by Kathi Daley
******
Hazel had a beautiful home she took a lot of care to decorate each year. She liked to play hostess so, in addition to hosting the weekly book club I belonged to, she hosted the cookie exchange and several open houses and parties during the holiday season. My own home was decorated beautifully, but Hazel had a certain elegance and style neither Zak nor I possessed. My home was warm and cozy, while Hazel’s was classic and sophisticated.
“Your house looks lovely,” I said to her as I handed her the plate of cookies Ellie had made. “You’ve added some touches since I was here last week.”
“Decorating seems to be one of those things you never really finish.” Hazel set the plate on the table with the others. “Every time I think I’m done I have an idea for something better.”
“Zak’s the same way. He’s like a kid in a candy store when it comes to holiday decorations.”
“Have you heard from him? How’s his mother?”
I poured myself a glass of nonalcoholic punch. “She’s doing better, considering. She’s staying with Clara Fletcher in Italy until she recovers enough to take the flight home.”
“Clara’s such a nice woman. I’m sure Zak’s mother will get the rest she needs staying with her. It’s too bad she won’t be able to join you for Christmas, though.”
“Yes,” I said, despite the fact that it was my not wanting her to be here for Christmas that had caused the problem in the first place. “Although with everything that’s going on, it’s rather hectic at my place. I’m sure she’ll be better off with Clara.”
Hazel poured coffee into mugs with poinsettias on the side. “I spoke to Alex yesterday. It sounds like she’s been busy with Santa’s sleigh ride.”
“She has, but she’s very organized and seems to have everything under control. I feel bad I can’t do more to help this year.”
“I’m sure Alex understands you can’t be running around town delivering gifts in your condition. I told her I’d take lead with one of the teams, and she has plenty of students lined up to help as well. It’s too bad we couldn’t work it out to have Zak’s reindeer pull a real sleigh.”
“That would have been fun, but with all the reindeer excitement we’ve already had this week, trying to harness them might have been pushing it.”
“I heard about the great reindeer escape. Have you managed to round them all up?”
“Almost. Jeremy and the crew have done a fantastic job. I’m hoping they’ll all be home by the end of the day tomorrow. I’ll feel a lot better when I know they’re all safe.”
“Luke told me it’s possible someone might have intentionally let them escape,” Hazel said.
“Pappy’s right; that might be the case. At first I thought I’d been careless with the latch, but the more I think about it, the more certain I am that I pulled on it to make sure it was secure before I walked away.”
Hazel set the mugs of coffee on a tray with cream and sugar and placed it on the main snack table. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I don’t know, but there’s a lock on the gate now. The only people with the combination are Jeremy and my crew, Levi and Ellie, and Alex and Scooter in case of an emergency. Once I get all the reindeer home I want them to stay there—at least until they’re scheduled to be transported into town for Hometown Christmas.”
I followed Hazel back into the kitchen, where she picked up napkins. “I can’t believe that’s this weekend. December has flown by.”
“It really has. I just hope everyone’s ready. It’s very odd trying to plan an event without Willa at the helm.”
“Yes.” Hazel sighed. “She’s been missed. And not just in her role as committee chairperson. Willa was a good friend for a lot of years. I’m still not over the fact that she was taken from us.”
Hazel and I both took a minute to remember our friend, who’d been murdered just a couple of months earlier, before we headed into the living room, where the others were waiting. I took a seat next to Ellie, suddenly feeling sad rather than joyful. Ellie smiled at me and squeezed my hand. Knowing Ellie, she’d seen Hazel and me talking and figured out the rest.
“You should talk to Phyllis about Stella,” Ellie whispered.
Phyllis King was a dear friend and the administrator of Zimmerman Academy, the private school Zak ran.
“Phyllis knows something about Stella?” I asked.
“She spoke to her last week. Stella was coming off her shift at the holiday store and seemed depressed, so Phyllis offered to buy her dinner. She said she thought Stella was holding something back, but she did talk a bit about what was going on in her life.”
