Ornamental Danger: a holiday short story (Working Stiff Mysteries) by Kerri Nelson Page A

open, and I was pleased to see that Ty had a similar response going. Only, he still looked attractive.
    "You did what ?" Ty rolled his eyes, and I followed the movement.
    Ms. Lanier hadn't told me how she'd gotten in. Only that she'd found Verna and that I needed to come over immediately. She'd let me in the back door, and we'd found the body and called the cops. I'd assumed that she'd had an extra key to the house.
    "I'm agile like that. I could be one of those cat burglar types. You know like that hot little blonde named Parker on that show Leverage ? I love that show." Ms. Lanier became temporarily distracted by the mention of one of her favorite shows, and her eyes darted over to the television sitting nearby which was tuned in to the mid-day soaps.
    "Wait a minute." Ty tried to get back on point. "Have you touched anything? Other than the kitty door and the body? How did all these books get off the shelf and onto the floor?" He gave me a you-should-know-better-than-this-after-finding-a-body-just-a-few-months-ago glare.
    I shook my head. But Ms. Lanier put one scrawny finger up to her mouth and squished the lower lip in and out. "Well…"
    "Ms. Lanier, you know better than that. What if this is a crime scene? You could have tampered with evidence." Ty gave her a verbal wrist slap.
    My throat tightened a little at the mention of yet another possible murder in Millbrook. The sleepy little community just north of the state's capital city had barely started to recover after a huge scandal concerning the mayor this past summer.
    "Awe. This ain't no crime scene. It is obvious as the day is long that she tripped over one of these four dozen rugs she has all over the floor and broke that crystal vase thingy in the process. That Scrooge-like heart probably gave out. This ain't no crime scene, sonny."
    I shuddered at the thought of this poor old woman falling and dying here all alone. It hadn't been that long since I'd lost my own elderly aunt. I studied the body more closely, and for the first time since entering the premises, I noticed the shiny object lying near the lifeless body of Verna Strength.
    "We don't know anything yet. We don't know if she fell accidentally or if she was attacked. You can't just rule things out because she was old. And…that's not a vase," Ty confirmed as he squatted down and examined the tip of the crystal object with one gloved finger.
    Ms. Lanier shrugged, and the tiny rumble that had started in my stomach earlier began to roil with more force.
    "What is it?" I asked, although I was somewhat afraid to hear the answer.
    "That's the Millbrook Mistletoe Smackdown trophy awarded for best holiday decorations. I believe she's won this five years in a row."
    "Oh, crap on a stick. It sure is… Well, I declare." Ms. Lanier now seemed to have a renewed interest in Captain Dempsey's theory that foul play might be involved.
    I knew nothing about this coveted award, but I did know one thing about Millbrook. Nothing was ever as simple as it seemed.
    Could this be yet another murder?
    Ty pulled out his phone and began to make calls. I rubbed my arm, now covered in goose bumps despite the heat.
    Ms. Lanier put her hand on her forehead and rubbed the heel of her palm around in circles. "What a headache. Now the contest committee will have to try to get one of those suckers ordered to be delivered before the Christmas Eve Festival. You know the winner gets to keep that for the entire year, and now it is smashed to smithereens. I can't believe that old bitty took both the trophy and the eggnog recipe with her. "

CHAPTER TWO
     
    "Have a holly golly Christmas…" — A Millbrook Christmas Carol
     
    "What's it worth to ya?" Coach Milo Mulder said, to yet another customer at the What's-Worth Christmas Tree farm. When it came to making a few bucks, he was the world's best haggler that I'd ever seen. Folks knew to expect it when they came to buy from him, but since he owned the only such farm in the county—he had the