“I happen to know that he and Ellie couldn’t get along. Poor Shelly was crying down at the coffee shop not three weeks ago and I overheard her tell her friend the arguing between the two of them was getting to be more than she could handle. She said her mother would call and cry to her about how mean Charlie was to her. And then Ellie would insist that Shelly tell Charlie to stop treating her that way. Then Charlie would say terrible things to Shelly about her mother and she’d beg him to be nice to her. Neither of them would agree to get along with the other.”
“She was crying? She was that upset about it?” Ethan asked her.
She nodded. “I thought to myself, poor thing. I know what it’s like to have in-law troubles. My own daughter-in-law is something else. Thank goodness she doesn’t live here in Pumpkin Hollow. I’d probably lose my mind if she did.”
I looked at Ethan as he took this in. “Did she say anything else? Anything specific that might lead you to believe Charlie might kill Ellie?” he asked.
“She said Charlie had begun drinking recently, and that he couldn’t handle the booze. Apparently, when he was in college it had gotten out of control and he had quit for a number of years, but now he’s back at it and she was worried he might become violent. I know, you need more proof than hearsay, but I thought I’d tell you just so you can keep an eye on him. Maybe if you put a little pressure on him, he’d crack,” she said and chuckled. “You’re so nice Ethan, I can’t imagine you putting pressure on anyone. But maybe if you watch some old detective shows, it’ll give you ideas on how to do it.”
Ethan smiled and shook his head. “I might surprise you. But I’d rather be nice to people if it’s at all possible. Some people do make it impossible though.”
She laughed heartily. “You can say that again. My daughter-in-law is one that makes it impossible.”
“Then it’s a good thing she doesn’t live here in Pumpkin Hollow,” I said. “Are you going to the play?”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I hope this becomes an annual tradition. I noticed there are a lot more people in town today and that’s got to be good for everyone’s business.”
“It has been,” I said. “We were crazy busy at the candy store. Everybody wants to buy their Christmas candy early.”
“Well, I’ll let you two go on to the party house. I’ve got to meet my husband so we can go to the play together. He’s working late at the bank.”
“We’ll see you later,” I called over my shoulder as we moved on down the sidewalk.
“Charlie O’Rourke has a temper,” Ethan said as we walked. “And was mean to his now deceased mother-in-law.”
“And he may have stolen money from his mother-in-law and he’s drinking,” I said. “Makes you wonder just exactly how much he didn’t like her. Laura mentioned he was angry about Ellie not wanting to loan him money, but maybe he was more than angry.”
“When I spoke to him, he mentioned that Ellie was difficult to get along with, but he glossed over the fact that he didn’t like her, or that there were some real problems in the family.”
“If I was having trouble with someone, and they ended up dead, I might gloss over some things, too,” I said and chuckled.
“I’ll keep that in mind, in case any of your enemies end up dead. Not that I want to arrest you and throw you in jail mind you, but if you can’t behave yourself and start running around murdering people, I’ll have to do what I have to do.”
I shook my head. “Thank goodness I’m not the murdering kind,” I said.
I couldn’t understand people who killed. There was no reason to let things get to that point. But Charlie O’Rourke, who was possibly stealing from his mother-in-law, had his wife so upset about the animosity between them that she had been crying in public. Things were bad in the O’Rourke household.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The inside of the ballroom had white wooden chairs placed in rows in front of the stage and there was a curtain drawn across it. People milled about before taking their seats, and two tables had been set up with a large punch bowl on each, along with trays of finger foods. The ballroom would make a lovely wedding reception for Amanda and Brian. If they weren’t concerned that two people had died here, that is.
Ethan and I sat on the end of a row of chairs in the middle of the room. “It looks lovely in here, doesn’t it?” I asked him.
Ethan put his arm across the back of my chair and nodded. “It sure does. I don’t know who the decorating crew was, but they have real talent. We should have hired them to decorate our houses for Christmas.”
“Ha ha,” I said and laid my head on his shoulder. The room was decked out in strings of large clear lights along the ceiling and smaller clear lights outlined the doorways and the stage. Greenery had been strung around the room with large red bows and glass ball ornaments hung at intervals. But the Christmas tree was the centerpiece as far as the decorations were concerned. It’s stately eight-feet height caught the eye as soon as you entered the room. The entire room was decorated nicely, with small Halloween decorations placed strategically. It was Christmas in Pumpkin Hollow.
I had to keep myself from looking at the bottom of the stairway and in my mind seeing either Ellie or Josh splayed on the floor. People moved about the room, giving the foot of the stairs a wide berth and speaking in whispers as they tilted their heads together. It probably would have been a better idea to change venues for the play, but in the end, it was decided to keep it here. As soon as the play began, I was sure people would forget about the deaths, at least temporarily.
“Hi Mia, hi Ethan,” someone said from behind us.
I sat up and turned around and saw Amanda and Brian. They came around and sat in the two chairs directly in front of us. “Hi guys,” I said. “I’m glad you both could make it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Amanda said. She looked around the room and then back to me. “Christy didn’t come?”
