Gingerbread and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

  He nodded. “Yup, it was on the floor next to her. Why?”

  When my heart came back to life it slammed into my chest wall and I had to inhale deeply to get enough oxygen into my body.

  “No reason,” I said, trying to piece this together. There had to be a good explanation as to why it was at the crime scene. Our gingerbread house wasn’t on display so there was no need to bring the decorating kit to Santa’s workshop.

  His brow furrowed. “I’d say by the look on your face, there is a reason. What’s going on Rainey?” he asked. His eyes went to the bag and then back to me.

  I stared at him for a moment before speaking. “It’s Natalie’s.”

  Now both eyebrows shot up. “Natalie’s? Are you sure?”

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, she brought it to the gingerbread house competition. We were joking about it being so cute,” I said. “She decorated our gingerbread house with that kit.”

  He looked at it again. “Any idea why it would be near the body?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea. Maybe she loaned it to one of the winners in case they needed to touch up their gingerbread house.” I might have been grasping at straws once again, but I was going to grasp until I had a chance to speak to Natalie again.

  “I suppose that’s possible,” he said. “Do you know where Natalie bought hers from?”

  “She said it was from a cake decorating supplier online. She was so excited about us teaming up to compete in this competition that she bought a lot of new decorating tips and other supplies and then bought the floral canvas bag to put them in.” I pulled the bag to me and opened it, looking at the tips and other items in it. I couldn’t tell if it was all there, but it looked like it was. I sat back in my chair, trying to think.

  “Maybe you can ask to borrow her kit,” he suggested. “See if she still has it. It’s possible someone else had one just like it, isn’t it?”

  My eyes were on the bag on the desk in front of me. “No, not with that bag. I know that my niece did not kill anyone. She doesn’t have it in her.” I looked up at him.

  “Of course not,” he said. “Besides, maybe someone borrowed her kit and Natalie didn’t notice it went missing.”

  I looked at him. “That is an absolutely brilliant thought,” I said with relief. But Cade was a detective. He wasn’t going to let it go at that and I wouldn’t expect him to. If Natalie were missing her entire decorating kit, I was sure she would have mentioned it.

  He sighed. “Do you know where Natalie was the day Chrissy was murdered?”

  “She was at home,” I said. “And, she said she volunteered as Santa’s elf for a couple of hours that morning.” I hated to admit that she was anywhere near the murder scene, but I couldn’t lie about it.

  “And she has an alibi? Someone that will agree that she was home most of the day? I’m assuming Santa will vouch for her while she was there at the workshop?” He gave me a grin to try and make me feel better.

  “Stormy said she was home most of the day,” I said. I sighed. “Cade, this is making me sick. I went and spoke to Elaine Jeffers at Michelle’s dress shop today. She said Natalie and Chrissy had an argument a couple of days before the competition. Natalie admitted that she had words with Chrissy.”

  “I’m not going to ask if you think Natalie killed someone. You already said you don’t think she could. And honestly, I think I know Natalie well enough to know that she isn’t capable of murder. An argument doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

  I sat back in my chair. “I asked Natalie if anything happened between her and Chrissy,” I said. “She said she and Chrissy argued, but denied that anything significant happened. I know she has to be telling the truth. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

  He nodded. “I believe you.”

  “Then why do I feel so terrible about this whole thing? No, scared. I feel scared.” I looked at him, hoping for reassurance that my imagination was running away with me.

  “Someone is dead and somebody else pointed a finger at someone that you’re very close to,” he said mildly. “I think feeling a little worried is normal. Didn’t you tell me that she and Chrissy were friends when they were younger?”

  “Yes, they were best friends from the time they were toddlers until the seventh grade. But they had a big argument, and they ended their friendship.”

  “What was the argument over?” he asked me.

  “Natalie has never gone into a lot of detail, but she did say she was tired of being made to feel like she wasn’t as good as Chrissy. Chrissy thought she was better than other people. I think that might have come from being an only child. Her parents indulged her. I guess it just got to be too much for Natalie.”

  “How did Natalie feel when the friendship ended?” he asked me.

  I sighed. “It broke her heart. They had been so close for most of their lives and I think it came as a shock to her. But that was a long time ago. She’s been over it for years.”

  He nodded. “Natalie doesn’t seem the type to hold a grudge. I’ve always had the impression that she’s an even-tempered person.”

  “She really is. She has a lot of friends that care for her.” I brushed the hair out of my face and sat back in my chair. “You don’t suspect Natalie, do you?”

  He looked at me soberly. “I’m going to stop by and talk to her. But don’t think that means I’m suspicious of her or that I’m going to accuse her. I’d hate to see the two of you try to escape Sparrow and drive across the country. I don’t think you’d do well being on the lam.”

