Candy Crushed

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery

By

Kathleen Suzette

Copyright © 2021 by Kathleen Suzette. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

Books by Kathleen Suzette:

A Lemon Creek Mystery

Murder at the Ranch

A Lemon Creek Mystery, book 1

The Art of Murder

A Lemon Creek Mystery, book 2

Body on the Boat

A Lemon Creek Mystery, book 3

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery Series

Clam Chowder and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 1

A Short Stack and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 2

Cherry Pie and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 3

Barbecue and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 4

Birthday Cake and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 5

Hot Cider and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 6

Roast Turkey and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 7

Gingerbread and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 8

Fish Fry and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 9

Cupcakes and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 10

Lemon Pie and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 11

Pasta and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 12

Chocolate Cake and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 13

Pumpkin Spice Donuts and a Murder

A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 14

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery Series

Candy Coated Murder

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 1

Murderously Sweet

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 2

Chocolate Covered Murder

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 3

Death and Sweets

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 4

Sugared Demise

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 5

Confectionately Dead

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 6

Hard Candy and a Killer

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 7

Candy Kisses and a Killer

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 8

Terminal Taffy

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 9

Fudgy Fatality

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10

Truffled Murder

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 11

Caramel Murder

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 12

Peppermint Fudge Killer

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 13

Chocolate Heart Killer

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14

Strawberry Creams and Death

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 15

Pumpkin Spice Lies

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16

Sweetly Dead

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 17

Deadly Valentine

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 18

Death and a Peppermint Patty

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 19

Sugar, Spice, and Murder

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 20

Candy Crushed

A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 21

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Series

Apple Pie a la Murder,

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 1

Trick or Treat and Murder,

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 2

Thankfully Dead

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 3

Candy Cane Killer

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 4

Ice Cold Murder

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 5

Love is Murder

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 6

Strawberry Surprise Killer

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 7

Plum Dead

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 8

Red, White, and Blue Murder

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 9

Mummy Pie Murder

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 10

Wedding Bell Blunders

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 11

In a Jam

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 12

Tarts and Terror

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 13

Fall for Murder

A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 14

A Gracie Williams Mystery Series

Pushing Up Daisies in Arizona,

A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 1

Kicked the Bucket in Arizona,

A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 2

A Home Economics Mystery Series

Appliqued to Death

A Home Economics Mystery, book 1

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Sign up to receive my newsletter for updates on new releases and sales:

https://www.subscribepage.com/kathleen-suzette

Follow me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Suzette-Kate-Bell-authors-759206390932120

Chapter One

“This place is going to be the death of me.” The older woman dressed as the evil queen from Snow White stood at the front counter and laughed. Her makeup was quite good, and I thought she could play the part professionally at any of the Disney parks.

I laughed. “Don’t say that. We like repeat customers, and if we kill you, you won’t be able to come back.”

She shook her head. “That’s all right. I’ll just come back and haunt you in the next life.”

I chuckled and began ringing up her candy purchases. “Well, I guess there’s that. I’ve never heard of ghosts being able to eat fudge though, so there might be some drawbacks to that.” I looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

She inhaled deeply. “Oh. I had better stick around then. But seriously, you have such wonderful candy at this shop that I can never stop myself at just one or two things.” Her eyes went to the candy she had stacked up on the front counter. I had already cut three pounds of fudge for her, and she had set three foil-wrapped chocolate pumpkins, along with assorted jellybeans, saltwater taffy, and bonbons on the counter.

“We do that on purpose. We know that once we get you through the door, there’s no way you’re going to leave empty-handed.”

She grinned. “You ladies are really good at what you do.”

I chuckled again and finished ringing up her order. “Seriously though, we do appreciate you coming back, and I think I recognize you. Weren’t you Little Miss Muffet last Halloween season?” I remembered her because she did her makeup so well.

She nodded. “I was little Miss Muffet after the spider had gotten me. I love creating realistic characters with makeup. I feel like I missed my calling in life by becoming a librarian.” She cackled with laughter.

“I knew it,” I said and put her candy into a Halloween-decorated paper bag as she dug in her wallet for her money. “You’re really great at doing your makeup. You did miss your calling.”

She grinned as she counted out the money for her candy. “And here you are. And thanks for the compliment. Next year I might be Frankenstein’s bride.”

“I’d love to see that, and I sure hope to see you again before the Halloween season is over.”

She nodded. “It’s a bet that you will.”

She grinned and picked up her paper bag. “Have a good weekend.”

“I certainly will. You too.”

I sighed and looked around at the milling customers. It was the first weekend of the Halloween season in Pumpkin Hollow, and the candy sales had been more than brisk. We had hired some temporary employees to help us out, but we were thinking we probably hadn’t hired enough help. We didn’t mind all the extra candy sales, but it was running us ragged.

Christy sidled up to me. She was dressed as a Gypsy. “It’s crazy in here today.”

I nodded. “You can say that again. I love weekends during the Halloween season. It’s so much fun with everybody dressing up.” I was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. The Halloween season ran from the weekend after Labor Day until the second weekend of November, so this was our first big weekend of the season.

“Oh, me too. I’ve already eaten far more fudge than anybody has a right to, and I’ve got my eye on the orange and vanilla swirl fudge in the kitchen that Mom just made.”

I nodded. “It smells delicious. I might take half a pound home for Ethan after work this evening.”

“Hello,” a young mother said, approaching the counter. She had a set of twins, one in each hand. They were dressed as Thing One and Thing Two and looked to be about four years old. They each had a large swirl sucker in their hand. “I love this place. But I’ve got to come back when I don’t have the Things with me so that I can pick out some more candy for myself and for Daddy Thing.” She winked.

I chuckled. “Yes, you certainly do. I’m sure Daddy Thing would like something chocolatey or fudgy.”

She nodded, glancing into the display case. “You know what? Why don’t you go ahead and get me a pound of the pumpkin spice fudge? He’ll be thrilled with that. But I am going to come back when I can do some more shopping without little fingers grabbing things off the shelf.”

“Little fingers love to grab things off the shelves,” Christy said as she got to work, cutting and wrapping a pound of pumpkin spice fudge for her.

“Oh, I can imagine,” she said, glancing at her boys. “Especially my two.”

I rang up her order and glanced at the little ones. “So, is this what you’re going to wear for Halloween?” The little boys nodded shyly. “You both make the best Thing One and Thing Two that I’ve ever seen.”

The little boys grinned.

“The costumes were easy to make, so we didn’t have to worry about it too much,” their mother said.

“You made them? My goodness, you are certainly a good costume maker.” I don’t have any talent for sewing, so I was duly impressed.

“Thanks.”

I rang up her candy as more people got into line behind her. It was going to be a busy day, and it made me happy to see. There was something about people crowding into the shop during the holidays and buying candy that made me glad. Everybody was usually in a good mood, and it was fun to visit with the customers.

***

I sighed as I went to the front door and turned the key in the lock. It was finally closing time, and my feet were going to be thankful when I got home and took my shoes off.

“Is it that time already?” Christy asked.

I nodded. “It sure is. If we get moving, I bet we can be out of here in fifteen minutes.”

She nodded. “Let’s get moving then.” We headed to the kitchen to help clean up back there. Throughout the day, we had been doing our best to keep the front of the store straightened and the shelves filled in between customers, so there wasn’t much to do out front.

“What can we help with?” I asked Mom from the kitchen doorway. The scent of freshly made fudge still hung in the air.

She looked over her shoulder at me from where she was washing dishes at the sink. “I think just wiping the counters down. There are a few more dishes to wash, and we should be finished.”

“You got it,” I said and headed over to one of the counters and stacked up the dirty mixing bowls, spoons, and other items that she had been using to make candy during the day and brought them to the sink for her.

“It sure has been busy,” Gina said, glancing at me as she headed toward the counter to wipe it off. “I think I’m going to like working here at the candy store.” Gina Callahan was one of our temporary employees, and she had been enthusiastic about the job. She was dressed as a vampire, with her blond hair tucked beneath a black wig. She tugged on her cape as she accidentally stepped on its hem. We had hired several temporary employees this season. We needed the extra help if we were going to survive the holidays ahead.

“Oh, it’s going to get even busier,” Mom assured her. “You just wait. When we get closer to Halloween it’s going to be a madhouse around here.”

“But it’s going to be a fun madhouse,” our regular employee, Linda Reid, chuckled. She was dressed as a witch but had lost the hat to her costume hours ago.

“Well, I can’t wait,” Gina said. “I’ll get this counter wiped down, and we will be ready for business in the morning.” She reached for a dishcloth to begin cleaning when she stopped and pulled her phone from the pocket of her costume. She tapped on the screen and then frowned. “It’ll just take me a minute to clean this place up.” She stuck the phone back into her pocket and got to work cleaning the counter.

At the Pumpkin Hollow candy store, we sold candy both in the store and online, and it had turned into quite an undertaking. Our business had grown so quickly that we almost couldn’t keep up with it.

“Are you enjoying working here, Gina?” I asked as I got to work straightening things up around the order fulfillment center. Our order fulfillment center was really just some shelves and a long table where we packed up orders to be shipped out. I was afraid that we had already outgrown the space even though we had enlarged our store from the original candy store.

“I love it,” she said as she stopped and pulled her phone out of her pocket again. She frowned and then gasped as she read what was on the phone. Then she shoved her phone back into her pocket.

“I hope everything’s all right?” I asked. I didn’t want to pry, but she suddenly seemed a bit concerned about something.

She looked at me and smiled, shaking her head. “It’s nothing. Let me just finish cleaning up this counter so we can all go home.”

We all got to work in the kitchen, and within a few minutes, everything was cleaned and ready to go for the next day’s business.

Mom sighed as she dried her hands on her apron. “Gina, Linda, why don’t you both go ahead and go on home?” she said as she untied her apron.

Gina nodded. “All right. I’ll see you all in the morning.” She picked up her purse from beneath the counter and put it over her shoulder.

"Oh, I like your purse," I said, noticing the bag. It was a large black bag with silver filigrees on the front.

She smiled. "Thanks. I saw it and had to have it. It even goes with my costume."

"It does. You can't go wrong with black," Christy said.

She nodded. "Well, see you all later."

“I’m going to head out with you,” Linda said. “See everyone later.”

They left, and we glanced around the kitchen. It was as clean as could be, and I was as tired as could be. I looked at Mom. “It’s going to be a crazy season.”

She chuckled. “It certainly is. I can’t wait.”

“Me either,” Christy said. “I think this will be a record-breaking season.” We removed our aprons, took one last look around the front of the shop, and headed out of the candy store together.

Chapter Two

“Are you awake?” I was leaning on Christy’s doorframe, my eyes only half-open. Christy and I usually didn’t work the early shift at the candy store because we were late risers. But Mom had an early morning appointment that she couldn’t miss, so we told her that it was no problem for us to go in. At four a.m. At this point, I wasn’t sure what I had been thinking, because I was tired. It was 3:45 a.m., and all I could think about was how nice and warm my bed had been. My husband, Ethan, had been sleeping soundly and didn’t even wake up when the alarm went off. For a moment I considered shaking him to wake him up. I quickly got over the thought, because after all, he was one of the best husbands a girl could ever ask for.

Christy stood in front of me, her eyes half-closed like mine. “Sure. But I guess it depends on what your definition of awake is.”

Christy and I lived in identical little cottages right across the street from one another. She had moved into Ethan’s cottage when he moved into mine after we got married.

“My definition of awake is that you are coherent enough to drive us to work. I don’t want to have an accident.”

She shrugged. “We probably won’t. But you might be taking your life into your hands by getting into the car with me.” She pulled the door closed behind her and, we headed to her car. The candy store wasn’t far from where we lived and had we been early morning risers, it would have been a nice morning to walk. It was still dark out, and Pumpkin Hollow was a safe town. Okay, a relatively safe town. The weather was beautiful. It wasn’t quite fall yet, and the summer was behind us, so it was nice weather in spite of how early it was.

We got into Christy’s car, and she sat and stared at the steering wheel. She was dressed as a pirate, and I was dressed as Snow White.

When she didn’t make a move to start the car, I turned to her. “Maybe you’re not in any condition to drive us this morning.”

She turned and looked at me. “I’m fine. Did you know that tired driving is almost as bad as drunk driving?” she asked as she started the car.

“Thanks. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear this morning.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “I’m awake. I’m fine. Why don’t we pick up some coffee?”

“I don’t think I could make it through the morning without donuts and coffee,” I said. “At least not without the coffee. Pumpkin spice latte. Doesn’t that sound good?”

She nodded. “It sounds wonderful, but Amanda isn’t open yet, so we’ve got to go to the bakery, and they don’t sell pumpkin spice lattes.”

I groaned. My best friend Amanda and her husband Brian owned the Little Coffee Shop of Horrors, and they made the best coffee in town. But she was right. Amanda didn’t open up until five a.m., so we were going to have to settle for either black coffee or vanilla lattes. The bakery didn’t sell a variety of coffee flavors, but it was decent.

The Sweet Goblin Bakery was brightly lit when we got there, and I glanced at the time on the car clock. We had less than ten minutes to get to the candy store and get making candy, but the stop at the bakery was necessary.

When we walked into the store, Angela Karis looked at us and grinned. “Well, good morning, girls. What’s got you two up this early in the morning? I’m used to seeing your mother coming here for coffee, not you two.”

Cheerfulness was not appreciated at this hour. I forced myself to smile anyway. “She had an appointment, so we volunteered to take the early shift. And we desperately need coffee.”

“And donuts,” Christy said, leaning on the front counter.

“What can I get for you?” Angela said with a chuckle. “Everything is freshly made, so you had better get a dozen or two.”

“Two vanilla lattes, and you can put whatever donuts you want into a box. We need a dozen.” Some of the other employees would come in later and would appreciate a donut.

She chuckled. “You got it. Isn’t it exciting? It’s finally the Halloween season again. I swear, it doesn’t come around often enough for me.”

“That’s something that I can get happy about.” Even in my tired state, I was happy about the Halloween season. When you live in a Halloween-themed town, you live for the Halloween season. Not to mention Pumpkin Hollow Days during the summer, but that only lasted two weeks and wasn’t long enough for my tastes.

“I miss the Halloween season,” Christy mumbled, closing her eyes.

“It does feel like it takes forever to come around,” I agreed, looking into the display case. Angela had decorated the donuts for Halloween, and they were adorable. She had the Frankenstein bars, haunted houses, and the witchy brooms. She had also made some hand-decorated sugar cookies cut in Halloween shapes.

“Do you do a lot of business during the Halloween season?” Christy managed to ask her.

“Oh, you better believe it. When people come to town, they’ve got to stop in at the bakery and see what I’ve got. It’s the most popular place to visit in the entire town.”

I almost objected because everyone knew that the Pumpkin Hollow Candy Store was the best place to come for goodies during the Halloween season, but I decided to let it go. It was too early in the morning to argue with anyone. “I love your sugar cookies. Why don’t you add half a dozen of those to the box of donuts?” I said.

She nodded. “I suppose you all are doing a crazy amount of business, too?”

I nodded. “Very crazy.”

She got the cookies and donuts together and then made our coffee, and Christy paid for it.

“See you, Angela,” I called as we left, and we headed down the street to the candy store.

It was always a little disconcerting stepping into the darkened candy store. During the day, everything was brightly lit, and it felt a little lonesome until we got the lights on. We headed back to the kitchen, and I hit the light switch back there. We would turn the lights on in the front when we opened up.

“What do you want me to get working on?” Christy asked as she grabbed a clean apron and tied it around her waist. She yawned.

“Fudge. We need as much as you can manage to make in the next few hours because we are going to sell all of it.” I took a sip from one of the cups of coffee and groaned. I probably should have bought several because I was going to need them.

***

I glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 9:30 and frowned. I glanced over at Linda and Christy. “Wasn’t Gina supposed to come in at nine o’clock?”

Linda stopped stirring the pan of fudge she was making for a moment. “I believe she was. Lisa and Carrie have the afternoon shift. As we were walking out last night, Gina said she would see me at nine.”

That was odd. Gina had only been working for us for three weeks, but she had been a good employee. I had thought about asking Mom if she wanted to hire her on permanently. She was always conscientious about her work and was never late.

“Maybe something held her up?” Christy suggested.

I nodded. “Probably so. I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

“I like working with Gina because she always gets all of her work done,” Linda said as she went and looked over the donuts in the box.

“She’s a good employee,” I agreed, and I heard the bell over the door jingle out front. “I bet that’s her.” I headed out front to see.

I was wrong. It was a local customer, Darlene McGee, with her four children in tow. She looked a bit harried for it being so early in the morning, and she grinned at me. “Morning, Mia. I thought I’d stop by and let the kids pick out some candy. They have been very good and got lots of yard work done this weekend, and they deserve a treat.”

I grinned at the kids. I had known Darlene for years and had watched the kids grow up. She brought them in from time to time and allowed them to pick out some candy when they had done particularly well on their report cards and when they had done extra chores around the house.

“And why does that not surprise me?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

The three youngest kids giggled as the oldest, 11-year-old Nathan, headed over to the chocolate pumpkins. “Mom, can I get the big one?”

His mother shook her head. “No, but you can have a medium-sized one.” She turned and looked at me. “I don’t mind them having some candy, but they don’t need the biggest thing they can find.”

I didn’t blame her. The larger foil-wrapped pumpkin was eight ounces of hollow chocolate. “I know what you mean.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall again and wondered where Gina was. More customers came into the shop, and I went to see if I could help them with anything.

An hour later, Christy came out from the kitchen and looked at me, her brow furrowed. “Still no Gina?”

I shook my head. “I’ll give her a call and see what’s up. I hope everything’s all right.”

She nodded. “I hope so.”

Linda came out of the kitchen. “I’ll wait on the customers for a while if you’d like to go back and make some more candy, Mia.”

“Thanks, Linda.” I followed Christy back into the kitchen. “What do we need to make?”

“Fudge. Always fudge. But first I’m going to take the trash out to the dumpster out back.” She pulled the trash bag from the can and tied a knot in the tie strings and then headed to the back door. “Hey Mia, what’s this?” she called from outside.

