Willow sets her casserole dish on the groaning table.
“Oh, are those cupcakes?” Bobby, one of the Harrogate PD officers, comes over, his plate piled high with food. “I need to grab one of those before the rest of the town does.” He balances a cupcake on his plate.
“Hey, so, Bobby—”
“Hmm? Oh man, this is a good cupcake.”
“There’s more where that came from,” Willow offers. “Did you happen to request the records for Jonah Merriweather’s phone yet?”
Bobby is chowing down on the funeral food and asks, “You can do that?”
God help me. “Yeah, you just ask the telecom company,” I tell him.
“Oh, well, no.” He swallows. “I’ll do it after lunch. Oh, did Mrs. Costa make her manicotti?” He plods off.
Lenore lets out a peal of laughter. “I know! He got what was coming to him.”
One of her friends tries to shush her.
“I have an alibi. I was watching the Christmas tree lighting, just like everyone else. You should have seen my face when they told me he was dead!”
Her friends all laugh.
“I mean, she couldn’t have murdered him, right?” Willow whispers. “If she did, she’d at least try to pretend to be sad. I mean, who murders someone and brags about it?”
“Shockingly, a surprising number of people. They want people to know they got away with it.”
Willow frowns and looks at her phone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh—” She hides her phone from me. “Nothing.”
11
WILLOW
“She’s not coming?” I say in disbelief as I stare at the phone and Josie’s text message.
“Hey, Willow,” Hollis says from my elbow. “I wasn’t sure what you and Josie were bringing to the funeral—if it was savory or sweet. I brought some cookies I made with some leftover dough. Hope it’s okay. They’re sort of like pinwheel Santa’s kitchen sink cookies?”
“Josie’s not coming,” I tell her with a sigh. “Apparently, something came up with her husband and his family.”
“Dang, it’s the event of the holiday season. Guess I’ll have to be your girl Friday.” She giggles. “So, who are we investigating? Are we looking for clues?”
“Well.” I sigh. “Hughes and I already talked to Lenore.”
“Ooh, so there is a man on the horizon. Rose was wondering.”
“It’s not like that. And since when is Rose observant about anything?”
“Well, we should go talk to Lenore when there’s no men around. Then, you know, us women, we like to gossip.” Hollis giggles. “Also, she’s so deep in the sauce, she’ll tell you where all the bodies are buried.”
We head back over to the snack table so Hollis can set down the cookies. While she chats about the Jell-O salad Mrs. Rinaldi brought, I notice an elegant woman sifting through the dizzying array of casserole dishes. Something about her is familiar.
The woman’s eyes lock with mine for a moment. I glance away so she doesn’t think I’m staring. When I look back at the table, the young woman has disappeared.
“There she is.” Lenore gestures drunkenly with her wineglass. “Willow made those delicious cupcakes. She’s going to be in that baking contest next week, aren’t you, dear?”
