Free Santa Sleuth by Kathi Daley Page A

It’s hard to tell with him. The guy tends to keep to his own timetable. If I were you I wouldn’t go looking for the guy. He won’t take kindly to someone poking around in his business.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    “So what now?” Ellie asked as we returned to the car.
    “I’ll call Salinger to give him the information we have regarding Blugo and then we can have our chat with Bram.”
    “Do you think Bram could actually kill someone for messing with his sister?”
    “I don’t know. I hope not. I like the guy, but I have noticed that he seems overly protective of Jennifer. I know she’s gotten herself into some trouble in the past and I’m sure he’s probably just trying to help her keep her life on track, but I’ve overheard a few conversations between the pair that sound more like a parent speaking to a child than one sibling speaking to another.”
    Willard’s Feed had been a staple in Ashton Falls since before I was born. Bram’s grandfather had opened the store at about the same time my own grandfather started Donovan’s, the general store my dad now ran. Bram’s father had taken over for his grandfather initially, but after suffering a fall on the ice five years ago, he’d decided to move to a warmer climate, leaving Bram in charge of both the store and his wild child sister.
    As were all the other retail businesses in Ashton Falls, Willard’s was decked out in red and green for the holiday. Perhaps I’d pick up some new toys for the Christmas stockings of all the Donovan-Zimmerman animals while I was there. I’d been meaning to stop by anyway and buying the gifts would give me a good excuse to start up a conversation.
    “Those have been real popular this year.” Bram walked up behind me while I sorted through the catnip toys shaped like candy canes, snowmen, and wreaths.
    “They’re pretty cute. I think all of our cats will have to have at least one.”
    “I have something similar for dogs two aisles over.”
    “Thanks; I’ll head there next.” I smiled at him.
    “I noticed Ellie came in with you. I wanted to let her know that the brand of dog food she feeds Shep is on special this month. Figured she might want to stock up while the sale is on.”
    “I’ll tell her. I think she went to look at dog beds in the back.”
    “Shame about her restaurant,” Bram offered. “It was one of my favorite places to grab a bite.”
    “It did seem to be a local favorite. I guess you heard Jason Overland died in that fire.”
    “I heard.” Bram’s lips tightened. “I was sorry to hear about the building but not a bit sorry to hear about the fact that someone saved me the trouble of killing the guy.”
    “I know what happened to Jennifer,” I said gently. “Was she hurt bad?”
    “Bad enough. What she ever saw in the guy I will never know. I warned her to stay away from the loser, but she isn’t one to listen to her big brother. When I saw what that monster had done to her face I wanted to kill him. Would have, too, but like I said, someone beat me to it. If you figure out who it was thank him for me.”
    “Kelly Arlington and I almost died in that fire as well,” I reminded the man who, it seemed, wasn’t quite the nice guy I’d thought he was.
    “Yeah, I heard about that. If it had been me who killed the thug who hit Jennifer, I wouldn’t have left the two of you there to die. I suppose the person who killed Jason was a bigger monster than he was, to be willing to sacrifice innocent lives the way he did.”
    Bram had a point. We were looking for a killer who not only had a grudge against Jason but the moral deficiency to allow two innocent people die. Somehow I didn’t think anyone on my list fit that description.
    “Just in case you’re wondering, I was here at the store when the whole thing went down,” Bram offered. “There are two clerks who can vouch for the fact that I didn’t leave all day. Saturday’s are my busiest days.”
     
    Ellie and I headed over to