I went to the door and looked out, and then I followed her. “It looks like Gina’s car.”

Christy went to the dumpster and tossed the trash bag inside, and turned to look at the car. “That’s what I thought. I wonder what it’s doing back here?”

It appeared the no one was in the car from where I stood, and I joined Christy near the dumpster. “That’s odd.” Something told me this was more than odd. Why would Gina’s car be parked in the back? All the employees parked on the side of the street or on the next block to save space for the customers in front of the store. There wasn’t room in the back for everyone to park, and Gina had never done that anyway.

“This isn’t good.”

I shook my head. The front of the car sat at an angle as if the passenger side tire had been put up on a jack. Maybe she had had car trouble the previous evening, but that didn't explain why her car was back here. “No. I never got around to calling Gina. We’ve been too busy.”

We walked around the front of the car, and I saw part of a black piece of clothing sticking out from underneath it. We both stopped and looked at it.

“What do you think is going on?” Christy said.

I shook my head, and we walked around to the passenger side, and that was when we screamed.

Chapter Three

“So this is Gina Callahan, your new employee?” Ethan looked up at me from where he was squatting next to her car. Her blond hair spread out from beneath the car where she lay, her face pale in death.

I nodded, crossing my arms in front of myself and looking away. Poor Gina. I couldn’t imagine how she had ended up underneath her own car. The passenger side front tire was square on her chest, and it made me ill to look at her.

“Yes, that’s Gina. I can’t believe this.”

He straightened up. “I need you to close the candy store while I investigate.”

I looked at him wide-eyed. “Close the candy store? Right now?” It was Sunday, and it was going to be a busy day with the tourists hitting the town.

He nodded. “Yes, I need to see if there’s any evidence inside the candy store or around front. When was the last time you saw her?”

“Yesterday afternoon. She left a few minutes before Christy, Mom, and I did.”

“She got a text right at the end of her shift,” Christy reminded me.

“That’s true. She seemed distracted by it.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Distracted by it? Or worried about it?”

Christy and I thought for a moment. “I’m not sure,” I said, looking at her.

Christy shrugged. “I’m not sure if I would say that she was worried, exactly. But she seemed a little concerned, and like Mia said, distracted. She didn’t say who it was from.”

He nodded. “Do you know if she was married?”

I shook my head. “No, she wasn’t married. I’m not even sure if she had a boyfriend.” Gina was twenty, and since she was only working part-time and had only been employed by the candy store for three weeks, I didn’t know a lot about her yet. “I’ll go inside and let Linda know that we need to close the candy store. What should I tell the customers?”

He glanced at the open back door. “Just tell them that the police need the candy store closed.”

“That’s going to get everybody talking.” I wasn’t trying to argue with him. I was just a little concerned with how people were going to view a murder at the candy store.

He nodded. “Believe me, everybody is going to be talking. There’s not much that can be done about that,” he said, looking to the end of the alley as two police cruisers drove toward us.

He had a point. With Pumpkin Hollow being a small town, the news was going to get around quickly.

“I’ll tell Linda that we need to close,” Christy said and headed back inside the candy store.

I glanced at Gina again. Her eyes were open, and she stared up at the bottom of her car. She was so young and pretty. I shivered. “It’s awful. Who on earth would do that to her?”

Ethan shook his head as he tried the passenger side door with his rubber-gloved hand. It was locked, so he walked around to the driver’s side and opened it. I followed him over to that side as he peered over the steering wheel. “The keys aren’t in the ignition.”

“This is so weird. Somebody runs her over with her own car, and then they take off with the keys? That makes it hard to get the car off of her.”

Ethan eyed me and nodded. “Yeah. Not that she would have survived the weight of the car on her chest, though. They needn’t have bothered to take the keys with them. They might have dropped them here in the alley, though. We’ll take a look for them.”

Officer Ben Sharp and Ethan’s former partner, Officer Jasper Smith, got out of their police cruisers and headed toward us. “Hey, Mia. What’s going on, Ethan?” Jasper’s eyes went to Gina beneath the car, and he winced. “That’s not good.”

Ethan turned to him. “The victim was run over with her own car. The keys aren’t in the ignition, but they might be lying around here in the alley somewhere.”

“That’s a heck of a way to die,” Ben said, looking at Gina.

Ethan nodded. “You can say that again. We need to block off the alley, and we’re going to close the candy store so we can take a look around and see if we can find anything interesting.” Ethan turned to me. “How was she to work with? Was there anything unusual about her?”

I shook my head. “Not really. She’s only part-time, so I’ve only worked with her a few times, but she was good at what she did. She was easy to get along with, and she was always looking for something to do. Honestly, I was thinking about asking Mom to hire her on permanently.”

He nodded and glanced at the back door of the candy store as Christy stepped outside again. She came to join us and turned to Ethan. “There were only two customers in the shop, and Linda was waiting on them, so we locked the door behind them when they left. I gave Mom a quick call, and she’s coming right down.”

Ethan nodded. “Do you remember anything unusual about Gina?”

Christy shook her head. “No, she seemed like a sweet girl. I can’t imagine who would do this to her.”

Two more police cruisers and an ambulance arrived as Jasper and Ben began blocking off both ends of the alley.

“We don’t need the ambulance. We need the coroner,” Ethan said and headed over to the ambulance driver to let them know.

“What do you think happened to her?” Christy asked me quietly.

I shook my head. “I have no idea. I do wonder about those texts she got last night. She didn’t seem that upset by them, but I could tell that they seemed to bother her a bit.”

“That’s what I thought. But she didn’t seem scared. It’s not like somebody had threatened her. And why would she come to the back alley of the candy store?”

“That’s what I’m wondering. There’s no reason for her to be back here. Maybe the killer hijacked the car and forced her to get out before hitting her.”

“Maybe she was giving somebody a ride, and they got into an argument and they forced her out of the car,” Christy suggested.

I nodded. “I don’t know why it would have happened here, though.”

Ethan walked up to us. “It’s too bad you don’t have cameras back here.”

I glanced at the back door. “We meant to get some set up back here, but we never got around to it.” We had cameras at the front of the store and now I felt bad for not putting one back here.

“We’ll have to get in contact with her family and see if there was anybody that she was having trouble with.”

I nodded. “Are you going to take a look around inside the candy store? She wasn’t even due to come in until 9 a.m. It doesn’t make sense that she was back here at all.”

“Yeah, I’ll start with the candy store so we can get it opened up again as quickly as we can.”

We all headed inside while the other officers searched the alley for evidence. I took one last look over my shoulder at Gina beneath the car. Until you walked over to the passenger side, you really couldn’t tell she was underneath it other than the front of the car wasn’t sitting evenly. Jasper was laying a light tarp over her body. I followed Ethan into the kitchen, where he stopped and looked around.

“So everything was in order when you got in today?”

I nodded. “I didn’t notice anything unusual. Did you, Christy?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. We cleaned up the shop last night, and Gina headed out a few minutes before we did.”

Linda came into the kitchen, and when she saw Ethan, her eyes went wide. “Oh goodness, Ethan. Don’t tell me that somebody has murdered Gina?”

He nodded. “Looks that way. Did you know anything about Gina? Was she having problems with anyone?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t know her well. She hadn’t worked here long.”

“Did she say anything when the two of you walked out to your cars together last night?” I asked.

She thought about it for a moment. “I asked her what she was going to do with the rest of her evening, and she said that she had a couple of errands to run and then she was going to go home and relax. I told her that sounded like a great idea.”

“So nothing that seemed out of the ordinary?” Ethan asked.

She shook her head. “No, nothing out of the ordinary. I just can’t imagine somebody killing her like that.”

He turned to me. “I’m going to take a quick look around the store since you, Christy, and your mom were the last to leave the store last night, and you didn’t notice anything unusual this morning. Then I’m going to go out front to see if there’s anything out there. You can open up the shop if I don’t find anything unusual.”

I nodded. “Is it okay if we get to work making some more fudge? We’ve got a lot of online orders to fill.”

He nodded. “Go ahead. This should only take me a few minutes. But we will be in the back alley for a while.”

He headed to the front of the candy store, and I turned and looked at Christy. “This is not how I wanted to start the first week of the Halloween season.”

“You’re telling me. I just can’t believe it.” She headed over to the industrial size refrigerator and opened it and took some butter out. “Once this gets around, people are going to be flocking to the candy store. I hate to say it, but this could be good for business.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Christy. Don’t say that. The last thing I want is to take advantage of something like this.”

“Me either, but you know how people are. They’ll want to know why the police are out back.”

Christy was right, but I didn’t want to think about that right now. I wanted to focus on finding Gina’s killer.

Chapter Four

The candy store was only closed for a little over an hour before Ethan gave us the all-clear to open up again. Of course, customers were waiting outside for us, and they were full of questions when we unlocked the door. We’d given them the excuse that we had some kitchen equipment malfunction and left it at that. If any of them had gotten really curious and had driven past the alley, they would have seen the police cars, but no one had mentioned they’d seen them yet. I was glad when the day was over, and I could go home.

“What do you think?” I asked as I put the lasagna on the kitchen table. Ethan had just gotten home, and he looked tired.

He glanced at the clock over the kitchen window. It was a few minutes before 9 p.m. “You didn’t have to wait on me for dinner. You could have gone ahead and eaten.”

I shrugged. “I don’t mind. Besides, I had a snack earlier, and I’m starving now.” I went to the refrigerator and got a pitcher of iced tea, and set it on the table. Our black cats, Boo and Licorice, sat beneath the table in the hope that they might get a taste of our dinner.

He pulled a chair out, sat down, and sighed again. “These long days get to me sometimes.” He reached out to the cats and scratched their ears.

“I know just what you mean,” I said. On the days that I went into the candy store at 4 a.m., I had to take a short nap when I got off work. I knew Ethan would be late tonight, and I wanted to be awake when he got home.

“That lasagna smells good.”

I chuckled. “Thank goodness I only had to pop it into the oven. I’m glad you don’t mind frozen lasagna.”

He shook his head and poured iced tea into two glasses. “I don’t mind at all. I just want to eat and get to bed so I can get up early in the morning and get back to work on the case. Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a wheel.”

I sat down across from him. “Have you found anything out yet?” When we had hired Gina, she had filled out an emergency contact form, and we had given the information to Ethan. If this didn’t constitute an emergency, I didn’t know what did.

“I talked to her father, and he’s pretty broken up about it, as you can imagine. I told him I’d be back by tomorrow to talk to him and see how he was doing. He was stunned and had no idea who would want to kill his daughter.”

I nodded as I cut a piece of the lasagna and put it on a plate along with a piece of garlic bread, and handed it to him. “She seemed like such a nice person. I can’t imagine it. Did you ever find her keys?”

He shook his head as he cut into the lasagna with the edge of his fork. “We couldn’t find her keys, and we couldn’t find her purse or her cell phone. I’d like to see what that text was that she received yesterday evening.”

I looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “A woman doesn’t leave home without her purse and her phone. That’s odd that they weren’t there in the car.”

He nodded. “I’m sure the killer grabbed them and took them. I don’t know why they bothered taking the keys, though. That doesn’t make sense.”

“Unless they wanted her house keys. Did she still live at home? Or did she have her own place?”

“She had a small apartment over at that small apartment complex on Black Cat Drive. Her father gave me a key; he said he couldn’t bear to be there at her apartment without her. I stopped by, but I didn’t see anything unusual. I’ll look into it more thoroughly tomorrow.”

“He didn’t mind you doing that? That was nice that you didn’t have to get a search warrant to look through her apartment.”

He took a sip of his tea. “No, he was very helpful. He wants the killer found, and if there are any clues in her apartment, he said that he wanted me to find them.”

I nodded. “Good. I’m glad he’s being helpful.”

“Exactly. I think I can cross him off my list of possible suspects since he didn’t even want to go with me to the apartment to look things over. If he had anything to hide, he wouldn’t have done that.”

“You suspected him?”

He shrugged. “You know how it is. Family and close friends are always the first suspects.”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe for a minute that a parent could do that to their child. Drive a car over them and leave it parked on top of them like that?” I grimaced and shook my head. “Whoever did it is a horrible person. But you’re right, I sure would like to know what those texts said that she got yesterday. Maybe they have nothing to do with the killer, but it would be nice to know for sure.”

He nodded. “Tomorrow I’ll stop back by and check on her father and then go back to her apartment and look through it again. I haven’t found anything of any interest yet though.”

“She didn’t have any roommates?”

He shook his head. “No, it was a studio apartment. The couch made out into a bed so there wouldn’t be room for another person to live there.”

I took this in. “I wish I had known her better so I could offer some insight into her personal life.” While Gina had been a good employee, I didn’t know nearly enough about her. Both Mom and I had a good feeling about her when we interviewed her and she had worked in retail before, so we hired her.

“I don’t understand why she’d be back behind the candy store,” I said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

He nodded. “It is odd. Especially if she was supposed to be at work at 9 a.m. She was dressed in a costume like she was going to work and yet somehow she was murdered back behind the store. She didn’t have a key to the store, did she?”

I shook my head. “No, we don’t give keys out to new employees. And the costume was the same one she wore the day before.”

He looked at me. “So she never went home.”

“I don’t think so. Or if she did, she didn’t stay long enough to change. She could have been going to one of the attractions in town though and wanted to be dressed in her costume.”

“I’ll check around at the attractions and see if anyone noticed her. She may have been there with the killer.”

“That’s a good idea. It may have been someone she knew, and they might have gotten into an argument.”

He nodded and took another bite of lasagna. “This is really tasty.”

I nodded. “One of these days I’m going to make a lasagna for you from scratch. But for now, it’s going to have to be frozen lasagna. Maybe after the Halloween season.” I looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

He grinned. “I love when you cook, but like I said, this is just fine.”

“Have you made any progress on the break-ins?” I asked. It worried me that we had had several break-ins at businesses around town. We normally didn’t have things like that in Pumpkin Hollow.

He shook his head. “Whoever’s doing it isn’t taking a lot, just a handful of insignificant items. It’s almost like they’re doing it for fun.”

“Or they’re just too scared to hang around and take more from the shops?” I suggested.

“That’s a possibility. But if they’ve gone to the trouble of breaking the window, why not take everything you can grab? If they brought a bag with them, they could put handfuls of items into it before taking off.”

“And there weren’t any cameras around?” I asked.

“Most of the shops have cameras out front, but the suspect tries to stay out of the camera’s view, and they’re dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask.”

I shuddered. “I don’t know why, but it seems worse when the bad guys are wearing a ski mask when breaking into shops. They could do anything under the disguise of a mask.”

He nodded. “I’ll get it sorted out. Of course, it might take a little bit longer now that I’ve got this murder case to work on. I’m going to have to give it my full attention.”

“I don’t blame you. Gina’s father needs to know what happened to her. Is her mother around?”

He shook his head. “Her father said that she died when Gina was a little girl, but he remarried.”

“Well, the family needs to know what happened to their daughter.”

“You can say that again.” He yawned and then stretched. “I think as soon as I finish dinner, I am going to go to bed. This has been one of the longest days I’ve had in a long time.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m tired too.”

I didn’t know what happened to Gina Callahan, but I was going to take a look around town and see if I could find anything out.

Chapter Five

A few days later, Mom, Christy, and I decided to drop by the Callahan’s home and give them our condolences. I still couldn’t get over the fact that Gina had been killed right outside the back door of the candy store. We had brought a tin of fudge to her father and stepmother.

Gina’s stepmother, Laura Callahan, smiled when she opened the door. Laura would occasionally stop by the candy store, so we knew her well enough to say hello and strike up a conversation.

“Good afternoon, Laura,” Mom said. “We thought we would stop by and tell you how sorry we are about Gina.”

“Thanks.” Her mouth made a straight line, and she nodded. “Would you like to come in?”

The living room was lightly decorated for Halloween, with a couple of pumpkins near the fireplace and some orange candles on the mantle. We sat down on the couch, and she sat across from us on the loveseat.

“I think we’re both still in shock about Gina,” she said, crossing her legs. “Poor Roger is just devastated.” She shook her head sadly.

I realized I was still holding the tin of fudge. “We brought you a tin of fudge,” I said and got up to hand it to her. “Pumpkin spice. We are so sad about what happened to Gina.”

She took the tin from me and smiled. “Thank you. My husband talked to Ethan, and I know that he is working on the case.”

I nodded. “I know he’s going to do his best to find her killer as quickly as possible.”

“Did Gina mention that she was having trouble with anyone?” Christy asked her.

She shook her head. “I hadn’t spoken to Gina for several weeks. Roger told me she got the job there at the candy store, and I had meant to stop in to see her, but I never got around to it.”

“Gina was a good employee. She was a hard worker, and I was really glad to have hired her,” Mom said.

“Well, at least she did something around there then,” she said and chuckled lightly. “I couldn’t get that girl to do anything around this house.” She shook her head.

“Oh?” Mom said. “She worked hard for me. She was always asking if there was something else that she could do.”

Laura made a face. “I feel terrible that Roger is so devastated over her death. But the girl was nothing but trouble around here.”

“I had no idea,” I said, hoping she would explain.

She nodded, placing the tin of fudge on the coffee table in front of her. “It’s her father’s fault. I love that man, but he spoiled that girl. I have a daughter that’s six months younger than Gina. Morgan Griffith. When Roger and I first started dating, the girls were seven, and he promised me that he would treat both girls the same. He even promised to adopt my daughter after we were married, but he never did it.” She shrugged. “I know he means well, but he favored his own daughter and didn’t keep his promises to me.”

This was interesting. “How did the girls get along?” I asked.

She chuckled. “They fought like cats and dogs. Even though Gina was spoiled by her father, she was jealous of Morgan. Morgan was more talented than she was, and she was prettier. Not that I’m biased.” She laughed. “But the two never could get along, and that’s why Roger paid for that apartment for Gina. She cried and whined until he promised to pay for it. She said she was going to get a job so that she could pay the rent herself, but working part-time at the candy store was never going to be enough money for her to do that.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to come up with something else to say. Laura didn’t seem angry, but she did seem just a little bitter.

