Three Carols of Cozy Christmas Murder

by Carolyn L. Dean

  “Does Jason know about your son?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t going to alienate Jane.

  Jane took a deep breath and then nodded.

  I wasn’t sure what to even say to that. You’d think he’d want to be part of his son’s life. I couldn’t say that though. I could only imagine how frustrating it was for Jane to have this son she adored and then have the father not make the effort. Especially when Hank, who believed he was the dad, adored J.J. and was good to him.

  “I’d say that the longer you don’t tell the more unforgivable it is,” I said. “But what do I know? And the reality of it is…it’s been a long time already.”

  “I have to think about it,” Jane said. “I can’t just do it today.”

  There was a knock on the door once we’d all finished a glass of wine and Mattie was refilling glasses all around. Zee stood there with the pizza guy. She had taken the pizza and he waited until we answered and then nodded and left since we’d paid online.

  We ate pizza, chatted about clothes, and Christmas and left the subject of Jane and the blackmail alone. She drank pretty heavily but I didn’t blame her one bit after the week she’d had. Mattie and I loaded Jane into Mattie’s car, and once they left, Zee looked at me and said, “Did she say anything that made you worry?”

  I shook my head and said, “I don’t think Jane did it. Not just because she’s my friend. She’s not stupid. What did you find out from your clinic friend?”

  Zee frowned and then admitted, “She was there the whole day. They were super busy. When Jane left, it was a real problem. I guess strep throat is going around. I’m probably going to get it now.”

  I grinned evilly and said, “At least the diner is closed. You won’t have to miss work.”

  “Shut your mouth,” Zee said. She poured herself another glass of wine and asked, “Did you look more closely at the box?”

  I shook my head.

  “I’m worried about you having that stuff,” Zee said. “It’s worth killing over to someone.”

  “No one should know I have it.”

  “Someone is watching close enough to what we are doing to know we are looking into things and break the window of the diner,” Zee reminded me. “I’ve texted Simon and told him I was worried. He’s coming over.”

  I…wasn’t ready for that. I blinked and then said, “Zee…”

  “He’ll be sleeping on the couch.”

  “Zee…”

  “I do have a gun,” she said.

  Before she could finish, I blanched and then she added, “But that’s why I’m not staying. I won’t make you feel safe.”

  “Zee…”

  “If he's not already in love with you, he's close,” Zee said. “And either way, you won’t be able to get rid of him now that he knows I’m worried about you.”

  “We should consider just giving him the rest of this stuff,” I told her, kicking the box.

  “Paige entrusted you with it because she didn’t think you would,” Zee shot back. “Don’t be a whiner. Some of what is in those files are crimes. And some are things that aren’t crimes, like Jane, but that Simon won’t be able to unlearn.”

  I leaned down and pulled one of the puppies into my lap. I lifted it to my face, kissed the top, of its head, and then flipped it onto its back to scratch its belly. I’d been so distracted by them that I hadn’t even bothered to learn their sexes, name them, or get them collars.

  “You really keeping all three?”

  “I,” I had to pause. That would be five dogs. And I couldn’t take a whole pack to the diner like I took Daisy. Would it be terrible of me to keep some home? Still, five dogs. It was probably too many. “I don’t know.”

  “You should pawn one off on Mattie another off on Jane, and keep your favorite with little Mama. What’s her name?”

  I winced and then said, “The vet said she was named Boo-boo.”

  Zee shook her head emphatically but there was a heavy knock on the door. I winced and she said, “Just go to bed. It’s late.”

  She went to open the door and told Simon, scoldingly, “She’s been drinking. Hands to yourself.”

  “Geez, Zee,” Simon said. He was wearing sweats and said, “Go away ya old bat.”

  She left but she shook her finger under his nose before she did.

  “Wine?” I asked him.

  “Girl’s night?” He asked me.

  I nodded and he said, “Sure.”

  Two of the puppies were pawing his feet and he asked me, “What are you gonna do with them?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “Keep Mama for sure, I think.”

