Phoebe glanced over her shoulder. “Petty cash.”
Ember took out a roll of hundreds. “There’s nothing petty about this.”
Phoebe frowned. “Huh. I don’t think they usually keep this much on hand. Maybe there is a special reason. Didn’t someone accuse one of the elves of hanging around the petty-cash tin when we were here before?”
“Yeah. I think Gladys said Jimmy was, but there’s a lot of money in there, so he couldn’t be taking any, could he? And if so, what would that have to do with the embezzling? The petty cash doesn’t have anything to do with the factory’s actual sales.”
Stan let out a loud snore. Ember dropped the cash back into the box and whirled around, expecting that he’d woken and caught her. Luckily, he was still asleep.
Phoebe slid the ledger she’d been scrutinizing silently into place and whispered, “We’d better skedaddle before Stan wakes up. That candy only has a thirty-minute charm on it.”
As they tiptoed out of the factory, disappointment settled over Ember. They didn’t know any more than they had when they’d gone in.
Brimstone was waiting for them when they left the factory. “What did you find out?”
He trotted beside them as they headed back to Candy Cane Lane. This time, the snowmen seemed to regard them with suspicion. Some even appeared to clutch at their scarves with their stick arms as if it were Ember and Phoebe’s fault that the giant one on the hill had been beheaded.
“Nothing. The books the accountant had looked like they were in perfect order.” Phoebe sounded defeated.
“The official books?” Brimstone rolled his eyes. “You know when someone is embezzling, they keep a double set, right?”
“No...” Phoebe said. “I’m not familiar with how criminals work.”
Brimstone sighed. “I bet that Greg Rinch has a set in his office. The accountant would have the normal books unless he’s in on it.”
“I guess we didn’t think deviously enough.” Ember felt bad. Issy and Gray would have thought about that. But she was new at this, so she figured this was an understandable mistake.
No problem. All they had to do was figure out a way to get into the manager’s office and search for this second set of books. It would be easy to sneak in once everyone had gone home. Phoebe had a keycard for the side door.
“It might not matter, so don’t stress over it,” Brimstone said, giving the tinsel-draped tree a wide berth. “When you were in there, I went back and followed the tracks from the killer snowman. They do head back to the factory, but a set of elf prints also heads from the factory through a narrow path in the woods, and guess where it ends?”
“Five pipers piping?” Phoebe said.
“No.”
“Six geese a-laying?” Ember suggested.
“No! Jeepers, people. Think about your suspects.” Brimstone waited a few seconds then blurted out, “Yule Navidad’s warehouse.”
It all made sense, now. “So one of the elves is in cahoots with Yule?” Ember asked.
“Bingo!” Brimstone said.
Phoebe opened the shop door, and they all piled inside. Brimstone made a beeline for the fireplace. “I gotta take a nap and warm up. Trotting through the woods is exhausting with all that snow, and my paws are practically frostbitten.”
“Oh, you poor thing.” Phoebe rushed over to try to warm his paws, but the cat pulled away.
“Cut it out. I don’t need any sissy pampering. I’ll be fine. You guys better start making a plan, though. I crossed paths with Detective Winters in my travels, and she’s hot on the case. Time is running out.”
Chapter 10
Excitement tinged with trepidation ripped through Ember as she smoothed her thick black sweater over her black ski pants. Night had fallen, and they were on their way to Yule Navidad’s warehouse. Ember was sure she’d figured out who the killer was, and since they were on a stealth mission, they’d decided to dress all in black. Issy and Gray would have been proud of her.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t call the police?” Phoebe, dressed in an identical black outfit, paused at the door.
“We need proof first. Trust me. I’ve seen my cousins investigate a lot of murders, and the police can be such ninnies. You always have to have proof, especially when you are the suspect.” Ember pulled a black nightcap down tight over her auburn hair and gestured for Phoebe to open the door.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“I am, and besides, with any luck, we won’t even see Yule. I’m sure we can find a harness with oversized sleigh bells in his barn that has a missing bell matching the one Alfie was killed with. Once we find that, all we have to do is tip off the police.”
