Mistletoe and Crime by Chris McDonald

Author:Chris McDonald [Mcdonald, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781914480515
Publisher: Red Dog Press

By lunchtime, he was regretting ever having walked into that backroom and accepting the job.

The crowds were mental.

His hands were hurting from folding so many clothes and he didn’t know where anything was yet, so received many snooty remarks from little old ladies in a hurry, like he was some sort of usurper in their cherished store.

Whoever was in charge of the sound system had played the same five Christmas songs on loop. In his three hours of works, he’d heard It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas twelve times.

Twelve!

He was beginning to think that anyone who worked here could be behind Gerald Agnew’s killing. Surely hearing that song that many times in one shift was enough to drive anyone to murder.

He was thankful when his break time came around. He escaped off the floor and into the staffroom, where three others were engaged in a heated debate. He shuffled past them and pulled his sandwiches from the fridge, and when he looked up all eyes were on him. An old lady with white hair, who introduced herself as Carol, had just finished talking and they looked like they expected him to join in.

‘What are you talking about?’ Adam asked, sitting down near them.

‘We’re discussing the weirdest body part,’ Carol said. ‘Nancy thinks it’s body hair and I think it’s the bones in your ear.’

‘Which is ridiculous,’ argued a young man with the beginnings of a moustache. ‘They do a vital job. Whereas, the milk teeth are the stupidest thing known to man.’

‘Explain.’

‘Well, they hurt babies like a bitch and only last six years or something. And when they fall out it’s equally as distressing.’

‘So, what would you suggest as an alternative?’ Carol asked.

‘Metal teeth that last a lifetime,’ concluded the moustachioed man.

Adam reckoned he had given this argument a lot of thought, and had practiced the finer points over a milkshake or two with his friends. If he had any, which Adam thought unlikely.

‘So?’ they said, rounding on him.

‘I’m not sure, really. I’ll give it some thought and get back to you.’

Silence descended upon the room, so Adam ate his food. When he had finished, he asked the others: ‘What do you reckon to this business with Gerald Agnew?’

‘Who?’ the boy said.

Carol seemed to be in charge of this rag-tag group, as she spoke for them. She shushed the boy with a withering look.

‘The people who work here were very confused as to what Kyle was thinking, though of course we’d never say that to him. We’d be out on our ears. We also felt very sorry for poor Tom, who would’ve been celebrating a landmark occasion had he been chosen. There was talk of walkouts, in solidarity, but…’

‘You’d rather keep your job than show your support,’ Adam said.

‘Well, when you put it like that.’

‘What’s Kyle like?’ Adam asked.

‘He’s a lovely man. Cares about the company.’ She cast an eye around as if he might be listening through the walls, before whispering, ‘But he will occasionally do things that raise an eyebrow.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.