'Tis the Season to Be Murdered by Valerie Wolzien

Author:Valerie Wolzien [Wolzien, Valerie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Endeavour Media
Published: 2019-12-23T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

Susan woke up determined to start getting some answers—right after she stocked her freezer with appetizers. If The Holly and Ms. Ivy shut down, she’d need something to feed her guests come Saturday night. The gourmet deli downtown carried tiny frozen brioche and croissants with a variety of fillings—not terribly original, but better than nothing if seventy hungry people show up at the door.

Maybe she should think of laying in a supply of champagne, she thought, taking the dog on her morning walk. If they didn’t need it for the party, it could always be used to celebrate other occasions, she decided, having absolutely no idea just what such an occasion might be. Chrissy’s engagement? She pulled Clue away from the pile of soiled cocktail napkins that someone had dropped in the street. Her daughter had been asleep when she left the house, but Susan knew they had to talk. When, she wondered, was she going to meet this new boyfriend? And why hadn’t Chrissy introduced him to her family before this?

It was garbage collection day, and Clue was having a ball, jumping around on the Christmas trees left at the curb by neighbors lucky enough to fly off to someplace warm after Christmas. Susan sighed, wondering if she was feeling a normal post–holiday depression. And then decided that three days before her big party was no time to get like this.

Clue’s head was stuck in the middle of a large tinsel-strewn balsam. “Come on, Clue,” Susan insisted, pulling on the leash. The dog shook her entire body and, with a ripping sound, emerged, a branch bearing a candy cane held proudly between her teeth. Susan chuckled, her dour mood vanishing. “How would you like to do some visiting with me today?” she asked the happy animal.

Clue apparently approved of the idea, and they walked companionably back to Susan’s car. “You wait here, and I’ll go get my purse,” Susan told the dog, as the animal climbed into her backseat. She hurried into the house, thinking that one of the nicest things about golden retrievers is their ability to look as though they are intensely interested in everything anyone was saying—without understanding a single word.

Susan entered her kitchen and wondered exactly what she was doing there, before the sight of her purse on the table reminded her of her goal. Putting any thoughts of Alzheimer’s away in the back of her mind (where they would surely be lost), she wrote a quick note to anyone in her family who might be interested in her whereabouts, grabbed her purse, and headed back to the car. First the appetizers, then she was going to visit Alexis and Gillian. They were both giving big parties that night; she knew she’d find them at their homes.

The gourmet shop in Hancock had started out as a cheese shop. But the Brie had needed baguettes, the Camembert required crackers, and then pâtés, soups, salads, cakes, pies, rare fruits, and vegetables had appeared on shelves and counters,

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