“Right. Should be easy.” They exited, Phoebe locked the door, and they headed down the street.
Even though it was dark out, there were still plenty of tourists. Candy Cane Lane was lit up with tiny, twinkling white lights, and the streetlamps gave off a golden glow. The tang of fresh mulled cider spiced the air. Most of the shops were open, and the cheery mood was a sharp contrast to Ember and Phoebe’s serious mission. They stuck to the shadows, and it was almost a relief when they turned off the main road onto the less-travelled path that led to Yule’s warehouse.
“I’m losing a lot of business with all this running around,” Phoebe said as they hurried past the hill that still had the beheaded snowman at the top.
“Sorry about that,” Ember said.
“Guess it’s my own fault. Should have never tried to help Alfie. I just didn’t want things to go bad at the toy factory. The kids depend on those toys.” Phoebe sounded sad.
Ember put her arm around the older woman, determined more than ever to get to the bottom of this. “Don’t worry. We’re going to find the proof that Yule is up to something, figure out exactly what his connection with the factory is, and set everything right.”
“Sh... his place is up ahead. We don’t want the reindeer to hear us and alert him.”
They snuck past the reindeer pen, though they shouldn’t have been worried. The reindeer were at the other end, using their large horns to toss the bags for cornhole. Every so often, a cheer would go up as one of them hit a hole in one.
“Odd game for reindeer to play,” Ember whispered as they approached the barn.
The barn, a very large structure, was old and weathered. One end butted up against the warehouse, and Ember figured there was probably an adjoining door, so they could easily move the sleighs in and out. The other side of the barn had a ten-foot-tall sliding door, which was luckily cracked open.
Ember paused at the door and listened. The silence inside indicated the barn was empty. They slipped in and inhaled the sweet scent of hay and old, dry wood as their eyes grew accustomed to the dark.
The barn was two stories tall, and the loft was loaded with hay. There were twelve stalls in the back part of the barn and one old sleigh in the front. But none of that interested Ember. What did interest her were the long strips of wide leather studded with sleigh bells that hung on the wall to her right.
“Over there!” she whispered, pointing to the bells.
“Those seem kind of small...” Phoebe said as she followed her over.
Phoebe was right. The ones she could see looked small, but there were harnesses, reins, and yokes all along the wall. “Surely, one of these contraptions will have the larger bells. They might be buried underneath.”
“I’ll dig over here, and you look over there.” Phoebe pushed aside some leather straps, and the bells jingled loudly.
“Sh... They’ll hear—”
Lights snapped on in the barn, blinding Ember and cutting off her words. A dark, hulking shadow appeared on the door that led from the warehouse to the barn.
A loud voice yelled, “You there, what are you... hey, it’s you people again. Just what exactly are you up to!”
Before Ember could react, four large thugs grabbed them and pulled them into the warehouse.
Ember’s heart raced as she st
ood in the middle of Yule’s warehouse. She inched closer to Phoebe, following her instincts to protect the older woman if anything should happen.
Yule did not seem happy. He faced them, his beefy hands on his hips, his face red, and his expression filled with anger and maybe even a little disappointment. “Just what were you doing sneaking around in my barn?”
“We weren’t sneaking,” Aunt Phoebe said. “My niece has never seen reindeer before, and I was showing her some of the reindeer accessories.”
Ember glanced at Phoebe. She wasn’t sure how she felt about being used as an excuse, but it did the trick, and Yule relaxed. His henchmen, who had been standing off to the side, glanced at him with raised brows, and Yule nodded at them. They went back to filling the sleighs.
Two sacks lay open on the floor behind them. Just big enough to fit her and Phoebe. Visions of them being stuffed in those sacks and then dropped through a hole in the ice into the skating pond or stuffed under a snowbank danced through her head, and she shivered.
“I don’t like people poking around in my stuff, see?” Yule said.
