Miss Frost Chills the Cheater

by Kristen Painter

  Mamie brought us coffee while we waited. She was exceptionally cheerful.

  I had to ask. “What’s going on? You’re very smiley.”

  Her lips pursed in a playful way. “I should be cross with you, but I’m not.”

  I put a hand to my chest. “Cross with me? Why?”

  Light sparkled in her eyes. “I know you said something to August. That’s why he sent the flowers. But I forgive you. Especially since we’re going to dinner this evening.”

  Sin snorted and shook his head. “She can’t leave anything alone.”

  “It’s a blessing and a curse.” I smiled. “I’m glad. True love deserves a second chance.”

  The elevator opened, and Dora walked into the reception area. “Hello?”

  “I’ll bring her in,” Mamie said.

  A moment later, Dora joined us in the conference room. Curiosity covered her face. She made a little curtsey before sitting. “Princess Frost. I didn’t expect to see you here. Is this about the tourney?”

  “It is,” I said. “But first, would you like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?” I wanted her as comfortable as possible.

  “No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

  Mamie was waiting by the door. I gave her a nod. She closed the door as she left, giving us privacy.

  I stretched my hands out on the table. “We have some questions for you, Mrs. Frigit. First things first, though. Do you know who’s sitting next to me?”

  She looked at Sin and nodded. “Mr. Crowe. Your beau.”

  There was no change in her expression, no sign of animosity. “Correct. There have been a lot of rumors going around about him, and some stories in the paper lately—”

  “I read the interview this morning.” She smiled. “That was very nice. I hope you and the Princess are very happy together.”

  “Thank you,” Sin said. He shot me a look.

  This wasn’t what either of us had expected, but then again, she could be very good at hiding her true feelings.

  I pulled out the slip of paper that had Lyla Kinder’s address written on it and slid it across the table to her. “Did you write this?”

  She picked it up. “No, but…it looks like my handwriting. A lot like it. But I don’t remember writing this.” She blinked a few times. “I know I’m getting older, but I like to think all my faculties are still in working order.”

  “You’re positive you didn’t write it?”

  She studied the note a few seconds longer. “Yes, Your Grace. I did not write that. But I do know who Lyla Kinder is. Stanley Kinder’s granddaughter, I believe. Although don’t ask me which one. He’s got a few. I met them all at the Tinkers’ Picnic this summer.”

  Her thumb brushed the edge of the paper. “Earl and I weren’t as successful at having kids. But my sister’s boys come see me now and then. Being an aunt is good too.”

  She looked up at us, her smile thin and her eyes sad.

  None of this was going how I thought it was going to. Still, I pushed on. “Did you send Lyla a stuffed chicken from the Sweet Acres Farm in March?”

  Dora frowned. “What? I don’t understand. Why would I send her a chicken? I only met the child once, and I can’t even remember which one she was.”

  Sin crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “A woman fitting your description went to the Sweet Acres Farm store and sent Lyla Kinder a stuffed chicken along with a sealed note telling the little girl she’d won it in a contest. The woman gave that slip of paper to the clerk at the register for Lyla’s address.”

  Dora shook her head, still looking very confused. “It wasn’t me.”

  “March fourth,” I said. “If you weren’t at Sweet Acres Farm, where were you?”

  “March fourth,” she repeated. She went silent then, frowning a bit like she was trying to remember. Suddenly, the frown disappeared. “March fourth I was with my sister, Cindy. I know it was March fourth because my wedding anniversary is the third of March and Cindy always takes me out so I don’t have to spend it alone, but her car had a flat tire on the third.”

  “Why didn’t you take your car?” I asked.

  “Because I don’t have a car. I go most places on skis or skates. Earl was the only driver in our family.”

  Sin glanced at me before giving Dora his attention again. “What did you do that day?”

  “We had lunch at the Snow Shoe Café, then went to see a movie. It started at one thirty. Afterward we had ice cream and did a little shopping. I bought some yarn, which I’ve since turned into a baby blanket for one of my neighbors’ children. Anyway, Cindy and I were together almost the whole day. You can ask her.”

  All of that would be easily provable. People would have seen them. Shopkeepers would have sales records. And her sister, no doubt, would vouch for her.

  Sin uncrossed his arms and looked at me. “There’s no way she could have gone up to Sweet Acres and back and still done all of that. Not on skis or skates, especially.”

  “No,” I said. “Which means whoever that was up at Sweet Acres, it wasn’t her.”

  Dora shook her head so hard her curls shivered. “It wasn’t me, I swear it.”

  We already knew she didn’t have any other siblings. Her file had covered that. I had another question for her. “Why do you think the other two contestants ended up with similar toys? How do you think that happened?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Sin took a deep breath. “You have to understand why we might think you had something to do with that, seeing as how you stand to benefit if the other two tinkers are disqualified in this year’s tourney.”

  She swallowed. “I do understand that. But all I wanted to do was make Earl proud. I’m not sure I ever did that while he was alive.”

  Sin glanced at me. “The letter?”

  I nodded.

  He took it out of his jacket pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on the table between her and us. “What can you tell us about this?”

  Her expression darkened. “You went into my workshop.”

