Confectionately Dead

by Kathleen Suzette

  “Why do you think Laura might have killed Josh?” Ethan asked him.

  “When Ellie and I were married, she had a thing for me, and she wouldn’t leave me alone. She was relentless. To be honest, it’s what contributed to the breakup of my marriage,” he said gruffly. “Listen, I’m going to grab a cup of coffee really quick. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and this has got me so stunned, I’ve got have some caffeine to clear my head.”

  When he was out of the room, I turned to Ethan. “He didn’t say anything about why he thought Laura killed Josh.”

  “I know. Maybe he’d like to avoid that question,” he agreed. “But don’t worry, I’m going to find out what I need to know.”

  When Chris returned, he sat down and set his cup on the coffee table in front of him. “Are you sure neither of you want any coffee?”

  I shook my head.

  “No, we’re fine, thanks. Why do you think Laura killed Josh?” Ethan asked.

  “Because she was the same way with him that she was with me. When Ellie hired him to do the work on their roof, it was because Laura had insisted Ellie call him. Then Ellie refused to give him as much money as he asked for, and it made him mad. But Laura tried to smooth things over, because like I said, she had a thing for him. I told Ellie I’d do the work, but Laura insisted they get Josh to do it.”

  “I thought you said you were out of town when the roof repair needed to be done and there was a storm on the way?” I asked him.

  His cheeks went pink. “I was only out of town for a day. There would have been plenty of time to repair the roof when I got home. Look, I own that house. I always do my own maintenance work on my houses, and I was mad when I found out they went behind my back and hired Josh to do the work. I decided if they wanted to hire him, then they could pay him. Otherwise, I would have done the work and not charged them anything for it. I mean, after all, Ellie was my ex-wife and I never really wanted to get divorced anyway.”

  “You didn’t want to get divorced?” I asked him, surprised. “I thought you were glad to be done with her?” Maybe what his daughter said about her parents wanting to get back together again was true.

  He shook his head. “If it wasn’t for Laura, I’m telling you, we never would’ve gotten divorced. Josh told me that Laura used to drive by his house, watching for him. If she caught him at the grocery store, she’d run up to him and block his shopping cart with hers to keep him from moving away. He got to where he was always looking over his shoulder to see if Laura was around. Believe me, I know what that’s like.”

  I stared at him incredulously. Josh was twenty years younger than Laura, and he was married with a baby on the way. The idea of somebody like Laura, who didn’t seem the type, chasing Josh around town and trying to force her attention on him didn’t make sense.

  “And you really believed him when he said Laura was chasing him around town?” I asked skeptically.

  He nodded. “Of course I did. She did the same thing to me. It was a nightmare when she moved into our house, I tell you. You have no idea. I was always locking doors behind me because if I didn’t, Laura would be in the same room with me. Including in the bathroom when I was taking a shower.”

  I was stunned. I just couldn’t picture it. Why would Ellie put up with it? It did make me wonder if she did finally ask Laura to move out so she could move her new boyfriend in. And maybe that was the final straw for Laura and she killed her sister.

  “So, to reiterate,” Ethan said glancing at me. “You left the party house at five o’clock after you did some painting? And there wasn’t anybody else around? Not even out in the parking lot? There was no one nearby that made you suspicious at all?”

  He shook his head. “No one.”

  “When was the last time you saw Josh?” Ethan asked. He had a notebook out and was writing down everything Chris said.

  “I think it was three days ago. Sometimes we fill in for each other on jobs, and he was helping me out with a job I was doing down at the flower shop. They needed some shelves put up in their back room.”

  “And Josh didn’t have anything of note to say about anything that day?” Ethan asked. “He didn’t have any idea that he was about to be killed?”

  He shook his head. “Not a thing.”

  “And when was the last time you saw Laura?”

