Gingerbread and a Murder

by Kathleen Suzette

“I’ll certainly let Cade know. I know he wants to get this case closed as soon as possible. It will be a relief to Chrissy’s family to have the killer behind bars.”

  She nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be relieved when that happens. It’s just a shame that Chrissy couldn’t keep her mouth shut. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if she’s responsible for her own death because she couldn’t be nice to someone.”

  “I guess that’s a possibility,” I agreed.

  It was hard to believe Chrissy could be so dumb as to tell Elaine that she had told their boss she was stealing from the store, but people had done dumber things.

  “It’s been nice talking to you, Rainey,” Susan said as she pushed her shopping cart toward the display of lettuce and salads. “Keep me in the loop if you hear anything interesting.”

  I wasn’t going to keep her in the loop about anything. I wasn’t entirely sure that anything she had said was true. If Michelle corroborated what she said, then I’d believe it. But even if she did, it still didn’t mean that Susan might not have had something to do with Chrissy’s death. I didn’t think she was telling the truth about not trying to keep Chrissy and Jenna out of the Gingerbread house contest.

  I picked up another bag of cranberries and put it into my cart and headed over to the display of apples. They had big shiny green Granny Smith apples on sale and I pulled a plastic bag from the roller near the corner of the apple display. An apple cranberry pie would be wonderful with cinnamon, butter, and brown sugar to sweeten it with. I was going to make Cade’s sweet tooth a happy camper.

  Chapter Nine

  “This isn’t what I had in mind on a cold evening,” Cade said as we walked along Blake Street.

  “Oh? What did you have in mind?” I asked. My arm was looped through his and I walked as close to him as I could manage so I could borrow some of his warmth. It was cold out, and while a lot of the snow had melted, there was a light breeze that felt icy against my skin. I looked up at the stars twinkling in the ink-colored sky. It was a beautiful winter evening.

  “Snuggling up in front of the fireplace next to you,” he said. “Or, you know, hanging out someplace where it’s nice and warm and were my face won’t freeze off.”

  “Look on the bright side, we’re out here enjoying the Christmas season,” I said and sniffled. “When we finish up here, I’ll rub your face until it’s warm again.”

  “Of course that’s the bright side,” he said. “But what are you going to do if my nose freezes off my face?”

  “I’ll glue it back on. Don’t you worry about a thing,” I said and winked at him. “I’ve got a plan for everything.”

  We had joined a group of community Christmas carolers and were currently making the rounds of the area around the Center Plaza fountain. I was only a mediocre singer, but I had missed doing this when I lived in New York and I wasn’t going to let my first Christmas back home in Sparrow be without caroling.

  “As you wish, Miss,” he said, in his incredibly bad British accent. He usually saved it for moments like this.

  I chuckled. He knew it was bad, but that didn’t stop him. That’s one of the things I liked about him. He wasn’t afraid to be goofy with me.

  As the choir started singing O come all ye faithful, we followed along near the back of the group and sang along. Or I should say, I sang. Cade was silent as we walked and I wondered if he was just shy, or if he really couldn’t sing.

  I elbowed him and when he turned to look at me, I said, “sing!”

  He rolled his eyes and when the chorus started, he joined in. I turned and stared at him. Cade had a beautiful, rich baritone voice. He shrugged and tried to suppress a smile as I stared at him open-mouthed.

  The shop fronts were beautiful with their Christmas decorations. Most of the windows were framed in Christmas lights and each storefront was done up with different Christmas themes. My favorite was the toy store that had vintage toys in the window along with an old train set that ran around a lake. Along the train tracks were cozy Christmas cottages and scattered around were toys from the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

  We sang for over an hour, and when we were done, we stopped off at the corner coffee shop and ran inside. The warmth of the coffee shop made me giddy. I had begun to lose feeling in my face and my toes and it was a welcome respite from the cold.

  “Wow,” I said to Cade. “It feels so good in here!”

  “I told you it would have been better if we stayed home in front of the fireplace,” he said as we got into the line at the counter.

  “No, this was an experience that we will never forget. Forty years from now, you’ll say, remember when we spent our first Christmas together caroling along Blake Street?”

  He eyed me and grinned. “I bet I will be saying that in forty years.”

  The impact of his words hit me, and I looked away. I had thought I had lost all chance of finding real love when my former husband and I divorced. To think about spending forty years with Cade was more than a dream come true. It felt like too much to ask for.

  “I think I’m going to get a cup of hot cocoa,” I said looking over the menu on the wall.

  “Cocoa sounds good,” he agreed quietly. “And look, they have those giant marshmallows to put in it if you want one.”

  I nodded. “That’s the best part of getting cocoa from this shop.” I felt like I had just put a damper on the evening by avoiding the subject of us being together for a long time, but I didn’t know how to recover the lightheartedness we had had. I wanted to be with Cade more than anything, but I was afraid I would mess it up somehow.

