Cadaver on Candy Cane Lane (Christmas Village Cozy Mystery Book 1) Read online

  “What in the world?” Ember turned and saw that the giant snowman at the top of the hill was missing his head. Even worse, the head was rolling down the hill toward them at an alarming rate and picking up more snow as it did. It was larger than the both of them.

  Ember barely had a second to react before it would bury them. She lunged at Phoebe to push her out of the way, but not in time. The giant snowball plowed into them, enveloping them in the dark, bitter-cold silence of thick, heavy snow.

  Chapter 7

  Ember was suffocating. She clawed at the snow around her, trying to make an air hole or at least enough space to move her fingers so she could cast a melting spell on the snow. Worry about Phoebe clutched at her gut.

  As she struggled to work her arms free from the thick snow, she heard scratching sounds. Faint at first, they were getting louder. The snow was cleared from her face, and she blinked to see Brimstone looking in at her.

  “Figures you people can’t go off without getting into trouble. Good thing I followed you.”

  “What happened?” Ember pushed out of the giant snowman head, glad to see that Phoebe was already standing on the ground, dusting snow from her clothes. Dark coal eyes and a carrot lay scattered on the hill. On top of the hill, a blue-and-white scarf flapped in the wind atop the headless snowman’s body.

  Ember glanced back at the head. It was much larger than before and tightly packed, having picked up snow on the way down. She could still see the icy area where it had been firmly attached to the body. “That head didn’t just fall off. Someone pushed it.”

  Brimstone was already trotting away. “I’ll be right back.”

  “My word.” Phoebe glanced up the hill, a frown on her face. “That was unusual.”

  “Are you okay?” Ember asked, even though her aunt seemed perfectly fine.

  “Yes, dear. Just a little rattled.” Phoebe shivered. “And cold.”

  Brimstone skidded around the corner. “Yep. Just as I suspected. Someone pushed that snowman head. I found fresh footsteps leading up to it.”

  Ember glanced back in the direction of Yule’s warehouse. “I guess our suspicions of Yule were on target, but darn, he worked quickly to get someone out here.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know about that.” Brimstone flicked his ear to dislodge a snowflake. “The footsteps lead in the other direction. The pusher didn’t come from Yule’s place. They go to a path in the woods, and guess where that path leads to?”

  “The toy factory,” Phoebe said, between chattering teeth.

  “Bingo!” Brimstone said.

  Ember put her arm around Phoebe to provide some warmth. “We better get you home and warm you up. And come up with a better plan. It looks like our inquiries at the factory are making someone nervous.”

  Unfortunately, the day didn’t get any better. They rushed back to the chocolate shop only to find detectives Winters and Noel waiting for them. Winters frowned when she noticed their disheveled appearance. She pointed to the Closed sign on the door. “Closing up shop in the middle of the day? That’s a bit unusual, isn’t it?”

  Ember couldn’t really fault her suspicions. They did look a sight. Snow clung to their coats and pants. Phoebe’s bun was a mess, with hair sticking out in every direction. Ember was sure she looked no better. Only Brimstone’s sleek, shiny coat was unmarred.

  Detective Noel chimed in. “Or have you two been out covering your tracks?”

  “I should say not!” Aunt Phoebe attempted to pat the stray hairs back into her bun indignantly. “We’ve been attacked!”

  Detective Winters’s left brow quirked up. “Just now? By whom?”

  “A... a snowman!” Phoebe blurted out.

  Winters glanced at Ember for confirmation.

  “Well, not exactly a snowman. Someone pushed the top of that giant snowman on the hill down on us,” Ember said, brushing more caked-on snow from her slacks.

  Both detectives had looks on their faces that suggested they didn’t quite believe her. “How do you know someone pushed it?”

  “It came rolling down the hill and nearly killed us. Then Brimstone... er... we saw footprints behind it,” Phoebe said.

  “Uh-huh.” Winters glanced at Noel. “Make a note to check into that.”

  “Good! Then if you don’t mind, we will get back to candy making.” Phoebe unlocked the door.

