Coconut Cream Murder Read online

  Coconut Cream Murder

  A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery- Book 58

  Susan Gillard

  Contents

  Collect your FREE gift!

  Coconut Cream Murder

  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

  Also by Susan Gillard

  About the Author

  Collect your FREE gift!

  Collect your FREE gift!

  Click here to grab the free cozy short story “Eva’s Delicious Mystery: A Donut Hole Spin-Off”

  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.

  Coconut Cream Murder

  Chapter 1

  It had been a such a busy day at Donut Delights that Heather hardly had a chance to catch her breath, much less finish the list she had been trying to write all morning. It was true that business was usually quite good for her donuts. The increase of online orders (along with an enthusiastic new investor) was what was prompting her to open a second location in Key West, Florida.

  However, while she usually had lots of customers visiting her shop to purchase delicious donuts and to try her new fantastic flavor of the week, that day was even busier than usual. They had warned Hillside residents that they would be closed the following day, and customers were scrambling in to make sure that their “donut fix” would be covered for the next twenty-four hours.

  Heather and her assistants had been planning on going to an outdoor team building activity the following day for quite a while. Heather felt it was important for the staff to have some bonding time together, and to have some fun outside of the kitchen. They had even all gone on a vacation before; though that trip wasn’t all fun and relaxation because Heather ended up having to solve a murder while she was there.

  In some ways, this planned team building event’s timing ended up being fortuitous. It would provide an opportunity for the assistants to prove they were all set to work together to keep the shop running smoothly when Heather moved away.

  However, in another way, the timing was poor because Heather had so much to do before she left. Her moving date was nearing closer and closer, and she still had a million things to do. Heather tried to focus on the notes she was taking so that could cross one of her “to-dos” off the list, and then only have nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine things to do.

  A customer tried to ask her about a donut and Heather, fixated on her paper, vaguely said that “Maricela or Angelica at the counter would be happy to help you.”

  “How do you like that?” the customer said, with mock annoyance.

  “She’s too busy to help us,” the customer’s friend said in the same tone.

  “She’s too busy to serve an old friend,” the first woman continued.

  “Who are you calling old?” The friend joked back.

  Heather looked up and smiled at the sight. Her two favorite regular customers and close friends, Eva and Leila, were standing in front of her. The two older ladies smiled back.

  “I’m sorry,” Heather said. “I’m never too busy for you two.”

  “I know,” Eva said. “We were just teasing you, dear.”

  “You’ll miss our teasing when you move,” Leila said. “We’ll have to send you some teases in the mail.”

  “Today does look very busy though,” Eva said.

  “This is it being a calm moment,” Heather said. “I was finally able to step away from the register and try and get some other work done.”

  “It’s your own fault, dear,” Eva said with a wink. “Closing for a whole day? The customers need their donuts.”

  “And so, do we,” said Leila.

  “I am grateful for all the business,” Heather said. “And that they seem to like the new flavor. Is that what you two would like?”

  “What is it this week?” asked Eva.

  “I think I was getting inspired by my tropical move,” Heather said. “It’s a Coconut Cream Donut.”

  “I think I’ll go nuts for it,” Leila said.

  “I hope so,” Heather smiled. “This donut fits its name. It has a vanilla cake base and a coconut cream filling inside. Like a cream pie, it is light and fluffy.”

  “And what’s on top?” Eva asked.

  “Some more creamy icing and some shredded coconut,” Heather answered.

  “I don’t need to hear anymore,” said Eva. “I just need to take a bite.”

  Heather happily obliged. She prepared two plates for her friends. She was happy to see that their usual table had opened up and brought the donuts over to it. The two ladies took a bite of the donuts and had to keep from smiling while chewing.

  “It’s wonderful,” said Eva. “And I feel like I’m on a tropical island enjoying this.”

  “I feel like I’m in heaven,” Leila said.

  “Maybe in exchange for these donuts, you could give me a hand with something?” Heather asked.

  “Of course,” Eva said. “What is it?”

  “I’ve been trying to come up with a list of all the duties and responsibilities I have around here,” Heather said. “I think I’m going to have to hire a manager to oversee the shop while I am away. Don’t worry. I’ll still provide new flavors.”

  “Good,” said Leila. “We need the Heather Shepherd originals. We can’t have any knock-off donuts.”

  “Do you really think you’ll have to hire someone new?” Eva asked.

  “I think they’ll be a person short here,” Heather said. “And it would be unfair to make everyone carry extra responsibilities. I think having a manager would be a good idea.”

