Christmas Card Murder

by Leslie Meier

  “It wasn’t me. I didn’t harm Carol in any way. You have to believe me!” Dennis pleaded.

  “Then what the hell is going on, Dennis?” Mona demanded to know.

  With a hangdog look, Dennis raised his eyes to his wife. With a deep sigh, he murmured, “Carol and I have gotten close these past few months.”

  Mona poked an accusing finger at him. “You were having an affair!”

  Dennis slowly nodded.

  “Dennis, no!” Hayley heard herself saying.

  Dennis pressed on, guilt-ridden as he watched his wife’s expression slowly fade from shocked to crestfallen. “It started last summer when I did her landscaping. It was the first time a woman had paid attention to me in a long time. You’re always so busy working, Mona.”

  “Yeah, so I can keep a roof over your head!” Mona cracked, close to tears.

  Hayley was struck to see Mona on the verge of crying, since her BFF had always been so strong and with a steely reserve, never one to waste time on tears or over-the-top emotion.

  “I’d sneak out when you thought I was down here watching TV and getting drunk and I’d drive over to Carol’s house. Then I’d sneak back, in the wee hours of the morning, before you got up to go haul your lobster traps. I had fallen asleep down here and not made it up to bed so many nights over the years, you never even knew I was gone.”

  “Was she telling the truth in that Christmas card that she sent us? Were the two of you planning to run away together?”

  After a long silence, Dennis whispered, “Yes.”

  Mona’s lip quivered.

  “We had talked about it for months, and finally decided to pull the trigger that night when you’d be busy helping Hayley with her office Christmas party. I picked her up in my truck and we were halfway to the Trenton Bridge when I suddenly had a change of heart. I just couldn’t go through with it. I turned around and took Carol home. She wasn’t too happy about it. She called me a coward.”

  “Why, Dennis? Why did you change your mind?” Mona sniffed.

  “Because despite everything, how most of the time you treat me like an old dog ready to be put down, we have a good thing going here, Mona, and I wasn’t ready to give that up.”

  “No, Dennis, you’ve got a good thing going. Not me. I work my fingers to the bone running my lobster business so you have the luxury to get sauced down here, watch old TV shows from the 1980s, and be a lazy cuss most of the year!”

  Dennis had no viable answer to this, since what Mona was saying was pretty much on the mark.

  Mona shook her head, disgusted. “And the one time a year when you actually go outside and mow a few lawns, you cheat on me!”

  “I swear, Mona, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win back your trust! I promise!”

  “Good luck with that,” Mona spit out as she turned around and marched back up the stairs to the kitchen.

  Dennis turned to Hayley and Rosana, hoping they might help him convince Mona in some way. They simply looked at him with revulsion, though, before following Mona back upstairs and leaving a distraught Dennis alone in the basement to wallow in his misery.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hayley and Rosana very quickly left Mona to deal with her desperate husband. Dennis had rushed up after her and was presently on his knees, hands clasped in front of him, begging for her forgiveness.

  After dropping Rosana off at her house, Hayley drove her Kia toward home, happy in the thought that the clicking noise in her engine would not be a concern for much longer. Soon she would be driving the new Ford Escape that Bruce had bought her for Christmas.

  Her mind wandered back to Dennis, who had so adamantly denied strangling Carol Waterman, even after shamefully admitting to an illicit affair. If Dennis, Bruce, and Sal were indeed all innocent of Carol’s murder, then who could have done it? There was only one person who explicitly announced her desire to see Carol dead.

  Andrea Cho.

  Andrea had been at the Island Times office earlier on the evening of Carol’s murder while Hayley, Mona, and Rosana were setting up for the Christmas party. However, she had left to buy more rum for the eggnog. Hayley had not noticed when Andrea had returned, or if she had brought a bottle of rum with her, but one thing was for sure. She would have had plenty of time to go to Carol Waterman’s house, strangle her, and return to the office in time for the party. The motive was simple. She was convinced Carol was trying to steal her husband, Leonard, away from her.