  “Actually, I do mind. I came here because there’s some news on the elf case, and I have some questions for you,” Winters said.

  Phoebe froze in her tracks, her expression turning guarded. “Questions? For us? You should be asking the person who attacked us questions.”

  “We will if we can prove that out. But for now, maybe we should go inside.” Winters gestured toward the interior of the shop, and they piled in. Phoebe immediately went behind the counter, putting it between her and Winters as if using it as a shield.

  Brimstone perched himself on a chair and leveled the detectives with an unblinking glare like he was daring them to accuse Phoebe.

  Ember fretted with the candy display by the door, rearranging the boxes in a different order. Aunt Phoebe had just been about to tell her something important before the snowman incident. Hopefully, that something wasn’t that she was the accomplice who had been involved with Alfie’s shady shenanigans.

  Detective Winters cleared her throat and unfurled her rolled-up piece of paper. “We’ve been to the toy factory and have questioned the elves.”

  “Good thing. The culprit is probably one of them. Or that owner. I heard he’s up to something,” Phoebe said. “I heard he was going on some sort of a trip, and that seems unusual, what with the strike coming up and everything. Maybe he was getting out of town because he’s the killer.”

  “We know all about the trip,” Detective Winters said, as if that was of no consequence. “That’s not the thing that worries us.”

  “Oh?” Phoebe nervously shoved some gold-foiled chocolate coins into a mesh bag.

  “It seems that, perhaps, you weren’t quite honest with us before, when we asked about your relationship with Alfie.” Winters’s hard, shark-like eyes assessed Phoebe over the rims of her spectacles. “Were you?”

  Phoebe gnawed her bottom lip and glanced in Ember’s direction, her expression loaded with guilt. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “According to one of the elves, Alfie has been letting you slide with paying the union dues.”

  Phoebe looked relieved. “Oh, that. Well, he doesn’t actually let me slide. We had a deal.”

  “A deal? Maybe that deal went bad, and that’s how he ended up dead behind your shop?”

  “What? No! That’s not it at all. Okay! I admit it. I wasn’t exactly honest. I got scared because... well, Alfie was investigating something at the factory, and I was helping him.” Phoebe shot Ember an apologetic glance. “At first, I was afraid to say anything. I wasn’t sure that was why he was killed, but if it was, I didn’t want the killer to come after me. And I certainly didn’t want to drag my niece into it. She knows nothing about it.”

  Winters sighed. “Maybe you should start from the beginning. What was the elf doing behind your shop? Passing along secret information?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Phoebe came around to the other side of the counter. “We had a deal. I gave him chocolates, and he paid the dues for me. At least, he said he paid. Who told you he let me slide?”

  “I can’t give up my sources.”

  “Hmm... looks like someone is a tattletale,” Phoebe said. “Anyway, that’s why he was out back. He came every other morning at 8:00 a.m. sharp to get a box of chocolates. I was just going out to give them to him, and I found him... like that.”

  That explained why she insisted on going to take the trash out herself and why Ember hadn’t seen a trash bag that morning.

  “Wait. You were giving him chocolates? He didn’t have them already?” Detective Winters asked.

  Ember remembered the chocolates strewn about on the ground. She’d assumed the
elf had the box in his hand when he’d come.

  “Yes. I dropped them when I saw his body, but then I panicked and pretended like he’d had them with him. I didn’t want to have to explain that I slipped him chocolates out the back door. Sorry.” Aunt Phoebe wrestled with more of the stray hairs that had escaped her bun.

  “So, the elf was here just to get chocolates?” Detective Noel glanced at Winters. “We never released the detail about the chocolates, hoping one of the suspects would slip up and mention them. I guess we can’t depend on that to filter out the real perp, so it seems like you’re the only one slipping up, Ms. Quinn.”

  Winters nodded. “And you now admit you were working a shady deal with him.”

  “I was not working a shady deal. We were investigating someone else’s shady deal.” Phoebe was indignant.