I glanced at Phyllis, who was chatting with one of the women from book club. I knew once Hazel made the introduction to the exchange we’d play a few games. I’d head to the kitchen then and motion for Phyllis to join me.
When we were in the kitchen I asked Phyllis what she knew about Stella.
“I see Ellie told you that we had dinner last week. The poor girl seemed so lost. I wanted to help her, but I don’t think I was able to make much of a difference in her life.”
“Would you mind sharing what you talked about?”
“Let’s have a seat.” Phyllis and I sat down at the kitchen table. “I’d known Stella for quite a few years. Her mother and I were friends, and I used to visit their home when she was growing up. Stella was always such a moody child. She’d be happy and carefree one minute, then dark and depressed the next. I suggested to her mother that she might have a chemical imbalance that would respond to medication, but I’m not sure she ever followed up on it. But I digress. You asked me about my conversation with Stella last week, not the emotional disorder I believed she might have had as a child.”
“I imagine both were important in understanding her behavior, but only the more recent event will help us identify her killer,” I pointed out.
“Very true. When I spoke to Stella last week I wanted to find out why she was so down. It took a while for me to get her to open up, but eventually she said she’d joined a dating site and met and gone out with several men. She didn’t seem happy about it and I made a joke about none of them being keepers. She responded that all the men she’d dated were one-night stands. Assuming one-night stand was the preference of the men, I made a comment about that, and she informed me that all she was after was one night of sex, that the decision not to pursue a second date with any of the men had been hers. I’ll admit I was a bit shocked at her attitude. It wasn’t my place to lecture her about her standards, so I changed the subject. Looking back, I sensed anger as I spoke to her, but I also sensed fear. I wish now that I hadn’t let the fact that I was appalled by her behavior prevent me from continuing the conversation.”
I sat quietly for a moment, trying to process what Phyllis had said. I knew Stella had made dates with seven men from the dating site. The fact that she’d only seen each man once seemed important; I just wasn’t sure why yet. I’d planned to call Salinger in the morning to find out how his meeting with Ron P had gone. Maybe I’d contact a few others to see if I could engage them in a chat.
“Did Stella mention any of the men by name?” I eventually asked.
“No, not that I remember. As I said, I tuned out when she began to discuss the sexcapades.”
“Thanks for sharing what you have. My Zodar is telling me the information is relevant. I’m not sure how yet, but I hope Salinger and I will be able to figure it out.”
After my conversation with Phyllis I found I’d lost my enthusiasm for the cookie exchange. Ellie had given me a ride over and I hated to ask her to leave early, so I stayed in the kitchen to call Salinger. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message and went back to the fun and games. I loved Christmas, but this year, with everything that was going on, I was having a hard time finding my Christmas spirit.
“Everything okay?” Ellie asked when I returned to my spot next to her on the sofa.
“I’m fine. A little tired, I guess.”
“I�
�m tired as well. Let’s make our excuses to Hazel and sneak out early. Warm jammies, a Christmas movie, and a crackling fire feel just about perfect.”
“Actually, there are ten high school students at the house wrapping presents, but I guess we can sneak up to my bedroom and curl up with a good movie. I’m sure Scooter and Levi are in the den watching something with a lot of shooting and car chases.”
“Hiding out in your suite sounds like a wonderful idea. I’ll bring Eli in with us so I don’t have to worry about him. If we sneak in through the back entrance the wrapping gang won’t even know we’re home.”