I shook my head. “She wasn’t feeling up to it.”
“I guess I don’t blame her,” she said. “I hate to see her so unhappy.”
“Me too,” I said.
“We invited her to come along with us, but she decided against it,” Ethan added.
“Ethan, how are things going with the murder cases?” Brian asked, lowering his voice.
“As well as can be expected I guess,” Ethan said. “I’m hoping we’ll get a break in the cases any day now.”
Brian nodded and looked around to see if anyone was standing nearby. “I knew Josh from when I hired him to build some new shelves in our stockroom. He was kind of odd, if you want to know the truth. He talked to himself a lot.”
“Maybe he liked his own company,” I said and chuckled.
“Maybe,” Brian said. “But when he was there, he told me his business partner was cheating him.”
“Who was his business partner?” Ethan asked.
“Chris Adams,” Brian said.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I wasn’t aware that he had a business partner. I know Chris helped out sometimes when some of the jobs Josh had were too big for him to work alone, but I’ve never heard that they were business partners.”
Brian shrugged. “He told me Chris was his business partner. He said they would bid on jobs together and then split the work and the pay. He said sometimes he would do an entire job by himself and sometimes Chris would do the same. Somehow they made it all even out with the workload and the payments.”
“Did he say how his business partner was screwing him over?” Ethan asked.
“He said Chris was under-bidding on jobs and then taking them for himself without talking to Josh first. Seems he thought he was taking the best jobs for himself and keeping the money.”
“Did he say if he intended to do something about it?” I asked.
“He said he was going to make Chris sorry he ever cheated him,” Brian said.
I took a deep breath. Neither Josh nor Chris had mentioned they were b
usiness partners. Maybe that was because the partnership had already dissolved. And maybe Josh had confronted Chris and Chris got angry and that was how Josh had ended up dead.
“That’s something I just might have to bring up to Chris,” Ethan said thoughtfully. “Seems like he’d at least mention the fact that they were business partners.”
“Couldn’t hurt to say something,” Brian agreed. “Maybe Josh confronted Chris and Chris didn’t take too kindly to it.”
“You read my mind,” I said to Brian.
Ethan nodded. “Could be. Things could have gone bad very quickly if Josh confronted Chris. I still have more interviews to do and I think Chris will be at the top of the list.”
I liked Chris and I hoped he hadn’t killed anyone. But whoever had done it needed to be off the street as soon as possible.
I turned to Amanda. “Amanda, what do you think about having your wedding reception here in the ballroom?” I asked her. “Of course, you may not want to now that there have been a couple of deaths here.”
She chuckled. “Well, this is Pumpkin Hollow. I suppose we could have a Halloween themed wedding and the murders could be a highlight of the main event.”
Brian groaned. “No. No to a Halloween themed wedding, and no to highlighting the fact that there have been two murders at our reception site. I’d never live that down with some of my extended family.”
“You’re no fun Brian,” Ethan said and chuckled. “You could charge an entrance fee and advertise, and you could raise money for your honeymoon.”
“How about I let you and Mia do that for your wedding,” Brian said with both eyebrows raised.
I smiled and looked away. It was too early to be thinking about a wedding. Sure, once or twice my mind had wandered to that sort of thing, but neither of us was ready. I was just happy dating Ethan.
“Well maybe someday we’ll have to think about that,” Ethan said, grinning and looking at me.
“Amanda, what color scheme have you decided on for the wedding?” I asked, changing the subject.
She chuckled. “If we were having a fall themed wedding, I was seriously thinking about using the colors orange, red, and yellow. I know, I know. It sounds terrible, but I saw some beautiful bridesmaids dresses in the same color palette and I really thought they were pretty.”
“I think if the colors were done right, it could be pretty,” I said thinking about this. I hadn’t been in a wedding in over three years and I was kind of looking forward to it. Sure, most women don’t enjoy being maid of honor or a bridesmaid, but I liked seeing my friends happy. Being able to join in with them on that happiness was special.
“Since we’re having the wedding in June, I’m thinking about green. A nice sage green. It might look nice with just a few accents of yellow in the same shade,” Amanda said. “I’ve always been partial to green and yellow.”
“That would be pretty, I can totally see that color scheme. You could do a lot with those colors,” I said. I laid my head back on Ethan’s shoulder. I couldn’t remember when the last time was that I was this happy. “Is this going to be a formal affair?”
She nodded. “Brian will have to take the guys to get fitted for tuxes. And I need to get an appointment set up to look at wedding gowns. I can hardly believe I’m going to get to pick out my wedding dress.” Her eyes lit up when she said it.
“Remember when we used to pretend to be brides?” I said.
She nodded. “I was going to marry Jimmy Johnston in the second grade, if you’ll recall.”
I made a face. “How could you have fallen for someone like him? He picked his nose.”
We all laughed. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Thank goodness my taste has improved,” she said and gave Brian a quick kiss.
I had dated Brian in high school, and he was a really nice guy. Things hadn’t worked out between us, and I was glad that Amanda had found the love of her life in him.
