Pumpkin Spice Lies: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16

by Kathleen Suzette

  “And Betty Mays? Was she there at the park?”

  “We identified as many of the people as we could, but the cameras were set quite a distance from the parking lot and some people couldn’t be identified. Why?”

  We crossed the street and stood in front of the store next door to the clothing store. I didn’t want Betty to catch sight of us standing in front of her store and get suspicious.

  “Well, I believe Betty Mays may have killed Hailey. I think she was terrified that Hailey would tell her husband about the affair, and so she killed her to keep her mouth shut.”

  “I think that is a fair suspicion. And I’ve talked to her twice.”

  “So you don’t think she’s the killer?” I asked, disappointed.

  “No, I didn’t say that. I think it’s a very good possibility that she is the killer, and I have my eye on her. Mia, what’s going on? Tell me where you’re at right now.”

  I took a deep breath. “Christy and I are standing in front of the store next to the dress shop.”

  “Why? What are you doing? You’re not going to go in there and accuse her of murder are you?”

  There was panic in his voice and I glanced at Christy, who put her hands up in the air in an attempt to let me know that she wanted to know what was going on.

  “I talked to Joey Harper, and he says that Hailey got a call from Betty the day before we found her body. It was her day off, and she was annoyed that Betty was calling her at home. She wanted her to come to the park, to look at the booth they had been assigned.”

  Ethan was quiet for a moment. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”

  “Joey said he forgot and was going to call you and tell you about it.”

  There was a heavy sigh. “Mia, don’t go in there. I’m going to come down there and have a talk with Betty.”

  “Okay, we’ll wait for you.”

  “No, don’t wait for me. Go back to the candy store. I’m sure there’s lots of pumpkin spice fudge that you should be making.”

  “You’re right. We’ll be waiting for you.” I hung up and turned to Christy.

  “He’s coming down here to talk to Betty. He warned us not to go into the store.”

  “And are we going to listen to him?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Yes, we’re going to listen to him. Let’s just hang out here and wait for a few minutes.”

  ***

  We were still standing in front of the shop next door when Ethan pulled up and parked at the curb. He shook his head before he got out of the car and closed the door behind himself. “What are you two still doing here? I thought you had pumpkin spice fudge to make?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, we do. And we do need to get going, but we just thought we’d hang out in case Betty tried to make a break for it.” I grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss. “You wouldn’t want her to escape, would you?”

  “Why would she try to escape if she didn’t know she was under suspicion?”

  I shrugged.

  “We want to go in there with you,” Christy said.

  He shook his head. “No.” And then he stopped and stared at a red sports car parked several spaces over. He walked over and stopped in front of the car.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, looking at the car.

  “Somebody drove a car like this over to the parking lot at the park, but it was parked in the shade. I could tell it was red when it pulled into the parking lot, but because the driver got out of it in the shade, it was hard to tell who it was.”

  “If I’m not mistaken, that car belongs to Betty Mays,” Christy said.

  He turned and looked at her. Then he nodded. “You two get back to the candy store. Please. Don’t make me take my badge out.”

  I looked at Christy, and she looked at me. “I don’t want to go back to the candy store,” she said.

  “I don’t want to argue with him, and I don’t want him mad at us.” I grabbed my sister by the hand, and I pulled her back down the sidewalk.

  “Oh, come on, I don’t want to miss this,” she said, pulling back on my hand.

  “You come on, I don’t want to irritate Ethan,” I said. “Besides, he’ll tell us what happened.”

  I looked over my shoulder, and Ethan was entering the clothing store. I crossed my fingers in the hope that Hailey was going to get justice now.

  Chapter Twenty

  Christy dropped a suitcase, a duffel bag, two pillows, and a blanket on my living room floor. “There. Welcome me home.”

  I chuckled. “Welcome home, Christy. At least, temporarily.”

  One eyebrow shot up. “What do you mean temporarily? I gave notice at my apartment. I have no place else to go.”

  “You know it’s temporary. As soon as Ethan moves in with me, you’re moving across the street.”

  “Oh good. I thought you changed your mind about having me as your roomie. I’ve got a few more things out in the car, and tomorrow I need you to help me take some boxes over to Mom and Dad’s. Please.”

  “Sure, that’s how I like to spend my days off,” I said.

  Devon appeared at the door with a cardboard box. “Hey, Mia.”

  I smiled. “Hey, Devon. Put that anywhere.”

