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  Murder So Festive

  A Merry March Mystery

  Eileen Curley Hammond

  Twody Press

  Murder So Festive Copyright © 2018 by Eileen Hammond. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by SelfPubBookCovers.com/ RLSather

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Eileen Curley Hammond

  Visit my website at www.eileencurleyhammond.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: Oct 2018

  Twody Press

  ISBN-978-1-7325460-2-8

  Author’s note

  Thank you to those of you who purchased my debut Merry March mystery, Murder So Sinful. I truly appreciate the time readers took to share some lovely comments with me. I hope you enjoy this book just as much. And if you do, please let others know about it through your favorite social media platform or a review on Amazon.

  I also appreciate the people who so generously invest their time in making my writing better. In particular, I’d like to thank young adult writer Jenna Grinstead, Eric Henderson, and the Buckeye Crime Writers group (a Sisters in Crime chapter).

  Miranda, of Editing Realm, helped me on my journey with her encyclopedic knowledge of punctuation and grammar. She also gave me some great ideas on how to make the ending even more suspenseful.

  My family, as always, is a great source of inspiration and support. Specifically, I’d like to thank my sister-in-law Linda who served as an early reader of this book, and my sister-in-law Donna (plus her fabulous assistant and daughter, Allison) for creating such a gorgeous tableau post on Facebook for my first book. It’s nice to know I have such a great team surrounding me.

  CONTENTS

  Author’s note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  About the Author

  Also By Eileen Curley Hammond

  For Robert Michael, the love of my life.

  Chapter 1

  I ran down the stairs, opened the door, and gasped. “Drew, when did you get out?”

  Without saying a word, he picked me up and pressed his lips to mine. We careened into the sofa, falling on it. “I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured into my ear as he fumbled with my clothes.

  I pushed him away. My hand slid off his shoulder and hit him hard on the nose.

  “Ow.” He held his nose and slid off the sofa onto one knee. “What did you do that for?”

  Scurrying up to stand on the sofa, I pointed at him. “We are divorced. That means we are no longer intimate.” I straightened my shirt and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Frowning at it, I rubbed my hand on my pants and shuddered.

  Rob thundered down the stairs to stand over Drew. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

  Drew scrambled up, still holding his nose. “I could ask you the same question.”

  “Merry’s friend. I assume you’re the ex-husband.” They glared at each other like warring predators. “Now that we’ve been introduced, you need to leave.” He punched his fist into his palm. “Or do you need help?”

  Drew studied Rob, appearing to weigh his options. They were both roughly six feet tall and in good shape, but it looked like Drew had been working out in prison. Drew snorted. “I’m leaving, but we’re not done here. Merry, I’ll call you. I want to see my daughter.” He stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

  I hurried over, flipped the deadbolt, and leaned against the door to steady myself. “Well, that was unexpected.” An uncertain laugh escaped my lips. I picked up one of the throw pillows that had fallen, smoothed it, and put it back where it belonged.

  “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe they didn’t let me know he was going to be let out of prison. I thought they would tell me so I’d have some time to prepare myself.” The clock chimed, making me jump. “And Jenny. I need to tell Jenny.”

  Rob put his arms around me. “Calm down. We’ll break the news to her together.”

  I hugged him. “No. I need to tell her alone.”

  His eyes narrowed as he backed away. “Why don’t you want me to be there? Is there something you don’t want me to hear?”

  “Don’t be silly. It’s just sensitive. Jenny and I have been alone since Drew was convicted four years ago. I want to make sure she feels she can ask me any questions she wants.”

  Rob’s eyebrows rose. “We’ve been living in the same house together for the last month. Why would you think that my being there would make her uncomfortable? I thought we were a team.”

  “We are. This is hard. You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”

  His jaw tightened. “I may as well pack up and move back to my place. Now that the murderer is in jail, you and Jenny are no longer in danger.” His lovely green eyes searched mine. “There’s no reason for me to stay here anymore.”

  The clock ticked. I didn’t say anything, so he turned on his heel and took the stairs two at a time. He moved about in the guest room. Hangers rattled. After a few minutes, he came back down, zipping his duffel bag closed.

  My eyes welling with unshed tears, I stopped him with my hand on his chest. “We knew that life was eventually going to go back to normal, didn’t we?”

  He lifted my hand. “I guess we did.” He kissed my cheek and strode out the door.

  I sank down onto the sofa, and my tears spilled over. I picked up Courvoisier, one of my cats, and hugged her. “Why does normal feel so bad?”

  As I stroked her gray fur, my heart rate slowed. Sighing, I gave her a few last pets and made my way to the powder room. A look in the mirror confirmed that my mascara wasn’t waterproof. I splashed my face with water and toweled off. Squaring my shoulders, I grabbed my purse and headed over to my best friend Patty’s house.