Chapter 6
Wednesday, December 20
The new committee chairperson, who was also the new county clerk, was Hillary Spain, a nice enough woman, though, like Willa, she tended to be a stickler for the rules. The real problem, I’d come to discover, was that while Willa had enforced a certain structure, she was well acquainted with local and county ordinances and how they pertained to the projects the committee became involved with; Hillary seemed to be making stuff up as we went along. Ellie thought we should give her the benefit of the doubt; she was a young woman trying to get a foothold in the community. Ellie felt once she settled in she’d relax a bit and, in the end, turn out to be the strong chairperson we needed. I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I hoped Ellie’s faith wasn’t misplaced. So far, the planning for this year’s Hometown Christmas celebration, the event that kicked off in just two days, had been teeming with one problem after another. Luckily for me, due to my state of unwieldiness I hadn’t been asked to participate on any level.
“All but two of the food vendors are confirmed,” Ellie reported, “but the two who are holding out for kitchen space in the community center are the largest in terms of selection.”
“If we let the food vendors use the community center we won’t have anywhere for the kiddie carnival,” Tawny Upton argued. “We tried doing an outdoor carnival in the past, but if the weather’s bad no one will be willing to stand in line.”
“Are those vendors asking to use the whole community center or just the kitchen?” my dad, Hank Donovan, asked.
“They’d like to use most of the indoor space,” Ellie confirmed. “They made a good point about it being much too cold to eat outside.”
“Have we had the food vendors indoors in the past?” Hillary asked.
“We’ve done it both ways,” Ellie explained. “We’ve used the entire community center as a food court, with everything centralized, but we’ve also had the food vendors spread throughout town. There are advantages to both, but we’re expecting snow, so I think an indoor area to eat is a must.”
“What about the cafeteria at the elementary school?” Levi asked. “It’s not too far off the beaten path and it won’t interfere with the kiddie carnival. We could even offer rides between the community center and the school.”
Ellie glanced at Levi. “I’m not sure the food vendors will go for that. I have a feeling they’ll be concerned that the lack of convenience will reduce the number of customers they get. I know if I was walking around enjoying the festivities I’d probably just eat in one of the restaurants in town rather than getting onto a shuttle to have lunch.”
“What about a tent?” Hazel suggested. “We could let the food vendors use the community center kitchen to prepare the food, then set up an eating area in the parking lot behind the building.”
“That could work as long as we had heaters to keep the area warm,” Ellie responded.
“It seems it makes more sense to put the kiddie carnival in the tent and let the food vendors have the whole community center,” I said, speaking up for the first time. “Better yet, let’s just have the kiddie carnival in the elementary school. Ellie made a good point about people not wanting to get on a shuttle to eat, but I’d be willing to bet the kids will make sure Mom and Dad get on the shuttle if that’s the only way to play games.”
“I agree with Zoe. The kiddie carnival should move to the elementary school,” Dad said.
We discussed the situation a while longer and eventually agreed to house the larger food vendors in the community center, the carnival at the elementary school, and have the smaller snack and drink vendors spread out around town. After that we discussed the community play, the Victorian carolers, and the voting for the window displays. By the time the meeting was over I was starving. My mom was babysitting Eli, so Ellie and I had the whole day to ourselves. We decided to head up to the ski resort and have lunch there before tracking down Docker.
The resort provided a large village with lodging, restaurants, shopping, and even a small movie theater. Like most destination areas, Eagle Mountain went all out with decorations that created a magical, snowy wonderland for ski enthusiasts who elected to spend the holidays on the slopes.
“I love coming up here at Christmas,” Ellie commented as we wound our way up the mountain toward the village. The ski area had strung white lights in the trees that lined the road on both sides, creating a Christmassy feel before visitors even reached the village.
“I’ve been dying to hit the slopes,” I admitted. “Of course the ski season is going to be half over before I’m able to enjoy all this powder. Zak bought us both season tickets, but I’m not sure I’ll get my money’s worth out of mine.”
“Once you recover from the delivery I’ll be more than happy to watch Catherine if you and Zak want to go skiing,” Ellie volunteered. “I’m sure your mom will be willing to babysit as well.”
“Mom’s already trying to arrange an overnight stay for Catherine and she isn’t even born yet. I thought she was going to be upset about being a grandma, but she seems almost as excited about the baby as Zak and me.”
