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

“And so she killed her. Looks like it was planned, but she says it was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”

“Why did she drag her body out onto the sidewalk?” I asked.

“She was trying to drag her to the alley in the hopes that we would think someone had jumped her when taking out the trash. The backdoor was blocked by a new shipment of supplies they hadn’t put away yet so she had to use the front door. It’s harder to drag a dead body around than she thought it would be and she panicked and dropped her on the sidewalk.”

“Dead weight,” I said.

“Dead weight.”

“I just can’t imagine killing someone over the loss of a cubicle and a promotion,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.

“Right?” Christy said. “I mean, I could see if it was an actual office, but a cubicle? That’s crazy.”

Ethan chuckled. “When contemplating murder, it’s best to really think through your priorities.”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Stupid.”

“It seems like it would have taken a lot of strength to strangle her,” I pointed out.

“Olivia was very petite, and Carla used an electrical cord to do it. She had slipped up behind her and Olivia was unable to fight back.”

“Did the labs on the skin beneath Olivia’s nails come back?” I asked him. Boo wandered out of the house and rubbed up against my leg. I scratched his ear for him.

“This afternoon. It doesn’t match anyone in the database, but we’re sending a DNA sample from Carla to the lab. We have her confession, of course, but we’ll need the lab results when the case goes to court.”

“I would have lied,” Christy said. “I mean, it’s circumstantial unless the DNA is a match, right?”

Ethan turned to look at her. “I’ll keep that in mind if you’re ever a suspect in a murder. Christy is going to lie.”

“You do that,” she said without looking at him.

He turned to look at me. “I’m starving.”

“We could order a pizza,” I suggested.

“Sounds good. I love pizza.”

“I guess I had better get home. Mom will wonder where I am,” Christy said, getting to her feet.

“You don’t want to stay for pizza?” I asked.

“No, I’m not hungry.”

“All right, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

We watched her get into her car and pull away.

“I hurt my sister’s feelings. I shouldn’t have made a big deal of her hiding the fact that she had breakfast with John. She might be a little angry at you, too.”

“She shouldn’t have tried to hide it when there was the possibility that John was hiding something concerning the murder. She seems fine now. She’ll get over it.”

He was right. Christy was fine now. It was just that I might have felt a little guilty about the whole thing. I sighed and got up to call in an order for pizza.

“Hawaiian?”

“With jalapenos, please.”

“Yum.”

My sister and I would be fine. I knew we would.

Author’s Note

I’m so glad it’s fall again. Pumpkin spice lattes are back, and the grocery store smells like cinnamon. I can’t wait to go to the pumpkin patch with the little people in my family! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of fall and Halloween. I hope you enjoyed this episode of A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery!

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