Grievance in Gingerbread Alley (Christmas Village Cozy Mystery Book 2) by Leighann Dobbs

Author:Leighann Dobbs [Dobbs, Leighann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leighann Dobbs Publishing
Published: 2019-11-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Gus hoped that Wanda wasn’t the killer because the breakfast was delicious. She’d hate to see the diner close down, even though she was only staying in town for a few more days.

“That was a little confusing,” Ivy said as they walked back along the street.

“Yeah, very confusing. On the one hand, she acted like she was hiding something, but on the other, she was practically pointing us toward the fact that Vicky had been there that morning.” Gus glanced at Ivy out of the corner of her eye. “By the way, good technique getting her to open up.”

Ivy blushed and shrugged it off. “I watch a lot of detective shows.”

“Maybe Wanda was acting nervous because she’s having the affair with Vicky’s husband.” Gus replayed the conversation in her mind. “Come to think of it, she did start to act funny once I mentioned him.”

“She had no qualms about pointing out the fresh herbs were grown there on the premises, and you’d think if she’d grown hemlock to poison Vicky, she might want to keep that on the down-low.”

Gus wrapped her olive-green scarf tighter around her neck. “She might not even know Vicky was poisoned. She might not be in on it. Could be just the husband.”

“But the husband didn’t touch the sandwich. Wanda said that Vicky was there alone,” Ivy said.

“Which begs the question of why the husband had a bag when he showed up at the crime scene. He might not have brought it, like you suggested,” Gus said. “He could have slipped the hemlock in after Vicky picked it up. And if he did that, then he’d want to make sure the bag didn’t get collected by the police.”

“And he’d be watching to see when she keeled over, then swoop in and grab the bag before anyone noticed.” Ivy pressed her lips together. “But then he would have had to grow the hemlock. Unless he and Wanda were in on it together.”

They’d been so engrossed in talking about the clues that they’d walked all the way to the pear tree without realizing it. The partridge was peering out from under a shrub, watching them intently. As Gus watched, a feather dropped off his wing. More feathers lay on the ground. Was the bird molting? Would that happen if a bird ate hemlock? And if hemlock was under there, who had planted it?

Maybe Kevin Smithers had acted alone. Just because Wanda had a room where she grew fresh herbs didn’t prevent Kevin from growing hemlock in his own room or even under the pear tree.

“So what do we do next?” Ivy asked.

“If this was something I was investigating as the sheriff, I’d find out where the husband was shortly before Vicky’s death and get a search warrant for the house. But since I’m not working in an official capacity, I can’t ask him, and I doubt Winters is going to give us that information.”

“Winters must have already asked him, but she hasn’t arrested him. What does that tell us?” Ivy asked.

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