She started jiggling her leg. “Gina wanted to be on the cheerleading squad in high school, but she wasn’t coordinated enough, and when Morgan made the squad, it infuriated her. Gina just didn’t have the grace or the drive that Morgan has.”

“I’m sure they were two very different girls,” Mom said when Laura paused.

“Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me that Gina got herself into trouble. Not that I would have ever expected her to be murdered, you understand, but she was a troublemaker. She was always having trouble with other girls when they were in high school. Morgan told me that she was a terrible gossip and snitch, and there were a lot of girls at school that didn’t like her.”

I was surprised by this. Gina didn’t seem to be that sort of person, but I didn’t know her for very long. Maybe there was a side of her that I hadn’t seen.

“Well, she certainly was a good employee,” Mom said weakly. She glanced at me.

Laura smiled and nodded. “I’m sure she was. I’m glad that you enjoyed having her work for you, and it’s a shame that she wasn’t around to work there longer.”

“If you had to guess at who might have wanted to harm her,” Christy said, “who would you say it was?”

Laura thought about this for a moment, and then she nodded. “If I had to take a guess, I would say it was her best friend, Sonya Brock. Even though they were best friends, she was very controlling of Gina. Do you know her?”

I nodded. “Yes, I went to school with her older sister. I remember Sonya.”

She nodded again. “Gina stole her boyfriend about six or eight months ago. The two got into a terrible argument over it. Gina convinced her that he was happier with her and that Sonya needed to just get over it. I think she did it in retaliation for how controlling Sonya was. I don’t know what Sonya was thinking. If it had been me, there’s no way that I would have put up with that.”

“She convinced her best friend that her boyfriend was better off with her?” Christy asked.

She nodded. “Can you believe it? And then Gina had the gall to dump the boy after about six weeks or so. Turned out she really didn’t want to be with him. But that’s how Gina was. She begged and whined and cried for some new toy or something else that she wanted from her father, and as soon as she got the item, she would just toss it aside and cry for something else. Honestly, you have no idea what I put up with over the years.” She snorted and shook her head, crossing her arms in front of herself.

“And you say that Sonya and Gina were still friends after that?” I asked. If what Laura was saying was true, I couldn’t imagine why Sonya would still want to be friends with Gina.

She nodded. “Oh yes. That’s how Gina was. She could be the most hateful person you’d ever met or the sweetest. After she dumped Tyler—the boy was Tyler Jones — she told Sonya that she could have him back because she didn’t want him. Of course, by then Sonya didn’t want him either. She was angry about it. She may have pretended that they were still friends, but mark my words. A woman doesn’t allow her best friend to steal her boyfriend and then be sweet to her and forgive her.”

I thought Laura might have a point. “But did Sonya behave as if she was still friends with Gina?”

She nodded. “Yes. They were going to get an apartment together, but then Gina decided she wanted her own place. I tell you, one thing that made her angry was that her father only agreed to pay for a studio apartment. She wanted a house, and she wanted it all to herself and for her father to pay for it. But in the end, her father finally put his foot down about something and only agreed to pay for the studio.”

“That was generous of him to do that,” I said. Not many parents would agree to pay for their adult child’s apartment when the child could get a job for themself.

“Wasn’t it? He certainly didn’t offer to do that for Morgan. But like I said, Sonya and Gina were still running around doing things together up until a few weeks ago, anyway. I don’t know if they were still friends since I haven’t talked to Gina for a few weeks, but I’m sure that they were.”

“Is there a reason that you weren’t speaking to Gina?” Christy asked.

She nodded. “Of course. It’s because not only was my husband paying for her rent, but she begged him for a new car. I told him that we can’t afford to buy her a new car, but he decided that he was going to do it, and he did. I was so angry. I told her she had no right to beg for a car from her father and then expect him to make all the payments on it. Because believe me, even though she promised him she would make the payments, there was no way she was going to do it. And you know what she did?” She looked at all three of us.

I shook my head. “What?”

“She laughed at me. She said she was going to have her brand-new car, and there was nothing I could do about it. And that’s what happened. So, of course, I stopped speaking to her. I just couldn’t take it anymore. We don’t have the money to buy her everything she wants. She was an adult, and she needed to take care of herself.”

I looked at Laura. She was angry, but I couldn’t blame her. If her father was paying for her apartment and car, her anger was warranted. But why would her father do that? Clearly, it made his wife angry and was causing trouble between the two of them, so why put himself in that position?

“That’s a lot to expect from any parent,” my mother said mildly.

“You can say that again. And I don’t intend to be taken as a sucker.”

She doesn’t intend to be taken as a sucker?

We stayed and talked a while longer, and it made me wonder about Laura. She was angry about her husband and her stepdaughter, and I wondered if she was angry enough to get revenge on her. Perhaps she was sending a message by parking Gina’s car on top of her.

Chapter Six

I took a long, slow sip of my coffee. Christy and I were working the early shift again, and I needed all the caffeine I could get. I made a mental note to ask Angela if she could get gallon-sized coffee cups for mornings like this.

“I might need two cups of coffee this morning,” Christy said, shooting me a look as she drove down the now quiet streets of Pumpkin Hollow. It wouldn’t stay that way for long. The tourists would appear sometime around ten, and things would get busy.

“You’re telling me,” I said. “I left Ethan sleeping in bed, and all I wanted to do was stay curled up next to him. But, candy calls.”

She nodded, and as we got close to the candy store, I squinted. “What’s that?” Something about the front of the candy store didn’t look right, but in the dark I couldn’t tell what it was.

“What’s what?” she said and pulled into our regular parking spot a block away. We walked the block in the chilly morning air to the candy store.

“Oh, no,” we said in unison.

Somebody had broken the candy store window.

Without stopping to think, I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Ethan. His mumbled hello told me he was still sleeping. “Ethan, someone broke the candy store window.”

There was a pause. “What?”

“Someone broke the window at the candy store.” My heart was pounding in my chest, and I could hear my heavy breathing as I spoke.

“I’ll be right there. Don’t go inside until I get there.”

I stuck my phone back in my pocket and looked at Christy. Her eyes were wide.

“Who would break our window?”

I shook my head in disbelief. The jack-o’-lantern lights we had strung around the window lay among the broken pieces of glass on the sidewalk. My heart sank. Who would do this to us?

“Oh no,” Christy said.

My head whipped around to look at her. “What?”

She pointed at the mummy we had had near the front window that was dressed in a wedding dress. Someone had taken her head off and it was lying on the floor next to her.

The sight of the headless mummy made me sad. “Now there was just no call to do that,” I said grumpily.

She nodded, holding her cup of coffee between both hands. “It’s just rude.”

Ethan was here quicker than I thought he could be. He parked in front and jumped out of his truck, his eyes on the broken window glass. “Unlock the door. I’m going to go inside and make sure nobody’s in there.”

I nodded and quickly unlocked the door, pulling it open for him, and he went inside. We stood out on the sidewalk, and I tried to peer into the dark shop to see where he was, but it was no use. We left the lights along the front window on at night, but the rest of the shop was dark.

After searching through the store, he opened the door. “Come on in.” We followed him inside. “Take a look around and tell me if you see anything that’s missing. I’m going to call it in.”

We looked around the shop, and all we could see was that the front window was broken, the lights were torn down, and the mummy had lost her head. Some of the bulk bins of candy had been knocked over, and candy was on the floor, but it didn’t seem like anything was missing.

When Ethan got off the phone, Christy turned to him. “I don’t appreciate them taking Miss Buffy’s head off.”

He grinned. “I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate it either. I’m going to see if I can get some fingerprints in a minute, but let’s take a look at the video from the camera. Maybe we got a clear image of the culprit.”

We headed toward the employee break room. “What are we going to do about the window? We can’t have customers coming in here and seeing that broken window.”

“I don’t know how fast the glass shop can get over here and get it repaired. We’ll have to put up some plywood in the meantime.”

My heart sank. Plywood was so ugly, and I didn’t want that in the front window. “I hope the glass shop can get here immediately and fix it for us.”

The video camera was connected to a computer screen in the break room. I crossed my fingers, hoping the camera was working correctly.

He backed the video up until we saw a dark figure standing in front of the candy shop. We all leaned forward, squinting at the image on the screen. Whoever it was, they were dressed in black and wore a ski mask. They had two bricks, one in each hand, and threw one at the window, followed by the second, knocking out what wasn’t broken by the first. Then the person stepped into the window and did something that was out of camera range, probably taking Miss Buffy’s head off. And then they ran.

“They don’t look familiar to me,” Christy said.

“Me either,” I said, looking at Ethan. “Why on earth would they do that? They broke the window just to break it?”

He nodded and moved the video back so that we could see the figure again. “I’m going to take this with me, if you don’t mind. I want to compare it to some of the other videos that we’ve got and see if this is the same person.”

“Do you think it might not be?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. They seem a little shorter. I’d like to look at them all together and make some comparisons. So nothing was stolen?”

I shook my head. “They didn’t break into the cash register, and if they grabbed a handful of candy when they stepped inside, I can’t tell it.”

He glanced around the room. “You don’t have alarms on this place?”

“We never thought we had to have alarms here,” Christy said with a sigh. “We’ve never had a bit of trouble.”

He nodded. “I think you might need to reconsider that.”

“Maybe they got scared off before they could hit the cash register?” I asked him. “They wouldn’t have gotten much money, but there’s a little bit in there. Maybe they heard a sound, and they left.”

“It’s possible,” Ethan agreed.

“They looked like they were in a hurry to get out of there,” Christy said.

I sighed. “This is terrible. First, there’s a murder in the back of the shop, and now somebody’s breaking in through the front window? What are the tourists going to think?”

He eyed me. “If we can get the glass fixed quickly enough, maybe not many people will know about it.”

I nodded, crossing my arms in front of myself. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit. I wonder if the murder was more about the candy store than it was about Gina?”

Christy looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “Are you serious? How could that be?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just thinking, is all. It’s just weird that we’ve never had any trouble here at the candy store, and now we suddenly have a murder and a break-in in less than a week?”

Ethan turned to me. “I think with the rash of break-ins we’ve had recently, that this break-in is related to that. I doubt the murder is related. At least, I don’t think so. I’ll keep my eyes open and see if I find anything that indicates that they may be connected, but for right now, I don’t think it is.”

I nodded and sighed. “I don’t want to wake Mom up just yet. What can we do about the broken window?”

“You two start cleaning up the broken glass, and I’m going to drive by Devon’s house and see if he’s got some plywood I can use. He’s been doing some work on his house, and he might have some leftover that I can bring down here, and I’ll put it up before I go to work.”

I frowned. “I’m so sorry. You were sleeping soundly when I called you, weren’t you?”

He grinned and nodded. “I was having a wonderful dream. About you.” He leaned over and kissed me.

“Don’t get mushy. We’ve got a mess to clean up out front,” Christy said as she headed back to the front of the store.

He eyed me. “Your sister is grumpy early in the morning.”

I nodded. “She is. So am I. Especially when our front window gets broken like that.”

He nodded. “I’ll see if I can get some plywood, and as soon as the glass shop opens up, you give them a call and see how fast they can get down here and get the window fixed. In the meantime, you’ll have to tell the customers that some kid threw a brick through the window so it doesn’t upset them.”

I nodded. “You got it. And that’s exactly what happened. Somebody threw a brick through the window. I tell you, some people.”

“You can say that again. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I followed him back out into the shop where Christy was already sweeping up the glass. I grabbed a large trash can and brought it over to where she was sweeping and then went to get the dustpan.

“I hope the break-in and the murder are related,” I said when I got back. “Then Ethan will only have to arrest one person.”

“I think you’re jumping to conclusions,” Christy said. “Like Ethan said, there have been a lot of break-ins recently.”

I nodded. They had a point. “Probably so. Mom’s going to be so upset about this.”

“She sure is.”

We got to work cleaning up the glass and taking down the rest of the lights from the front window. This was going to put us behind in our candy-making for the day.

Chapter Seven

In the early afternoon, Christy and I took a walk down the street to my best friend Amanda’s coffee shop. The Little Coffee Shop of Horrors was one of my favorite places to be. Thankfully, the glass shop had a work crew available, and they came down this afternoon and were working on replacing the plate-glass window at the candy store. Mom was beside herself over the broken window. I couldn’t blame her; I was a little beside myself as well. Why would somebody target our store? It’s not like we had valuable merchandise inside to steal. Unless you were really desperate for candy. And our fudge was pretty darn good, so I could see some desperation setting in for someone who hadn’t had any in a while.

When we stepped inside the coffee shop, I inhaled. The scent of coffee hung in the air, and it made me feel warm and happy.

Amanda grinned at us when we walked up to the counter. “How are you two doing today? Pumpkin spice?”

I nodded. “I would love a pumpkin spice latte,” I said, glancing around the shop. There were two other customers back in the corner, each of them looking at their phones.

“Make mine an iced pumpkin spice latte,” Christy said. “It turned out warmer today than I thought it would.”

She nodded. “You bet. We’ve been selling tons of iced pumpkin spice lattes. So what’s up with you girls?” She got to work on our drinks, her hands working without the need to look at them.

I glanced at Christy and then leaned forward over the counter. “Someone broke our window this morning.”

Amanda gasped. “At the candy store?”

I nodded. “Yes, Ethan came and took a look around and helped us to get some plywood put up. But the glass shop is working on replacing it right now.”

She shook her head. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Did they get anything?”

I shook my head again. “No, that’s the strange thing. Why break into the candy store? There’s a very small amount of cash left in the cash register at night, but we don’t have anything other than candy to steal.”

She sighed and poured milk into a cup and steamed it. “I heard they hit the jewelry store, the flower shop, and the appliance repair store. I told Brian we need a better security system for the coffee shop. I don’t know what this world is coming to. I’m not even sure they got away with very much at the other shops.”

Christy leaned against the counter. “At least at those shops they would have merchandise they could steal. But honestly, other than getting a hold of about fifteen pounds of fudge, I don’t know what else they would take from us.”

Amanda sighed. “Does Ethan have any idea who’s behind it?”

I shook my head. “Not yet, but he’s looking into it. And did you hear about the other incident?”

She hesitated and shook her head. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

I glanced at the couple in the back corner, but they were still glued to their screens, and I turned back to Amanda. “One of our employees was murdered. Out behind the candy store.”

Her mouth dropped open. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me?”

I sighed. “I guess we’ve just been so busy down at the candy store that I didn’t get a chance to. I’m sorry. I should have called you.”

“Who was it?” she asked as she put the lid on a cup and handed me my drink.

“Gina Callahan. Do you know her?”

Amanda put some ice into a cup for Christy’s drink. “Sure, I know who she is. That’s a shame. She comes in here two or three times a week and usually buys a peppermint mocha. Doesn’t matter what time of year it is, she nearly always ordered a peppermint mocha. I’m so sorry that she died.”

I nodded. “We are too.”

“Does Ethan think it has anything to do with the break-ins?”

I shrugged. “He doesn’t think so.”

“Do you know anything about Gina?” Christy asked, yawning. “Excuse me. We were up awfully early this morning, and I could really use some caffeine.”

Amanda chuckled. “I don’t know her other than she came in here a couple of times a week. We would always talk for a few minutes, mostly about the weather, and not much else.”

I nodded, and when Amanda finished Christy’s drink, I paid for them and glanced behind me as the front door opened.

Tyler Jones walked through the door, smiled, and nodded at us. “Hi everyone. Fancy meeting you all here.”

“Considering I work here, it shouldn’t be a surprise,” Amanda teased. “What can I get for you, Tyler?”

Christy and I stepped to the side to give him room at the counter. Tyler was tall with dark red hair, and he was handsome. Laura Callahan had said Gina stole him away from her friend, Sonya. I could see where they both would be attracted to him.

“How about the biggest pumpkin spice latte you can make? With two shots of espresso?” He looked at me and Christy and winked. “I need an afternoon pick me up.”

“You got it,” Amanda said and got to work.

“That’s exactly why we’re here. How are you, Tyler?” Tyler had occasionally filled in as an actor at the haunted house and also worked at the haunted farmhouse from time to time.

“I’m doing all right. I got a job working part-time at the carousel just to pick up a little extra money during the Halloween season. The weather sure has been warm. I hope it cools off pretty soon. It’s not Halloween unless we’ve got cooler weather.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I said. “Tyler, did you hear about Gina Callahan?”

He frowned and nodded. “Yeah, I heard she was killed out behind the candy shop. What a shame.”

My heart sunk when he said that he knew that she was killed behind the candy shop. I was still hoping to keep that quiet for now. “I feel bad about it. I don’t know who would do something like that. Didn’t the two of you date for a while?”

He looked at me sideways and then nodded. “Yeah, we dated for a few weeks. It was nothing serious. I tell you, Gina was the kind of girl that seemed nice. At first. But she was really one of those girls that wanted everything her way. It was a relationship that was bound to fail.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “We were sure sorry to find out that she had died as she did.”

He turned and looked at me. “Yeah, it’s kind of weird. I heard she was run over by her own car.”

“I can’t imagine who would do something like that,” Christy said. “Do you have any idea who would want to do something so awful to her?”

Tyler looked at Amanda and then turned back to Christy. “Maybe. If I had to guess, I’d say it was either her stepsister Morgan or Sonya Brock. They were best friends for years, you know, but I think it was more like frenemies than best friends if you want to know the truth.”

“Why do you think that either of them would’ve done it?” I asked.

He smiled. “Like I said, Gina and Sonya were frenemies. I used to date Sonya, and then Gina made passes at me. Sonya and I were having trouble at the time, and we’d split up, so I decided to go out with Gina. It was probably a stupid move on my part, but Gina was a cute girl, and I felt like I was free to do as I pleased, so we went out. Like I said, it didn’t work out, but I know Gina said that Sonya was really angry at her. And as for her stepsister, Morgan? Well, the two of them never got along. Gina was always telling me what an awful person Morgan was.”

“Awful how?” I asked. I needed details if I was going to try to determine who had it out for Gina.

