Candy Canes and Cadavers

by Angela K Ryan

  “Or maybe she was kidnapped because she knows who the killer is,” Judith said, expressing more intrigue at the mystery than concern over Dottie’s well-being.

  “I doubt she would have been kidnapped in the middle of the play,” Connie said. “But maybe something happened to cause her to run away.” Connie was losing her patience with their cavalier attitude, but she hid her annoyance, since she didn’t want to discourage them from bringing her information in the future.

  “We can’t stay long,” William said. “We just wanted to be sure you heard the news.” And they left the shop as quickly as they came.

  Connie would definitely have to speak with Maxine and hear firsthand what happened last night. But the interview would have to wait, since she would be alone in the store all day and meeting with her jewelry making class that evening. The soonest she would be able to get to the theatre would be the following evening when Abby would be working.

  Connie’s all-star jewelry-making class did not disappoint. Her students showed up early and worked diligently on finishing the last of the candy cane earrings. By the end of the night, Connie was able to breathe a sigh of relief as all two hundred pairs were complete, plus a few extra for good measure.

  The class didn’t stop at just creating the earrings. Many of them came with orders and checks from pairs they had sold. Between what Damian had purchased for the cast, the orders her students had brought, and the earrings that had been sold in the store, they were more than halfway toward meeting their goal. It would be cutting it close, but their chicken coop had a solid chance of coming to fruition.

  When class ended, it was 9:00 and time to close up shop. Connie straightened up and headed back to Palm Paradise.

  She joined her family on the balcony, and eventually the conversation turned toward the investigation.

  “Have you broken into any more buildings without me?” Greg asked his daughter.

  “Of course not,” Connie said. “You know I save all my breaking and entering for quality time with my dad.”

  After Connie filled everyone in on Dottie’s disappearance, Jo, Greg, and Gary retired for the evening, leaving Connie alone with Gianna.

  Gianna gave her sister a devious look. “Now that they’re gone, what’s our next step?”

  Connie had to smile. Her sister knew her well. “I’m going to stop by Sophie’s in the morning, since she’s the one person we haven’t been able to speak with yet, and also go by the theatre before tomorrow night’s performance to see if I can catch Maxine. Maybe she saw something the evening Dottie disappeared.”

  Connie hadn’t wanted to be disrespectful by visiting Sophie while she was in mourning, but now that the funeral was over, she felt better about it.

  “What time are we leaving for Sophie’s?”

  Connie laughed. “Grace is working in the morning, so I can cut out any time. How about I pick you up here at 11:00?”

  “Perfect,” Gi said. “I’ll make a casserole, so we have a good excuse to stop by.”

  “We’d better tell Mom. She’ll be crushed if we don’t include her.”

  Chapter 11

  Connie picked up Gianna and Jo right on schedule at 11:00 on Friday morning, and they drove to the palatial home of Damian’s widow, Sophie Michel-Pritchard.

  Connie’s stomach sank as they made their way down the long walkway leading to the front door of the Pritchard home.

  “It’s hard to believe we were here just over a week ago under such different circumstances,” Connie said. Last Thursday, she had been so excited for the party and for the opening of the play the following night. “I found Sophie’s phone number in Auntie Concetta’s address book, so I called her to let her know we were stopping by.”

  Gianna rang the doorbell, and within a few seconds Sophie greeted them from the other side of the doorway. Her hair and makeup were flawless, and she was dressed to the nines. She reminded Connie more of how a character on TV would appear when receiving guests on a weekday morning than a real person.

  “You don’t mind if we sit on the lanai, do you?” Sophie asked. “The house is an absolute mess.”

  Connie recalled all the servants that were working at the party last week and wondered how the house could possibly be a mess, but perhaps Sophie had unusually high standards.

  “Of course not,” Jo said graciously. “We should take advantage of the beautiful morning.”

  Gianna handed the chicken casserole she had made to Sophie, who received it with a half-smile.

