Eggnog Cream & Murder: An Oceanside Cozy Mystery - Book 12

by Susan Gillard

  “Do you need us to help you out of something?” Heather asked, suddenly worried about her employee.

  "No," Digby said, waving the offer away. "It's just that my family agreed because we're too hard to shop for that we'd all knit sweaters for each other. I'm discovering I'm a terrible knitter."

  After momentarily fearing for him, Heather and Janae burst into giggles.

  "Yeah. Laugh it up," Digby said. "But whatever relative of mine that ends up with a sweater that has three arms and doesn't cover their stomach won't be laughing."

  That just made the other two laugh more.

  "I'm sorry gift gifting is so hard for you," Janae said. "I suppose I might end up with a bit of a dilemma too though. I’ve been getting gifts from people I didn’t expect to.”

  “Did any of them arrive in red wrapping paper?” Heather asked.

  “No,” Janae said.

  Before Heather could ask any more questions, Detective Peters entered the shop with a wrapped gift.

  “I think you’re about to get another one,” Heather said.

  “Another?” Janae asked.

  Peters came up to the counter to talk to her. Heather decided she should give them some space, but Digby only pretended to clean, so he could listen in. Heather knew he was pretending because he started wiping down the same spot that she had been cleaning while she was distracted.

  Heather scanned shop. Some more of her usual customers were enjoying their donuts at tables. The teacher from Lilly’s school was there, and the retired man, as well as grandma who liked to bring her three grandchildren in on certain evenings.

  Amy appeared at the door with shopping bags, and Heather gestured for her to join her at a table.

  “Did Peters bring Janae a gift?” Amy asked.

  Heather nodded. As much as she didn't want to spy on them, she couldn't help overhearing the conversation. This was partly because Amy kept shushing her whenever Heather tried to start a conversation because Amy wanted to hear what was being said.

  “You didn’t have to get me anything,” Janae said. “I’m afraid I’m unprepared. I didn’t get you anything.”

  “That’s all right,” Peters said, putting on his macho detective stance that he usually adopted when he was trying to impress people. “I just happened to come across this and thought you might like it.”

  Janae smiled and unwrapped the gift. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I was thinking of getting you a bracelet, but then I saw this watch. And I thought the purple color was pretty and would complement your hair. I thought it would be more useful because you could use it when you lead your bike tours.”

  “It’s wonderful,” Janae said. “Thank you.”

  "It's nothing," Peters said. “Less than nothing even.”

  “It means a lot to me.”

  “It does?”

  “And so, my gift back to you will be to give you a private bike tour. I’ll show you my favorite parts of the island. And we can even picnic if you want,” Janae said.

  “I might be interested in wanting that,” Peters said.

  “I wonder if I should offer Fire Frank the same thing,” Janae said more to her herself.

  “What was that?” Peters asked.

  “Oh,” Janae said. “Someone else caught me unprepared for gift giving as well. He gave me these earrings.”

  “And his name is Fire Frank?”

  "He's a firefighter. I think he helped you and Heather on a case before.”

  “That’s right,” Peters said, frowning.

  “Well, he took my bike tour too. It means so much to me that my riders are so appreciative of my tours that they want to give Christmas gifts,” Janae said. “Thank you again.”

  “No problem,” Peters said. “Well, I’ll see you on that bike tour and picnic.”

  He started to walk away until Janae said, “Wait. Didn’t you want to order some donuts? You didn’t come here just to give me a gift, did you?”

  “No,” Peters said, covering. “I came here to talk to Heather and Amy about the case.”

  Then he sat down at the investigator’s table.

  “So, how are we coming on the case?” he asked.

  “Smooth,” Amy said.

  “Did you know about Fire Frank?” Detective Peters asked.

  Heather shook her head.

  “It must not be serious then,” Peters said more to himself. “If a great investigator like you didn’t pick up on it, then he must not really be in the picture.”

  “Being a great investigator, I’ve been mulling this case over in my mind,” Heather said.

  “Me too,” said Amy. “I just was shopping at the same time to give my body something to do while my mind thought.”

  “And what did you think of?” Peters asked.

  Amy turned to Heather to hear her thoughts instead.

  “I think we have two scenarios with this killer Santa,” Heather said.

  “Because it had to be the secret Santa who is the killer,” Amy said. “No one else would have known about the map code on the cards.”

  "Right," Peters said, trying to focus on business. “Because the pattern couldn’t be recognized on its own and it wasn’t printed in the paper.”

  "So the killer either delivered all these goodwill presents as a smokescreen for his real crime," Heather said. "Like he really wanted Ben Grimes dead and was looking for a way to disguise his motive."

  “Or?” Peters asked.

  “Or the killer might be a little crazy,” Heather suggested.

  “What do you mean?” Amy asked.

  “What if the killer thinks he really is a Santa Claus figure, but one that deals out different gifts for the naughty and the nice?”

  “You mean that he killed Ben Grimes because he was mean?” Peters asked.

  “He might be someone who delivers his own warped sense of festive justice out on others,” Heather said.

  “Like some sort of jolliness vigilante?” Amy suggested.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Heather said.

