Winter Festival Murder

by Linnea West

  Together, Clark and I put up the barriers around our thermometer and gathered our supplies. As we walked to our car, I saw Donna again. I gave her a little wave and once I made sure no one was looking, I made a zipper motion across my lips to tell her I would keep our secret. She gave me a little smile back.

  I still needed to check with Max to confirm if Charlie had been formally arrested. I'm sure he would be reluctant to tell me, but I needed to know. This entire murder just seemed so odd, but I couldn't put my finger on why. None of the possible motives seemed to make much sense. The clues were not that helpful. Maybe the police had found something to crack it wide open. I'd need to figure out a way to have Max clue me in, no pun intended of course.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Clark had some papers he needed to grade, so our celebration dinner would have to wait until another time. As soon as we got back to the B&B, he hopped into his car and sped off towards home. He was enough of a gentleman to leave the trophy with me to display in the living room window of the B&B.

  My parents were waiting when I opened the front door, clapping and cheering. The results of the competition had been aired on the radio, of course, so they already knew that we had gotten second place. Both my mother and father gave me a big hug. My mother held the trophy while my father helped me clear a space on the top of the small bookshelf that sat below the big bay window. The trophy would be proudly displayed there, at least for a while.

  "I'm excited to go out and see your sculpture tomorrow," my father said. The sculpture area would be open for everyone to come see all of the sculptures that had been entered in the competition. Anyone who hadn't been at the competition, including all of the children of Shady Lake, could see them all starting tomorrow.

  "Your thermometer sounded wonderful on the radio," my mother said. She beamed in pride.

  My parents were wonderful in supporting us no matter what it was we were striving to do. Between all five of us, they had supported us in sports, arts and musical concerts. They had even sat out on the porch and cheered us on when we took up hobbies like the pogo stick, jump roping, unicycling, and juggling. They were always supportive, even if they didn't especially enjoy watching our hobby. I can't imagine that watching my brother Teddy pogo stick up and down the sidewalk could have been that exciting.

  As we stood back to admire the trophy, the front door slammed and in walked Lennie and his sneer. He hung up his purple scarf and jacket and turned back to sneer at us some more.

  "I'm not sure why second place is being celebrated," he said. "It isn't like you won the competition."

  "Life isn't all about winning," my father said. He had a way of taking things like this in stride and not just because he wanted to keep a guest of the B&B happy. He had always been one to turn lemons into lemonade.

  "Sure it is," Lennie said. "Only losers say life isn't about winning."

  He scurried away and up the stairs to his room. Lennie resembled a bit of rat as he whisked himself away from us. My parents and I watched him until we couldn't see him any more.

  "If he didn't want to have fun, why did he extend his stay through the festival?" my mother asked when he was out of sight. "You'd think he would want to leave early instead especially after the medallion hunt ended the way it did."

  I had to agree with my mother completely. I still didn't understand why he made me extend his stay.

  "I'm surprised he wasn't more upset about the medallion hunt," I said. "By the way, he said he was here when Gerald was murdered which I was a little surprised about. I figured he would be out hunting. But were either of you here to confirm that?"

  My mother gave me a grumpy look. She didn't like when I "played police" as she called it. My father on the other hand didn't seem to catch on to that.

  "The night Gerald was murdered was the night of the hockey game," my mother said. "And after the game, most of the team came over here for pizza. We had people in and out all night eating pizza and congratulating the team on their win. I don't remember seeing Lennie at all that night."

  "Same," my father said. "Lennie was definitely not down here with us. If he somehow was here, he would have had to sneak through the crowd with no one noticing him and up to his room where he sat for the rest of the night."

  "Okay, so he doesn't have an alibi," I said.

  My mother gave a sharp exhale which I pretended I didn't hear. Once my mother told me that having adult children was hard because you couldn't be as approving or disapproving about things. You had to just let them live their life and only chime in when asked. And I hadn't asked, but my mother had apparently figured both well-timed exhales and grumpy looks didn't actually count as disapproval.

  "Pumpkin, I don't know if you heard, but they arrested Charlie for the murder," my father said.

  "I know, I know, but do you think Charlie did it?" I asked.

  "Rich said he didn't," my father said. "But of course, he's Charlie's father."

  I left the conversation at that because my mother's face was telling me that I really did need to stop now. But as I left them to go up to my room to change my clothes, I thought about Charlie. He did seem an obvious choice for the suspect. He had threatened Gerald in public, in front of nearly the entire town. Charlie also did not have an alibi, at least according to Rich. I'm not sure if I'd be able to actually ask Charlie for his alibi. He also had purple and yellow outerwear and having a Loony Bin keychain would make sense for him.

  I changed into a warm sweater and a pair of jeans as I thought about the murder again. I still had a hard time thinking that Charlie's motive was winning the $500 prize. In my mind, if you had a big enough amount of debt to want to kill over money, that amount of prize money would barely put a dent in it.

  My phone buzzed and I picked it up to see a message from Max.

  Want to meet for some snacks at the Loony Bin? I'd love to treat part of the second place winning snow sculpture team.

