“Don’t let it get to you,” Joshua whispered just after they left for the café. “They didn’t want to pay what I was asking. I’ll bet in a couple weeks, they’ll be back and accept my offer.”

  “Really?” Maggie was surprised at Joshua’s reply.

  “You aren’t the only one who knows how to research something.” He winked, making Maggie pinch her lips together and shake her head.

  Finally, at one o’clock, a couple people from the Fair Haven Bugle came with their camera and a pad a of paper to get some information about the young woman who had decorated the window of the Bookish Café.

  Although Maggie didn’t like being questioned and gave one-word answers for almost everything, she did manage to elaborate on one thing.

  “I just thought that in between all the shopping, people should take a minute to remember why they are buying a gift for someone they love.” She shrugged, pushed up her glasses, and squinted awkwardly at the reporter.

  They thanked her for her time, thanked Joshua, and enjoyed a free cup of coffee from the café.

  Maggie was glad it was over. She had started to sweat and was sure that her deodorant was going to give out at any minute.

  After a few niceties, Joshua ushered everyone outside, locked up the shops, and handed out directions to Paulie’s Restaurant.

  Chapter 20

  After a couple wrong turns and a few cuss words, Maggie made it to Paulie’s Restaurant and saw everyone waiting outside for her. Casper waved as she drove past to a parking spot. She quickly parked and hustled to join them.

  “Now, I don’t want any of you to feel inhibited. Get whatever you want on the menu, and don’t worry about it. We all worked hard this year and deserve a treat,” Joshua said as they hurried inside.

  The sky had clouded over and looked like piles of dirty cotton balls. The temperature had dropped since that morning, and the wind that had picked up sought out any exposed part of their bodies. Maggie was wrapped up tight in a padded coat that made her look like a caterpillar. Casper was still wearing his Santa hat. Babs had a leather jacket like a greaser from the fifties zipped up tight and a red scarf wound all the way around her blond locks and across her mouth.

  Joshua shuffled in behind everyone, his hands thrust deep in his coat pockets, his head completely uncovered, and his chin tucked into his chest. Once inside, he rubbed his hands together and walked up to the hostess, and before Maggie knew it, they were sitting at a high table for four with warm cider in front of everyone. A fireplace roared to the left. Beautiful red, white, and green Christmas ornaments hung from the ceiling. Pinecones and lush greenery covered almost every flat surface. In the corner across from the fireplace was a Christmas tree that almost reached the ceiling. Its delicate white lights twinkled as if they were winking at everyone.

  Over the speakers, Maggie could hear the familiar notes of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, which brought her back to her childhood for just a few minutes. Everyone was talking, even Casper, who was usually so quiet. Joshua had many people coming up to shake his hand and say hello, promising to stop by the bookstore before the holiday. That was one of the drawbacks of owning a business on Main Street. Everyone knew who he was and wanted to talk to him. Maggie was more than happy to sit back and listen, taking note of all the people who came by while enjoying the yarns being spun by her coworkers.

  “This is such a beautiful time of year. I just can’t help but feel terrible for that Kylie Thornson,” Babs said. “She’s got a young son. This holiday is going to be hard.”

  “I’m glad Mr. Campbell had an alibi,” Maggie said. “I like him.”

  “Isn’t he right out of the pages of a Louis L’Amour novel?” Babs asked, impressing Maggie with her literary reference. “He really is a good man. Roy has talked to him on more than one occasion because they both have Harleys. He’s just a good ol’ boy.”

  “I heard he had a long record,” Casper said. “He makes me nervous.”

  “People do stupid things when they are young,” Maggie added.

  “Isn’t that the truth. Mine went by the name Jedidiah Holmes.” Babs shook her head and clicked her tongue. “What was I thinking?”

  Appetizers were ordered. Another round of cider found its way to the table along with a Shirley Temple for Maggie. Everyone ordered some kind of steak, and Maggie couldn’t help but think that it was the best food she’d ever tasted. Outside, the sun had started to set by the time they were all finished, and the Christmas party in the main dining room could be heard in the bar.