  Peters sighed. “If that’s the case, we better hurry before he strikes again.”

  “All I want for Christmas is a solution to this case,” Heather said.

  “That’s really all you want?” Amy asked.

  Heather could tell her friend was prying for more information for shopping. “Fine,” Heather said. “I’d like a solution to this case, and the chance to spend some festive time with my daughter and family, and maybe some new slippers too.”

  The Bite

  “It was so long ago,” the woman said. “Spike has completely recovered from the whole ordeal.”

  “And we’re very glad to hear that,” Heather said.

  "Yes. We have dogs ourselves, and we hoped to hear that yours was okay," Amy added.

  Heather smirked at her friend, but then focused on the task at hand.

  “Now Miss Baxter, at the time you were very angry with Ben Grimes,” Heather said.

  “That’s right,” Miss Baxter said, hugging her large dog close to her. “Spike and I were just walking along, minding our own business when that crazy old man came out of his house and accused us of walking on his lawn. I told him we hadn’t, but he wouldn’t believe us. He tried to antagonize Spike here, but my good baby didn’t rise to the bait.”

  Spike accepted her hugs. Despite his huge smize, he appeared to have a very docile nature.

  “And then Ben Grimes bit him?” Amy asked, still not completely sure that this event had actually transpired.

  "That's right," Miss Baxter said. "We tried to walk away, and the crazy guy followed us and then bit Spike on the leg. Well, we ran away after that."

  “Yeah. I would too,” Amy agreed.

  “And were you the one who told the newspaper about the story?” Heather asked.

  "That's right," Miss Baxter said. "I went to the police first, but the lackadaisical chief there just slapped Grimes with a fine. If Spike had bitten anyone, they might have thr
own him in doggy jail, but when that nut bag did it, he only got fined. I wanted to warn others about him, so I went to the press."

  "And they liked the story?” Heather asked.

  "Yes. I spoke to a reporter with a mustache. He seemed really excited to run the story. I guess the headline about a man biting a dog was funny. It didn't feel like it at the time," Miss Baxter said.

  "And did you pursue any other legal action against Mr. Grimes?” asked Heather.

  “No,” Miss Baxter said. “The reporter found other people to complain about the guy, and so I felt vindicated. I felt like others would know that this is a bad guy that you should avoid.”

  “It seems like he certainly gave others reasons to be angry with him,” Heather said.

  “I’ll say,” Miss Baxter agreed.

  “Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him because of it?” Heather asked.

  “Spike never did anything to him,” Miss Baxter proclaimed. “No matter how much provocation he was given. Spike it such a good boy.”

  Spike lapped up the praise and let his tongue roll out of his mouth.

  "Do you know any humans who would want to hurt him?” Heather asked.

  Miss Baxter shrugged. “I don’t know any specifics. And as much as I’d never wish violence on anybody, it does sort of seem like he got what he deserved.”

  “Well, thank you for your time,” Heather said.

  She and Amy pet Spike to let him know that they thought he was a good boy too, and then left.

  Heather and Amy walked into Heather's living room, still discussing the case.

  “If no one can come up with a concrete reason why someone would want Ben Grimes dead, then it’s looking more and more likely that the Key West Santa just decided to take justice into his own hands,” Heather said.

  “He delivered something much worse than coal this year,” Amy said.

  Dave ran into the room to greet Heather, and even stayed to sniff her and have his ears scratched after discovering there were no donuts.

  “It’s a tough case,” Heather said, sitting down on the couch.

  “I believe we’re entitled to an evening off,” Amy agreed. “So, what should we do tonight? Christmas movie night part two? Build a gingerbread house?”

  “Let’s ask Lilly and Nicolas what they want to do,” Heather said.

  Dave barked in agreement.

  They called the kids into the room and asked them what they wanted to do that night. They eventually all settled on reading A Christmas Carol together.

  “Should we invite Eva and Leila over?” Heather asked.

  “They were wrapping gifts,” Nicolas said. “But I’m sure that they’d love to come when they’re done.”

  “Oh, that reminds me,” Lilly said. “A Christmas gift was delivered for you. I think it’s like the one that your friend Bernadette got.”

  “What?” Heather asked. The blood drained from her face. “Where is it?”

  “In the kitchen,” Lilly said, starting to get worried. “Why? Is something wrong? I thought it was nice when your friend got one.”

  Heather hurried to the kitchen and saw the red wrapped box on the table. The card had the same tree and squiggles on it that formed a map. It was just like the deadly box that Ben Grimes had received.

  “Honey,” Heather said, trying to keep calm in front of the kids. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone reading the book. I’m going to have to call your dad right away.”

  Heather’s Present

  “Getting gift shouldn’t be this stressful,” Amy commented.

  Heather nodded. She was pacing at the police station while Ryan and a specialist examined the gift she received in the other room.

  Amy kept talking to try and ease the tension for her friend. “I mean sometimes giving gifts can be stressful. You want to give the people you love the perfect presents, and you wrack your brain trying to figure out what they would be. Then, you have to face the crowds at stores to get those presents. But getting the gifts should be the easy part. You shouldn’t have to be worried that your present is actually poison or a bomb or something like that.”

