Deadly Traditions, page 38
Despite Bruce’s encouragement, Marge didn’t budge. She thought quickly to find an excuse for stalling. “Let the crowd thin a bit then we’ll pick a wagon.”
Marge scanned the crowd until she spotted a short woman wearing jeans and a turquoise ski jacket with a pink hat and matching gloves. “Oh, there’s Sue. It looks like she’s on her own. Let’s join her,” she said quickly.
Without waiting for her friends to reply, Marge barrelled toward the woman. “Hi, Sue! Won’t this be fun?” She motioned toward one of the wagons that was nearly empty. “I like the look of those big grey guys. Let’s take that one.”
Marge urged Sue toward the wagon, not giving her a chance to refuse. Behind her, she heard the footsteps of Lois and Bruce crunching on the snow and knew they were following her. When they reached the open-sided wagon, Marge asked Bruce to help the women climb aboard. He offered his hand and steadied Sue as she mounted the movable wooden steps set beside it.
Before Marge could follow her, Helen appeared from the opposite side of the wagon and started up the steps. “Sue, I’m glad I spotted you! I’ve got some ideas for your bedroom revamp.”
Lumbering up the steps in Helen’s wake, Marge damped down a huff of annoyance as she watched Helen settle beside Sue on the near side of the double row of hay bales. She plumped down next to Helen, taking a deep breath to calm down. Lois and Bruce climbed on and took seats on hay bales facing the opposite side of the wagon with their backs to the women.
When all the seats were filled, the driver flicked the reins and called to the horses. Making a sharp creaking sound, the wagon jerked forward. After several steps the horses settled into a smooth stride.
Marge leaned forward to speak to Helen and Sue, focusing her gaze on Sue. “I haven’t done this in years – not since before I moved to Toronto. When were you last on a Christmas Lights hayride?”
Sue shrugged. “I come along some years.”
Marge glanced at Helen. Although she wanted to talk to Sue, she couldn’t ignore Helen sitting between them.
Helen glanced away then back at the other two women. “Mike and I came last year,” she said softly.
Marge heard the sadness in her voice. No matter how much Helen protested that she no longer cared about Mike after the couple’s breakup, it was obvious that wasn’t true. Marge felt sympathy for the woman, but she couldn’t help wondering what was the balance between sadness and anger in Helen’s feelings for her ex-boyfriend.
Out of the corner of her eye, Marge noticed that Dean Walker was sitting next to Lois and Bruce. Dean’s wife sat primly beside her husband.
Marge twisted her upper body and leaned across to speak to Lois. “You two comfy over there?”
Lois leaned against Bruce as he slipped his arm around her shoulder. “Yes, thanks.”
Marge turned her attention to the shoe repairman. “Oh, hi, Dean. You having a night off from the holiday season repair rush?”
“Yeah, my wife loves the hayride, but don’t worry. Your shoes will be ready for your party.” Dean reached for his wife’s hand and held it loosely in both of his as he turned to smile at her.
Before Marge could try to regain Dean’s attention, the wagon jolted as the horses made a sharp right turn onto a residential street. Marge gripped the edge of the bale she was seated on and rolled with the motion of the vehicle. Behind her, she heard Lois’s exclamations of awe and knew her friend had spotted the decorations on the houses they were now passing
“Oh, look at that house. All blue lights. It’s so beautiful with the snow on the lawn!” Lois said.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Despite her comment, Marge was also impressed. Driving to work each day, she didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. This was the first time she had noticed the Christmas decorations in the neighbourhood. The bright, twinkling lights on the houses really were pretty. A house several doors further on caught her eye. It was decorated completely in red and white lights that flashed in ever-changing patterns. She loved it.
Marge turned her attention back to Dean, leaning closer to speak to him privately. “It’s a shame Mike didn’t have space for you in his new shop.”
As Dean turned to look at her, she watched carefully for his reaction to her comment but he didn’t seem perturbed by it.
Dean gave her a nonchalant shrug. “It didn’t matter really. And it’s just as well I never made any arrangements with him since there won’t be a shop now. I’m glad that was my second choice.”
