Murder for the Holidays

by B. T. Lord

  Wondering if she was the only one feeling the tense undercurrent, Cammie glanced at Pru. However, the woman seemed oblivious to the conversation swirling around her. She kept her attention on her meatloaf which she was doing a great job of moving around on her plate. So far, she’d only taken two bites of the tasty meal.

  Turning her attention back to the Northcotts, it was obvious something was worrying them. At first Cammie wondered if it had to do with her presence. She was smart enough to know they would have preferred that Jace come alone. Yet, the more she surreptitiously observed, the more she realized there was something else gnawing at them. Another worry that easily eclipsed the presence of the she-devil sheriff from Twin Ponds. Her suspicions were confirmed when the wall phone they had in the kitchen suddenly rang. Both the Northcotts jumped at the loud trilling and Cammie watched as Harold’s face paled. He and Pamela glanced at each other, but neither made a move to answer it.

  “Um, the phone’s ringing,” Jace said as he looked questioningly at his parents.

  “That’s alright. Probably just a telemarketer,” Pamela responded in a tight voice.

  The phone continued to ring, making the Northcotts tense up even more. Finally, it stopped. Just as the two were starting to relax, it started up again.

  “I’ll get it,” Jace said as he pushed his chair back.

  “No!” Harold practically yelled at him. “Just ignore it.”

  “But it could be important.”

  The man shook his head. “Lately we’ve been swamped with telemarketers. The bastards always seem to time it when we’re having a meal. Let it go.”

  “Maybe you should think about getting rid of the landline altogether,” Jace advised. “It will save you money. You can use your cellphones to make or receive calls. The best part is, you’ll be able to see who’s calling. If it’s a number you don’t recognize, you just don’t answer.”

  “Great idea. We’ll look into it right after the holidays, won’t we, Harold?” Pamela replied in an overly chirpy voice. Thankfully the phone finally stopped ringing. Everyone unconsciously held their breaths, waiting for it to start up again. When it didn’t, they let out a collective sigh of relief.

  “So how’s Bill Barnes doing? Is he still as ornery as ever?” Harold asked in a feeble attempt to dissipate any lingering tension at the table.

  Bill was Twin Ponds’ long serving mayor and was known as the cheapest politician on the East Coast.

  Jace laughed. “I’ve learned to keep my distance. It’s poor Cammie who has to deal with him every year when she submits her budget.”

  “How’s the Bar and Grille? Zee still whipping up his fabulous meals?”

  She suspected Harold changed the subject to Zee so he wouldn’t need to address her about Bill, or about anything else for that matter. It was easier for him to ignore her existence, even if she was sitting just a few yards away. Choosing between throwing her plate at him, or turning the other cheek, she reluctantly chose the latter. After a few moments, everything appeared to return to normal. Or as normal as it could be when the hosts were wound up so tightly, Cammie expected them to faint at any minute from the stress of keeping a smile on their faces. When the meal came to an end, she stood up to help clear the table.

  “That’s alright,” Pamela said. “I’ve got this. Jace, why don’t you take Cammie into town and show her the Christmas tree? People come from all the surrounding towns just to see our holiday display.”

  “That sounds like a great idea!” Cammie spoke up as she grabbed Jace’s arm and practically dragged him to the coat rack where she threw his coat at him, tossed on her own and pushed him out the front door.

  “You’re really that into seeing the town Christmas tree?” he asked dubiously as they walked down the porch steps.

  “No. I’m really into asking you what’s up with your parents. And who is Aunt Pru?”

  He shook his head. “Your nosiness knows no boundaries. Not even the Christmas holiday.”

  “What? Me nosy?”

  He stopped in his tracks and gave her a stern look. “Have you met you?”

  She shrugged. “Okay, so I’m interested in people. It’s my job. Is it so wrong to at least want to know who I’m spending the holidays with?” He rolled his eyes in response. They climbed into the truck and took off towards downtown. “Let’s start with Aunt Pru. Who is she and why does she look like death warmed over? She isn’t sick, is she?”

  “As far as I know, physically she’s okay. But she lost her husband three months ago to a stroke. They were very tight; they did everything together. Although she has a nice network of friends in Bucksport where she lives, she’s still having a hard time dealing with the fact that he’s gone, especially now that the holidays are here. I’m glad Mom invited her. Being surrounded by people who love her may help cheer her up. Which reminds me. Since I didn’t know she’d be here, we ought to buy a gift to put under the tree for her.”

  “We can do that. Okay, that’s one mystery solved. Now onto mystery two. What’s up with your parents?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If I were to take a peek at their Christmas wish list, number one would be me falling off a cliff, closely followed by you coming to your senses and throwing me out of your life. Despite that, there’s something else going on that has nothing to do with me being here. Did you notice how they reacted when the phone rang? I thought your Dad was going to have a heart attack.”

  “He did say they’d been swarmed by telemarketers.”

  Cammie cocked an eyebrow at him. “You really believe that? Those two reacted as if the boogie man was calling to tell them to expect a visit. They were determined to act as if everything was fine.”

  He glanced at her, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You mean, trying their best to act as if The Evil Queen from Snow White wasn’t sitting at their kitchen table?”

