Page 3 of Colorado Christmas Carol
“Aren’t you a little young for a chef?” he asked.
Her eyes flashed. “You can ask the boss that,” she replied.
“Come on, Mellie,” he said, gesturing to his child. He glared again at Essa. “Before she curdles something.”
Essa gave him a mock smile. “Careful you don’t get something curdled thrown at you,” she said sweetly.
He made a rough sound in his throat and turned as his daughter followed him.
Mellie looked back at her. “Help!” she mouthed.
Essa just winced and waved goodbye.Poor kid, she thought as she turned to the stove.Imagine having a father like that!
* * *
The next morning, Essa was making rolls for lunch when Mellie peered around the corner, past the other cook and two helpers dressed in holiday motif.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
Essa grinned. “Of course. Make yourself at home.” She glanced at the child. “How did you escape?” she teased.
“Daddy was on a conference call about the case, so I slipped out.” She chuckled gleefully.
“What sort of case?” Essa asked idly as she kneaded dough.
“A murder. Daddy said he found evidence that the killer came this way.”
“What sort of murder?” Essa was interested.
“A really bad one,” she replied. “Daddy won’t tell me much, just that there was a woman they found who’d been hit with a bat many times. There were two other bodies. One was a little boy, and one was a man. Daddy said the boy was an old murder, but the man wasn’t. And the woman was killed very recently. Daddy thinks the murders are all connected and there’s a suspect. But he won’t say who.”
Essa whistled softly. “That’s quick work.”
“Daddy knows his business,” Mellie said proudly. “His boss says it’s a coincidence that all the victims are together, but Daddy says it could be a serial killer.”
“A serial killer,” Essa said under her breath. “That’s scary.”
“But Daddy’s boss said it was a coincidence.” She laughed. “Daddy hung up and said that the killer already had a support system and didn’t even know it!”
Essa chuckled, too. “Sounds like it. Why does he think the killer might be in Benton?”
“Because his father came from here. There’s supposed to be an old ranch house somewhere that he inherited. It’s not in town. Out in the country. Daddy is going out there with the sheriff to have a look later.”
“So his boss isn’t going to make him go home?”
“Daddy wouldn’t leave. He said they could give the case to somebody else, that he’d just hire on as investigator for this sheriff’s department and go right on working it.”
Essa laughed out loud. “Your dad’s stubborn.”
“Oh, yes. He grounds me for two weekends sometimes if I’m bad.”
Essa stopped kneading, up to her elbows in flour, and glanced at the child. “When you’re bad?” she asked absently. “How old are you?”
“Ten.”
“How bad can you be, at your age?” Essa exclaimed.
Mellie beamed. “Well, I don’t think it’s bad at all, telling a teacher that she shouldn’t pick on kids because they’re a little slow.” She grimaced. “I got sent to the principal’s office. But our principal’s nice, and he didn’t even suspend me. It made the teacher really mad. So now I have to toe the line, so she doesn’t get me expelled.” She pushed out her lower lip. “But I’m right, and she’s not. Nobody should pick on people who are different.”