Marge was aware of Dean’s wife turning to look at her. The other woman didn’t say anything but her eyes narrowed. Marge would have to keep this conversation short so the woman didn’t get the wrong idea.
“What do you mean?” Marge asked.
“I had another offer. Canada Hardware has space to set up shop with them. I’m moving there after Christmas.”
Marge’s eyes widened but she pasted a big smile on her face. “Oh, that’s great.”
She wasn’t sure which she was most surprised about: that Dean’s motive for murder had just evaporated or that the shoe repairman would soon be working at the same premises as her ex-husband. Since she was trying to avoid Ted as much as possible, maybe she should find a new shoe repairman. She sighed. It seemed she was at a dead end with Dean. Time to learn more about Sue and maybe Helen.
Marge listened to Lois exclaim over another outstandingly illuminated house they passed and murmured agreement then turned back to her side of the wagon. She leaned toward Helen to join the women’s conversation.
“I’m having a man-free Christmas,” Helen said.
Sue laughed. “Tending my greenhouse plants keeps me busy. I don’t have time for men.”
“Make that three of us. I’m firmly single too.” Marge took a deep breath. It was time to see if she could ruffle a few feathers to learn a bit more about her companions. “I guess dating Mike has put you both on your guard.”
In the ensuing silence, Helen and Sue looked at each other. Marge waited.
“You dated Mike?” Helen asked Sue.
“Yeah, several years ago. Just for a few months.”
Helen clasped her mittened hands together on her lap. “Not that it matters to me, but I didn’t know.”
“It was before you moved to Fenwater. I’d pretty much forgotten about it.” Sue’s gaze slid away from Helen.
“Mike was a hard guy to forget easily,” Marge observed.
Sue rested her hands on the edge of the bale and leaned forward to look directly at Marge. The pitch of her voice rose. “Like I said, it was ages ago. Both of us moved on with no hard feelings.”
“Just like Mike and me,” Helen said quickly.
The conversation turned from the women’s plans for Christmas to other topics, but there were awkward pauses and Marge often had to ask questions to keep it going. She watched each of the women closely, trying to gauge what thoughts and emotions might be churning inside them.
Beside Sue, two teenage boys were wrestling over a chocolate bar held by the one nearest to her. Leaning forward on the bale to avoid their elbows, Sue gave the boys a sharp look then turned back to the other women.
The boys were still for a moment, then the boy furthest from Sue made a lunge for the candy. He missed it but shoved his friend hard against Sue’s hunched form. Marge gasped as Sue tumbled forward and fell from the wagon. She hit the ground with a thump.
Without hesitation, Marge slid off the hay bale and slithered to the edge of the wagon bed, letting her legs dangle over the side. Helen leaned forward as if she planned to follow her.
“It’s okay. I’ll go. We’ll catch up with you,” Marge called to Helen.
Chapter 7
Marge leaned backwards, letting her heavier top half anchor her as she slid awkwardly from the wagon. She held her breath and hoped her feet would land first. The breath she was holding whooshed out when she felt the ground beneath her boots. As she hurried toward Sue, she saw an event marshal heading in the same direction. Sue was struggling to her feet as the pair reached her.
Marge offered her arm for support. “You okay?”
Sue’s voice was shaky. “I think so.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t break anything,” the marshal said. “We better get you checked at the hospital.”
Marge turned at the sound of the familiar voice. “Ted!”
In her rush to get to Sue, Marge hadn’t looked at the marshal until he spoke. Her ex-husband nodded a greeting then turned his attention back to Sue.
“I’ll call one of the guys to come and pick you up.” Ted raised his walkie-talkie to his mouth.
Sue shook her head. “No, I don’t need to go to hospital. Just my foot’s a bit sore. It’ll be okay if I walk on it.”
Marge glanced around them for somewhere Sue could rest. Pointing at a fence on a nearby property, she said, “Let’s get her over there.”