  I had to laugh at Max's message, but this came at the perfect time. He must not be as mad at me anymore, which felt like I'd just shed ten extra pounds off. Maybe I could talk to Rich a little more while we were there. Plus, if I could get a drink or two into Max, maybe I could get him to tell me a bit more about their investigation. I sent him a message back.

  Sure, although I think your premise is a bit shoddy ;) See you there in 20 minutes?

  I thought about mentioning the other half of my snowman building team, but that seemed like asking just a bit too much. I really wanted to get back into Max's good graces. It was absolute misery to have him upset with me.

  You get here whenever you can. I'm already here.

  Well, I'd already changed my clothes so I figured I may as well get going. I zipped downstairs and threw my jacket on to venture back out into the cold. It was hard to want to leave as soon as I got home, but I'd venture out in the cold for Max. And I'd venture out there to talk to Rich. I just hoped Rich would want to talk to me because I needed some information from him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The Loony Bin was full of people, but then it almost always was. I was impressed with the growing economy of Shady Lake. On the other hand, I wondered if I'd be able to find a time to talk to Rich without other people hearing.

  That didn't matter right now. I reminded myself that I was here to hang out with Max, not just to question Rich. And right now, I needed to figure out where Max was sitting.

  When I opened the door, I definitely did not get the greeting of a regular, but a few people turned and gave a polite wave. While I didn't really care about being a townie, I did wonder how long I had to live here again to be greeted as a townie by some people.

  I wandered in and hoped Max would stand up or call to me or something because I was not confident enough to just wander around the entire bar by myself. But Max saved me and called to me from the end of the bar where he had two barstools and a glass of white wine waiting for me.

  "Hi Tessa," Max said. "I'm so glad you could come out to
meet me. Sit on down here Ms. Second Place. I've already got a drink for you."

  I could tell he had already had a beer by the his casual manner. I knew that the hard part of being a small town cop is feeling like you are always on duty. Max said it had taken him a long time to be able to relax and feel like a citizen when his work week was done. One way that helped was by having a time to relax, whether that was a movie at home or a drink out at the bar.

  "I'm glad I could make it," I said. "I need a bit of relax time too after that competition."

  Max had already ordered some french fries and onion rings so after they were delivered, I replayed the snow sculpture competition for him. I told him all about the process and the other sculptures. I told him everything, except for my conversation with Donna of course. That part I kept to myself.

  "I can't wait to go down and see it tomorrow," Max said, grabbing my hand. The beer had loosened him up enough to allow him this tiny amount of affection in public and I wasn't going to stop it or complain. Beggars can't be choosers after all.

  As we sat and enjoyed our drinks and snacks, I noticed that Rich kept looking over at me. I was getting the impression that he wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to him. But how could I make that happen? I decided to just focus on Max and see how things played out.

  After a bit of small talk, I wondered if I could ask him about the case. I made sure that Rich wasn't around to hear.

  "So how is Charlie doing?" I asked. "I heard he has been put under arrest."

  Max's face automatically shifted into more of a serious expression. He hated when I asked him about ongoing cases. But I hadn't asked for any secret information, so after a moment, he took another drink of his beer and answered me.

  "He is doing as well as anyone does in jail," Max said with a glance towards Rich. "Charlie is under arrest because he threatened Gerald in public and he can't provide an alibi. He was definitely our top suspect and no one else really came up in our investigation. I mean we questioned Trevor, but it was always Charlie at the top."

  "Really?" I said casually. "Because I had a list with a few other people at the top of the suspect list."

  Max shot me a look that told me not to go there, but I already had. I wasn't going to drop it now. I figured I could press him just a little more.

  "I think there are at least two other possible suspects," I said. "And in my mind, they have not been cleared."

  I took a sip of my wine and tried to act casual, but I knew I was walking a thin line. Max had just finished being mad at me and if I pushed Max too far, I would not learn anything new and worse, he would be mad at me again. I hoped that wouldn't happen.

  "We did find one other clue that you missed," Max said finally.

  My head snapped towards him and I couldn't help but show my surprise. I wondered if I would have found whatever the clue was if Max hadn't interrupted Mandy and I while we were searching. I'm sure I would have.

  "What was it?" I blurted out. I knew he wouldn't tell me, but I couldn't help but ask. The scene was pretty bare. What could I have missed?

  "I can tell by your face you already know what I'm going to say," Max said, picking up his beer mug. "I can't tell you that."

  I harrumphed to myself and drained my wine glass. I thought about ordering another, but I knew I really didn't need another glass. What I needed was to find a way to talk to Rich about Charlie and figure out what clue I had missed that pointed towards Charlie.

  "I really should get going," Max said. "If I have any more, I won't be able to drive. And I suspect that we don't have much else to talk about."

  I winced a little bit. Max looked like I had hurt him and I cursed myself for pushing too hard. Now he was mad at me again.

  "I'm sorry Max," I said. "But Mandy asked me to help her when Trevor was being questioned."

  "But we have arrested someone else," Max said. "You don't have to help anymore. We have it under control."

  "Do you? Because I don't think you have much of a case against him. In fact, I think you are grasping at straws a bit."

