Christmas Tree Catastrophe (Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series Book 6)

by Lyndsey Cole

  Everyone started to talk at once and Lily wondered if they supported the idea or were only gossiping about Tamara. It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas played in the background and Lily’s mouth fell open as the guests started to congregate at the signup sheet. Nick must have been talking to Melinda about his plan. Wasn’t he full of surprises? And Crystal would be running the project? Was it possible for Nick and Crystal to be in cahoots about more than a fundraiser for the library? Did they work together to get Malcolm out of the way?

  Lily’s head started to spin with ideas when she spotted Eddie helping himself to another glass of eggnog. He missed his glass and most of the thick drink ran down the side onto the table. As he brought the glass to his lips, he misjudged and spilled what little eggnog had made it into his glass down the front of his red cashmere sweater. Moving through the crowd, Lily managed to get to Eddie’s elbow and steer him away from the eggnog and to a chair at the edge of the room.

  “What do ya think you’re doing, Ms. Lily Bloom? I don’t want any help from you.” Eddie slurred his words as he swayed on the chair.

  “It must be hard for you to be here tonight,” Lily said ignoring his attempts to push her away.

  Eddie staggered to his feet but lost his balance and fell back into the chair. “Hard? Why do you say that?”

  “Losing your friend and partner only two days ago. I imagine it must be a difficult time for you,” Lily said, trying to sound consoling.

  “Ha. The worst part was getting that mother of his out of his house and over to the assisted living facility,” Eddie told Lily. “Did you know I’m responsible for her now? I never planned on that. Good thing my sister found an opening for her.” He slumped in the chair and his head fell forward.

  Lily searched the room for someone to help her get Eddie out before he ended up sprawled on the floor. She felt a sticky hand grab her arm, pulling her attention back to Eddie. “Malcolm got exactly what he deserved. Tamara Biotchi did us all a favor. It’s a good thing I was visiting my mother or I bet that fiancé of yours would try to lock me up for it.”

  “I thought you and Malcolm were friends?”

  “Yeah, so did I. Turns out, he was a lying cheat.” His head slumped forward again.

  Ryan arrived just in time to catch Eddie as he tilted sideways and was about to fall off the chair. “Quick, find Nick to help me move him. I smell more than eggnog oozing out of him. Is there an office or someplace we can get him until Crystal is ready to leave?”

  Lily got Nick’s attention and waved him over. “The office is right behind the main desk.” She pointed across from where they stood. Ryan and Nick each grabbed Eddie under an armpit and half walked, half dragged him toward the office. Lily rushed ahead to open the door and pull a chair out for them to drop him on.

  “How much did he drink?” Nick asked.

  A small bottle fell from Eddie’s hand. Lily picked up an empty bottle of rum, holding it up for Ryan to see. “I guess he didn’t think the eggnog was strong enough. I’ll tell Crystal he’s in here so she doesn’t leave without him.”

  Penny put herself back in the limelight, trying to take the attention away from Crystal. “Thank you all for coming tonight. Noah Lyman must be smiling at all the support the library is getting from all of you. His legacy will ensure that he lives on in Misty Valley for generations to come.” She raised her glass. “Here’s a toast to Noah Lyman, a mystery writer extraordinaire. Merry Christmas to all.” We Wish You A Merry Christmas played as everyone searched for their coats to make the journey out into the cold evening.

  Lily tapped Crystal on her shoulder and whispered in her ear about Eddie. Her eyes darkened and her lips tightened into a thin line. “I told that fool not to drink too much. I didn’t think the eggnog was especially strong.”

  “It wasn’t. He brought his own bottle and added extra to his glass. Do you need help getting him into your car?” Lily led her to the office.

  “Probably. If he’s passed out he’ll be like a sack of potatoes.”

  Lily opened the door to the office and sucked in her breath.

  The chair was empty and knocked over on its side.

  Crystal pushed past Lily. “He can’t be far if he’s as drunk as you said.” She righted the chair and squeezed around behind the desk.