  Casper and Babs had finished their meal and were ready to leave.

  “I can’t eat another bite,” Babs said, patting her stomach. Casper had the same sentiment.

  Before Maggie could do anything, they each gave her a big hug and said good-bye, leaving her alone with Joshua.

  “Well, would you like another Shirley Temple? Maybe a coffee or a shot of Jägermeister?” Joshua teased. He had been with Maggie on the one and only night she had done a shot of hard liquor. It had resulted in an embarrassing kiss that Maggie pretended not to remember.

  “I’m good. I think I’ll use the ladies’ room and then get going,” she said.

  “Are you sure? Maybe we could go somewhere and hear some music or have a hot cocoa or something,” Joshua suggested.

  “Maybe. I mean, only if you want to.” She pushed her glasses up and twisted her mouth.

  “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t want to,” Joshua replied.

  “If you are too tired or something, that’s okay. I totally understand,” Maggie insisted as she slid off the high stool.

  “Just go to the bathroom, and I’ll figure out someplace to go.” Joshua shook his head and chuckled.

  “I don’t think I like your tone,” Maggie needled.

  “I don’t like yours either,” he snapped back with a grin.

  Maggie arched her right eyebrow and smirked as she looked over her glasses at him. How dare he tease her like that while looking so handsome and being so generous?

  “You certainly have a smart response to everything, don’t you.” She tried not to smile but failed when Joshua laughed. She shook her head and walked up to the hostess to ask where the powder room was.

  “Just down this hallway and to the right,” the hostess replied, pointing down a hallway that passed by the dining room and the loud Christmas party that was taking place there.

  As Maggie walked past, she looked up and saw a familiar face in the crowd: Gretchen Armstrong. Gretchen didn’t notice Maggie, as she was busy talking with a couple of men in suits. Obviously, this was the Christmas party for the law firm David Thornson had worked at. No one seemed to be too broken up that he wasn’t there.

  Maggie continued walking to the bathroom. After a few minutes, she walked back toward the bar but was cut short. The hostess had waved to one of the people in the law office’s party. A large man with slicked-back hair suddenly appeared and took a folded piece of paper from the hostess. Maggie recognized the man. He had been standing in front of her car the night before.

  Her breath hitched in her throat, and she turned around, pretending to admire a couple of Christmas decorations on the wall. Would he recognize her? She wasn’t bundled up like she had been yesterday.

  Whatever was in that note must not have been good news. As Maggie watched out of the corner of her eye, she saw him crumple up the note then dash back to a table to grab the same long tan coat he’d been wearing last night. He spoke with a different man in a suit before heading toward the door.

  Maggie ran to Joshua, who was pulling his coat on when he saw her.

  “He’s here,” she said. She grabbed her scarf and started winding it around her neck.

  “Who?” Joshua looked over his shoulder.

  “The guy from last night. He was in that party in the dining room. It’s for the law firm that David Thornson worked at. Come on. I know where we can go.” Maggie pulled her coat on.

  “Oh, no. You think tailing this guy is a good idea? You’re nuts, Maggie,” Joshua said.

  “Fine. Stay here. I’m going to follow him. He’s up to something. He’s tied to Kylie somehow, and her husband was shot in an ice shack. Is that a coincidence?” Maggie huffed as she yanked on her mittens and started toward the door.

  Outside, the sun had already set. Christmas lights on the surrounding buildings and distant houses glowed beautifully against the black backdrop.

  “The police are handling this. They’ll find who killed David Thornson. That’s their job,” Joshua said. He stood and started to put his jacket on.

  “Are you coming?” Maggie looked over her glasses.

