Murder Under the Tree Read Online Free

“Phil, look at this balsam fir.”
    “The branches are a little sparse.”
    “I like it!”
    “I suppose you'll never notice that underneath the hundreds of glass ornaments you always put on.”
    We tied the tree on top the roof of our car and headed home. On the way, I thought about the joy this tree and Christmas would bring to our family and then thought about Les, hours earlier working on the retirement home's Christmas tree, and now lying in the morgue.

 
Chapter Two
     
    Monday, December 22
    Winter Solstice
     
    Many of our friends had taken off of work the week before Christmas. Lots of parties and events were planned. I put aside what happened yesterday at Hawthorne Hills to concentrate on the Christmas murder mystery party I was having that evening. Phil and I had decorated our tree into the early morning hours. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I put the last strands of tinsel on the tree, then placed the Christmas angel at the top.
    I glanced at my watch. Elizabeth would be here any minute to pick me up to finish our Christmas shopping. I probably shouldn't have even said I'd go this morning. I needed to make sure I had enough time to prepare for tonight.
    Elizabeth was pulling up the driveway in her Volvo when I looked out the front window. I could see Deirdre in the front passenger seat. I put on my black wool coat, wrapped a scarf around my neck, and locked the door behind me. Walking down the steps, I glanced at the SOLD sign on Ted's lawn again. Who had bought Ted's house? I hoped our new best friends. Someone to bring needed diversity to Sudbury Falls. I had high hopes whomever it was, would make a better addition to our neighborhood.
    On the way downtown, we told Elizabeth about the Christmas tea and Les' death.
    “I didn't know him,” she said. “There wasn't anything in the newspaper about it this morning.”
    “Too soon,” I said. “The autopsy wouldn't be done yet.”
    Deirdre turned around and looked at me with a faint grin on her face. She then turned to Elizabeth. “What?” You don't know every man in Sudbury Falls?”
    Elizabeth had a bubbly, energetic personality. She glanced at Deirdre and ran her hand through her short-cropped dark hair. “Well, I don't usually go looking for dates at the retirement home.” Elizabeth looked at me in the rearview mirror, her face full of freckles and smirked.
    I smiled.
    “I know, they're all really disappointed about that,” Deirdre quipped.
    Elizabeth turned to Deirdre and said in mock anger, “Hey! I have my reputation to think about, you know.”
    Deirdre shrugged. “I thought you gave up on that years ago.”
    Elizabeth turned back to look at the road. “Very funny, Deirdre. I've got some standards.”
    “You learn something new every day,” Deirdre deadpanned.
    I groaned.
    Elizabeth had married right out of high school when she learned she was pregnant. Having moved from foster home to foster home herself as a child, she wanted to keep her baby and give him a good home. Her escape from her oppressive husband came in the form of attending college and getting her masters degree in library science. After her son finished college and married, she divorced, and wanted the freedom she never had. She threw all caution to the wind, and went from one relationship to another. Before John, she had dated three men simultaneously.
    Feeling the need to change the subject, I said, “Remember in our book club last month when we discussed Catering to Death, where the mayor was poisoned at dinner because he was an abusive husband?”
    “Yes,” they both said, looking quizzically at me, wondering where was I going with this.
    “Les looked like he was in great physical shape—”
    “Now I really wish I had known him,” Elizabeth interjected.
    “I assume you mean in the biblical sense.”
    Ignoring Deirdre's comment, I said, “It probably wasn't a heart attack. Someone must have thought they had a good reason to kill Les. It had to have