Dan looked up as Mary came in the door with obvious relief. His smile seemed strained. The children sat at the kitchen table, the remains of their breakfast in front of them. Luanne sat on a straight chair squeezed between them.
‘I thought you’d got lost.’ Dan faced them, an untouched cup of coffee cooling at his elbow.
She shook her head. ‘I was out at Bonnie Blankenship’s collecting dog food for the Christmas Can Tree Food Drive. Before that, I baked some muffins for the Lutheran Christmas craft show today, their fundraiser for the women’s shelter. Want to try one?’ She put the small box of muffins she’d kept back on the table and opened it.
The tantalizing aroma of pumpkin escaped, surrounding the table. The children smiled.
‘Oh, can we?’ Dalia crooned.
‘May we,’ corrected their mother. ‘Yes. But only one each.’
Small hands reached out and worried faces dissolved into smiles.
‘You make the best muffins.’ How Ronaldo made that understandable with a mouth full of muffin, Mary had no idea.
She handed him a napkin. ‘How are you two this morning?’
Ronaldo was busy picking cranberries out of his muffin and didn’t answer.
‘We’re fine. Chief Dunham said we didn’t have to go to school this morning and Mom let us call Doctor Bennington. He says Sampson is fine too. We can come and visit him, if we want.’ The bite Dalia took of her muffin was small. She put it down and stared at her mother expectantly. ‘We can, can’t we, Mom?’
‘We’ll see. Coffee, Mary?’
‘You sit where you are. I’ll get it.’ She set her handbag down, slipped out of her jacket and headed for the cupboard where the mugs were kept. The first time she’d been in this kitchen was when Luanne’s mother died of breast cancer. Even though Luanne went to St Theresa’s, it was Mary who’d made sure everyone was fed, that family coming in from out of town was met at the airport and a list was kept of those who sent flowers or condolences. She’d been here, helping, when Luanne brought Dalia home from the hospital and when Ronaldo was born. She’d also been here when Cruz, the children’s father, died in that terrible accident on Hwy 46. She’d organized food donations to take Luanne and her family through that terrible time and had made sure, along with some of her other friends, that errands were run, floors washed and laundry done until Luanne was able to function again. This kitchen held no mysteries for Mary.
She brought the coffeepot back to the table and waved it over Dan’s still-full mug, He shook his head. Luanne did as well. Watching her caffeine intake, probably. Mary wasn’t.
She poured her mug full and returned the pot to the machine. ‘Are you two helping Dan?’
Ronaldo smiled. ‘Yep. We told him everything.’
Dan looked at him with an impassive face. ‘They’re both trying really hard.’
Mary wanted more than that. What had they said? More importantly, what had they seen? Had a good night’s sleep, which she fervently hoped they’d had but somehow doubted, helped their memory, or had facts slipped in that were somehow tinged with fiction? ‘Can you tell me too? Remember, I came over late.’
Dan glanced over at her. Was that relief in his eyes? ‘Now, that’s a good idea. Why don’t you tell Mrs McGill what happened?’
Ronaldo looked dubious, but Dalia seemed more than willing.
She put down her muffin and turned toward Mary. ‘Like we told you last night. Ronaldo was worried the doll would be too big to fit in the manger. It is kinda a big doll. Besides, we both wanted to see Mom ride in on the donkey. I’ve never been on a donkey.’ She looked thoughtful, glanced at her mother and tore off a bite of muffin, which she put in her mouth. She swallowed. ‘Ronaldo picked up the doll and we went outside to the manger. It was pretty dark in there.’
‘It was scary.’ Ronaldo looked up quickly and just as quickly dropped his eyes.
Dalia nodded. ‘You could hardly see the animals. At first, I thought the man was a cow. He stood right beside the cow. She was in a pen by the sheep.’ Dalia paused.
Mary nodded.
‘Then we walked over toward the manger and I saw something was in it.’
‘What did you do?’ Mary held her breath, waiting for the answer.
‘Nothing. We just sort of stood there. Then the man moved toward us and I saw he wasn’t a cow.’
The corners of Dan’s mouth twitched.
Not Mary’s. There was nothing amusing in this story. ‘Did the man say anything?’
Ronaldo shook his head.
‘Yes, he did,’ Dalia corrected her brother.
‘Did not.’
‘Did so.’
‘What did he say?’ Mary inserted that forcefully. She hadn’t taught middle school all those years for nothing.
Dalia’s face got red. ‘I can’t tell you.’
‘Why?’ Dan’s face showed confusion for the first time.
Dalia looked at her mother and bit her lip. ‘’Cause it’s a word I’m not allowed to say.’
Luanne glanced over at Dan then at Mary. She reached over and patted Dalia on the arm. ‘You can say it just this once. Chief Dunham needs to know, but this is the only time. What did he say?’
The word came out in a whisper. ‘Shit.’
‘Shit?’