  “She seems like a nice dog.”

  We awkwardly stared at each other and then I lamely said, “Thank you for coming.”

  He grinned just enough to let me know he felt the same weirdness before he said, “I hope you’d call me whenever you don’t feel safe. Is this about Zee’s…issue?”

  I flinched internally and said, “It’s about the blackmail, yeah. Zee thinks that since the window was broken and we were seen in Donna’s house that I could be a target.”

  Simon crossed, opened the pizza box, and lifted a piece onto one of the paper plates that were stacked on the table.

  “Yeah,” he said, adding, “It’s not worth the risk.”

  I sighed. I hadn’t felt unsafe until Zee pointed it out. Even with the nasty note and broken window, I figured that whoever it was was trying to scare me off—not actually hurt me. But I could have been hurt by that brick. I could have been cut badly. We were lucky. I had a few scratches but nothing that was all that concerning.

  A sort of comfortable silence settled on us. We each had a puppy on our laps. He ate the last of our pizza, and I drank the last of my wine. I rose and crossed to him, just touching his shoulder to say, “Thank you for coming.”

  “If you ever feel unsafe again,” he said, “I hope you’ll be the one to call me.”

  I held my breath for a moment at the flash of heat in his eyes and said, “I didn’t think I was in danger until Zee pointed it out and said she’d already called you. I might have,” I said and was shocked to realize how true it was.

  He took my hand, kissed my palm, and said, “I saw you yawning.”

  I crated Mama dog and her puppies and took Daisy with me into the bedroom. Unlike with Jane, I closed the door, giving Simon some privacy and me some as well. I hadn’t let myself think too much about what a sleepover with him might be like, but this wasn’t what I would have pictured.

  Once the door was closed, I lifted the box of files and skimmed the names. There were only two overlaps that we hadn’t already ruled out if you also removed men. Given that Jane and Mattie were sure whoever broke into Donna’s house while we were there was female…and that was the only person who should even know that Zee and I were involved in this…surely that must be the killer?

  I had hoped I’d be out of the investigation by the time when we found Jane’s evidence. But there was still Shawn Robinette and Juliette Michaels. I didn’t know either of them. I wouldn’t have killed over either of their secrets, but I couldn’t imagine anything we’d come across being worth killing over.

  I put the box in the bedroom armoire, shoving aside clothes and then closing the doors, and then I climbed into bed. The moment I turned on my side, Daisy snuggled her body up to my stomach placing her chin on my side.

  I set my hand on her head, caressed her ears, and whispered, “Good night, my love.”

  I might have had trouble sleeping after what Zee had suggested about my safety except Simon was on the other side of the door. I stared at it for a moment and then slipped into sleep before I could regret not feeling his arms around me instead.

  Chapter 12

  Simon was gone when I woke up, but I hadn’t set my alarm given that the diner was closed. Zee, however, showed up within minutes of my shower. She banged on the cottage door until I opened it, so I let the dogs out with her, ignoring the rain and her grunt of complaint. I didn�
�t have shoes on and hadn’t had coffee yet, so as far as I was concerned, it was her choice to take out the dogs by showing up so early.

  “Have you looked at the files?” Zee asked the second she came in, hanging up her coat and taking the coffee I handed her.

  I nodded and dried down the dogs before I stared into the fridge. Most days I was at the diner for breakfast, so it took a moment and then I made us both toast, handing Zee a yogurt.

  “Is there anyone we didn’t know about? Or anyone we haven’t talked to?”

  “Someone named Juliette Michaels and Shawn Robinette. Joseph Jeans isn’t one of them.”

  “What did Juliette do?” Zee asked.

  “She stole some stuff on the job. Donna must have been quick with her camera. She’s got so many pics. But Juliette works at a surf shop. She doesn’t pay that much, but Juliette paid regularly. I bet she pays just to keep her job. Better to pay out than be fired.”

