Fudge Brownies & Murder - Culinary Competition Mystery #4

Chapter 15

(Amy)

For a miserable day with gray skies and icy sleet falling, there sure were enough people downtown. She'd had to park on a side street two blocks away from Yoga For You. Amy glanced at the Quantum Media building as she adjusted her red scarf on the journey back to her car. The building signified the company her husband had built from the ground up. An impressive accomplishment that she was immensely proud of. Now he wanted to build a family. And all she wanted to do was hide in a closet until he gave up on that idea. The baby-making practice session had been mind incineratingly hot after they returned to it. While the interrupting phone call had been from Carla's phone, it wasn't from her. It was Geri. Carla's mother had commandeered her phone to ask if Amy would like to go on a shopping trip with her.

So that was why Amy was crunching over an ice pellet-covered sidewalk staring at the window of her husband's office instead of hanging out at home in her winter hibernation-appropriate fleece pajamas. While the weather was abominable, the company was far from that. Geri wanted to shop for her grandbaby, plan the shower that would be a surprise since her daughter had still not agreed to one, and she also wanted to assess the murder suspects she had heard Shepler talking about. A very busy and full day.

They scrambled into opposite sides of the dark-blue Mini with a black racing stripe. Amy started the car and turned up the defroster to help loosen the ice that had formed on the windshield while they shopped for tiny Christmas outfits. The excited grandma put two outfits on layaway—a dress with a red velvet top and flouncy tulle skirt and a onesie made to look like a man's business suit with a button-up shirt and dress pants. Geri would return to retrieve whichever outfit was appropriate after the baby was born. Then they visited Yoga For You to pick up a class schedule for Geri.

"I don't think Rori is the murderer," Geri said as she unbuttoned the top buttons of her coat. The outerwear fastened all the way to the top strategy had worked well as they walked along Main Street to keep the cold wind at bay. Inside the car, the heavy wool probably felt more like a straitjacket. "I've been dabbling in aura reading. It's a community education class offered at the colony. So I am definitely an amateur, but to me, she looked very peaceful with a bit of agitation though, most likely from my son-in-law's investigation."

"Oh, that's interesting." It was very interesting. Especially since the person doing the aura reading was Carla's mom. Geri had made a radical life change when she moved to the other side of the world. Still, the thought of type A personality Carla being the daughter of a chilled out, new age momma made Amy want to giggle every time she thought of the connection. "But I really doubt Shepler will say auras are admissible as evidence in court."

"I'm sure they aren't. I just wanted you to know since she's your teacher. Thinking you are in the room with a killer can really mess up the meditative qualities of yoga."

Geri slipped her wide, black lace headband down onto her forehead then pushed it back up into place to keep her windblown hair off her face. While Amy was wearing her hair down, she knew very well the effects blustery Michigan weather could have on hair accessories. Barrettes shifted, headbands slipped into uncomfortable positions, and rubber bands lost their hold on ponytails while being buffeted by wind and precipitation.

"Thank you." Amy turned on the windshield wipers. There was an unnerving scraping sound as the arms pushed the brittle layer of ice off of the glass. "Good to know because I don't think she's a killer either. I have been wrong about judging people before, though."

Geri placed her hand on Amy's forearm as she gripped the steering wheel. "People can hide a lot of things, but they can't hide their aura. I may be an amateur reader, but I truly don't think there is any evil hanging out in Rori."