Dalia looked at Dan disapprovingly but nodded.
‘Then what happened?’
‘He brushed past us and ran out. That’s when we heard the puppy and started to look for it.’
Brushed past them. He was that close. A shudder ran through Mary. ‘Did you see his face?’
Dalia shook her head.
Ronaldo looked up from his pile of cranberries. ‘His hood was pulled way down.’
‘I felt his skirt. It was sort of swirling around his legs, he was going so fast.’
‘His skirt?’ Luanne’s expression changed from confusion to awareness to something like despair. ‘The man had on a skirt?’
Dalia nodded. ‘A robe. Like a bathrobe with a hood. Or like that robe Father D’Angelo wears. He ran out so fast he didn’t even know his stick hit me on the leg.’
‘Stick?’ Luanne tensed. This was the first anything had been said about a stick.
‘What kind of a stick?’ It came out before Mary knew she’d spoken. She tried to signal her apology to Dan, but he was too absorbed in the little bombshell the children dropped to notice. ‘How long was it? Did you get a good look at it?’
The children looked at each other across their mother. Dalia shrugged.
Ronaldo shook his head. ‘It was pretty dark in there.’
Dan sighed but looked thoughtful. ‘I think we just expanded the range of our crime scene.’ His fingers started across the keyboard of his phone so fast Mary thought flames would surely fly up any minute.
‘Is that when you, ah, saw who was in the manger?’ Mary was thinking as fast as Dan typed, trying to picture what happened.
‘No. We heard the puppy and started to look for it.’
‘I heard the puppy. You said I was hearing things. I found it too.’ There was no room for argument in Ronaldo’s tone. He didn’t exactly glare at his sister, but the stare he gave her was just one notch short of one.
‘I opened the gate so you could get him.’ Sweetness dripped from Dalia’s voice. She might not have actually saved the puppy, but her contribution was not to be overlooked. She smiled at Ronaldo, who sat back in his chair and sighed.
Luanne looked at both of them and also sighed.
Dan looked confused.
Mary almost laughed. ‘Then what happened?’
This time Dalia got in first. ‘I let Ronaldo hold Sampson and went over to the manger to see what was in it.’ She paused. Her face grew white. So did her knuckles as she squashed the remains of her muffin. She didn’t seem to notice. Her voice was soft and there was a little tremor in it as she went on. ‘That’s when I saw it was old Doctor Mathews. There was blood on him.’ Her eyes locked onto Mary’s and the fright in them was heart-wrenching. ‘I called to him, but he didn’t move. I thought maybe I should shake him, but I didn’t want to. I told Ronaldo I thought Doctor Mathews was sick or hurt and asked what we should do.’
‘I said we needed to get help.’
Mary thought he probably had said it in that same matter-of-fact tone. ‘You didn’t go back into the church, though.’
Ronaldo looked wary, as if somehow that decision got them in trouble.
Dalia shook her head. She didn’t look any happier, but she seemed ready to defend their decision. ‘We aren’t really in the choir and we don’t know the lady leading it. And—’ She looked over at her brother. There seemed to be some silent communication between them before she went on: ‘The man who ran out – he didn’t go back to the church that we could see, but you can get into it from the side door. If it was Father D’Angelo … We talked about it and Ronaldo said he’d hide by the sheep and I should go get Mrs McGill. We knew she was on the library steps, ordering everybody around.’
Mary gave a little gasp at that one but swallowed it quickly to glare at Dan. His smile was just a bit too broad.
‘You did the right thing. Tell us more about the man. He had on a robe like the Father wears and he carried a stick. Was there anything else that made you think he was Father D’Angelo?’
Together, the children shook their heads.
‘Just the long robe with a hood,’ Dalia stated.
‘Excellent point.’ Dan reached for his coffee and took a huge swallow. He held onto it, looking down into the mug as if the coffee were tea leaves that would tell him what to do next. The thought that Father D’Angelo might be a murderer clearly didn’t make him happy.
‘A good point for any day of the year but yesterday.’
Dan looked up from his coffee to stare at Mary. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Half the town was dressed in robes. The shepherds in the posada, also the Three Kings. A bunch of the posada followers got into the mood and dressed in medieval robes. The adult choir from St Mark’s United Methodist was dressed in robes. There were three other living crib scenes along Maple Ave. They all had people who were shepherds, kings and heaven only knows what else. There was some kind of display or pageant on the lawn of most of the houses on our six-block tour. Even Evan had on a hooded bathrobe while he played Scrooge. Anybody in town could have been dressed like that and no one would have paid them any attention.’
Luanne, with no little difficulty, pushed back her chair and struggled to her feet. She swept up the pile of cranberries and crumbs in front of Ronaldo, handed Dalia a napkin and headed for the kitchen sink. ‘Mary’s right. It could have been anyone. People came and went during the procession. People watching us wore costumes, and everyone milled around so much … The only person it couldn’t have been is Santa Claus. Dan, if you’re finished, I have a doctor’s appointment and need to get going. I don’t think they have anything more to tell you.’
