Deathly Christmas

by Irena Nieslony

  Betty never stopped having a dig at Eve, whether her information was correct or not. In fact, while Eve enjoyed a drink or two, she never appeared drunk in public and always made sure she was in complete control of her faculties.

  If Jennifer was indeed asleep, Betty thought that perhaps she should try and get inside and wake her up. After all, she would be embarrassed if she missed Christmas dinner at Betty's house.

  Noticing that the shutters on the windows in the front of the house were closed, Betty walked round to the back to see if any had been left open round there.

  As luck would have it, they were all open and Betty breathed a sigh of relief. As is common in Greece, Jennifer hadn’t put up any curtains. Betty didn’t like that tradition and had put up curtains in all her rooms, but today she was relieved that Jennifer hadn’t bothered. Now she would be able to see in, but she would have to have a word with Jennifer. It wasn’t nice that anyone could look into your home and it was impossible to keep the shutters closed all day. The house would be dark and you would have to use artificial light all the time.

  Peering through the French windows into the sitting room, Betty couldn’t see anything at first. As her eyes became accustomed to the different light, she thought she saw something on the floor. It looked like a big sack and Betty wondered if Jennifer had dropped the rubbish.

  No, it isn’t…. Betty gasped a moment later. It’s a person. Is it Jennifer? No, it can’t be…..Yes it is. What’s she doing lying on the floor? Has she fainted?

  Betty knocked gently on the glass, but Jennifer didn’t move. She then tapped a little louder, but she didn’t want to shatter the glass. When Jennifer still didn’t stir, Betty became concerned. She tried to get her phone out of her bag, but she was trembling and she dropped everything.

  Picking up her bag, she began to cry. Betty was surprised at herself. She very rarely wept, but after the recent murders, she had become edgy and nervous.

  Betty stood there for a few minutes, not knowing what to do and then looked inside again. Jennifer still wasn’t moving, so even if she wasn’t dead, she was most probably badly hurt.

  Finally, managing to get her phone out, she realized she didn’t know who to ring. Barely speaking a word of Greek, it would be too difficult to ring the police. Anyway, she wasn’t sure if Jennifer was dead, so she could end up looking foolish if her friend had just fallen. If she rang Don, he wouldn’t be able to get to Jennifer’s house because of his twisted ankle, and anyway he didn’t speak much Greek either. Perhaps she should see if the French windows were open, but she was terrified. What if Jennifer was dead? Betty was petrified of being so close to a corpse, but she had no choice. She stood there for a moment and then, taking a deep breath, tried the French windows. She didn’t know how she felt when they opened, but nevertheless she went in, albeit nervously.

  Betty slowly walked over to Jennifer, but when she reached her, she wasn’t able to look down. She started sobbing again and a sick feeling overwhelmed her, but finally she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer. Betty glanced down at the woman who was supposed to be her new best friend and David’s next love.

  Jennifer’s face had a horrifically contorted expression on it and Betty realized straight away that she was well and truly dead. She knew she was going to be sick and she dashed into the bathroom as quickly as she could.

  Coming out a few minutes later, she sat on a chair as far away from Jennifer as possible. She didn’t know what to do, but then she thought of ringing David.

  He’ll take charge and sort this out, I know he will….Oh no, he’s with Eve having Christmas lunch at Pete and Annie’s. Still, that would ruin her Christmas, she smiled wickedly. No, she then thought, I mustn’t think like this now, not with Jennifer barely cold.

  Betty then thought of calling Pete, but as he and David were together she might as well ring David after all. They could decide between them who would come over. Both David and Pete spoke Greek quite well so either could ring the police.

  Although Betty was still trembling, she managed to calm down enough to make the phone call. In the end she knew she couldn’t take advantage of this terrible situation so she rang Pete, not wanting to make it look too obvious that she was trying to take David away from Eve on Christmas Day.

  Betty came straight to the point on the phone, not wanting to show that she was upset. She never liked to appear weak.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Pete. I’m at Jennifer’s and she’s dead.”