  “Here he is.” Crystal nudged him with her foot. “Eddie.” She poked him harder. “EDDIE.” Lily heard a groan. “Eddie, get up. I’m taking you home.”

  Eddie used the desk to pull himself up to a sitting position and once he sat more or less upright, he held his head with both hands. “I don’t know what happened. How did I end up here?”

  “Ha,” Crystal replied. “You can’t fool anyone. Lily found your empty bottle. Now get up or you’ll be walking home.” Crystal turned and walked out.

  “Geez Crystal, can’t you at least help me get up off this cold floor?” Eddie pleaded but Crystal had already vanished out the door.

  Lily offered her hand, not really sure what else to do, as he struggled to his feet.

  “Thanks. I think Crystal is mad at me.” Eddie looked at Lily with his eyes brimming with tears. “I can’t seem to do anything to make her happy anymore. I wonder if Malcolm had the right idea, never marry, just love ‘em and leave ‘em.”

  “Did Malcolm have a girlfriend? Maybe someone he recently broke off a relationship with?”

  Eddie leaned on the desk. “I suppose so. He always seemed to keep one on deck and one in the wings, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Lily which made her stomach turn.

  “You better catch up with your wife if you don’t want to be walking home. She sounded pretty serious about leaving without you.”

  Eddie waved his hand dismissively as he tried to straighten up. Putting one foot in front of the other he actually managed to navigate through the doorway and head in the right direction to the main front door.

  Lily shook her head in disbelief of what she had just witnessed in that relationship. But on the other hand, Eddie did give her an idea about finding the murderer if she could figure out who Malcolm’s girlfriend was. It certainly sounded like he wasn’t a faithful guy and there was a strong possibility he had more than one woman who might be quite thrilled to see him dead.

  “Wow. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Ryan asked Lily as he joined her watching Eddie make his exit.

  “You’ve got to find out who Malcolm has been seeing. She might be the murderer, don’t you think?” Lily said without even turning around. She shook herself to get those bad vibrations out of her system. “I was under the impression that Malcolm, Eddie, and Crystal were best friends, but with all that liquor in him the truth came out. Did you find anything in Malcolm’s house that could indicate he had a girlfriend visit?”

  “Now that you mention it, we did find an earring but I didn’t think about it too much since I thought it might belong to his mother.”

  “Oh?” Lily waited for the rest of the story.

  “We found it hooked on the bottom of his bedspread.”

  “Can you show the earring to me?”

  “Come to the police station tomorrow and I’ll let you take a look.” Ryan put his hand on Lily’s back. “How about we help clean up so we can get out of here before we’re asleep on our feet?”

  Jennifer was already packing up the few leftovers and Nick was breaking down the tables. “Wait a minute,” Lily said as she reached into the box with a few tasty morsels left inside. “I’ll grab a couple more since they didn’t all get eaten. I didn’t want to make a pig of myself before.” Lily selected a couple stuffed mushrooms and a cream cheese pinwheel something or other. “I can’t believe every last one of these didn’t disappear. You did a fantastic job with the food, Jennifer.”

  Jennifer helped herself to a treat, too. “The whole event was pretty spectacular in my opinion; the music, your flowers and decorations, everything except the loud drunk at the end.” She made a face and staggered around the table imitating Eddie’
s behavior.

  Lily laughed. “Well, when there’s booze, there’s bound to be someone who overdoes it. The best part is the liquor loosened his tongue and gave us a new direction to go in to solve Malcolm’s murder.”

  Ryan raised his eyebrows. “We? I don’t think I want you to be part of this equation, Ms. Bloom. I’ll get on it tomorrow and check into Mr. Moss’s love life.”

  Chapter 14

  The front window of the Beautiful Blooms flower shop was back to normal, much to Lily’s happiness. The new window had been installed and the ugly broken glass was gone. Inhaling deeply when she entered her shop gave her a relaxing rush of scents, especially from all the pine and other seasonal greens displayed in containers all around the shop.

  “Hi Kari, everything under control?”

  “I think so. There are a few deliveries to make before I get back to working on your wedding flowers so you better not be around.” Kari gave Lily a stern look, trying to control her twitching lip threatening to break into a smile.