  He zipped up his coat, shaking his head the whole time. “Fine. But I’m not…”

  Maggie had already turned toward the door and was out in the cold while Joshua was still searching for his keys. Maggie pointed to the corner of the parking lot, where the barrel-chested man was climbing behind the wheel of a Mercedes.

  “Hurry! We’re going to lose him!” Maggie tugged Joshua’s sleeve.

  “We better take my car. He knows your car,” Joshua said, making Maggie nod in agreement.

  Within minutes, they were following the Mercedes back toward the direction of the bookstore. Suddenly, Maggie was sure she knew where this guy was going. After a few twists and turns, he made his way down a familiar street. Everything was quiet except one building.

  Chapter 21

  “Find a place to park,” Maggie instructed. “He’s going to the brownstone.”

  “It looks like that’s where everyone is going,” Joshua said.

  It was a complete transformation from the scary, haunted-looking place Maggie had snuck into the night before. People wearing fancier coats and carrying gift bags were walking up the front stoop into the brownstone. Soft, warm lights shone through the slats of boarded-up windows.

  “This is peculiar. Well, straighten your hair and sweater,” Maggie said.

  “And?” Joshua asked.

  “And let’s go in,” Maggie said while unhooking her seatbelt.

  “You want to crash the party?”

  Maggie turned around in her seat and saw the man with slicked-back hair stomping toward the brownstone as if he was going to war.

  “I think the speedometer said we were going about sixty miles an hour in a forty-mile-an-hour zone. He’s in a hurry.” She pointed to the figure hurrying to the front steps. “I bet I know why. I’ll bet Kylie is in there.” Maggie shook her head.

  “Maggie, you are starting to get into the habit of leading me to places that aren’t safe. If we have another incident like we did at Little Al’s place…well, that wasn’t all bad,” Joshua teased.

  Maggie’s eyes bugged, and her cheeks glowed with embarrassment before she got out of the car. Joshua had to trot to catch up with her. When he finally did at the front of the brownstone, they could hear Christmas music, chatter, and laughing.

  Maggie led Joshua up to the house, down the gangway, and through the bent chain-link fence.

  “What are we doing back here? Why aren’t we going in through the front door like normal people?” Joshua asked.

  “Because we want to blend in. It’s better this way,” Maggie insisted.

  The back door was unlocked, as it had been before. As soon as they stepped in, they saw that a bustling makeshift kitchen had been set up in the midst of the original one. Finger food and glasses of champagne were being carried out to the other rooms.

  Joshua grabbed Maggie’s hand and, with her head tucked down, led her straight through the kitchen and down the hallway.

  “Blend in? If you had stood there much longer, they would have known we didn’t belong,” Joshua whispered as they stood in the hallway.

  Space heaters gave the rooms a pleasant temperature. Speakers had been rigged in the corners and were piping out jazzy tunes. The guests looked as if they were all having a lovely time, sipping champagne and chatting about anything and everything.

  “There.” Maggie pulled Joshua closer and pointed across the room. “That’s Kylie. And will you look at who’s with her?”

  “Who is it?” Joshua stretched his neck.

  “That’s the mystery man from the other night. She doesn’t look like she’s holding his hand or anything. Who is that guy?” Then Maggie grabbed Joshua’s arm.

  “What is it?”

  “There’s our friend from the restaurant. He looks like he did when he was in front of my car last night—angry,” Maggie said.

  She and Joshua watched him elbow his way between two guests to get at Kylie. He whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was caused Kylie to excuse herself from the group as well as her mystery man and walk away with the barrel-chested man following close behind.

  “We’ve got to hear what they are saying,” Maggie said before chewing her bottom lip.

  “That means we have to blend in. Your words.” Joshua smirked. “Follow my lead.” Maggie didn’t have time to put up a fight. Joshua slipped one arm around her waist and pulled her into the lively room. With the other, he grabbed her a glass of champagne.

  “I can’t drink. You know that,” she muttered angrily.

  “Take it and pretend,” Joshua replied.