  My spirits couldn’t help but lift as I entered. The noise was deafening. Patty’s three boys fenced in the kitchen. Draped in aprons, they pretended that their various spatulas and wooden spoons were light sabers. They completed the look by wearing pots on their heads.

  I patted one of the pots. “Where’s your mom?”

  The youngest used his long wooden spoon to point toward the living room. Saluting the squad, I wandered in that direction.

  Patty sat on her sofa reading a magazine and drinking a glass of wine. She raised it to me. “You ran the gauntlet. For that, I salute you. I care not, but how does my kitchen fare?”

  I laughed and wagged my finger. “How many glasses of wine have you had? And in response to the question about your kitchen, you don’t want to know.”

  She waved her hand dismissively
. “Patrick will be home soon. Let him deal with it.” She gestured to her glass. “Would you like to imbibe?”

  “I certainly would.” I poured myself a glass and sank onto the chair across from her. I took a big gulp. “I needed that.”

  “Why in particular? You captured the murderer, uncovered insurance fraud, and promoted your business all at the same time. You should be feeling quite accomplished.” She smiled and took a sip.

  “Drew’s out.”

  Shooting straight up, she plopped her glass on the table, straightening it as it threatened to tip over. “What a buzzkill.” She sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. “How could he be out? Did they tell you he was going to be released?”

  I gave her a death stare. “Don’t you think I would have mentioned it?”

  She held up her hands. “In my defense, you have been kind of busy.”

  I hugged her. “You’re forgiven. No, they did not give me any kind of notice. I thought they would too. Apparently, we were both mistaken.”

  “How did you find out? Are you sure?”

  “Quite sure. He showed up at the house just as Rob and I were finally going upstairs for some hanky-panky.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “Talk about bad timing. And something about star-crossed lovers comes to mind.” She chuckled. “But that’s not quite right because you’re not lovers yet, are you?”

  I groaned and sank farther into the sofa. “Don’t remind me.”

  “Tell me everything.”

  I just finished the story when what sounded like a heard of elephants clomped down the stairs. It was our two ballerinas: my daughter, Jenny, along with her sidekick, Patty’s daughter, Cindy.

  “Mom, Matt Hawkins texted me that he heard from Jenna Bell that someone saw Mr. Jenson fighting with Dad at our house. Is it true? Is Dad out?” Jenny asked, stringing her questions together in a staccato rhythm.

  “Oh, great.” I glanced at Patty. “Drew left the door open when he came in. Now everyone in town knows he’s back.”

  Jenny stood in front of me, stretching to her full height of five foot ten, her blue eyes blazing. “Answer me, Mom. When did Dad get out? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I patted the seat next to me. “Jenny, sit down.” She did, and I put my arm around her. “I found out when he showed up at the house. I didn’t know either.”

  “Why was Rob fighting with him?”

  “They weren’t really fighting. Your dad greeted me a bit too enthusiastically, and Rob took offense.”

  Leaping off the sofa, she pulled me up and scanned me from head to toe. “Did Dad hurt you?”

  I hugged her. “No, I’m fine. I’m just sorry the door was open.”

  “Where’s he going to stay? Where will he live? Is he going to stay in town?”

  The overhead light glinted off Jenny’s long blond hair. She’s so like Drew. I sighed. “The answer to all of your questions is I don’t know. We really didn’t have time to chat.” I held her at arm’s length, as my green eyes raked hers. “Would you want him to stay in town?”

  Jenny frowned. “I don’t know. I was so mad at him for so long. He cheated a lot of people in town out of their money. And some of their kids were my friends. They didn’t talk to me for like forever. If you hadn’t paid everyone back, I don’t think they’d ever have forgiven me. I’d probably have no friends at all.” Her shoulders slumped, and she looked like she was about to curl up into a ball.

  Cindy bounded next to her. “I’d still be your friend.” She hugged Jenny hard, and it was like a ray of sunshine erupted when Jenny smiled.

  It dimmed a bit as she continued. “He is my dad, though. I remember that he used to read me stories at bedtime and that he’d make up hysterical characters. Mom, do you remember the mouse named Manny? He’d even sing little songs he made up just to get me to smile.” She frowned. “Is it wrong for me to miss him?”

  “No, honey. He’s your dad. He did some very bad things, and he needed to pay for them. If you want to see him, we’ll arrange it.” I hugged her. “We should probably get home.”

  “Is Mr. Jenson cooking? Maybe I could charm him into making some pancakes for dinner. What are my chances?”

  “Normally they’d be good. You are such a charmer.” I tweaked her nose. “But Rob moved back to his house.”

  “Without saying goodbye? I can’t believe he did that. I thought he liked us.”

  “He does. He’s just moving home. We knew it would happen sometime.”

