Fudgy Fatality: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10

by Kathleen Suzette

  I smiled at him. “No, I was just wondering is all. I’m like you, I can’t imagine who would want to harm Olivia.”

  I wrapped up his fudge for him and put it in a cute Halloween bag and folded over the top. “Will this be all for you?”

  He reached into the basket of hard candy and picked out a jack-o’-lantern and two vanilla ghosts and placed them on the counter. “I guess I’d like these too.”

  “You got it.”

  I rang up his purchases for the candy and he paid for the candy. He stopped and looked at me. “I hope they catch Olivia’s killer and put them away for life. Whoever it was, they deserve it.”

  “I know the police are doing everything they can to do exactly that.”

  He nodded “Good. I just hope they get them. I’ve got to get going. I’ll see the two of you later.”

  “Bye, Bryce,” Christy said from across the room. She had been quiet while Bryce spoke, and now she was staring after him, her brow furrowed in thought.

  I glanced at the door as it closed behind him. Was the job at Storage Inc really as cut throat as Olivia made it out to be? It seemed like a lot of people knew about her work troubles, and I didn’t know if that meant the trouble was real or if it meant she just liked to complain.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Do you have the day off?” I asked Ethan. We were leaning against his truck parked out in front of the candy store. It was the third weekend of the Halloween season and Pumpkin Hollow was packed. People walked up and down the sidewalks, shopping and enjoying the sights. It was a wonderful sight to see. I knew attractions like the haunted house and the haunted farmhouse had to be packed today.

  “Nope. I just thought I’d stop by on the way to work. I feel like I don’t get to see you much these days.” He leaned over and kissed me.

  I smiled and leaned against his chest. “That’s because you don’t. But it’s okay, I understand. After you find Olivia’s killer, we can do something together.”

  “I’m glad you’re so understanding,” he said, and he wrapped his arms around me.

  “Did you take a look at the photos that Gayle Anderson took at the parade?”

  “I did. She captured some interesting pictures, so I borrowed them to look through.”

  “All of them?” I asked him.

  “All of them. I’m not sure there’s anything that will help at this point, but time will tell. We’ll see.”

  I hoped the photos would help. I already knew the main suspects were there at the parade. The photos could be used in a court case if one of them was arrested.

  I nodded, deciding not to ask him more about the photos and what he had seen in them. “I bet you want some fudge.”

  He grinned. “Well, I’d say yes, but by the looks of all those people in the candy store, I really don’t have time to wait in line right now. But a good girlfriend would bring some fudge home tonight.”

  “Oh? And where would this good girlfriend be found?”

  He chuckled. “I was hoping this good girlfriend is the one right here in my arms.”

  I sighed dramatically. “Okay, that good girlfriend just might be right here. I’ll bring some home tonight if you promise to come over to my house when you get off work. I might make you some dinner, too.”

  “I can’t pass up an offer like that. I’m hoping to get off at a decent time tonight, but I can’t swear to it.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll keep dinner waiting for you. Did you get the lab results back on the skin under Olivia’s fingernails?”

  “Not yet. You’re impatient, aren’t you?” He looked down at me and smiled.

  I nodded. “I am. It makes me angry that someone killed her. They deserve to be put away for a very long time.”

  “No disagreement there.” He squeezed me tight and then released me. “I better get going. The chief is going to be wondering where I’m at.”

  I nodded. “Okay, if you must. I can’t wait to see you later tonight.”

  “Me too,” he said and got into his truck.

  I headed back into the shop. I was dressed in my Little Red Riding Hood costume and I stopped in the doorway and looked at all the people. There were nearly a dozen customers inside the small shop, and I wove in between them to get to the kitchen. Everyone was working today. They had to. We wouldn’t have been able to handle all the customers without everyone working.

  Christy and I had been coming in early in the mornings with Mom to make candy. With the busy Halloween season and the Internet orders, it was just too much work for her alone. I didn’t know if I would ever enjoy coming to work at four o’clock in the morning, but I was going to do it for the Halloween season.

  Christy looked up at me as I walked into the kitchen and picked up an apron. “Mom and I were just talking about hiring more people again.”

  I looked at Mom and she nodded. “I’ve still got some applications left over from when I hired Stephanie and Missy. We’re going to need at least a couple more during the Halloween season.”

  “The Halloween season and the Christmas season,” I corrected. “I doubt things will slow down much until after Christmas is over.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” she said, and she poured a fresh batch of candy corn fudge into pans for it to cool.

  “Was that Ethan out front?” Christy asked.

  “Yes, he’s on his way to work.”

  “Has he found out anything new about Olivia’s killer?” she asked. She was packing up orders to be shipped out this afternoon.

  “If he has, he isn’t telling me about it. The lab results for the skin that was under Olivia’s nails hasn’t come back yet.”

  “I imagine until that comes back, he may not be able to make an arrest,” Mom said as she smoothed out the pans of fudge with a rubber spatula. “Unless he’s got some other evidence.”