“Of course she’s excited. We all are. By the way, as long as we’re all the way up here, remind me to check out the new ski apparel. I think I might get Levi a ski jacket for Christmas. His old one is looking a bit worn.”
The conversation stilled as Ellie and I took in the canopy of lights strung over the entrance to the parking lot. We parked and headed to the village, which was not only decorated with lights, real fir garlands, and bright red bows, but featured a skating rink in the center.
“Oh, look at the mechanical bears.” Ellie grabbed my hand and pulled me toward an area that had been made up to look like an enchanted forest. “I’m going to have to bring Eli up here before Christmas. He’ll love the moving bears and the cute little penguins chasing each other across the pond.”
“It’s pretty awesome, but I’m starving. There’s that new pub I’ve been wanting to try. Not that I can drink, but I hear the food is delicious and the tables overlook the beginners’ hill. It’ll be fun to watch people learn how to ski while we eat.”
“Sounds good to me,” Ellie replied.
We’d just turned in the direction of the pub when the sound of screaming filled the air. I stood in stunned disbelief as one of the runaway reindeer ran down the middle of the courtyard, causing people to scramble to get out of his way. Ellie pulled me through the doorway of one of the shops.
“You’d better call Jeremy,” Ellie said.
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
I spoke to Jeremy, then Ellie and I grabbed sandwiches to go and waited for him and his reindeer tracking crew in the parking lot. It looked like Ellie and I would have to wait for another day to check out the pub, but as soon as Jeremy arrived to take over the campaign to capture our escapee, Ellie and I could set out to track down Docker.
******
He was working one of the lifts at the base lodge, which meant we wouldn’t have to take a lift up the mountain to meet with him. As soon as I explained that I wanted to speak to him about Stella, he arranged to talk to us near the fire pit during his break. Covered but with open walls, the fire pit was quite warm if you could snare a seat on one of the sofas closest to the fire.
“Oh look, a sofa just opened up,” Ellie said before elbowing her way through the crowd to grab it before anyone el
se did.
I waddled along at a much slower pace. After settling onto the sofa, we ordered hot cocoa to sip while we waited.
“I wonder how Jeremy’s doing,” Ellie said.
“I told him to text me with an update. If he’s successful in capturing this reindeer we’ll only have one more to find.”
“It’s kind of sad to interrupt their fun to return them to that small pen,” Ellie observed.
“I agree, but they could get hurt or hurt someone while they’re on the loose. It’s a miracle none of them have been hit by a car. When they aren’t on display they live on a ranch up north, so I doubt they’ve had much experience with vehicles speeding down the highway at sixty miles an hour.”
The waitress had just brought our beverages when Docker arrived. I scooted closer to Ellie to make room for him, which created an intimate setting for a conversation as serious as the one I planned to have with him.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked.
“No, thank you. I only have a short break. You said you had some questions about Stella?”
Even though Docker was sitting right next to me, I realized I was going to have to raise my voice to be heard over the loud Christmas music coming from the nearby skating rink.
“I guess you heard she was found dead in her apartment.”
“Yes, I had.”
“She’d reached out to me before her death, but I was in the hospital at the time and didn’t get back to her in time. I feel terrible and want to find out who killed her. I spoke to Cory at the auto shop and he was the one who told me that you were friends. I hoped you could tell me what had been going on in her life.”
Docker squinted and chewed his lip, and I suspected he was trying to decide whether to confide in me. He must have judged me harmless because he shifted slightly and turned to face me. “Stella went through a bad breakup a while back. She took it hard and ended up drinking a lot more than she should. She lost her job, which sent her even further over the edge. I work at Lucky’s two nights a week and she was there every night I was for a while, so we’d talk. She had a lot of baggage to deal with, but Cory helped her get a new job and she finally realized she was over the loser who’d dumped her. It seemed her life was getting better.”
