Miss Frost Chills the Cheater

by Painter, Kristen

  I was happy. I was in love with a great guy, full of sugar, and we were finally making progress in the Mysterious Case of the Double Robot Chickens. Life was good.

  “You think the cats missed us?” Sin asked.

  I laughed. “Only if their food bowls are empty.”

  “Let’s check.” Sin unlocked his door.

  Spider and Sugar were sitting there, waiting on us.

  Sugar got to her feet. “Food food food.”

  Sin grimaced. “That is really going to take some getting used to. I had no idea she had such a one-track mind.”

  Spider stood up and stretched. “Mama, Spider hungry.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not just her.”

  “Hey.” Sin stopped short. “He’s not wearing a collar yet, and I understood that. He really does talk.”

  I grinned. “Told you. Maybe Sugar talking made him feel more comfortable.”

  “Mama,” Spider said. “Hungry.”

  “And bossier.” I scooped him up. “I’m sure you are, baby. We’re going to feed you.” I glanced at Sin. “I should just take him back to my place. No sense in feeding him twice, which is what will happen if he eats here.”

  “Okay. See you in the morning?”

  “Yep.” I leaned up to kiss Sin, and he met me halfway, his hands on my shoulders.

  “Love you, Jayne,” he whispered as we parted.

  “Love you, Sinclair.” I smiled at him as I hugged Spider a little closer.

  “Spider loves Chicken Party.”

  We burst out laughing.

  Life was more than good. Life was incredible.

  And I was absolutely ready to say yes.

  The next morning went exactly as planned. After a quick breakfast, I dropped Sin at the Post and went to the factory to see Mamie. She was at her desk in a twin set and matching skirt of soft blue, her strand of crystal snug at her throat. A mother-of-pearl barrette held her hair back on one side.

  I’d gone more casual in jeans, a dressy tee and my leather jacket. “Morning, Mamie. You look pretty today.”

  “Good morning, Princess. Thank you. How are you?”

  “In desperate need of information.”

  Mamie smiled. “You’ve come to the right place.”

  “That’s what I’ve heard.” I sat on the edge of her desk. “Is there a record kept of who’s used their badge to access the tinkers’ floor and when?”

  She shook her head. “No, sorry.”

  So much for that. “Where’s the constable on all this business with the Tinkers’ Tourney?”

  “I don’t think she’s anywhere. She’s basically stood down after the incident with your uncle.”

  “I see. Well, I need her to stand up, then. I need a background check on someone and I also want them placed under surveillance.”

  Mamie nodded. “Then the constable’s your woman. That is her job, after all.”

  “Good. Do you think I should go see Constable Larsen in person, or can I just send her a message?”

  “A personal visit is always nice, but I’m sure you have a lot to do. Actually, I could call her in. The station is only a block away. I’m sure she’d be happy to come over here.”

  “That would be perfect. It’ll give me time to see Uncle Kris. I assume he’s in?”

  “He is. What else can I do for you?”

  “I’d love any info you can give me on tinker Dora Frigit. That’s the woman I want surveilled. I want to know her history, who she’s friends with, who her family is, all that stuff. Can you help me with that?”

  Mamie sat up straighter, going into work mode. “She’s the other tinker in the tourney, isn’t she? The Glitterskins creator?”

  “Yes, that’s her. That’s who I believe is behind some of this. Maybe all.”

  “I’ll pull her file and have it for you in a few minutes, although I’m not sure how much it’s going to tell you about her personal life.” Mamie reached for the intercom. “You want to see your uncle now?”

  “Yes, please.”

  She pressed the button. “Boss, your niece is here to see you.”

  “Send her in!”

  Mamie gave me the nod.

  My uncle was at his desk, reading a copy of the Pole Post. He set it down as I walked through the doors. “Good article here. Excellent explanation of what happened. Your father told me about the approval for more security too.”

  I took a seat. “Glad to hear it. The editor told me yesterday he’d be printing it today. I’ll read it when I get back. Sinclair is at the Post right now being interviewed.”

