Deadly Holiday (Georgia Rae Winston Mysteries Book 2) Read online

  “Do you know when she’ll be back?” I shoved my hands in my coat pockets. “She’s a friend of mine.”

  If singing together in the Christmas choir qualifies one as a friend…

  “I’ll tell you like I told that detective who came around a bit ago asking about her and her boyfriend that got killed. I talked to her Thursday morning. I was outside deep fryin’ my turkey when she left around ten thirty or so. She rolled down her window and wished me and my wife a happy Thanksgiving. Didn’t say where she was going, and I didn’t think much about it. Figured she was off to a family gathering.”

  “Right. Did you see any lights on in her house on Thursday night?”

  “Yep. Our daughter left for home around eleven—we was having a blast playing charades. Olivia’s had her Christmas tree up since the day after Halloween, and she always had it glowing as soon as the sun went down. No different on Thursday night.”

  “And last night?”

  “Dunno. Thursday was the last day I seen her.”

  “Was she planning a trip?”

  “Ain’t likely. Usually when she goes outta town, she asks my wife and me to keep an eye on her house. She does the same for us—getting our newspaper and all.”

  “Maybe she asked another neighbor.”

  “Could’ve. ’Cept we’ve always been Olivia’s go-to people. Besides, the house to the north is empty—has been for months. Sure wish it’d sell to a family that’ll take care of it.”

  “Pete? Who are you talking to out there? Is Olivia home?” The front door opened, and a pudgy woman, wearing a sweatshirt with a Christmas tree, emerged and looked me up and down. “You’re that farmer-detective.”

  The edge of my mouth twitched. Never heard that one before. “Something like that.” I dragged my thoughts back to Zach and Olivia and prayed my laughter, which was threatening to burst out, would stay put.

  “Well, I’m glad I caught you, so you can get the real truth from me. That one”—she hitched a thumb toward her husband—“has rose-colored glasses where Olivia’s concerned.” She tugged on her sweatshirt’s waistband as if she were self-conscious about her round tummy.

  In spite of my tendency to babble in awkward situations, I’d begun figuring out that this whole detective thing generally worked a lot better when I kept my trap shut and listened. “Really?”

  “Oh, yes, really.” She snarled.

  “Now Winnie, I’ve told you a million times, I think of Olivia like a daughter.” Pete dropped a wad of lights back in the box.

  “That massage she was giving you last week says otherwise,” Winnie spat.

  “My neck was stiff.” Pete sounded bored, as if this argument were a rehash for my benefit. He looked at me. “She’s a massage therapist. Just helping me out and trying to drum up some business.”

  “Where does she work?” Olivia and I had mostly discussed music, TV, and shopping during practice.

  “At that fancy salon and spa over in Richardville. Inspire.” Winnie shrugged. “We both can’t afford to go there.”

  “Now, Winnie, I told you to schedule a spa day for your birthday.” Pete tugged on his sock cap. “Olivia offered to give us a discount on a couple’s massage.”

  Winnie glared at her husband. “Then why’d you go for a one-on-one appointment? Don’t think I didn’t see that credit card charge from Tuesday. You act like we got money to burn.” She wagged her pointer finger at him.

  Was there a graceful way to extricate myself from this situation? Probably not. “I need to—”

  “Now hold on there,” Winnie said. “How’s come you don’t know where she works? I thought you was her friend?” Winnie put her hands on her ample hips.

  “I’ve only recently been getting to know her during church Christmas program practices at Wildcat Springs Community.”

  “Hmph. We’re planning to go to that show. Do every year. Guess it’s good Olivia was involved, but I ain’t sure how Christian she and that young pastor were.”

  “Why?” I tightened my scarf as a gust of wind blew across the yard.

  “Last weekend, he spent the night at her place.” Winnie jutted out her chin.

  “Interesting.” That was very likely what Pastor Mark had been yelling at Zach about. But he’d said there was an explanation and had seemed eager to defend himself. “Did you tell anyone?”

