I had a small roast that I put into the oven with some carrots and potatoes while I sulked. While dinner cooked, I went into the living room to pace. My curtains were open and I plugged in the Christmas tree lights. That at least cheered me up a little. Boo slept peacefully beneath the tree on the red velvet skirt. The Christmas village I had set up beneath the tree looked like it had been invaded by a monster cat.
A light snowfall began, and I hoped it got heavier so Ethan and I could finally build those snow people we had planned to make. My mind went over what I knew about Harper and Charlie while I waited for Ethan to get home. Charlie O’Rourke had reason to kill Ellie because she interfered in his life and refused to loan him money, but did he have a reason to kill Josh? Harper had said Josh had told Charlie’s wife he was running around on her. But was that enough reason to resort to murder?
And what about Harper? Several people had brought her name up, and even though she had been doing a good job cleaning the candy store and I really liked her, Laura had said she saw her and Josh arguing behind the grocery store. And then there were the texts Emily had found on Josh’s phone and what Laura had told her about Josh cheating with Harper. These things made me wonder. I stood at the window and watched the snow fall as Boo wrapped himself around my legs. Chuckling, I bent over and scratched his head and then his shoulders. He looked up at me and meowed. “Your life is so easy, Boo. You take naps and when you wake up, someone rubs your shoulders. You don’t have to worry about who killed anyone.”
I heard Ethan’s truck pull into his driveway across the street and I straightened up and went to the door. “You stay inside, Boo,” I said as I walked out onto my front step. When Ethan got out of his truck, he turned and waved at me.
“Are you hungry?” I called to him. The snow was coming down a little harder now. I loved living where it snowed until about Christmas time. After that, I was done with it. Unfortunately, the snow wasn’t done with Pumpkin Hollow until several months later.
“When am I not hungry?” he asked and chuckled.
“Well, come on over then. I’ve got a roast in the oven, with some carrots and potatoes on the side.”
He trotted across the street, and when he got to me, he gave me a quick kiss. “I thought you’d never ask. I’m starving.”
“You’re starving? Good. Because I have the remedy for that.” I gave him a tired smile. “We need to talk.” I turned and led him into the house.
“Uh oh,” he said, following behind me. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
I took him by the hand and we sat down on the couch. “What do you know so far about the murders?”
“We got the medical examiner’s report. Josh was hit on the back of the head with a blunt object and then took a tumble down the stairs. That’s why there was blood on the floor beneath his head. Why?”
I thought a moment. “There’s no way he could have gotten that injury from the fall down the stairs?”
“The medical examiner said that because of where the wound was on his head, and the size of it, it looks like someone hit him. Why? What’s going on?”
I looked at him. “Is there any chance that Laura killed both of them? Would she have enough strength to hit Josh in the back of the head? If she slipped up on him from behind?”
His forehead furrowed in thought. “I really don’t think so. For a while, it looked like she may have killed Ellie, and I suppose there’s a slight possibility she could have come up behind Josh and hit him in the head. But I think it’s a very slight possibility. But from the report, it looks like the killer would have needed a lot more strength than Laura has in order to kill him. I also think it was someone taller than Laura.” He waited for me to continue.
I groaned. “I went over and talked to Laura this afternoon. I asked her if she killed her sister.” I didn’t look at him when I said it.
“You asked her that? Why?”
I turned and looked at him now. There was surprise in his eyes. “Because Chris came into the candy store earlier and he told me some things about her that really sounded convincing. It’s not like I intended to ask her the question, but somehow it just kind of came out of my mouth.” I looked at him sheepishly.
“What did she say to that?” he asked.
I shrugged. “She thought it was ridiculous. And I’m sure I hurt her feelings.”
“I can see where she would get her feelings hurt,” he said. “I’m surprised she wasn’t angry.”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t angry,” I admitted. “She did point out something about Chris, though. Brian told us about he and Josh being in business together, and Laura said they had invested money in a lot of material to do construction projects. She said Chris thinks Josh robbed the building they had it stored in.”
“Why would Josh rob the building they had it stored in?” he asked. “Insurance money?”
“That and maybe he sold the material. She also said Chris is still on Ellie’s life insurance policy. So between the two reasons—he was trying to get back at Josh, and he has the insurance money from Ellie’s death to start his own business—she thinks Chris killed them both.”
“And did he file a police report on the break-in?”
I nodded. “Yes. I’m sure Laura wouldn’t make that up. She knows you’ll look for the police report. She also said something odd,” I said turning to look at him.
“What?” he asked skeptically. “Can things really get any weirder with what Laura has to say?”
“It certainly can,” I said. “She said Chris was jealous of Josh because he was younger and was just starting his family. She thought Chris had a thing for Josh’s wife, Emily, and that it wouldn’t surprise her if in a few months we find Chris and Emily together, with Chris raising Josh’s baby. Apparently, Chris was depressed over his divorce and the fact that his own daughter was grown and living her own life.”
