A Yuletide Wallop Page 8

  “Hello!” Josie called from the front door. Buttercup let out a large bark and ran to the door to great her. She let herself in, since they left the door unlocked for her. “How are you guys today?” She asked walking into the kitchen, Buttercup on her heels.

  “Is it snowing again?” Cookie asked excitedly. Josie had snow covering her shoulders and dusting in her hair. She shook it off as she took off her coat.

  “It is, only a dusting right now though,” Josie shivered. “I heard it’s going to turn into a storm tonight though.” She sat down next to Verny and grabbed a second peeler to help peel the rest of the apples.

  “A nasty one,” Verny said nodding. She didn’t share Cookie’s enthusiasm for snow. She enjoyed the first few snowfalls of the year, but it got tiresome after a while. “I just wish it were rain,” she said hugging her arms around herself.

  “I don’t like rain,” Cookie said scrunching her nose in distaste. She was sifting all the dry ingredients together a second time to make sure they were incorporated correctly. “Make sure you get all the peel,” she said to Josie who shared a look with Verny.

  “I love the rain. Snow sticks around for too long, rain happens and then it stops. It doesn’t make everything else inconvenient and gross,” Verny finished peeling the last apple. Like clockwork, Cookie placed a cutting board in front of her and handed her a knife. “How small do you want them?” she asked.

  “Make them a bit chunkier, I want the pie to be rustic,” Cookie said. She had added the wet ingredients into the dry mixture slowly and was mixing it all together to make the dough. Pastry and dough were her favorite things to make. They took patience and exactitude that she enjoyed. She loved the physicality of kneading dough.

  “So what inspired your decision to visit Dotty?” Josie asked. They hadn’t filled her in all the way yet, figuring getting her to Cookie’s was the first step.

  “Well,” Cookie started, looking a little guilty.

  “You want to ask her about your theory?” Josie said with a sly grin.

  “I want to see if she knows anything that they didn’t ask her about at the station,” Cookie said with confirmation.

  “Gideon is thorough, he wouldn’t have missed anything,” Josie said a little defensively.

  “He might not have, but it won’t do any harm in double checking,” Cookie shrugged innocently. “She also might not have been totally honest with them, some people get freaked out by cops, you know?” She asked rhetorically. “Also she had just found out that her husband had died, so she might not have been able to answer everything accurately. She was in distress.”

  “What do you think, Verny?” Josie asked, making Cookie roll her eyes. She didn’t want to go alone, but she would if Josie and Verny wouldn’t.

  “I think we should bring her the pie and leave,” Verny said, eyeing Cookie. She looked like she felt guilty since she had dragged Cookie along with her to spy on Cici.

  “Thank you,” Cookie said sarcastically. “Gideon did ask us to look into it,” she reminded them.

  “That’s not really what he meant though,” Josie replied. “He only wanted us to let him know what people were saying around town. I don’t think he wants us to bother Dotty or start an investigation. In fact, I remember him saying specifically not to go looking for anything.” Cookie sighed.

  “You’re such a goodie two shoes, Josie,” Cookie complained. “You know that he won’t look into my mistaken identity theory. I just want to see if there’s any way I could be right. I just have a couple of things to ask Dotty.”

  “They might look into it,” Verny argued. “Maybe not Gideon, but Abel might. He listens to you.” Her mouth quirked into a smile as she said this. She had a feeling that Abel listened to Cookie a little bit too well. Cookie chose to ignore the implication.

  “They won’t look into it,” Josie said definitively.

  “I told you so,” Cookie said.

  “What makes you both so sure?” Verny asked. Cookie had finished the dough and placed it gently into the pie dish. She put it into the oven to blind bake it before adding the filling, which she still had to finish.

  “I know Gideon and he’s one to follow where the evidence takes him, not look for evidence to prove a theory,” Josie said.

  “What about when there isn’t any evidence?” Cookie countered.

  “They look for more,” Josie said with a shrug. “I guess, I mean, I don’t really know.”