  The line moved quickly, and we placed our order. “Do you want to sit in here for a little while?” he asked me.

  I nodded. “Yes, I want to finish warming up before we go back outside.”

  “You want to warm up before you get frozen again?” he asked, teasing.

  I smiled at him. “I do. Staying cold all the time isn’t any fun,” I said, and we headed to a corner table and sat down. The warm cup of cocoa felt good in my hands.

  “Sparrow is turning out to be a nice little town,” he said as we sat down. “I’m glad I moved here.”

  I nodded. “I missed it when I lived in New York. I’m glad I came back. And I’m glad you moved here, too,” I said, feeling like I was probably adding to the awkwardness of the situation.

  He grinned. “Great cocoa.” He held his cup up and then took another sip.

  I nodded. “Do you know anything new about Chrissy’s death?”

  “Not a lot,” he said lowering his voice. “I think I forgot to tell you that there was a cake decorating kit beneath the table where we found Chrissy’s body.”

  I looked at him. “A cake decorating kit? I guess when they moved the gingerbread houses over, one of the winners could have brought it along in case the frosting got damaged.”

  He shrugged. “Could be. If you get some time, can you come down to the station and take a look at it? Maybe you’ll remember if it belonged to Chrissy or her partner.”

  I nodded. “I can do that. I’m not really sure I remember what they used though. How long do you think she was under that table?”

  “Probably all day. There were volunteers in the workshop and customers at the nearby shops, so she probably was killed the night before,” he said and took a sip of his cocoa.

  “So the killer probably had a key to Santa’s workshop,” I surmised. I made a mental note to find out who had access to the workshop.

  The front door of the coffee shop swung open and Jenna Dennison walked in with Ryan Sparks. They were arm in arm, giggling and laughing about something as they walked up to the front counter to place their order.

  “I think we know that guy from somewhere,” Cade said as he followed my gaze.

  I nodded. “We sure do. If you’ll recall, a few months ago I felt very strongly that he might have killed Chrissy’s rival, Pamela North.”

  “He did have a flimsy story,” he said, keeping his eyes
on Ryan.

  “Flimsy is right. But, he was innocent. That time,” I said giving Cade a sly look. “I wonder when he last saw Chrissy?”

  He chuckled. “I bet if it was recently you’ll find out, and he’ll be sorry that you did.”

  I shrugged and laughed. “If I have to speak to him about another dead beauty queen, you can bet he’s going to be sorry.” Poor Ryan thought I wasn’t very nice the last time I had talked to him, and if he became a suspect in another murder, I was going to let him have it. It wasn’t that I was mean. I was just persistent.

  “You should stay away from possible killers,” he said mildly.

  “Why? I’ve been a great help to you,” I pointed out. “Besides, it’s not like anything bad has ever happened.”

  “Oh?” he said. “I seem to recall you nearly getting your head blown off recently.”

  I hesitated. “Okay, maybe I should be more careful then,” I agreed. I didn’t want another situation like that on my hands and I reminded myself that I had made a decision to not accuse anyone of murder anymore.

  “That’s Chrissy’s gingerbread house decorating partner with him, isn’t it?” he asked, returning his gaze to the couple at the counter.

  “Yes it is,” I said. “I have my suspicions about her.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me? What about him? Are you suspicious of him too?”

  “I don’t know yet,” I said. “But I might be. Especially if he hangs around Jenna much.”

  “Just leave the investigating to me,” he said and took another drink of his cocoa. “My marshmallow is nice and melty.”

  I chuckled. “I’m so glad to hear it,” I said. “It’s kind of odd that those two are together. I mean, especially since he was with Pamela North before she died.”

  “I thought I arrested Pamela North’s killer?” he asked pointedly.

  “Stop it. Of course you arrested her killer. Still, it seems odd.” I took a sip of my cocoa.

  “Small towns are full of odd people,” he teased.

  “I guess you can say that,” I returned, rolling my eyes. “Everybody knows everybody and everyone knows everyone else’s business. It’s not one of the bonuses of living in a small town.”

  “You know what I’m wondering?” he asked me.

  “What?”

  “If that decorating kit belonged to Jenna.”

  “That’s a really good question,” I said. I hadn’t really paid attention to what kind of decorating set Jenna had used, but maybe if I saw the one Cade had recovered it would trigger my memory. “I want to see that kit.”

  He nodded. “Why don’t you stop by the station tomorrow and I’ll show it to you?”

  “That sounds like a plan,” I said.

  Jenna and Ryan got their drink orders and left the shop without ever looking in our direction. I wasn’t sure if that was on purpose or they just hadn’t noticed anyone around them. They seemed very involved with one another.

  I turned back to him. Cade had finished sanding and refinishing my hardwood floors in my new house, and then he had helped me hang lights on the outside and put up my Christmas tree. I’d never had someone do anything like that for me. My ex-husband wasn’t very hands-on with anything. He preferred to hire out manual labor.

