The Santa Slaughter - A Very Merry Murder Mystery

Chapter 7

I wake up early the next day singing along to the pop song I have selected as my phone's alarm sound until a sense of dread stops me in my tracks.

Let me love you babyyyyy -

I'm confronted with an image of Bill's body, and blink it away, hurrying to get through my morning routine. As long as I keep moving, I'm not thinking too much about what happened yesterday or what might happen today. I volunteered to help Kate figure out who's responsible for Bill's murder because she's my friend, but the truth is if there's someone capable of killing Santa - or a guy dressed up to look like Santa - in my small, cozy home town then I want to know who. I'm halfway through my breakfast when I realize there was somebody else in Maggie's Hot Chocolate Hut yesterday that I forgot to mention to my friend. Neil.

"But I told him to go away," I say aloud, hearing my voice echo around my empty kitchen. "I told him to get lost, and he did." I don't remember seeing him after that one awkward interaction that morning. But what had he said when I'd asked him what he was doing there? I'm here to see Santa. I'd thought he was kidding, but maybe he hadn't been and I'd stumbled upon a murderer.

Neil? I shake my head, trying to get my imagination under control. My ex-husband is a lot of things I can't say out loud in front of a line of kids waiting to visit Santa's grotto, but he isn't and would never be a killer. My imagination is just running away with me, and I need to get it under control if I'm going to make any progress today.

Dressing in my elf costume feels strangely familiar this morning and I shove my jingle-bell shoes under my arm, ready to change into them once I get to the Hot Chocolate Hut. I slide my feet into my sneakers and grab my purse, deciding to park a bit away from the Christmas Market craziness and walk the rest of the way. I've got time, and I'm hoping that a little exercise might get my brain working. I need to be firing on all cylinders this morning if I'm going to check all of my colleagues' alibis and motives - and figure out what they're hiding. This last bit isn't under the remit of work Kate asked me to do, but it's my own addition and I think it's a useful one. Everybody's got secrets, haven't they? And some people might even kill to stop them from coming out. I stop short in front of Peter Stalker's bookstore, staring up into the huge gap where, just yesterday, the Hot Chocolate Hut had been standing. My gaze travels slightly to the right, and I see there's still a wigwam of police tape in place to keep people clear of the place where Bill's body lay, but other than that there's no indication anything even happened here. I shiver and wonder where the grotto has gone when Maggie's voice calls out to me from several feet away. I turn dumbly in her direction, and see she's standing right outside the newly-appointed hut looking just the same as ever only a little further down the high street. I walk towards her, clutching my elf shoes tightly and sliding a little on the frosty ground. Careful there, Icey, I remind myself, listening to the way my shoes jingle with every cautious step I take.

"We decided to move," she says, her voice thick. The smile she wears is pained, and I can see deep red circles around her eyes. She's really taken this whole thing hard, but then I guess she would, it happened right in her workplace. "Too many bad memories, and I don't want people thinking of what happened. People still want to be able to enjoy their hot chocolate and bring their kids to see - to see -" She trails off and I watch her sniff back more tears. "George has agreed to step into the breach and be our Santa, and I hate to say it, but he's really been great."

I'll bet he has! I remember my absurd thought last night that maybe he'd been desperate enough to get this gig he'd even kill for it. It seemed like nonsense, but now I can't help wondering.

"Come on, come in and get warmed up," Maggie says, patting me gently on the shoulder. "The other two girls are already here." She brightens. "I'm surprised anyone even turned up today, to be honest." She drops her voice. "I'm sure half of them are just curious. They'll be disappointed to see it's just business as usual." She swallows, noisily. "Or almost." She points me toward the grotto and I wave a greeting to Jessica and Ella. I don't feel right using their elf names anymore, and I'm determined to get to know them a little better. If I'm upset by Bill's death and the grand old age of thirty-two I can only imagine what the news has done to two teenagers.

"I'll go get my shoes on," I say, hurrying towards the grotto and stashing my bag and sneakers in one corner out of sight. Once my feet are back in their felt slippers and jingling with every step, I emerge from the grotto and go to join the two girls setting up fairy-lights along the makeshift path we've built for parents and children to queue along.

"Morning!" I say, hearing the false note of brightness in my voice and hoping it sounds more friendly than fake to my two young colleagues. Neither of them answers or looks at me and I start to wonder if they've even noticed I'm there. It's a far cry from the way they both hung onto me yesterday afternoon, weeping and wailing about the tragedy of it all. I guess everything seems a little different in the cold light of day.

"So..." I try again. "Do you think we'll have many kids coming today?"

Ella shrugs but Jessica lifts her head, looking at me at last.

"My little brother's coming. He was so upset yesterday when he thought the grotto would be closed before he got the chance to come." She smiles, grimly. "We didn't tell him what happened."

"He'll find out," Ella says, grimly. "Nobody in this town can keep a secret." Her voice sounds kind of flat and I wonder if she's had friends hassling her for all the gory details. A bit like my friend hassling me, I think, remembering Kate's arrival. At least I got a free meal out of it.

"Hey, where's Fred Astaire?" I ask, finally noticing what's missing. There's no reindeer. And no Rob. I chase that thought away as quickly as it registers.

"Oh, Maggie decided not to have him back." Jessica smiles, sadly. "One less thing for us to worry about. He'll be back in Monroe Cove putting his feet up." She stifles a yawn. "Unlike us."

"Girls!" Maggie calls to us from the doorway. "Are you ready?"

"As we're ever going to be."

I sprint back to the grotto, leaving Ella and Jessica to welcome the first children. We'll switch in an hour and I decide I'll try and get a minute to speak to Ella. She seems so unlike herself I want to check there's nothing wrong. Bill's death seems to have hit her hard and I admit I'm a little worried about her.

"Ho ho h-oh." George's excitement drops when he sees I'm not a child. "Are there many waiting?"

"Quite a few," I say, grabbing a handful of candy canes and slipping the camera over my shoulder. "Ella and Jessica will send the first one any minute now."

"I thought you were Jessica," George says, vaguely.

There's a rustle by the doorway and we both plaster eager grins on our faces until the curtain parts and Kate steps through.

"Good morning!"

"This is supposed to be a children's grotto," George grumbles.

"And there are hundreds of them squirming to be let in just outside," she reassures him, before turning to catch my eye. My heart sinks and I steer her over to the corner of the room, where we can pretend we have a little privacy.

"What's wrong?" I ask, trying to read my friend's features for any clue.

"Nothing!" Kate pulls something out of her pocket and holds it out to me. "I was just on my way to work and realized I forgot to give you this last night." She winks at me. "Nutella Jollysocks! Can't have you turning up without a name badge!" She glances at her phone. "I'd better run. I'll stop by later, though. And remember - don't do anything stupid."

"Right." I grin and wave her off, before finding my place next to Santa ready to greet his first visitor of the day. It's then that I turn the name badge over in my hand and squint at it, confused. Nutella Jollysocks? Kate said she'd found it next to Bill's body, which might make sense if I'd dropped it when I tripped over him. But if I'd dropped my badge, it would have said Icey Sprinkelcakes. My gaze strays toward the doorway and I imagine the two elves standing just outside it. What had Ella's elf-name badge been doing there?

***

A/N - I hope you are enjoying this fun little Christmas mystery! I will be updating chapters regularly here but if you want to read the whole thing in its entirety for free it is available on my Ream page (see link on my profile page) - sign up as a follower (for free) to keep reading and find out about all my other projects :)