  She didn’t think it worth giving a description of what the body looked like. He would see Jennifer soon enough. She hoped he would be there within minutes as she didn’t want to be there any longer than she had to be. It wasn’t much fun being alone with a corpse, especially one as awful looking as Jennifer’s.

  Pete also didn’t mince his words, despite being shocked by the news, and told her to stay put and that he’d be there shortly. Meanwhile, Betty rang Don to tell him the bad news. He was worried about her being there on her own and told her to come home and get him. However, Betty didn’t want her Christmas dinner to be ruined and insisted that he stayed at home and looked after it, giving him instructions of when to put on the vegetables.

  “How can she think of food at a time like this?” Don spoke angrily to himself, waking their cat, William, who looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face.

  “Poor Jennifer,” Don continued, the reality of the situation suddenly hitting him. “She’s only recently moved out here hoping to have a better life, and now look what’s happened. What on earth is going on here, William? I thought we’d had enough murders for one year.”

  William ignored his master. He was quite happy with his life on Crete and he settled back down to sleep, the smell of turkey wafting around the kitchen. He knew what treats were in store for him later and he had nothing to worry about. Don wished their lives could be as simple.

  Meanwhile, Betty had another quick look at Jennifer. What could have killed her? She looked absolutely revolting. It must have been a poison of some sort. Betty started to wonder who could have done it. After all, Jennifer hadn’t been living on Crete for long and didn’t know many people. Who could she have upset this badly?

  Of course it couldn’t be Pete or Annie, they’re such a lovely pair and we’ve known them for years.

  Then Betty thought about the new couple, Kevin and Lucy Fowler, a husband and wife in their late forties. They had moved over to Crete about the same time as Jennifer. Perhaps they had known each other before emigrating and there were hidden secrets in their pasts.

  Lucy was a small plain woman who never said much, but Kevin was reasonably good looking. He was quite tall with dark wavy hair and blue eyes which had quite a sparkle in them. Betty thought he was almost as handsome as David, so he wasn’t a bad addition to the ex-pat community. Betty thought it was always nice to have a good looking man to cast your eyes over; and he did have the gift of the gab as well.

  The Fowlers had come over to help Kevin’s younger brother, Paul with his gardening and maintenance business. Paul was single, in his mid-thirties, and in Betty’s eyes not nearly as good looking as his brother, but he had confidence in himself and was always flirting with the girls. Betty wondered how his business would do with the recession, but the ex-pats seemed to be taking him up on his services,

  The doorbell went, rousing Betty from her thoughts. She jumped up and rushed to open it, relieved that she wouldn’t have to be alone with Jennifer anymore. Opening the door, she saw both Pete and David standing there.

  “Thank goodness you’re here,” Betty said, sounding more than grateful. “I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, my Greek isn’t good enough to call the police.”

  “Calm down, Betty.” David said, putting his arm around her. “We’d better have a look at the body first.”

  Betty felt herself tingling at David’s touch.

  Eve doesn’t deserve such a kind, lovely man.

  They all went into the sitting room a
nd the men looked at Jennifer.

  “Looks like strychnine poisoning to me,” Pete said straight away.

  Having been a police officer, Pete was quite familiar with poisons.

  “Oh my God,” Betty gasped. “So somebody deliberately tried to kill her?”

  “It seems that way,” Pete continued.

  “Eve’s cake,” she exclaimed.

  “What?” David asked sharply, taking his arm away from her abruptly.

  “There’s a bit of her cake over there. The poison could have been in that. After all, she did think Jennifer was interested in you, didn’t she?”

  “Eve would never try and kill anybody,” David said angrily. “I know you don’t like her, but I love Eve and there’s nothing you can do to change my mind about her.”

  David’s remarks silenced Betty. She knew she’d gone too far. He’d probably never forgive her. Why didn’t she think before speaking?