  Jenny stood and stomped out the door. “I hate change!”

  After waving goodbye to Patty and Cindy, I followed her. “Me too.”

  I squeezed Jenny’s hand as we strolled home. “Even though your dad paid his debt to society by finishing his prison term, people are likely to still be angry about it. I just hope it won’t get too bad.”

  Chapter 2

  Frost was on the window when I woke to do my stretches. My cats, Courvoisier and Drambuie, vied for space as I bent over, hoping an errant pet might come their way. Disappointed when I rose to take a quick shower, they disappeared into the kitchen in hopes that I would soon feed them.

  I whispered, “Fair weather friends,” as their loping bodies slid through the open doorway.

  The house felt empty without Rob in it. Still in my robe, I padded to the guest room, closed my eyes, and slowly pushed the door open. Peeking around it, I held my breath. He wasn’t there. What did you expect? That he crept back in the middle of the night? He’s gone.

  I crawled into the bed and cradled the pillow, smelling a mélange of bay leaves, argan oil, and the slightest hint of buttered rum. Tears coursed down my face. I should have told him to stay. Drambuie leapt onto the bed and head butted me, still waiting for her food. I rubbed my face against her side and groaned. Climbing out of bed, I stripped it and threw the sheets down the stairs.

  Returning to my room, I splashed my face with cold water. I dressed quickly and knocked on Jenny’s door. I stuck my head in. “Time for sleeping beauty to get up.”

  She flung a pillow at me. “I’m up.”

  “Doesn’t look like it.”

  She pushed her hair from her face. “I’m up-ish. I’ll be in the shower before you even make it downstairs.”

  “It’s a bet. But I should warn you that I stretched already, which means I’m ready to move.”

  She laughed. “Yes, but I’m seventeen, and you’re thirty-nine.”

  I swung the door shut. “Smart aleck. Let’s see if I defrost a muffin for you.”

  “Sorry!”

  I reached the bottom of the stairs. Picking up the sheets, I took them into the laundry room and dumped them in the wash.

  Feeding the cats and putting two muffins in the microwave to defrost, I checked my work calendar for the day at my company—the Meredith March Insurance Agency. I groaned, remembering that today was our standing staff meeting. I was sure there would be quite a few questions about Drew.

  The shower turned off, so I shouted up the steps, “I’m leaving. Muffin’s on the table with some juice.”

  “Thank you,” echoed down the hallway.

  Grabbing my briefcase, I headed out only to stop in my tracks halfway through my gate. There was a For Sale sign in the yard next door. Shifting my gaze to the bleak front porch, I sighed. My neighbor and friend, Nancy, had been murdered in her house not long ago. It’s going to be hard to sell that house. But I guess at the right price anything will sell.

  The staff meeting started at eight thirty on the dot. As expected, there were multiple questions about Drew. I shared what little I knew and asked everyone to keep their minds on their jobs. One of my associates, Susan Clime, had invested some of her meager savings with Drew.

  She gripped her pencil so hard it snapped. “Four years wasn’t long enough for that bastard.”

  Startled, I stated, “That’s what he got, and we can’t change it. I know that a lot of people were disappointed they didn’t get the returns they were led to ex
pect, but at least they got their principal back.”

  Susan looked up. “It’s not your fault, Merry. People don’t blame you, at least not anymore. They know you worked hard to make sure everyone got their money back. It was just that I had plans for that money.”

  Tempted to say, “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is,” I bit my tongue. After all, he fooled me too. “It was a painful time for all of us. Now, if there are no further questions, I would like to move on to Tony’s terrific presentation on a new product one of our companies is introducing next month. Tony?”

  As I sat, my mind wandered. Where will Drew end up living? How will he make any money? No one around here will hire him, and I depleted his savings making everyone whole. I guess that’s his problem now.

  Later that day, I was surprised I hadn’t heard from Rob. I wasn’t sure if we were having dinner together or not. I’ll give it another night. I’m sure he’ll call by then. I packed my things and left the office. It was a very quick trip home, especially now that the weather had turned and the cold seemed to settle into my bones.

  As I bustled in the back door, Jenny yelled, “Shut the door. It’s freezing out there.”

  “How do you expect me to get in if I don’t open the door?”

  “You could have come in the front.”

  I rolled my eyes. “But how was I supposed to know you were back here instead of in the front?”

  “Because I am doing the endless homework that my cruel teachers heap on me and I always do it in the kitchen.”

  I sighed. “Okay, Miss Grumpypants. Is pizza good for dinner?”

  “Is Mr. Jenson bringing it?”

  “Not that I know of. I haven’t heard from him today.”

  Jenny’s eyebrows rose. “That’s different. Did you break up?”

  “I think he just needs a bit of space and time. I’ll call him tomorrow night if I don’t hear from him by then.”