  “Outstanding. That should help people get to know him.”

  “That’s what we were thinking.” I sat back. “Can I ask you about someone? One of the tinkers?”

  “Of course, Jaynie. Who is it?”

  “Dora Frigit. What do you know about her?”

  He leaned back and steepled his fingers over his chest. “She’s a good worker. Not one of the most exceptional tinkers, but very solid. Her late husband was a tinker, too, and they shared a workshop on the lab floor. I’ve given her some leeway since he passed because she never really seemed to recover from his death.”

  “That’s sad.”

  He nodded. “I’m starting to think that’s changed with her qualifying entry into the tourney. I just hope she doesn’t take this nonsense as another setback.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be the case. Mostly because I think she’s behind some of this nonsense. Maybe all of it.”

  He pushed his glasses up onto his forehead and came forward in his chair to plant his elbows on the desk. “You have any proof of that?”

  “Some.” I told him about the notes and the handwriting and the chicken sent to Lyla Kinder.

  Uncle Kris pulled out a snow-white hanky and mopped his face. “If that’s true, then she’s disqualified. Son of a nutcracker, she’s more than disqualified. She’s fired. Permanently on the naughty list. Exiled, even. We can’t have that kind of underhanded business here.”

  “I’m getting Constable Larsen on it. Having Frigit surveilled. See if anything more concrete can be drummed up.”

  He nodded. “Good. You keep me posted. I want to know everything that’s found.”

  I stood. “You got it.”

  He winked at me. “Good work, Jaynie. I knew you’d figure this nonsense out.”

  “Nothing’s figured out yet, but progress is being made.”

  His smile grew. “That’s my girl.”

  The constable seemed happy to be needed and eager to get the surveillance underway. I hoped that including her in the investigation also helped smooth things over even more than my uncle’s apology and box of fudge had. My guess was there’d never actually been a need for a stakeout in the NP before, so this was a pretty big deal for her.

  That worked out for me, because I knew she’d be all over it, eager to do the best possible job she could, which was exactly what I needed. I might have also hinted that there was an invite to the wedding in it for her.

  Yes, I realize that technically Sin and I weren’t even officially engaged, but I needed as much help as Constable Larsen could give. She probably would have been invited anyway. At least she’d have gotten a second-tier invite.

  Once she left, Mamie opened her top desk drawer and pulled out a dark manila file folder about an inch thick. She laid it on the desk with a soft thud. “Frigit’s file. It’s as thick as it is because there’s a good bit of crossover between her and her late husband. A lot of their projects were joint efforts. Can’t have one without the other.”

  “Got it.” I almost reached for it, then realized she might not let it leave the office. “Can I take that with me?”

  “You can, so long as you promise on your crown not to lose or distribute any of the information contained within. This is Frigit’s private personnel file. It’s not exactly top secret, but it’s not for willy-nilly sharing either. Usually, your uncle is the only one with access. Get my drift?”
>
  “I do. Thank you for trusting me with this.”

  She smiled. “I want this tourney business solved as much as any of you. It’s making Kris very unhappy.” Her smile went away. “You realize how his being in an off mood could affect Christmas? I was hoping to spend New Year’s in Florida with my sister. That won’t happen if things melt up here. I’ll be stuck doing damage control.”

  “Right. We can’t have this affect Christmas. I promise that I understand the need to get this all squared away as soon as possible.” I reached for the file.

  “I know you do.” Her smile returned as her hands flattened on the paperwork. “Now swear on your crown.”

  “I swear on my crown that I’ll keep that file safe and not share it with anyone except for Sinclair.”

  She gave me a look.

  “What? He’s helping me and as much a part of this as any of us. That’s not willy-nilly sharing.”

  “He doesn’t have clearance.”

  “Technically, with the badge Uncle Kris gave him, he does.”

  Her eyes narrowed, then her hands came off the file. “I’ll allow it.”