  “Now, now,” Pete said. “We’re all a bit upset. I think we should take a deep breath and try to calm down. It is a very traumatic situation after all. I can see that Jennifer had been drinking something as well. The glass is on the table and it hadn’t been finished. The police will also need to test that for poison. And the sooner we call them the better so that we can try and enjoy Christmas as best we can.”

  “I apologize, David,” Betty said meekly. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  David, who hated being on bad terms with anyone, accepted her apology. He knew Betty and Eve were never going to give up on their feud and Eve herself had thought more than once that Betty was a suspect back in the summer murders. It was better to let it go. It was Christmas after all.

  Chapter 4

  “I don’t believe it,” Eve exclaimed. “How dare that woman accuse me of murdering Jennifer? Just wait until I see her. I’ll have a few choice words to say. The only person I would ever want to poison is her…. not that I ever would of course,” she added quickly.

  “Calm down, darling,” David spoke soothingly to Eve, putting his arm around her. “You know what she can be like. And admit it, Eve, you and Betty are never going to be friends.”

  Eve grunted, knowing David was right.

  “In all fairness, however,” he continued, “she was in a state of shock after finding Jennifer’s body. I can assure you it wasn’t a pretty sight, and to top it all, Betty had been sitting alone with the corpse for some time before Pete and I got there. I think she spoke in the heat of the moment….. and she did apologize in the end.”

  Eve said nothing. She didn’t like it when David made excuses for Betty. He, on the other hand, didn’t know why Pete had mentioned Betty’s accusations to Eve. He knew how she would react.

  “Yes, please try to put it to the back of your mind,” Annie added.

  She was also a touch annoyed with her husband’s slip of the tongue. You had to be particularly careful and watch what you said in front of Eve. There was no telling how she would react, particularly if it wasn’t supportive of her.

  “Now come on, it is Christmas,” Annie continued, hoping that Eve would forget about Betty. “Let’s try and enjoy ourselves as much as we can under the circumstances.”

  However, Eve was still livid. She had done her best to patch things up with Betty after Phyllis had been arrested. Phyllis had been Betty’s only friend and Betty had naturally been upset to learn that she was the murderer. However, Betty had only been civil to Eve for a few days after Phyllis had been arrested, despite the ordeals Eve had been through. Betty had soon resumed her vendetta against Eve, refusing to accept that she and David were together. That had been the final straw for Eve and she had decided not to give Betty any more chances. The feud had been resumed with a vengeance.

  However, as Annie had said, it was Christmas and Eve loved this time of year. She didn’t want Betty to spoil it for her, and although the new murder had put a shadow over everything, none of them had known Jennifer well, so it wasn’t as if they had lost a member of the family or a close friend. They were still entitled to enjoy the festivities, although they might now be a little subdued.

  However, unfortunately for everyone a thought suddenly struck Eve.

  “The police might suddenly turn up here,” she announced. “That’ll ruin Christmas Day for us.”

  “We have nothing to hide, so there’s no need to be concerned,” Pete snapped.

  Annie and David looked at each other. Pete rarely became angry and Annie realized that Eve must be trying his temper to the limit.

  “What did they say when they arrived at Jennifer’s?” Annie asked David, hoping Pete would become less tense.

  Ignoring her husband was the only way she knew to calm him down. If she included him in the conversation, his temper would rise. Annie didn’t want a bad situation to get worse, not on Christmas Day.

  “Well,” David replied. “The police didn’t say much. They took our names and addresses and then removed the small bit of cake and the glass of wine that Jennifer was drinking. I believe they’re going to test them both for poison. The body was taken away and that was it.”

  “Oh my God, I’ve had an awful thought,” Eve exclaimed.

  She found herself shaking and her hands felt clammy.

  “What if Betty’s the killer and she went over to Jennifer’s and put poison in my cake when she wasn’t looking? Betty could have done it to put the blame on me.”

  “Why would Betty want Jennifer dead?” David asked Eve, sighing with frustration. “She was hoping to have her as a friend and confidante. Anyway, it looked like rigor mortis had set in so she couldn’t have been killed when Betty went round this morning.”