  “Probably so,” I said. “He mentioned hoping he would be able to make an arrest soon, but I don’t know who he meant.”

  “Who do you think did it?” Christy asked me, leaning on the counter.

  I tied my apron around my waist. “Honestly? If I were going to guess, I would say Aaron Cox. He seems the most likely since he and Olivia had a rocky relationship, along with a recent breakup.” Bryce Jenkins had piqued my curiosity when he brought up Carla’s name, and I wondered if there was anything to that, but I wasn’t convinced there was anything there just yet.

  She nodded. “I think that’s a good guess. Have you talked to him?”

  “I talked to him the other day, but I think I should speak to him again. I think there’s something there.”

  “Maybe I can go with you later,” she offered.

  I nodded. “That sounds like a plan. Maybe when we take our lunchbreak we can stop by the haunted farmhouse.”

  Christy had good sense when it came to questioning people and she might spot something that I had missed.

  ***

  When Christy and I took our lunch, we headed over to the haunted farmhouse. As I suspected, there were a lot of tourists milling about, enjoying the day. There was a straw maze for the kids, and the corn maze was back with horror movie characters that jumped out at unsuspecting guests. It wasn’t my kind of fun, but the teens sure loved it. I could hear the screams from the parking lot.

  “Sounds like somebody’s having fun,” I said to Christy as we headed to the haunted farmhouse.

  “Doesn’t it? We should come back when it’s dark and go through the corn maze.”

  “No thanks,” I said. “It’s just not my thing.” I had once found a dead body in the corn maze and that might have been the reason I wasn’t crazy about it. Or maybe it was just all those creepy characters that kept popping out at me when I least expected it.

  We spotted Aaron near the entrance to the barn. It was still daylight, but the hayrides were running, and I saw one of the wagons as it went around the corner of the corn maze. Ethan and I needed to stop by and take a hayride when he had some time.

  “Hi Aaron,�
� Christy said when we got closer.

  He turned toward her voice and smiled at us. “Hi Mia, hi Christy. What brings the two of you out to my humble Halloween attraction today?”

  “Oh, you know,” I said looking around. “There’s nothing like a corn dog and having your face painted.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “I say the same thing all the time.” His brow furrowed when he looked at me. “So, has Ethan made an arrest in Olivia’s murder yet?”

  “He’s working on it. You know how it is. Seems like no one wants to admit to committing murder.” I tried to say it like it was a joke, but it came out flat.

  His eyes widened slightly and then he smiled at me. “No, I guess it’s no fun committing murder if you’re going to tell people you did it and wind up in jail.”

  “Right?” Christy agreed. “Paying for a crime isn’t as much as committing one.”

  He chuckled. “I’m sure that’s true.”

  “So, Aaron, there’s a rumor going around that you and Olivia had some pretty wild fights,” Christy said casually.

  I looked at her, one eyebrow arched. Sometimes my sister was a lot bolder than she should be.

  “What?” he said looking at her pointedly. “Who would say something like that? Olivia and I got along just fine until we decided to go our separate ways. It was a mutual decision.”

  “I heard she had some bruising on her arm,” Christy said. “I heard you did it. Is it true?”

  I almost choked. Christy needed to keep her mouth shut. “Seriously Aaron,” I said. “Do you have any idea what might have happened to Olivia? I know you said she thought Bryce Jenkins was following her around, but he hadn’t dated her in a long time, and he doesn’t seem the stalker type. Do you have any other ideas as to who it might have been?”

  He looked at Christy. “I heard a funny thing the other day. I heard your ex-husband was hanging around her the day she died. What about that? He used to work over at Storage Inc, and it seems like he stands to gain a lot if there’s a job that suddenly opened up.”

  Christy went pale and stared at him, speechless. When she recovered, she narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You know, some people just apply for jobs, go on interviews, and then get hired. They don’t need to murder people to get a job.”

  He shrugged and grinned at her. “I heard he was with her at the Ghostly Grins Café the morning she died.”

  I glanced at Christy and she stared at him wide-eyed. “That isn’t true.”

  “Oh? Why do you say that?” He smiled. “How would you know?”

  “Because I was with him at the Ghostly Grins Café that morning. And believe me, Olivia was nowhere around.”

  I turned and stared at my sister. She had told Ethan she didn’t know anything about John being with Olivia, but she had failed to mention that she had been with him.

  “That isn’t what people are saying around here,” he said. “You wouldn’t be lying to cover for him, would you?”

  Christy’s face turned red. “I don’t need to lie for him. He was with me.” She gritted her teeth together, glaring at him.

  “I think we’re going to go get a corndog,” I said and took Christy’s hand, leading her away.

  “You do that,” Aaron said with a chuckle.

  We bought a corndog and then went back to my car. Once inside, I turned to her. “What’s going on, Christy?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked without looking at me.

  “What do you mean you were with John?” I said louder than I intended. “You were with us at the parade.” I suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  “We had breakfast together at the Ghostly Grins Café,” she said without looking at me. Pink crept into her cheeks as she took a bite of her corndog.

