Death of a Dapper Snowman

by Angela Pepper

  She was already gone, whistling on the way to the kitchenette.

  A few minutes later, she returned with hot tea. She poured us two cups of Creamy Earl Grey, then she showed me how she updated her various accounts with photos of the local mountain scenery, plus interesting merchandise.

  I remembered the point of my visit and took out my phone to show her the pictures I’d taken in the city, at the pawn shop.

  “Ruby, I believe this panther charm is from your shop. Mr. Michaels was selling some smaller items to a pawn shop in the city.”

  “Yes,” she said heavily. “I figured as much. One of the Secret Tea Room Ladies was in the city last week and visited a few places. We were investigating Mr. Michaels, gathering evidence.”

  “Evidence?” I took a sip of my tea, consciously slowing myself down so I didn’t overwhelm her.

  “The panther charm was a trap. There are only two of them in existence, and I put one out when he was in the store, hoping he’d take the bait.”

  I kept sipping my tea, playing it cool, but it was difficult to constrain myself. It sounded like these Secret Tea Room Ladies had their own detectives’ club, which was far more interesting than bridge.

  She explained, “We wanted to see where the items were going, so we could present everything to the police. We were getting so close, but then Mr. Michaels went and got himself killed.”

  “R&F Brokers,” I said. “That’s where I found the panther.”

  She swore in frustration, then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth. “Excuse my language, sweetheart, but how did you figure that out?”

  I gave her a sly wink. “Some of his mail wound up on my father’s porch by accident, and I saw the return address for R&F Brokers.”

  She smiled and made air quotes. “By accident.”

  “Ruby, I shouldn’t have winked when I said that. It really was an accident. Oh, plus there was a waitress at the diner who asked him about selling some of her own jewelry, and he straight-up recommended the place. Not exactly a criminal mastermind, right?”

  She nodded. “He was an odd man. But you, my dear, are a genius detective.”

  She looked like she was about to hug me, but the table was in the way.

  “Not genius, just lucky.” I reached out and opened the tray of miniature cupcakes, letting the heavenly smell mingle with Ruby’s perfume and the scent of Earl Grey tea.

  As Ruby sampled the baked goods, I asked her, “Do you have video footage of Mr. Michaels inside the store? I wonder if perhaps he had an accomplice. They might have stolen something of higher value at another local business, and perhaps the other person didn’t want to share. Could I review your security camera footage? I’ll do it on my own time.”

  She waved her hand. “Honey, those security cameras are fakes.”

  “Two of them are fake. I know, because I have the same brand in the gift shop. But the third one, pointing at the engagement rings, is real.”

  She gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but that one’s just a better fake than the others.”

  “But… I was here when you were asking your employee if she jiggled the cable. You said you were missing a day of footage.”

  Ruby sipped her tea and silently kept up the apologetic look.

  I continued my train of thought out loud, “Of course, most retail theft is done by employees, so the cameras are there as much to keep an eye on them as on the customers. So, that means you have to lie to your new employees, to trick them into thinking they might be getting recorded.” She nodded to let me know I was right. “Very crafty,” I finished.

  “This girl is a good one,” she said. “I felt bad doing that to her, just like I feel bad about all the other things.”

  “Other things?” I gave her a side-long look.

  “I make her clean all the display cases, then when she’s not looking, I put fingerprints on from the inside and make her clean again.” She sat up straighter in her chair. “That young woman needs to be in high school. The Secret Tea Room Ladies are in agreement that she needs to quit this job and get her education. We know she’s on the run from something, but that’s no excuse to throw your life away.”

  I sat in stunned silence. These Secret Tea Room Ladies sounded like the nicest, sweetest group of older women that any town could have.

  Just as quickly as I had the nice feelings, though, I also felt suspicion. This little club of Ruby’s seemed just squeaky-clean enough to get away with murder.

  I reached for a cupcake and said, casually, “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who’s in this club, will you?”

  Ruby just grinned and poured me a fresh cup of tea.

  “Sorry, I can’t reveal that… yet.”

  “Is my father’s girlfriend, Pam, in the group?”

  Ruby wrinkled her nose.

  “That’s understandable,” I said with a chuckle. “How about the wife of Mr. Jenkins?”

  “Nice lady, but no.”

  “Peggy Wiggles? The new rookie cop?”

  Ruby smiled and lifted the tea cup toward her lips. “Not anymore,” she said.

  “So, she was a member? And it made her want to become a cop for real?”

  Ruby sipped her tea, then licked her lips. “I’ve said too much.” She mimed zipping her mouth shut.

  Chapter 30

  Once I was full of tea and cupcakes, and certain that Ruby wasn’t going to give me any more clues about her detectives’ club, I thanked her for the tea and left her to her laptop work.

  I found her young employee, Harper’s half-sister, cleaning the top of a display case furiously.

  I leaned over and said, “Are those finger prints on the inside?”

  “How would they get there on the inside?” she sputtered.

  I watched as she opened the case from the side and started cleaning the inside. This time, the fingerprints came off easily.

  She finished making the glass sparkle, then set the cleaning products aside in a bucket with a moody sigh. She reached for the tray of the mini cupcakes I’d left up front.