  “We have that right,” I said.

  She nodded stiffly. “I know that. But that letter is personal. That’s from my Earl.”

  “You really believe he sent you this letter after he passed?”

  She didn’t answer right away. “I believe he arranged for that letter to be sent. There’s no crime in that.”

  “No, there isn’t.” So far anyway. The methods used to source the paper had yet to be determined. “How do you think he arranged to do that?”

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out for a second. “He…had a friend do it, I guess.”

  “Which friend?” Sin asked. “One of the other tinkers?”

  “I don’t know.” She worried the wedding band on her finger. The shine was long gone from it, dulled from years of wear. “It had to be, I suppose. You already know it came in a memo box.”

  I nodded. “Do you know the origin of that paper?”

  She glanced at the letter. “I never thought about it. Why?”

  “Because the watermark on this paper indicates that it’s from the personal stock of Ezreal Zur’dar, my father’s office manager.”

  Her expression stayed blank for a half second, then her eyes widened. “How would Earl get paper from the king’s office manager?”

  I raised my brows. “That’s what we’d like to know.”

  I let her sit with that question for a bit.

  After a minute, she shook her head, shifting in her chair. “He couldn’t. No way I can figure out.”

  I hoped she’d get there on her own. “Then what do you suppose that means?”

  More thinking. “That…he didn’t send that letter? But it’s his handwriting.”

  Sin pushed the letter closer to her. “Are you sure? We haven’t done a comparison yet. But we will.” He shot me a look.

  I nodded. We definitely needed to do that.

  She picked up the letter and studied it. “I’ve read these words a thousand times. Never
occurred to me it might not be from Earl. Looks like his handwriting. But now that you bring it up…”

  “Yes?”

  Her lower lip trembled. “Maybe…maybe it’s not.”

  With Dora on her way home and no longer on our suspect list, Sin and I had to come up with a new game plan.

  My frustration levels were rising. “I don’t know what’s going on. Every time we think we’ve got a lead, it dries up. If Dora wasn’t at Sweet Acres, then who was? Because someone was there. Someone who looked like her.”

  “Good question.” Sin paced in front of Mamie’s desk. “If we could answer that, we’d probably figure this whole thing out.”

  He suddenly stopped pacing. “Could they have used one of those fancy magic bracelets that can make someone look exactly like someone else?”

  “No, only my father has access to those.”

  The phone on Mamie’s desk rang. She answered it while Sin and I moved to the other side of the room to continue our discussion.

  He raked a hand through his hair. “Jayne, I’m starting to think this case can’t be solved. Whoever is behind this knew exactly how to work all the angles and cover their tracks.”

  “I know. It feels like we’re dealing with someone with a lot of inside access. Someone high up. I don’t think it’s my cousin, but I honestly have no idea anymore.”

  “You should talk to the constable. Tell her to ramp things up. Maybe an increase in police presence around town will shake up our culprit.”

  “That’s not a bad—”

  “Mr. Crowe?” Mamie held her hand over the receiver. “Sorry to interrupt, Princess.”

  He turned. “Yes?”

  “Gregory is calling to say an urgent message has been left for you from Archie and that you’re to reach him through the snow globe at your earliest convenience.”

  “Thank you.” Sin groaned. “I never did call him. I hope the shop’s okay. I’d better go deal with that.”

  “Absolutely. Take the crawler, call him back, then meet me at the station. It’s one block south from here in a red brick building. You can’t miss it. By the time you get there, I’ll probably be done and we can go grab a bite to eat.”

  “You sure you’re okay by yourself?” He laughed. “Silly of me to ask. I know you are, but I hate leaving you alone to handle all this.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “You’ll be better than that. You’ll probably solve the whole thing while I’m gone.” He pulled me in and gave me a quick kiss.

  “I doubt that.” I smooched him back, making Mamie duck her head and smile.

  He glanced back at the conference room. “Don’t forget the letter. We need to compare the handwriting on that and see if we can figure out who really wrote it.”

  “I’m giving that to the constable to do. It’s her area.”

  “Perfect. See you in a bit. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  With a squeeze of my hand, he went for the elevator. The doors opened as soon as he pushed the button. He waved as they closed. I waved back.

  I missed him already. Yes, I was that woman.

  With a happy sigh, I grabbed the letter and stuck it in my purse. “Mamie, do you have any idea who could be behind this? Who might want to cause such chaos in the NP? You know this town and its people better than most.”

  She shook her head. “I wish I had an idea, but I can’t think of anyone with such a big ax to grind.”

  “Me either. And I guess that’s a good thing, but at the moment, it doesn’t feel that way.” I took a breath, my head full with all that was going on. “All right, I’m off to see the constable. Would you call ahead and tell her I’m on my way?”

  “Will do.” She was smiling broadly as she picked up the phone.

  I hesitated before calling the elevator. “What?”

  “Just thinking about how that man is completely smitten with you.”

  “He is, isn’t he? But it’s mutual. Believe me.” With a smile, I tapped the button to call the lift.

  She nodded. “I can tell. You’re going to make a wonderful queen and consort.”