  I stared at her. “Why would you want to have breakfast with him after what he did to you? After he abandoned you and your marriage?” I was beginning to sound hysterical and I took a deep breath to calm down.

  She looked at me wide-eyed. “We didn’t plan it. We just ran into each other when I stopped in at the café to get something quick to eat. The place was packed, and he already had a table, so he offered me a seat and I took it.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to this. It seemed like Christy was embarrassed that she had to admit she was with John. But maybe she had wanted to be with him. And maybe that was what worried me.

  “What time were you there?” I asked her. Olivia had dark blond hair and Christy had medium brown. Rumors were flying that John had been with Olivia that morning. Had somebody mistaken Christy for Olivia? Christy was taller than Olivia by at least three inches, but if she was sitting down and if you weren’t looking closely, people might not have realized it was Christy and not Olivia.

  She shot me a look. “I don’t really remember. But we had breakfast, and as soon as I was done, I headed over to the parade lineup.”

  I stared at my sister. Christy wasn’t normally prone to not telling me the truth, but something didn’t feel right about this.

  I stared at her. “How long would you say you were at the café with John?”

  “I don’t know. Thirty minutes? Forty-five? A lot of people were lining up along the parade route and there weren’t very many people in the café by the time I left. It seemed like everyone got there ahead of us, so they were finished with breakfast before the parade started. It didn’t take long to get my food though. Why do you ask? What difference does it make?”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. You know there are rumors about John being with Olivia that morning.”

  “Well he wasn’t with her, he was with me. I told him I had to hurry, and I left him there to finish his breakfast. He said he would be somewhere along the parade route, and I did see him there. You did, too.”

  “Yeah, I saw him, too.”

  She sighed. “Why are you asking me these questions? You know John couldn’t have killed anyone. It isn’t in his nature to murder.” Her eyes went to me, frustration showing on her face. “He was standing on the sidewalk on the parade route, just like he said he would be.”

  “I just want to know what happened.”

  “And I just told you.”

  I didn’t feel good about all of this. I should have, because if Christy was with John, then he couldn’t have murdered Olivia. That’s what I told myself as I started the car.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I wasn’t sure what to make of Christy’s behavior. I had never known her not to tell me the truth, but everything felt all wrong about what was going on with her. Had she been with John that morning? Or was it Olivia, like Aaron said? Ethan had also heard John was with Olivia, so there had to be some truth to the rumor, but why then, had Christy said she was with him? I wasn’t sure, but I thought there was one person who would know the truth. I didn’t know if he would tell me that truth, but I was certainly going to find out if he would.

  John Green’s parents’ house sat on the edge of town. It was a large, old Craftsman home with a beautiful wraparound porch. It had been several years since I had been inside, but the woodwork detail was a wonderful example of craftsmanship from the prior century.

  I stood on the front porch and waited for someone to come to the door. John’s mother had two wooden rocking chairs on the porch and there was a cool fall breeze blowing. It made me want to sit and rock for a while.

  When John opened the door, his eyes went wide. “What are you doing here, Mia?”

  “That’s not very hospitable of you, John,” I said crossing my arms in front of my body. “Can’t your former sister-in-law drop by and say hello?”

  “Not when my former sister-in-law can’t stand me.” There was a smirk on his face, and he looked out at my car. I wondered if he expected Christy to be sitting in it. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  I shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know, I just thought I’d stop by and say hello.”

  “Well now, we both know that isn’t true. What
do you want?”

  “You’re being downright rude,” I said taking a step back. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, but didn’t invite me in. Instead, he walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind himself and went to lean on the porch railing. “I guess you can talk to me for a minute. What do you want?”

  I sighed and walked over to one of the rocking chairs and sat down uninvited. “What’s going on John? What have you been up to since you got back to Pumpkin Hollow?”

  He slowly walked over to the other rocking chair and sat down. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve been job hunting and not doing much more than that. What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about Olivia Summers.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Olivia Summers? What about her? Has Ethan found her killer?”

  “Rumor has it that you were seen with her at the Ghostly Grins Café the morning she died. Is it true?”

  He stared at me and then began slowly rocking back and forth. He looked out across the front yard for a moment. “Why? What difference does it make if I was with her the morning she died?”

  I was stunned by this. Was he really with her? And if so, why didn’t he admit that to Ethan, and why did Christy say he wasn’t with her?

  “So you were with her, then? Right before she died? Did she seem like she was worried about anything?”

  He turned back to me, a grin on his face now. “Who said I was with her? I didn’t say that. Why are you so interested in all of this? You seem to have gotten super nosy since I moved away from Pumpkin Hollow. I don’t recall you being this nosy before.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’ll tend to my nosiness thank you very much. I’m asking you a question. Were you with her right before she died? And if so, what happened? Did she mention anything she was concerned about?” I left out the part about wondering whether he was the one who had killed her. I saw his parents’ cars in the driveway, so I thought I was relatively safe here, but I suddenly wondered if I was in the presence of a killer.