  He chuckled. “I saw her at Ellie’s funeral, but only because I had to. I speak to her as little as possible, but it wasn’t for a lack of her trying to get me to speak to her. She kept trying to corner me at the reception afterward. Other than that, she was following me when I was driving down Goblin Street yesterday afternoon.”

  Ethan considered this, pen poised above his notebook. “Did she stalk you often? I mean, lately. After you divorced Ellie? And after her death?”

  “It’s even worse now. She keeps calling me and leaving me messages telling me that now that Ellie’s gone, we’re free to date.” He snorted. “No way is that ever going to happen. She’s nuts.”

  Ethan and I looked at each other. Then I turned back to Chris. “But the thing is, Laura isn’t that strong. How would she have killed both Ellie and Josh?”

  “She’s not that strong, you’re right. But how hard is it to shove somebody down steep stairs? Especially if they don’t see it coming?”

  I knew he had a point, but I hoped he was wrong. Ellie would have been easy for her to push down the stairs. Josh would have been harder, but if she had gone up to the prop room under the pretense of bringing down ornaments, she could have slipped up behind him and pushed him as he was getting ready to go back downstairs.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Having a second dead body on his hands created even more complications for Ethan. He was already working a lot of late nights and weekends and now he was nearly starting over from square one. The addition of Josh Tate’s murder was perplexing, to say the least. Had he known Ellie on a deeper level than he had admitted? Both Ethan and I had been certain he had killed Ellie, and now we had to rethink everything. Okay, maybe I was certain, and Ethan hadn’t completely made up his mind yet. It was possible Josh killed Ellie and had an accomplice, and that accomplice had turned on him. But his death at the party house and in the same manner that Ellie had died was no random event.

  The play was just over a week away and Phil Peterson was frantic about the second murder. There was discussion about moving the play to another venue, but because it was now the last minute, there was nothing available. The high school auditorium had been suggested, but there was a Christmas tea being held for the high school kids and their families in the late afternoon on the day the play was being held. There wouldn’t be enough time to clean up after the tea and then hold the play there.

  In the spirit of the holidays, I decided to volunteer to help decorate the party house. I wasn’t excited about being back inside where I had seen two dead bodies recently, but I wanted to be there in case anything had been overlooked in the investigation. I also knew people were going to be curious about what had happened, and maybe I could distract people by being noncommittal when they asked questions.

  Angela Peterson led the way into the ballroom. “All the decorations are upstairs,” she said nervously. “We’ll have to try to bring them down, carefully. Maybe we can get some of the guys to go up there and bring them down. They’re heavy. I’ll see if Phil is around.”

  “Sounds great,” I said. When she left in search of her husband, I turned to Christy. “Let’s get some of the smaller items.”

  We headed toward the stairs. “Where were they when they were found?” she whispered from behind me.

  I stopped and looked over my shoulder. “Right there at the foot of the stairs.”

  She made a face. “And we’re going to walk right through that area?”

  I chuckled. “We’re going to walk right through that area and on up those stairs. But I highly suggest that you keep a hand on the stair rail at all times.”

  “Don’t worry, I will,” she sai
d. “Are more people coming to help?”

  “I think more people are supposed to show up anytime now,” I said. “We’ll just try to bring down the lighter boxes of decorations and wait for somebody that’s a little stronger to bring the bigger ones down.” I hoped a lot of people showed up. It was so late in the season, and we had so much decorating to do, I was afraid it would take us until late in the evening to finish.

  “Good, I hope we’ve got some taller people that can help hang lights inside,” she said.

  “Hold on, girls! I’ll help you,” Angela called, returning to the ballroom. “I told Phil to get to work and help us with the boxes. Careful of the stairs.” We stopped and waited for her to get to us. “Careful, now.” She began climbing the stairs ahead of us, both hands on the rails.

  “We will definitely be careful,” Christy muttered.

  When Angela got to the top of the stairs, she looked down at us, giving us a tentative smile. “We’ve got some ladders out in the storage shed that Phil is going to bring in for us. I’m not much on heights, but he said he would hang the lights and the decorations that need to go up high.”

