bonus Short Story
Vanilla Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 4)
Holiday Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 5)
Valentine’s Cupcake & Murder (Book 6)
Buttercream Cupcake & Murder (Book 7)
Coconut Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 8)
Cherry Cream Cupcake & Murder (Book 9)
Chocolate Chip Cupcake & Murder (Book 10)
Coming soon...
More delightful stories set in the cozy small town of Berry Cove in the Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery series.