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:
“And therein lies the true magic of a selfless gift.”
I leaned forward a bit. “Do you think that revealing Secret Santa’s identity will destroy the atmosphere of goodwill that has been created by the gift giving?”
“I think it might.”
Yeah, I was afraid of that. I really wanted a full-time job at the newspaper, but at what cost? I supposed this was something I needed to take a serious look at before I turned in my second article on Monday.
After I left Mary’s, I realized I had some time to kill before my appointment with Donny Dingman, the only one of the original gift recipients I hadn’t spoken to yet, so I decided to stop by the library and chat with Hope. Hope was a decade older than I was, but she was a person I’d connected with on an intimate level from the moment I’d met her as a teenager. I felt like we really understood each other. I considered us close friends and knew that I could talk to her about pretty much anything.
“So, what have you heard about Ford being taken in for questioning?” Hope asked the minute I walked in through the front door of the library.
“Nothing. I plan to go by and chat with Cass later, but I’ve been doing Secret Santa interviews this morning. Do you know if he was released or arrested after he was questioned?”
“I’m not sure. There has been a lot of gossip going around this morning, but no one seems to know anything for certain. I’ve texted both Cass and Rafe, but neither has texted me back. I know Ford has been acting oddly. Definitely out of character. But he wouldn’t kill anyone, especially not Buford. The men had been friends for a long time.”
“Yeah. Tom, Gracie, and I had the same discussion over breakfast.”
Hope plopped her elbows on the counter in front of her. “I just don’t understand this whole thing. Nothing has made a lick of sense since the minute I found out that Buford was dead. I’d talked to him that day… the day he died. He was happy and in a good mood. He’d been working on a project he was really excited about, and he mentioned his plan to head over to the bar for a drink to relax with the guys. Knowing Buford, I can see how it is possible he had one drink too many and ended up in a scuffle. I heard he fought with Dennis Felton, and if it turns out that he scuffled with Ford as well, I won’t be surprised. Buford could be a mean drunk if he overdid it, but I absolutely cannot believe that anyone from Foxtail Lake would hit him over the head and leave him to freeze to death in a snowstorm. There has to be something else going on.”
“Had you heard that Buford inherited a bunch of money a while back?”
Hope’s gaze grew guarded. “Yes, I do know that. Do you think that his death is related to the money he inherited?”
“I think it might be. According to Cass, Buford cashed out and then hid the money. Cass has no idea what he did with it. He didn’t appear to have made any investments, nor had he opened any bank accounts. There isn’t evidence of large purchases or gifts to others. I did think that maybe Buford was Secret Santa for half a minute, but half the Secret Santa gifts have been delivered after his death, so it couldn’t have been him. Besides, while I didn’t know the man well, what I did know about him, doesn’t lead me to believe he was the Secret Santa type.”
“Maybe he hid the money in his home,” Hope said.
“Cass looked. It isn’t there. I think at this point, Cass is operating under the assumption that whoever killed him, took the money.”
She frowned. “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, who even knew about the inheritance at the time of Buford’s death?”
“I don’t think a lot of people did,” I admitted, “but some of the guys from the bar knew.” I glanced at the clock. “I gotta go. If you find out any more about Ford, let me know, and if I find out anything, I’ll text you.”
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 18
Donnie Dingman didn’t know any more about the person behind his Secret Santa gift than anyone else I’d spoken to, so I decided to take a chance and stop by the clinic. I wasn’t confident that Doctor Nolan would know any more about the identity of Secret Santa than any of the other gift recipients did, but I figured that it couldn’t hurt to stop by and speak to him about it.
“Sure, I know who purchased the x-ray machine.”
“You do?” I really wasn’t expecting that answer.
He nodded as his eyes danced with merriment. “Sure. The machine that was purchased is a very expensive and very specialized piece of equipment. I was the one who picked it out.”
“So you know who Secret Santa is?”
He chuckled. “Yes, I guess I do.”
“Who is it?” I held my breath as I waited for an answer.
“Secret Santa is a very good and giving individual who wishes to remain anonymous. I, for one, have no intention of spilling the beans, and if you want my opinion, you shouldn’t either, even if you do manage to figure it out, which quite frankly, I don’t think you will.”
It seemed that keeping Secret Santa’s identity a secret was a sentiment shared by pretty much everyone in town other than Dex.
“Look, I get that you are a reporter,” Doctor Nolan continued. “And I get that it is a reporter’s job to uncover and report the truth, even if that truth will hurt an exceptionally awesome person in the end. But this is a small town, where relationships matter. I don’t think it is going to do you, or the newspaper any good to reveal a harmless secret no one really wants to be revealed.”
“So it is your opinion that members of the community will be angry if Secret Santa’s identity is revealed.”
“And how. In my opinion, if you plan to continue to live here in Foxtail Lake beyond the holiday, you might want to reconsider your plan to ruin everyone’s fun.”
I groaned and leaned back against the counter. “Yeah. I’ve come to that conclusion as well. Of course, it will probably mean that I’ll be fired from a job I don’t even technically have yet.”
Doctor Nolan put a hand on my shoulder. “Dex is not an unreasonable guy. I’ve known him for a long time, and while I can see him totally being seduced by the chance to be reprinted in the Post, I think that once he has a chance to really think about things, he’ll come around to our way of thinking.”
“You think?”
He nodded. “I do. I’ve read the material you’ve published so far. It’s good. Really good. Dex knows that. He won’t throw away a reporter with potential over a single act of consciousness.”
“You know if I don’t do the story, he’ll just assign it to Brock.”
“I suppose that’s true, but between you and me, I don’t think Brock has the creativity to figure the whole thing out.”
Creativity to figure the whole thing out. That, I realized, was a clue in and of itself.
After I left the clinic, I headed over to the sheriff’s office. I knew Cass would be busy, but I hoped I was catching him at a good time, and he’d have a few minutes to catch me up. I was sure now that word had gotten out that he’d brought Ford in for questioning, half the people in town would be curious about the rest of the story. I was equally certain that he wouldn’t have time to return everyone’s call, but Cass and I had a special relationship, and I hoped he’d speak to me.
“I spoke to Rupert yesterday,” Cass began after he’d indicated I should take a seat in the chair across from his desk. “He told me that Buford and Ford had exchanged fisticuffs during the afternoon of the day Buford died.”
“Fisticuffs?” I asked.
“His phrasing. Anyway, he told me that he had no idea what the men were arguing about, but at one point, they were really going at it. Eventually, some of the other men who were hanging around broke it up, and after a bit of discussion, they sent Buford home to sleep it off. According to Rupert, Ford left on foot shortly after Buford left on foot. As far as I can tell, Buford never made it home.”