  “As they said, they don’t have any evidence or leads,” Cookie replied. It wasn’t like she was planning on pestering Dotty and every person who came in contact with Al before he died. She only wanted to ask a few questions to see if it was possible that Al wasn’t the intended victim. “I just want to help.”

  “I know, but what if it doesn’t help?” Verny asked. “It’s not like we’re in an episode of Scooby Doo and we’re the meddling kids. If we meddle, we could really end up making a bigger mess of things.”

  “We won’t!” Cookie insisted.

  “Let’s just bring her the pie,” Josie said. “We can see how she is, and if Dotty seems like she is up for some questions, then we can ask her them. If not, then we can just give her the pie and leave.” Cookie grimaced.

  “Fine,” she agreed, crossing her arms in annoyance. “I should have just gone on my own.”

  “You wouldn’t have gone without us,” Verny said with an eye roll.

  “I would have,” Cookie argued indignantly.

  “No you wouldn’t,” Verny replied. “How much longer until the pie is done anyway? It’s got to be soon.” Cookie had the incredible ability to argue or talk while still getting everything done that she wanted to. She had made the mixture and covered the pie with the rest of the crust, even adding decorations while they were talking.

  “Maybe ten minutes left in the oven,” Cookie said peeking at the pie through the window in her oven. She didn’t want to open it and risk letting out the heat and ruining the pie. “Then we can go and bring Dotty the pie.”

  “HI, DOTTY. IT’S COOKIE, I brought you a pie,” Cookie said knocking on Dotty’s front door. Josie and Verny stood awkwardly behind her on either side. They wanted to bring her baked goods and see how she was doing, but as soon as they got there, they couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. They felt like they might be imposing on the poor woman, and unwelcome. It wasn’t like they knew her very well.

  “Oh, hello dears,” she said as she reached the door. Her eyes were red and puffy from both crying and not sleeping. “Come in,” Dotty smiled opening the door for the women.

  “We’re sorry to intrude,” Josie said apologetically.

  “It’s no intrusion,” Dotty insisted. “I am enjoying the company I’ve been getting. Things have felt too quiet around here without...” she paused, not finishing her sentence. She didn’t need to.

  “Then we are happy to give you some company,” Verny said with a nod.

  “You said something about pie?” Dotty asked.

  “Apple,” Cookie said. “I made it just a bit ago, it’s still warm. Nothing better than warm apple pie.” She said with a smile, feeling her own stomach groan with hunger. Though she didn’t expect Dotty to share it.

  “No, I don’t suppose there is anything better,” Dotty replied. “We can go to the kitchen, I might be able to scrounge up some vanilla ice cream for the pie.”

  “That sounds delicious,” Cookie said enthusiastically.

  “You are sure we're not imposing on you?” Josie asked, she didn’t want to bother her. She also was trying to avoid Cookie’s questioning of the woman. Personally, she thought that they should leave the detecting up to the real detectives.

  “Not at all,” Dotty insisted. She took Josie’s hands and patted them, ensuring her that they were not imposing on her in the least. “You own that sweet little sandwich shop, don’t you?”

  “I do, it’s called The Lucky Dill Deli,” Josie said. She and Verny sat at the kitchen table while Dotty grabbed the ice cre
am. Cookie stood helping Dotty get the plates out, as well as a knife to cut the pie and a spatula. When they gathered everything, they joined the others at the table.

  “Oh, that’s a clever name,” Dotty said complimenting her. Josie smiled with pride, she had put a lot of thought into the name of her deli. “Cookie, this is delicious,” she said savoring the bite of pie she had taken.

  “Thank you,” Cookie said. There was still an air of discomfort in the room, their conversation was stiff and didn’t flow naturally. Cookie was reminded of visiting her grandmother when she was younger. She was a stiff and cold woman, that showed very little affection. Those visits seemed like this one.

  “Verny, your daughter is Cici, right?” She asked. It seemed like she knew the bullet point version of who each of the women were.