He chuckled. “I can certainly get a copy of the police report if one was filed. But it’s hard for me to believe Chris would kill Josh so he could take his place in Emily’s and the new baby’s life. But if it’s true about the storage shed being robbed, and he thought Josh did it, it might give him enough reason to kill him.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” I said, and got to my feet. “Let me check on the roast.” I could smell the wonderful scent of the roast cooking, but I didn’t think it would be ready yet.
He followed me into the kitchen, picked up Boo, and rubbed his head. “I’m sure there will be a break in the case any day now. We’ll have the killer behind bars before long.”
“I hope so. I feel like a fool for asking Laura if she killed her sister,” I said, opening the oven door and sticking a meat thermometer into the roast.
“That sure smells good,” he said. “I’ll be glad when we arrest the killer. I feel like I’ve got this thing hanging over my head, and I’m not sleeping very well at night.”
I turned to look at him. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “I hope you do find the killer soon.”
“Something will break,” he said, sounding confident. I wanted to ask him what that something was, but I thought that if he wasn’t volunteering the information, then he probably didn’t want me to ask.
“I think I’m going to make some baked apples for dessert,” I said and picked up four Granny Smith apples from my fruit bowl. “I forgot to tell you, I bought your Christmas present.”
“Oh? Well I’ll have you know that I got yours, too,” he said and grinned.
“What did you get me?” I asked turning to him.
“There’s absolutely zero chance of getting me to give you even a tiny hint,” he said and ruffled Boo’s fur. “If the snow keeps up, we can build those snow people.”
“Yes, we can,” I said and got the vegetable peeler out of the drawer. “What are the chances we can build a snow kitty, too?”
“I think the chances are pretty darn good,” he said and chuckled. “What do you think Boo? Would you like a snow kitty in
the front yard?”
Boo responded by rubbing his head against Ethan’s chest. “I think that’s a yes,” I said.
“I think you might be right,” Ethan agreed.
I hoped Laura would forgive me for asking her if she had killed her sister. But even more, I hoped Ethan could find the killer and put them behind bars before they killed anyone else. Christmas wasn’t going to be so merry for a lot of people in Pumpkin Hollow this year.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
It was December twentieth, and we had taken our last Internet order to be shipped to arrive in time for Christmas. The whole candy store crew had been packing candy as fast as we could for weeks now. Mom, as always, was our primary candy maker, with the rest of us assisting her in between packing and shipping orders. It had been an exhausting season, and I had begun to wonder if the Internet business was a good idea. The expansion was good for us, of course, but we hadn’t expected it to take off so quickly. Valentine’s Day would be our next major candy buying holiday and I fully intended to hire, at the minimum, two temporary workers to help out. We would run ourselves ragged if we tried to take on Valentine’s Day by ourselves.
“That should do it,” I said as I printed up a shipping label.
“Oh Mia,” Mom said. “I forgot to tell you, we got in four more orders for fudge. The last of it is cooling and setting right now. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier, but I’ve felt so frazzled lately that I forgot.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out through my mouth. My feet were aching, and all I wanted to do was go home and put my feet up and watch television. “That’s okay,” I said, instead of whining like I wanted to. “As soon as it’s ready, I’ll get it packed up and drop it off at the post office first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks, dear. I almost emailed the customers back and told them they hadn’t gotten the order in on time, but two of them are going to addresses here in California, one is going to Idaho, and one is for Washington state. I don’t think there will be any problem getting the packages to them before Christmas.”
“They should be there in time,” I agreed. “I am so ready to take some time off though.”
We had decided to take off the day after Christmas in addition to Christmas Day. We were going to close the shop up and I could hardly wait. Working a retail store during the holidays was exhausting.
“Hi everyone,” Lisa said, coming through the front door. “It’s almost Christmas!” She laughed giddily. “I’ve been bugging my mom for days now, telling her it’s almost Christmas every time she turns around. She’s going to have a fit any minute now!”
I chuckled. Lisa was still in high school and worked evenings and weekends on a very part-time basis. I wished I had the exuberance of a teenager like Lisa had. The girl could run circles around me most days. “Thank goodness it’s almost Christmas.”
“Hi Lisa,” Mom said. “Honey, can you come back and help me by washing the mixing bowls I’ve been using this afternoon? I meant to stop and wash them in between batches of candy, but there’s just too much to do today.”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Jordan,” Lisa said, putting on an apron. “I’ll get those washed right up for you so you can get them dirty all over again.”
“Oh, you,” Mom said and chuckled, following her back into the kitchen.
The bell over the door rang, and I looked up as Linda Reid walk through it. She stopped and grinned at me. “Well, Mia,” she said. “How are you doing today?”
I forced myself to smile. I was really too tired to do even that much, but it was Christmas. How could I not? “I’m doing great, Linda,” I said. “Have you got all your Christmas shopping done?”
She nodded. “I’ve got it all done. Except of course, for some Christmas candy. That’s why I stopped by. I’m having the family in from out of town. I intended to make my own, but then I got behind with all the festivities and decided, why not let your mom make it for me?” She laughed. “I do love your mother’s fudge.”
