KILLER CHRISTMAS PIE

by Carolyn Q. Hunter

  Had he just openly slipped, admitting that Villa was a definite suspect on the list?

  That didn’t look good.

  Bert decided it was time to create a diversion from Villa. Surely, there was someone else who might have a motive for murder—and she decided to take it on a long shot. “What about the Holiday Hacker?” she pressed, turning the conversation toward the newsworthy murders from across the state recently.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know, the Holiday Hacker? The murder of all those young men across Nebraska these last few weeks?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” he said, playing dumb.

  “Well, isn’t it possible that this is another hit by the same killer?”

  Sighing, the detective flipped his notepad closed. “Look, I can’t assume like that early in the game. Besides, the name Holiday Hacker was something made up by the news outlets to generate more internet hits and revenue. The police never once claimed that any of those murders were being done by the same person.”

  “But maybe it is?”

  “Look. Stabbings and shootings are some of the main ways in which homicides occur here in the mid-west. Just because a couple guys got stabbed, doesn’t mean it’s connected whatsoever. We still have to treat each case on an individual basis.” He tapped his pen on the table and narrowed his eyes at her. “As far as I’m concerned, there is no Holiday Hacker.”

  Chapter 9

  * * *

  After the interview was over, and Bert had handed over her phone number for the detective to contact her in the future if need be, she was free to go. Walking out, she found Carla wandering the edge of the food court.

  The whole place was swarming with security guards and police officers who were either questioning witnesses or guiding traffic through. They were trying to interview every person who was in the food court as well, just to see if any of them had seen anything. After that, people were being ushered out. They had the choice of either visiting the other parts of the mall or leaving altogether.

  None of the restaurants would be selling food for the rest of the day. The Koffee Haus was handing out free coffee to all the workers on the scene

  “Hey, Carla,” Bert called, waving her friend over.

  “There you are. Sheesh, I thought that detective would never be done with you.”

  “Are they shutting everything down?”

  Carla nodded. “Trying to. They’ve shut down the food court at the very least, but I guess there is some trouble trying to get other parts of the mall closed down, especially since it’s the Christmas season and this is going to cut drastically into sales.”

  “But it’s a murder investigation.”

  Carla shook her head. “As far as I know, the cops haven’t even visited every store yet. They are working hard on trying to secure this area first, but there are just so many people in here that it’s overwhelming. A lot of the stores, especially on the other side of the mall, are still open. Not everyone even knows what’s happening. For now, they’ve posted guards and cops at every exit and to check out people’s bags and stuff as they leave. Any suspicious people are stopped and escorted back here.”

  “And they’re not letting anyone new in?”

  “That’s right, but I’m thinking they’re having some resistance from the crowds wanting to get in to do their Christmas shipping.”

  Bert shook her head and sighed. “Where is Harry?” she asked, his first name slipped out past her lips again.

  “Ooh, still calling him Harry?”

  Bert groaned. “Come on, seriously. There is a homicide investigation going on here in the mall and all you can think about are romantic jokes?”

  “Sorry, sorry, it’s a defense mechanism.”

  “No kidding. Where is the detective?”

  “Oh, by the time I got back to tell him I’d walked the entire mall up and down twice, he was not too happy. His face was all red and it looked like he might just pass out.”

  Bert shook her head, rubbing two fingers over her forehead as she sighed. “Oh, I’m not surprised. A much younger detective basically came in, told him he was obsolete and kicked him out.”

  “So, I gathered.”

  “Anyway, when I told him I hadn’t had luck finding his niece, he took off.”

  Filling her lungs up to capacity, she let out a long whoosh of air. She hated to admit it but was relieved that Mannor had taken off. She was not in the mood to be dealing with any more murders, police politics, or family drama. Today was supposed to be nothing more than an enjoyable and festive Christmas shipping trip.

  It had turned out to be so much more than that.

  “Do you just want to get on with our girl’s day out, at least before the mall is completely shut down?” Carla smiled, reading her friend’s expression.

  “Please,” she said, putting on a sincere smile.

  “Well, I have an idea. Do you think Shiv likes video games at all?”

  * * *

  Bert had no idea if Shiv liked playing video games or not. She knew that a lot of people in their teens, twenties, and even their thirties liked gaming. It wouldn’t be unthinkable that Shiv enjoyed playing them in her downtime, but Bert just couldn’t very well be sure.

  However, it never hurt to just have a quick look at what was available and see what stood out, so the two women headed down to the farthest end of the mall, away from the food court, where the Game Trader was.

  This shop was even smaller than the Gothic Gala was, and it was crammed full of hordes of teenagers and kids all perusing the cheap bins while parents looked to buy the latest and greatest items as Christmas presents. In this type of situation, it was almost impossible to tell which adults went with which teens.

  The walls were lined with hundreds of plastic cases featuring pictures of armor-clad knights, buff fighters, military men with guns, and cute cartoon characters. More and more, Bert was considering that this was the wrong idea for Shiv.

  What could be remotely appealing about playing these types of games?

