A Pinch of Sea Salt and a Dash of Murder (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 1) by Phoebe T. Eggli Page A

all a favor and go back to your little observation room,” as she nodded toward the two-way mirror, “and…observe.” Continuing, she said, “Detective Payne is more than capable of asking questions and answering our questions without your…help.”
    His reaction was priceless. Melissa swore his face and neck turned the color of a pomegranate in less than two seconds. Even Jason and Janice couldn’t help but smile at her gumption. Jason attempted to calm his partner by assuring him that he had everything under control. It didn’t do much good. The older gentlemen was livid. After storming out of the room, Melissa couldn’t control it any longer. She laughed, even though she knew the detective could still hear her.
    “Oh dear, I’m so sorry but I just can’t take that man anymore,” she apologized. Jason reassured her that he completely understood. However, he also warned it was not a good idea to tick off his partner. The man knew how to hold a grudge. Melissa responded, “For some reason, I think he already harbors a grudge against me or has it out for me. For the life of me, I don’t understand why. Throughout this entire ordeal, he’s been a complete…” she struggled with the right word as the real one in her mind would really not help matters, “…jerk.”
    With the tension somewhat subdued, Jason informed Melissa of the entire list of charges against her. So far there was one charge for second degree murder – murder without premeditation. Then there was a charge of evidence tampering. Another charge for interfering, hindering, or opposing a police officer by crossing a police line.
    “Well, I can tell you that I absolutely, positively did NOT murder anyone!” Melissa affirmed. “However, we both know I went back to the bakery and crossed the yellow line, but honestly I did not know it was against the law to go into my own business.” At this point, Janice attempted to “shush” her and advised that she not say anymore. She also shot an annoyed look to the two-way mirror and directed her next statement to it. “Why don’t you do something useful and get my client’s bail hearing scheduled?”
    The attorney questioned what evidence the police had and how had they obtained a search warrant. Jason admitted he was not present when the warrants were obtained. His partner had them ready to go when he came into work that morning. The only thing Reynolds said was that an anonymous tip had been called in. Janice questioned how the police determined the tip had been from a credible source. Again, Jason shrugged to indicate he was not aware of the answer. “You didn’t think to question your partner before heading over to my client’s house and place of business?” the lawyer asked sternly.
    The detective only responded that he trusted his partner. Neither Melissa nor Janice were convinced the older detective was trustworthy. The expressions on their faces were all too readable what they thought of Detective Reynolds.
    Jason attempted to move the discussion away from his partner. He continued to explain the evidence that had led up to Melissa’s arrest.  Several items were taken into custody at the time the police were initially called to the scene – baking utensils, some knives, etc. However, testing revealed that none of these were the murder weapon. Also, fingerprints lined up as expected to belong to Melissa, Britney, and Logan as they worked there. Initially, there just wasn’t a lot to go on except the crime occurred in the Kill Devil Delicacies. This alone made Melissa a suspect.
    “Officer, none of this is enough to warrant arresting my client,” Janice warned. He nodded in agreement and continued. There were a couple other partial prints which were determined to belong to Mrs. Stevenson and Edward Johnson, Jr. Melissa explained that Eddie sometimes picked Britney up from work so it would not be unusual to find his prints. However, she still didn’t understand why Linda was there in