Marge and Ted each gripped one of Sue’s arms and helped her hobble to the fence. Sue huffed out a breath and sank against it.
“Let me take a look at your leg,” Ted said.
“Okay.”
Ted ran his hand down the lower half of Sue’s leg and gently flexed her foot. “Does that hurt? Are you sore anywhere else?”
“No, like I said, just my foot. It’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
Ted straightened up and Sue pushed off from the fence. She gingerly limped back and forth, testing her foot as the trio watched the rest of the wagons pass them. After several minutes, the last wagon had disappeared into the darkness and the sound of harnesses jingling grew fainter.
“When you ladies are ready, we can cut across a couple of blocks to catch up with your wagon. Or I can get someone to pick you up and take you back to the market. Your choice,” Ted said.
Sue stopped pacing. “Maybe a ride to the market. I don’t know how I’d climb onto the wagon again.”
“That sounds best.” Marge doubted that she would be able to jump onto a moving wagon either. Without the steps, she would be like a whale hauling herself onto the beach. Waiting for their ride would also give her time alone with Sue. She still had questions for her.
Ted pressed the button on his walkie-talkie to speak to the event organizers then turned to the women. “Dave Stewart will be over in a few minutes.” He addressed Sue, “By the way, we’ve got the mortars and pestles you were looking for in the store now. Want me to put a set aside for you?”
“Ah, no. Th-that’s okay,” Sue stuttered. “I got one.”
“No problem. Well, I should get back to my duties. Are you ladies okay here until Dave picks you up?”
“Yeah, we’ll walk a bit until he arrives,” Sue said.
After Ted said goodbye and strode off, Marge and Sue slowly made their way toward St Andrew’s Street two blocks away.
“Why do you need a mortar and pestle?” Marge asked.
“For baking.”
Marge chuckled. “You’re more talented than me. I can’t bake to save my life. What are you baking?”
“Cookies for Christmas gifts.”
“Sounds good. I’ve been hankering for peanut cookies this week for some reason.”
Sue winced as she took a step. “Oh, I made some of those.”
“Do you crush the peanuts?”
Sue gave Marge an uneasy look then glanced away. “Uh huh, I don’t like them crunchy.”
“Lois uses peanut butter. Less hassle she says.”
Sue shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
Marge noticed that the lights ahead on the main street were little more than a block away. She needed to take advantage of the time she had left alone with Sue.
“So, you and Mike used to date, eh?” Marge said.
“Yeah, like I said, it was ages ago.”
“I think Helen was surprised to hear that.”
“It shouldn’t matter to her. I’d never have gone out with him again.”
“Why not?” Marge asked.
“He was such a Casanova.”
Marge nodded. “Yeah, he always did go after what he wanted.”
“You can say that again,” Sue muttered, a hard edge creeping into her voice.
Marge had to strain to hear her comment. “What?”
Sue waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, nothing important.”
Marge looked at Sue. The other woman’s fingers were curled tensely and her jaw was tight. Sue’s foot must be more painful than she let on. Maybe she should ease up on her. It sounded like Sue and Mike were ancient history. What reason would she have to kill him now?
Marge sighed. It looked like she could cross Sue off her suspect list. So that only left Helen unless she could find anyone else who had a grudge against Mike. When the wagons returned to the market, she would ask Helen a few more questions.
Marge changed the topic. “Have you got much more baking to do for Christmas?”
“Nah, I’ve got most of it done.”
“You must have started early.”
“No, only last week.”
“After you got your mortar and pestle.”
There was a short silence. “Uh, yeah.”
As the women walked, Marge thought about the previous Saturday evening, picturing Sue in her cream top. It was right after she talked to Sue that she could have sworn she smelled peanut cookies. Marge had to stifle a gasp as a sudden realization hit her. Was that powder on Sue’s top really makeup foundation? Could it have been powdered peanuts? Sue had the mortar and pestle by then. And she skittered away after Marge mentioned the powder on her clothes, supposedly to clean her top. She would have passed the mini-bar on the way to the ladies’ restroom. Did she add peanuts to a drink then? But it didn’t make sense. Why would she do it?