“Would you ladies like some punch?” Ethan asked.
“Yes,” I said nodding.
“Brian let’s go get the ladies some punch,” he said, and the two of them headed over to the table that held one of the large punch bowls.
“So Mia,” Amanda said when they were out of earshot. “Do you think you and Ethan might get married at some point? I know it’s early, but you guys are so cute together and you both seem so incredibly happy.”
I smiled. “I really am trying not to think about it very much, but you’re right. I’ve never been happier in my life.”
“That’s good enough for me,” she said. “Maybe Ethan being a groomsman in our wedding will put the idea in his head. And maybe we’ll be celebrating your wedding next.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and couldn’t keep myself from grinning. “I guess you never know, but really, I don’t want to get my hopes up yet. It’s way too early in the relationship. I don’t even want to think about getting married yet.”
She nodded. “I hope Christy and her husband can somehow stay together,” she said, sounding serious now. “She deserves better than being dumped right before Christmas. She deserves someone that appreciates how wonderful she is.”
“You can say that again,” I agreed.
My little sister was going through a tough time in her life, and although I hoped she and John could patch things up, the more I thought about it, the more I agreed that she deserved someone that would love her the way she wanted. All I could do was be there for her if she needed a shoulder to cry on.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“How was the play?” Christy asked me as I brought out another tray of candy to put into the display case. Mom had made handmade candy canes. Some were red and white striped, and some were red, white, and green striped. She had made small elves, reindeer, and holly trimmed jack-o’-lanterns out of royal icing and stuck them onto some of the candy canes. They were the cutest things I’d ever seen.
“It was really good,” I said, carefully laying the candy canes on another tray in the display case. “Darrel Jacks was hysterical as the ghost of Christmas past. I don’t think it was supposed to be a comedy, but you know Darrel, he sometimes bumbles into things.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she said as she wiped down the front counter. “I’m glad you all had fun.”
“I wish you had come along,” I said to her. “I think you would have enjoyed it.”
“I’m sure I’ll be more in the mood to do things like that next year,” she said. Her voice trembled on the words ‘next year’.
“Is there any chance you and John are going to get back together?” I asked gently.
She shook her head. “He really doesn’t want to. And after some deep soul-searching, I have to wonder, why would I want to be with someone who doesn’t want me? There has to be somebody else out there for me, right?”
I could tell she was trying to keep from breaking down, but I really believed that was true. “That’s exactly right. You are going to find someone that is perfect for you. Someone that appreciates you and cherishes you.”
She looked at me and burst into tears. I set the tray down and quickly went to the other side of the counter and gave her a hug. “I promise you, Christy,” I whispered. “Somebody is going to come along, and they are going to love you like no one has ever loved you before.”
She nodded her head and as quickly as the tears began, they stopped. She pulled back and looked at me and smiled. “That’s exactly right. In fact, that’s going to be my focus next year. As soon as the divorce goes through, I’m going to work on myself and believe that a true love will come along. I mean, you can’t force it right? But someone will come along eventually.”
I nodded. “Someone is going to come along. You can bet on it.”
She nodded again and went over to the shelves and began straightening them and taking stock of what was needed to refill them.
The door opened and Chris Adams walked in. He stopped and looked at me with a smile. “Hi Mia,” he said and looked over at Christy.
“Hi Christy. How are you ladies today?”
“We’re doing just fine,” I said. “How are you doing, Chris?” The conversation with Brian and Amanda flashed through my mind. I smiled to hide my suspicion.
“I’m doing well. Christmas will be here pretty soon, huh?” He glanced around the store uneasily.
“Sure will,” I agreed and went around to the other side of the counter. “Have you got your Christmas shopping done?”
“I guess as much as I’m going to do,” he said, turning back to me and nodding. “Mia, does Ethan have any idea what happened to Josh Tate yet?”
“Not yet, he’s still investigating.” I put the last candy cane into the display case and closed the door.
“It’s really a shock that he died the same way Ellie did,” he said stepping closer and putting both hands on the front counter. “I guess the obvious is that whoever killed Ellie, killed Josh. I don’t know what this town is coming to.”
“I agree with you on that,” I said, nodding. I hadn’t seen Chris in the shop for weeks and I didn’t think it was a coincidence he was in here now. “I don’t know what this town is coming to, either.” I hoped he would keep talking and let something slip.
He was quiet a moment. “Well, I probably already told you this, but Ethan really needs to take a good look at Laura,” he whispered. “I know, she’s a harmless old woman in some people’s eyes, but she just might surprise you if you really knew her.”
My eyes went to his. Was he lying? “What do you mean by that?”
He shrugged. “Like I said before, when Ellie and I were married and Laura lived with us, she would try to get me to go out with her. The truth is, she was envious of our marriage. She was also jealous of Shelly because she never had any children of her own.”
“But why would she kill both Ellie and Josh? I mean, what’s the connection?” While I agreed that the killer had to be the same person, I couldn’t see how Laura could be that person. Even if she hadn’t gotten along with her sister, why would she have killed Josh?
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