“That’s odd,” he said. “But, I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles.” He grinned.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re such a comedian. And it’s funny because Chrissy said the exact same thing yesterday.”
“Great minds think alike I guess,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Smarty. Don’t you have some investigating to do?”
“That I do.”
I sighed. I didn’t know who would want to kill Chrissy Jones, but I was going to find out.
Chapter Four
By eight o’clock my toes were nearly frozen solid, to say nothing of the tip of my nose feeling like if I touched it, it would snap right off my face. Cade insisted one of the uniformed police officers take me home, and as much as I hated to leave him out in the cold while I went home and enjoyed a nice warm fire, I finally agreed. I didn’t think I’d like going through life missing my nose or any of my toes.
I knew Stormy was waiting to hear from me. I had to give her credit for being patient and not texting me to find out what was going on. I had the uniformed officer drop me off at her house so I could fill her in on what little I knew.
Stormy opened the door and looked at me wide-eyed. “I was wondering where you were!” she said, stepping back so I could come inside.
The warmth of the house made me groan with delight. I made a beeline over to the fireplace and slipped the gloves off my hands so nothing blocked the heat from getting to them. “This feels so good. You have no idea,” I said.
“So what happened? Tell me what’s going on,” Stormy said, following me over to the fireplace.
“It was Chrissy.”
“Hi Bob,” I said to my brother-in-law.
“Hey, Rainey. Sorry to hear someone died tonight,” he said, laying down the newspaper he had been reading.
“It’s a terrible shame,” I said.
“Aunt Rainey,” Natalie said coming in from the kitchen. “It was Chrissy? What happened to her?”
I groaned again from the delicious warmth of the fireplace. “I really don’t have any idea yet. All I know is Chrissy had a head wound and someone put her under the table.”
“What’s going on in here?” Mom said, coming in from the kitchen with a cup of cocoa in her hand. “What happened to Chrissy Jones?”
“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Did you think I was just going to go home and go to bed? I knew you’d tell Stormy what’s going on, and I want to know too. Now spill it.”
“Like I just said, Chrissy Jones is dead. She had a head wound and I don’t know anything else.”
“How sad,” Natalie said staring into the fire. “I wonder what happened to her?”
“It’s too early to know anything, but Cade will figure it out,” I said. “It’s weird. She just won the gingerbread decorating contest yesterday and now she’s dead.”
“What’s weird about that?” Mom asked. “Is there a rule that you can’t be murdered the day after you win a gingerbread house decorating contest?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just because we saw her and talked to her yesterday, and now she’s gone. It just feels like a shock is all.”
“You don’t expect people you know to be murdered,” Bob said.
“Maybe she fell and hit her head on the ice? Or concrete?” Mom suggested. “Did you think of that? The sidewalks have been icy and slippery.”
“And then she just happened to roll beneath the table that the winning gingerbread houses were on?” I asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice and failing.
“I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen, Mom,” Stormy said, sounding uncharacteristically sarcastic. Sarcasm was my forte, not Stormy’s. “Did Cade say anything about what he thinks happened?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure it’ll be a day or two before he knows anything for certain. He was still waiting on the coroner to come and pick up her body. It’s freezing out there. I hated to leave him in the cold like that.”
“It seems weird that somebody I was best friends with for so many years is dead,” Natalie said still staring into the fireplace. Her lips formed a hard line, and she sighed heavily.
“You can say that again,” Stormy said. “We used to do so many fun things with her and her parents. I feel terrible for Carol and Roger. I just can’t imagine losing a child.”
“You know what’s weird?” Natalie asked, looking at me now.
“What?” I asked.
“It was really weird that she and Jenna Dennison were partners for the gingerbread contest. They hated each other in school. I mean, really hated each other. When I saw them together, I just couldn’t understand it.”
“Define hated each other,” I said.
“When Chrissy and I split up, the two of them became best friends, but that only lasted about a year. When Jenna stole Chrissy’s boyfriend in the eighth grade, it was all out war after that. They were always fighting. They hated each other. Chrissy kept spreading rumors about Jenna, but Jenna really wasn’t any better. She sabotaged Chrissy’s science project one year by writing something ugly on the poster board she was using for her presentation.”
That made me think about our broken gingerbread house. “Did you ever have problems with Jenna?”
Natalie shook her head. “We hung around together for a while, but it wasn’t long. She was nice. I always figured it was Chrissy causing all the trouble between them.” She shrugged. “And maybe it was.”
I nodded, taking this in. “Do you know for sure that she was the one that sabotaged Chrissy’s science project?”
She nodded. “She tried to get me to help her, but I told her I didn’t want any trouble.”