  “You know what I want to do?” he asked me.

  I shook my head. “What?”

  “I want to build a snowman.” He grinned at me.

  “It’s too cold to build a snowman tonight,” I said to him. “Besides, most of the snow has melted and what’s left is kind of dirty.”

  “I didn’t mean tonight. But when we get the next really good snow, let’s build a snowman in your front yard.”

  “With a carrot for a nose and coal for his eyes and buttons?”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

  I sighed. This was shaping up to be perhaps the best Christmas I’d ever had.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning I went to Michelle’s to see if Elaine was around. I needed to finish up Christmas shopping anyway, so I had a good excuse to stop in.

  The dress shop window was decorated with adorable Christmas dresses and outfits as well as some that were a little dressier for New Year’s Eve. I stepped inside the warm, cozy store. There were three other customers looking through racks of clothing and I spotted Elaine hanging up dresses near the back of the shop.

  I made my way back to where she was working, hoping it didn’t seem like I was headed back there to talk to her specifically. I stopped at a rack of red sweaters and picked one up. They were cashmere and felt wonderfully soft. I wondered if Stormy would like one for Christmas, but I had already spent a lot of money on the snow globe she had spotted at the gift shop and a couple of other items. I hung the sweater back up and moved over to where Elaine was.

  “That dress sure is pretty,” I said looking at the one she held in her hand.

  She turned and smiled at me. “Isn’t it though? I’ve been thinking I needed a new Christmas dress,” she said and laughed. “I’ll use any excuse to buy a new dress.”

  “I know what you mean, that’s why I’m here. It’s Christmas and I’ve got to have something nice to wear,” I agreed. “I bet it’s hard working here. Michelle’s carries such cute clothes. I think I’d spend my entire paycheck on clothes if I worked here.”

  She nodded. “You have no idea. I think I’ve spent more money on clothes since I’ve worked here this past year than I have in my entire life.”

  I chuckled. “I can totally see that happening.”

  “Would you like to try it on?” she asked me, holding up the dress.

  “I better not. I need to keep my mind focused on buying gifts for Christmas. Otherwise I’ll spend more money than my budget allows for.”

  “You’re a smart one, Rainey,” she said. “I could learn a lot from you. I’ve already blown my last paycheck on clothes.”

  “So are you enjoying the seasonal events, Elaine? I went Caroling last night with my boyfriend and Natalie and I entered the gingerbread house contest.”

  “I have. I’ve been volunteering at Santa’s workshop. I got to be an elf twice and a couple of other times I got to sell toys and gifts. It’s been fun,” she beamed.

  I had to restrain myself from saying, aha! She had access to Santa’s workshop.

  “I sure was sorry to hear what happened to your coworker, Chrissy Jones,” I said.

  She looked at me, the smile slipping from her face. “It was a terrible tragedy, wasn’t it? It’s hard to believe she’s gone.”

  I nodded. “Chrissy and my niece were friends when they were kids. When I come in here to shop, Chrissy was always so helpful.”

  Her jaw tightened. “She was helpful, wasn’t she?” she said sounding noncommittal and turning to the rack to hang the dress up.

  “It’s a shame it happened so close to Christmas,” I continued. “Someone dying so young is always terrible, but it seems worse because it happened this time of year.” I was hoping she would open up if I kept talking.

  “It is a shame it happened so near the holiday,” she agreed without looking at me. “Her poor family will always be reminded of her death every Christmas.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do if one of my family members died during the holidays,” I said. “Don’t you know my niece, Natalie?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I know Natalie. I was a couple of years ahead of her in school. But we weren’t close or anything. We ran in different circles.”

  “She’s home from college for the holidays. I’m surprised she hasn’t stopped in to do some Christmas shopping. Of course, that girl loves clothes, so maybe it’s good she hasn’t stopped in.” I laughed. “She might spend all her money on clothes for herself.”

  “She still has some time if she still needs to do some Christmas shopping,” she said. “Have you heard anything about who killed Chrissy?” She glanced at me as she hung another dress on the rack.

  “Not really. All
I know is that the police are investigating. I can’t imagine how anyone could kill another human being.” I shook my head while keeping one eye on her.

  She hesitated, and glanced at me, and then went back to hanging dresses on the rack. “Me either,” she finally said. “I guess some people have no ethics. I heard she was hit on the head.” She glanced at me again for confirmation.

  “Yes, she died from blunt force trauma. I was shopping nearby when a teenaged girl found her. Poor girl was traumatized,” I said picking up another dress from the rack. This one had sparkles on the top and the skirt flowed out. It would make a lovely party dress. I turned over the price tag and almost choked. I hadn’t paid that much for a dress since I lived in New York City and was attending the book release parties that my publisher held. I hung the dress back up. It would have to wait.