by Alayna Fox
I could see the desperation in Tessa’s eyes. She wanted to solve the mystery so badly that she was willing to accuse a pregnant woman. “No.”
“Why not? She lives down by the docks. She could have stolen the key from Axel.”
I sat down on an empty seat. My knees were hurting from the library stairs. “She gave the key to her grandfather.” I groaned. “Besides, she couldn’t have made the snowmen.”
“Why not? She’s big enough. The girl’s at least five foot ten, built more like a bear than a woman.”
I had to agree the girl was large, and quite capable of putting a snowman together despite being pregnant, but she wasn’t our secret snowman. “She didn’t make the snowmen because she’s allergic to the cold.”
“What? How do you know?”
I told Tessa about the hives that appeared on Louisa’s hands when she took her mittens off. I explained that when I was researching my own allergies, I read about a rare condition called cold urticaria. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Louisa had it.”
“That leaves her little boy, Luke,” Tessa announced proudly. “Knew it was him all along.” She settled in the chair next to me.
“I suspect Luke did take the locket from his mother.” I reminded her about the long necklace Luke had around his neck when we gave the locket to Louisa. “Something tells me he has a habit of wearing her jewellery. Probably wore her locket and lost it at the park. But he’s not our secret snowman.”
“I guess he’s too small to make a huge snowman. The lad’s no taller than my hips,” Tessa agreed, her lower lip drooped again. “That leaves us with who?” Tessa frowned.
“Mason,” I whispered as I pointed in his direction. I could see him fussing with the manger scene, trying to get it off the stage.
Tessa followed my eyes. “Why do you think Mason’s the secret snowman?”
“Do you remember when we went into the grocery store to find the ivy cap?”
She nodded her head.
“There was a metal detector on the shelf. I think Mason metal detects as a hobby.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I saw a note on the library bulletin board about a lost wedding ring this morning. I thought I recognized the handwriting. When I got home, I checked the note we found on the second snowman and sure enough, it matched the library notice,” I told her. “I think Mason found all the items when he was metal detecting. Parks, playgrounds, fields, parking lots. Those are all great spots to metal detect.” I got up from my seat and told Tessa that it was time to confront our secret snowman.
We headed backstage and saw Mason organizing some equipment. He seemed lost in thought as we walked up behind him.
He jumped when Tessa rammed her finger into his back.
Mason turned around to see Tessa’s eyes as wide as dinner plates. “Tessa, you scared the living daylights out of me.”
I didn’t want Tessa to go on a rant, so I quickly interjected, “Mason. Do you like to metal detect?”
He smiled. “Yes. Why do you ask?”
I glanced down at his feet. The leather on his boots was wet. I knew he had plenty of time to go out and make his last snowman while the play was going on. The manger scene had lasted at least a half hour. Plenty of time for him to slip out and finish his snowman. “Do you recognize this note?” I asked. I pulled the note from my pocket and showed it to him.
He looked at it then burst into laughter. “You found me.”
I nodded. “When I saw the notice for the lost wedding ring, I suspected you were our secret snowman.”
Mason told us he found the brooch just a few months ago. He was metal detecting near the old oak tree. Said they were great spots to find old coins. He found the brooch and didn’t know who it belonged to. He thought about putting another ad up on the library bulletin board, but he had so many other items that he decided to have a little fun with them. So, he built the snowman in front of the retirement home hoping that someone would recognize the brooch and find its owner.
I told him that the brooch belonged to Helen and that Nora was giving it to one of her daughters. He seemed relieved to hear that.
“Why did you build the second snowman? What was the point?” Tessa asked as she rammed her accusing finger into his arm.
I grabbed her finger and lowered it.
“Someone bought an ivy cap from my store but forgot it on the counter. My niece couldn’t remember who’d purchased it. I thought it would be a cute idea to build the second snowman and put the hat on it,” he explained as he kept his eye on Tessa’s finger, almost as if he half-expected her to ram him again with it.
But Tessa seemed to have calmed down. “We never found the owner of the hat,” Tessa told him.
“Maybe I should build another snowman and try again,” Mason said. He asked what we did with the hat.
Tessa pulled it out of her handbag.
I looked inside it to see what else she had. For a second I was starting to think we had two secret snowmen. “What about the locket? Where did you find that?”
“At the playground. Found it in the summer. It was buried about six inches deep.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a baggie with a personalized toothbrush in it. “Found this with it.”