  “Sure did—at least as soon as I heard Olivia’s boyfriend was the youth pastor. I called Mark Williams and let him know. There’s no call for a man of the cloth to be sleeping around. Besides, my granddaughter’s in the youth group. I expect the pastor to set a good example.”

  Pete pressed his lips together, shook his head, and busied himself with the box of Christmas decorations. Was his disgust over Zach’s behavior or his wife’s?

  Even though I’d most likely stumbled upon the reason Pastor Mark and Zach had been arguing, right then and there, I decided to adopt Brandi’s gossip policy. I wouldn’t believe the worst until I knew differently. Zach’s legacy and reputation deserved the benefit of the doubt, so it was time to change the subject. “Pete said he hasn’t seen Olivia since Thursday morning. How about you?”

  “I stepped out to get the newspaper and saw her car pulling out of her driveway around six-thirty yesterday morning. I didn’t have a clue anything was wrong until her daddy came looking for her last night around six after she didn’t show up to eat with him.”

  “Any idea where she was going?”

  “No idea. Never seen her out that early before.” She tugged on her sweatshirt. “Whatever was going on, it don’t look good with her boyfriend dying like that.”

  No, it definitely didn’t.

  Chapter Five

  I knocked on the doorframe of Pastor Mark’s office. “Do you have a minute?”

  After talking to Winnie and Pete, I’d decided it was time to ask Pastor Mark a few questions, so I’d taken a chance and driven out to the church. Other than a couple setting up the café for tomorrow, the building was quiet.

  He removed his reading glasses and set them on top of his Bible, which lay open on his desk next to his laptop. An assortment of frames displayed pictures of his wife, kids, and grandkids. “Come in and have a seat. I’m putting the finishing touches on tomorrow’s sermon.” He folded his freckly hands. “What’s on your mind?”

  I settled in the chair in front of his desk. “Monday night after choir practice, I was looking for my lost Bible when I overheard you and Zach arguing.”

  “I see.” He blinked, but his pastor-in-listening-mode expression didn’t change.

  I twisted a strand of hair around my finger. “I wanted you to know that even though I don’t think you’d ever kill Zach—or anyone—I had to tell Detective Kimball what I’d heard because I thought whatever Zach had done might’ve had to do with his murder and—”

  “Georgia, I understand. I told the detectives about it myself, so don’t feel bad.” He leaned back and crossed his arms.

  “Okay.” I bit my lip as I toyed with whether or not I should share the information Winnie had given me. Might as well go for it. “Did Zach ever explain to you why he’d spent the night at Olivia’s? During your argument, I got the impression it wasn’t for the, um, usual reason.”

  Pastor Mark set his jaw. “Georgia, you did some great work on the Fullerton murder case, and I’m sure the sheriff’s department is thankful for your assistance. But there are some matters that don’t concern you.”

  “Why? I found Zach, so it does concern me.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but some issues should be handled quietly to avoid the spread of gossip.”

  “And some issues balloon out of control when there’s a lack of transparency.”

  “I won’t be discussing this matter any further.”

  “What if I can help?” I crossed my arms and shoved away the memory of Cal telling me he could handle the investigation.

  Pastor Mark sighed. “I’ve been your pastor for years, so I hope yo
u trust me. It’s not necessary for you to involve yourself in this situation—because it’s clearly dangerous. I got to know your daddy pretty well before he died, and I’m certain he’d agree that you need to stay out of this.” He held my gaze.

  I stifled a groan. He’d played the daddy card. That sure was a hard one to beat.

  Once I was home from talking to Pastor Mark, I went into my dining room and faced the chalk wall that I’d painted and bordered with reclaimed wood. Ashley, who was a fantastic artist, had sketched Gus in the corner, which still left me plenty of room to work.

  I took a piece of yellow chalk from the basket sitting on the sideboard and began by writing Poison? and circling it. Then, I created a web with Zach’s symptoms. Vomiting. Flushed skin. Thirst. Confusion. Racing heartbeat. Using my laptop, I did a search with those symptoms along with the word poison, but the list of possibilities overwhelmed me.