“The two of them used to fight like cats and dogs. Morgan would play jokes on her. One time she cat-fished her online, pretending to be some guy that had an interest in her. She told her he wanted to meet up with her at a restaurant and then just let Gina sit there, thinking she’d been stood up. Morgan tried to make out like it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t funny to Gina.”

“That doesn’t sound like something that I would consider funny,” Christy said.

“Right? That’s what I thought, too. But Gina got back at Morgan whenever she could. She wasn’t nice to her. And Sonya was angry at her for going out with me. I guess I shouldn’t have asked her out. But honestly, I can’t imagine either Sonya or Morgan actually killing her. I’m sure Gina had trouble with both of them, but murder? I don’t know. That seems like a stretch. I hope Ethan finds the killer soon.”

“You can say that again,” I said.

Amanda finished up with his drink, and he paid for it and looked back at the two of us. “I’ll see you all later. Tell Ethan I said hello.”

“I’ll do that,” I said.

When the door closed behind him, Amanda glanced at me. “Sounds like Gina had trouble with both Morgan and Sonya.”

“Sounds like it,” I agreed. “I’m sure Ethan will get it sorted out soon. Well, I guess we better head back to the candy store. We got a late start this morning with the break-in.”

She nodded. “When I get off work tonight, I’ll stop by and pick up some pumpkin spice fudge. I’ve been thinking about it all day today.”

“We should have brought you some,” I said. “I’ll set some aside for you.”

“I can hardly wait.”

We headed back to the candy shop, and I wondered if either Morgan or Sonya were angry enough at Gina to kill her.

Chapter Eight 

The workers from the glass shop were just finishing up when Morgan Griffith walked into the candy store. She glanced over her shoulder at the workmen and then hurried up to the front counter. “Hi, Mia, what happened to your window? Don’t tell me it was broken?”

I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, when we came in this morning, it was broken. Someone came in the middle of the night and threw a brick through it.”

She shook her head. “I’m so sorry to hear that. That’s been going around town, and I sure am tired of it. Honestly, why do people do things like that?”

I shook my head. I was almost ready to leave work for the day, and I was exhausted. “I wish I knew. Nobody deserves to have their business broken into like that.”

She sighed. “You got that right. It makes me angry that people are trying to make an honest living around here, and somebody’s breaking into their businesses. I’m sure the police will sort out who is behind it all, but I sure hate to see it.”

“Thanks, Morgan, I appreciate that.”

She glanced into the display case. “I thought I’d stop by and pick up some fudge for my mother. She just loves your vanilla fudge.”

“How much would you like?”

“How about half a pound?”

I nodded. “Morgan, I’m so sorry about what happened to Gina. I know that your family has got to be really struggling with this.” I watched her face as I said this. Was she struggling with Gina’s death?

She frowned. “It’s been a terrible shock. My poor stepfather is sitting around the house, not doing anything at all. I feel so bad every time I look at him.”

I nodded as I got to work cutting a piece of fudge for her. “I’m sure Ethan will find her killer soon. Do you have any idea what might have happened to her? Is there anyone you can think of that might have had a grudge against her?”

She glanced over her shoulder at the few customers that were in the shop and then turned back, leaning on the front counter. “Honestly? I think Ethan needs to have a nice long talk with her best buddy, Sonya Brock. The two of them may have said they were friends, but they sure didn’t act like it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gina stole Sonya’s boyfriend. And then she turned around and dumped him like unwanted garbage. I couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to do that to her best friend.” She nodded for emphasis.

I wrapped up the fudge. “It does take a lot of gall to do something like that.”

“There were other things that happened between the two of them.”

I looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “What do you mean?”

She lowered her voice. “Sonya got Gina fired from the grocery store. I don’t know that Gina even knew Sonya was the reason she lost her job.”

“How did she get her fired?”

“The two of them worked there together, and Sonya told the manager that she had seen Gina stealing batteries from the store. When the manager did a count of the batteries, they were short. At first, the manager didn’t do anything because he didn’t have any proof, but then Sonya said she saw Gina steal again, and when he came up short again, he fired Gina.”

I stared at her. “Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know for sure. But when Gina went out with her boyfriend, Sonya was so angry about that, and I don’t blame her. I ran into her at the gift shop, and she told me about what Gina was doing. I told her that was as classless as you could get. Dating your best friend’s boyfriend, even if they had broken up, is low. And then Sonya told me that she was glad Gina got fired from the grocery store, and she told me what she had done. I asked her if Gina knew it was because of her, and she said that she didn’t. But I have to wonder if she did, and maybe that was why she dated her boyfriend.”

I stared at Morgan. “I suppose that would make her angry enough to have gone out with her boyfriend. She didn’t say why she got her fired though?”

She shrugged. “She mentioned something about Gina getting better hours at the store. And that she was sucking up to the boss so that she would get better and longer shifts. Her father rented the apartment for her, and she kept claiming that she needed the extra hours so that she could pay her rent, but she never had any intention of paying the rent. Her father paid for it all. My mom told me that.”

I rang Morgan’s fudge up, thinking about this. “So Sonya was resentful of Gina because she got better shifts and longer hours when she wanted them for herself. And then she got her fired, and then Gina dated Sonya’s boyfriend. It sounds like dating her boyfriend was to get back at Sonya.” I wondered if Tyler was aware of all of this when he asked Gina out.

“It does sound that way, doesn’t it? I think it was just Gina’s meanness that made her go out with Tyler. She was that way, you know. It seems like she always knew when you liked something or liked someone, and she would make sure to spoil it for you. Ask me how I know.”

I looked at her. I wasn’t going to let on that I knew she had cat-fished Gina. That was mean, too. “I suppose having grown up with her, you would know a little bit about that.”

She nodded. “I really like her father. I mean, he’s all I’ve ever known for a father. But he always favored her. And it made my mom so mad because he promised that he would not see any difference between the two of us. But honestly, my mom should have known better. Of course a person is going to love their own kid better than someone else’s. And Gina knew how to rub my nose in it. She would make sure that she got everything she wanted, and then she would tell me all about it. She got all the clothes and shoes she wanted. When we were little, she got the best dolls and the best toys. Her birthdays were these big lavish affairs, and for my birthday, I would only get a couple of things and get to invite a couple of friends for a sleepover.”

“That would be hard for a kid to have to live with,” I said as she paid for her fudge.

“You know it is. Little kids don’t understand things like that, and I certainly didn’t. My dad would say that he loved us the same, but I knew the truth.” She sighed. “I guess I sound like a crybaby, but unless you’ve lived without things for so many years, it’s hard to understand it.”

“Oh, I don’t blame you. If I had grown up in a household like that, it would be very difficult for me to deal with. So you really think that Sonya may have killed her?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions. If Gina did know that Sonya was the reason she lost her job, and that was why she stole her boyfriend, then it wouldn’t surprise me if she had killed her. She would know that she was stealing her boyfriend for spite because of losing the job, right? Don’t you think that would send her over the edge? She would have to do something bigger and worse to Gina than she had done to her, wouldn’t she?”

She had a point. One-upmanship could get out of hand very quickly, and maybe that was what happened. “Maybe.”

She picked up the paper bag with the fudge in it. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it was somebody else. But it sounds to me like it had to be Sonya. I just think that Ethan needs to have a long talk with her. Maybe she’ll let something slip. Or maybe she’ll break down and admit that she was the one who did it.”

I nodded. “I’ll mention it to Ethan.”

She sighed. “It’s not going to be the same without Gina around. We had our moments where we were at one another’s throats. But there were other times when things were good between us. We liked the same music, and we did share clothes when we were in high school. We also liked to go hiking, and we loved to read. So there were things that we had in common and that we shared. It’s just going to be so strange without her around.”

I nodded. “Of course it will be. It’s going to be a big adjustment for your entire family. I’m so sorry that you lost her.”

She nodded again. “I better get going. I know my mom isn’t dealing with my dad very well right now. She doesn’t know what to do for him, he’s just inconsolable.”

“Poor thing. I hate to hear that.”

She smiled sympathetically. “I’ll see you later.”

I watched as Morgan left the candy store. What she had said about Sonya and Gina made sense. If they were trying to get back at one another, maybe Sonya had finally lost it and killed her. Or maybe she hadn’t even intended to kill her, and somehow things got out of hand.

Chapter Nine

“Do you know what we need to do?” Christy asked me as we got into her car.

I turned and looked at her. “What?”

“We need to get into Gina’s apartment and take a look around. I bet there’s something there that tells us what was going on in her life before she died. She was only twenty. I bet she still keeps a diary.”

“She may have. But how are we going to get into her apartment? It’s not like we can just break in there and look around. It’s an apartment complex, and somebody’s bound to see us. Besides that, I can’t imagine Ethan trying to explain to the chief that his wife and sister-in-law were caught in the act of breaking and entering.”

“We don’t have to break and enter if we’ve got a key.” Her eyebrows rose.

I shook my head slowly. “What are you talking about? We don’t have a key.”

“Don’t we?”

I knew what she was getting at. I shook my head. “No. No way. Ethan will never give us the key to her apartment. And before you say it, I am not stealing it from him, either. He would never trust me again.”

“Why not? It’s not stealing. It’s just borrowing. Besides, you’re married now, and everything either of you has is community property.” She put both hands on the steering wheel and beckoned to me with her eyes.

I chuckled. “You’re out of your mind. No way would I do that to Ethan. He would be so angry with me. But it is a good idea. I wish there was a way we could get into her apartment.” Short of breaking and entering, we were not going to get into that apartment. Ethan wasn’t going to allow us in there, and as badly as I wanted to get in there, I wasn’t going to take that key from him.

She started the car. “What if we just happen to be passing by and we notice that her father was there at the apartment?”

I looked at her. “What are you talking about? How on earth would we just happen to be there when he was there?”

She grinned. “Laura Callahan came into the store when you were in the kitchen, and she was on her cell phone. She said he was going to be at her apartment at two o’clock. I would bet anything she was talking about Gina’s dad being at her apartment.”

“Okay. Even if you’re right, what are we going to do? Just walk up to him and start asking him questions? Ask him if we can look around the apartment?”

She sighed and backed the car out of the parking spot. “We’ll think about that when we get there.”

***

The apartment complex where Gina had lived wasn’t surrounded by a fence and Gina’s apartment just happened to be right on the corner with the door facing the street. Christy parked the car, and sure enough, the apartment door was open. “Are you sure that this is Gina’s apartment?”

She nodded. “I saw the address when we turned over her next of kin emergency notification to Ethan. It’s number three, and that’s right there on the corner.”

She parked at the curb, and we walked slowly toward the apartment, and Roger Callahan appeared at the door, carrying a cardboard box. When he saw us, he smiled sadly at us. “Hello Mia, Christy. How are you two today?” His words were without enthusiasm, and I didn’t blame him. Christy had parked her car behind a white sedan, and I wondered if it was his car.

“Roger, we are so sorry about what happened to Gina. She was a good employee,” I said. “And a really nice person.”

He smiled sadly and nodded. “She was, wasn’t she? My daughter put her heart into everything she did no matter how big or small it was.”

“It was such a shock that this happened to her,” Christy added. “Is there anything we can help you with? That box looks heavy.”

He nodded toward the white sedan. “I was just going to put it inside my car. Maybe you could open the back door for me?”

“Sure,” Christy said and hurried over to his car, and opened the back door for him. He slid the box across the back seat and then straightened up.

“Thanks. I’ve been in the process of cleaning out her apartment for the past several days. I get started on the packing, but then I see something that reminds me that she’s never going to be here again, and I have to stop.”

“I can imagine that’s got to be an incredibly difficult thing to have to do,” I agreed. “Is there anything that we can help you with?” I wanted inside the apartment. It wasn’t like we could just wander around and start looking through things, but maybe we would see something that would help explain what happened to Gina.

He shook his head. “No, I think I’m done for the day. The lease isn’t up for two more weeks so I can take my time removing her belongings.” His eyes went to the open apartment door.

I nodded. “I’m just so sorry about what happened.”

He nodded and leaned on the car. “If anyone would have told me that someday I would have to bury my daughter, I would say that it was a lie. My daughter was going to outlive me. She was going to give me grandchildren, and I would die at a ripe old age, having witnessed all the hallmarks that a parent lives for. Her graduation from high school, her graduation from college, her wedding. The birth of her children. I was going to walk her down the aisle.” His eyes teared up, and he looked off into the distance.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. I sounded like a broken record, but I didn’t know what else to say. He was clearly broken up, and I didn’t want to push too hard for details about Gina’s life. But we had to find out more information somehow. “We don’t mind helping you clean out her apartment. Or anything else you might need help with.”

“We don’t mind,” Christy agreed.

He waved away the offer. “I appreciate that, but my niece, Lila, is going to help me. The poor girl is broken up about losing her cousin. If you ask me, I think she offered to help me because she and Gina didn’t always get along and she feels guilty.” He chuckled. “If it makes her feel better, then I don’t mind the help.”

I glanced at Christy. “So Gina and Lila didn’t get along?”

He chuckled again. “Teenage girls. What are you going to do?” Then he sighed and smiled sadly at us. “Do either of you have children?”

Christy shook her head. “Not yet.”

He nodded. “Having a child is the best thing that a person will ever do. Bringing life to them and then raising them. And then watching them grow up and live their lives as adults. There’s nothing more rewarding or more beautiful about life. But this part? This part I could never have been prepared for.”

My heart went out to him. How could you comfort someone who had lost a child? “I can’t imagine how difficult this must be,” I said.

He was quiet for a moment, then he turned to us. “I spoiled her, you know. She was my only daughter, and I spoiled her like any proud father would do. I can’t say that did anything to help my marriage though.” He sounded just a little bitter when he brought up his marriage.

“Oh?” Christy said casually.

He nodded. “Not only have I lost my daughter, but I may have lost my marriage, too. And I’m not sure if I care about the marriage.”

I was surprised by this. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure that the death of a child is hard on a marriage.”

“Oh, sure it is, but this is about more than that. We’ve been having trouble for the longest time. But I don’t need to be telling you that, do I? I’m sorry. I’m boring you.”

I shook my head. “No, you’re not boring us. Sometimes it’s good to talk to somebody, especially when you’re going through such a difficult situation.”

He was quiet again, and I was afraid that he wasn’t going to continue, but just when I thought he was going to get ready to leave, he sighed and looked at me. “Laura’s daughter, Morgan, is a wonderful girl. I promised Laura that I would love her as much as I loved my own child. I didn’t realize that I just couldn’t do it. It’s not that I disliked her, and it’s not that I treated her badly, but there was just something special about my own daughter that couldn’t compare to Morgan. I feel terrible about it. I’ve always felt terrible about it. So I tried to pay extra attention to Morgan to make up for it, but I’m pretty sure that she knew why I was doing that. My wife certainly did. And she has never let me forget it for a moment.”

“I think it would be difficult to promise to love somebody else’s child as much as your own,” Christy said carefully. “But as long as you tried and really worked at keeping her from knowing the truth, maybe that’s the best you could do.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what my wife says.” He chuckled sadly. “Maybe I’ve just been kidding myself by thinking that the marriage hasn’t been over for the last few years. And it’s not like she loved my daughter like she loved her own, so what business did she have complaining about the way I treated hers?”

“Oh? She didn’t get along with Gina?” Christy asked.

He shook his head. “Honestly, she wasn’t nice to Gina at all. And every time I pointed that out, she threw up in my face how I didn’t spoil Morgan the way I spoiled Gina. I tell you, we make quite the pair. We argued about everything from day one, and I don’t know how we stayed together as long as we have.”

I was shocked at what Roger was telling us. Couldn’t they have figured out a way to get along? And all the fighting had to have been hard on both of the girls. There was no way they could have missed it. I sighed.

“Well, I’ve got to get going. Thanks for listening.” He went back to the apartment and locked the door, and then got into his car.

I looked at Christy. “So much for getting inside the apartment.”

She sighed.

Chapter Ten

We might not have gotten into Gina’s apartment to look around, but we did learn a valuable piece of information. Gina’s stepmother was resentful of her. And that made me wonder about their relationship. When we had spoken to her right after Gina had died, she hadn’t been overly sympathetic about her death. In fact, she complained about her husband paying special attention to Gina and not Morgan. Did this bother her enough to make her kill Gina in frustration?

The following day was Monday. The Halloween season was in full swing, and we were enjoying the fruits of our labor. Which translates to we were making more candy than we had ever made in our lives, and we were enjoying it. Our aching feet, however, were not so happy.

Thankfully, I had the late shift, and it was late afternoon, and there wasn’t a customer in the store. I was wiping the glass top of the front counter, and Christy was refilling shelves when Lila Collins walked through the door. Lila was Gina’s cousin. She resembled her a bit, with her long blond hair put into a low ponytail. She smiled at us. “Hi Mia, hi Christy. It sure is nice and quiet in here.”

“You just missed the early afternoon rush,” I said. “We’ve been so busy around here we’ve barely been able to keep up with the candy-making. We’re getting a little break now.”

She grinned and nodded. “I bet everyone’s business is picking up around here. I just love the Halloween season. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“Me either,” Christy said as she straightened up. “How are you doing Lila? I know you must be missing your cousin. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

She frowned and nodded. “I just can’t get over it. Gina and I may have been cousins, but we’ve also been best friends since we were toddlers.” She turned to me. “Does Ethan have any idea who killed her yet?” Gina’s father had said the two didn’t always get along.

I shook my head. “Not yet, but he’s been working hard on the case. He’s been putting in a lot of extra hours.”

She stepped closer to the front counter. “I still can’t get over it. She’s gone. Who on earth would want to kill Gina? She was one of the sweetest people I know. I hope the police find her killer and put them away forever.”

I nodded. “It must be terrible losing someone who was your cousin and best friend like that. I’m so sorry.”

She sighed, and it came out sounding slightly melodramatic. “I can’t get over it. Like I said, it’s just awful.”

“We sure were glad when she came to work for us here at the candy store,” Christy said, coming up to the front counter and leaning on it. “Didn’t she used to work at the grocery store?”