  “It’s not a bomb,” Heather said. “They already confirmed that before they opened the box. Now they’re just looking for traces of toxins like on Ben Grimes’s deadly gift.”

  “It’s okay,” Amy said, moving to her bestie and stopping her from pacing. “Nothing happened.”

  “But it could have,” Heather said. “The box was inside my home, where my daughter is.”

  “Lilly is fine,” Amy reminded her.

  “We have all this security at the house now because of incidents that happened back when we were in Hillside.”

  “Tracking down murderers is dangerous work,” Amy said.

  “And it didn’t matter,” Heather said. “Something dangerous entered my house, close to where all my loved ones are, and at Christmastime.”

  “Everyone is okay,” Amy said. “And we’re going to find the person responsible. That’s what you wanted as your Christmas gift, and I’m determined to make sure you get it.”

  “Thanks,” Heather said.

  Ryan joined them, looking much calmer than they expected.

  "We analyzed the gift,” Ryan started.

  “How bad was it?” Heather asked. “If Lilly had opened it by mistake…”

  “She would have been fine,” Ryan assured her.

  “So, what was it?” Amy asked.

  “Slippers,” said Ryan.

  “Slippers?” Heather and Amy repeated back.

  Ryan nodded. “Women’s slippers to wear around the house. They look like your size, and they’re decorated with a donut design.”

  “That actually sounds like a wonderful gift,” Heather said. “But why did I get them?”

  “Santa decided you were on the nice list,” Amy suggested.

  "But if we're getting closer to finding him and proving he’s a killer, he shouldn’t be rewarding me,” Heather said. “He should be fearful of getting caught. Was he trying to taunt me by sending me this gift? Did he just want to scare me?”

  “Maybe he just wanted to make sure that your feet didn’t get cold,” Amy said.

  Heather thought about it. She was able to relax a little bit, knowing that she hadn’t put her family in harm by pursuing this case.

  “What about the card?” she asked. “I know it had the tree and the map symbols behind it, but I was so worried about something dangerous being in our house that I didn’t read what it said.”

  "It also began with the same letter of your first name," Ryan said. "It read: Helping others never goes unrewarded."

  Heather frowned. “If that sentiment is being sincere, then it would seem like a nice gift. However, it also does seem like it could be a taunt. He’s saying because I’m trying to help others by finding justice for the victim that now the killer knows who I am.”

  "I think we might have some good news though,” Ryan said. “This time the sender wasn’t as careful about his fingerprints.”

  “You have fingerprints that the killer left?” Amy asked, excitedly.

  Ryan nodded. “There were prints inside the box that we’re looking for a match for. There were prints on the outside too, but some of those are from people in our house.”

  Amy nodded. “And we know Lilly and Nicolas aren’t the Key West Santa. Or his elves.”

  It was then that Detective Peters walked up to them.

  “Good news and bad news, partner,” Peters said.

  “Why can’t it ever be good news and good news?” Amy asked.

  “What is it?” Ryan asked him.

  “The good news is that the fingerprints inside the box and on the slippers are the same as some prints on the outside. Whoever wrapped the gift was also the one who delivered it,” Peters said. “But the bad news is that I haven’t been able to match it to any prints in our system yet.”

  “That would have made things easier,” Heather said.


  “I can expand the search,” Peters said. “Maybe another database will have a match.”

  Ryan nodded. “That’s a good idea. If we can find out who sent this to Heather, we have a prime suspect.”

  “I wonder why he didn’t care about his prints on this gift,” Heather mused.

  "Is he getting sloppy?" Amy asked.

  "Or do you think he purposely sent us a clue?" Ryan asked.

  “I don’t know,” Heather said. “I wish we could see another gift and see if any of them contained fingerprints, but they’ve probably been handled too much by now.”

  “It might be worth a try,” Ryan said. “Why don’t you ask Bernadette if you can borrow her gift and packaging? I’ll see if I can track down some other gifts. And Peters, you can keep using the prints we do have in other database searches.”

  “Got it,” Peters said.

  He was about to leave when Chief Chet approached the group. Today he was wearing fabric reindeer antlers on his head. They clashed horribly with the serious message he was telling them, "I've decided that if we can't catch this killer soon, we're going to have to tell the town to cancel all their holiday activities. We can't have kids sitting on Santa's lap for photos if there's a deranged man running around the island, looking for a reason to send deadly gifts to residents. This isn't just a killer that murdered someone for a reason that he thought was justifiable. Based on what you’ve told me, this is a killer who could strike again at any time.”

  “Don’t cancel anything just yet,” Ryan said. “We did just catch a break. There were fingerprints on the gift that Heather received.”

  “The killer is coming after your wife now?” Chief Chet asked. “This is bad business.”

  “It ended up just being a pair of slippers,” Heather said. “And don’t worry. We won’t let him slip through our fingers.”

  Hope for a Story

  “I’m glad you came back,” Hope said when she saw Heather and Amy at the newspaper office. “Do you have details on a break in the case? Can I run something now? Or is this about a story about best friends and private investigators?”