Fudgy Fatality: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10 by Kathleen Suzette (good books for high schoolers .txt) 📗

out front like this, you might think I’m an administrative assistant, but I’m not. Business has really been booming around here for a while now and all the cubicles are filled with salespeople and materials buyers, so here I am. Out here like I’m a secretary or something.”

Her face scrunched up when she said it. I didn’t think she liked someone making the mistake of thinking she was a secretary.

“That’s great that business has been booming. I like to hear that sort of thing.”

She sighed. “You have no idea. We’re the top supplier in California, but we ship all over the country. Around here, it’s sell, sell, sell. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but hey, it pays the bills.”

“Sometimes you have to do what you have to do,” I said. “I heard about Olivia Summers. It’s a terrible shame. How are things going around here with her gone?”

Her brow furrowed a moment. Then she nodded. “It’s unbelievable. She was just here on Friday. We said goodbye and that we’d see each other on Tuesday. Then I heard she died.” She shook her head sadly. “We had talked about all the events during the Halloween season and how much we were looking forward to it. I can’t imagine what her family is going through. Especially her mom and dad. I only met them once, at a company picnic, but they seemed really nice.”

“They are nice. I’ve known them a long time. Olivia was really sweet, too. It’s just a shock that something like this could happen. Did she work here long?”

“A little over a year. I’ve been here for nearly six years. I never planned on being here this long, but sometimes things happen.” She shrugged.

“You’ve been here that long?” I said, glancing around. There wasn’t another desk out here and it made me wonder why she had been stuck out here if she had seniority over Olivia. “Did she sit in one of the cubicles?”

Her mouth made a straight line. “Yes, she had that one over there.” She pointed at one that was just behind her and to the right. From where I stood, I could see flowers on the desk and a little stuffed dog sat on her keyboard.

“Oh, I see. I’ve never worked in a cubicle before. It might be fun to have one to decorate. At least, that’s what I’d do.”

She sighed. “That’s what I did when I had one, too. I changed everything out with the seasons. Olivia did, too. She had one of those scented candle warmer things too, but it smelled up the whole office and people complained. It was kind of inconsiderate of her to use it though. People have allergies.”

“Why don’t you have a cubicle now, then?”

She looked away. “It seems some people like to stab you in the back around here.” She looked at me again. “It’s always that way at a job when sales are involved. We get a small commission and people act like it’s gold.” She shrugged.

“Oh, I guess that’s a negative to working here, then.”

“That’s a negative to working in sales, period. But until something better comes along, I’ll take it.” She forced herself to smile now. “It’s not a terrible place to work.”

I nodded. I wondered who had stabbed her in the back and what had led to her losing her cubicle, but I didn’t want to seem nosy. “Any idea who might have killed Olivia?”

Her eyes narrowed in thought. “I really can’t say, but if I were going to take a guess, I’d say it had to be one of her boyfriends. She had a lot of them. But she used to argue with Aaron Cox on the phone a lot.” She folded her hands together on top of the desk. “I really don’t know, though.”

Aaron’s name kept coming up. I needed to talk to him.

“I see Olivia has some flowers on her desk. They’re really pretty.” The bouquet had yellow and orange sunflowers, an orange rose, and a white Gerbera daisy with some other fall flowers. The vase was wrapped in burlap and it shouted fall.

She glanced over at the flowers. “Those came for her Friday. I would have thought she would have taken them home for the weekend, but I guess not. She said the flowers came without a card and she didn’t know who they were from.”

“A secret admirer, I guess?” I asked.

“I guess. Like I said, she had a lot of boyfriends. I figured she just didn’t want to admit who had sent them.”

“That’s possible.” I glanced at the flowers again. It wasn't a large arrangement and didn’t seem like the sort of thing an admirer would send. “Well, I had better get going. I’ve been on my feet all day and I’m beat. Thanks for the business card. I’ll give them a call and see if they can help us out.”

“No problem. I hope Ethan catches her killer soon.”

“I’m sure he will,” I assured her. “Talk to you later.”

Olivia received a bouquet of fall flowers the day before she died, sent anonymously. I needed to find out who sent them.

Chapter Ten

It was the middle of the week, but I thought chances were pretty good that I’d find Aaron Cox out at the haunted farmhouse. On my lunch hour I drove over to the farmhouse and parked next to a white Chevy Silverado pickup truck parked out front.

The door of the farmhouse was locked, so I turned toward the barn. One of the horses neighed from inside and I headed in that direction. Before I got to the barn door, I was met by Aaron, leading one of the horses out. When he saw me, he grinned.

“Hi Mia, what brings you to the haunted farmhouse in the middle of the week in the middle of the day?”