“So,” I said and kissed Ethan. “What happened?”
He nodded. “She admitted to killing Hailey. Hailey had threatened her, saying she would tell her husband about the affair. And apparently, Hailey took a picture of the two of them with her phone before she approached her that day at the restaurant. So she had proof, and she said that she would show her husband if she didn’t give her a raise. A huge raise.”
“What a little sneak,” Christy said and crashed on the couch. Devon sat next to her.
“Yeah, being a sneak can get you into trouble,” Ethan said and sat down at the other end of the couch. I moved in and sat next to him.
“So it was planned, then?” Boo came and jumped on the couch and snuggled up in my lap.
“Yes, Betty saw the hole that had been dug near the playground equipment when she made her first trip to the park to check out her booth. That was earlier in the morning. Then she called Hailey and had her come later that evening. That’s why everything was in the shadows, and I couldn’t see who it was. It was hot that afternoon, so she had brought Hailey something to drink and put the sleeping pills in it. Then she busied her with wiping down the booth and asking her opinion on how they should set things up. The medication took about thirty minutes to kick in and she offered her a chair when she got drowsy.” He reached over and pet Boo. “When Hailey dozed off, she dragged her over to the hole and filled it in by the cover of night.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. “How did her barrettes end up on the ground like they did?”
“Betty said she had trouble dragging her to the hole. I figure Betty panicked when trying to drag her over to it, and she accidentally pulled them out of her hair.”
I made a clucking sound and scratched Boo’s ear. “What a shame. On both parts. If Hailey had just minded her own business and left things alone, she’d still be alive today.”
“Yes, and if Betty wasn’t so underhanded and had an affair on her husband, then decided to kill the only person that knew about it, or the only person she thought knew about it, she might still be alive,” Ethan said.
I still didn’t understand the business of murder. I just couldn’t imagine a situation so drastic that I would feel like I had to kill someone. I leaned back on the couch and took Ethan’s hand. I was glad the murder was solved, and we’d have more time together.
“Did you happen to bring home any of your mother’s pumpkin spice fudge?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. We sold out of it.”
He leaned his head back. “That’s a shame.”
It truly was. I loved fudge, but especially pumpkin spice fudge. We were both addicted to it, and I wanted more of the tasty confection.
The End