  But was Andrea Cho capable of murder?

  Hayley, of course, had to find out.

  She called Andrea and Leonard’s house throughout the day, but got no answer. Finally, as darkness fell, Hayley decided to just go over and pop in unannounced. She hopped into her car and drove straight to Roberts Avenue, where Andrea and Leonard owned an old rambling Victorian house. She parked on the opposite side of the street, and had just gotten out of her Kia when another car, a Nissan Rogue, pulled into the driveway of the Cho house, which was lit up outside with an array of bright Christmas lights. The driver’s-side door flew open and Leonard, bundled up in a long winter coat and gloves, jumped out and slammed the door behind him. He immediately noticed Hayley, who had stopped at the bottom of their front walk.

  Leonard smiled. “Good evening, Hayley. What brings you out on this cold night?”

  “I was hoping to speak with Andrea.”

  “Well, she should be home. Come on in. Is something going on at work?”

  “Oh, no, this is personal. I just wanted to—” She stopped midsentence.

  Leonard studied her face curiously. “Is something wrong?”

  Hayley opened her mouth to answer, but didn’t know what to say. Her eyes were fixed on what she was watching through the large living-room window of the house. In front of the Christmas tree, Andrea, her blouse open exposing her bra, was reaching up to kiss David Pine, Carol Waterman’s much younger boyfriend. David’s hands were in the air, as if he was either surrendering to her advances or in a complete state of shock. He backed into the tree, almost knocking it over, and a few Christmas bulbs fell off.

  Leonard started to turn around. “What is it?”

  Hayley grabbed his arm to stop him. “Leonard, no!”

  But it was too late.

  He managed to crank his head around in time to see Andrea now working to unbuckle David’s belt.

  Leonard shook free of Hayley’s grip. “I’ll kill the creep!”

  And then he stormed into the house.

  Hayley followed close on his heels.

  As he rounded the corner into the living room to see Andrea and David clutching each other, lipstick now smeared all over David’s cheeks, Leonard screamed at the top of his lungs, “Get away from my wife!”

  David pushed Andrea away from him. She threw her head back defiantly and wiped her mouth with her hand.

  David cried, “Leonard, you don’t understand! This is not what you think!”

  Andrea gave her husband an icy stare. “It’s exactly what you think, Leonard.”

  “No!” David cried. “She invited me here for a cocktail party! I thought there would be other people here, but when I showed up, it was just her, and then she pounced on me!”

  “Oh, David, just admit it. You love me. You just told me so, and you asked me to leave Leonard so we can be together,” Andrea said calmly with a sly smile.

  David’s eyes popped open. “No! That’s a lie! She’s just trying to make you jealous!”

  Mission accomplished.

  Leonard roared like an animal, and dove across the room, tackling David as Andrea casually stepped out of the way. The two men rolled around on the floor, Leonard swinging his fists wildly at David as he tried covering his face to protect himself from the blows.

  Hayley turned to Andrea. “Andrea, do something before he kills him!”

  But Andrea seemed to be enjoying this duel to the death, especially since she was, in her mind, the ultimate prize.

  Hayley couldn’t just stand by and
allow them to hurt each other, so she raced over and grabbed the back of David’s turtleneck in order to yank him away from Leonard. She pulled with all her might and the shirt ripped apart. David stumbled back and landed flat on his back. Leonard was up on his feet now, fists clenched, ready to box. Hayley stepped between the two men, keeping them apart with her outstretched arms.

  “Stop this right now or I’ll call the police! Do you hear me?”

  Leonard ignored her and focused on his wife. “Do you love him?”

  After keeping him in suspense a few moments longer, Andrea finally sighed. “No, Leonard, you big lug. I love you.”

  Leonard’s rage slowly began to dissipate and he stared numbly at Andrea, utterly confused as to what was going on.

  “I just needed to give you a taste of your own medicine,” Andrea cooed.

  “Because of what happened with Carol Waterman at the basketball game? She came on to me! I was just sitting there eating my hot dog! I practically had to fight her off!”

