Chocolate Heart Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14 by Kathleen Suzette (guided reading books .TXT) 📗

You’d have to pay for it. And that was what made Logan so mad. Fred charged him an extra five hundred dollars for the work he did.”

“I don’t think it works that way,” I said doubtfully. “I don’t think Fred could have kept his car when he didn’t tell him about the work before he did it.”

“What was he having done?” Christy asked.

She shrugged. “Janice thought it had something to do with the radiator, but she wasn’t sure. I think Ethan needs to check into that.”

I wasn’t sure Ethan would be interested in looking into something that was secondhand gossip, but I didn’t want to say that and hurt her feelings. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to mention it to him.”

She nodded, excited now. “That’s exactly right. You need to talk to him and let him know what happened between the two of them. You never know when something is important.”

I smiled at her and we thanked her and left. I really didn’t know if Ethan would be terribly concerned about it, but I would mention it anyway.

Chapter Twelve

It was two days after Logan’s funeral that Christy and I ran into Mariah at the Pumpkin Hollow nail salon. She was already in the chair and Clarice Hanson was working on her nails. They were laughing about something as we stood at the counter, waiting for our appointment. I glanced at Christy and she looked at me. For the funeral having been so recent, it seemed odd that Mariah was as lively and upbeat as she was.

Sue Miller came to the front counter and greeted us. “Hi Christy, hi Mia. Are you ready for your appointments?”

We nodded. “Yes, all set,” I said.

She led us back to two chairs next to Mariah, and we sat down. “Do you know what you want?” Sue asked me. Janice Kippler appeared from the back room and came over and sat in the chair in front of Christy to get started on her nails.

“I think I want something simple,” I said. “To be honest, it’s been ages since I’ve had my nails done. I want them to be short, and I’d like a nice, simple French manicure.” I didn’t often wear acrylic nails, but occasionally I was in the mood for them. I could have gotten something cute for Valentine’s Day, but I love the look of a French manicure.

“And you, Christy?” Janice asked.

“I think I’m going to go with dark red nails. I want them to be very cute, but fairly short, too. It’s hard getting any work done when they’re longer.”

“Hi Mia, hi Christy,” Mariah said, looking over at us.

“Hi Mariah,” I said. “How are you doing?”

She sobered at the question. “I guess I’m doing as well as can be expected,” she said with a sigh.

I nodded. “I know this has got to be so hard.”

“Is Ethan any closer to finding Logan’s killer?” she asked.

I glanced around at the ladies doing our nails. It wasn’t like I was going to tell her anything personal anyway, but I felt funny discussing this in front of them. “He’s still working on the investigation. You know how it is, sometimes these things take time.”

She nodded. “Of course. I have all the faith in the world in Ethan that he will find Logan’s killer and bring them to justice.”

I sat back in my chair as Sue got to work on my right hand. “I know he will.”

“You know, Mia,” Mariah said after everyone had been silent for a few moments. “I’ve been thinking things over, and if I were going to point a finger at anyone, I would say that Mel Tillman may have had something to do with Logan’s murder.”

I looked at her. “Mel? I thought they were best friends.”

She nodded. “They were. Or at least, at one time they were best friends. To be honest with you, and this is between the six of us,” she said and chuckled. “Logan was trying to put some distance between the two of them. I think he really just outgrew Mel. Sometimes friends don’t grow with you, if you know what I mean.”

I nodded. “Sure, I know what you mean. Was there anything in particular that caused that?”

She looked at me and was quiet a moment. “Honestly? I think Mel was jealous of Logan. Logan had his own business and worked for himself. And I think Mel was just so envious that he didn’t have the same thing. He would get snippy with Logan, always making sarcastic remarks about him having it made and that it must be nice to make so much money.”

“But Logan started out working for his dad just like Mel is doing with his dad. It’s not like he was handed anything.” I looked at her.

“Oh sure, that’s true. But honestly, Fred is younger than Logan’s dad is, and I doubt he’ll retire for a long time. That means a few more years for Mel to have to work for his dad and his dad can be kind of a jerk.” She raised one eyebrow and gave me a look that said there was more to that situation than she was saying.

I had never noticed that Fred was a jerk, but there were rumors around town. Rumors that he wasn’t the most honest person to do business with, but I figured that was because he owned a garage and sometimes mechanics had a bad reputation. Now I wondered if it was true that he did work on Logan’s car without letting him know about it in advance.

“Do you think so?” I asked. “And if so, do you think Mel would just kill him because he was jealous of him?” Sue began filing my nails.

“I’m sure it had to be more than that,” she said carefully. “But there was just this tension that