  “You and your sister live in my friend Jessica’s building,” I said.

  She gave me a funny look.

  I continued, “What I mean is, I’m friends with your sister. Harper told me about why you’re in Misty Falls.”

  She selected two cupcakes and stuffed both in her mouth at once, acting every bit the rebellious, moody teenager. I knew that no matter what I said to her, she was going to find me old and out-of-touch and ridiculous. Honesty might help, I decided.

  “Your sister must really care about you,” I said.

  Around the mouthful of cake and icing, the girl said, “She wants me to go to high school, but I don’t know. High school is boring.”

  I looked around at the empty jewelry store and the container of cleaning products sitting on the end of the counter.

  “Is high school more boring than wiping fingerprints off stuff all day?”

  She frowned. “I dunno.”

  “Do you have any hobbies?”

  She shrugged.

  I kept going, asking, “Do you play any musical instruments?”

  “I like the guitar. But I only know five chords.”

  “They’ve got a fantastic music program at the high school. I was in the marching band, but there are less geeky options, too. We’ve got a lot of talent here in Misty Falls. Maybe you could get yourself into a local band.”

  “Really?”

  “Sure. But you might want to learn more than five chords.”

  She gave me side-eye. “You’re not just saying that to trick me into going to high school, are you?”

  I shrugged. “You got me. The high school pays me a bounty for every one I recruit. Sometimes I drive around neighboring cities in a van covered in candy.” I let my expression turn serious. “You should call the office, or just show up and ask for a tour.”

  “Hmm.”

  I walked over to the window and made a palm print on the smooth surfa
ce. “But I can understand how high school doesn’t measure up to the thrills and chills of wiping fingerprints off these windows.”

  “You’re right. And so is my sister. I hate it when she’s right.”

  The door jingled, and I turned to see Harper walking in.

  “Speak of the devil and she appears,” grumbled the little sister.

  Harper held her palms up and said to me, “I’m unarmed. Please don’t hit me with anything.”

  I shook my head and looked down at my boots in shame. “Sorry about that. You’ll never let me live it down, will you?”

  Harper explained to her sister, “Whatever you do, don’t make Stormy mad. Especially if she’s armed with an industrial-sized jug of laundry detergent.”

  “You two are so weird,” said the little sister.

  “How are you doing?” I asked Harper.

  “Feeling better,” she said. “I’m just taking things day by day. Things are looking up.”

  “That’s great to hear. Misty Falls really is a wonderful town, and it’s so…” I was going to say it was a safe place to call home, but I couldn’t say that with a murderer still on the loose.

  “Picturesque,” Harper finished. “Like a postcard.”

  “Exactly.”

  The little sister interrupted us to say, “Harper, I thought about it, and I’d like to try the high school. I think we should stay here in this town. It feels like home, you know?”

  Harper nodded. “Sure. We can give it a shot. I’ve already made two friends.” She gave me a timid smile. I returned the gesture with a big smile of my own to let her know it was true—she had made two friends, between me and Jessica.

  The three of us talked for the next half hour about the local high school, and what extra-curricular activities the school offered. I found myself admitting I’d been a cheerleader back in the day, which made both of them laugh hysterically.

  “What? I don’t look like I’d be a good cheerleader? Just you wait. Jessica and I will get out the old uniforms and you’ll be laughing out of the other side of your faces.”

  After we stopped giggling, there was a lull in the conversation and we all glanced over at the shop’s front window as Mr. Jenkins walked by. He saw me inside and gave me a quick wave, but, to my relief, didn’t come inside.

  “Do you know much about that guy?” Harper asked me.

  “A little too much, honestly. Why? Do you know him?” I thought back to the day I’d seen Mr. Jenkins talk to Harper, when I’d been watching through the store’s secret window.

  Harper scrunched her face. “I wouldn’t want to know him. He made a terrible impression on me. I was crossing the street on my way in to see my sister. I’d heard about what happened to Mr. Michaels already, back at the diner, but this woman stopped me on the street and insisted on telling me again. I guess that man overheard, because he said the most awful thing to me, about how the shops around Misty Falls would be more secure now that the town’s most notorious shoplifter was gone.”

  “That was wrong of him to say. I’m so sorry. He couldn’t have known your connection, but even so, it was wrong. I guess after eating what he did, he was bound to open his mouth and have some of it come right back out.”

  “Huh?” Harper gave me a confused look.

  “Sorry. It’s been a weird day. Do you want to go pop in and visit Jessica over at the sandwich shop?”

  “And get a sandwich?”

  My stomach made a noise that surprised both of us. Even after eating all the cupcakes, I was still hungry, apparently.

  Harper said goodbye to her sister and the two of us walked over to the sandwich shop.

  Jessica was just finishing her shift, so she took our order and then sat with us.

  We had a nice late lunch, then the three of us did some shopping along the street. We stopped in at Blue Enchantment, where I nearly bought everything off the mannequin again.

  After that, we went to the Golden Wok with some other friends of Jessica’s that we bumped into. I swore I wasn’t hungry, but then the sweet and sour chicken balls came to the table and my mouth actually watered for them.