  “Could you be more specific?” Detective Winters asked.

  Phoebe sighed. “I wasn’t going to say anything because I don’t really know very much. Alfie thought there was something funny going on with the accounts at the factory. He thought someone was embezzling or skimming. The factory was trying to say they weren’t earning much and that’s why they couldn’t give the elves a raise. But production was up, and sales seemed steady. Alfie figured it didn’t add up.”

  “That’s what you say. Can anyone else verify this?” Detective Noel asked.

  “No, it was just me and Alfie. We didn’t know who we could trust.”

  Detective Winters started rolling up her scroll. “That’s a nice story, Ms. Quinn, but it seems to me that if you were involved in something, you’d want to point the finger at someone else, and from where we’re standing, a lot of the clues point in your direction.”

  “Surely, you don’t think I killed Alfie!”

  “He was found outside your shop with your candy scattered all around him. Elves at the factory say he was into something shady and had an accomplice. You are now admitting to being that accomplice. What would you think if you were us?” Detective Winters gave Phoebe a pointed look. “If I were you, I’d be looking into getting a good lawyer.”

  The detectives left, and Phoebe turned to Ember, wringing her hands. “You believe me, don’t you, dear?”

  “Of course.” Ember knew her aunt could never kill anyone. “I just wish you’d told me all this sooner. This could be a serious matter.”

  “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. This could be serious, and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

  “You mean like being suffocated in a giant snowball?” Ember shuddered. “I suppose the sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. Because if you were working with Alfie, then whoever killed him might be after you next.”

  Chapter 8

  As soon as the police left, Ember turned to her aunt. “Aunt Phoebe, I think you better tell me everything you know.”

  “Of course, dear. Sorry to drag you into this. Unfortunately, I don't know much.” Phoebe fiddled with the end of her scarf. “As I said, Alfie thought someone was embezzling from the company.”

  Brimstone decided to take an interest in the cat toy they’d brought him earlier. He batted it out into the middle of the room. Not bothering to look up at them as he chased it, he said, “Greed. Common motive for murder.”

  Ember ignored him. “But the police think that Alfie was the one doing something wrong, and that elf at the factory seemed to think so too.”

  Ember knew that Aunt Phoebe was a good judge of character, but could she have been taken in by Alfie? And why would he team up with Phoebe in the first place?

  “It might have looked like he was up to something. Alfie was checking into things, you know, on the sly.”

  “So, if he was sneaking around, whoever was embezzling might have seen him and realized he was onto something.”

  Phoebe nodded. “And that's why he was killed.”

  Brimstone had batted the toy under the sofa. He stretched one long paw underneath to try to grab it and talked to them over his shoulder. "You ask me, it's that guy in charge. It usually is."

  “Good point. And he was planning that trip, probably to get away from the scene of the crime,” Phoebe said.

  Brimstone grunted, reaching farther under the sofa, then jerked his paw out, the ball skewered on one of his claws. He flipped it into the air, jumped up, and caught it, then landed softly on all four paws. “Someone at that factory doesn't want you looking into this. That snowman didn't topple by itself, and the tracks led back in that direction... or so it seemed. I might have to do more investigating on that one. You're welcome for digging you out, by the way.”

  Ember scowled at the cat. He could be full of himself, but she had to admit he did come in handy, though she was sure she could have extracted herself and her aunt from the snow without his help.

  “We couldn't have done it without you. You saved our lives.” Ember glanced at Phoebe and gave a slight nod for Phoebe to chime in and agree with her. It never hurt to build up the cat’s ego. He could be hell to live with otherwise.

  Phoebe frowned, and then her mouth formed a little ‘o’ as she got what Ember was up to. “Yes. Yes, you did. We’ll be sure to get something special for your dinner tonight.”

  Brimstone preened. “Maybe that partridge I've seen hanging around under the pear tree...”

  Ember decided to ignore that one. She wasn’t about to snatch a partridge up, and besides, that bird was one of the attractions that lured people to Christmas Village. She turned to Phoebe. “So exactly how were you helping Alfie?”