  “That’s very sweet of you ladies. It reminds me of something Concetta would have done. She would have made something, too, rather than buy it, as most of my friends tend to do.” Then she shook her head, as if reprimanding herself. “Don’t mind me. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. It’s just the personal touch means so much during a difficult time like this.”

  “Of course,” Gianna said. “No need to explain. We hope you enjoy it.”

  Sophie walked them to a seating area on the lanai, then went inside to get some iced tea and put the casserole in the refrigerator.

  “We are so sorry for your loss,” Jo said, when she returned. “How are you doing?”

  “As well as can be expected, I suppose. I still don’t think it’s hit me yet that Damian is really gone.”

  “Be patient with yourself. It takes time,” Jo said.

  “It was such a shock. It’s not like he was sick and I had time to come to terms with losing him. Someone just up and killed him,” Sophie said with a shaky voice.

  “I can’t imagine what you must be going through,” Gianna said.

  “Damian was very kind to us, inviting us to your home and to opening night, and purchasing earrings to benefit the fundraiser,” Connie said.

  Jo nodded in agreement. “Not to mention that any friend of Aunt Concetta’s is a friend of ours.”

  “Since Friday night, we’ve been trying to figure out who could have done this to him,” Connie said. “Did Damian have any enemies that you know of?” Connie studied Sophie’s reactions, but actors were hard to read. Connie wanted to be sympathetic, in case her grief was sincere, but she didn’t want to take her at face value, either. After all, she could be talking with a killer.

  Sophie remained silent for a moment. “Doesn’t everybody have enemies? Concetta was such a wonderful fundraiser because of her popularity and hard work, but once she passed away, donations plummeted. It wasn’t Damian’s fault. In fact, he was the one who got Concetta to join the Board of Directors in the first place. But everyone seemed to blame him, anyway. Some people, like Rick Bennett, thought they could do a better job running the playhouse.” Sophie shook her head. “Damian knew he was vying for his job. And then there’s William. He and Judith are huge gossips and much too wrapped up in appearances. William would be devastated if he were to be laid off. But for either of them to kill Damian over these things? I don’t know.”

  “William told me that he received another job offer that he is considering,” Connie said.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Sophie said. “It’s probably for the best.”

  “You’re right about one thing,” Connie said. “People certainly are passionate about the playhouse. Many people seem to depend on its success for their livelihood and their status in the community.”

  “It would be a tremendous loss if it had to close,” Gianna added.

  “Besides those who didn’t agree with Damian’s business plan, can you think of anyone else? Did he have any obsessive fans that might have been off kilter?” Connie asked. She was curious to see if Sophie would bring up Dottie.

  “You mean Dottie McKenzie?” Sophie asked.

  “Her name has come up a few times.”

  “William and Judith stopped by yesterday and told me she went missing. I can’t help but wonder if she ran away because she’s guilty,” Sophie said. “She was always trying to sneak a visit with Damian backstage. She carried a huge torch for him. He tried to be polite, but it was getting out
of hand. Damian spoke to Rick about it, and if she was caught one more time, she was going to be fired.”

  “Dottie is certainly a possibility,” Connie said. “Can you think of anyone else?”

  Sophie narrowed her eyes.

  “What is it?” Jo asked.

  “I saw Eloise and Damian fighting on a couple of occasions. I’m no fool. I saw the way she used to look at my husband, and I know they were in a relationship back when they lived in California. Maybe she wanted Damian to leave me and he refused, so she got angry and killed him.”

  “You think Eloise was willing to leave Stevie’s father for Damian?” Connie asked, studying Sophie for any indication that she knew about Damian and Eloise’s more recent affair or that Damian was Stevie’s father.

  Sophie shrugged, then look directly into Connie’s eyes. “All I know is that Damian and I were happily married. Why else would she have been so angry at him if she didn’t have feelings for him? In my experience, where there’s passion, there’s either intense love or hate, and Eloise had no reason to hate Damian.”

