Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

T he moonlight casts a blue glow over the courtyard and makes the silver blade sticking out of that poor man’s chest glow cobalt like the hottest kind of flame.

Crimson liquid pools around the man’s midsection, saturating the snow in the same lethal hue.

It’s Santa.

He’s dead .

A shrill scream escapes me at the sight and the earth vibrates around me as three furry creatures bolt my way.

What is it, Bizzy? Sherlock Bones barks as he descends from the woods.

“It’s—it’s—” I can hardly get the words out as I point down at the body.

It’s my Nick, Jingle says as he gives a sharp bark. Who did this ? His barking grows increasingly wild. Who hurt my Nick? A heartbreaking howl emits from him as Fish runs up on the scene.

What’s happening? my sweet cat yowls as she stops just shy of the body. Oh, Bizzy. Not again.

I shoot her a look for even going there. Sure, it may not be my first rodeo when it comes to discovering the dead, but I’d like to think I’m not running a morgue on the side either.

You’d better call for help. Fish rubs her head along Jingle’s front paw. Sherlock, let’s take Jingle inside. He doesn’t need to see this.

Don’t you worry, Sherlock tells him as he and Fish lead Jingle along. My Bizzy and Jasper are going to take care of this.

Fish belts out a sharp meow. And they’ll take care of whoever did this, too.

No sooner are they out of sight than another short-lived scream evicts from me, and this time it’s Jasper who runs up, along with another man on his heels.

“Bizzy?” Jasper calls out, and in seconds I’m in his arms. “What happened? Are you all right? Is it the baby?”

“I’m fine.” I give a shaky nod. “The baby is fine, too.” My hand finds my stomach as I glance past him at the man closing the distance on us and I recognize that red sweater, his gray curls—it’s the man who was given the switchblade from Santa himself. I think his name is Chris.

“I was, I was looking for Sherlock and Fish—and you.” I blink up at Jasper. “And I tripped over something. I thought maybe it was a log or who knows what, but as it turns out, it was a shoe.”

“ Geez .” The man next to us gasps. “Is he dead?”

Jasper quickly falls to Santa’s side and checks for a pulse before shaking his head at both Chris and me.

“He’s gone.” Jasper sighs. “I’m calling this in.” He makes a quick call, and soon I’m back in his arms as he presses his nose to mine. “We need to get you inside. I don’t want you out here in the cold too long. What else did you see, Bizzy?”

“Nothing. That’s it. Oh, and the pets showed up. Sherlock and Fish just took Jingle inside. He was pretty upset.”

“I’ll say,” Chris pants. His face glows like a second moon in this dim light, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of the deceased. “Jingle had a real affection for the guy.” Not that anyone else did.

I blink back at his unkind comment.

The man is dead, but obviously, Chris can’t control his true feelings. And as I’ve learned one too many times before, thoughts tend to run rampant in all sorts of crazy directions when there’s a corpse involved.

The sound of sirens heads in this direction, sawing through the night as both Jasper and Chris step over to the body.

“Don’t move any closer,” Jasper tells the man. “We can’t afford to compromise the crime scene any more than we already have.”

But Chris does move closer, by way of leaning toward his old friend.

“Jasper?” he says as his voice hikes an octave. “I think I recognize that knife. I think it’s the switchblade he just gave me.”

“What?” I say, traipsing in their direction as well.

Sure enough, it is a switchblade, and just seeing it sends a shiver up my spine.

“Why isn’t this knife in your possession?” Jasper bites the words out sharply.

It comes out laced with accusation, and for good reason.

“I set it down on the dessert table.” Chris raises his hands as if it were a stickup. “It was still in the box. I grabbed a few cookies, watched as Virginia opened her gift, had some eggnog, and then went out for some fresh air. That’s when I bumped into you.”

Jasper nods my way. “It’s true, we’ve been out in front of the inn talking about weaponry.” He pats the gun hidden beneath his suit jacket just as what looks like the entire Seaview Sheriff’s Department swarms the area.

Soon, Jasper and Chris are busy speaking with the deputies as a handful of bodies begin to spill this way from the ballroom.

“Bizzy,” someone calls my name and I turn to see Georgie headed over with my mother in tow. “What’s happening? Is it the baby? Or did you lose one of Santa’s reindeer again?”

I make a face.

“I’ve never lost anyone’s reindeer,” I tell her as both women crane their necks to see what all the fuss is about. “And the baby is fine.” Although most likely questioning fate, seeing that it’s been given a certified corpse finder as a mother.

But before I can tell them about the latest corpse I found, a shrill scream escapes from my mother.

It looks like I won’t have to explain anything.