  “She could have popped over last night,” Eve continued, now having convinced herself that Betty was the killer.

  “Oh come on, Eve,” David continued. “Betty might be an unpleasant woman, but she isn’t a murderer.”

  “We don’t know that. She’s been acting very strangely since Phyllis was arrested.”

  “Your mind’s working overtime again, Eve,” David remarked, becoming impatient with her. “In my opinion, she’s a lonely, interfering and unhappy woman, that’s all.”

  David knew she was being illogical, but the thing he was most worried about was Eve becoming interested in solving the crime. He had nearly lost her in the summer and didn’t want a repeat of that experience.

  Annie nodded in agreement. She had known Betty for a few years, but they had never become close. Annie found her too overpowering and manipulative, but she couldn’t imagine her killing anyone, especially not Jennifer. Everyone knew Betty had chosen her to be her new best friend.

  “I’m being punished for not making that cake,” Eve wailed a moment later.

  Pete and Annie both stared at her, wondering what this was all about. Eve could be so dramatic.

  “I made all the other food for the party, believe me, but I’d left it too late to make the cake, so I bought one at the English shop. Now I’m being punished.”

  A few tears slid down Eve’s cheeks and Annie went and put her arms around her, even though she knew her friend was trying to be the centre of attention again.

  “Come on, Eve, nobody’s judging you and you’re not being punished for anything,” Annie said, hoping to comfort her friend and get her back into the Christmas spirit. “It doesn’t make any difference whether you made the cake or not. The fact you prepared everything else is outstanding. When you first arrived on Crete, you could barely cook at all. Now look at you. The rest of the food was delicious and it all looked as if a professional chef had made it. Wipe away the tears and let’s eat lunch. We’ve got to try and enjoy the rest of today.”

  Eve gently wiped away her tears, trying not to ruin her make-up, and attempted to smile. However, she was now incensed with the attitude of other people. Yesterday it was David, today Annie. Why did people keep mentioning that she couldn’t cook when she came to live on Crete? She didn’t think she’d been quite as bad as that. She’d put out
quite a spread for her first party on the island and the only thing she’d bought pre prepared was the pastry for the mini quiches.

  David thought champagne might cheer Eve up and lighten her mood, so he nipped into the kitchen while she was having a tirade about the awful food Betty plated at her parties. When he came back with the champagne, he evenly poured it into four flutes and Eve’s face lit up. David was relieved.

  “That’s just what I needed,” Eve said a few moments later, smiling as she sipped her favorite nectar. “I don’t know why I’m getting so upset. It’s what I’ve come to expect of Betty, so I shouldn’t be surprised?”

  Eve paused and then her face suddenly fell. David, seeing the change in her, found his feeling of reprieve disappear almost as quickly as it had arrived.

  “Oh no, I’ve just had another awful thought,” Eve cried, the color leaving her face despite her winter tan. “Forget about Betty. Someone else at the party could have been trying to frame me. There were so many people there that it would have been easy for anyone to put poison in my cake and then get lost in the crowd.”

  “Don’t be silly, Eve,” Annie said quickly. “The cake was in one piece for most of the afternoon. You cut the first slice for Jennifer, wrapped it straight away, and gave it to her. I watched you. The poisoner wouldn’t have known which bit of the cake you were going to give her or if you were going to give her any. Then both Pete and I had a piece, so the poison can’t have been in the cake. It was more likely in the wine, but we don’t know where that came from.”

  “But Jennifer put the cake in her handbag and left it on the floor for a while. I saw her do that.”

  “Eve, it’s better that we wait and see if there was poison in the cake or not,” Pete stated, getting fed up with her obsessing about the cake.

  He had calmed down, but he could feel his temper rising again. Why couldn’t Eve stop harping on?

  “You’re probably worrying for nothing,” he continued, “and anyway, these were your friends at the party. I can’t imagine any of them wanting to frame you.”