  Since Sophie didn’t even flinch when Connie mentioned Stevie, Connie doubted that Sophie knew Damian was Stevie’s biological father. But she couldn’t be certain. Also, she stated with unwavering confidence that she and Damian were happily married. If that was true, and Damian was not planning to leave her, she would have no financial motive to kill him, either. She would be better off financially with Damian alive. However, Sophie was an actress. Maybe Connie had just witnessed a convincing performance.

  They chatted for a while longer, then, after assuring Sophie they would keep her in their prayers, Connie, Jo, and Gianna left.

  “Since our tree-decorating party is tonight, why don’t we stop and get the Christmas tree now?” Connie suggested.

  “Great idea,” Gianna said. “That way you don’t have to leave work too early tonight.”

  It was a longstanding tradition in the Petretta family to wait until the weekend before Christmas to decorate the tree, so although Connie’s condo had looked like a Christmas wonderland since the day after Thanksgiving, she patiently waited for the appointed weekend to put up the tree. Connie had invited Grace, the Millers, Zach, and Stephanie to join her family in the festivities later that night, and she was thrilled that everyone could make it.

  “It was a wonderful idea to have everyone over tonight,” Jo said. “That way we will all will have the chance to get better acquainted before Christmas Day.”

  That’s what Connie was hoping.

  “I’m still not convinced that I’m going to like having an artificial tree,” Connie said, as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “Just give it a chance,” Jo said. “I think it will work better in this climate.”

  “Are you sure Auntie Concetta didn’t own a Christmas tree?” Gianna asked. “Did you check the storage bin?”

  “I’m positive,” Connie said. “I gave away a lot of her things to the parish thrift shop when I moved in to make room for my stuff, and there was definitely no tree. She did have a few decorations, which I kept.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Jo said. “My sister usually spent Christmas with us in Massachusetts, so why would she have a tree?”

  Being the home decorating experts in the family, Jo and Gianna took over the tree-selecting decisions and chose a blue spruce with snow-kissed branches and white lights, which, Connie had to admit, would look beautiful in the corner of the living room, right in front of the double slider windows.

  They also purchased a deep red tree skirt with a white fur-lined border and some gold garland. Since Connie had brought her ornaments when she moved, they were all set on that front.

  “How are we going to fit everyone into the apartment tonight?” Connie asked as they were driving home, with the boxed tree precariously loaded into the trunk. They had been assisted by an overenthusiastic teenager, who they later learned was on his first day on the job. Fortunately, it would be a quick drive home.

  “Don’t worry about that, honey. When your father and I first got married, there were many occasions when we crammed both our families into a tiny one bedroom apartment. Besides, it will be a good trial run for Christmas Day.”

  When they arrived back at Palm Paradise, the guys came downstairs to lug up the tree. Connie went upstairs to make herself a quick sandwich, then arrived back at Just Jewelry in time to relieve Grace for the busiest part of the day. Connie was pleased to see that there were several customers browsing and a short line at the checkout counter.

  Business remained steady until 4:00, when Abby arrived.

  Connie worked with Abby until the things slowed down around dinnertime. During the lull in activity, she glanced at her phone to check the time. If she left now, she would have just enough time to catch Maxine at the playhouse before things got too busy and still make it home in time for her company.

  Chapter 12

  Connie spotted Maxine milling around the theatre, apparently waiting for patrons to arrive, and casually struck up a conversation.

  “Hi Maxine, I’m Connie. We met briefly on opening night,” she said, trying to jog the usher’s memory. “I was talking with Dottie.”

  “Oh. Hi, Connie,” Maxine said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Connie could tell by the Maxine’s blank expression that she didn’t remember Connie but was just pretending she did so as not to offend her. She couldn’t help but smile at the woman’s politeness.

  “Any friend of Dottie’s is a friend of mine,” Maxine said.

