Merry Murder: A Cookie's Creamery Mystery by Kathleen Suzette

Author:Kathleen Suzette [Suzette, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Publisher: Kathleen Suzette
Published: 2022-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT being in front of a large crowd that both terrifies me and makes me feel the most alive that I’ve ever felt. Not that standing in front of a crowd of kids and their parents was the most exciting thing I had ever done, but it was a lot of fun, regardless of the resistance I had felt to do this in the first place.

Wait. Did I say it was a lot of fun? Because the kid at the front of the line spit at me and screamed for Santa. But it was fine. I sidestepped just in time. How could such a little kid get so much distance, anyway? I set the baskets near Santa’s chair and waved for all I was worth. Most of the crowd clapped. The rest screamed.

“I think I just heard bells jingling!” I called as I cupped my ear. The sound of jingle bells could be heard, and the crowd quieted down. “In fact, I know I did. Could that be the sound of bells on reindeer harnesses?”

On cue, Jennifer Slayton and Sarah Wheeldon, dressed in reindeer costumes, walked on stage with Santa holding the string of bells that went around the front of them in a makeshift harness. Jed ho ho hoed and waved for all he was worth and came to a stop beside his chair. The crowd went wild.

Jed did the ho ho ho thing several more times, then dropped the bells as the reindeer wandered off to the side of the platform where the makeshift barn sat beside a manger filled with hay.

“Hello, children!” Santa said. “I brought someone special with me.” Jed held his hand out, and Bev waltzed onto the platform. Yes, waltzed. It was sweet and unexpected. Bev might not have wanted to play Mrs. Claus, but she was great at it.

I glanced around at the crowd while Santa did his thing. That was when I caught sight of Noah in the crowd. He grinned and waved at me. I waved back. He pointed at his toes, held up his thumb and first finger in a big ‘0’, grinning, then held up his phone as if he might take a picture.

I shook my head and went to assist the spitter onto the platform while keeping as much distance between us as I could. There was a photographer who wasn’t as lucky as I had been at escaping the spit. I shook my head as the child’s parents stood on the edge of the platform, looking mortified.

A moment later, Missy appeared in her costume. She was wearing black suede boots instead of the curly-toed booties, and I groaned. Spoilsport.

She sidled up to me. “How’s it going?”

“Great. You missed the big opening. Where were you?” I spoke through gritted teeth while continuing to smile. You learned how to do that at Disneyland.

“Busy.”

There were so many things I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to ruin any chance I had of getting information out of her about Bill’s murder.

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