Lila’s eyebrows shot upward. “Yes, she did work there for a while. I don’t think she liked it there because she left after about six months. She was so excited when she got the job here at the candy store. She said she was going to eat more candy than she ever had in her entire life.” She chuckled. “Gina had quite the sweet tooth.”

“I do too,” I told her. “I think anybody that works here usually eats more candy than they ever have in their entire life.”

She nodded. “I would love to have a job here. How much more fun could a job be? You get to dress up in Halloween costumes on the weekends during the Halloween season, and you get to eat so much candy. Of course, I might put you out of business. I’ve got quite a sweet tooth, too.”

I chuckled. “Nobody has managed to do that yet.”

“Yeah, I’ve tried, but not even I can eat more candy than our mother can make,” Christy said. “Our mother is a candy-making machine.”

She chuckled and glanced over at the display case. “Oh, your mother makes the best fudge. It smells heavenly. I can smell it through the display case.” She wrinkled her nose and peered into the display case. “Peanut butter fudge has always been my favorite, but the pumpkin spice looks good.”

“This place always smells heavenly,” Christy said, eyeing her. “So, Lila, do you have any idea who might have wanted to hurt Gina?”

She turned back to us and shook her head. “I have no idea. Is it true that she died back behind the candy store? People are saying that’s how it happened.”

I nodded. “Yes, it is true. It was awful, discovering her body like we did.”

She groaned. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to see her that way. Is it true that she was run over by her own car? I didn’t want to ask my uncle for the details. He’s so distraught over losing her.”

I nodded. “It is true. Who would be so awful as to do something like that?” I wondered about Lila. Why didn’t she seem more upset over her cousin’s death? Her demeanor didn’t match the words she spoke. She seemed almost happy. Was there a reason for that? Had Lila had something to do with her death? Christy shot me a look, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. If Lila had killed her cousin and best friend, she wasn’t giving anything away. There wasn’t a hint of guilt on her face, but then, maybe she didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for killing her? I had a sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly what had happened to Gina.

She sighed. “I wish I knew who would do that to her. I hope your husband finds whoever it was and puts them away for the rest of their lives. That’s what they deserve. Life in prison.”

“California has a death penalty,” Christy tossed out at her. “I think the killer deserves the death penalty. Don’t you?”

Lila’s face went pale. “Yes, I suppose that would only be right, wouldn’t it? An eye for an eye?”

Christy nodded. “That’s the way I see it.”

I glanced at Christy and then turned back to Lila. I was getting ready to ask her something else when she shifted the big black handbag on her shoulder. And then I saw it. The purse on her shoulder was Gina’s. It had the same silver filigrees on it. I glanced at Christy and cut my eyes to the bag, but Christy furrowed her brow at me, not understanding what I was saying. I turned back to Lila. “Is there something we can help you with, Lila? Would you like some fudge?”

She glanced back at the display case again and then bent over to look into it. “You know, that pumpkin spice fudge does look good. And since it is pumpkin spice season, maybe I should get some of that? Or maybe I should try some of the cinnamon spice fudge? I had some of that during Pumpkin Hollow Days, and it sure was tasty.”

“Why don’t you get a piece of each?” I asked. “Then you don’t have to decide.”

She straightened up and chuckled. “Now you’re being silly. That’s way too much fudge. I’m going to gain weight if I eat that much, and I’m going to be a bridesmaid in my cousin’s wedding next month.”

“We don’t want you to gain weight, or you won’t be able to wear your bridesmaid dress,” Christy said, her eyes on Lila. Then her eyes went to the handbag over Lila’s shoulder, and her eyes widened. She looked at me, and I gave her a slight nod of my head.

“Lila, that sure is a pretty handbag you’ve got there. I love it.”

Lila looked down at the handbag and then back at Christy and smiled, but if I wasn’t mistaken, the smile looked forced. “Thank you. My mother bought it for my birthday last month. I love a nice roomy handbag.”

“I do too,” I said. “It’s lovely.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“How about that fudge?” I asked.

She stared at me for a moment longer than was necessary, and then she shook her head. “You know what? I just forgot that I was supposed to be someplace. I’m late. I had better get going. I’ll stop back in for the fudge tomorrow or the next day. It was nice catching up with you girls.”

Christy and I stared at her as she hurried from the shop, and I turned and looked at Christy. “She had Gina’s purse.”

Christy nodded. “She sure did. You need to call Ethan right now and let him know that she’s the killer. I can’t believe it. She stole her purse.”

“Of all the low things to do. First, you run over your cousin with her car and leave it on top of her, and then you steal her purse.”

“Do you suppose they got into an argument over the purse? Maybe she tried to steal it from Gina, but Gina caught her, and then they argued, and then Lila ran her over with her car.”

I gazed at Christy. “How would she get the keys from Gina? Why would she have been behind the wheel to begin with?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Did Ethan get the fingerprints back yet?”

“He’s still waiting for them. They were cousins and best friends, so you know that Lila rode in her car with her, and her fingerprints have to be inside of it.”

She sighed. “You’re wasting time. Call Ethan.”

I nodded, pulling my phone from the pocket of my jeans. Lila killed Gina. I was sure of it.

Chapter Eleven

“I love this time of year,” I said as we stood in line and for the carousel. In the town square, there was a large, old-fashioned hand-painted carousel that was lit up from top to bottom. It was a mild evening, and it felt good to be outside. I took hold of Ethan’s hand and squeezed it.

He grinned at me. “I love this time of year, too. And I can’t wait for colder weather.”

I looked toward the head of the line, hoping it would be our turn soon, then turned back to him. “You do like the snow, don’t you?”

He nodded. “I sure do. I haven’t gone snowboarding in forever, and I’ve been thinking about it for the past several days.”

I nodded. “It would be nice to get away for a few days. Maybe when it snows, we can go to one of the cabins out by the lake, and you can go snowboarding.”

He grinned. “Now you’re talking. We need some time away.”

We inched up in line a few more feet, and then the carousel came to a stop, and the riders exited the ride. In a few moments, we were allowed to get on the carousel, and Ethan handed our tickets to the attendant, and I found a bench, and we sat down together on it.

“This was one of my favorite attractions when I was a little girl,” I told him.

He nodded. “I liked it when I was a kid, too. Me and my buddies would try to sneak up on the backside and get on without paying, but we usually got caught.”

“Sounds dangerous for little boys to be doing that,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “Well, I suppose it wasn’t the safest thing to do. What can I say? We were little boys.”

I grinned as riders around us got onto the horses. Each horse was hand-painted and was an antique. There was a bench that faced us, but it was empty, and I was glad. I just wanted to be alone with Ethan for a while.

“How’s the investigation going?”

He sighed. “It’s going nowhere. The fingerprints from the car came back, but like I said before, there were a lot of them, and most belonged to Gina. The killer could have worn gloves when they got inside.”

“But they wouldn’t have time for gloves if it was a spur of the moment thing. Only if it was planned. Whose fingerprints are on the steering wheel and the driver’s side door handle?”

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “Well, there were lots of Gina’s prints, and her father’s, her stepmother’s, Sonya’s, and a bunch of smudged ones.”

“So most of them are from people she knew and saw regularly,” I said thoughtfully. “If they had worn gloves, would they have smeared all the fingerprints that they touched?”

“It’s possible. But not necessarily. It would depend on what kind of gloves they were wearing. There were a lot of smudged ones, but that in itself isn’t unusual. When somebody drives a car, they move their hands around the steering wheel, and they could smudge them that way.”

I nodded. “What about her cousin Lila?” I whispered as the carousel began to move.

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “Her cousin? Why?”

“I swear that she had Gina’s purse when she came into the candy store today.”

He paused. “Are you sure it was hers?”

I hesitated. “I guess I can’t swear to it. You never found Gina’s purse, right? What about the keys to the car and her phone?”

He shook his head. “No, I never found the keys or the phone, either. I would love to know what that text said that she received before she left work the night before she died. But you’re not sure about the purse Lila had?”

I thought about it a moment, picturing the purse I had seen Gina carrying. “If it wasn’t her purse, it sure was very similar to it. And the strangest thing was that when I complimented Lila on it, she looked at it, and then all of a sudden she turned around and left the candy store without buying anything. She said she had an appointment that she forgot. She left abruptly.”

“Really? That’s odd. Why would she go into the candy store and then not buy anything?”

There was a breeze tonight, and I tucked my hair behind my ear to keep it out of my face. “That’s what Christy and I thought. Have you talked to her about Gina’s murder?”

He shook his head. “No, I haven’t talked to her. Maybe I’ll give her a call and see what she has to say.”

“What about the person that’s been breaking into the local businesses? Have you found out anything yet?”

He shook his head and sat back on the bench. “Not yet. We haven’t been able to catch them in the act. They’re breaking the windows and then running off pretty quickly without taking much. It doesn’t make sense.”

“When you compared the video from the candy store to the other videos, did it look like it was the same person?”

“I think so, but it’s hard to tell. Most of the videos I have aren’t very good, and they’re always wearing black and a ski mask. Whoever it is, seems to be doing it just because they can. If they were doing it for money, they would look for valuable items in the shops.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense. Why bother breaking the windows of the businesses and then not getting much? Maybe they’re afraid of getting caught? Maybe they’ve never done this sort of thing before and they’re trying to get their nerve up to taking something more valuable?” I looked at him for his reaction.

“It’s possible. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. With Pumpkin Hollow being as small as it is, it’s probably somebody that has gotten desperate for money, but they’re too scared to stick around for long once they break the windows. They know they’re setting off the alarm, and they’ve got to get out of there before the police show up.”

“Well, I’m glad that it was just something random that happened then.”

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “What do you mean? Did you think it wasn’t random?”

I turned back to him and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess the thought crossed my mind that it was intentional. I mean, that they were targeting us and not just looking for a random business to break into.”

He nodded. “I have a feeling it’s a teenager just out looking for trouble. He seems to be a loner because we never catch more than one person on any of the security cameras, and I have to wonder if he’s just some troubled kid looking for something to do.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if that was it.” I tipped my head back, enjoying the cool evening breeze. There were lots of people out, and the kids were enjoying riding the carousel horses. I turned to look at Ethan. “We should have got on a horse.”

He grinned. “Those are fun. But we’ve got plenty of time left in the Halloween season to come back and ride a carousel horse.”

I yawned and covered my mouth. “Excuse me. These early mornings are getting to me.”

“Me too,” he said and leaned over, resting his head against mine. “I miss seeing you when I put in all these extra hours. I like getting home early enough to spend time with you.”

“I miss you too. I just hope that you can catch Gina’s killer soon. Then we can enjoy the Halloween season together.”

“I’m doing everything I can. I hope that you and Christy aren’t getting into trouble snooping around?” He sat up and looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

I gasped in mock horror. “What are you talking about? We would never be snooping around or getting into trouble. You know us better than that.”

“That’s the trouble. I do know you better than that. I need you two not to stick your nose into things, please.”

I nodded and looked away. “We’ll try not to get into any trouble. I just feel like with Gina dying in the back of the candy store, we need to do what we can to help solve this crime.”

“I need to do what I need to do to solve this crime,” he corrected.

“Fine. You need to do what you need to do to solve this crime. But if I hear something, it’s not like I’m going to ignore it or close my ears to it.”

“Of course not. I would expect nothing less.”

I watched as the carousel went around and around. There was something about the Halloween season and riding the carousel that made me happy, in spite of Gina’s death and the shop window being broken. The town center was decorated for the holiday with orange and black lights strung around the light poles and piles of pumpkins near the entrance to the carousel. There were also some life-size motion-activated characters near the entrance, a witch, a vampire, and several ghosts, much to the children’s delight. I had called this town home most of my life, and I never wanted to leave.

Chapter Twelve

“I love the smell of this place,” I said, inhaling as we walked into the Little Coffee Shop of Horrors.

Amanda was behind the front counter, and she chuckled. “You have no idea how many times I hear that throughout the day.”

“Sorry, I guess I’m being redundant. How are you doing, Amanda?” Christy and I headed up to the front counter.

She nodded. “I’m doing great. We saw you and Ethan at the carousel last night, but I was talking to some friends, and by the time we got done we didn’t see you.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” I said. “Did you take Isabella on the carousel?” Amanda and Brian’s daughter was a full-fledged toddler now, and she kept them busy running after her. I wished I had gotten to see her ride the carousel.

She nodded. “She loved it. Brian stood beside her and held her on one of the horses, and she just laughed and laughed. She thought it was the best thing ever.”

“Oh,” Christy and I said in unison.

“I wish we would have run into you. I would have loved to see that.”

She nodded. “We’ll have to make it a date one night and take Isabella around to the different attractions. Or at least the ones that won’t scare her.”

“Well, don’t forget about me,” Christy said. “That baby girl is one of my favorite people. We’ll make it a triple date plus one.”

Amanda chuckled again. “I know, she’s one of my favorite people, too. What can I get for you girls?”

I didn’t even bother looking at the menu board. “Do you have to ask? I’d like a pumpkin spice latte, please.”

“You got it. And for you, Christy?”

Christy did look up at the menu board. “You know what? I think I’m going to do something a little different. How about one of those caramel pumpkin spice lattes? I want to be daring today.”

Amanda nodded. “You got it.” She got to work making our lattes, and I glanced around the shop. There were several customers at different tables, and I noticed Laura Callahan sitting in a far corner with a cup of coffee in front of her and looking at her phone. I nudged Christy and nodded. Christy looked over at her and nodded back.

When Amanda made our drinks, we paid for them and headed over to a table next to Laura’s.

“Oh, it feels good to get off my feet,” I said loudly, setting my coffee on the table and taking a seat.

Laura looked up at me when I spoke and smiled. “Hello, Mia and Christy. What are you two up to today?”

“We had to take a break and get off our feet for a few minutes,” Christy said, sitting next to me. “It’s been crazy busy at the candy store. What are you up to, Laura? How have things been going?”

She shrugged. “I guess they’re going all right. I just love the fall and the Halloween season. I’m looking forward to it.”

I was a little surprised that she seemed light-hearted and almost happy.

“Oh, me too,” I said. “There’s nothing like fall in Pumpkin Hollow to get the holidays started off right.”

She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at me again. “Has Ethan figured out who killed Gina yet?”

I shook my head. “If he has, he hasn’t said anything to me about it. He’s been putting in an awful lot of hours looking into her death. Now that you’ve had some time to think about things, is there anything that’s occurred to you that you may not have thought of in the beginning? Anything that might point to her killer?” Ethan wouldn’t like me asking that, but it seemed odd that her mood seemed so light. Shouldn’t she be grieving at least a little?

She shrugged and took another sip of her coffee. “No, not really. Gina got on somebody’s nerves, and they killed her. Had she been a nicer person, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I was shocked. “Really?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. How could she say something like that about her stepdaughter? Even if they hadn’t gotten along, I would think she would be sad, if just for her husband’s sake.

She chuckled. “I sound terrible, don’t I? But you didn’t have to live with that girl. Honestly, as much as I hated that her father was paying for her apartment, I sure was glad that she moved out of our house. If I didn’t think about the money she was siphoning off of her father, we actually got along better with her gone.”

Christy and I stared at her. It was hard to know what to say to this. “I guess it can be tough living with somebody that you really don’t like.”

She shrugged. “You do what you have to do. It’s just the way it is.”

“How did you get along with the rest of Roger’s family?” I asked. I wanted to know if she would bring up Lila’s name and if she had anything to say about Gina’s and Lila’s relationship.

“I guess we got along all right. Everybody tended to keep their nose out of our business, so everything was good that way.”

“What about Lila?” Christy blurted out. “How did Lila and Gina get along?”

Laura’s eyes went to Christy. “Those two? They fought like cats and dogs. Like I told you, Gina’s father spoiled her all the time. And Lila’s father was a good for nothing. He couldn’t hold a job, and the family moved from house to house because they were always getting evicted. Sometimes they’d live off of other family members for a little while until they got tired of it, and then they would kick them out. As a result, Lila never had anything nice. I can remember when they were little girls, and she would come over to visit. Gina and Morgan would have their dolls, and they would be the newest dolls of the season, and Lila would have a dirty rag doll or one of those soft body dolls with the plastic heads, and there would be stains all over it. I felt sorry for her, and sometimes the girls would get into a fight because Lila wanted to play with one of their dolls.”

“That’s just sad,” Christy said. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for Lila when she was growing up, especially since her cousins had so much more than she did.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose it was difficult for her. I always tried to buy her something for her birthday and Christmas that I knew she wouldn’t be able to get from her parents. I don’t know what Roger’s sister ever saw in that worthless husband of hers, but they’re still together, and they’re still struggling financially.”

Now this made me wonder. Was Lila so jealous of her cousin that she killed her? What would set her off? If she was used to Gina having everything she ever wanted, while she had nothing, did it all just build up, and she lost her temper and killed her? Or was it something else?

“So life was difficult for Lila?” I asked carefully and took a sip of my coffee.

She nodded. “Yeah, life was difficult for Lila. I always felt sorry for her, but I didn’t feel sorry for her mother. She chose that man, and then she chose to stay with him, even though he didn’t attempt to better himself or do better for the family. Lila would come over and play with the girls, and it usually erupted in a tantrum and a meltdown from Lila. She was so angry and frustrated about not being able to have nicer things. Sometimes I would go through the toys the girls had outgrown and give them to Lila. But then her mother would get angry, and she would throw the toys away. She said she didn’t need our hand-me-downs, so I stopped doing it.”

“Well, that’s sad for Lila then,” I said. “She probably would have appreciated those toys.”

“That’s what I said. I couldn’t understand it.” She shook her head and took a sip of her coffee. “Seems a shame that the child had to suffer for the mother’s mistake.”

I wondered if Laura spoke this way about all of Roger’s family. I could see where she would be unsympathetic toward Lila’s parents if they really weren’t trying to do better for their family, and it did make me wonder.

“How is Roger doing?” I asked her.

She shrugged and sighed. “You know how it is. He lost his daughter, and he’s devastated. There’s really not much I can do to cheer him up.”