“Oh the drama of teenage girls,” Mom said. “It seems like you all are always having issues.” Mom was one to talk. She owned a flower shop and she’d had her own drama with other business owners from time to time.
“Not me,” Natalie said. “I always tried to stay away from girls that caused a lot of drama. That made it easy not to be friends with Chrissy because she was one of the biggest drama queens in the school.”
“Did Chrissy ever want to be friends with you again?” I asked.
She nodded and smiled. “She did. I guess it was a slap in the face when I told her I wasn’t interested. Like I said, I tried to stay away from drama queens.”
“I know you’ve always tried to avoid that kind of trouble,” Stormy said putting an arm around Natalie’s shoulders. “I’m sure Cade will get it sorted out and arrest her killer.”
Chrissy had had issues with a former murder victim, Pamela North, several months earlier. When I had asked around about Pamela’s death, Chrissy had been at the top of my list of possible suspects for a while. At the time it seemed that Pamela might have caused all the trouble between the two of them, but now I wondered. Both Pamela and Chrissy had been beauty pageant contestants, and they both lived up to their reputations as drama queens.
“I know it was hard on you at first when she broke off your friendship,” I said to Natalie.
She looked at me and shook her head. “I don’t have any regrets. After what Chrissy did to me, I haven’t had any feelings about her for years.”
“What exactly did she do?” Mom asked and took a sip of her cocoa.
Natalie looked away. “I’d rather not say.”
“That’s okay, Natalie,” I said. “You don’t need to say what it was. Sometimes things just don’t work out. And I’m sure with all the prepubescent hormones going on at the time, and with Chrissy and her beauty queen stuff, you were better off without her.”
She nodded and went back to staring at the fire. She may have said it didn’t bother her that Chrissy was dead, but I had a hunch that wasn’t the full truth.
“I probably should drop in on Chrissy’s parents in the next couple of days and pay my respects,” Stormy said. “It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t. We were close at one time. Bob, can you go with me?”
“I wish I could, but I’ve got meetings all this week,” he said.
“I can go with you if you want me to,” I offered.
“That would be nice. I feel bad that I haven’t had much contact with Carol since the girls stopped being friends. I guess I dropped my friendship with her and Roger when the girls dropped theirs, if that makes any sense.”
“I can understand that,” I said. “If I remember right, things were kind of crazy back then. All of that junior high school excitement.”
Carol Jones had been a nice person. I hadn’t known her quite as well as Stormy had, but I could see why the friendship had ended if the girls couldn’t get along anymore.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and fumbled with it. My fingers were still a little stiff from the cold. It was wishful thinking hoping Cade would text me. He would be busy for the rest of the night. I slipped my phone back into my pocket. “Do you have any snacks, Stormy?” All of a sudden I felt like I could eat a horse.
“I’ve got some chocolate chip cookies and some cocoa,” she said and led the way to the kitchen.
“Aunt Rainey!” My niece Bonney said, running to me. I turned around and caught her up in a hug.
“How are you doing, Bonney?” She was dressed in red onesie pajamas and looked like she had slipped out of bed.
“Good,” she said taking hold of my hand. “Your hands are cold, and I want a chocolate chip cookie.”
“I knew you had ulterior motives for getting out of bed,” I said and laughed.
It was a shame that Chrissy Jones had died, and even worse that it was so close to Christmas. I knew Cade would do everything he could to find her killer as quickly as he could, but it would ruin the holiday for her family for the remainder of their lives.
Chapter Five
I stopped by Stormy’s house the following afternoon. We had planned on driving over to see Chrissy’s parents, Carol and Roger Jones, and offer our condolences. I had baked a white chocolate Christmas torte to take to them.
Natalie opened the door and gave me a smile. “Hi Aunt Rainey,” she said.
“Hi Natalie,” I said, stepping into the warm house. We hadn’t gotten any more snow, but the temperatures had dropped overnight and I was feeling the chill. I followed Natalie into the living room where the fireplace was crackling. “Are you and your mom ready to go see Chrissy’s parents?”
She turned to look at me. “No, I’m not going with you and Mom.”
That surprised me. “You’re not?”
She shook her head. “I just can’t. I don’t think it would be appropriate.”
I looked at Natalie for a moment. She fidgeted and looked away.
“Are you sure? I know it’s been years since you and Chrissy were friends, but Carol and Roger were always sweet people.”
Her eyes met mine. She shook her head and looked away. “I would rather not.”
“Hi Rainey,” Stormy said, walking into the living room. “I guess I’m ready to go see Carol and Roger.”
“Natalie said she isn’t going with us,” I said to her.