  On to suspects. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, the church staff would’ve had easy access to Zach’s travel mug that morning. I wrote Mona Pletcher, Doug Brockwell, Ruby Daniels, and Mark Williams on the board. I added Olivia Scott because it was possible she’d seen Zach that morning before he came to work, since Winnie Litchfield had seen her leave her house around six-thirty.

  The fact that she’d disappeared made her seem the guiltiest.

  I made a timeline that started with Zach and Olivia’s volunteer work with Carsyn Daniels on Thursday. I put the approximate time I’d found Zach on Friday and added the word anchor. I wrote Carsyn’s name and drew a squiggly line around it because I still wanted to talk to her.

  After staring at the board for a few minutes, I decided to get my mind off of Olivia and Zach, so I tackled my outdoor decorations, which included setting up a small herd of five lighted deer in the front yard and stringing lights on the evergreen. I wound lights around my porch’s brick support columns and a hung wreath on the door.

  By the time I finished, I needed to get ready for my date with Cal. Since we were going to look at Christmas lights at Sycamore Park in Wildcat Springs before dinner, I chose a warm blue sweater with silver threads, jeans, and boots.

  I’d just secured Gus in his crate in the laundry room when the doorbell rang. He let out an angry bark and rattled around.

  “It’s okay, boy. It’s Cal. We like him, remember?”

  Gus whimpered as I grabbed my coat and purse, but when I opened the door, my mouth dropped. “Ruby?” Today, she’d backed off on her overzealous blush application, but her eyeshadow was of the raccoon variety.

  “Oh, Georgia, I simply had to talk to you. I’ve been out at my sister’s house, and since I was driving by, I didn’t figure you’d mind if I stopped.” She clasped her gloved hands.

  I mind. I mind very much. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with the Christmas program?” I stepped aside, let her into the foyer, and closed the door.

  I blocked the hall that led to my dining room because there was no way I could let Ruby catch a glimpse of the chalk wall—complete with her and her daughter’s names.

  “No, no,” she said. “I haven’t been able to get Zach off my mind. He was such a nice young man. I was starting to think of him like the son I never had and wanted to fix him up with my daughter Carsyn.” She withdrew a tissue from her purse and dabbed a tear. “Now that’ll never happen.” Ruby sniffed. “I was hoping Zach might be a good match since they both liked volunteering at Solid Rock Mission.”

  I tried to mask my excitement at being handed this opening. “That’s understandable. Did Carsyn happen to volunteer on Thanksgiving Day? Because I heard Zach was there too.” I gave myself an A+ for how casual my question sounded.

  “Oh, yes—since our family Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Carsyn was terribly shaken up when she found out about Zach’s death. He might’ve been her soulmate, and now she’ll never find the one. I’ll never have grandbabies from her.” She buried her face in her hands and wailed.

  Merciful heavens. I rested my hand on her shoulder. “The Lord must have someone else in mind for Carsyn. She could meet someone at work.”

  I should’ve been ashamed of my fishing attempt—but wasn’t.

  “She’s a nail tech at Inspire. Not exactly the best place to meet men.” Ruby flattened her lips.

  “True.” The same place Olivia worked. I sensed a manicure in my near future. I patted Ruby’s shoulder. “What’d you want to tell me?”

  She raised her head and fastened her gaze on my outfit. “You look nice. I’ll bet you have a date.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “With the handsome detective I heard you’ve been seeing?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Is he coming here to pick you up?”

  “Any minute.”

  Her eyes brightened. “Then I’ll wait and tell both of you my suspicions.”

  “What suspicions?”

  “About who killed Zach. After Detective Kimball talked to me yesterday, I got to thinking, and I came up with a theory. I wanted to run it by you first, so you could tell me if I need to talk to the detectives or if I have an overactive imagination. That Detective Kimball is so serious, he might think I’m a featherbrained old woman. I’d feel much more comfortable talking to Detective Perkins.”

  “If you have information that’s pertinent to the case, Cal will want to hear it.” She needed me to tell her that? Why would I even consider taking Pastor Mark’s advice and staying out of this case when I kept getting sucked in?

  The door opened. “What’ll I want to hear?” Cal entered, smiled at me, and my heart fluttered.