“Yes, we see.” Ember glanced at the sacks again.
“I thought you were a nice candy lady, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe you’re a spy.” Yule looked them over. “You must be spies with those black outfits.”
“Oh, no. Not us.” Phoebe pasted on an expression of innocence. “We just wore black because it’s very slimming. But why would you be worried about a spy? You don’t have anything to hide here, do you?”
“Look, lady. I’m not the one sneaking around in someone else’s barn.” His gaze narrowed. “Wait a minute. Were you stealing something? That reindeer tack is expensive. All hand-carved leather, you know.”
The nerve of him! Accusing them of stealing when he was the one embezzling from the toy factory. Not to mention, he was probably the one who killed Alfie. “We’re not the ones stealing... maybe you are!”
“Me?” Yule seemed to get nervous at that.
Aha! They were on the right track, but seeing as it was just the two of them against Yule and his beefy henchmen, now might not have been the best time to bring it up.
“What proof do you have of that?” Yule asked.
Phoebe spoke before Ember could stop her. “Um, well... I don’t know for sure, but something funny is going on down at the factory. Alfie thought—”
Just then, a side door opened, and an elf scurried in, carrying a large burlap sack over his shoulder. Phoebe gasped. It was Jimmy, the elf that had been accused of taking long breaks when they were at the toy factory. Ember’s stomach sank. It was true. Yule and Jimmy were the ones who had been doing something shady. Jimmy was his contact at the factory, and now that they’d seen it firsthand, there was no way Yule would let them out of here alive.
Jimmy stopped short when he saw them. He flicked his gaze from Ember to Phoebe and then to Yule. He looked scared, like he’d been caught doing something wrong, which, of course, he had.
“Oh... sorry... didn’t know you had guests,” Jimmy stammered.
Ember wasn’t sure what to do. If she just stood there, Yule would probably stuff them in the sacks, and they’d never be heard from again. But they were outnumbered. What would Issy do? She’d accuse them and bluff her way out.
“Aha! This proves it!” Ember pointed at Jimmy.
“That don’t prove nothing,” Yule said.
“Sure it does. You and Jimmy have been skimming from the toy factory. That’s what Alfie had discovered,” Ember said defiantly.
“Stealing? No, you got it all wrong.” Yule started toward them.
Ember was quaking inside, but she held her ground. “You stay away. The police are coming. Don’t even try to shove us into those sacks! We’ll get in there over our dead bodies!”
Yule stopped, a confused look spreading over his face. “Sacks? Dead bodies? What are you talking about? I was just going to show you why you’re wrong.”
Yule continued to the locked closet she’d seen on their earlier visit. This couldn’t be good. Whatever he’d been up to was behind that closet, and once they’d seen the proof of it, they were surely goners. Maybe they could make a break for it. The henchmen were busy filling the sleighs. Jimmy was standing there, looking uneasy, and besides, he was just a little elf. They could overpower him and make a break for the door.
Before she could signal her plan to Phoebe, Yule opened the closet door. A pile of toys fell out.
“Sure, I have Jimmy bring me toys from the factory, but these are for the underprivileged kids, the ones whose folks can’t afford to buy toys. That cheapskate, Rinch, won’t donate toys for them, so I make a special delivery. But I don’t steal them. I give Jimmy money for them, and he puts it in petty cash.”
Ember stared at Yule. Could he be telling the truth? “But why not just buy them?”
Yule scowled. “That jerk, Rinch, wouldn’t sell them to me! We’ve had a few run-ins, and I’m not on his favorites list. Plus, he said he didn’t have enough to fill regular orders, and the elves can only produce so many. He’s too cheap to hire more elves.”
Phoebe went over to the closet, poked around in the toys, then looked up at Yule. “So, Jimmy has been sneaking out these toys, and you’ve been feeding the money back into petty cash at the factory?”
“Yeah, I wanted the kids to get the toys, but I’m no criminal. I didn’t want to steal them, and that was the only way I knew how to pay,” Yule said.
