Flourless to Stop Him by Nancy J. Parra Page B

Grandma Ruth or any one of the members in your giant family. For all you know, that could have been there for decades.”
    “Officer Emry is sending it away to the state lab. There’s some kind of test they can run on the drug that gives an approximate date of manufacture.”
    “Wow, what can’t they figure out?”
    “They’ll also look for fingerprints,” I said. “But with the lab backed up, it might be a month or more before we know anything.”
    “What are you going to do in the meantime?” Tasha wondered.
    “I had Tim install a lock on the garage. Then I’m going to make gluten-free cookies for the cookie exchange, andI’m going to run my business. I refuse to live my life around policemen and their silly theories.”
    “But Tim is clearly being framed.”
    I frowned. “I know. Grandma thinks I should investigate. I want to help. I really do, but I have Christmas baked goods to get out. This is my make-or-break season for the bakery. I could lose everything I’ve been working for if I don’t get these baked goods out and shipped on time. We won’t even talk about the cards I need to write and send and presents to purchase for my friends and family. Investigating crimes takes time and timing. Half the discovery is being at the right place and at the right time to uncover clues. I simply don’t have that kind of time.”
    “Did you ask Grandma Ruth?”
    “I’m certain she’s doing her own investigation for her blog.” I shrugged. “I’m hoping with Grandma on the loose I don’t need to investigate.” It sounded lame to my own ears, but things were desperate at the bakery. I was working fourteen-hour days, sick or not.
    “Grandma Ruth is in her nineties. I’m not at all certain that she can stay awake long enough to solve a murder.”
    “That’s silly. As Grandma often told me, who better to investigate than a retired person?”
    Tasha frowned. “I don’t like it. Tim is a great guy. There’s no way he did this.”
    For a brief moment I wondered what would happen if Tim had done it. Then I shook my head and went back to baking cookies. There’s no way Tim would kill anyone let alone his best friend. Plus, Tim was smart. He’d never put a room in his name and then kill someone. It didn’t add up. It was common sense not to leave your name at the scene of the crime.
    “I’m leaving it to the professionals,” I said under my breath. “I have to or I’ll lose my livelihood. I have to trust that Officer Bright is smart enough to arrest the right man.”
    “Are you making chocolate chip cookies?” Kip asked. “I like chocolate chip.”
    “I made the dough earlier when I found out you were coming,” I reassured him. “Do you want to help me bake them?”
    “Sure.” He jumped up. “What’s first?”
    “First you need to get the dough out of the fridge.” When he rushed to the refrigerator I continued. “The chocolate chip cookie dough is in the yellow ceramic bowl on the second shelf, to the back.”
    “I found it!” He pulled out the big bowl.
    I had him put the bowl on the table, then wash his hands and put on an apron while I dug up a small scoop.
    “You scoop them like this,” I said, careful to show him the proper amount on the scoop. “Then place them on the cookie sheets in rows of four across. You should get six rows down.”
    “Four times six is twenty-four,” Kip said.
    “Yes, it is.” I patted him on the shoulder. “Did you do that math in your head?”
    “I’m good at that,” he said and scooped dough.
    “Yes,” I said. “Yes, you are.”
    “I don’t like it.” Tasha stood.
    “I’m sorry? You don’t like math or you don’t like Kip making cookies?” I glanced over and noted Kip had a stricken look on his face as he stood frozen with a scoop full of dough in his hand.
    “No, no,” Tasha reassured her son. “I like math and it’s okay for Kip to make cookies.”
    The boy smiled and continued to plop dough on the cookie sheet.
    “I don’t