  She made a face. “Cute. And that’s Ms. Evil Queen to you. Why did they both tense up when the phone rang? It can’t just be telemarketers making them react that way.”

  Jace shrugged. “You know how those robo-calls can be. They keep calling and calling and don’t stop. Maybe Mom and Dad were at their breaking point and it showed on their faces.” He turned and saw the look on her face. “You’re not buying that, are you?” She shook her head. “Is your cop radar going off?”

  “In spades. This cop’s radar has saved my ass more times than I care to admit. I’ve learned never to ignore it.”

  “Well, I’m afraid I don’t know if anything is going on. Maybe it’s a combination of having you and Aunt Pru here.”

  “Pru is Pamela’s sister, right? Don’t they get along?”

  “I suppose they do. I mean, we didn’t see Aunt Pru and Uncle Roy for years because they lived in Pennsylvania, and we were up in Twin Ponds. But I remember the occasional phone call where Mom would make me say hi to Aunt Pru. Everything seemed fine between them.” He paused. “You know, this could just be that Mom is determined to have the perfect Christmas for Pru’s sake, and she and Dad are concerned they might not be able to pull it off.” Cammie eyed him quietly for a long moment, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “What was that for?”

  “Growing up, I always wanted the perfect Christmas myself. You know, sleigh bells ringing, snow falling, the sight of Santa in his sled gliding across the full moon. Every year I’d convince myself this was the year it was going to happen.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I admire your Mom wanting to do that for her sister. I therefore promise to be on my best behavior no matter how many times they treat me like a leper.”

  “That’s what I love the most about you. That even when you’re staring down the barrel of a shotgun, you’re still optimistic they’ll miss.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  He glanced at her and chuckled before turning his attention back to the road.

  She sat back in her seat and looked out the window. Despite his belief that his parents’ tension stemmed from giving Pr
u a jolly Christmas, she knew there was more to it. But damned if she could or would figure it out. Not in four and a half days. And not with people who wished she’d never been born.

  Jace parked on a side street and together, they ambled up and down Main Street, poking their heads into different shops, trying to decide what to buy Aunt Pru. With four days until Christmas, the streets were filled with people trying to get in some last-minute shopping.

  After two hours of trying to avoid getting knocked down by stressed shoppers, they still hadn’t found anything they liked enough to purchase for the older woman. Chilled despite their warm clothing, they bought some salted caramel flavored hot chocolate at the local Dunkin’ Donuts and sat down to enjoy it.

  “What do you say we ask your mom what Pru would like,” Cammie suggested as the hot chocolate succeeded in thawing them out. “We can then come back tomorrow and buy it.”

  Jace nodded. “Good idea, cos I honestly have no idea what to buy her. And I would like to get her something she’ll enjoy. In the meantime, what do you say we check out the Christmas tree. It really is supposed to be a big deal.”

  They finished their hot chocolate, locked hands and made their way down the street towards the little island in the middle of the road.

  “We need to come back at night,” Jace said as they stood in front of the spectacular spruce. “It’s beautiful now, but can you imagine what it will look like with all the lights reflected against the dark sky?”

  “We’ll have to manifest some snow falling to make it perfect. Then it will really be like those old Hollywood movies.”

  Jace leaned over and began to sing “White Christmas”. His breath tickled her ear and she laughed as she snuggled against him. It wasn’t Bing Crosby or a scene from the film Holiday Inn, but surrounded by ornaments, the pine scent from the tree, and the man she adored leaning against her, it was as close to perfection as she’d likely get on this trip.

  She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. At that moment, she pushed aside the Northcotts, their strange behavior and Aunt Pru. She relaxed in the knowledge that she was about to celebrate yet another holiday with the man she loved. She wouldn’t allow all that other petty stuff ruin the fact that Christmas was her favorite time of year and she was going to enjoy it with Jace. Come hell or high water.

  As the two took in the tree, they felt the presence of people moving behind and around them as they too came to gaze upon the tree. Snippets of conversation wafted over to where Cammie and Jace stood.

  “Are you coming out later to see the carolers?” A woman asked from somewhere behind them.

  “I don’t know,” her girlfriend responded. “Depends on how much I get done.”

  “It’s always so cold,” another woman said.

  “Don’t be such a downer. We’ll listen to them sing, then grab a drink over at the Black Chapeau.”

  “Hey, did you hear that?” Cammie whispered. “They have carolers here. Maybe we can come by and see them?”

  “Sounds like a plan,” he responded.

  As she turned her attention back to the tree, another conversation drifted her way.

  “Wow, Mom, you really missed it. I’ve never seen two men yelling at each other like that,” the teenager said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “After you dropped me off, I was helping a customer find some extension cords when two guys just started screaming at each other in the middle of the paint section. One of them was Mr. Long. He’s that nasty guy who’s in charge of loans at the bank.”

  “I remember him,” the mother snapped angrily. “He refused to give your dad a loan last year.”

  “Yeah, well, he was really ticked off at this other guy. They were calling each other names. The other guy’s wife looked as though she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her up. She was so embarrassed.”

  “Do you know what they were fighting about?”