  “I was going to help him get a look at the books. He's not supposed to look at them, but we figured if I put a little relaxing spell on one of the chocolates and brought them to Stan, we could get a peek.” Phoebe shrugged. “Maybe we'd find something.”

  Not a bad idea. Issy and Gray often called on Ember to put magic into the chocolates back home to help loosen up the suspects on their cases. And if that tactic was good enough for them, it was good enough for her. Besides, Aunt Phoebe was in danger, and someone had to find the killer before something happened to her. Not to mention, she liked the idea of being able to solve a case on her own without her domineering cousins’ help.

  Ember went behind the counter and slid the glass open on the antique oak display case that held their premium chocolates. “What kind does Stan like?”

  Phoebe brightened, clearly relieved that Ember believed her explanation and was geared up to help. “I don't know. Better do an assortment.”

  Ember picked out an assortment of cream-centers, caramels, hard-centers, and jellies. Not too many jellies though. No one ever liked those, but she wanted to include some just in case. She put them in their best gold foil box, waved her fingers over the top, and concentrated on imbuing them with a relaxation spell. Once she felt the energy leave her fingertips and enter the candies, she put the top on and turned to Phoebe. “Okay then, let’s get over to the factory and give these to Stan before it closes.”

  Brimstone sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to follow you to make sure you don't get into trouble. Might have to bail you out like last time.” He trotted to the door, and Ember held it open. “Besides, I have some things I need to check out on my own.”

  Chapter 9

  They parted ways with Brimstone at the factory door. Ember wasn’t sure what the cat was up to, but she had her own investigation to worry about. Maybe he’d come back with something useful.

  It was between shifts at the toy factory, and the elves who worked the seven-to-three shift had gone home, so there was only a skeleton crew in the factory. Luckily, Stan was still there.

  “An accountant’s work is never done,” Stan sighed, as they lingered in the doorway of his office.

  The office was a mess. Papers littered the top of his desk, the tops of the filing cabinets, the bookshelf, and the guest chair. The papers that weren’t weighted down by the various trophies—bowling, softball, cornhole, croquet—spilled onto the floor. Books had been haphazardly placed on the bookshelf
, some put in backwards with the pages facing out, others lying on their sides.

  “We know you work hard,” Phoebe said, “so we brought this candy as an appreciation.”

  Suspicion flickered in Stan’s eyes. “From who?”

  “Oh, it’s just something I do for the hard workers in Christmas Village. Without you here at the toy factory, the little children would not get their toys on Christmas Day. The work you do is very important.” She slid the candy across the desk to him, leaned closer, and winked. “Besides, giving away appreciation boxes usually works very well to get people addicted to my candy and coming back for more.”

  Stan’s suspicion dissipated, and he opened the box. “I love dark chocolates!” He grabbed an orange cream and bit in then offered the box to Ember and Phoebe who, of course, declined. It wouldn’t do to fall asleep on the job.

  Phoebe kept Stan engaged in small talk while he ate two more candies. Then, he simply nodded off, his chin falling on his chest and soft snores coming out of his mouth.

  Ember looked around the room. “Where do we start? This place is a mess.”

  “Ledger book.” Phoebe headed for two large leather-bound books.

  They scanned the columns. Ember wasn’t really sure what she was looking for, but the accounting was simple. There was a list of inventory with each item’s cost and then sales with the prices and amounts paid. After about twenty minutes, she hadn’t made any discoveries. “I don’t see anything amiss. Do you have any idea exactly what we should be looking for?”

  Phoebe pressed her lips together. “Alfie didn’t say anything specific. I imagine we should look for discrepancies, like if there are too many sales, not enough sales, or inventory numbers seem off.” Judging by the vague sound of her words, she really didn’t know either.

  Ember finished the ledger, put it back, and scanned the mess of paper. There were lots of pie charts and line graphs, but nothing stood out. Under one pile was a metal box. She opened it to reveal huge wads of cash. “Look at this!”