  “What can we help you with?” Eva asked.

  “I know you read the Hillside Reporter a lot,” Heather started.

  “Are you going to list the job in there?” Eva asked. “I thought you weren’t a fan of that newspaper.”

  “I’m not a fan of some of the things they print about me,” Heather said, thinking about mistakes they had printed and their chosen word choice when describing her investigations. “I think I should list the job in a paper and online. I was hoping if you read that section of the paper, you could give me some pointers on how to word my listing. I want a potential employee to know what they are getting into by running a donut shop, but I don’t want to scare everyone off from it.”

  “Scare us off of what?” Amy asked, joining their table. “Off of these crazy outdoor obstacles we’re going to do tomorrow? Are we going to have to jump out of trees and stuff?”

  “Probably,” Heather said, smiling at her bestie. “I’m glad you’ll be with me there though to catch me when I fall.”

  “Remind me why I’m doing this again?” Amy asked.

  “Besides the fact that you’re my best friend and P.I. partner, so I would invite you anywhere I go,” Heather said. “You’re a part of the Donut Delight
s family. And I know that when I’m gone, you’ll also be around to check on the store, pitch in, and make sure everything is all right.”

  “That’s true,” Amy said.

  “I have to say,” Eva said. “If being a part of the Donut Delights family is what was needed to go on this team building retreat, I’m a little disappointed you didn’t invite us.”

  “Yes, disappointed,” Leila said.

  Heather wasn’t quite sure if they were teasing her this time.

  “Of course, you’re family,” Heather said. “I just wasn’t sure how you two would feel about zip lining, and lifting logs, and climbing up walls.”

  “If you want to come, I’m sure you still could,” said Amy. “There’s going to be balancing off the ground, and carrying each other on our backs, and trust-falls.”

  “You know,” Eva said. “On second thought, I think we’ll just eat some donuts.”

  They all laughed.

  Chapter 2

  Heather, Amy, and the Donut Delights assistants piled out of their rental van.

  “Does that count as team building too?” Amy asked.

  Heather laughed. Even though it was less than an hour’s drive to the outdoor location, it had felt longer. After they had been on the road, the air conditioner had started sputtering in and out. Heather tried to remind them that they were going to be outdoors for most of their day’s activities so they should try and acclimate themselves to the summer heat, but this did little to boost their morale.

  To ignore their sweaty discomfort, they each tried to do something to take their minds off of the problem. It started off as chaos in the back seats. Ken, who was a photographer and always wore a camera around his neck, decided to document the trip. He took photos of the scenery as they were driving, but also of the passengers who didn’t want to be photographed when they were drenched in sweat. Cousins Angelica and Maricela were trying to play a travel board game, but the pieces still went flying whenever they hit a bump. As they arranged the pieces back into place, they would accuse the other of cheating and bring up past stories of when they had cheated before (though most of these stories took place when they were toddlers.) Jung was excited that there might be archery where they were headed, but since there were no arrows in the car, he settled on making paper airplanes and shooting them into the window. Emily Potts, who was the most studious of the assistants, was starting to feel car sick after reading in a moving vehicle. She put her head down on her lap.

  Eventually, the chaos was reigned in after Amy made a joke about how they were all going to have to stand on tight ropes that afternoon and sing “Kumbaya” together. Then the car all broke into their rendition of the song together and were in brighter spirits.

  The trip made Heather happy. It was an apt microcosm of her employees. Each had their own quirks and special abilities, but they could come together when it counted.

  The travel time had also been useful because Heather had found some time to discuss the responsibilities that the new manager would have to have with Amy. She also asked Maricela for some advice about what qualities were needed in the applicant. Maricela had been with Heather for the longest amount of time. She knew Donut Delights inside and out. She knew what was necessary for the position and did give some important insights.

  The list was becoming a very long list. Heather hadn’t quite realized how much she really did for the shop, in addition to creating new flavors and being the “fearless leader.” However, it was very unlikely that the new manager would have to split her time with solving murders, so hopefully, the work might seem more manageable.

  “That was a long drive with a musical finish,” Amy said. “Luckily no one started singing One Hundred Bottle of Beer on the Wall.”

  “We should have sung One Hundred Donuts on the Wall,” Angelica said.

  “It’s close to being true,” Jung commented too. “With all our regular flavors and the special weekly ones. It has to be close to one hundred, right?”

  “I haven’t made an official count,” Heather admitted. “But I think it has to be over fifty-eight special flavors.”