  “You should have fought harder,” Andrea said, pouting.

  Hayley couldn’t believe she was witnessing this.

  Neither could David Pine.

  She could tell he felt used and was livid. He pointed a finger at Leonard. “I could have you arrested for assault!”

  “Man up. I barely touched you,” Leonard scoffed.

  Andrea suddenly appeared nervous. “Leonard, he’s right. Look at those scratches on his neck.”

  Hayley quickly eyed some red marks that were clearly visible on David’s neck after she had accidentally torn his turtleneck open. She then turned her attention back to Leonard and his hands.

  And that’s when she knew who killed Carol Waterman.

  Andrea, meanwhile, was starting to panic. “David, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I was jealous and I thought it would be poetic justice if Leonard came home to find me with another man, notably Carol’s boyfriend. It was a stupid, childish thing for me to do and—“

  Turning toward David, Hayley said solemnly, “It was you.”

  David looked at her, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Andrea and Leonard appeared confused as well.

  Hayley took a cautious step closer toward David. “You killed Carol.”

  David’s eyes widened, feigning astonishment. “What . . . what did you just say?”

  “I should have known when you came back to the Christmas party and told us that story about some kids bumping into you, causing you to spill soda all over yourself at the grocery store, so you had to go home and change.”

  “You’re accusing me of murder because I changed out of a stained shirt to go to a party?” David asked incredulously.

  “No, I think you made the whole thing up. You didn’t have to change your shirt because it got dirty, you had to change your shirt to cover up those scratches! That’s why when you returned to the office you were wearing a turtleneck!”

  “This . . . this is absurd,” David sputtered.

  “It all makes sense now. You loved Carol. But that night, when you went to pick up napkins at the store for Mona, you must have stopped by Carol’s house to pick her up for the party earlier than planned. She was not supposed to even be there. She had been secretly plotting to run away with Mona’s husband, Dennis Barnes. She was just going to leave town and ghost you, avoid the whole confrontation with you, and never be heard from again. But Dennis had had a change of heart. They never got off the island. He broke it off and drove her back home, where she was when you showed up. She was probably distraught over being dumped. You could see she was upset and you probably pressed her until she told you what was wrong.”

  Hayley could see David cracking.

  Her words were hitting far too close to home.

  “I’m right, aren’t I, David?” Hayley whispered.

  David gave her a slight nod. He sniffed and then wiped his nose with his forearm. “I found her crying. She was an emotional mess. I tried comforting her, but she just swatted me away, like some housefly, and told me to leave her alone. I couldn’t believe how she was treating me. We had been so close. I thought we were in love, only to find out—”

  “She loved someone else and you were just a distraction.”

  “It made me so angry,” David growled.

  “And that’s when you went crazy.”

  “I . . . I never meant to kill her . . . I was so in love with her . . . but she was so callous, so unfeeling, she made me feel so small . . . and I guess I kind of blacked out. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

  “You strangled her with the garland and she fought for her life, clawing at your neck, but you were too strong for her and you finally got the best of her. When you snapped out of it, you knew you had to cover up those scratches on your neck and get back to the office with an alibi. Before you left the house, you must have used Carol’s phone to send yourself a text from her, breaking your date because she wasn’t feeling well, so as not to arouse suspicion why you weren’t both at the Christmas party. And you came up with the excuse that some kids caused you to spill soda on your shirt to explain your change in clothing.”

  David bowed his head.

  Leonard put a protective arm around Andrea.

  Hayley reached for her phone to call 911.

  Suddenly David, like a cornered stray dog with rabies, lashed out, shoving Hayley into the Christmas tree, sending her and the tree crashing to the floor. Then he made a break for the door before Leonard or Andrea had a chance to stop him. As he flung open the door, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Police Chief Alvares, gun drawn, but down at his side.

  “I think you better step back inside, David, we need to talk,” Sergio said calmly.

  Hayley, tinsel hanging from her hair, crawled out from underneath the ornaments and lights on the branches of the Cho Christmas tree. “Sergio, what are you doing here?”