  “Yes, she is,” Verny said, having her own moment of pride. Dotty was trying to connect with them at least. She always had a difficult time connecting with people.

  “She’s such a sweet girl,” Dotty gushed. “She volunteers at the hospital, on Tuesdays, is that right?” She asked.

  “She has for the past few years,” Verny said surprised. “Are you in the hospital often then?” She asked, curious as to how she knew that.

  “I have some... health issues,” she said privately. “I tend to go into the hospital every week or so for treatments.”

  “I’m sorry,” Verny replied. “I shouldn’t have pried.”

  “It’s no problem, don’t worry yourself about it,” Dotty said with a wave of her hand. “Thank you for bringing the pie.” Cookie nodded her welcome, her mouth full of a big bite of pie.

  “We’re so sorry for your loss,” Josie said. Cookie flashed her a look, clearly Josie had decided that they were going to drop off the pie and then leave. “I can’t imagine what you're going through.” Josie could imagine it, but she remembered when her father passed away and people told her that they understood. It never once helped or made her feel better, it made her angry and annoyed if anything.

  “Thank you, it’s been hard not having him here,” she said, her eyes becoming glassy. “I still can't believe he's gone.”

  “It will probably take a while to adjust,” Verny said practically. Verny wasn't the most comforting and she often felt awkward in these situations.

  “I don’t think I want to adjust,” Dotty replied with a smile. “I can’t believe someone killed him. The detectives thought it might have something to do with his past – I’m sure you all know, the gambling and drinking.” She whispered the last part as if it were something that she didn’t want overheard. “I mean, I know the whole town knows.”

  “We did hear a little bit about it,” Josie admitted.

  “I’m sure it was from that Ed...he never forgave my Al,” Dotty said sadly. The three women felt weird hearing Lightning's real name. “I just know that this can’t have anything to do with all that horribleness. It’s in the past!”

  “I’m sure he moved on from all that,” Cookie assured her. “We all knew Al and he was the sweetest man.”

  “The best Santa our town ever had, that’s for sure,” Verny said with a smile. This had the opposite effect on Dotty than was intended. She burst into tears, catching all of them off guard. Josie sprang into action first and pulled the woman into a hug.

  “I’m sorry,” Dotty said sniffing. “I just, I don’t think he’d be... gone... if he hadn’t gone into work.” She was still crying into Josie’s arms, but after a moment she leaned back exiting the embrace. Verny looked terrified by the outburst of emotion, she had no idea what to do, so she did nothing and just sat there.

  “What do you mean?” Cookie asked. She tried not to sound excited, it wasn’t the appropriate emotion for the situation. This was the exact information she had wanted to get in the first place. She figured if there was a way of proving that Al wasn’t the intended victim, the best thing to do was find out if he was supposed to be there in the first place.

  “He took an extra shift,” Dotty explained. Verny looked at Cookie with shock, this was already enough confirmation for them that her theory might be viable. “Al was saving up for my Christmas present, a blanket from Margie,” Josie’s ears went red at the mention. It was clear that what she had seen was probably because of his wife’s Christmas gift and not an affair. “He’s mostly retired, we both are, but he is always Santa every Christmas season to beef up our savings a little bit. He was only meant to do the afternoon shifts, one of those out of towner Santa’s was supposed to be there opening morning.”

  “So, he covered for a different Santa that morning?” Cookie asked.

  “The man practically begged him to, he couldn’t say no,” Dotty said shaking her head. “He switched with him. The man was supposed to take his shift that day in exchange. I think it’s the same Santa that disappeared after...” She stopped talking then, choking back more tears.

  “We’re so sorry,” Josie reiterated. She pulled Dotty into another hug. Over her shoulder she gave Cookie a meaningful look. They stayed an appropriate amount of time after that, not too long as to overstay their welcome, but it would have been equally rude to have left right away.

  “I knew there was something fishy about that missing Santa,” Cookie said walking away from Dotty's house. “I’ll bet you anything this other Santa was the intended target.”