  “Thanks.” I grabbed the file and stuck it under my arm. I should have brought a bag or something to hide it in. “Um…”

  “There are some shopping bags in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet against the wall. Take one and put the file in it. Wouldn’t do for folks to see you walking out of here with something that restricted.”

  Was there any wonder why she was so good at her job? “Good point, thanks. Guess I should head over to the Post and see how Sin’s interview is going.”

  Mamie’s gaze went icy. “Is that with August?”

  “Yes. He really seems like a nice man. He had nothing to do with those nasty articles.” I gave her the quick rundown of what had happened and August’s explanation.

  Her expression got a lot less frosty. “Well. That’s nice to hear.”

  Shopping bag in hand, I leaned against the filing cabinet. “Why did you two divorce?”

  The look she shot me said I was being a little impertinent. I didn’t care. I was curious. She pursed her lips, then finally spoke. “We were too young to know what we wanted. The marriage didn’t survive us figuring that out.”

  “You called him an old fool. He seems like an all right guy to me.”

  She stared at her desk for a moment. “He is. I guess you might say I never really got over him.” She looked up, her smile almost believable. “Everyone has a love that got away.”

  I nodded, thinking about Cooper. “That’s for sure. But you move past that. Or the relationship changes.” Cooper’s and mine sure had. We were good friends now. Maybe better than we’d ever been as a couple. And if I’d stayed with him, I’d never have met the man I was supposed to be with. Sinclair.

  “I suppose,” Mamie said. “But not everyone moves on.” She frowned. “That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.”

  I slipped the file into the bag and walked back to her desk. “You still have a thing for him, don’t you?”

  She adjusted her glasses and gave me a stern look. “Speaking of love, don’t you have a fiancé waiting on you?”

  “Snowballs, yes.” I slung the shopping bag straps over my shoulder and ran for the elevator. “See you later.”

  I found Sin in August’s office. His secretary let me in without a hint of attitude this time. That was nice.

  I peeked in. “I don’t mean to interrupt.”

  August and Sin both stood. August smiled broadly. “No interruption. We’ve pretty much finished up.”

  I looked at Sin. He seemed happy. “How did it go?”

  “Very well, I think.” He turned to August. “Did you get everything you need?”

  “I believe I did.” He tapped the tape recorder on his desk. “I’ll refer to the tape if I can’t remember something, but it was a good interview. I’m excited to print it and get the truth out there.”

  “I can’t wait to read it.” I was also excited to dig into the file Mamie had given me, but I wasn’t going to rush Sin out of here. “You got pictures as well?”

  “We did,” Sin said. “On the roof with the factory behind me and then some with the palace in the background.”

  “Excellent. August, are you good on security now?”

  “Yes. And thank you so much for speaking to your father about that. Oddly enough, there were no attempts last night. Hopefully, whoever was adding those terrible articles decided to quit before they got caught.”

  I shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind if they got caught.”

  “Nor would I, Princess, but at least it seems to be behind us now.”

  “For that I’m glad. Thanks again for interviewing Sinclair.”

  He nodded. “It was my pleasure. I’m glad I had the opportunity to get to know Mr. Crowe better. I think the citizens of the North Pole will feel the same.”

  Sin stuck his hand out to August. “Thank you for your time. Look forward to seeing tomorrow’s paper.”

  “I’ll be sure to send a few extra copies to the palace.”

  We turned to go, then a thought popped into my head. An impulse, really. I looked back at August. “Are you married, Mr. Woolsey?”

  He seemed a little surprised by my question. “No, Princess.”

  “Neither is Mamie Wynters. At least currently. With Mamie, you just never know when that status might change.”

  He swallowed. “Oh? That’s a curious thing to mention, I have to say.”

  I lifted one shoulder coyly. “Just putting that out there. In case either of you has grown up enough to take another crack at things. Have a good day.”

  I left before August could say anything else. I figured he was a journalist. If he wanted to know more, he could do some digging and ask some questions. That was kind of his job, after all.

