Peppermint Fudge Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 13 by Kathleen Suzette (reading list txt) 📕

When the little boy on Santa’s lap finished telling him what he wanted and got a candy cane, we were motioned forward. I moved along with Carrie’s family as if I was a part of it.

“Ho ho ho,” Santa said. “My, what pretty little girls. You both look exactly alike. How did that happen?”

The girls giggled and climbed up on his lap. After some discussion about baby dolls and what color hair they would like them to have, we stepped back so the replacement elf could take a picture of them with Santa. It melted my heart to see how excited and happy the girls were. I could just imagine waking up on Christmas morning with little ones excitedly running around the Christmas tree looking for their presents. I reminded myself that that wasn’t something that was going to happen anytime soon. Amanda would have a baby, and I would enjoy hers for the foreseeable future.

When the girls slipped down off Santa’s lap, the elf handed them a candy cane, and I stepped closer to Santa. “Excuse me, Santa,” I said and sat down on the empty chair next to his. Mrs. Claus was standing a few feet away and she turned and looked at me in surprise I just smiled and turned back to Santa. “Santa, I have a question for you about a former elf.”

His eyes went wide. He was wearing round rimless glasses and his rosy cheeks had been painted on. “What do you want to know about my former elf?”

“Do you have any idea what might have happened to her?” I glanced at the girls, but they were out of earshot.

He shook his head slowly. “I really have no idea. She worked her shift that night, and I said goodbye to her at the end of the evening. I wish I knew what happened. It’s a shame.”

I glanced at the girls again and saw the line was getting longer. The girls were talking to each other about the candy cane they each got and the baby dolls they anticipated receiving.

“Someone may have mentioned that you had a disagreement with her,” I whispered. “Is that true?”

His eyes went wide again. “Disagreement? Of course not. Why would I have a disagreement with her?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. That was what was said.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “I bet I know exactly who said that, too. I bet it was a certain carousel operator. Well let me tell you, that elf you’re talking about had quite the crush on that operator,” he hissed. “If anyone needs to talk to someone, it’s the police that need to talk to him.”

I nodded and glanced in Sam’s direction. He was focused on the carousel as it was coming to a stop.

“So you think he just made it up?” I asked innocently. I didn’t want to make any accusations of Santa Claus, or anyone else at this point, but I couldn’t imagine why Sam would make something like that up.

He shrugged. “How would I know? Sounds to me like he has a lively imagination.”

I nodded and glanced at the restless kids in line. “So there was nothing unusual about that night?”

The elf on duty turned and looked at me helplessly. I was holding things up, but I had business with Santa.

“Mia, I have a lot of kids in that line. They all want to know if Santa is going to bring them their favorite toy this Christmas. I’m going to be here all night as it is, and I really don’t have time to talk to you about this.”

“I know, and I’m not going to take up more than another few seconds of your time. But tell me, did the elf appear to be okay that night? Was there anything unusual going on with her?”

Before he could answer Mrs. Claus stepped closer to me. “Excuse me, but we have a lot of children to see. Perhaps you could give Santa your gift wish and move on.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Patty George played Mrs. Claus, and I had never liked her. She came into the candy store occasionally and always had a complaint about everything she bought.

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” I said, and I was surprised at the edge in my voice. I turned back to Santa. “Was there anything unusual going on with her?”

He shook his head. “No, nothing that I noticed.”

I nodded “Thank you for your time.” I stood up and tossed Mrs. Claus a look before heading off, following behind Carrie and her family. I couldn’t imagine why Sam had lied, but I was going to have to have another talk with him.

Chapter Ten

I didn’t get a chance to go back and speak to Sam Connor. I didn’t want him to think I was really focusing in on him. Not yet, anyway. And I wasn’t, except for the fact that Lawrence said that he lied about he and Suzanne arguing the night she died. I couldn’t imagine what Sam’s reason would be for lying, if he did in fact lie. There was a possibility that it was Lawrence who was lying, but again, why would he do that?

And did Suzanne really have a crush on Sam? Sam was in his mid-thirties, and he was movie-star handsome. I had never heard anything negative about him, and I had thought he was dating Lori Stanley. But Sam wasn’t somebody I saw regularly so I could have been wrong about that.

“Oh my,” I said looking at the pan of candy my mother held in her hands. “Don’t tell me those are all caramel filled reindeer?”

She nodded. “The milk chocolate ones are. The white ones are filled with peppermint cream, and the cream-colored ones are filled with eggnog cream. Aren’t they cute?”

I nodded. “Those