  I put a hand on the stair rail and started climbing. “I’m glad he’s going to do the lights,” I told her. “I’m not crazy about heights, either.”

  I glanced over my shoulder at my sister. She took a hop over the area she thought the dead bodies had been and looked up at me wide-eyed. “Here I come,” she said and put a hand on the stair rail and began climbing behind me.

  “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get everything put up today,” Angela said as I stood on the landing.

  I went into the room and looked around. “Are some of the boxes missing?” I swore when Ethan and I had been up here there had been more Christmas decorations.

  Angela looked over at the wall where the decorations were kept, her brow furrowed. “To tell you the truth, I don’t usually come up here. Phil comes up here. I hate those stairs, they’re so steep. But it does seem like we should have more boxes than what’s here.”

  That was interesting. “Has anybody been in here lately?”

  She shook her head. “No, the police were here until late in the middle of the night when Josh was found, and they locked up for us. Unless the police took some of the boxes for evidence?”

  I nodded. That was a possibility.

  “Wow, you guys have a nice, organized area up here,” Christy said.

  “Phil does try to keep things organized,” she said and went to the shelf and picked up a box. “There are a couple of boxes here with Christmas lights. They’re not terribly heavy, so maybe we can start with those.”

  “Got it,” I said and picked up one of the boxes and then headed back out the door. The box was light enough that I could keep one hand on the stair rail as I went down the stairs.

  We began bringing down the smaller boxes, and after we had made several trips, Phil joined us to help with the heavier ones. It didn’t take long before we got them all downstairs. People began arriving, and as expected, there was some whispering and furtive glances cast in the direction of the stairs.

  “Why don’t we work in teams?” Angela announced to everyone. “If we team up and work on specific areas, I think it’ll help get things done quicker.”

  She began handing out assignments, and Christy and I were given the Christmas tree to put together. The Christmas tree was eight feet tall, and I wasn’t sure how much we would be able to do on our own. I glanced toward the front door and Ethan walked through it.

  “Just in time,” I said as he headed over to us. “I’m so glad you’re here. This tree is way too tall for us to put the top sections on it.”

  “It feels good to be needed,” he said with a chuckle and gave me a quick kiss. “Christy, how are you today?”

  She shrugged. “I guess I’m okay. It’s Christmas time and who isn’t happy at Christmas time?” The lack of enthusiasm couldn’t be missed, but at least she was trying.

  “Anything new?” I whispered to Ethan.

  “Not yet. I’ll be starting another round of interviews with people, but I thought I’d take a few minutes to stop by and help out here. I also had an idea,” he whispered and looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was nearby. “I’m wondering if the killer might show up today. You know, just to see if they really got away with murder?”

  “That thought had crossed my mind, too,” I said. “I’m hoping they will and that they’ll do something to give themselves away.”

  “What are you two whispering about?” Christy asked.

  I shrugged. “We’re discussing the merits of putting blue bulbs with the green and red ones.”

  “Ha ha,” she said without any humor. “Ethan, you need to get the killer off the street as soon as possible. I don’t like the fact that we’ve got a killer running around Pumpkin Hollow. Again.”

  “I’m doing the best I can,” Ethan said, picking up one of the sections of the Christmas tree. “I think killing a second person may have been a stupid thing for the killer to do. After all, it did eliminate one of our suspects.” He looked at me and grinned.

  “Thank goodness for small favors,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Ethan,” I heard someone whisper. We all turned to look and saw Chrystal Evans. She held a Christmas wreath and had a worried look on her face. Chrystal owned a clothing store in Pumpkin Hollow.

  “Yes?” he said to her.

  “I heard both Ellie Adams and Josh Tate were murdered right here in this ballroom,” she said, her eyes wide. “Do you know where their bodies were found?”

  “Chrystal,” Ethan said. “Why does it matter where they were found?”

