The Santa Slaughter - A Very Merry Murder Mystery

Chapter 6

My house has felt weirdly deserted ever since Neil left, but by the time I fall through the front door tonight, I'm kind of grateful for the quiet. Nobody is asking me questions. Nobody is tearfully clinging to me demanding comfort like they're the ones who stumbled over a dead body. And I can finally get out of this wretched elf costume! I strip as I go, leaving a trail of green and red all the way up my staircase, and head straight for the bathroom. Emerging thirty minutes later, after the longest, hottest shower known to man, I start to feel slightly more human again and I pad back downstairs in my comfiest pajamas, debating whether I can face cooking something healthy for dinner. I give it precisely one and a half minutes of considered thought before whipping out my phone and opening my local takeout delivery app. There are things to love about being single, I think, as I plop down on the sofa. Nobody else to worry about. Nobody to judge my food choices. My lips quirk as I build my order. Nobody stealing half of my pad thai and calling it sharing...

There's a knock at my door right before I hit submit on my order and I groan, planning to ignore it until the knock comes a second time, followed by a voice I recognize.

"I know you're home, Merry."

Kate Kelly might be Silver Brook's best police officer, but she's also my friend.

"I brought food."

Canceling my half-filled takeout order, I toss my phone onto the sofa and stand, crossing to the front door and opening it to let my friend in.

"Nice outfit," she says, with a grin, and I step aside, allowing her to step inside. She walks straight through to the kitchen and is already loading two plates before I can stop her.

"Pad thai?" She passes one plate to me.

"You read my mind." I smile. "Genuinely, I was just about to order."

"Then I saved you a job." Kate grabs her plate and ushers me towards the table. "Which means you owe me, and that's good because I...need a favor."

I feign outrage, even though I kind of saw this coming. I don't answer straight away, focusing on my meal, and Kate manages all of one mouthful before hurrying out a convoluted explanation.

"...so anyway, with Trainor out of town, I'm kind of in charge, and this is my first big case - the only big case, really, that's landed in Silver Brook in...well....in a long time. And I'm heading up the investigation. You were there, so...I was hoping...can you tell me everything you remember?"

"Didn't we already do this?" I arch one eyebrow, trying to make light of the fact that I don't want to revisit my memory of the murder scene I've just about managed to forget.

"No." Kate shakes her head, then nods. "Kind of. Yes. But this is something less formal. Off the record." Her lips quirk. "I need to know who else was there today. Who might be a suspect, or at least a person of interest."

I hesitate, but honestly, this has been exactly where my mind's been racing to all evening anyway, and I'd rather talk it over with my friend than think about it alone. I push my plate to one side and begin counting people out on my fingers.

"Well, there was me and Bill. He had two little kids in the grotto with him before we went missing."

"Matthew and Eleanor." Kate nods. "We can rule them out. Their parents, too. Alibis."

I roll my eyes, but then decide my friend is nothing if not thorough.

"Well, if it's a matter of alibis, you can rule out just about everyone on my list. The Hot Chocolate Hut was heaving with people, and everyone will have seen me and the other two elves running around trying to keep the kids in line."