  I chuckled. Cade always knew how to make me feel better. “Can’t you just see it? If I thought for one minute you were going to arrest my niece, I’d steal her way and drive her to New York City where you’d never find us.”

  “You doubt my abilities as a detective? I bet I could track you down.” He eyed me.

  I considered this. “You could try, but you don’t know who you’re dealing with. A desperate aunt that’s protecting her niece will defeat a determined detective any day.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t think for a minute that I’d let you escape just because you’re cute.”

  “I’m banking on the fact that you’d let me escape just because I’m cute,” I said.

  He chuckled. “It’s early for dinner, but I only had time to eat a donut for lunch. Is it too early for you to eat?”

  I shook my head. “It’s never too early for me to eat. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”

  He got to his feet and tucked the decorating kit into a bottom desk drawer and locked it with a key. “Then let’s go get something to eat.”

  “I’d suggest the diner, but it’s closed. We need to find someplace that’s nice and warm and serves soup.” I said as we headed out the door of his office.

  “Soup?” he said closing the door behind him. “You want soup?”

  “I want something warm and filling,” I said. “Potato soup or clam chowder. Something hearty with some homemade bread.”

  I was glad Cade wasn’t seriously thinking that Natalie could be a murderer. If he had, I don’t know if our relationship could handle it. No, that wasn’t true. I was sure our relationship would be fine because there was no chance that Natalie had killed Chrissy Jones and he wouldn’t accuse anyone without evidence they had committed a crime.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The morning of Chrissy’s funeral was cold and overcast. It was a dreary day and in many ways, it was fitting. The little church was packed, and I squeezed into the back pew with Mom and Stormy. I wasn’t surprised at the size of the small crowd that had showed up; Chrissy’s family was one of the most prominent families in Sparrow. Her father was in real estate and her mother was manager of one of the banks in town. Chrissy had been featured in the newspaper on many occasions throughout her childhood because of the beauty pageants she had won. Sadly, she had been an only child which made her murder that much harder for her parents.

  I had hoped Natalie would come along with us
to the funeral, but she had refused. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. If, like she said, she was over their former friendship and break up, why didn’t she want to come to the funeral to pay her respects to Chrissy’s parents? It didn’t sit well with me. It seemed like the least she could do.

  “Do you see anybody suspicious?” Mom whispered, glancing around the room.

  “No, I doubt people are going to act suspicious at a funeral,” I said.

  “Murderers always give themselves away,” Mom said. “They’re just so suspicious looking. Pay attention.”

  “Well if that was true, then no one would get away with murder, would they?” I said, giving my mother the eye.

  She shrugged. “Fine. Have it your way. But I’m still looking for suspicious people.”

  I glanced over at Stormy sitting next to me. She had been quiet since I picked her up. “How are you doing, sis?”

  She turned and looked at me and I saw the tears that threatened to fall. “I just keep thinking, what if that were Natalie? I could never live through something like that.”

  I nodded. “I know what you mean. They may be your children, but those five little ones are the most important people in my life. And Cade, of course.”

  Mom reached across me and gave Stormy’s knee a squeeze. “We’ll all just be thankful that we still have one another.”

  I saw Cade slip into the back of the church and I nodded to him. He nodded back but made no effort to join us. I figured he would probably just stand in the back and watch the crowd. Chrissy’s death had been violent and ugly, and I knew he wanted to find the killer as soon as possible.

  I saw Carol’s shoulders shake as she dropped her head. Roger put his arm around her and whispered something to her. I took a deep breath. Christmas would never be the same for them. Life would never be the same for them.

  Jenna arrived, and I watched as she made her way down the aisle to pay her final respects. I thought it was odd, given what both she and Natalie had told me about their relationship. I watched her as she put both hands on the side of the casket and looked in at Chrissy. I couldn’t bear to go and look at Chrissy myself. I decided I was going to skip it this time around.

  “Is that the killer?” Mom whispered, leaning toward me.

  I turned to her and gave her a deadpan look. “Really, Mom?”

  She shrugged. “I’m just trying to help.”

  The pastor took the podium and began the service. I was going to figure out who killed Chrissy, if only to clear Natalie’s name. Not that Cade had indicated he thought she was a viable suspect, but I needed to clear my own mind of the things I had heard about her. I knew my niece. She was no killer. But I hated that anyone was even glancing in her direction when there was a murderer that needed to be caught.

  ***

  When the funeral was over, I had thought I would get a chance to speak to Cade, but he slipped out sometime during the service. I was disappointed. I thought we might get lunch and catch up on what we knew about the case. After dropping my mom and Stormy off at their homes, I thought about Santa’s workshop and how someone had to have a key. If no one had seen what happened that meant that whoever had a key would at least be a suspect. I parked my car at the city business office and got out.