  Connie didn’t correct Maxine’s assumption that she and Dottie were friends. And she definitely wasn’t going to mention that Dottie had told her to stay out of the investigation.

  “I’m concerned about Dottie. I heard that she is missing and was wondering if you saw anything unusual the night she disappeared.”

  Maxine’s eyes grew moist, and she shook her head. “No. I just can’t understand what happened. Everything seemed completely normal up until the time she vanished. Maybe if I had been more aware, she would be here with me tonight.”

  Connie’s heart went out to the woman. Although it wasn’t Maxine’s fault, Connie could understand how she might feel as if she could have done something, since she was the last person to see Dottie. “Maxine, I’m sure it was a busy night, and the theatre was dark. Please don’t blame yourself.”

  “I know,” Maxine said. “I just wish I saw something helpful.”

  “Maybe you did,” Connie said. “You said things seemed normal up until she vanished? What happened just before she disappeared?”

  Maxine pulled a tissue from the pocket of her green blazer and dabbed her eyes. “We were talking to patrons and having a good time, like we usually did when we worked together. The next thing I knew, she was reading a note, and she looked upset. I asked her what was wrong, but she brushed me off. I left to seat a couple, and when I returned, she was gone.”

  “Has Dottie ever left in the middle of a shift before?”

  “No, never. She could be a little silly about the actors, especially Damian Pritchard. It’s no secret that she had a major crush on him. Sometimes she would slip backstage before the patrons began arriving, hoping to run into him. But she was a responsible usher. She wouldn’t have left her post without a reason. You must know that since you are friends.”

  “Of course,” Connie said. “I just wanted to see if you saw anything unusual since you were here. I ran into her on Monday afternoon, and she didn’t seem like herself. We both know she wouldn’t have done anything to harm Damian, but perhaps someone thinks that she did.”

  “She was completely infatuated with that man. She never would have hurt him. In her own mind, she believed she loved him.”

  Connie thought about Maxine’s words. If Dottie was that obsessed with Damian, would she have killed him if he rejected her? If Dottie had already been banned from going backstage at Damian’s request, perhaps she took that as a rejection and sought revenge on Dam
ian.

  But that didn’t explain the note. She needed to find out what was in that note and who gave it to Dottie.

  After talking with Maxine, Connie glanced at the clock in the lobby and seeing that it was after 6:00, she made a mad dash out of the theatre. Company was due at 6:30 for the tree decorating party. Thank goodness they had already bought the tree and her family was at home preparing the meal. All Connie had to do was show up.

  It turned out she didn’t need to rush home after all, because everything was under control, so Connie took Ginger for a walk. It was nice having so many enthusiastic hands on deck to help with Ginger, but Connie missed her frequent walks.

  By the time she returned home, Greg and Gary had assembled the tree and laid out the garland and ornaments for the festivities, while the scent of manicottis baking in the oven spread through the condo.

  Elyse, Josh, Emma, and Victoria arrived first, followed by Grace, Stephanie, and Zach. With her parents, Gianna, Gary, and the twins, it was the most company she had had since she inherited the condo.

  Fortunately, the open concept layout left space for an extra folding table, which Connie brought up from her storage bin, to extend her dining room table and accommodate the extra people. Her mother had been right. Everyone fit just fine.

  Within no time, dinner was on the table, and everyone was enjoying one another’s company.

  “We heard that you are the lead investigator on this case,” Jo said when there was a lull in the conversation.

  “Mom, Zach probably can’t talk about the case,” Gianna said. “Let him enjoy his manicottis in peace.”

  “I’m sorry, Zach,” Jo said. “I was just making conversation.”

  Connie looked down to hide a smile. She doubted that was the case.

  “That’s okay, Mrs. Petretta. Gianna’s right. I can’t get into the details, but I can tell you we are working hard to follow up on every lead.”

  “Please, Zach, call me Jo.”