Page 7 of Deadly Sins: Gluttony
“Yeah, it was right after Greg Savage came to town.He helped Gideon drop the weight, and he did.But the bullies didn’t let up, so the two of them handled it—gave those guys a beating.After that, no one bothered Gideon again.”
It was obvious why Camille had come to me.If Briggs and Gideon hadn’t been friends, what reason did she have to believe he’d work hard to solve her brother’s murder?
“What do you say?”Camille asked.“Will you help me?”
I looked at Cade.He nodded, signaling me forward.
“I will,” I said.
“Thank you so much.I already feel so much better, like you’ve lifted this huge weight I’ve been carrying.”
Cade smiled and said, “I’m gonna run a few errands, give you ladies a chance to talk.Come on, Boo, what do you say?Want to go for a ride?”
Boo looked at Cade, his expression one of reluctance.
Then he lifted a paw, and Cade scooped him into his arms.
Once they were out the door, I shifted my focus back to Camille.“What can you tell me about your brother?Is there anyone who had a problem with him when he was alive?”
She bit her lip, thinking.“That’s hard to answer.He left when he was seventeen, and he didn’t return too often.We stayed in touch, but not enough for me to know everything that was going on in his life.The only thing I know for certain is he wanted nothing to do with this town.”
“Then why was he here?”
Camille bowed her head, her expression turning sullen.“Our mother died, and she left the bakery to him, which came as a shock to me.”
“Why?”
“He never had any interest in it.”
“Why do you think she left it to him then?”
“I suppose I’ll never know why, although between us siblings, Gideon was in the best financial spot.”
“How many siblings do you have?”
“Two.I also have a brother, Martin.”
“Does Martin live in Hollow Pines?”
“He does.When Gideon returned to town for our mother’s funeral, the three of us went to the bakery.Gideon hadn’t stepped foot inside the place for ages, and he wanted to see the condition it was in.It needed a lot of repairs, and even though he could have used his own money to spruce up the place, he wasn’t interested.”
If the bakery was what made him overweight—what led to the bullying and that cruel nickname—I could see why he’d want nothing to do with it.
“How did Gideon feel about the bakery being left to him?”I asked.
“Not good.He wanted to shut it down.I offered to take it over because, for me, the bakery holds a lot of fond memories.I tried to find ways to keep it open, and I shared those ideas with Gideon.He wasn’t receptive at first.Then Martin stepped in, giving me some money he’d been saving to buy a house.Gideon gave me the go-ahead to keep the bakery open while I made the improvements.He said we’d keep it open another six months and see if it made a difference.”
“And did it?”
She blew out a frustrated sigh.“It wasn’t a significant enough difference to change his mind, which brings me to the reason he was in town last week.He was here to close the business, and he did close it, on the day he died.”
It occurred to me that if she wasn’t here, hiring me to find the person who murdered her brother, she would have made a good suspect.
She seemed to pick up on my line of thought.
“I can imagine what you’re thinking,” she said.
“And what would that be?”