  I scowled as I looked at the names. I didn’t think either of the amounts was worth killing over. Maybe we had the wrong person. And there was the option, I didn’t want to consider…was that she was trying her games with someone new who decided to resolve the issue another way.

  I sighed as I said, “Donna didn’t take much from either of them. I checked the log of payments. Shawn was paying about $200.00 a month and Juliette was paying $50.00 every single paycheck.”

  Zee snorted meanly and then said, “Just enough to be worth paying rather than dealing with the consequences. But not so much that they’d just leave.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “That’s the thing. No one except Henrietta and Jane were paying very much money, but they both have quite a bit more money. Overall, the amounts were…achievable.”

  “Smart,” Zee said, “But evil. If it’s too much, it becomes something worth changing over. Shawn has a good job for around here. She could get a good job somewhere else but…if you like Silver Falls? Maybe it’s worth paying rather than leaving.”

  “Do you know either of them?”

  “Juliette is quiet,” Zee said. “Doesn’t eat out much. She works in the surf shop, surfs when she’s not working. If you loved surfing, I could see paying rather than having to get a job somewhere else. Especially because she probably lives for free with her grandma. Shawn, though, she’s amiable enough but weird. Super girly. It’s actually really hard to believe that she even did what her file said.”

  I sniffed and then said, “There are pictures. And record of her payments.”

  “Of Shawn spanking that student?”

  “School security badge and all,” I said and then finished off the last of my yogurt.

  “Of the two,” I said, glancing at the payment log, “I think we better keep looking. I can’t really imagine it. Hopefully Simon has better luck finding the killer.”

  Zee shot me a nasty look and said, “This Shawn woman has more to lose.”

  “But isn’t she like frilly girlie? This murder required know-how about gas lines. I don’t consider myself incapable, and I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  Zee tossed her yogurt cup in the trash from her seat and said, “We have to at least talk to them. Put the evidence in one of those too big bags you carry, and we can hand it over if we feel good about what they have to say.

  “Who do you think did it?” I put the two pictures in front of Zee.

  “Shawn looks pretty vicious here,” Zee said. “But she also looks like a beauty queen and look at those nails.”

  The long pointed fingernails that stood out next to Shawn’s black dress did look like you wouldn’t be able to type on a computer let alone hold a tool. Whereas the surfer girl was probably extra capable. I bet she was the sort who did her own car maintenance.

  “Juliette is my guess,” I said. “Based off of those fingernails alone. I don’t think that Shawn could do anything. She’s probably entirely useless.”

  Zee shook her head and countered, “She’s too weird to bypass. I vote for her.”

  We flipped a coin and Zee won. It was a school day, but Zee was—apparently—on the school board. Besides, as far as I could tell, no one wanted to challenge Zee ever anyway. I don’t know how some sour waitress from a small-town could do whatever she wanted, but that was how life seemed to work for Zee.

  I drove us over to the grade school, and Zee just waved at the secretary as we passed.

  “Don’t I have to sign in?”

  “They should absolutely make you,” Zee said, giving the office a scowl and then said, “But they won’t challenge you since you’re with me.”

  Zee knocked on the library door and said, “Could you come to Robinette’s classroom? I need to talk to her for a moment.”

  The librarian looked up, frowned, and then nodded. She didn’t even argue. It was clear she was busy, but she simply rose, locked the library, and followed. I got a sideways eye but that was all.

  We followed Zee down a long hallway carpeted with industrial carpet. The walls were a pretty light yellow and covered with paintings that had been clearly done by children. It was bright and happy though, and I could see enjoying spending time here. I bet even sour old Zee liked it. I was pretty sure, in fact, she volunteered here a fair amount on her Monday’s off and in the afternoon to help the teachers.

  “You’re a good woman, Zee,” I said.

  She glanced at me, scowled, and said, “Quit trying to butter me up.”

  “Those kids like you,” I said and the librarian nodded in agreement. “That means that you spend enough time here that they know you.”

  “Shut it,” Zee said.

