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Christmas…”
    “Cardinals. It’s Christmas, how can they lose?” The chief laughed.
    “Take the next two days off. And Chloe?”
    “Yes?” I waited for the lecture about interfering. “If you do start feeling something definite, call me.”
    “Okay.” I was getting tired of saying this. “I will.”
    I hung up and felt a little better.
    If the chief wasn’t concerned then I shouldn’t be either, right?
    Then I looked over at the little embroidered pillow on my bed. It was a gift from Mom. It said: You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free . Maybe I wasn’t done worrying yet. I doubted we knew the truth, let alone the whole truth.
    Dad arrived a little before dusk and accepted a glass of whisky from Alex as he warmed his back at the fire. He sipped slowly. Dad is not a hard drinker and he knew that I would insist he sleep on my not very long sofa if I thought he was too impaired to ski home.
    I thought I might insist anyway. My father was Herb Dillon’s age. If one man could be struck down without warning, why not another? There was no need to take chances with the cold. Dad respected my hunches. He would stay if I asked him.

Chapter 6

    From my street I could see that the main drag through town had been cleared along with other main roads which led to the highway. Experience told me that next they would send the town’s one and only snowplow up to Olympus next and free the rich and semi-famous who would be screaming loudly at having their holiday travels curtailed.
    There were a few bright spots downtown. The post office was open and doing an excellent business. The package and cards going out wouldn’t arrive on time, but some people feel they have fulfilled their responsibilities if their gifts and cards are postmarked before December 25 th .
    The market on Market was all lit up as well. Feeling the need for some exercise I went back in the house and told Alex we— including Blue— were going grocery shopping.
    The grocery store is an excellent place to hear gossip, but try as I might I didn’t find any conversations about Herb Dillon’s death. Everyone there was serious about shopping for holiday meals, which made sense. Only the most dedicated or desperate of shoppers would be out in the snow.
    “Chloe, are you okay? You seem preoccupied,” Alex said as he put a giant candy cane in the wagon. I found Blue was staring at me as well. She looked adorable in her orange therapy dog vest.
    “I was just thinking.” More like listening. In fact, if I listened any harder my ears would protrude from my hair. It was time to accept defeat and pay attention to my grocery list. I was preparing a prime rib and Yorkshire puddings for dinner and feeling a little panicked. Mr. Jackman was out of town and I was on my own with a very large and expensive piece of meat. With it I was doing braised cauliflower with capers and brussels-sprouts in browned butter. And lots of desserts, but more about that later.
    “It’s nice that you have some time off,” Alex was saying as I studied my list. “And that you don’t have to do any more safety lectures. I was sure you would be sent out at the last minute to do the usual Christmas trees and fire stuff.”
    “That’s Fireman Dan’s job. I do traffic safety things.” But no Officer Bill appearances for me that week. The suit had been returned to the artist for enlargement. Though my last outing with Officer Bill had gone fairly smoothly, I found wearing the costume to be rather creepy. The original Officer Bill’s papier-mâché head had been used to disguise a corpse in the Halloween haunted house. Putting the costume on always brought the murder to mind.
    “We’ve got to get going. The rehearsal is at noon now. It shouldn’t take long since it is just the bride and groom and David and me.” David, my ex, was Dale Gordon’s best friend. How special was that?
    Truth to be told, I was dreading the reception. My cousin, Cynthia the slut, who had