“No, I wouldn’t imagine there would be anything that you could say or do that would help ease the pain of losing a child,” I said.

“Nope,” she said.

“So I take it that you and Gina didn’t get along either then,” Christy said. “Since you were glad that she moved out, I mean.” I was surprised that she said it, and I held my breath.

She laughed. “Aren’t you astute? Yes, we couldn’t stand one another. Gina would scream at me, saying, you’re not my mother. If I heard that one time, I heard it a thousand times.” She chuckled again and shook her head, then took another sip of her coffee. “Honestly, I didn’t want to be her mother. I just wanted her father to be a better father to my daughter.”

All of this made me feel sorry for the family. Both parents wanted something that they could never have, and the kids wanted something else. In the end, nobody seemed happy about anything and it made me wonder if that was why Gina ended up dead. With everybody unhappy with their lot in life, that unhappiness would build up over time.

Chapter Thirteen

“What’s that you’re making, Mom?” I asked as I went to the kitchen counter to take a look.

She turned and looked at me, grinning. “I’m making orange pumpkin marshmallows. But look, I’m stacking them on top of each other. What do you think?”

“I think they look delicious,” I said. She had made a larger one on the bottom, a medium size in the middle, and then a small one on top and then drawn on jack-o’-lantern faces in royal icing. My mother made the best homemade marshmallows in the world.

“Thanks. I thought they were cute, and I thought I would do something a little different.”

“I think you’ve got a winner there,” I said. “You did a great job shaping the pumpkins, too. I wish I could make candy as cute as you do.”

“I used a mold,” she said and elbowed me. “I’m not that good at shaping marshmallows.”

I chuckled. “Well, you’re very good at making marshmallows. They’re always tasty.”

“Thanks. I’m glad you approve.”

I headed over to where Christy was packing up orders to go out. A couple of our temporary employees were out front waiting on customers, so I grabbed an order off the printer. “I hope you’ve got a lot of pumpkin spice fudge.”

Mom nodded. “I made so much pumpkin spice fudge I thought I would scream this morning. Hopefully, it will be enough to get us through the day.”

“I hope so too,” I said and grabbed a tin to put a pound of pumpkin spice fudge into.

We all looked up as Linda hurried into the kitchen. When she saw us, she stopped. “Oh. You’re all back here.”

“It’s our favorite place to be,” Christy said.

She smiled. “Of course. Say, what are we making today?” She asked as she went to put her purse away so she could get ready for her shift.

“Pumpkin spice fudge,” I said. “And some cute little jack-o’-lantern marshmallows that Mom’s working on.”

She came out of the employee’s break room, tying an apron around her waist. “That sounds like fun. There’s nothing like homemade marshmallows.”

“I’ve also made some dark chocolate jack-o’-lanterns with a creamy orange filling. I think they turned out well,” Mom said, turning to her.

Linda nodded and stood and watched Mom work on the marshmallows.

“How many more orders have pumpkin spice fudge on them?” I asked Christy.

She shrugged. “Probably a lot more than we have fudge for. We’re going to have to hire some more temporary employees, I think.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

Mom turned and looked at Linda. “Did you need something, Linda?”

Linda’s forehead furrowed. “Ann, there’s something that I need to tell you.”

Christy and I stopped and looked at Linda. Whatever it was that she needed to say, it appeared serious.

Mom turned, her brow furrowed. “What’s that?”

“You ever heard of the Small Business Corral?”

Mom shook her head. “No, I don’t think I have. Why?”

“Well, it’s this new website, well maybe not that new, but it’s where people leave their reviews of small businesses. Usually, it’s a lot of small businesses that operate on the web and not just local ones.” She looked at Mom.

“Oh. That sounds nice.”

Linda nodded. “Yes, well it’s not so nice.”

Mom shook her head. “What do you mean?”

Linda looked at me and Christy and then turned back to Mom. “Well, you see, there have been some reviews left for the candy store there.”

“Oh? That sounds like fun. I’ve never heard of that website. I’ll have to take a look at it and see what the reviews have to say.” She turned and looked at us and smiled, and then turned back to Linda.

“Oh, you might not want to do that,” Linda said and glanced at us again. “You might just want to leave that site alone.”

Mom frowned. “What do you mean?”

Linda sighed. “My sister called me last night, and she pointed out that there were some reviews for the candy store. And they weren’t good ones.”

Mom shook her head slowly. “What do you mean? Why? What did they say?”

Linda took a deep breath. “They complained about the quality of the candy. They said that the candy was stale when it arrived. And then another one said that they lived here locally and that we were rude to them when they came into the candy store. I don’t believe it. I don’t know why somebody would say things like that because I know it isn’t true. We only ship the freshest candy, and I’ve never seen anybody be rude to a customer.”

Mom’s mouth dropped open for a moment, and then she closed it. “Well, sometimes people expect more than you’re able to give. I’m sure that these reviews will be pushed down by good reviews. Right?”

Linda looked at her. “There are only the negative ones right now. There are five 1-star reviews.”

“And there aren’t any good ones?” I asked. That didn’t seem right.

Linda shook her head. “No, it appears that we weren’t on anybody’s radar until these people became unhappy and left negative reviews.”

“Wait a minute,” Christy said, putting her hands on her hips. “Do you mean to tell me that there are only five reviews, and every one of them is negative? That is impossible. We make darn good candy. We make the best candy around.”

Linda nodded. “I know we do. I don’t doubt that for a minute. But somebody is unhappy with us.”

“Were they all left by the same person?” I asked. Somebody might have become unhappy with a shipment. Like Mom said, some people expect more than we’re able to give, and I wasn’t going to worry about one person leaving five negative reviews.

She shook her head. “They all have different names.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” I said and went to the laptop that we used to pull up our orders and print them, and I searched for the website she was talking about. Then I searched for the candy store, and sure enough, there were five negative reviews. I sighed. “It doesn’t make sense. These are all very recent reviews, and there’s not one good review.”

“Maybe they’re just having trouble getting all the reviews loaded,” Mom said. “Maybe the positive reviews will come up later.”

“Maybe,” I said doubtfully. I didn’t think that was the problem. It felt more like somebody was trying to give us a bad reputation. As I sat there and looked over the reviews again, an email popped into our inbox, and I went to it and clicked on it. And then I gasped. The email said that we were a terrible candy store and that they were going to make sure that we were closed down. It was sent from a free email provider, and I was sure that Sue Smith was not this person’s real name.

“What is it?” Mom asked as she came over to stand beside me. Christy stood on the other side of me, and they both read the email.

Mom shook her head slowly, and I could see the shock in her eyes. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would somebody want to do that?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Christy said. “I’d like to know who thinks that they’re going to cause trouble for us because that is not going to happen.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said. And then I thought about the broken window. And then, of course, Gina’s death. Was the same person doing all of this? But it didn’t make any sense, did it? What would Gina’s death have to do with somebody that wanted to run us out of town? Maybe it was somebody that wanted to open their own candy store, and they knew that they would have competition with us in business.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mom said haltingly. “I’ve never had any trouble from anybody here in town.”

“I think we should just ignore it,” I said. “I think it’s just somebody trying to intimidate us. I bet somebody wants to open up a rival candy store, and instead of just opening it and doing things on the up and up, they’re trying to intimidate us and make us close up shop.” I hoped that was it. I would have to show this to Ethan and see what he thought.

“Maybe after harassing us, they intend to make an offer to buy the candy store,” Christy said. She looked at me. “Well, it’s not going to happen. We’ve been here for almost eighty years, and we aren’t going to let anyone push us around.”

Mom looked stricken as she nodded and headed back over to her marshmallows. “I thought people were happy with our candy.”

“Of course they are, Mom,” I said. “You know they are. We make the best candy around, and that hasn’t changed. And it’s not going to.”

I glanced at Christy, and she looked at me questioningly. I didn’t know who was doing this, but I was going to get to the bottom of it.

Chapter Fourteen

The negative reviews on the Small Business Corral had really gotten to me. I worried and tossed and turned all night. Ethan had assured me that it didn’t mean a thing. Maybe somebody was trying to get back at us for something. Maybe somebody was going to open another candy store in town. And maybe they were honest reviews, and they just didn’t like our service or candy. It was a possibility, wasn’t it? I couldn’t imagine it, but there was no way to know for sure right now.

The next morning, I walked over to the bakery to buy some donuts for the crew at the candy store. I was going to grab some vanilla lattes as well, because what are donuts without coffee? In spite of the negative reviews, we’d had a lot of orders come in online overnight, and we were probably going to work extra hours today.

Angela looked up at me as I walked through the door, and I smiled at her. “Good morning, Angela. Everything smells wonderful in here, as usual.”

She nodded. “It always smells wonderful in here, doesn’t it? I never get tired of the smell of donuts, cakes, and cookies. I’ve got a terrible sweet tooth I guess, and it smells like a little piece of heaven to me.”

I chuckled and leaned on the front counter. “I’m the same way. Every time I walk into the candy store, it smells like heaven.”

She nodded. “What can I get for you?”

“How about a dozen donuts? It doesn’t matter what flavor. Just whatever you’ve got. And why don’t you give me a dozen of your frosted sugar cookies?” I looked into the bakery case, and my stomach growled. I hadn’t had a chance to grab anything to eat before coming to work this morning.

“You got it. One dozen cookies and one dozen donuts coming right up.” She opened up the back of the display case and grabbed a sheet of wax paper to pick up the donuts with and began putting them into a box. She looked at me over the display case. “So I heard things have been rough for you guys.”

I glanced at her and then glanced away. “I guess things have been a little tough lately. What with Gina being murdered, and then somebody breaking our window.”

She nodded and picked up two Frankenstein bars and put them into the box. “That’s not all I heard.”

I looked at her and shrugged. “What do you mean?”

She looked into the display case and picked up two boo berry donuts and put them into the box. Was that a smile on her lips?

“I heard you had some negative reviews come in on that new website for small businesses.” She clucked and shook her head. “It’s a shame. Sometimes people just got to complain about something.”

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “How did you hear about that?”

She shrugged. “I keep an eye on things. I’ve got great reviews on that website, by the way. Everybody loves my sugar cookies. They’re the prettiest things that you’ve ever seen.”

I couldn’t really argue with her, but I sensed something in her tone. Something that I didn’t appreciate.

“Well, that’s nice that you have good reviews on that new website. I don’t know who even pays attention to that sort of thing. We’re too busy making candy to bother with that sort of thing.” I knew it sounded defensive, but I couldn’t help it. We didn’t deserve those negative reviews, and I resented them.

“Oh?” One eyebrow shot up. “It’s important to keep the customers happy. Checking on ratings on those sorts of websites is all a part of doing business. I want my customers to be happy. I would think you would want the same thing.”

“Well, of course we want them to be happy. But people can post anonymously on that site, you know. Anybody can post on there, and they can post anything they want.” I was beginning to feel a little flustered, and I wasn’t sure why.

She stopped and looked at me. “Yes, I suppose so. But most people wouldn’t bother. That’s why we take them so seriously. Who is going to take the time to leave fake reviews on a site like that? I know all my baked goods are delicious, so I know mine are genuine.”

I was doing all I could to keep from arguing with her. “I’m sure people are leaving positive reviews for you because your baked goods are delicious.” I pressed my lips together. I wanted to say so much more, but I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere. And Ethan would frown at me if he knew I had said something unkind to her.

She shrugged and went back to putting donuts into the box. “Sure is a shame. You get a bad reputation like that, and people stop buying candy from you.”

“People are not going to stop buying candy from us.” And then I saw it. There was a tray of fudge at the end of the display case. “What is that?”

She glanced in the direction I was looking.

“It’s a tray of marzipan pumpkins, oh, and maple fudge. I just love maple. I eat maple bars all day long. Not that I want to admit to that sort of thing. I don’t need to eat donuts all day long,” she said and laughed. “But I thought I’d try my hand at making maple fudge, and I have to say that it turned out quite tasty. Would you like a sample?”

I looked at her wide-eyed. “Are you serious? You’re selling candy now?”

She nodded. “It’s a free country.” She smiled, showing her teeth. “How about that sample? I think you’ll be impressed.”

I stared at her as she set the box of donuts down and cut a small sample piece of fudge for me, and slid it across the counter on a square of waxed paper. I stared at the piece of fudge. Did I refuse it? No, I couldn’t do that. With shaking hands, I picked up the piece of fudge and placed it in my mouth. I closed my eyes as an explosion of maple hit my tongue. It was smooth and creamy and delicious, just like fudge should be. It wasn’t better than my mother’s fudge, though. I’m not saying that. But it was good. I swallowed, and I looked at her. “That’s tasty.”

She nodded, smiling smugly. “That’s what I thought. I might try some different flavors.”

I stared at her. Before I could say anything else, the front door opened. My friend Polly Givens walked in.

“Good morning, Polly,” Angela sang out.

“Good morning, Angela. Good morning, Mia. I thought I’d stop by and pick up a donut or two for me and Carl.” She chuckled and came to stand at the front counter. “Mia, I heard that you all have had some difficulty lately. I was so sorry to hear about what happened to Gina Callahan.”

I turned and looked at her, forcing myself to smile. “Me too. It was awful, and I just feel so terrible for her family.” I was trying to concentrate on what I was saying to Polly, but all I could think about was the maple fudge. Had Angela left those negative reviews about us? Was she going to start selling all kinds of candy now?

Polly stepped closer to me. “Does Ethan have any idea who killed her yet?”

I shook my head. “No, he hasn’t made an arrest yet. But I know that he’ll find the killer.”

She nodded. “I was so sorry to hear that somebody broke your shop window, too. I don’t know who that is that’s been going around town breaking windows, but it seems like they’d have something better to do.”

I nodded. “Wouldn’t you think so?”

Her eyes went to the fudge in the display case, her brow furrowed. “What is that, Angela?”

Angela grinned. “I thought I’d try my hand at fudge making. Would you like a sample?”

Polly glanced at me before answering, and then she nodded. “Yes, please. Are you going to be selling candy now?”

I glanced at Polly and then at Angela. She shrugged. “It’s a possibility. You never know. I was just telling Vince the other day that we needed to branch out and sell even more items. I make cakes, cookies, and donuts. How boring. I need to use my culinary talents to make a wider variety of items.”

Polly nodded slowly as Angela went to the other end of the counter to get a box for the cookies I wanted, and Polly stepped closer to me. “Did you know about this?”

I shook my head and looked at her wide-eyed. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“I don’t want to be nosy, but did you see that website for small businesses? Small Business Corral. The reviews that were left for the candy store?”

I swallowed and nodded. “Yes, I saw them.” Had it gotten around this quickly? Did everyone know about this already? But they couldn’t, could they? We had gotten a lot of orders overnight. If the only reviews on that website were negative, then people would know that it was fake. Right?

She nodded. “I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. Anybody that has ever bought any candy from your store knows how delicious everything is.”

I smiled. “Thanks. I know we make great candy. I just don’t know who would leave reviews like that.”

Polly glanced at Angela as she started putting sugar cookies into a second box. Then she looked back at me. “I don’t know either. But don’t you worry. Your real customers will begin leaving five-star reviews just as soon as they find out about that site.”

I nodded. “I’m sure they will. It’s not a big deal.” I smiled and glanced at the fudge, and then headed over to the cash register to pay for my cookies and donuts. It wasn’t until I left the bakery that I realized I hadn’t ordered any coffee. I sighed. No problem, I would just stop by Amanda’s and get us some coffee that was so much better than what was at the bakery anyway.

Chapter Fifteen

There was no way we could have donuts without coffee, so I stopped in at Amanda’s coffee shop. It was midmorning, and there were a handful of customers sitting at the tables in the shop. I headed up to the front counter and set my two boxes down on top of it. “I hope you don’t mind me bringing donuts and cookies in here. I was going to get coffee at the bakery only because it was easier, but I forgot to get them, so here I am. Hate me.”

Amanda chuckled. “I don’t hate you. I know it’s easier to make one stop, but here you are, so what would you like?”

I glanced up at the menu board. “Why don’t you give me three pumpkin spice lattes, one mummy’s kiss, one vampire’s kiss, and one werewolf’s howl.”

She nodded. “I’ll get right to work on that. So how have you been?”

I sighed. “Not so great. Have you heard about that new website where people can leave reviews about small businesses?”

She shook her head. “No, what’s it called?”

“Small Business Corral. Somebody left us five 1-star reviews.”

She gasped as she poured coffee into a cup. “Who on earth would do that? Your candy is great.”

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

“Well, you must have tons of five-star reviews. Those will cover up the one stars, and nobody will notice them.”

I shook my head again. “All we have are the five 1-star reviews on that website.”

Her eyes got big as she stood there with the cup in hand. “That’s crazy. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Right? And I just found out something else too,” I said, lowering my voice. “Angela is selling fudge.”

Her eyes got even bigger. “What do you mean, she’s selling fudge? Your mother is the fudge seller in this town. It couldn’t be anywhere near as good as your mother’s fudge anyway.”

I sighed again. “Actually, it’s pretty good. But she only had one flavor so far. Maple. But I think it’s suspicious that these negative reviews showed up and somebody threw a brick through our window, not to mention Gina’s murder. And now Angela is selling fudge.”

“Do you think they’re all related?”

“I really don’t think the murder is related to the broken window and the negative reviews. Honestly, maybe none of it’s related. I just think it’s weird how Angela was rather smug about all her positive reviews on that site and then brought up our negative reviews. And then there’s the fudge.”

She narrowed her eyes. “That sneak. I bet she did it.”

“I have to wonder if she did.”

She turned back and got to work making my drinks. She shook her head and looked back at me. “That stinks. I can’t believe she would do something like that.”

“I don’t know that she did. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions and maybe I shouldn’t be saying anything.” I was never fond of Angela, but I never would have thought she would try to sabotage the candy store, either.

Amanda put the lid on a cup and set it on the counter. “I don’t know. I hope she wouldn’t do something like that, but it does sound odd. Why would she suddenly decide she wanted to make fudge?”

“She said she told Vince that she wanted to branch out and make different things to sell there in the bakery.”