  She shrugged, looking sheepish. “I just don’t want to walk across that spot. Either spot. You know, on account of somebody being dead on that spot.”

  “Angela told me the ballroom has been cleaned,” I tried to assure her. Actually, it had only been cleaned after Ellie died. There hadn’t been enough time to clean it after Josh died, but Chrystal didn’t need to know that.

  “I know, I’m sure it has. But, it’s just the idea of standing in the same place a dead person has been.” She looked from me to Ethan and then to Christy. “Do you know what I mean?”

  Ethan suppressed a smile. “Don’t you worry Chrystal, it will be fine. Try to concentrate on hanging decorations.”

  She sighed. “What’s going on in Pumpkin Hollow? Why are people dying?” She looked over her shoulder and then back at Ethan.

  “Now,” Ethan said reassuringly. “People are not ‘dying in Pumpkin Hollow’. Sure, two people have died. Recently. But let’s not make a general statement about people dying. We are looking into the murder, and I’m certain we will have the killer arrested soon.”

  “I just worry about things like that,” she said nodding. “I hate that people are dying all over the place.”

  “People are not dying all over the place,” he said, sounding like he was talking to a small child. “Sometimes people get carried away thinking the worst. But like I said, we’ll have someone arrested soon.”

  She nodded. “Okay, as long as you and the rest of the police force are working on it, I guess I won’t worry too much.” She didn’t sound convincing.

  “Everything will be fine,” Ethan said again as he tried to put a smaller section of the tree into a larger section.

  “Angela has been handing out assignments. You might want to ask her where you would be able to do the most good,” I suggested.

  “Okay. Got it.”

  When Chrystal had left to find an assignment, I looked at Ethan. “I figured we’d hear a lot of talk about the murders,” I said.

  He nodded. “Human nature. But let’s not talk about murder anymore. Let’s talk about Christmas and trees and snowmen and Santa.”

  I walked over to him. “Pumpkin Hollow is a hotbed of murder.”

  He chuckled. “Stop it. I mean it. We’re going to catch the killer.”

  “I know you are,�
� I said and gave him a kiss. I heard Christy sigh behind us and I turned to look at her and shrugged.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Well, how are you all doing over here?” I heard a voice say from behind me.

  I turned around and came face to face with Harper Casper. I smiled. “Hi Harper, things are going great here. We just got a start on putting the Christmas tree together, and I think we’ll have it finished and lit up in no time.”

  “It looks like you’ve got a job on your hands. That’s a really big tree,” she said eyeing the Christmas tree that Ethan was working on. He had only managed to put two of the pieces together and he was struggling a little. “I thought I’d stop by and see how things were going and see if I could lend a hand. Community spirit and all that.”

  “Angela said it was eight feet tall,” I said, eyeing the tree.

  “We’ll get it,” Ethan assured her without looking up from the two largest parts of the tree that he was trying to put together.

  She nodded, still looking at the tree. “Okay ladies,” she said turning to me and Christy. “I have a question for you. Your mom said the cleaning I was doing for her was fine, but I want opinions from the two of you. Some people are just too nice to speak up, and if there’s any kind of issue, I want it headed off before things get out of hand. So tell me, how am I doing?”

  Harper had started cleaning the candy shop earlier in the week. We were pleasantly surprised when we came in the following morning. Not only had she cleaned, but she had even straightened up one of the shelves that we hadn’t had time to get to before we left for the night.

  “You are doing an excellent job,” I said. “Right Christy?”

  Christy nodded. “Are you kidding? You’re doing a great job! I’m thrilled that I don’t have to do floors anymore. They practically sparkled when we came in the day after you and your team came in to clean.”

  She chuckled. “That’s exactly what I want to hear. But if you ever come in one morning and something isn’t done to your standards, I want to hear about it immediately. I was with the girls when they cleaned this week, but I won’t be with them all the time. I won’t tolerate a lax attitude. This is my business we’re talking about and I take it seriously.”