Stormy shrugged. “That’s what she told me earlier. Why don’t we get going?”
“You’re sure, Natalie?” I asked before we headed out.
“I’m sure. I think it’s better that I don’t.” She sat on the couch and turned the television on.
I hesitated, then followed Stormy out of the house. There was no use arguing with her if she really didn’t want to go. When the front door was closed behind us, I turned to look at Stormy. “How has she been doing?”
Stormy shrugged. “She doesn’t really want to talk about it. To be honest, I just think it’s been a terrible shock to her. Even though they hadn’t been chummy in forever, I’ve always felt she still had feelings for her old friend. I think there were times that she just missed her. They were so tight at one time.”
“I guess that makes sense,” I said, getting into my car. “When you’re young, it’s always a shock to know somebody that suddenly dies. And since this is a murder, I think that makes it more shocking.”
***
Carol and Roger lived in a newer home on the south side of town. I sighed as I parked my car and looked at the house. There was a snowman on the front lawn and Christmas lights along the edge of the roof. Two large Christmas wreaths brightened the double front doors and colored lights lined the front windows. A couple of pine trees in the front yard had lights strung on them and a small nativity scene sat on the corner of the front porch. It was simple and understated. “Well, I guess we may as well go in,” I said after a few moments and got out of the car.
I reached into the back seat and got the Christmas torte and we headed up the driveway. Stormy rang the doorbell and we waited.
“Oh,” Carol Jones said when she answered the door. “Stormy, Rainey. I wasn’t expecting you.” Her eyes went to the bakery box in my hands and she forced herself to smile.
I suddenly felt awkward. I hadn’t expected her to be overjoyed at seeing us, but I wasn’t expecting her to be so detached toward us.
“Carol,” Stormy said, “we’re so sorry to hear about Chrissy. We just wanted to stop by and offer our condolences.”
She nodded. “Of course,” she said and stepped back. “Won’t you come in for a moment?” We followed her into the living room and she motioned for us to have a seat. “I can’t visit long. We’ve got arrangements to make.”
I nodded and tried not to glance at Stormy. “We won’t keep you long. I made a white chocolate Christmas torte,” I said holding the box out to her.
“That was so sweet of you,” she said, taking the box from me. “Let me put this in the kitchen.”
I glanced at Stormy and she gave me a slight shrug. We hadn’t meant to make Carol uncomfortable. In her absence, we looked around the room. There were pictures of Chrissy on the walls, the piano, and the coffee table. The pictures went from when she was a baby to more recent photos as she posed in her pageant dresses. Chrissy had been an only child, and I knew that would make the loss felt more keenly. Not that it would have mattered if there were ten other children, but it might make life a little bleaker without another child to fill the hole Chrissy had undeniably left.
“It was kind of you both to think of us,” Carol said coming back into the room and sitting on the sofa across from us. “I don’t know what Roger and I are going to do.” She seemed to have relaxed and when she looked up at us, there were tears in her eyes.
“Carol, I just can’t tell you how sorry I am. I can’t imagine what the two of you are going through,” Stormy said.
“It’s terrible,” I echoed. “I’m so sorry.”
She nodded. “Thank you,” she said, sounding more like the old Carol we used to know. “I’m afraid we’re still in shock. Roger hasn’t come out of our bedroom since we heard. I don’t know what we’re going to do without our Chrissy.”
“I wish there was something we could say or do that would make things at least a little easier, but I know there isn’t anything that will help,” I said.
She nodded. “What I don’t understand is how someone could do something so terrible. Chrissy was the sweetest girl. But I guess I don’t need to tell the two of you that, do I? You remember her and what a wonderful little girl she was, don’t you?” She looked at us imploringly.
We both nodded. “She really was a sweet girl,” Stormy said.
And she really had been when she was very young. There was no sense in bringing up how nasty she had been when she decided she didn’t want to be Natalie’s friend anymore. Right now, Chrissy’s mother was suffering from the loss of her only child and I wasn’t going to cause her more pain.
“I was so proud of her when she called me and said she won the gingerbread decorating contest. She was practically giddy when she came home and showed me the trophy. I didn’t think Chrissy had any baking ability, but I guess I was wrong. Her partner Jenna did the decorating, but Chrissy did the baking. Did you see it?”
She nodded and bit her lip. “So Natalie was in the contest?”
I nodded. “Yes, she was. She did the decorating for our team.”
She thought about this for a moment, then she looked at me. “Chrissy told me that Natalie hated her. She said when they were in the ninth grade Natalie tried to humiliate her in front of the whole class.”
Gingerbread and a Murder Page 3