Marge turned to Sue and found the other woman staring back intently. Marge quickly broke eye contact with her, trying to hide the disturbing thoughts that were going through her head.
Smoothing her red ski jacket with both hands, she tried to sound upbeat. “Good thing it’s not too cold tonight since I’ve only got my short jacket. I hope our ride gets here soon. We don’t want to walk right to the other end of St Andrews Street.”
“I need a break.” Sue stopped walking abruptly. “Why were you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you were shocked.”
“No, I wasn’t. What gave you that idea?”
Sue leaned toward Marge, her leather barrel purse gripped tightly in one hand. “Why all the questions about Mike?”
Marge laughed, nervously. “Just curious.”
Marge didn’t expect the blow and staggered backwards onto the snow-covered lawn beside them, clutching her pounding head. Sue dropped her purse then jumped on her, punching wildly. Marge automatically raised her arms to block the blows.
“Why did you have to ask so many questions!” Sue screamed.
Stopping a blow aimed at her head, Marge caught Sue’s arm and held it tightly. Sue’s crazed, determined look scared her.
Marge ground out, “They know we’re together. If you do anything to me, everyone will know it was you.”
Panting, Sue tried to twist away from her. “I’ll tell them you slipped on the ice. Hit your head.”
Sue struggled, trying to free her arm from Marge’s grip, but Marge used her larger size and weight to tip Sue from her. She flipped the pair of them to put herself on top of the smaller woman, hoping she wouldn’t succumb to her dizziness and could restrain Sue until their ride arrived.
Marge held on grimly and was relieved when she heard a car’s engine. The vehicle was moving slowly along the street toward them. Silently, she urged Dave to quickly spot them and come to her aid. As if the driver had heard her thoughts, the car increased its speed. It stopped at the curb. Car doors clicked open then two police officers were beside them, pulling the women apart.
Constable Riley tugged Marge’s arm. “Break it up, ladies.”
Marge let go of Sue and stood up, her vision blurry as she watched the other officer help Sue to her feet. “I’m glad to see you, PJ, uh . . . Constable Ross. I think Sue murdered Mike. I might have been next.”
Constable Ross tightened her grip on Sue’s arm.
“She’s lying,” Sue screamed.
“You know I’m not.”
“Let’s go to the station, ladies. Constable Riley, will you ride in the back with Sue?”
Constable Ross steered Sue toward the police cruiser. Sue gave Marge a hate-filled glare over her shoulder.
Her head fuzzy, Marge tried to make sense of what she had discovered. “Why, Sue? Revenge? Jealousy? Did you still want him?”
Sue spit out her reply. “No, I didn’t want that jerk. But I had no hope of competing with him.”
Marge frowned. “What?”
“We’ll finish this at the station, ladies. Marge, you ride up front with me,” Constable Ross said.
Marge made an effort to smile even though her head ached. “Sure thing. Will you let Dave Stewart know we got a better offer and won’t need a ride now?”
Chapter 8
“Sorry I couldn’t meet you earlier but I couldn’t skip band practice. Our pipe band has lots of engagements coming up for the holiday season,” Lois said.
Marge took a sip of her hot whiskey and leaned back in her chair. “It’s me who should apologize for just disappearing on you like that last night.”
Lois waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t give it another thought. Dave Stewart told us where you were and you’ve explained what happened. It’s lucky the police patrol spotted you ’cause Dave got delayed going to pick you up.”
Marge glanced around the room, noticing several of Lois’s bandmates standing near the short mahogany bar at the front of the Hawick Hotel lounge. “It was lucky alright. Did you manage to enjoy the rest of the tour without me?”
Lois smiled. “Bruce and I had a good time. But I missed you and you missed the hot apple cider.”
“But you missed all the excitement. Things happened pretty fast.”
Concern wrinkled Lois’s brow as she looked at her friend. “I’m really sorry I wasn’t there with you. When you went to help Sue, I never imagined that you would be alone with a killer.”