  Sin held it together until we were outside. “Okay, what was that all about? They’ve already gotten divorced. What makes you think they’d want to start something up again?”

  “Just a little convo I had with Mamie in the office.”

  “You can’t leave anything alone, can you?” He snorted, eyes bright with amusement.

  I grabbed his hand. “Maybe being in love makes me think everyone should be in love.”

  He laughed, tugging me closer. “Even Francis?”

  “Jury’s out on that one.”

  We got into the crawler with Sin behind the wheel. He got us moving toward the palace.

  He glanced at the time on the crawler’s dash. “When did your dad want us to go tour that new peppermint plant?”

  “Whenever we got back, but we have some other work to do first.” I grabbed the shopping bag from the rear seat. “Mamie gave me Dora Frigit’s personnel file. We need to go through it and look for anything that might tell us why she tried to sour the tourney.”

  “You going to tell your dad about that?”

  “Yes. Because going to the peppermint plant would still be fun. We just need to do this first.”

  “Good with me.” He pulled through the palace gates and took us straight to the south entrance.

  From there, we went to my dad’s office to fill him in on the work we needed to do. When we went in, Ezreal was at his desk.

  He smiled at us. “Morning. I hear you had an interview at the Post, Mr. Crowe. How was it?”

  “Really good, thank you.”

  “Excellent. They owe you.” He turned his gaze to me. “Would you like to see your father?”

  “I would. Is he busy?”

  “Just finishing up with the Minister of Finance. Shouldn’t be too much longer. Would you like something while you wait? Hot chocolate? Eggnog? Cider?”

  “Cider,” I piped up.

  “Cider?” Sin looked at me. “I think that actually qualifies as a fruit. I’m so proud of you.”

  Ezreal snorted and went to the wet bar. “Shall I make that two?”

  “Sure,” Sin said. “Why not?”

  We took seats in
the waiting area next to Ezreal’s desk, and he brought us the cider. “How’s the investigation going? Anything new?”

  “We might have a lead suspect.” I tapped the shopping bag that was now on my lap.

  “Excellent news. Progress is good.” He went back to his desk. “If there’s anything I can do, just say the word.”

  “I will.” I sipped the cider. “The meeting with the Kinders last night is what started us on this new path. So really, you’ve already helped.”

  “This is good.” Sin lifted the glass of cider. “Everything here is good. I still can’t believe you don’t have doughnuts.”

  “Isn’t that odd?” Ezreal shook his head. “You’d think we would.”

  The door to my father’s office opened, and the Minister of Finance came out, a woman named Rowena Silver. She’d been at the formal dinner, but seated closer to my uncle. “I’ll be sure to get that proposed budget to you in the next few days, Your Highness.”

  “Very good.” My father walked out behind her. “Jayne. I thought I heard your voice.”

  “Hi, Dad.”

  Minister Silver bowed as she left. “Princess Frost, Mr. Crowe.”

  I nodded back. “Minister.”

  As the door shut behind her, my father went to the wet bar and fixed himself some coffee. “You two ready to tour the peppermint plant?”

  I pulled the Frigit file out of the shopping bag. “Not quite yet. We think we have a lead in the tourney situation.”

  My father turned, cup in hand. “Is that so? Can I help?”

  I hefted the file. “If you want. There’s a lot to go through.”

  He pointed at Ezreal. “Cancel anything I have coming up for the next hour.” As Ezreal nodded, my father turned toward a different door than the one going into his office. “Let’s head to the conference room, divide it up and dig in. My future son-in-law needs his name cleared.”

  But forty-five minutes in and we’d gotten nowhere.

  Sin stared down at the stack of paperwork before him. “I hope it’s not impolite of me to say this, but Dora Frigit has led a pretty boring life.”

  “Not impolite,” my father said. “Because it’s true. Even when her husband was alive, they didn’t do much of note. I’m surprised she made it into the tourney.”