The Mystery Before Christmas
- Автор: Дэйли Кэти
- Серия: A Cat In The Attic Mystery #2
- Год: 2019
- Язык: английский
- Год: Kathi Daley Books
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Mystery Before Christmas». Краткое содержание книги:
“Thank you. And again, thank you for taking the time to speak to me.”
After I left the bank, I slowly drove through town toward the library. I needed to refocus, and I figured spending a few minutes chatting with Hope would help me to accomplish that. Hope Mansfield had been the librarian in Foxtail Lake since I’d been in high school. I figured she knew most of the people in town, and I knew from experience that she had a good head on her shoulders.
I waved to a group on the side of the road who were hanging wreaths on all the lampposts. Most of the town had been decorated before the tree lighting, but for some reason, perhaps the weather, the wreaths had been left for this week. I knew that the mayor and the entire event committee wanted to make sure everything was perfect before the huge Christmas in the Mountains event this upcoming weekend. Most of the store windows in town featured magical Christmas scenes, and the now barren trees along Main had been strung with white lights, so I figured once the wreaths were hung and the stop signs wrapped with red and white paper to make them look like candy canes, the merchants would be ready for the throngs of people they hoped would make the trip up from the valley next weekend.
“Morning, Hope,” I greeted after entering the cheerily decorated library. “I love your tree. I didn’t notice it on Saturday when I was here for the volunteer meeting.”
“I didn’t decorate it until after closing on Saturday.”
“What made you think about hanging books on it?”
“This is a library. The paperbacks were donated to sell at our next fundraiser, but I figured I could use those with Christmas themed covers to brighten up the tree. What brings you out on this frosty winter morning?”
“Secret Santa.” Then I explained the series of articles Dex wanted to run and my part in the whole thing.
“Wow. That’s a tough assignment. Personally, I think most folks in town prefer that Secret Santa remain a mystery.”
“Yeah,” I blew out a breath. “I’m beginning to get that idea. I don’t think pursuing Secret Santa’s identity is going to win me any popularity contests, but Dex is my boss, and this series is a big deal to him. I really want to do a good job.”
“Maybe you can talk him into doing the series without the big reveal at the end. I would think that the local paper would want to keep the secret as much as anyone.”
“I think Dex has been swayed by the idea that the series is going to be featured in The Denver Post, and the guy from the Post wants a big reveal as the cherry on the top of the series. If not for the whole thing with the Post, I do think I might be able to convince him to skip the big reveal.”
Hope twisted her lips to the side, making it appear as if she was conflicted about something.
“Do you think I should bow out and let Dex assign Brock to the remainder of the series?” I asked.
“Perhaps,” she answered. “I do get the fact that this series could really help the career you didn’t even know you wanted and really haven’t even got off the ground yet, but the fallout from the public might be really brutal. Especially if the reveal makes Secret Santa angry and he or she stops doing good deeds in the community.”
“Yeah, that did occur to me. The big reveal isn’t going to be published until Christmas Eve, so chances are that he or she will be finished with the gift giving anyway, but still, I have to admit it doesn’t feel right. And part of me really wants to fail at my assignment and keep the secret safe. But if I don’t figure out who Secret Santa is, Dex will lose faith in me, and we are just getting started. I’d really hate to lose the progress I seem to be making.”
“I get it. I do. I suppose all you can do at this point is do the job assigned to you and see how it all ends up. In the meantime, try to relax and enjoy the season. I can literally see you tensing up, and if you continue down that path, you are going to end up missing all the fun. Did you see the reindeer display they set up in the park?”
“Reindeer display? Are we talking real reindeer?”
She nodded. “Supposedly borrowed from Santa himself. The reindeer will be there until after the weekend, but you might want to stop by before the weekend if you are interested. I have a feeling the display is going to attract more than its share of spectators.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll check them out.”
“Did Gracie ever talk to you about the Santa House in the Village?”
“No. What is going on with the Santa House?”
“After we looked at everything everyone had signed up for at the meeting on Saturday, we realized we were still really short of volunteers for the Santa House. Mostly, we need elves.”
“And what do the elves do?”
“Basically the elves handle crowd control. They make sure the line runs smoothly and help the little ones onto Santa’s lap. That sort of thing. Gracie was going to ask if you’d be willing to give it a try, but she must not have gotten around to it yet.”
I glanced suspiciously at Hope. “I have a feeling there is something you aren’t telling me. Otherwise, it seems you would have plenty of volunteers for a gig such as that.”
“Well, there is a costume to consider.”
“Costume?”
“Basically, it consists of green tights and a red sweater. It really only works for those with a particular body type.”
I looked down at my own body. “Thin and short.”
“Exactly.”
Chapter 11
Hope, who knew Carolyn Worthington quite well, offered to call her and set up an appointment between the two of us. Carolyn wasn’t busy today, so Hope arranged with me to meet with her within the hour. Carolyn was a rich woman before moving to Foxtail Lake. When she’d chosen the area to be her new home, she’d looked for a large parcel of land on a lake where she could build her mansion. I’d never had the opportunity to meet Carolyn or to visit her home to this point, so even though I was expecting vast luxury, I was truly amazed at how vast and luxurious her estate was.
After parking in the circular drive, I rang the bell and was greeted by a woman dressed in black and white. I was escorted into a room, which I assumed was a parlor of sorts, and asked to wait. After a few minutes, a woman dressed in riding clothes emerged from the hallway.
“Callie Collins?”
I stood. “Yes. I’m Callie.”
“I’m Carolyn Worthington. I understand you want to speak to me about Secret Santa.”
I nodded. “Yes. That is correct. I’m doing an article for the newspaper.”
“Normally, I don’t do interviews, but Hope speaks highly of you, so I decided to make an exception. I was just about to exercise my stallion. If you’d care to join me, we can chat while we ride.”
“Ride?”
She slapped her riding gloves across her palm. “You do ride, don’t you?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. No. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve never been on a horse in my entire life.”
She looked me up and down. “You’re dressed fine for the task, and I have a gentle mare that needs exercise. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll take it easy.”
I was trying to figure out how I was going to get out of there when a man poked his head in through the doorway.
“Your ride is here,” he informed Carolyn.
“Wonderful.” She looked at me. “Are you ready?”
Ready? Was she kidding? I was here to interview the woman not to break my neck.
I frantically tried to come up with a plausible reason why it might be a better idea to simply wait for Carolyn to be freed up rather than to join her on her ride, but I was so terrified I couldn’t speak. A man, also dressed in black and white, picked us up in a vehicle that looked like an enclosed golf cart. It must have had four-wheel-drive since I noticed it moved along just fine over the hard-packed snow on the drive.