She shook her head and got to work making another coffee for me. “There is going to be trouble if I find out that she did do it. Nobody leaves negative reviews about my friends and gets away with it.”

I grinned. “I knew I could count on you for support.”

She chuckled again and kept working on the drinks. The front door opened, and Morgan Griffith walked in. She smiled. “Hello, ladies. I am in desperate need of a coffee.”

“Well, she’s making six for me, so I hope you can wait a few minutes,” I told her.

She chuckled. “I guess if I’ve got to, I’ve got to. What are you two up to today?” she asked.

“I am collecting delightfully sweet things to take back to work for everyone.”

“And I am helping her with the delightfully sweet coffee,” Amanda said.

She nodded. “So what’s going on with the murder case?”

I shrugged. “I know Ethan is doing his best to find the killer. Have you heard anything new about it from anyone else?”

She thought about it. “Not really. I’m not going to say that I’m broken up over losing Gina, and maybe that’s not a nice thing to say, but I’m really not sorry that she’s gone.” She shrugged.

“Oh,” I said. “No use lying about it, I guess.”

I couldn’t understand somebody that felt that way about another person. But maybe I never really hated anybody before. I certainly never disliked somebody enough to think about murdering them.

“You know what I was thinking?” she asked. “I was thinking that maybe somebody tried to steal Gina’s car, and she tried to run alongside it and get into the passenger seat, and whoever was driving ended up running her over and killing her.”

“I guess that’s a possibility,” I said. It wasn’t a bad idea. The passenger door had been locked when Ethan tried to open it the morning we found her. If she couldn’t get in the car, she might have fallen and was run over.

She nodded. “It would be just like Gina to try to stop them.” She shook her head. “She should have just let them have the car. A car isn’t worth your life. It might be the same person that’s going around trying to break into the businesses, too. Somebody is running around this town who is just no good, and I hope the police catch them.”

“But then why wouldn’t they take her car?” Amanda asked as she put a lid on another cup. “Why leave it behind?”

Morgan shrugged. “Maybe they got scared once they ran her over. It was probably an accident and having killed somebody probably freaked them out, and they left the car behind. It’s not like the police wouldn’t have been able to track down the car, and then they’d have the killer.”

“That makes sense,” Amanda said.

It did make sense. And I wondered if that was what happened. “I wonder why they haven’t been able to find her phone, keys, or her purse?”

She shrugged. “Maybe whoever did it thought that at least they would be able to get some money or something from her purse, and they grabbed it and ran with it.”

“That sounds plausible,” I said. It sounded like a possibility that that could happen. “Maybe it was a tourist, and they had come to town to enjoy the Halloween season and were up to no good. And poor Gina ended up being their victim.”

“That’s what I think happened. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I really think that they just tried to steal her car, and they ended up robbing her, taking her purse, and the murder was an accident.”

“It makes sense,” Amanda said as she put another lid on another drink. “That makes me feel slightly better. I mean, a car thief isn’t as bad as a murderer, right? If they didn’t plan to kill her, and it was an accident, then it doesn’t seem quite as bad.”

“I’m telling you, Gina would not have given up that car for anything. Her father bought it for her. He was making the payments on it, and she loved that car. She wasn’t going to let somebody take it from her and just stand there and do nothing.”

“Morgan, how was her relationship with your cousin Lila?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “You mean Gina’s cousin Lila? She’s not my cousin. Okay, we grew up together as if we were cousins, but honestly, I don’t consider her my real cousin. I guess we get along okay. But Lila and Gina never did.”

“Oh? What do you mean?”

She nodded. “Yeah, Lila was always jealous of Gina. I guess Gina and I had better clothes and better toys when we were little. It always made Lila angry. She would cry and have a fit. One time my mom caught her stealing My Little Ponies and slipping them into her backpack to take home with her. She screamed and cried when my mother took the ponies away from her.”

“That just sounds sad,” Amanda said.

Morgan nodded. “I guess it is sad. But what are you going to do? It’s not my fault that her parents didn’t pay any attention to her and didn’t buy her anything.”

When Amanda had all the drinks finished, she rang up my order, and I paid for it. She put the cups into drink holders and looked at me. “Are you going to be able to carry all of this back to the store?”

I eyed the cups. I should have taken the donuts and cookies back to the shop first and then come back for the coffee. “I think if we balance the drink holders on top of the top box, I might just be able to make it back to the candy store without dropping anything.”

“You are a brave woman,” Morgan said and laughed.

I nodded. “I fear nothing,” I said as Amanda put the drink carriers on top of the cookie box, and I picked up the whole stack. “Now, if somebody could just get the door for me, I might make it without dropping anything.”

“I’ll get it,” Morgan said and hurried to the door and pushed it open.

“Thanks, Morgan,” I said and headed out and down the street to the candy store.

Chapter Sixteen

We had insisted that Mom take an extra day off because she had been working herself ragged for more than a month in preparation for the Halloween season. She was a workaholic, whether she wanted to admit it or not. But putting in 12-hour days, six days a week would wear anyone down, and she just needed the rest. To reward us for insisting she take an extra day off, she had made dinner for us. Like I said, she was a workaholic. But I was looking forward to dinner. There’s something about going home and having your mom cook dinner that is just comforting, and with all that had happened these past weeks, I needed some comforting.

I put the roast chickens on the table that Mom had made, and they looked and smelled delicious, with their golden brown skin and stuffed with Mom’s famous cornbread stuffing.

“That smells so good, Mrs. Jordan,” Devon said.

“Why, thank you, Devon,” Mom said, sitting down as Christy and I brought the side dishes to the table. She had made mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted vegetables, and a warm fruit compote with apples and cranberries in it. My stomach was growling, and I was ready to eat.

“Everything looks delicious,” I said, sitting down next to Ethan.

“I appreciate hearing that,” Mom said.

Ethan filled glasses with iced tea and passed them around. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the home-cooked meal, Ann. I don’t get much of that at my house.” He looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

I nudged him with my elbow. “You stop it. You get plenty of home-cooked meals. Just not during the Halloween season.”

He chuckled. “I’m just teasing.”

Mom smiled. “Well, I made two chickens, so there would be plenty. I didn’t want anybody to walk away from this table without having eaten their fill.”

“I know I’m going to eat my fill,” Dad said as he began carving one of the chickens. “So Ethan, how goes the murder investigation?”

Ethan nodded as he passed a glass of tea to me. “I guess it’s going as well as it can be. I wish we could find Gina’s cell phone and her purse. I think they would reveal some important information.”

“A woman doesn’t leave home without her cell phone and purse,” Christy pointed out. “Whoever killed her took it, and I bet there’s something in there that’s incriminating.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Ethan said and handed her a glass of tea.

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do about Angela selling fudge at the bakery,” I said as I put some roasted vegetables onto my plate.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do about that, dear,” Mom said as she put some mashed potatoes onto her plate. “It isn’t going to do us any good to worry about it.”

“Yeah, but Angela knows that fudge is our specialty,” Christy protested. “What on earth does she think she’s doing by making and selling fudge? What’s she trying to prove?”

Mom shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe she just really wanted to branch out and make something different.”

“It does seem odd that she’s going to sell fudge at her bakery,” Dad said as he continued carving the chicken. “Bakeries don’t usually sell candy.”

Mom nodded. “It does seem odd, but I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. It’s not like we’re the only shop in town that’s allowed to sell fudge.”

I sighed. “But she knows everybody loves your fudge. Why would she even think she could compete with you?”

“I don’t think that it’s going to do us any good to worry about it,” Mom said again. My mother was a peacemaker, and she didn’t want any trouble with Angela, but Christy and I weren’t happy about this.

I glanced at Ethan, and he gave me a sympathetic look.

“So, who do you think the killer is, Ethan?” Christy asked. “You’ve got to have somebody in mind.”

“I might have something in mind, but I’m not going to spread that around.” He winked at her.

She groaned. “Of course not. But if I had to point a finger at somebody, I’m going to say it’s her cousin, Lila. She has that purse that I swear belongs to Gina.”

“We can’t be sure about that, though,” Ethan said. “I had another talk with her, and she says she doesn’t know anything about her death.”

“Did you ask about the purse?”

He nodded. “She maintains that it is her purse. She says that her mother bought it for her a month ago, and it looks nothing like the one Gina had.”

Christy and I gasped. “That is not true,” I said. “It’s exactly like it. She’s lying.”

“She may be lying, but I don’t have anything else on her. So for now, we’re going to have to wait and see if I can come up with something else that points in her direction.”

“Morgan and Laura both said that Lila’s parents never have any money and never bought her anything nice, so how come her mother can suddenly afford to buy her a nice purse?” I asked.

Ethan considered this. “Maybe she splurged. It’s her daughter’s birthday, after all. I don’t know anything about their finances, and neither do you.”

I sighed. He had a point.

“I think it’s Gina’s purse. I think Lila did it,” Christy said again as dad passed a plate with chicken on it to her. She helped herself to some of the white meat and then handed the plate off to Devon.

I took a sip of my iced tea. “If Lila didn’t do it, I have to wonder about her stepmother and her stepsister. Neither of them are upset about her death, and neither of them could get along with Gina. They’re very jealous about the way Gina’s dad favored her over Morgan.”

“And you know what happens when girls get jealous,” Christy said, stabbing her fork into a piece of chicken.

Ethan chuckled. “Some girls get more jealous than other girls. But that doesn’t mean that they will commit murder over it.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if either of the three of them did it. Maybe they all got together and killed her?”

“Now you’re thinking,” Ethan teased. “I bet it was a family affair. Everyone in the family that didn’t like Gina got together and planned out how to murder her.”

“It’s a possibility,” I said. “Who else would it be if it wasn’t them?”

Christy picked up the bowl of roasted vegetables. “Let’s not forget her supposed best friend. The best friend that Gina stole her boyfriend from.”

“No, we can’t forget her. Gina didn’t seem to be very good at making real friends when she was alive,” I said as I took the plate of chicken from Ethan and put some on my plate. Then I handed the plate over to Mom.

“Maybe she’ll make better friends now that she’s dead,” Devon said.

Christy rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. “It’s a little late for that.”

“I think it’s a terrible thing that happened to her,” Mom said. “I don’t know why people feel the need to kill. Look at the heartache that it’s caused so many people. And even if Morgan and her mother didn’t appreciate her, I bet they’re still sad about it. She was a part of their family, a part of their everyday life, and now she’s gone. It would be heartbreaking and so difficult to deal with that empty spot.”

I thought Mom was being too generous. From what the two of them had said, I didn’t think either of them was going to miss her.

“Somebody needs to leave us some positive reviews on that website,” Christy said. “I nominate Devon and Ethan.”

Ethan looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “Leaving fake reviews is against the law, you know.”

She shrugged. “You’re both customers of the candy store. And you both love the fudge there. So why is that a fake review?”

He shrugged. “You’ve got a point. I guess we could leave a review. What do you think about it, Devon?”

“I’ve never tasted better fudge than what they sell at the candy store, so I don’t mind leaving a positive review.”

Mom shook her head. “You two boys stay out of this. I don’t know who left those negative reviews, but I don’t for one minute believe them. And I don’t want to play a game of trying to cover up the negative reviews.”

“Mom, let him do it,” Christy said. “Everyone loves your fudge.”

“Positive reviews will come in at some point.” She took a sip of her iced tea.

All of this bothered me. The murder. The broken window. The negative reviews and Angela branching out and selling fudge. I needed a break, or I was going to lose my mind.

Chapter Seventeen

After we finished dinner at Mom and Dad’s house, we decided to drop by the haunted farmhouse and see what was going on there. The corn maze was open, filled with actors dressed as horror film characters, ready to jump out at unsuspecting guests. I wasn’t crazy about having a machete-wielding character jump out at me, even if it was fake, so I would probably skip the corn maze. There was also the maze made out of stacked bales of straw for the younger set. That was more my style.

“They’ve got a crowd here tonight, don’t they?” Ethan asked as we got out of the car and headed toward the arena. There was a goat tying competition in the arena, and there were hayrides alongside the mazes.

“Looks like a little murder didn’t slow us down,” I said, glancing at Ethan.

He chuckled. “No, that’s the funny thing about a Halloween-themed town. People don’t seem to mind the murder.”

I shook my head, and we went up to the refreshment stand to buy a soda.

“What should we do first?” Christy asked. “We could take a hayride?”

Ethan nodded. “We can do that. But I think I’m going to go through the corn maze first.” He looked at me, tilting his head. “What do you say, Mia?”

I shook my head. “I don’t like that maze. I think I’m going to sit and watch the kids and the goat tying while you go through the corn maze.”

He looked at Christy and Devon. “What do you two say?”

“I’m ready,” Devon said, looking at Christy.

Christy took a sip of her soda and shook her head. “I think I’m going to sit here with Mia and watch the kids have fun. You two run off and enjoy yourselves.”

“Chicken,” Devon said and began clucking.

Christy rolled her eyes. “We’re not chicken. We’re just smart. Now get out of here.”

The guys chuckled as they headed to the entrance to the corn maze, and Christy and I found a place to sit on the bottom row of the bleachers to watch the kids and the goat tying.

“Can you just imagine having a little one someday?” she asked, looking at the child and goat at the center of the arena.

“Which? A kid or a kid?”

She chuckled. “The human kid, not the goat kid. Although a goat kid would be fun too.”

I nodded. “Someday I’m going to have a horse and a goat. I’ve got to start looking for houses that have a little bit of land so we can have our little mini-farm.”

“I can’t picture Ethan being a farmer.”

I laughed. “Me either, but he’s going to have to learn.”

We glanced up and saw Lila coming toward us. She grinned when she saw us and nodded. “Hey, you don’t mind if I sit with you, do you?”

“Go ahead,” I said as she sat down on the other side of Christy.

“Thanks. My boyfriend is in the corn maze, and I really just don’t care for that one.”

“That’s where Ethan and Devon are,” Christy said. “We’re not crazy about that maze either, so we thought we’d sit it out and watch the kids in the arena with the goats.”

She glanced over and nodded, still smiling. “They’re awfully cute, aren’t they?”

I nodded. “They sure are. How are you doing, Lila? Anything new in your life?”

Her eyes lit up. “I just started dating Brent Shields. I don’t know if you know him or not, but I’ve had my eye on him for a long while.”

“I do know him. He seems like a nice guy,” I said.

She nodded. “He is. He’s very sweet, and he makes me very happy.”

My eyes went to the purse that she set on the bench between her and Christy. Christy had her eyes on it too.

“I sure like that purse,” I said.

Lila looked at it and smiled. “Thanks. My mother bought it online about a month ago. It’s got tons of room and four pockets on the inside. I just love big, oversized black purses.”

“I like them too,” Christy said. “That one sure is nice.”

She smiled and turned back to the arena without saying anything else. Christy glanced at me.

“Where did you say your mother got it from?” I asked.

She looked back at me. “I didn’t say. But there’s a website that sells all kinds of handbags and other accessories. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I’ll write it down, and the next time I see you, I’ll give it to you if you want to take a look at it. They have so much nice stuff, and they have great prices, too.”

“That sounds fantastic,” I said. “Be sure and write that down for me so I can take a look.”

Christy turned to her. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I could’ve sworn that Gina had a purse just like that one.”

She looked back at us, eyebrows raised. “Really? I never saw Gina with a purse like this. Ethan asked me about it but I don’t recall seeing her carrying one like it.”

I nodded, my eyes on the purse. I wasn’t wrong, was I? Even Christy thought it was the same one. “She did have one like it. I admired it when she came to work the day before she died. Maybe she knew about that website too, although she didn’t mention it.”

“Are you sure it isn’t the same one that Gina had?” Christy asked her.

Her eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

“Is that Gina’s purse?”

Lila’s face went pale, and she shook her head slowly. “No. Of course it’s not her purse. Like I said, I never saw her with one like this.”

“Really? That’s odd, because I could have sworn that she had one just like it,” Christy said.

Lila frowned. “What are you trying to say, Christy?”

“Maybe you took Gina’s purse?” Christy said.

I nudged her. She didn’t need to go accusing her of murder. If she did murder Gina, she might leave town, or she might clam up and not say anything else to Ethan.

“I would never do something like that. I don’t know what you’re talking about, Christy.” She looked back toward the corn maze and got to her feet. “There’s my boyfriend. I’ll see you two later.”

Christy turned and looked at me. “What do you think about that?”

“I think that purse is exactly like Gina’s, but you need to be careful about what you say.”

In a moment, I saw Ethan and Devon exit the corn maze, and they came over and sat down with us. Ethan kissed me, scooting in between me and Christy. “That was a lot of fun. You girls should have come with us.”

“We’re fine right here,” I said. “We saw Lila. She had that purse. We both swear it was the same one that Gina had.”

He looked at me. “She isn’t going to admit it if it is.”

“She sure isn’t,” Christy said. “We’re going to go get some popcorn. Do you guys want anything?”

I nodded. “I’d love some kettle corn.”

“How about a corn dog for me? The corn maze made me hungry.”

“You got it. We’ll be right back,” Christy said.

When they were out of earshot, he turned to me. “There’s something that I forgot to tell you. Somebody turned on Gina’s phone.”

I looked at him wide-eyed. “Are you serious? How do you know?”

“It pinged off the cell tower over on Goblin Lane.”

“So the killer is still in town, and they’ve still got her phone and her purse.”

“Or they could have just abandoned the phone. Maybe they tossed it aside, and somebody picked it up and turned it on. But I’m willing to bet that the killer still has it.”

I nodded. “You need to have another talk with Lila. I know she’s claiming that her mother bought that purse online, but seriously, I think it’s Gina’s. Can’t you ask her for a receipt?”

He chuckled. “I could ask her for it, but if she’s had it for a month, she might say that she tossed it out.”

“But her mother supposedly bought it online. She probably has an online account with the website, and there would be a record of her purchase.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have to show it to me unless she wants to. I can’t force her to unless I get a judge to back me up, and I don’t have enough evidence to do that.”

I sighed. “So you can tell where the cell phone is then?”

“Not exactly. I can tell the general area.”