  “Not really. I couldn’t see exactly what was going on, but I think Mr. Mackenzie and Trey – he’s the new shop clerk I was telling you about, God he’s so cute – I think they actually had to break up some kind of physical fight.”

  “Physical fight? As in actual fighting?”

  “Uh huh. It was so cool.”

  The mother clicked her tongue in disgust. “Fisticuffs are not cool, Samantha!”

  “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

  “My goodness, what is this world coming to when two men actually have a fist fight in the middle of a hardware store? Who was the other man anyway?”

  “I don’t know if you know him. He’s one of our regular customers. He comes in at least once a week looking for tools, nails, that sort of thing. His name is Harold Northcott. Nice guy. I’ve never seen him so angry before. I thought he was going to blow a vein.”

  Jace’s face paled. He immediately turned and looked at Cammie.

  “And you dared doubt my cop radar,” she replied drily.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Before Jace could stop her, she let go of his arm and approached the mother and daughter.

  “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. Can you tell me what time the argument took place?” The mother looked at Cammie suspiciously. The sheriff turned and pointed at Jace. “That’s Mr. Northcott’s son. We’re here to spend the Christmas holidays with them. We noticed he was upset when we arrived a little while ago and couldn’t understand what was going on.”

  The young girl’s face brightened as she looked over to where Cammie was pointing. “You’re Jace! Oh wow, your dad’s been so excited about you coming to visit.” She turned to Cammie. “And you must be—” She immediately shut up as a red blush covered her face. “Um, yeah, right…well, to answer your question, it must have been around 9:30 this morning. I start my shift at 9 and it was shortly afterwards that they started to fight.”

  “And where do you work?”

  “MacKenzie’s Hardware Store. It’s just down the street.”

  “Can you tell me anything more about the man Mr. Northcott was arguing with?”

  The mother took her daughter’s arm and pulled her close. “We really don’t want to talk about it anymore. If you want to find out what happened, I suggest you speak to Mr. Northcott himself. Or Mr. Long. He works at the Beachport Bank and Trust across the street from the hardware store.” She turned and hurriedly crossed the street, yanking her daughter after her as they went.

  “Merry Christmas!” the girl yelled out before her mother gave her another hard yank on her arm.

  “How to win friends and influence people,” Jace replied sarcastically as he came up beside Cammie.

  “Hey, at least it explains why your parents were acting so weird during lunch. Or why your Dad looked so nervous when the phone rang. Maybe this guy wanted to continue the argument. Do you know who Mr. Long is?”

  “Never heard of him. Obviously, he and Dad have some kind of history and it inconveniently blew up this morning.” He stood in front of Cammie and caught her eye. “Promise me you’ll let this go. You said yourself Mom and Dad were upset. Let’s not make them more upset by bringing this up.”

  “Aren’t you the least bit curious over what would make two men verbally and maybe even physically duke it out four days before Christmas in the middle of a hardware store?”

  “No. I want us to have an awesome Christmas holiday. This is only going to ruin it.” He took her gloved hand in his. “Swear to me on the spirit of sugar plum fairies and peace on earth that you’ll forget you ever heard that girl’s conversation.”

  “Ooooh, that’s tough. Sugar plum fairies, huh?”

  “And the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.”

  “That’s hitting below the belt.”

  “Cam…”

  “Okay, okay, I promise. Not one word about the argument. Now what do you say we liven things up and hit that bakery near where we parked? I saw they had ji-normous sugar cookies and lemon and raspberry filled tarts for sale. We’ll buy a
boatload for your parents and Aunt Pru. If those don’t cheer everyone up, nothing will.”

  Jace breathed a sigh of relief as they crossed the street and headed towards the bakery. She was thinking about food. His holiday with his parents was safe.

  Cammie spent the rest of the afternoon regretting her promise to Jace. Not because she wanted the dirt on who Long was – though who was she kidding? Of course she wanted every last bit of gossip on this Long fellow – but because she was convinced it would ease the strain the Northcotts were under. A few times she accidentally stumbled onto them quietly whispering in the kitchen as she went to make herself a cup of tea, or upstairs when she went to fresh up. In order to focus her mind on other things, she tried to engage Pru in conversation, but the woman was exasperatingly mono-syllabic.

  Sitting on the couch, knitting what appeared to be a deep plum colored sweater, she replied in quick ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers to Cammie’s innocent questions about her life in Bucksport, a small town of approximately 5,000 people located on the Penobscot River estuary. The only time she became even slightly animated was when Cammie changed gears and mentioned her knitting. She then went into excruciating detail over different cast on and cast-off techniques she’d learned over the years, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using a circular knitting needle versus a straight needle. After a few minutes, a bleary-eyed Cammie concluded that engaging the hostile Harold in conversation had to be better than this.

  Dinner was painful as she watched Harold and Pamela pretend that all was right with the world. She wanted to tell them it was alright. She and Jace knew about the argument. They could now let it go. But she’d promised. And she wouldn’t go back on her promise. Especially when she’d made it on the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

  After dinner, she brought out the tarts she and Jace had bought and presented a lemon one to Aunt Pru.

  “Ummm, good,” the woman said as she played around with the tart on the plate.