  “Got a noise complaint from next door. They heard a lot of shouting and got worried,” Sergio said, one hand gripping David’s arm while still holding his weapon at the ready in the other. “Funny thing is, I was already on the lookout for Mr. Pine here. Seems back when he was in high school, he got arrested for shoplifting cigarettes and beer.”

  “That was a long time ago,” David whimpered.

  “True, but you were fingerprinted when you were booked, so imagine my surprise when those prints matched the one we found on Carol Waterman’s phone, the one you put there when you sent that phony text.”

  David’s shoulders slumped.

  “I’m going to read you your rights now, if that’s okay with you, David,” Sergio said with a smug smile before winking at Hayley.

  As she pulled the stringy tinsel from the Christmas tree out of her hair, Hayley couldn’t help but notice Andrea and Leonard staring lovingly into each other’s eyes. They were hardly able to stop themselves from pawing each other right in front of Bar Harbor’s police chief.

  Hayley sighed.

  At least one marriage had been saved tonight.

  Mona’s, however, was still hanging in the balance.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dennis was noticeably absent when Hayley and Bruce showed up for Mona’s Christmas Eve feast, a potluck extravaganza Mona proudly hosted for friends and family every year. Randy and Sergio were in attendance, unsurprisingly, since Randy always provided free booze from his bar. Liddy, unfortunately, had an obligation to spend Christmas Eve with her mother, Celeste, a three-time divorcee who tended to get rather needy around the holidays. Sal and Rosana were also at Mona’s house, where Sal spent some of his time in the kitchen, stirring a pot of his homemade oyster stew, a holiday tradition in his family. Mona’s kids, six or seven of them—who could really keep track at this point?—were relatively well-behaved. Most of them had mellowed and were watching the seventh or eighth showing of A Christmas Story on TV in the family den. Hayley assumed they had all been threatened with bodily harm from their mother if they dared to act up in front of her guests
.

  Hayley smelled a ham baking in the oven when she and Bruce first toddled through the front door. Hayley had been carrying one of her Gingerbread-Spiced Pumpkin Pies wrapped in tinfoil, while Bruce carefully balanced her Mile-High Cranberry Meringue Pie in his hands. She could also see into the kitchen, where two giant pots with steam drifting out of them were on the stovetop burners, undoubtedly boiling with water and ready for Mona’s fresh lobsters.

  Mona, in one of her trademark jokey sweatshirts, this one bright red with Santa’s Favorite Ho emblazoned on the front, greeted them and snatched the pie from Bruce. “Merry Christmas! Please tell me you brought that delicious Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Pie you made last Christmas!”

  Hayley, dismayed, said quietly, “Sorry, I went in a different direction this year.”

  Mona, attempting to hide her disappointment, but failing miserably, forced a smile. “I’m sure whatever is underneath this foil will taste just as good. Now help yourselves to a drink.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Bruce said before turning to Hayley. “Rum and eggnog?”

  Hayley nodded and Bruce dashed off toward the bar next to the fireplace in the living room. As Hayley followed Mona toward the kitchen, she rubbed her brother’s back sweetly as they passed him and Sergio, who were both engrossed in a deep conversation with Rosana and Sal. Randy blew her an air-kiss and resumed listening to Rosana, who was prattling on and on, her voice a whisper. Hayley heard Carol Waterman’s name mentioned under Rosana’s breath, so the topic of their conversation was obvious.

  In the kitchen, Mona opened the fridge and set the pie down on the top rack. She turned and took the pumpkin pie from Hayley and slid it in next to the other one.

  “Dennis isn’t tending bar this year?” Hayley asked.

  “Uh, no. Dennis has been banished to his man cave. He’s probably down there sulking, downing a six-pack, and cursing me.”

  “Have you two at least talked?”

  Mona slammed the refrigerator door shut and shuffled over to the oven to check on her ham. “We were up all last night talking. Well, it was mostly me yelling at the top of my lungs, but he did manage to get in a few ‘I’m sorry’ admissions when I had to stop to catch my breath.”