“And I’m assuming that you already took a drive around that area?”

“I sure did. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact area, but I thought if I saw someone that looked suspicious, I could have a talk with them, but I didn’t come up with anything.”

“That’s a shame.”

I was willing to bet that the killer hadn’t dumped either the phone or the purse. Something incriminating was on both the phone and in the purse, and the killer was hanging onto them.

Chapter Eighteen

The beginning of the week started uneventfully, and I was happy about that. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t constantly checking that website for new reviews. But thankfully, there hadn’t been any new ones, negative or positive. I really wished that we would get some positive ones, but I wasn’t sure how popular this website was just yet. Although I had to admit that Angela’s bakery was having no trouble receiving positive reviews. And to my chagrin, one of them even mentioned the maple fudge. I couldn’t fault Angela for getting so many positive reviews. Her baked goods were fantastic, and people really bragged about how good everything was. But I felt a twinge of jealousy when I saw the reviewer had mentioned that fudge.

As I thought things over, I realized that Angela would never leave nasty reviews for us. She wasn’t that kind of person. At least, I was pretty sure that she wasn’t.

The bell over the front door rang, and Morgan and her mother walked through it. They were smiling, and they headed right up to the front counter. We had a lull in customers, and I had been taking a load off my feet before they came in. I slipped down off the stool behind the counter. “Hey Morgan, Laura. How are you two doing today?”

Laura smiled. Actually, she beamed. “I am doing fantastic. Ask me why.”

My eyes went to Morgan and then back to her. They both looked happy as could be. “Why?”

Christy came out from the kitchen with a tray of pumpkin spice bonbons covered in white chocolate.

“Hello everybody,” she called as she went to the display case to put the bonbons into it.

“Hello, Christy,” Laura said. “I was just getting ready to tell your sister why everything is going so well for me. I’m getting a divorce.”

I gasped. “A divorce? Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say to this. Congratulations?

“Oh, wow,” Christy said as she stood there with the tray of candy. “Well, if you’re happy about it then I guess it’s a good thing.”

Laura nodded. “It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and Morgan. I just wish I’d done it years ago.”

“I wish you had done it years ago, too,” Morgan said smugly. “Then I wouldn’t have had to put up with that awful Gina all those years.”

I was surprised again that she was talking that way about her. She had been, after all, recently murdered. “Well, sometimes we feel like we have to work on things for a while before we just give up on them.”

Laura nodded. “Yes, that was exactly the way I felt about it. But I suddenly realized that I don’t feel that way anymore. I’ve given it my all, and Roger just doesn’t care, so why should I? No, I’m not going to care about my marriage anymore. We thought we’d celebrate by coming down here and buying our favorite candy, and then we’re going to go out for a good meal and maybe even take in a movie.”

“Well, sounds like you to have a definite plan,” Christy said, opening the back of the display case.

“We certainly do,” Laura said. “No, I certainly wish that I had done it sooner. It would’ve been better for all of us.”

I smiled, still trying to come up with something else to say. I just couldn’t say congratulations, but it seemed like that was what she was expecting from us. “I’m glad that you’re happy about your decision.”

“I certainly am.” She took a step over and looked into the display case. “I think I’m going to get some of your mother’s pumpkin spice fudge, along with some vanilla. Half a pound of each. What would you like, Morgan?”

“I’d like some of those bonbons that Christy’s putting into the display case. Half a dozen. And then I’d like some of the milk chocolate-covered cherry bombs at the bottom there. Another half dozen. Calories be darned, we may as well live a little.”

I smiled and nodded, and Christy stepped aside so I could get the trays of fudge from the display case. I took them to the back counter to cut and weigh what they’d asked for. “How is Roger doing?” Maybe it sounded like a thoughtless question, but I wanted to see what they would say.

Laura made a clucking sound and shook her head. “Oh, he seemed shocked by it. I can’t imagine why he would be, though. He knows that we’ve been unhappy for years. He’ll be better off, too. He can find somebody that doesn’t mind that he doesn’t treat their children the way he should.”

“Oh?” I said, glancing back at them. “Was he, abusive?” I couldn’t imagine Roger Callahan being abusive. It sounded to me like it was more that he simply doted on his own daughter more than hers.

She shook her head. “Oh no. Roger would never be abusive. He hasn’t got it in him to be that way, thank goodness.”

“Well, in a way, it is abusive when you treat one child better than the other. He ignored me most of the time and spoiled Gina. It broke my heart, and it gave me an inferiority complex. I just thought I wasn’t good enough for him, or for anyone,” Morgan pouted.

Christy turned to her. “Oh. That’s sad.”

I shot her a look. Her tone of voice said that she didn’t think it was the least bit sad.

Morgan glanced at Christy and shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. You weren’t there, so you don’t know how bad things got. I was always left out. I was never given the same encouragement that Gina was given. Honestly, she was given everything, and I was given practically nothing.”

I glanced at her mother. It wasn’t like everything was up to Roger.

“You weren’t given nothing, dear,” she said, patting her arm. “I did my best to make you happy. But I understand that a girl needs her father’s love in order to grow into a healthy and happy woman who finds the right men to date.”

“A father’s influence is incredibly important to young girls,” Morgan agreed.

I sighed under my breath and wrapped up the fudge and brought it to the front counter, placing it into a Halloween-decorated paper bag, while Christy got the bonbons and cherry bombs.

“Is there anything else you would like?” I asked.

Laura glanced around the candy shop. “You know what? I’d like half a pound of those black and orange jellybeans.”

I nodded and went over to the display and scooped some of the jellybeans into a paper bag and brought it back to the front counter.

“I think I’d like one of these chocolate pumpkins,” Morgan said, pointing to the display on the front counter. She giggled and looked at her mother. “We’re going to make ourselves sick from candy.”

Her mother shrugged and chuckled. “I don’t care. I’m going to live a little.”

“Well, there’s nobody to stop you,” Christy said dryly.

“That’s exactly right,” Laura said. “There’s no one to stop us. We’re going to live the rest of our lives the way we want to live. Happily.”

Laura paid for the candy, and then they left. I looked at Christy.

“Wow.”

“Wow is right. Honestly, it sounds to me like she’s the one who spoils Morgan. Giving her approval to be a victim is what she’s doing.”

I nodded. “Sounds that way to me, too. I feel bad for Roger. He just lost his daughter, and now he’s lost the rest of his family. That has got to be so hard on him.”

“Their timing is pretty awful.” She sat down on one of the stools behind the counter. “You know what I was thinking?”

I shook my head. “No, what?” I sat on the other stool behind the front counter.

“I was thinking that their house is pretty close to that cell tower that Ethan said Gina’s phone pinged off of.”

I turned and looked at her. I had told her what Ethan said about the phone and it hadn’t even occurred to me that their house was close to the cell tower. “You’re right. It’s probably three blocks away at the most.” I looked back out through the candy store window. They had gotten into their car, but they hadn’t driven away yet.

“Sure makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “Sure does make you wonder. I’d love to have a look around inside their house to see what I can find. I bet poor Roger has no clue what goes on between the two of them.”

“I get the feeling that they probably just ran over him all the time. He probably doted on his daughter because she was the only one that cared about him.”

I turned and looked at Christy. “Sister, you are coming up with some good points today.”

Her brow furrowed. “I always come up with good points. Did you think that I didn’t?”

I chuckled. “No, you always come up with good points,” I corrected myself.

It was an interesting fact that the cell tower was near their home. It was something I needed to bring up with Ethan.

Chapter Nineteen

I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind that Gina’s cell phone was turned on. The killer still had to be here in town, didn’t they? Of course, it could be like Ethan said that whoever it was had ditched the cell phone, and somebody else picked it up, charged it, and turned it on. I had a feeling about it, though. I glanced at Christy. “I think it’s time we took a break.”

She looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “What do you have in mind? I know you’ve got something you’re working on.”

I smiled. “Why don’t we give a certain cell phone number a call?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I think that might be a really good idea.”

“I’m going to tell Mom that we’re going to take a break for a few minutes.”

I headed back to the kitchen and let my mom know we were leaving, then slipped into the small office and pulled out Gina’s job application from the file and tucked it beneath my arm.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes, Linda,” I called as Linda headed to the front counter to wait on customers.

“All right. You girls have a good break.”

We headed to where I had parked my car around the corner.

“Put it on speakerphone, I want to hear,” Christy said as we leaned against my car. There wasn’t anyone walking by on the street so I hit*67 and dialed Gina’s phone number. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. And just when I thought this had been a pointless endeavor, somebody answered the phone.

“Hello?”

Christy and I looked at each other, eyes wide.

“Hello?” I said.

There was a pause, and then, “oh.” And the phone went dead.

“Who was that?” Christy asked.

I shook my head. “I have no idea. Let’s try again.”

I hit redial on the number that I had called, but it went straight to voicemail. Whoever it was had shut the phone off.

I stared at Christy. “I know that’s the killer.”

She nodded. “You bet it is. Call Ethan.”

I dialed Ethan, and when he answered, I said all at once, “the killer answered the phone.”

“What?”

“We dialed Gina’s number, and the killer answered the phone.”

There was a pause. “Well, did you get their name?”

I narrowed my eyes at the phone. “No, smarty, they hung up on me.”

He paused. “They really answered the phone?”

“Yes, they answered the phone. It sounded like a younger woman’s voice.”

“I think it sounded like Morgan,” Christy said.

“I think it sounded like Lila,” I said.

“Are either of you certain that it was a familiar voice? You’re both naming different people.”

“It’s a familiar voice,” I confirmed. “Ethan, the killer still has Gina’s phone. And since Lila has her purse, it has to be her.”

“Maybe they were both in on it,” Christy said. “Maybe it was a tag team murder.”

“When I’ve called it, it goes to voicemail. Let me try calling it and see what happens.”

“They shut the phone off. I tried calling it a second time,” I told him.

“Figures. Let me see what I can find out.”

I hung up and stared at Christy. “It was Lila.”

She shook her head. “No, it was Morgan. Morgan lives closest to the cell tower.”

“Lila could have been visiting. They’re cousins, after all, and she could have the phone in her purse.”

She hesitated. “Okay, it could have been either of them. Let’s go get a coffee.”

***

It was an hour later when the bell over the door rang again, and Morgan walked in by herself. She was smiling and had a tiny red and black plaid purse with a strap over her shoulder. “You know what I forgot to do when I was here earlier?” she asked.

I shook my head, trying to remember if this was the voice we had heard on the phone earlier. “No, what did you forget?”

She grinned. “To ask you for a job application. I would love to work in a candy store, and since you have an open position, I thought I would apply for the job.”

I cringed when she put it like that. Her own stepsister was murdered, and that was the reason the position was open, and now she thought that she would apply for it? No way was she getting the job, but I wasn’t going to be rude to her in case she was the killer. “Let me get an application for you.” I bent over and pulled an application from the file that was beneath the front counter and handed it to her. “Why don’t you go ahead and fill that out, and then my mother will take a look at it.”

She nodded. “I’ll do that. I’ll fill it out right here and then just hand it back to you.”

I nodded, and she scooted to the end of the counter and pulled a pen out of her purse. I looked up when I saw Ethan walk through the door, and I smiled at him. He glanced at Morgan and then looked at me again.

“Oh, hi Ethan,” she said as she looked up from the application. “Guess who might get to work here?”

He shook his head. “Who?”

“Me!” She laughed. “I thought that since there was an open position here, I may as well fill out an application. I think it would be so much fun to work here in the candy store. It always smells so wonderful when I walk in here. I love this place.”

He nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, it’s one of my favorite places too.”

He looked at me, and I looked at him wide-eyed.

“Hi, honey.”

He smiled and gave me a quick kiss. “I thought I’d stop by and check on you and see how everything was going.”

“It’s going great.”

Ethan leaned against the counter. “So Morgan, you want to take over Gina’s position here at the candy store?”

She shrugged. “I would just like to have a position. I don’t mean anything by saying that there’s an open position now. But since there is one, I may as well apply for it, right?”

He nodded. “Sure. Why not. Tell me, Morgan, I know you and Gina didn’t get along well. How glad are you that she’s gone?”

Morgan hesitated. She looked at him. “I’m glad that she’s not in my life, but I’m not glad that she’s dead. If that’s what you’re asking me.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you.”

She shook her head slowly. “Of course not. I could never be glad that anybody was dead.”

I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my cell phone, and then I hit dial on the number I had called earlier and set it beneath the counter. There was a sudden vibration coming from Morgan’s purse, and she looked up and smiled at me. “Oh. I think that’s my phone.” She pulled a phone from her purse and looked at it, brow furrowed. “I don’t know who that is.”

“Why don’t you answer it?” I asked.

She hesitated and looked at Ethan, and then the call went to voicemail, and I hit end and gave Ethan a look.

“Well, they hung up.”

He looked at me and nodded, and I tried it again, and her phone started vibrating.

“Why don’t you answer it, Morgan?” Ethan said.

She shook her head and put the phone back into her purse. “No, I hate answering numbers that I don’t recognize. They’re always trying to sell you something.”

“Can I see that phone?” Ethan asked.

She looked at him and shook her head. “Why?”

“Because I think it’s important that I see your phone.”

She looked at me and then back at him. “You know what? I forgot that I have an appointment. I‘ll bring this application back to you tomorrow morning, Mia.”

I nodded. “Sure, anytime.”

She smiled nervously. “Okay then, I’ll see you both later.”

Ethan looked at me and rolled his eyes, and then followed her out of the store.

Chapter Twenty

I yawned and stretched as we sat in front of the fireplace. Our cats, Boo and Licorice, sat on the couch between us. When Ethan had gotten home, I made him some hot cocoa, and we both had a pumpkin spice scone that I picked up from Amanda’s coffee shop. After he’d had a few moments to catch his breath and he’d eaten a scone, I turned to look at him. “Okay, spill it. Why did Morgan kill Gina?”

He chuckled and took another sip of his cocoa and ran a hand over Boo’s head.

“She was jealous of Gina. It was true about Roger doting on Gina and almost ignoring Morgan. And him paying for the apartment and the new car was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. She says that she didn’t plan it, it was just something that happened.”

I shook my head. “I’m not buying it. How on earth did she do it? Gina was still in her costume from when she worked the day before.”

“Gina had gone to their parents’ house after work, still in her costume, and Morgan asked her to drive her to the store. Gina didn’t want to do it because she wanted to go home and change her clothes, but Morgan begged and talked her into it, so she agreed. Then she told her to drive through the alley because she wanted to see if some guy she had her eye on was at work at the shop a few doors down, and he always parked in the alley. Morgan and Gina got into an argument about the car. They got out of the car, and then Morgan struggled with her for the keys. She got them away from Gina and got behind the wheel, and when Gina saw that she intended to run over her, she started running down the alley. Morgan ran her over and panicked and left the car parked on top of her.”

“But Gina was lying face up.”

He nodded. “Apparently, she turned around to see how close Gina was. Gina maintains that she was just going to tease her and get close to her, but then she hit the gas on accident. She said that at the same time, Gina tripped over her cape, and she fell, rolling over onto her back, and Morgan accidentally ran over her.”

“And so she just leaves the car parked on top of her?”

He nodded and took another sip of his cocoa. “That’s what I said to her. But she says she got scared, and she ran off, grabbing Gina’s purse and keys on the way out of the car.”

"I think she left the car parked on top of her because she was jealous that Gina's dad bought her a new car."

"Me too."

I rolled my eyes. “Wait, if it was an accident, why grab the purse, keys, and the phone? Why leave at all?”

“She said she got scared and didn’t realize she had that little tiny purse that she carries strung across her chest, and when she saw Gina’s purse sitting there, in her panic, she thought it was her own purse.”

“I don’t buy that. What about the phone? Why did she keep it, and why did she turn it back on?”

“It was a better phone than her own. She decided she was going to transfer her number over to it, but she hadn’t done it yet. And when she was at the candy shop when you called the phone, she realized that she picked up the wrong phone before she left her house.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I don’t believe any of that. I think she’s lying.”

“She’s lying about it being an accident, that’s for sure. But I think she did accidentally pick up the wrong phone. The text that Gina received the evening before she died was from Morgan. She was threatening her, telling her she had better drive her around town for a few errands.”

“This is insane.”

“Oh, it gets better,” he said, tilting his head.

“What do you mean?”

“You know the person that we caught on video breaking your candy store window?”

“Yeah?”

“It was her. She got scared after she killed Gina, and she thought if she broke the window that maybe it would throw us off the trail if we thought the same person that had killed Gina was trying to break into the store. She hoped that we would think that there was somebody that was harassing Gina before she died.”

I groaned. “That’s crazy. And she had to take off Miss Buffy’s head? For what?”

He chuckled. “I have no idea. She also left the negative reviews about the candy store.”

I stared at him. “Are you kidding me? Why the negative reviews? That doesn’t make sense.”

He shrugged. “I think in her twisted mind, she just thought it would add more confusion to what was going on down there at the candy store.”

"Was she the one breaking into all the other shops?"

"She says she didn't, and I think I believe her on that one. That means I still have to track that one down."

I sighed and took a sip of my cocoa. “Well, what Morgan didn’t understand is that we had three ace detectives on the case.”

He looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “Three?”

I nodded. “Of course. Me, Christy, and you. There was no way she was going to get away with this thing. I don’t know what she was thinking.”

He snorted and shook his head. “Of course not. With you and Christy on the case, there wasn’t a chance that she was going to get away with it.”

“Do you think you could ask her to change the 1-star reviews to 5-star reviews before she goes to prison? Tell her the judge will go light on her if she does it right away.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure she would buy that.”

I sighed. “Poor Roger. And poor Laura. They both lost a daughter.”

“That they did.”

I took another sip of my hot cocoa, and I leaned my head on his shoulder and ran a hand over Licorice’s back. The weather was starting to turn colder now, and that was something that I looked forward to. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I didn’t want to miss a minute of it.

The End

Sign up to receive my newsletter for updates on new releases and sales:

https://www.subscribepage.com/kathleen-suzette

Follow me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Kathleen-Suzette-Kate-Bell-authors-759206390932120