  “Thanks, Mamie. You know, I wasn’t sure what he was going to think of life here, but despite everything that’s happened, he’s been my rock. He’s hung in there and stayed strong. I cannot wait to marry him.”

  “And I can’t wait to dance at your wedding. Possibly with August.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I laughed as the doors opened and I got on.

  Twenty minutes later, I’d finished up with the constable, who was all over the handwriting analysis, and was standing in the vestibule keeping an eye out for Sin to pull up in the crawler. The smallest of flakes had begun to fall when I’d walked into the station. They were coming down in earnest now, making me glad that my ride was on the way.

  But the minutes kept rolling by, the snow kept falling, and there had yet to be any sign of him. When I’d been there forty-five minutes, I figured Archie’s issue had been something much more serious than I’d imagined.

  It wasn’t a big deal. The constable had one of her deputies take me to the palace. The snow meant it took an extra five minutes, but that was just life in the NP. I went straight to my dad’s office to see what was going on.

  “Hi, Ezreal, is Sin still here?”

  Ezreal got up. “No, Princess. And I’m not sure what you mean by still. I haven’t seen him since you were both here earlier.”

  I frowned. “He came back here to use the snow globe to call his shop. We got a message at Uncle Kris’s that Gregory said Archie had called and it was urgent.”

  Ezreal shook his head. “Maybe Gregory arranged for a snow globe in Mr. Crowe’s apartment?”

  Of course. “You’re right. I didn’t think of that. Thanks. Sorry to bother you.”

  He smiled. “You could never be a bother, Princess. You know that. I have that list for you of everyone with access to this office.” He handed me a file with a single sheet of paper in it. “Anything new on the case?”

  I sighed as I took the file. I tucked it under my arm. “No, nothing yet. Dora wasn’t the hot lead we thought she was. I guess I could tell my dad about that.”

  “He’s not here either. He left about ten minutes ago to meet your uncle at the builders’ headquarters to approve the finalized plans for your aunt Martha’s new fudge factory.”

  “Just as well. My news isn’t good news.” I’d been hoping the next time I spoke to my dad I’d be able to tell him Sin and I had cracked the case.

  “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Well, basically there was no way Dora could have been at Sweet Acres on the day the stuffed chicken was sent to Lyla Kinder. I don’t know who was, but Dora has a solid alibi. She doesn’t even drive.”

  “What day was that?”

  “March fourth.”

  His eyes narrowed. “And yet the woman at the farm gave you a description that fit Dora and the handwriting on the note matched hers?”

  “Yes to both. How that happened is just one more thing we’ve yet to figure out.” I sighed. “If you think of anything, let me know. I’m going to Sin’s apartment to see if there’s anything I can do to help with whatever’s going on at the shop.”

  “I will. And if I can help with Mr. Crowe’s situation, I’m here.”

  “Thank you.” I left and went straight to Sin’s. I knocked, but then realized if he was on the snow globe in the midst of a big discussion, he might be too tied up to answer. I had two options. Use my magic to go under the door via the Santa Slide or magic up some ice picks and let myself in.

  Since the Santa Slide left me a little woozy, and seeing me suddenly appear in his apartment might freak Sin out, I went with picking the lock.

  “Sin?” I walked through the living room and into the bedroom area, but there was no sign or sounds of him. Weird.

  Spider and Sugar came running out of the closet. “Mama Mama Mama—”

  “Spider, I can’
t feed you right now.” Could Sin be in my apartment? But how would he get in?

  Sugar pawed at my leg. “Lady lady lady—”

  “You guys need to chill. There’s dry food in your bowl.” The cats could wait a cool minute. I had to find Sin. With no other immediate place to look, I went across the hall and checked my own living quarters.

  Nothing.

  Except a note on the coffee table. It was standing upright, tented. There was a J on the front of the ice-blue card stock, because it was my personal stationery. I smiled. Sin must have come in here and taken it out of my desk to leave me a message.

  Had I left my door open? No, I’d just unlocked it. Gregory must have helped him. That was sweet.

  I put the file from Ezreal on the kitchen counter, then went over and picked up the note to see what he had to say.

  My dearest Jayne,

  As much as I love you, life in the North Pole is far more complicated than I’d anticipated. I am sorry, but it’s not for me. I regret informing you this way, but I felt a clean break was best. I am returning to Nocturne Falls. I wish you all the best and hope that we can remain civil.

  Please bring Sugar with you.

  With great affection,

  Sinclair

  I dropped onto the couch, trembling slightly. I reread the note. Then reread it again.

  There was no way Sin had left me. No. Freezing. Way.

  As the initial gut-punch wore off, I got angry. Something was incredibly shady about this. I needed to talk to someone with a pulse in the palace. I stormed toward the door and yanked it open to stand in the hall. “Steward Gregory! I need you. Now.”

  My voice echoed through the corridors. Of course, that didn’t mean he’d heard me. He could be in any part of the palace.

  A housekeeper popped out of a room a few doors away. “Your Highness, would you like me to fetch him for you?”

  “Yes. Immediately.”

  With a nod and a curtsey, she took off on the Segway parked nearby.

  I went back inside, leaving the door open. I walked in a small circle, too busy thinking to pay attention to what my feet were doing.