  “You got it.” He walked into the living room and set it next to Christy’s other things.

  “He’s such a good boyfriend,” Christy said and kissed him. He grinned.

  “What do you two want for dinner? I bought a frozen lasagna, or we can order pizza. Or we can just have some cereal. It’s hot, and I’m not in the mood to heat up the house by turning the oven on.”

  “We could go by someplace and pick something up,” she offered. “I’ve got a few more things in the car. Come and help me get them out first.”

  Devon and I followed her out to her car that was parked behind mine at the curb. The car was stuffed with boxes and bags, two paintings, and clothing. “You don’t travel lightly, do you?”

  “No Way,” Devon said and opened the back door.

  She shook her head. “No. I hope you have a lot of closet space.”

  “Uh oh, that could be a problem,” I said, reaching into the car and picking up a pile of shirts that were still on hangers. I folded them over one arm and reached into the car and picked up a small box.

  “You might have to get rid of some of your stuff,” she informed me as she picked up a big box out of the backseat.

  “I don’t know about that,” I said. As we stood talking, Ethan pulled into his driveway across the street and parked. He got out of his truck and turned toward us.

  “Well, if it isn’t the nosy twins plus one,” he called across the street.

  “We aren’t twins,” I pointed out. Never mind the nosy part.

  He chuckled and came across the street. “What are you three doing?”

  “Christy is moving in with me. Remember?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I remember,” he said.

  “And if you’re really a good brother-in-law, you could help us unload my car,” Christy said as she carried the box up the sidewalk and into the house.

  “I’m not technically her brother-in-law yet,” Ethan grumbled and picked up another big box from the backseat.

  “Doesn’t matter, she’ll put you to work,” Devon said and picked up a box and carried it inside.

  “Isn’t it cute? She thinks of you as her brother-in-law. I think it’s sweet.” I said and carried the items in my hands up the sidewalk.

  “It’s lovely,” he said.

  It only took us another two trips to empty the car and bring everything into the house. I had hoped Christy would travel light, but I was wrong. I also hoped she wouldn’t bring any of the other items from her apartment to my house. It was already cramped with what she had brought.

  “So,” I said and kissed Ethan. “What happened?”

  He nodded. “She admitted to killing Hailey. Hailey had threatened her, saying she would tell her husband about the affair. And apparently, Hailey took a picture of th
e two of them with her phone before she approached her that day at the restaurant. So she had proof, and she said that she would show her husband if she didn’t give her a raise. A huge raise.”

  “What a little sneak,” Christy said and crashed on the couch. Devon sat next to her.

  “Yeah, being a sneak can get you into trouble,” Ethan said and sat down at the other end of the couch. I moved in and sat next to him.

  “So it was planned, then?” Boo came and jumped on the couch and snuggled up in my lap.

  “Yes, Betty saw the hole that had been dug near the playground equipment when she made her first trip to the park to check out her booth. That was earlier in the morning. Then she called Hailey and had her come later that evening. That’s why everything was in the shadows, and I couldn’t see who it was. It was hot that afternoon, so she had brought Hailey something to drink and put the sleeping pills in it. Then she busied her with wiping down the booth and asking her opinion on how they should set things up. The medication took about thirty minutes to kick in and she offered her a chair when she got drowsy.” He reached over and pet Boo. “When Hailey dozed off, she dragged her over to the hole and filled it in by the cover of night.”

  “That’s crazy,” I said. “How did her barrettes end up on the ground like they did?”

  “Betty said she had trouble dragging her to the hole. I figure Betty panicked when trying to drag her over to it, and she accidentally pulled them out of her hair.”

  I made a clucking sound and scratched Boo’s ear. “What a shame. On both parts. If Hailey had just minded her own business and left things alone, she’d still be alive today.”

  “Yes, and if Betty wasn’t so underhanded and had an affair on her husband, then decided to kill the only person that knew about it, or the only person she thought knew about it, she might still be alive,” Ethan said.

  I still didn’t understand the business of murder. I just couldn’t imagine a situation so drastic that I would feel like I had to kill someone. I leaned back on the couch and took Ethan’s hand. I was glad the murder was solved, and we’d have more time together.

  “Did you happen to bring home any of your mother’s pumpkin spice fudge?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No. We sold out of it.”

  He leaned his head back. “That’s a shame.”

  It truly was. I loved fudge, but especially pumpkin spice fudge. We were both addicted to it, and I wanted more of the tasty confection.

  The End