Hoppy Holiday Homicide

Chapter Five

The dark figure drew closer, but still not close enough for me to make out his features or intent.

Mags yanked out of my hold and stopped cold, seemingly unsure of whether to run, hide, or do some strange combination of both. Instead of doing either, she stood a couple paces before me, frozen like a shocked deer on a lonely country road.

I braced myself for the worst and turned around to get a good look at the new arrival. His silver badge flashed brilliantly in the sunlight, set against a dark blue uniform shirt. He continued to close the distance between us quickly, concern pinching at his features. Not a threat. Not a threat at all.

“Officer Bouchard,” I cried, elated that he had found us and realizing that maybe I was still a bit paranoid, after all.

Mags visibly relaxed and took a tentative step toward us.

“I heard screams,” he said, moving his hand to the gun at his hip. “Is everything okay here?”

Mags’s face reddened as she tried to push an entire dictionary’s worth of words from her mouth at once. “Oh, it’s horrible. There’s blood. Lots of blood. Angie saw bodies. She said there’s two. People died. And I don’t know who they were or who killed them. But it’s so scary. Things like this never happen back home in Larkhaven. Aunt Linda says trouble won’t find you unless you go looking for it yourself. But I swear, we just wanted to enjoy the festival. And now Angie is acting like it's up to us to figure out what happened here. I don’t know who the victims are. I don’t know who the killer is. I don’t know anything other than I think I need to go home.” Finally finished, her voice cracked, and Mags drew back into herself.

Officer Bouchard stayed on high alert. “Whoa there, slow down. Start by telling me who you are and how you discovered the bodies.”

I placed a hand on Mags’s shoulder to let her know that I could handle things from here. “Go get some latkes or more cocoa or gingerbread cookies, or something. I’ll catch Officer Bouchard up on what we discovered.”

“Should I go with her, Mommy?” Paisley asked from somewhere near my ankle.

“Mags,” I called after her. “Take Paisley with you.”

The little dog took off running and also barking, though for no apparent reason.

I watched until Mags scooped her into a cuddle, then I turned back to the waiting policeman. “Let me show you what we found.”

As we walked the short distance to the hulking Christmas tree sculpture and the bodies that lay behind it, I informed Officer Bouchard of the no-show judges and the last-minute change up that required Mags and me to take their places. I also explained that Mags was my cousin visiting from Georgia.

“I didn’t know you had family in Georgia,” he said, tilting his head to study me as we walked.

“Neither did we. At least not until a couple months ago. Anyway, here’s the crime scene.” I motioned toward the bodies, even though he couldn’t have missed them if he’d been blind in one eye and couldn’t see out the other.

“Are we done now?” Octo-Cat groused. “I know your imagination’s already running wild with a hundred thousand ideas of who done it and why. But I heard that the Little Dog Diner has a booth set up somewhere around here, and Octavius needs himself a lobster roll.”

It took all the strength not to roll my eyes at this expression of my cat’s misplaced priorities. Thankfully, I think I managed to pull it off. Studying the melting ice weapon, I asked the officer, “Do you know who they are?”

Officer Bouchard hooked his thumbs through his beltloops and rocked on his heels. “Can’t see the woman’s face, but the man I recognize as Fred Hapley. He sells health insurance all across the state, and I’m pretty sure he’s one of the missing judges you mentioned. If memory serves, he was also a last-minute addition.”

My breaths rose in icy little puffs as I thought about where we should take things from here. “My mom should be able to confirm it and let us know who the other judge was supposed to be and whether this is her. She’s not technically on the planning committee, but she’ll have memorized the setup before coming out as part of planning her news piece. Should I call her over?”

Officer Bouchard sucked air through his teeth. “Not just yet, if you don’t mind. Your mother’s a good woman and an ace reporter, but I need some time to investigate and call in backup before the press gets involved. You understand, don’t you?”

I nodded vigorously. No one understood my mother’s drive to get the story at any cost better than I did. “What are you going to do when festivalgoers start coming through the sculpture garden?” I asked, worried we’d end up creating a scene whether or not we wanted one.

He quirked one eyebrow. “You said you and your cousin are the new judges, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then why don’t you get her back here? And you two can guard the entrance so that nobody wanders inside.”

“There’s an exit, too,” I pointed out, searching for that red ribbon the sign had mentioned.

“Well, that’s perfect then,” he said with a grin. “There are two ways in, and there are two of you. I shouldn’t need long, but I sure do appreciate your help in keeping this under wraps.”

“Okay, let me go find Mags,” I said, hating to leave before we’d figured out much of anything.

“Finally,” Octo-Cat grumbled. “I’m starving. I may have even lost a life because of it. I can’t believe you’ve made me wait so long for my lobster roll.”

Little did he know his lobster roll was not even close to next on our agenda. I had to find Mags, and then I had to find out what had happened to the slain judge and the as-of-yet unidentified body.