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

“Was that Ethan out front?” Christy asked.

“Yes, he’s on his way to work.”

“Has he found out anything new about Olivia’s killer?” she asked. She was packing up orders to be shipped out this afternoon.

“If he has, he isn’t telling me about it. The lab results for the skin that was under Olivia’s nails hasn’t come back yet.”

“I imagine until that comes back, he may not be able to make an arrest,” Mom said as she smoothed out the pans of fudge with a rubber spatula. “Unless he’s got some other evidence.”

“Probably so,” I said. “He mentioned hoping he would be able to make an arrest soon, but I don’t know who he meant.”

“Who do you think did it?” Christy asked me, leaning on the counter.

I tied my apron around my waist. “Honestly? If I were going to guess, I would say Aaron Cox. He seems the most likely since he and Olivia had a rocky relationship, along with a recent breakup.” Bryce Jenkins had piqued my curiosity when he brought up Carla’s name, and I wondered if there was anything to that, but I wasn’t convinced there was anything there just yet.

She nodded. “I think that’s a good guess. Have you talked to him?”

“I talked to him the other day, but I think I should speak to him again. I think there’s something there.”

“Maybe I can go with you later,” she offered.

I nodded. “That sounds like a plan. Maybe when we take our lunchbreak we can stop by the haunted farmhouse.”

Christy had good sense when it came to questioning people and she might spot something that I had missed.

***

When Christy and I took our lunch, we headed over to the haunted farmhouse. As I suspected, there were a lot of tourists milling about, enjoying the day. There was a straw maze for the kids, and the corn maze was back with horror movie characters that jumped out at unsuspecting guests. It wasn’t my kind of fun, but the teens sure loved it. I could hear the screams from the parking lot.

“Sounds like somebody’s having fun,” I said to Christy as we headed to the haunted farmhouse.

“Doesn’t it? We should come back when it’s dark and go through the corn maze.”

“No thanks,” I said. “It’s just not my thing.” I had once found a dead body in the corn maze and that might have been the reason I wasn’t crazy about it. Or maybe it was just all those creepy characters that kept popping out at me when I least expected it.

We spotted Aaron near the entrance to the barn. It was still daylight, but the hayrides were running, and I saw one of the wagons as it went around the corner of the corn maze. Ethan and I needed to stop by and take a hayride when he had some time.

“Hi Aaron,” Christy said when we got closer.

He turned toward her voice and smiled at us. “Hi Mia, hi Christy. What brings the two of you out to my humble Halloween attraction today?”

“Oh, you know,” I said looking around. “There’s nothing like a corn dog and having your face painted.”

He chuckled and nodded. “I say the same thing all the time.” His brow furrowed when he looked at me. “So, has Ethan made an arrest in Olivia’s murder yet?”

“He’s working on it. You know how it is. Seems like no one wants to admit to committing murder.” I tried to say it like it was a joke, but it came out flat.

His eyes widened slightly and then he smiled at me. “No, I guess it’s no fun committing murder if you’re going to tell people you did it and wind up in jail.”

“Right?” Christy agreed. “Paying for a crime isn’t as much as committing one.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure that’s true.”

“So, Aaron, there’s a rumor going around that you and Olivia had some pretty wild fights,” Christy said casually.

I looked at her, one eyebrow arched. Sometimes my sister was a lot bolder than she should be.

“What?” he said looking at her pointedly. “Who would say something like that? Olivia and I got along just fine until we decided to go our separate ways. It was a mutual decision.”

“I heard she had some bruising on her arm,” Christy said. “I heard you did it. Is it true?”

I almost choked. Christy needed to keep her mouth shut. “Seriously Aaron,” I said. “Do you have any idea what might have happened to Olivia? I know you said she thought Bryce Jenkins was following her around, but he hadn’t dated her in a long time, and he doesn’t seem the stalker type. Do you have any other ideas as to who it might have been?”

He looked at Christy. “I heard a funny thing the other day. I heard your ex-husband was hanging around her the day she died. What about that? He used to work over at Storage Inc, and it seems like he stands to gain a lot if there’s a job that suddenly opened up.”

Christy went pale and stared at him, speechless. When she recovered, she narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You know, some people just apply for jobs, go on interviews, and then get hired. They don’t need to murder people to get a job.”

He shrugged and grinned at her. “I heard he was with her at the Ghostly Grins Café the morning she died.”

I glanced at Christy and she stared at him wide-eyed. “That isn’t true.”

“Oh? Why do you say that?” He smiled. “How would you know?”

“Because I was with him at the Ghostly Grins Café that morning. And believe me, Olivia was nowhere around.”

I turned and stared at my sister. She had