  Three little children went running by and stopped when Zee snapped their names.

  “Sorry Zee,” they called, grinning at her mischievously and taking off again the moment they were farther down the hall.

  “Scamps,” Zee said fondly.

  “See,” I said. I bet she liked those kids better because they kept running.

  Zee stopped outside a classroom door that was a little less decorated than the others. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, of course, it was just a little less bright, a little less detailed. But maybe that was me looking for something to be wrong. After all, I’d seen a picture of the woman who taught in this classroom spanking a child. It certainly dimmed my view of her.

  I was all for a parent’s right to discipline a child as they felt was right—especially when it didn’t cross the line into physical abuse. I did not, however, feel the same about non-parents.

  Zee walked into the classroom with so much attitude that Shawn fell silent. Her eyes narrowed on us, and then she said, “I wasn’t aware you’d be here today, Zee.”

  Zee grinned at the kids, winked, and said, “Surprise. I need to talk to you. Janet will stay with your class.”

  Shawn, it seemed, had more spunk to her than I’d have guessed the way everyone else at this school acted around Zee. Shawn looked us over, considered booting us out of her classroom, and then decided against it.

  “Janet,” Shawn ordered, crossing to her desk and picking up a book. “Maybe do some read aloud. The bookmark is where we are.”

  Janet nodded and took the book as Shawn led us out of the classroom. Her high heels click, click, clicked on the linoleum of her classroom and were silenced by the carpet in the hall.

  “What do you want Zee?” Shawn glanced at me, scowled, and then stared Zee down.

  My brows rose at the tone and the way they were battling who was going to look away first.

  Zee’s head tilted as she examined Shawn. Up close her highlights were perfected, her makeup was heavy but perfectly applied. I could see the blend of her contour—I wouldn’t even know how to do that. Let alone that liquid liner on her eyes. I tried to keep my examination to a minimum, but Shawn definitely noticed. And did not appreciate. I’d have complimented her if we weren’t there to ask her if she’d broken the window of my diner, committed arson, and murdered her blackmailer.

  Instead I pressed my lips togethe
r against the sudden humor of it all.

  “I want to know if you were the one who killed Donna.” Zee’s counter-examination of Shawn clearly found the woman lacking.

  Shawn seemed to notice Zee’s disdain because she fluffed her bangs and seemed to run her lip over her teeth as if checking for lipstick or something in her teeth. But when she answered, she snapped, “And you actually expect me to answer that? What? You think if you ask, I’ll just confess?”

  “I suggest,” Zee said coolly, sniffing and then examining Shawn as if she were a nasty bug, “that you convince me that you didn’t do it.”

  Shawn took a step back and then her eyes narrowed on Zee. “Why should I?”

  “If you want to take your chances with my anger, go ahead,” Zee said. “Try me.”

  I was shocked. I hadn’t expected Zee to just…order this. I didn’t like that Shawn was so obstinate about talking about it. Everyone else, even Betty, hadn’t wanted to be thought a possible murderer. Shawn, though, she didn’t care.

  She stared Zee down for longer than anyone I had ever seen and then grudgingly said, “Donna blackmailed a lot of people. How do you think Andy Jones felt when he finally challenged her after years of paying and Donna didn’t reveal his secrets? And don’t think that whoever you’ve questioned so far didn’t lie to you. It’s not like you’re a human lie detector. Not everyone else can have their job screwed over by the pair of you fools.”

  Zee smiled at that and her eyes narrowed on Shawn. Given the way the school was jumping to Zee’s tune, I didn’t want to be Shawn the next time a review came up. Zee could be vicious. I’d seen that all too well. She was a mean old broad, and I liked her despite it.

  “You spanked a kid?” Zee’s glance was wicked, and I had no doubt that Shawn would be looking for another job soon.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shawn lied. “Get away from me. That kid who supposedly I spanked…ask their parent about it. See what they say.”

  Zee expression said that Shawn would be paying for what she’d done regardless. I didn’t envy her one bit.