I took the baggie from him and showed it to Tessa.
“That’s our little slippery do-da, Luke. Took his mom’s locket and buried his toothbrush.” Tessa frowned as she caught sight of Luke sliding back and forth across the stage in his socked feet. “What kind of kid brings a toothbrush to the playground?” Tessa grumbled. She turned her attention back to us. “A mastermind, that’s who.”
I ignored Tessa, something I was used to doing this week, and focused on the locket. I told him that the locket belonged to Louisa and he shook his head. He was upset that he hadn’t recognized Louisa and the kids. She had long blonde hair in the picture but now had short brown hair. He was relieved to know that she got her locket back.
“Okay, Mr. Secret Snowman, explain the key,” Tessa said.
I grabbed her finger before she could point it at him.
“Found the key down by the docks. I was skimming my detector in the water near the shoreline when I found it. Guess someone must have kicked it in the water near the gate. I wanted to put a notice up at the sailing club, but never got around to it. I figured the owner probably made another one by now, so I buried it beneath the snowman’s nose.”
Tessa told him that the key had found it’s rightful owner. That Axel was thrilled to have it back because it was a gift from his granddaughter.
That left only one more item, minus the dozens of remaining things on the stage snowman. “Where did you find the scarf?” I asked.
He smiled. “That was an easy find. It was hanging on the gazebo railing. Threw it in with a bunch of my other things when I got home and didn’t remember about it until last week. Thought it would be cool to put on a snowman.” He looked at Tessa. “Were you able to find the owner?”
She nodded her head. “Belongs to Mayor Mia.”
Mason turned to look at the people on stage who surrounded his last snowman. He smiled as men and women retrieved their lost items. “I have to admit, this was a whole lot more fun then fielding a bunch of phone calls from my lost item notices. I still haven’t found the owner of the wedding ring I found in August. It looks expensive. I didn’t want to chance it being lost when the snowmen melted. If no one claims it, I think I’ll drop it off at the mayor’s office. Maybe one of the cruise ship tourists lost it.”
I told him I thought that was a great idea. Just as we were about to say goodbye, I noticed Foster standing behind us.
“Did I hear correctly? You made the snowmen?” Foster asked Mason as he inched his way between me and Tessa.
Mason smiled. “Yep.”
Foster patted him on the shoulder. “I should have known. Only an engineer could have made such perfectly symmetrical snowmen.” He showed Mason his own gazebo snowman. “I was close, but
you can see that the middle circle is not in proportion to the other two. I’m off by a couple of inches.”
Tessa rolled her eyes. “I’m tired Pepper. Why don’t we let these math…?”
Before she could say the word geeks, I said goodbye to the men, once again dragging Tessa behind me.
Later that night, as we sat in front of the cozy fireplace in the billiard room, I watched as Bo and Lynette played a game of pool.
“They’re made for each other,” Tessa grumbled as she watched Lynette line up her shot. “Bet she fakes a bad shot.”
Sure enough, Lynette missed her shot by a mile. We both giggled. Lynette was the pool champion in her college days, but we knew Bo didn’t have a clue. It was a case of the charmer being outwitted by the pool shark.
I turned to look at the red glowing coals. The coals were fake, but I enjoyed the flickering movements. “What’s the plan tomorrow?” I asked Tessa. “Bingo or crafts?”
Tessa didn’t take long to respond. “Neither.”
I admit, I was a little taken aback by her answer. I knew she loved bingo. “What are you going to do?” I asked as I scratched Archie’s head. He was resting on the chair next to me. Content to watch the billiard balls move around the pool table.
“I think I’ll do a little sleuthing. You never know what you’ll find.” She giggled. “The new year can be full of mystery, wouldn’t you say?”
“Definitely.” I watched as Lynette sunk two balls in a row. Poor Bo was fish bait. I almost felt sorry for him. “I’m sure there will be plenty of mysteries.”
And Tessa and I were just the ones to solve them.
About the Author
Alayna Fox loves to write cozy mysteries and humorous stories. She lives with her husband, two boys, and a couple of lazy cats who have a mind of their own. Like all cats do. When she isn’t writing, she loves to read and garden. Two pastimes that keep her busy.
Thank you for reading Secret Snowman. Feel free to leave a review on Amazon.
Archie, the pug, would appreciate it!
