Page 34 of Christmas Mittens Murder

No such luck.

Then she made her way upstairs, tripping over a few steps in the dark. On the second floor, she found herself in the main bedroom, where just outside the large bay window attached to a small balcony was the sleigh and reindeer suspended in air. She unlocked the window, slid it open and noticed a small toolkit on the floor of the balcony that someone had used to secure the display. She unzipped the kit, grabbed a screwdriver and began to loosen the screws. She paused several times, peering down over the side of the balcony, trying to zero in on Tawny’s whereabouts. At first, she heard nothing, but then there was the distinct sound of crunching. Like someone walking through the hardened snow. It was getting closer and closer. Then she saw a stream of light and could make out Tawny, hunting rifle in one hand, a flashlight in the other, marching back toward the house, presumably to flick the lights back on to make it easier to locate Hayley and shoot her.

Hayley waited and waited until Tawny was directly down below, and then she shot her hands out with a forceful shove, pushing the sleigh and reindeer forward. The screws popped out and the display sailed through the air like Santa arriving at his next stop from the night sky and slammed into Tawny, knocking her to the ground and pinning her in the snow.

Hayley jumped to her feet and stared down at the scene. The flashlight illuminated Tawny as she wildly kicked and screamed, very much alive, trapped under the weight of Santa’s sleigh.

Hayley then ran back inside, down the stairs and out the front door to retrieve the rifle, which luckily Tawny had dropped upon impact, safely out of her reach.

She grabbed the rifle, ran back inside to check on Bruce and immediately called 911.

Chapter Fifteen

Bruce winced as he gingerly touched the lump on his head with his left index finger as he and Hayley stood on the front porch of the Beauchemin house.

“Does it hurt?” Hayley asked as she held his arm to steady him so he didn’t get dizzy and lose his balance and fall to the ground.

“Only when I touch it.”

“Then you probably should stop touching it,” Hayley said with a wry smile.

“Thank you, Doctor Obvious,” he joked as they watched Chief Sergio escort Tawny, her wrists handcuffed behind her back, to his squad car.

Just as Sergio was about to place the palm of his hand on top of Tawny’s head to slowly lower her into the back seat, a gray Mercedes came barreling down the driveway toward the main house. Scooter Beauchemin jumped out of the car, the flashing blue lights from the police vehicle washing over his face as his eyes widened at the sight of his wife under arrest and in handcuffs.

“What the hell is going on here?” Scooter demanded to know.

Tawny did not answer her husband. She just defiantly pursed her lips and blew her long bangs out of her face with a gust of air.

“Tawny, what’s happening? What did you do?” Beauchemin yelled, racing toward his wife.

Sergio had to stick an arm out to stop him from getting too close. “I’m booking her for murder.”

Scooter stumbled back, like he had just been gut-punched. “What?” he croaked, deflating like a flat tire. “Murder? W-Who did she kill?”

Tawny averted her eyes, ashamed, as she climbed into the back seat of the squad car and Sergio slammed the door shut. “Esther Willey.”

Scooter’s face was a blank. “Who on earth is Esther Willey? The lady who got stabbed at the church bazaar?”

“Yes. She was a nice lady who simply saw something she shouldn’t have,” Hayley offered.

Scooter still looked puzzled.

Sergio filled him in on the rest.

His wife stealing Willoughby’s diamond ring.

Esther witnessing the crime.

Tawny’s abject fear that her husband might find out and the drastic lengths she went to make sure that would never happen.

It took a few moments for Scooter to digest everything he was hearing, and then his face flushed with anger. He lunged toward the back seat of the squad car, banging on the window with his fist. “How dare you, Tawny! What kind of maniac are you? Do you have any idea how this will damage my reputation?” he wailed.

“Please step away from the squad car before you break my window, Mr. Beauchemin. Otherwise you might find yourself in handcuffs sitting in the back seat with your wife.”

Scooter wisely stopped pounding on the window and took a step back, giving Sergio a wide berth.

“You can follow us down to the station, if you’d like,” Sergio said.

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