Free A Catered Christmas Cookie Exchange (A Mystery With Recipes) by Isis Crawford

George’s?”
    “Yours,” Marvin stammered. “You didn’t bring the car back when you said you would and I got scared. I thought something had happened to you.”
    “Marvin, you worry too much,” Sean told him.
    “I know,” Marvin said, hanging his head and making Sean feel guilty about what he’d said.
    “Although,” Sean said, “I suppose there are worse faults to have.” Then he opened his door, took his cane, and stepped outside.
    It was chilly and damp, and he was glad he’d zipped up his coat. He scanned the gravel and the ground in front of him. It was uneven and full of tree roots and rocks, and for a moment he regretted saying yes to Libby about doing this, because walking on the forest floor could be a problem for him, even with the cane. Not that he’d ever have said that to his children. Hell, he would have said, “No problem,” if they’d asked him to walk over hot coals or go through a swamp filled with water moccasins.
    “How far in did Libby say the target was?” Sean asked Marvin.
    “Twenty feet or so,” Marvin replied.
    He wasn’t looking forward to walking through the woods either, though for different reasons than Sean. He had on his good suit and shoes, because after he did the morgue pickup, he had to officiate at the Russell funeral, and it would never do to have dirt on his shoes or on his pants. It would be seen as a sign of disrespect. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to change.
    “Let’s get started, then,” Sean said, and he took a step into the forest.
    Marvin quickly came up beside him. Although Marvin tried not to make it obvious, he was ready to catch Sean in case he tripped or fell. He knew that Sean knew what he was doing, and Marvin also knew that on one level Sean appreciated the possible help, while on another level it made him angry that he needed it, so it was better to pretend it wasn’t happening. They were just two guys walking around in the woods together.
    Marvin stifled a cough. “Millie’s daughter called.”
    “And?” Sean asked, his eyes on the ground.
    “She and her brother have decided to do the funeral at our place.”
    Sean waited.
    “They want her cremated. No viewing. No memorial service. No nothing.”
    “No autopsy either?” Sean asked.
    “Nope. The daughter doesn’t want one, and since cause of death is going down as a car accident, it’s not necessary.”
    “I guess we can construe from what you just said that Millie didn’t enjoy good relations with her son or daughter,” Sean commented as he stepped over a tree root.
    “I think that would be a fairly accurate statement.” Marvin bent down and flicked a wet leaf from his trouser cuff. “But then I don’t think anyone liked Millie very much. She was a very grumpy person.”
    “She wasn’t to Amber,” Sean pointed out.
    “That’s what Libby tells me,” Marvin said.
    “I think everyone else was afraid of her,” Sean mused.
    “You’re kidding,” Marvin said, picturing Millie in her print dress and orthopedic shoes. This was not someone who engendered fear in his mind.
    Sean shook his head. “No, I’m not. She was the J. Edgar Hoover of the Christmas Cookie Exchange Club. She had the goods on everyone, and she wasn’t afraid to use her information to get what she wanted.”
    Marvin snorted. “What could she have possibly wanted?” he asked. “This was a woman who didn’t dress particularly well, or have a fancy house or car, or take big vacations. From what I could see, her biggest deal was Christmas and making cookies for everyone.”
    Sean stopped and looked at him. “I think she wanted power. As with a capital P. Some people just like to have power over everyone else. They just like the idea that they can make people squirm,” Sean said, thinking back to an incident several years ago when she had tried to have her neighbors arrested because their two-year-old used to cry in the middle of the night and Millie claimed the baby was doing it on purpose to