They were talking about how she died. She’d been suffocated with a plastic bag. At least, that’s what they said appeared happened. Just then, a small piece of plastic bag, what’s usually left when you rip them off the holder, blew across from the Santa house and stuck to my shoe. I shuddered.
“She worked at the store,” Jeremy said. “She was delivering donated cookies to put out for the kids. Looks like she was suffocated with the bag that held the cookies.”
“Wonder why she was the one they sent with the cookies,” Thorn asked.
“She’d volunteered to play an elf,” Dad said. “Pepper was really excited about being involved.”
Pepper. So, the victim’s name was Pepper. I racked my brain trying to think of who I knew that worked at the store. It took me a second to come up with it, but there was an employee at the grocery store named Pepper Howard. I didn’t know her personally, but my brain put the pieces together. It hadn’t clicked into place when I saw her at the sheriff’s station, but it was definitely her. I’d seen her stocking produce at the grocery store a few times, and she occasionally worked as a cashier.
“What are you doing?” Reggie’s voice made me jump so hard that I almost knocked the fireplace cutout over. She reached out and grabbed it before it could topple, though. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Keep it down,” I whispered. “Did they see us?” I reached up and pulled her down so she was crouching with me behind the cutout.
“Who?” she whispered back. “Who are we spying on?”
“Thorn and Jeremy,” I said. “And my Dad too, I guess. I’m trying to get information on the murder.”
“Oh, okay,” Reggie said and smiled. “I’ve missed these shenanigans with you. No, I don’t think they saw us. If they did, they must think we left.” She was peering out around the side of the cutout.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Reggie. “Is everything okay at the shop?”
“Everything’s fine, but all the customers left to see what was going on out at the square. Ursula is manning the empty shop, but she’s on the phone with some guy she met on a dating site. I got bored, but I saw you out here. Figured I’d come see what you’re up to. I’m not disappointed,” Reggie said.
“Oh, good. Okay, well, let’s see what they say,” I said.
We started to listen in again when Dorian’s voice boomed behind us. “What are you guys doing?”
Reggie and I both jumped and actually knocked the fireplace cutout over. Jeremy, Thorn, and my dad whirled around to stare at us.
I offered them a friendly “no, we’re not spying on you” wave. Jeremy scowled. Thorn’s eyes narrowed. Dad mouthed “get out of here” at me.
“Why don’t we go back to the shop?” I said. “We’ll fill you in, Dorian.”
“Good because I need the scoop. Another murder?”
“Yep. Another murder.”
The three of us made our way back across the street, but I noticed my bag was still light. I looked back and Meri was hiding behind the Christmas tree cutout. We hadn’t knocked it over, and he was listening in for me. My little partner in crime. I’d have to thank him with some extra bacon and fresh fish later.
Chapter Five
As we went back into the shop, Ursula pulled the phone away from her ear and covered it with her hand. “Mind if I take this back to your office, Boss?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure if she meant me or Reggie, but I answered. “Sure, go ahead. We’ll be out here if anyone needs anything.”
“Not too long, though. We’re not paying you to chat on the phone,” Reggie called after Ursula, but it was obvious she was joking.
“Oh, but you get paid to hang around in the square?” Ursula snarked back.
Before anyone could say anything else, she vanished into the back of the shop. Reggie took her place behind the counter, not that there were any customers in the store, and I stood on the other side.
Dorian was close enough that he could hear what we were saying, but he’d stationed himself at the window. No doubt he was watching to see if anything happened at the crime scene. He was also jotting down notes and only half paying attention to us.
“So, I heard them say that her name is Pepper and she worked at the grocery store,” I said. “I think it’s this woman I’ve seen there before. Her name is Pepper Howard. I also saw her ghost, and I’m nearly certain it’s who I’m thinking of.”
“Oh, yeah,” Reggie said. “Her full name is Peppermint. Kinda ironic that she was found dead in the Santa house.”
“I’m not sure that’s really ironic,” Dorian said when he briefly glanced up at us before he went back to furiously scribbling notes. Obviously, I’d given him a lead.
“If you’re onto something, you’d better share,” I said.
“Not yet, but it is a starting point,” he said. “Did you get anything else?”
“She was delivering cookies for the kids who visit the Santa house when it opens, and she was suffocated with the grocery bag she’d used to transport the cookies,” I said.
“I think this is the most Christmas murder I’ve ever heard of,” Reggie said.
“It’s going to make an eye-catching headline for the paper,” Dorian added. “I bet it will double my sales.”
“A woman died,” I reminded him.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
“It’s okay, we’ve come to expect it from you,” Reggie teased him.
“Bah humbug,” he returned. “Incoming.”
Before I could ask him what he meant, the bell over the door jingled. It wasn’t a customer that walked through, though. It was Jeremy.
“Hey, honey. What’s up?” Reggie asked cheerfully. “Dropping in for a visit?”
“I need to speak to Kinsley,” he said gravely. “Can we step into your office? Or outside?”
“Well, Ursula is in my office. I can kick