  They smiled, and Joshua babbled on about the structure of the brick walls and the decorations that made the scary building look downright cozy, and in between it all, he managed to weave them through the crowd. Before Maggie could put up a fuss, they were just outside a small cubby in which Kylie and the big man were having a not-so-private conversation.

  Maggie reached for Joshua’s arm but found his hand instead. He locked his fingers through hers. Together, they slipped into the darkness and listened.

  “He was cheating on you, Kylie. I told you that,” the man with the slicked-back hair and long tan coat said.

  “It was none of your business. This is none of your business. I have every right to do what I’m doing, and you need to just stop this, George,” Kylie pleaded.

  “I can give you anything you want. You want this broken-down old building? I’ll give it to you. You want your father to continue living with you? We can make that work. Just say it, Kylie, and I’ll do anything for you. You know that. Haven’t I proved I’ll do anything for you?”

  “George, what are you saying?” Kylie asked.

  “He was cheating on you with someone in the office. He was making a fool of you, and I just couldn’t stand by and let him do that,” George said.

  “What did you do, George?”

  “Come on, Kylie. As if making you look like a complete idiot wasn’t enough, he had a drinking problem. I knew how he talked to you. Everyone did. Just like everyone knew you didn’t deserve it. What you ever saw in him to begin with still…”

  “George, my relationship with my husband was none of your business or anyone else’s. If you did what I think you did…George…you have to go to the police.” Kylie choked the words out.

  “No, I don’t. They have a suspect in mind. A guy with a record who lives like a recluse and had a serious problem with your deceased husband. It’s perfect. No one would believe George Allis of Allis, Blum, and Thornson would kill anyone,” he said and laughed. “There is only one tiny loose end that I need your help with. Just a tiny thing really.”

  “Don’t you hear yourself? You sound like a crazy person. Please, tell me this is just one of your dramatic performances. Please don’t tell me you did it. That you killed…”

  “That I killed David Thornson?” George said. “I did the world a favor, and you know it.”

  “Yeah, that’s what everyone is going to think. That I knew about it. George, what have you done?” Kylie’s voice trembled.

  “You don’t have to worry. I will make sure that it all goes away. If you’ll just…” George’s words sounded like they were coated in grease. Slimy, slithery words that passed as one thing but really meant another.

  “If I’ll just what?”

  “Just do as I say and…”

  “The days of my being told what to do are over, George. Our affair meant nothing!” Kylie snapped.

  Maggie gasped before clapping her hand on her own mouth. Her eyes bugged as she looked at Joshua, who was also hooked on the conversation.

  “An affair?” Maggie mouthed the words. She gawked at Joshua, who shrugged and shook his head in response before leaning in to continue listening.

  “You don’t mean that,” George insisted.

  He didn’t come across as the kind of guy who took no for an answer. In fact, if Maggie had had to guess, it was probably something he never heard, especially from pretty, petite women.

  “But I do. And you should know that. I tried to be like David. I tried not to care and just build my own separate life while married to him. What better way to get back at a cheating husband than to cheat on him? That was what I thought. And to add salt to the wound, the partner of his law firm. It sounded good at the time, George,” Kylie said.

  “It was good. It is good,” George insisted.

  “No. It isn’t. It’s as sleazy as it was when David was alive,” Kylie replied.

  Maggie pressed her back against the wall and slowly peeked around the doorframe. She watched as Kylie dropped her head and slumped as if she were just exhausted.

  But then George pounced. He grabbed Kylie by the arms and shook her hard.

  “After everything I’ve done for you, you are not going to leave me like this,” he hissed just inches from her face.

  “You’re hurting me.” Kylie winced.

  “If you don’t verify my alibi and then join me, I’ll make sure you not only don’t get this brownstone for a bed-and-breakfast but that you don’t get the buyout of David’s share of the law firm. You could use that money, I know. Because he ran up your debt. You decide, Kylie,” George growled before letting her go.

 

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