“It is good, isn’t it?” I asked. I had never tasted fudge that was better than my mother’s. I didn’t mind agreeing with people when they complemented it, because it was true.
“Let’s see now,” she said, looking into the display case. “I’ll take a pound of the eggnog, a pound of the peppermint fudge, and let’s see, how about half a pound of peanut butter fudge?”
“That’s a lot of fudge,” I said and grinned. “I hope your relatives like fudge.“
“You better believe they do,” she said. “Every time they come to visit, they want to know if I’ve got any Pumpkin Hollow fudge. That’s what they call it. Doesn’t matter what flavor, they love it all. So do I.”
I opened the back of the display case and removed the trays of fudge. When I removed the peppermint fudge, I realized there wasn’t a pound of it left. “Let me go to the back and see if Mom has more peppermint fudge. I don’t think there’s enough here.”
“Okay dear, I’ll take a look at the rest of the candy you have. I’m sure I can find something else I need,” she said.
I headed back to the kitchen, stopping at the door. “Mom, do we have more peppermint fudge? Linda Reid wants a pound of it, but it looks like there’s just over a half pound left in the display case.”
“Oh dear,” she said looking at the fudge that was sitting on the cooling rack. “I thought there was more out in the display case. The peppermint fudge I’ve got back here is for those orders I mentioned. Well, I tell you what, you go ahead and take one of these pans and put it out in the display case. I’ll just make a fresh batch of peppermint fudge to be mailed out.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said and picked up a tray of peppermint fudge and headed back out front with it. “You’re in luck, Linda. Mom just made a fresh batch and you’re going to get a whole pound of it.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she said, stepping back up to the counter. “Look what I found. A chocolate orange, peppermint goblins, and handmade taffy. My poor relatives are going to go home with a whole lot of cavities this season.” She laughed and set the candy on the counter.
I grinned. “What a better way to celebrate the holidays than with cavities?”
“If they don’t want cavities, they’ll just have to leave it all for me,” she said and laughed again. “I’ve got excellent teeth.”
I weighed out a pound of the peppermint fudge for her and then got the other two flavors she had asked for. “Will this do it for you?”
She pointed at the handmade candy canes in the display case. “How about six of the candy canes? My grandkids need them. They’re just too cute not to buy each of them one. I probably should stop while I’m ahead, but your mother makes such wonderful candy that I can’t,” she said.
“You got it,” I said.
As I wrapped her fudge, she looked at me hesitantly. “Mia, has Ethan figured out who killed Ellie and that man? I can’t remember his name.”
“Josh Tate. Ethan hasn’t caught the killer yet, but he’s working on it night and day,” I said as I began ringing up her purchases.
“It sure is a shame that someone killed them so close to Christmas,” she said, nodding. “Of course, it’s a shame that anybody is murdered any time of year.”
“You can say that again,” I said. I began putting the fudge into two large paper bags. I put the candy canes in another bag so they wouldn’t get broken by the weight of the fudge.
“Well I hate to say anything,” she said, looking over her shoulder. There were two other customers in the shop, but they were busy looking over the prepackaged candy on the shelves on the far wall. “But I have an intuition that the killer will strike again if she isn’t caught.”
I paused. “Why do you say ‘she’?” I asked. Linda liked to think she had a ‘touch of the intuition’, while I didn’t know if that was true or not, if there was the possibility that she knew something that would help with the cases, I was all ears.
“She?” she asked me, looking puzzled.
I nodded. “You just said the killer will strike again if she isn’t caught.”
She waved away the statement. “I didn’t mean to say that. I have no idea who the killer is. I just mean I have a bad feeling that they’ll kill again if they aren’t stopped. Maybe some people would say its obvious someone might kill again when they’ve already done it twice, but I tell you, I have a bad feeling about this.”
I nodded. “I’m sure Ethan and the other police officers will find the killer soon,” I assured her. I didn’t want her to spread around what her intuition was telling her. There was enough fear and speculation going around as it was.
She ran her debit card through the card reader, and I handed her the bags. “You have a merry Christmas Linda, if I don’t see you before then.”
“Oh Mia, you have a merry Christmas, too. And tell your mother and sister, your father and Ethan, to have a merry Christmas. I think I got everyone.”
“I will,” I said and watched as she left the shop.
Mom walked out of the kitchen looking puzzled.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“The craziest thing just happened,” she said looking at me. “I went to the storeroom to get the ingredients to make some more fudge, and we’re almost out of evaporated milk. And I swore I had three fifty-pound bags of sugar in there, but there’s only one left. That doesn’t make sense.”
“When we got our last delivery, we got three hundred pounds of sugar,” I said. “And I thought we had more than two dozen cans of evaporated milk left back there. How much did you use today?”
“I’ve probably used ten cans today. I thought there was more on another shelf,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m almost out of chocolate and peanut butter, too. I’ve got just enough ingredients to make the fudge that needs to be packed up tonight to be mailed out, but I won’t have enough to make fudge in the morning for the shop. I guess I’ll have to make a trip down to the grocery store this evening. I’m sure I wasn’t paying attention and used more than I thought I did.”
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