  As I stuffed my face and laughed along with the group, I got a warm feeling that spread through my whole body.

  Maybe the feeling was contentment.

  Or maybe the Golden Wok put booze in my non-alcohol piña colada.

  Either way, I decided I was brave enough to return home to my own house that night.

  Chapter 31

  For the second night in a row, I pulled up in front of my own house feeling like a stalker. Then I shut off the lights and engine and sat in my car watching the windows… just like a stalker.

  My tenant was home, by the look of the bright windows. He had the living room curtains open, and I could see him walking around inside.

  “Again with the shirt off,” I said to myself. “Have I got the furnace up too high, or is my tenant a partial nudist?”

  Since I was alone in my dark car, nobody answered my questions.

  I watched as a shirtless Logan walked around the brightly-lit living room. He brought a laundry basket full of clothes into the room, set the basket on the sofa, and folded his clothes.

  For some reason, I found this very alluring and couldn’t tear my eyes away.

  When he was done folding and placing everything in neat stacks, he grabbed a T-shirt from one of the piles and pulled it on.

  “Half-nudist time must be over for the day,” I said.

  Fully clothed, he walked around the room gathering up things I couldn’t see, but that I guessed were his wallet, keys, and phone. He disappeared from my sight, the living room light went off, and he re-appeared, coming out of the unit’s door on the side of the duplex.

  “Ooh. Someone’s got a hot date tonight,” I muttered to myself.

  Was it with a girl? I really hoped his hot date was with a girl. Even though he’d made a lousy first impression on me by insulting me at the vet’s office, part of me was fantasizing about the two of us sharing half-nudist hour together sometime. Perhaps over some takeout from the Golden Wok.

  As he locked his door, he glanced over in the direction of my car.

  I froze like a deer in the headlights and hoped the street lamps overhead didn’t reveal me sitting in my car like a stalker. My stomach made a weird sound. I kept holding still, even though my stomach was behaving so strangely, I was in danger of getting nervous giggles.

  To my relief, Logan finished locking his door and didn’t react as though he saw me. He walked through the trampled snow of the driveway to his vehicle, a modest-sized SUV.

  I thought about pulling into the shared driveway as he was leaving and introducing myself, but I had to think through what I would say if he saw me. All of this thinking took too long, and pretty soon the choice was made for me. Logan backed out of the driveway to leave. I watched his red tail lights disappear down the quiet street.

  “I know,” I said to nobody. “I shouldn’t be scared of going into my own home just because a cute guy is my tenant and I’m worried about embarrassing myself. I know I’m a scaredy-cat.”

  At the mention of the word cat, I thought of Jeffrey. The poor little man was at the house with Pam. Knowing her, she probably wasn’t feeding him enough. What would she be up to at this time of night? It was just a few minutes past ten o’clock. What if she was finally packing up her things and moving out?

  Well, she wasn’t going to take Jeffrey with her. She didn’t even like the cat.

  I simply had to go rescue him from her evil clutches.

  Jeffrey needed me. I could sense it.

  Yes, that was enough of an excuse for me to avoid my duplex and my tenant for yet another night. I started the engine, flicked on the driving lights, and pulled away from the curb.

  Chapter 32

  When I got to my father’s house, I rang the doorbell rather than using my key to let myself in.

  Pam yanked open the door and scowled at me.

  “Oh, g
ood. You’re still up,” I said.

  “Why didn’t you use your key?”

  “I didn’t want to scare you. There’s still a murderer on the loose, after all. You’re the one who’s afraid it’s a serial killer.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” she said. “And… that’s why I’ve decided I’m moving out. First thing tomorrow.”

  She pointed to a pile of flattened moving boxes leaning against the wall in the hallway.

  “Oh?” I played dumb. She probably didn’t know I’d spent most of the previous day in the city, where I had seen my father and his new girlfriend. “Where are you going? Moving in with your sister?”

  “I don’t know,” she snapped. “I’ve rented a truck, and I think I’ll get in and just start driving. See where the road takes me.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  She got a wistful look. “I always wanted to travel, but your father never wanted to leave this town. That’s why I’m done with him. Yes. It’s because I need to travel.”

  I looked into Pam’s eyes and saw the heartbreak underneath the bravery and anger. It didn’t seem right to tell her I knew all about him breaking up with her weeks earlier. Other than a few pieces of furniture and the clothes in her closet, her pride was all she had. I’d let her keep it. But she wasn’t getting Jeffrey.

  “Pam, I’m sorry it’s ending like this,” I said. “You know I can’t take sides between you and my father, but, as a woman, I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry.”

  As her eyes glistened, I felt the burning of my own tears coming to me. An awkward silence stretched out between us. I didn’t know what else to do, so I gave her a hug. She flinched when I reached for her, like she was repulsed by me.

  I stepped back politely, swallowing the rejection. This didn’t mean what it felt like. She was only being cool toward me because I was my father’s daughter. It wasn’t personal, or so I told myself.

  “Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

  I looked down and realized I was rubbing my stomach. “Actually, no. I ate too much today.”