  "Come on Tessa," Max said. "Knock it off. Just let me do my job and stop sticking your nose into police business. Sometimes I think you just use me to try to get information so that you can play detective."

  My face scrunched up into a snarl before I could stop it. I hadn't asked to solve Gerald's murder, but Mandy needed me to.

  "Mandy does so much for me and I can't let her down," I said. I started to open my mouth to explain more to him, but Max started talking first.

  "You always think you can solve everyone's problems, but you never seem to be able to solve your own," Max said. "Mandy always helps you because you can never manage to do things for yourself. You take on too much and then panic. When you came back, I hoped you had changed a little bit. But you are still just as immature as ever."

  "You shut your mouth," I said, slamming down my wine glass just a little bit too hard. "I might be immature, but you are Mr. High and Mighty Small Town Cop. You think you are so great just because you stayed behind to fight crime in Shady Lake, like you're some kind of superhero. Has life turned out the way you planned? Because I don't remember this being your plan."

  Max's eyes flared. I had pushed him too far. Now he was past hurt, he was angry. My big mouth had gotten me in trouble again. I wasn't sure how I was an adult if I couldn't even learn to keep my mouth shut, but I just couldn't help it sometimes.

  I tried to figure out what to say next, wondering if I should apologize, but Max pushed his chair back and stood up gruffly. He grabbed his jacket off of the back of his chair and threw a couple of crumpled dollars onto the bar.

  "You never change, do you Tessa?" Max growled. "You never know when to stop pushing and stop talking. I wish you would just grow up a little."

  I watched his back as he walked out of the door and my heart sank. When I was married to Peter, I sometimes wondered if Max was the one that had gotten away, like in all of those romance stories. Sometimes I would play "What If" and think about what my life would be like if I had stayed with Max. I never imagined I'd actually be back in Shady Lake and back with Max.

  But now I'd possibly ruined it again. I was my own worst enemy, but the worst part was that I knew it and I still soldiered on messing things up. But I knew that I couldn't mess up investigating a little more. I decided now was my chance to talk to Rich. So I pushed my hurt back and gathered up my strength to go have a little chat.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  There was a bit of a lull in the bar. Not that it was quiet, but everyone had settled into their evening rhythm at their usual spots. I waited until Rich came down my way and I quietly flagged him down.

  "Rich, I was hoping to talk to you about Charlie," I said, trying to be as discrete as possible.

  Rich nodded, knowing exactly what I was up to. He knew about my uncanny ability to get all wrapped up in solving crimes that had almost nothing to do with me.

  "Give me a few minutes to make sure everyone is good and then we can talk back in my office," Rich said.

  I watched him go up and down the bar, topping off a few drinks and talking to the two servers who were bustling around with refills and food baskets. When he walked back towards me, he jerked his head to follow him, so I grabbed my jacket and purse and scurried after him.

  In the back of the restaurant, past the kitchen, was a door that had a plaque on it that read OFFICE. When he opened the door, I realized that the plaque was necessary so that people didn't confuse it with the cleaning supply closet which was probably about the same size.

  There was a desk right down the middle of the tiny room. It was almost big enough to touch the door when it was closed, but not quite. Rich was a skinny enough guy that he shuffled around the end of it to his chair. He motioned for me to shuffle around to the other side where I sat in a chair that could only sit in the exact space it was already sitting. Above my head hung shelves that were filled with binders which I assumed held whatever sorts
of paperwork you need to keep in a restaurant.

  "So you want to talk about Charlie," Rich said. He had his hands folded, but he was tapping his thumbs together as he nervously looked around the room. "What did you want to know?"

  "I'm not exactly sure," I said with a nervous laugh. "I'm just not sure that he was the one who did this. Something just doesn't feel right."

  "I'm glad to hear you say that," Rich said, his body visibly relaxing. "Obviously I feel the same way. I do have a few things I found that may help."

  Rich stuck his long, thin pointer finger in the air and bent down, disappearing under the giant desk. When he reemerged, he was holding a file box which he hefted up onto the desk between us. Rich sat back and motioned towards the box, so I stood up and took the cover off.

  Inside were a stack of books from the Shady Lake Public Library and I could see the corners of some papers sticking up from underneath. I gave Rich a puzzled look, but his face stayed passive. I started pulling the books out one by one.

  "Make Your Own Second Job: Finding the Side Hustle Right for You, Money Management for Dummies, Paying Off Debt When You Don't Make Much Money," I read the titles as I stacked them up next to the box. All of the books I pulled out were about money in one way or another.

  When I got to the bottom of the books, I found that the stack of papers were a large stack of paper job applications haphazardly thrown into the bottom of the box. As I paged through them, I noticed that they were all from neighboring towns. There was nothing for Shady Lake.

  I shuffled through all of them and looked up Rich, who was much more relaxed now as he watched me try to figure out what he was getting at. I flipped through the applications again, this time noticing a sticky note with names of restaurants written on it. A few were crossed off, some were marked with a little plus sign and two had stars next to them. I couldn't tell what any of the markings were for.