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

“I didn’t know that about him either,” I said. “So Logan was really angry?” It seemed odd that he and Fred would argue like that since Logan and Mel had been such good friends for so many years. Maybe Mariah was telling the truth when she said Logan was trying to distance himself from Mel.

She nodded. “You better believe it. And he started threatening him, and Fred got in his face and said he had better keep his mouth shut or he was going to be sorry.”

“Really,” I said slowly. “Did you happen to talk to Logan afterward? About the repair work?”

“As a matter fact, I did,” she said. “I happened run into him at the grocery store and I brought it up. He said Fred ended up lowering the price by three hundred dollars and apologized. Said he made a mistake about what repairs were needed. I asked him if he was going to report Fred anyway and he said he had half a mind to do it, but he didn’t want to be bothered.”

I nodded. “Well, if Fred made things right with him, then why would he kill him?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, it was just something I thought about. Maybe he didn’t trust him not to report him. Or maybe he did end up reporting him.”

I nodded. There was a possibility that Logan had reported him. I wondered if there was a public record of something like that. Probably not. But if Logan was as angry as she and Angela were making him out to be, I would have thought Logan would have mentioned it to Ethan when they were hanging out. I made a mental note to ask Ethan if Logan had brought it up to him.

I wrapped up her fudge and put it into a bag and she paid for it. She picked up the bag and looked at us. “Well girls, I better get back to work. If you see Ethan, maybe you should let him know what I said. I think he really needs to check into it.”

I nodded. “I will.”

We watched as she left and then turned to each other. “What do you think about that?” Christy asked me.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems like if Logan was satisfied that Fred had reduced the bill, he probably wouldn’t have reported him. And if he didn’t report him, then Fred didn’t have any reason to kill him.”

“That’s what I was thinking. If I had to take a guess, I am betting Amber is the killer.”

“Why?”

She was quiet a moment. “I don’t know. There’s just something about her that I don’t like. I never noticed it before, but there’s something off about her. She feels guilty. Call it a gut feeling.”

I was suspicious of Amber, too. The way she had slung mud at Logan before he died still didn’t sit right with me. She had no ethics.

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to go snowboarding the other day,” I said, sitting across from Ethan at the local pizza place. We were in a corner booth with a good view of the front door. Ethan liked being able to see who came in.

He looked at me and grinned. “I knew you were reluctant to learn to snowboard, but I didn’t think you’d resort to murder to get out of it.”

I snorted. “Ha ha. You’re so funny. I wouldn’t go to that extreme to get out of snowboarding. Besides, I enjoy spending time with you no matter what it is that we’re doing.”

He sat up in his seat. “Does that mean you would run a marathon with me?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Maybe I should rephrase that last statement. I love spending time with you doing almost anything you want to do. As long as we’re together, I’m going to be happy.”

“Except for if I want to run a marathon,” he said and picked up his glass of iced tea and took a sip.

“Except for running a marathon,” I confirmed.

He chuckled. “You are something else.”

I took a sip of my iced tea. I was trying to not go for the obvious and ask him how the investigation was going. He needed a breather from work, and I hated pressing him all the time, but I did need to know details.

“It’s a wonderful day today.”

The day had been sunny, and the snow was beginning to melt. I wasn’t fooled though, I knew we weren’t anywhere near spring yet and there would be plenty more snow this season.

He nodded. “It was a nice day today.”

The waitress came and took our order before I could say anything else. I decided on spaghetti with meatballs. Ethan ordered the Hawaiian pizza with jalapeno peppers, his favorite.

“So, I said glancing around.” It was early yet and there weren’t many other diners in the restaurant. “How are things going? I know, you can’t tell me everything you know, but I have to ask you. Are you close to arresting anyone? Hold up one finger for yes and two for no.” I couldn’t hold out any longer. I had to know.

He was in the middle of taking a sip of his iced tea when I said it and he nearly choked with laughter over it. When he’d settled down, he shook his head. “Not as close as I would like. We’ve been talking to everyone, of course, but nothing solid yet.”

I nodded. “I think Mariah probably had the most reason to do it.”

“And why do you say that?” he asked, sitting back.

I shrugged. “They had a volatile relationship. They’d recently split up, and even though they got back together, there was always trouble between them. And I think she’s resentful that he wouldn’t marry her.”

“Mariah does make me suspicious,” he said quietly. “There’s something about her