  “You won’t need to worry about me being underfoot. I’m bringing flowers to Malcolm Moss’s mother at the Rosewood Assisted Living Facility, then I’m off to get pampered.”

  Lily yanked on the door of the walk-in cooler but couldn’t budge it. Putting both hands on the handle and leaning back with all her weight, she pulled until she managed to get it open and she carried out white calla lilies, red roses, and greens for the arrangement she needed to make for Sara Moss. “Where is the box of baskets that used to be under my design table?”

  “Oh, sorry, I moved it. Here, use this one.”

  Lily’s fingers worked effortlessly, filling the basket with the greens and flowers. Turning her arrangement to check all sides, she added a bit more of the pine here and there to fill in spaces and add in a flowing element to the design. “Well, I’m heading over to deliver this now. Call me if you get too busy and need my help.”

  Kari picked up Sweet Pea, waving the kitty’s paw at Lily.

  The arrangement was cushioned on the passenger seat of the minivan as Lily drove to the Rosewood Assisted Living Facility. Lily was happy for the sunshine, except it made the reflection on the snow blinding. She fumbled through her tote, trying to find her sunglasses, nearly driving into a snow bank from the distraction. Lily caught herself humming We Wish You a Merry Christmas from the library opening. She laughed at herself when she realized the song had been stuck in her head since the morning. Only one way to fix this problem, she thought, and she sang it at the top of her lungs as she pulled into the parking lot.

  The Rosewood was nestled among a grove of stately hemlock trees. Two small fir trees, decked out in colored lights on either side of the entrance, made an inviting image as Lily approached. Inside, a petite woman sat smiling behind a desk.

  “Hello, Ruth Ann,” Lily said as she scanned the woman’s name tag. “I’m here with a flower delivery for Sara Moss.”

  Ruth Ann stood up to take the flowers. “Oh, yes, my brother said you would be coming. They are so lovely. I’m sure they will cheer her up.”

  “I would like to deliver them myself. Maybe chat with her for a few minutes too?”

  “Of course. She’s down the hall, at the end in the sunroom, sitting with her friend Bella.” Ruth Ann pointed to the left toward an open, sunny room.

  The hallway sparkled as Lily headed in the direction that Ruth Ann indicated. She glanced through an open door, surprised at how comfy the room appeared to be, with lots of light coming through the window. The hallway widened into a common living room decorated for the season with a six foot tall balsam fir. The room was filled with a pleasant woodsy balsam smell and the sunshine warmed the space perfectly. Two women sat at one end of the sun filled room, one knitting, and the other quietly gazing out the window. Carrying her flower arrangement, Lily approached the two women, assuming the one in the wheelchair might be Sara Moss.

  “Good afternoon, mind if I join you?” Lily said as she approached, not wanting to startle them. “My name is Lily and I’m delivering some flowers for Sara Moss.”

  The woman in the wheelchair turned her gaze from the window and smiled. “I’m Sara. There’s plenty of room.” She gestured toward a chair nearby.

  As Lily made herself comfortable, the other woman put her knitting down. “Did you say your name is Billy? That’s an odd name for a pretty girl like you.”

  Lily smiled. “No, it’s Lily.”

  “It sure is silly. My name is Bella Parker.” She stared at Lily. “You know, you are as pretty as those flowers. What was your mamma thinking to give you a boy’s name?”

  “Are you Eddie Parker’s mom?”

  “Eddie? No, my son’s name is Edward.” She picked up her knitting again. “I’m making a baby blanket for my friend’s granddaughter. My fingers have been knitting for so long, they have a mind of their own and fly through the yarn.” Her needles click-clacked back and forth through the pink yarn, making an airy design with the soft wool.

  “You’re lucky that Edward visits you so often.”

  “Soften? The wool comes this soft. It’s that new washable wool. I love it for the baby blankets.” Bella held up the nearly finished blanket and rubbed the soft wool against her cheek.

  “Edward’s visits? Did he visit you last Friday?” Lily tried again.

