Murder in the Mix Boxed Set 28-30: Cozy Mystery Addison Moore (the reading strategies book .txt) 📖

“I wouldn’t trust those. They could be poisoned for all you know.”

Carlotta grunts, “Who are we kidding, Lot? You’re the only killer in this one-horse town. The only guessing game is, who are you gonna pin it on this time?”

“You’re on the list,” I say as I touch the mouse and the computer screen lights up. I spot Numbers, the exact same software I use at the bakery to keep up with my business accounting, and I head on in.

Chris Holiday is the money bags around here. I’m assuming I’m looking at his handiwork. I scan the last few months but don’t find anything suspicious. All of the expenses seem legitimate to me. A lot of withdrawals, but I’m assuming that’s to purchase gifts and food and whatever else they need to make up the Christmas baskets they’ll be delivering this year. The last row to each transaction requires electronic initials. It’s standard on the software to require an ID before inputting.

A thought comes to me. In order to make any changes to the balance sheet, it requires the user to log in. And each set of initials requires a new login. But what most employees who use this don’t realize is that if you double click the initials, it will show the username of the person who logged in, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be the same person. I begin double clicking. I may not be able to do any transactions, but the software doesn’t care that I’m noseying around.

Chris, Chris, Chris—so far it’s all him. Suze.

SUZE! And she left Chris’ initials in her wake—and perhaps to cover her tracks. Oh my goodness, she’s a witch and a crook. Not that the beguilers are witches, but still—Suze just might be the exception. I count nine different withdrawals from Suze posing as Chris. It’s almost as if she was trying to set him up for the fall.

Would Suze really do something like that?

I go back another fifteen or so transactions and find another handful of transactions that Suze has pilfered.

I click on yet another set of poor Chris’ initials, but it’s not Suze’s login this time. It’s Gloria’s. A relatively small withdrawal for less than ten dollars. Odd.

Huh.

I take a few dozen screenshots with my phone before pulling open the drawers and finding a bloated planner. I pull the calendar to myself and open it up to December. The same loopy cursive handwriting is sprinkled throughout the month. And judging by the fact it reads call Candy, call Elodie in the upper right, I’m guessing this was Gloria’s planner.

I flip the calendar back a page to November and note that a few days before Thanksgiving it reads Elodie, and it just so happens to be underlined three times. Below that it reads 20 K.

“Twenty thousand?” I whisper as I continue to scan the book for clues. Did Gloria lend Elodie twenty thousand dollars before Thanksgiving?

Suze did say that Elodie was having trouble paying her rent last month, and now she seems just fine. Interesting.

I flip the calendar back to October and find a black heart drawn over the fifteenth and the letters RIP written so small you practically need a magnifying glass to see them. RIP? Rest in peace? No, that can’t be right. It’s probably someone’s initials. Maybe a placeholder for a meeting she was having for the charity.

The door to the tiny office swings open, and the three of us solidify, only to see Detective Noah Fox standing there, flashing his badge.

“Noah.” I breathe a sigh of relief, my chest pulsating like mad as I struggle to catch my breath.

Evie tosses a handful of popcorn at him. “You scared us half to death.”

Noah frowns at the three of us. “You think that was scary? Wait until you spend the night behind bars.”

Carlotta jumps to her feet. “I’ve seen those beefy guards.” She thrusts her hands his way. “Take me now, Foxy. I’ll serve enough time for the three of us.”

Evie shrugs. “I’m in.”

“Stop,” I say, fishing my keys out and tossing them to Carlotta. “Take Evie and Keelie home. If you go now, Keelie might still be modestly dressed.”

Noah shakes his head my way.

“Fine,” Carlotta says as they file out of the room. “But I’m stopping by the Steak Shack on the way home and picking up some burgers.”

“Ooh, pick a couple up for me,” I tell her. “Like six.” I shrug over to Noah. “You never know. I might get up hungry in the night. Extra pickles,” I call out as they take off, and I hear Evie say some snarky remark about me needing a meat locker in the kitchen.

“Lottie.” Noah’s brows narrow as he says it, and I can see the disappointment written on his face.

“Oh, Noah.” I wrap my arms around him, and all of the emotions I’ve been holding back come flooding to the surface.

“Whoa, easy.” He buries a kiss in my hair. “Is this about Everett?”

I nod as I try my hardest to pull it together. “I think I made a terrible mistake. I don’t think he’s the man I thought he was.”

“What are you talking about?” He searches my features as if he were genuinely confused.

“Never mind. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“Let’s get out of here.” He helps me out of the room before flicking off the lights. “You up for a sleigh ride? There are a couple of horses out front waiting to take a spin around this place.”

I bite down on a smile. “I’d like that a lot.”

He navigates us out front, and soon we’re seated in that enchanted sleigh that’s lit up like a dream as the horses and the driver lead us on an adventure through this magical snowy night.

“How did you find me?” I ask as Noah wraps his arm around me tightly and we warm ourselves under the wool blanket we were provided.

“I have a tracking device on your van, remember?”

“That’s right. Is it too late to request