  “Wow,” Ken said. “How do you come up with them all?”

  Heather shrugged. “You know how much I love donuts, and now I find inspiration in many places.”

  “What are we going to do without you?” Jung asked.

  “I’ll still create new flavors from Key West,” Heather said. “And I promise to leave you in good management hands. Also, today is all about working as a team. When it’s over, you’ll all be fine without me.”

  They all laughed and then Amy said, “I don’t know about that.”

  Heather checked to make sure that everyone was ready to enter together. Then she saw that Maricela was making sure that Emily Potts was drinking some water.

  “Are you still feeling under the weather even though you’re out of the car?” Heather asked.

  “I think the water is helping a little,” Emily Potts said.

  Heather smiled her thanks to Maricela, then she said, “Let’s go check in. Then we can see if there’s a place where you could rest for a little while. Somewhere with working air conditioning.”

  “Good idea, boss,” Maricela said.

  Heather groaned. “Please don’t call me “boss” here. It’s about team building.”

  “Sure thing,” Maricela said, with a wink. Heather had been asking her employees to call her “Heather” as long as they had been working for her, but they chose to call her “boss” as a mixture of respect and teasing.

  “We should get moving,” Heather said.

  They needed to check in so that their team could take place in the day’s activities. She also wanted to make sure that there was a place where Emily Potts could lie down.

  They passed the sign proclaiming the entrance for “Tessa’s Treetop Team building.”

  “Terrific,” Amy muttered, adding her own alliteration.

  They walked in and were enjoying the scenery of picturesque tall trees and strange wooden structures. When they heard the scream, they started running inside to help.

  Chapter 3

  Heather led the way into Tessa’s Treetop Team building, looking for the source of the woman’s scream. She scanned the area, looking for a disturbance. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of four men supporting a woman on their shoulders in a victory pose. All five of them were wearing the same T-shirt, and she realized they must be one of the teams that were taking part in the day’s activities.

  They helped the woman back onto her feet and then patted her on the back.

  “Great job, Janet,” said the oldest man, who exuded authority and must have been the boss of the group.

  “The way you screamed though,” said a man with glasses. “You must have thought we were going to drop you.”

  “She must not be confident in our muscles,” a man with blonde hair joked.

  As Heather looked at the group, she realized that the joking man might be on to something. Everyone on their team was lanky. However, everyone on their team was also smiling.

  Heather was glad that the source of the scream was just because of nerves during a planned activity and was not for a direr reason. She had been investigating murders for such a long time that she had to admit that she sometimes automatically thought the worst of a situation. However, she was pleased with how she and her staff had acted. When they thought a woman was in trouble, they had sprung into action to help her. Even Emily Potts who was now looking pale and was leaning on Maricela for support had hurried over with them to offer assistance.

  “Hello,” she said, waving to the other team. “I’m Heather from Donut Delights. Do you know where we’re supposed to sign in?”

  The boss of the other group greeted her with a handshake. “I’m Mitch Mallard from Techy Tech Tech.”

  “Your company is called Techy Tech Tech?” Amy asked.

  “It’s catchy, isn’t it?” he said.

  “That’s not exactly the wor
d I would use,” Amy said. However, she had to admit that the more she said the name, the more it rolled off her tongue.

  “The official place to sign in is in that cabin over there,” Mitch said, pointing. “However, Tessa had been running around all morning making sure that all the activities were set up for the groups. She’s setting everything up by herself.”

  “Wait a minute,” Amy said. “She doesn’t have a team? It’s just her. Are you sure we can trust her about team building if she doesn’t work with one.”

  They all laughed at this assessment, but luckily stopped in time for Tessa to join them.

  “Ah, you must be Donut Delights,” Tessa said. She was dressed like a hiker with khaki shorts and boots and a large hat to tame her hair underneath. She also a friendly, yet determined face. “You’re the last group I was waiting for. I staggered arrival times, so I’d be able to greet everyone.”

  “How many groups are here today?” Heather asked.

  “Five, including you,” Tessa said. “It looks like you meet Techy Tech Tech already.”

  Heather and Mitch nodded, jovially.

  Tessa continued, “Then we have a craft store staff here, a high school band, and another tech company.”

  Mitch Mallard didn’t look as pleased by this announcement.

  “But don’t worry,” Tessa said. “I can still give you all my personal undivided attention.”

  “Is it really just you running everything here?” Amy asked.

  “Yes,” Tessa said proudly.

  “Is there a reason you don’t have a team?” Amy prodded.