  “Let’s go find out,” Verny said, and a new interest in meddling had been sparked. As it always was with Cookie and Verny, they were equally good and bad influences on one another. The women nodded and headed towards the town center.

  Chapter Ten

  “So he wasn’t just an out of towner, then?” Cookie asked Jim, the director of Santa’s Village. If anyone knew anything about the other Santa, it would be him. He had hired them all himself.

  “Well, I didn’t say that,” he clarified. Jim had always been a nervous sort of man, too wound up for his own good. He was very good at his job but was constantly in a state of worry. He hadn’t wanted to talk to Cookie or the other women as they made him nervous. Jim didn’t know how they did it, but here he was, answering their questions. “Dan is definitely an out of towner. He never spent more time here than a couple winters.”

  “But he wasn’t a new Santa?” Cookie asked, frustrated. Jim took everything too literally, she’d had to ask him the same questions in different ways more than once already.

  “No, I hired him a couple years back the first time,” Jim looked uncomfortable. “I feel like I shouldn’t be telling you all this. Maybe I should just go to Gideon if you think I could be of any help.” He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries with his employees, but he also didn’t want to offend or upset Cookie, Verny or Josie.

  “We can tell them what you tell us, that would save you the trip to the station,” Verny said with a shrug. It was clear that he was going to have to tell them what they wanted to know. Jim had more than one unpleasant memory with Cookie and Verny, he knew exactly how persuasive they could be when they wanted to be.

  “Okay, fine,” He sighed. “Dan came through here a couple years ago looking for work. He wanted something permanent, but I couldn’t give him that, obviously. He seemed like a good guy, hard-working, passed the drug test and the background test. I planned on making him an elf, but he made such a good Santa that I gave him the job.”

  “What do you mean ‘seemed’?” Josie asked, catching the word choice.

  “I don’t really mean anything by it,” Jim shrugged. “He’s always been reliable, shows up early for his shifts, helps where help is needed. He even helped build some sets for some extra cash this year.” He paused, looking back and forth between the women, weighing his options. “But then he started to be a bit unreliable. He came in late for rehearsals and for set building. There was more than one occasion where he didn’t show up at all, without a call or anything. I mean you already know that he’s been gone ever since Al, well you know.”

  “So he’s been acting weird all season?” Cookie asked.
She had perched herself on his desk, while Verny and Josie sat in the chairs opposite to his desk.

  “Just for the last couple weeks really,” Jim said, and then something clicked for him. “He’s been acting weird ever since I hired this woman that he recommended. Yeah, now that I think about it, once I hired Crystal he stopped showing up or came in late.”

  “Who is Crystal?” Verny said, making a face at the woman’s name. She hated names like that, her name might be old fashioned, but at least it was sturdy. You couldn’t become much with a name like Crystal at least according to Laverne or Verny.

  “She’s an elf we hired a bit ago. Actually, she’s the one who found Al come to think about it. Scared her half to death...the poor thing resigned immediately after that. It must have been traumatic to find him like that,” Jim started to get distracted, going down another train of thought.

  “So she disappeared after the murder, just like Dan did?” Cookie asked, but it was less of a question and more a statement. She was thinking to herself out loud at this point.

  “Well, I think they were together or something,” Jim admitted. “I’m not sure, they never said anything, and they didn’t act like they were dating.”

  “So why do you think they were dating, then?” Verny asked him like he was an idiot.

  “He did recommend her for the job,” Jim said as if that was obvious and definitive proof of a romantic relationship.

  “Not everyone who recommends someone of the opposite sex for a job is dating that person. Maybe they were siblings?” Josie suggested. Jim snorted and shook his head no.

  “They were not siblings, that much I can promise you,” He was still shaking his head at Josie. “They either were together or had been together or were going to be together.”

  “Where were they staying?” Cookie asked with a sweet smile. It was a long shot that Jim would tell them and an even longer shot that they might still be there, but she thought that it was worth the try.