  “Speak up, I’m a little hard of hearing,” Bella said with her hand cupped behind her ear.

  Lily raised her voice and spoke slowly. “Today is Monday. Did Edward visit last Friday?”

  “I’m not sure. I think Friday is Bingo night and he doesn’t usually come then.”

  Lily made a mental note to double check the sign-in book with Ruth Ann before she left. Turning her attention to Sara, she asked, “Are you comfortable here?”

  “It’s okay. I’m waiting for Malcolm to come and take me home. I can’t remember where he is. That friend of his said I had to move. Well, I didn’t want to stay by myself after I heard someone in the house when Malcolm was gone. It gave me quite a fright what with all the racket they made looking through Malcolm’s room. I can’t imagine what they were after.”

  Lily patted Sara’s knee. “Eddie sent these flowers over to brighten up your room.” She wasn’t sure if Sara knew what happened to Malcolm or if it didn’t sink into her brain yet.

  Sara smiled before turning her gaze back out the window.

  Standing up, Lily said her goodbyes and found her way back to the main entrance. Ruth Ann lifted her head up from her stack of papers. “Did you find Sara?”

  “Yes. What a lovely room. Bella is quite the talker, but she had trouble understanding a lot of what I said.”

  Ruth Ann chuckled. “A conversation with Bella is a test of patience and control. Patience in trying to get her to understand what you are asking and control not to laugh at the funny misinterpretations she makes of your questions.”

  “I can see that. She seemed to be confused about when her son Edward, not Eddie, Parker visited her. I was under the impression he came last Friday evening.”

  Ruth Ann opened the sign-in book and scanned it quickly. “He was here yesterday, of course, when he brought Sara in and . . .” She ran her finger down the page. “Oh yes, it says he was here on Friday from four in the afternoon until nine.” She showed Lily the entry. “I get Fridays off, but he does come to visit several times a week. Bella has trouble remembering much of anything except how to knit those baby blankets.”

  “Thank you for your help. I left the flowers in the sunroom. Can you make sure they make it into Sara’s room?”

  “No problem.”

  Lily signed out and headed to her minivan.

  Eddie’s alibi seemed airtight, she thought to herself. Checking her watch, she decided there was enough time to swing by the police station to see Ryan before she picked up Iris and Daisy for their appointment at the spa.

  The police station was much quieter than it had been the day before but Ryan was in a meeting and would be tied up for a while. Li
ly remembered what Melinda had told her about Tamara needing to talk to her, so she asked if she could visit with Tamara. An officer led Lily into the small visiting area and she found Tamara happily smiling even though she had no access to her make-up or designer spandex outfits. Miracles would never cease, Lily thought to herself. Probably her cellmate entertained her with stories about her customers. Lily certainly hoped Tamara didn’t plan to share any of those details with her.

  “You look quite pleased with yourself, Tamara. Aren’t you ready to get out of here?” Lily asked as she eased into a metal chair across the table from Tamara.

  Tamara put her hands on the table and leaned toward Lily. With a wink, she told Lily, “Candy told me she knows a lot of men in town.”

  “Candy?”

  “Yeah, my cellmate. What a hoot she is. You wouldn’t believe the stories she shares with me.”

  Lily held up her hands. “I’m not sure I want those details, but what men? Did she give you any names?”

  Tamara scrunched up her mouth. “Not yet, but she’s starting to trust me so I’m hoping to get some useful info soon.”

  “How will that help to get you out of here?”

  “Well, the rumor is that Malcolm fooled around with a lot of women. I’m wondering if one of their husbands made a visit to Candy and unloaded some secrets with her. She said lots of the men want a mommy figure to pamper them. I’m sure it’s a long shot, but you never know what interesting relationship dirt might turn up.”

  “I suppose it could lead to something,” Lily said, to make Tamara feel good, but it sounded like a wild goose chase to Lily. “I’ve got a meeting with Ryan next. He’s going to show me some stuff he found in Malcolm’s house. I still can’t shake a funny feeling about Crystal, but I can’t put my finger on anything solid yet.”