  The same security guard from earlier, the one Mannor had called Pop, was standing near the back with his arms folded and a droopy scowl over his lips. He was scanning the boy’s faces, probably still looking for the same teenager—the one who was upstairs dead.

  If that was true, how hadn’t heard the bad news yet?

  Wouldn’t the mall send out a message to all the security guards to come up to the food court to regulate the guests? Didn’t they have walkie-talkies or something?

  This whole thing just seemed odd.

  Then suddenly, Bert remembered. She’d seen him coming out of the Gothic Gala right before she found the dead body. Maybe he’d seen or heard something that could help in the investigation, help in diverting any heat off Villa as a suspect. After all, it was his job to help in this situation and he was just standing around in the game shop instead.

  “It’s really crowded in here. Do you think we should get moving to a different store?” Carla suggested as people bumped into her.

  Bert shook her head. “I think I want to look around a bit,” she lied, eyeballing the guard in the corner and wondering if it was even possible to wade through the crowd toward him.

  “Seriously?” Carla asked, surprised by her friend’s reaction.

  “Sure. Why not?” She offered a timid smile, trying to hide her true reasoning for sticking around in the overly crowded, and very warm, store.

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  Bert gave a firm nod as she turned to head deeper into the crowd, pushing her way toward the uniformed man.

  However, before she was able to make it to him, she got stuck between two couples, both trying to pick games out for their sons. No matter how much she seemed to nudge and push, they either didn’t notice her or care.

  Groaning her distaste for the situation, she waited there.

  “Are you sure you want to stay here?” Carla asked, squished in next to her.

  �
��Well, I’m having my doubts,” she admitted, scanning the shelf of game cases in front of her since it was the only thing she could see at the moment. She hoped that the security guard wouldn’t move before she could get to him.

  Suddenly, her eyes stopped on something that made her pause. “Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed picking up the game case. The cover featured a lean woman in a pink jumpsuit with a space helmet on. A very retro looking ray gun was in one hand. In the background was an alien landscape with a star-ridden sky. Little green men who all looked straight out of a sixties b-movie were clambering over some rocks.

  It looked like a scene straight out of one of Bert’s favorite old sci-fi movies, The Star that Killed a World.

  “You’re seriously interested in that?” Carla asked, a hint of a laugh in her breath as the two were shoved even closer together as more people came into the shop.

  Bert pointed directly at the case. “Don’t you see it? Remember my Halloween costume?”

  “Yeah? So, what? What does that have to do with some video game?”

  “This girl on the front of the case looks just like Vista Spire from The Star that Killed a World.”

  Carla narrowed her eyes at the case. “Wow, you’re right. That totally looks like your costume.”

  “That’s so awesome,” she squealed like a kid in an ice cream shop.

  “But, you don’t even know anything about games.”

  “So? I could always get into it,” she said, not even believing what she was saying. Never in her life had she been interested in video games before. To her, they were little more than toys for kids.

  “You’re really interested in that?”

  Bert smirked heartily. “Come on, it looks just like an old b-movie.”

  “That’s because it basically is,” came a low voice from nearby.

  Turning, Bert was surprised to see the security officer pushing his way toward her.

  She couldn’t believe her luck.

  “Oh, hello. Your name is Pop, isn’t it?”

  “Well, my real name is Ryan Popor, but all my friends call me Pop.”

  Did that mean he was friends with Detective Mannor?

  “Hey, aren’t you that security guard from earlier?” Carla asked, raising a confused eyebrow. Clearly, she too was wondering what he was doing down here instead of helping up at the food court.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied briefly before turning his attention back to Bert. “But, you’re right. This video game is basically created as a throw-back to sci-fi movies from the sixties. It borrows elements from a lot of different films. Giant mutant spiders and ants, slimes and blobs, cheesy costumes and settings, it’s all in there.”

  Bert looked back down at the case with wide eyes of admiration. She didn’t know exactly why, but she really wanted to play this game.

  Suddenly, her heart sank as her vision narrowed on the yellow sticker price tag in the corner. “Sixty dollars?” she cried.

  “Yeah, most new games are about that. And don’t forget, you have to own a game system to play it on.”

  “A game system?” she gasped, realizing that the price to just play a silly video game was rising by the second.

  “Yep, a new one costs about two-hundred and ninety-nine dollars.”

  Bert’s jaw dropped. “Oh my, that’s way out of my budget.” With having just purchased the Pies and Pages shop a few months back, she had no wiggle room for impulse buys until she had made up all the costs in sales—and she especially didn’t have nearly four-hundred dollars to blow. “Oh well,” she sighed, putting the case back on the shelf.

  “Oh, Bert. I’m sorry,” Carla said, seeing the wash of disappointment on her friend’s face.

  “It’s okay, really. It’s just a game. And you’re right, I wouldn’t even know enough to get the thing set up, probably.”

  Carla put an affectionate hand on her friend’s shoulder.

  “Speaking of which, how do you know so much about video games?” Bert asked Pop, looking up at his tall figure. She needed some way to lead into a discussion about the murder.

