Page 11 of A Jingle of Justice
To each word a warbling note;
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
~ William Shakespeare, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
“NO, NO, NO.”I KEENED.
Tianna lay on her back, her right arm by her side. She was clutching a porcelain bell in her left hand. A gingerbread cookie with one bite out of it lay by her head. Her lips were cherry-pink but not from lipstick.
I bent down and clasped her wrist.
“Is she dead?” Brady asked.
I couldn’t feel a pulse. A sob caught in my throat. “Yes.” I leaned forward and sniffed the cookie. “It smells like bitter almonds. I . . . I think she’s been poisoned.” Which would explain the color of her mouth.
Brady used his cell phone to call the police and recited details. “Yes, on the patio. Yes, we’ll be here.” He pocketed his phone and slung an arm around me. “You know her?”
“She came in earlier. She was the second one who said there was a treasure on the property.” I filled him in about her ancestors being the original owners of the property upon which the courtyard had been built. “She left right after Ferguson Moss did.”
“He is bad news,” Fiona said.
Brady glanced to his right. Had he heard her? Had he felt her fluttering? “Who’s Ferguson Moss?”
“Herbologist and city complainer.” I choked back a sob. “Who did this to her?”
“Whoever took the treasure,” Brady said.
“There is no treasure,” I countered. “That’s a myth.”
“Are you sure? She was digging for something.” He motioned to Tianna’s hands.
She’d dug with her fingernails. Why hadn’t she used one of the shop’s trowels? How obsessed was she? I noticed the dazzling diamond ring was still on her finger. She hadn’t been robbed.
“Why would she eat the cookie?” Brady asked. “Did she know her killer?”
“The cookie!” I exclaimed. Idris had brought in gingerbread cookies. I’d eaten one. I raced to the sales counter in the main showroom. The cookies were gone, the empty box tossed in the garbage.
I texted Joss:
Who ate the gingerbread cookies?
Joss responded:
I gave them out with each sale. Customers loved them.
Me:
Did anyone get sick?
Joss:
No. Why????
Me:
I’ll explain later.