  Ruby grasped his arm with both hands. “Oh, Detective, I’m thrilled you’re here. I was going to tell Georgia something that’s been on my mind and ask her if she thought it was important enough to bother you with.”

  My face heated. I’d solved one case, and now I was an expert? I looked at Cal and shrugged as he shut the door.

  “What’s on your mind, ma’am?” He took a step back, and Ruby let go of his arm.

  “I got to thinking about Zach and who might’ve had a motive to kill him.” She removed her gloves. “A few weeks ago, I was in my office writing a drama for the sermon series at the beginning of next year. You’ll have to come see it. It’s a modern-day take on the story of Jonah. And—” She twisted her gloves together as a single tear worked its way down her cheek.

  Good grief. It’s like she’s the star of a one-woman show, and her audience has arrived.

  “Go on.” Cal’s voice contained the teeniest hint of impatience.

  “Oh, I hate to cast aspersions.” She put a hand to her forehead. “Gossip is a sin.”

  Someone get the smelling salts ready. I fought a burst of laughter. Nice Georgia.

  “Ma’am, I don’t gossip. I investigate,” Cal said.

  I didn’t dare meet his eyes. If I did, and detected even one tiny gleam of amusement, I’d erupt for sure.

  “If it helps, I can go in the other room.” I took a step back, but Ruby lunged toward me.

  “No, no. Stay. I’d feel better knowing you’re hearing this.”

  I put on my coat, praying she’d take the hint to hurry up and spit it out.

  Ruby eyed me and lifted her chin. “About a week ago, I was in my office, and I overheard Pastor Zach talking with Doug Brockwell—the church custodian. He’s also playing Joseph in our Christmas show.”

  “I’ve met Doug,” Cal said.

  “Anyway, Zach and Doug were becoming good friends, from what I could tell. They were in the maintenance area, which is next to the greenroom. I tried not to listen, but I simply couldn’t help it because my desk is next to the vent.” She gazed at Cal as if he could absolve her eavesdropping sin.

  “What were they talking about?” Cal shifted and took his phone from his pocket.

  “Doug told Zach that he was having marriage troubles.”

  I tried to follow her logic—and failed. “Why would that make Doug want to kill Zach?”

&nb
sp; “What if Zach knew Doug was having an affair and threatened to tell his wife?” Ruby whispered.

  “You think Doug might’ve poisoned Zach to silence him.” That seemed like a major stretch of the imagination. If that were the case, then how did Olivia’s disappearance figure in? Unless Zach had told her Doug’s secret, and Doug had killed her too.

  “Exactly.” Ruby pursed her lips. “I don’t want to think that of Doug, but what if he’s hiding something? He’s been awfully quiet lately—though he’s never been a talker.”

  That last part was true. During show choir rehearsals in high school, I’d been the one to jabber while we’d practiced our dance moves.

  Cal nodded as he typed. Had he temporarily taken up acting? “Did you hear anything else?” he asked.

  “No. My phone rang right when Doug started discussing the juicy details.” She heaved a sigh worthy of a cheesy TV movie. For all her pretense about not casting aspersions, she sure was enjoying this. She looked back and forth between Cal and me.

  “Ma’am, I assure you we’re doing everything we can to find Zach’s murderer.” Cal rested a hand on her shoulder as he locked his phone screen and put it in his pocket. “Thanks for the information.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  “My pleasure. I’m glad to be rid of that terrible burden. I’m ashamed for not thinking of it when Detective Kimball talked to me, but I was flustered.” Ruby slipped on her gloves. “I’ll be on my way, so you can get to your date. I’ll see you at church tomorrow, Georgia.” She sailed out the door as if the admission truly had lightened her load.

  I closed the door and leaned against it. “I don’t know what to say.” I shook my head. “This isn’t how I envisioned our date starting.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “What do you think of Ruby’s information?”

  He shrugged. “Marvin talked to everyone on staff at your church yesterday—including Doug. She’s right about the fact that Doug and Zach were friends.”

  “What if she’s trying to keep suspicion off of herself?”