“Well, that explains all that extra money in petty cash,” Phoebe said.
“But petty cash doesn’t go to the factory’s sales,” Ember said. “So, you weren’t exactly paying for them.”
“Sure I was. Well, not the factory, but the money was going to the people it should go to—the elves! Rinch was too cheap to raise their wages, so I did it for him.” Yule smiled, apparently pleased with himself.
“That’s very nice.” Disappointment radiated from Phoebe as she turned away from the closet. “But the petty cash wasn’t what Alfie was investigating.”
“I don’t know what the elf was up to, and I don’t care,” Yule said. “Now you better explain what you were up to in the barn.”
Phoebe looked sheepish. “We were looking for proof that you killed Alfie.”
Yule let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t kill no one, see?”
“Yes, yes, I see. We believe you.” Phoebe glanced at Ember, and Ember nodded. Yule seemed to be sincere, and since he hadn’t made a move to kill them, she felt that his story was likely true.
“I guess I can put these in the pile, then?” Jimmy gestured toward the sack. Yule nodded at him, and he started to pull out toys and add them to the pile.
As Ember watched him, an idea struck. Something wasn’t right. “Wait a minute. What about the inventory?”
Phoebe snapped her fingers. “That’s right! If the toys weren’t purchased through the regular channels, then how come no one noticed they were missing?”
“Maybe that was the discrepancy Alfie discovered? Toy sales that were unaccounted for. But why hasn’t Greg Rinch noticed it?” Ember asked.
“There’s only one reason,” Yule said. “Greg Rinch must be up to something shady himself.”
Chapter 11
Disappointment warred with excitement in Ember’s gut as they trudged home through the snow. Since it was dark, Yule had offered to have one of his henchmen escort them, but they’d declined. They wanted to hash out the clues and come up with a new plan of action.
Brimstone was nowhere to be found. No surprise there. The cat was flighty and couldn’t be counted on.
“Seems like someone as concerned with production as Greg Rinch would keep a close eye on the inventory,” Phoebe said as she wrapped her black scarf around her face to keep her nose warm.
Ember remembered how angry Rinch had been that the elves were taking a break when she and Phoebe had brought the chocolates. He was the type to keep a close eye on everything. “Maybe he left all that up to Stan.
He is the accountant.”
“I don’t think so. I mean, that guy seems like a control freak.”
Ember couldn’t argue with that. They walked in silence. The only sound was the crunch of snow under their boots. It was a cloudless night. The stars above seemed brighter than in Silver Hollow, and there were so many more of them. Thoughts of Silver Hollow reminded her how badly she wanted to solve the case.
“Maybe Rinch didn’t notice that the inventory is off because he is also messing around with it in order to devalue the company so he can buy it from his brother at a cheap price. You know how Brimstone said that someone embezzling would have two sets of books? Rinch might not be embezzling, but maybe he has two sets of books because he’s manipulating the inventory.”
“Whatever he’s doing might have masked the fact that toys were missing. And he probably wouldn’t know about the extra petty cash money. That’s union money.”
“He might have gotten wind that Alfie was on to something. Killing him would solve two problems for Rinch—stop the strike and stop Alfie from nosing around,” Ember said. “If Rinch even wanted to stop the strike, that is. Either way, if our suspicions are correct, he had motive.”
“Yeah, but what about the fireworks and the trip?” Phoebe asked. “Those don’t add up. And don’t forget, he has an alibi. Tinsel said he was at the factory early this morning. He couldn’t have killed Alfie.”
Ember stopped at the intersection to Candy Cane Lane. Down the street, she could just barely see the lights from the candy canes over the door of the toy factory. It would be closed now, but the lights were lit all night. “I bet Rinch is the type who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He might have hired someone else to kill Alfie then got to the factory early on purpose so he would have an alibi. Maybe we should have another look around the toy factory. With no one there, we might be able to search Rinch’s office for a sleigh bell. Does your keycard work at night?”
Cadaver on Candy Cane Lane (Christmas Village Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 5