  “Hi Beth,” I said to the receptionist when I entered the office. “How are you doing today?”

  She looked up at me and pushed her wire-rimmed glasses up on her nose. “Hi Rainey,” she said turning from her computer screen. “I’m doing great. How about you?”

  I nodded. “I’m fine. Did you hear about Chrissy Jones?” I whispered the last part. We were in the reception area by ourselves, but I didn’t know if any of the offices down the hall had their doors open. I had gone to school with Beth, and at one time we had been close. If she knew something, chances were good she’d tell me.

  “Yes I heard,” she said looking at me solemnly. “What a terrible shame. Has Cade caught the killer yet?”

  I shook my head. “He’s working on it night and day. It’s just a shame that it happened at Christmas time and right there in the center of town.”

  “I thought the same thing. Right there in the middle of the Christmas celebrations and everything.” She shook her head sadly. “I feel so terrible for her parents. Christmas is a terrible time for anyone to die.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said, nodding. “Listen Beth, do you happen to know who may have keys to Santa’s workshop?”

  “Keys? Let me see,” she said thinking about it, and then rifled through a small stack of papers on her desk. She turned and looked at me again. “I know Santa has one and some of the volunteers do.”

  “Santa?”

  She nodded and giggled, and then caught herself and became serious again. “Yes, let’s hope Santa didn’t kill anyone.”

  I chuckled. “That would make it worse, wouldn’t it?”

  She nodded. “Yes, Ned Sanders is Santa Claus in case you didn’t know that already. He occasionally has an elf or two to assist him, but I know for sure that Ned has a key.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Yes, Carolyn at the gift shop across from the fountain has one,” she said looking through her papers again. “Oh, and Susan Lang. She was one of the judges for the gingerbread house contest.”

  That was interesting. “Is that all?”

  “Actually, now that I think about it, some of the volunteers also have keys to the workshop. Linda Clarke is in charge of organizing the volunteers, and I know she has one. She also got two extra copies in case she wasn’t able to be there when the workshop was open and she needed to send volunteers down to man the shop.”

  I nodded. That was a lot of people with keys to the workshop. “Tell me, Beth, the workshop wouldn’t be left open when no one was there attending to it, would they?”

  “To be honest, it shouldn’t be. But I did walk up on it a week ago and no one was there. Santa was taking a five-minute break over at the coffee shop and he was without elves that day. One of the volunteers hadn’t shown up, and he said he just had to go and get some coffee. He promised me that he was able to see the workshop from where he was.” She shrugged. “Let’s hope he really could see it. I don’t know if its happened at other times or not.”

  I sighed. That wasn’t going to make things any easier. “Let’s hope that that was the only time it happened.” Even if Ned could see the workshop from the coffee shop, he would have had his back to it while he placed an order, and if the line had been long, he probably hadn’t made it back in five minutes like he said.

  She nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. But you know how it is. This is Sparrow. Most people are pretty honest and I guess Ned is very trusting.”

  She was right. We had recently had a string of murders, but that wasn’t the norm for Sparrow. During the Christmas season the tourist trade trickled down to almost nothing. There were the cabins down by the Snake River that were sometimes rented at Christmas time. But other than that, there wasn’t a lot of tourist traffic and locals tended to trust one another.

  “Well Beth, I appreciate the information,” I said.

  “Anytime Rainey,” she said brightly. “I hope Cade finds the killer soon. I hate thinking that we’ve got somebody wandering around Sparrow that’s capable of committing such a heinous crime.”

  “You and me both,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later.” I turned and left the building. I couldn’t imagine anyone leaving Santa’s workshop alone for a long period of time. And it didn’t seem like the killer would just randomly kill Chrissy and push her body under that table. A murder like this was something that would take some time to accomplish.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Hey Rainey,” Bill Severs called from across the room.

  I looked up from my computer screen. I had been writing an article on coordinating gift wrap and creative gift giving for the newspaper. I worked at the newspaper along with Sam’s Diner in hopes of making enough money to make end
s meet. I worked both jobs as well as writing my cookbook on the side. “Hey Bill.”

  He grinned at me. Bill was in his late fifties and was a quiet guy. He didn’t say a lot, but there was something about him that I liked.

  “Has your boyfriend found out who killed Chrissy Jones?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. But he and the other officers are practically working around the clock to find her killer.”

  “Seems a shame,” he said and looked at his computer screen. “You never know what people are up to in their private lives, do you?”

  I eyed Bill. “What do you mean by that?”

  He shrugged without looking at me. “I’m just saying that when you mess with the wrong people, you might end up dead.”