  He let out a slight chuckle. “I used to work here in this shop before I got my job as a security guard.”

  “You did?” Bert gasped, totally surprised.

  “I’m a pretty avid gamer myself. In fact, most gamers nowadays are in their thirties like I am.”

  “I see.”

  “I actually got the job with security because I was really good at dealing with all the teens who come into this shop. In fact, that little punk you saw me dealing with earlier was a regular—and he was a pain in the butt every single time. He ended up being banned from the store after I caught him trying to shoplift some merchandise.”

  This was an interesting new development. It seemed that Pop had some sort of relationship with the victim that went back a while. Bert, felt her heart drop. So, he really had no idea about the murder. But why? Should she tell him about the killing? Was that her place?

  “As a matter-of-fact, I came down here looking for him after he snuck in again. You two ladies haven’t seen him, by chance?” he asked, completely oblivious to the situation.

  “Oh, you didn’t know?” Carla jumped in without any reservation, determined to tell him that he wasn’t doing his job.

  “Know what?”

  “He’s dead. His body was found upstairs in a dressing room.”

  The security guard went sickly pale. “Y-You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Bert jumped in.

  “Shouldn’t you be up at the food court helping? I mean, you are a security guard, aren’t you?”

  “I can’t believe it,” he gasped again, not hearing Carla.

  “How did you not know? I mean, don’t you have a walkie-talkie, a cell phone, something that the mall uses to contact you guys?” Bert pressed, curious.

  He glanced down at his feet, his face slightly red. “I-I turned off my radio when I went looking for the young man.”

  “Why’d you do that?” Carla blurted out.

  He scowled slightly. “Truthfully, the head of mall security, my boss, told me to let the boy go and get back to my post at the front door. He didn’t want me chasing the kid all around the mall when we had tons of other customers coming in the main entrance.” He shook his head mournfully. “I’m in huge trouble. I better get going.”

  “I actually was hoping to talk to you about the murder,” Bert admitted, putting a hand up for him to stop.

  “Me? Why me?”

  “You see, I was the one to find the body. I found him right after bumping into you coming out of the Gothic Gala.”

  The surprise on the man’s face melted into a grimace. “Hey, lady. What are you trying to get at?”

  Bert put up her hands defensively. “Nothing. I just thought you might have seen something suspicious while you were there. Maybe the detective on duty will want to talk to you.”

  “Look. I didn’t like the kid, that’s for sure. The little brat keyed up my car and slashed the tires and I saw him doing it. That doesn’t mean I wanted to hurt him.” He rattled all this off without even having heard her previous statement.

  “No, no, I think you’re confused. I was hoping you could help in the investigation.”

  “I’ll tell you one thing, you better not go blabbing to the detective that you think I had anything to do with this, because I didn’t.” His voice was growing louder and louder without him even being aware of what was happening. “I didn’t kill anyone, especially not a punk eighteen-year-old brat like that kid.”

  It wasn’t until he realized that the shoppers had mostly quieted down and were now staring at him that he stopped. Looking at all the wide eyes upon him, he turned beet red.

  “What are you all looking at?” he barked before barreling through the crowd and disappearing into the walkway of the mall.

  “Sheesh, what was that all about?” Carla asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  Chapter 10
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  * * *

  Walking back up to the food court, Bert was determined to talk to Detective Trainor again. What she had expected to be a normal conversation with the security guard had seemingly blown up in her face. Why had he reacted so adversely to the news of the young man’s death? Why had his sole concern been to defend himself?

  It just seemed a little strange, especially for a trained security officer who was supposed to act professionally—especially in dangerous situations.

  On top of it all, one thing that Pop had said stood out to her. He had specifically mentioned the fact that the victim was eighteen years old, technically an adult. If he was aware of the young man’s age, why had he put up such a stink to keep the boy out?

  Was it simply because of his vandalized car?

  Pop claimed that the young man in question had been the one to slash his tired and key the paint. However, the only evidence of that was the security guard’s own word.

  No, all of this seemed way too strange to not bring up with the detective.

  Approaching the food court, which was still packed with people who needed to be interviewed, she spotted Trainer stepping out of the Gothic Gala with Bridget. “Thank you for your time.”

  “Do you think the store will reopen at all today, or should I just head home?”

  “I’d say just head home. This whole place will remain closed until at least tomorrow, if not longer.”

  “Okay, great. Thanks,” Bridget said with a smile, clearly glad to get out of there.

  “Detective,” Bert called, rushing over.

  Seeing the pie shop owner again, Bridget also stopped to say hello—or perhaps to eavesdrop on the conversation.

  “Mrs. Hannah, what can I do for you? I have a lot of people waiting to be interviewed still and don’t have a lot of time.”

  “This will be fast, I promise,” she replied, putting up both hands for him to be patient.

  Folding his arms, he motioned toward her with a jab of her chin. “Okay, go ahead.”

  “There is a security guard that everyone around here calls Pop.”

  “His full name is Ryan Popor,” Carla chimed in.