Dan pushed his chair back. ‘We’re done. Kids, you did a good job. Thank you.’ He picked his coffee mug up. Luanne reached to take it from him, but he set it down and grabbed her hand instead. ‘I’m going to tell your mom something and I want you to listen. For the next couple of days, you’re to stay with a grownup. No park, no playground. Mom will drive you to school and pick you up. You need to play here, in your yard. In your backyard. Do you hear me?’
Two faces stared at him, their mouths slightly open, but no sound came out.
Finally, Dalia nodded. ‘Because of that man? Because he’s bad? Do you think he might try to hurt us?’
Luanne gasped.
Mary didn’t. She expected something like this. They’d seen him. Whoever he was, he couldn’t be sure the children hadn’t recognized him, or had seen something that could lead police to him. Whether he’d hurt them or not, she had no idea, but Dan was going to make sure they were protected. However, he could have gone about it a little more tactfully.
Mary looked Ronaldo and Dalia in the eyes, one at a time. ‘No one’s going to hurt you, or even try. Chief Dunham wants you to be careful for a couple of days until we know what really happened.’
The worry seemed to fade from Ronaldo’s eyes. But not from Dalia’s.
‘Old Doctor Mathews. He was dead, wasn’t he? He had blood on his front. That man we saw who ran away, he killed him, didn’t he? Is he going to kill us too?’ Dalia’s voice rose and gradually faded.
Ronaldo’s eyes got round. He looked at his sister first, then at Dan, then his mother. All it was going to take was one more scary statement and he’d burst into tears.
Luanne, blinking back tears, walked over and put her arms around him then reached out and gathered up Dalia. ‘No one’s going to hurt either of you. They’d have to get through me first, and that wouldn’t be easy.’ She looked at Dan. ‘They’ll have to stay in the waiting room when I go to the doctor. They can’t come in with me. Is that all right?’
It might have been all right with Dan, but it wasn’t with the children.
Ronaldo’s eyes clouded over. Tears threatened but the set to his mouth was stubborn. ‘No. I’m going in with you.’
Dalia didn’t say anything, but she started to bite her lip. Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes. One more minute and the whole room would be awash.
‘There’s no need for them to go with you. Why, they’d be bored to death. I’m going to the Christmas Can Tree Food Drive opening ceremony and they can come with me. After that, I want to go see Karl. I need a donation from him. You kids can play with the puppy while I talk Karl into giving it to me.’
Fear evaporated. Smiles appeared. ‘Can we, Mom?’ Ronaldo looked at his mother, pleadingly.
Dalia was more practical. ‘What’s a can tree?’
‘We’re collecting canned food for the food bank. That’s where poor people – homeless people – go to get something to eat. So, people who want to donate bring their cans to city hall and we’re going to build a big tree out of them then give all the food away before Christmas.’
The children looked dubious but willing. It obviously beat waiting in the doctor’s office and there was the puppy to visit.
‘Good idea.’ Dan smiled at Mary with visible relief. ‘Can’t think of a better place for them to be, or a better person for them to be with. That all right with you, Luanne?’
Luanne didn’t look as if it was, but she’d been outmaneuvered and she appeared to know it. The kids would be happy and safe. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Positive. All right, we have to leave in’ – Mary looked at her watch – ‘five minutes. Go get washed up and comb your hair. Both of you. You aren’t going anywhere looking like ragamuffins. Put on sweaters. It’s getting cold outside. Scat.’
They did, their mother right behind them, issuing instructions.
Dan grinned at Mary but immediately turned serious. ‘Don’t let those kids out of your sight. Not for one minute. Someone drove something sharp and nasty into Cliff’s chest. We haven’t found it, so we don’t know what it was, but it was long and pointed. It went in …’ He shook his head. ‘I think whoever it was hadn’t left because he was looking for the puppy. Dalia said he was over by the sheep pen. He wasn’t expecting those kids to show up. They must have startled him big time because he left fast after that. If he thinks they recognized him, well, I don’t want to scare them, but I don’t mind scaring you. Don’t let go of them for a second.’ He paused. ‘You’re going to see Karl?’
Mary nodded. She wasn’t capable of speech right then. The picture Dan had painted of Cliff was more graphic than she’d needed to hear. She swallowed, hard.
‘Ask him about the puppy.’
‘Ask him what about the puppy?’
‘I don’t know. Only, I think it was brought there, and I’ll bet Cliff brought it. Why, I have no idea. Why was he there? I’ve got a lot of questions and not even one answer. Just … ask Karl.’
He gave her hand a quick squeeze and left. Mary was out of breath and strangely weak in the knees. This wasn’t good. Not good at all, and somehow she was certain it was going to get a lot worse before it got better. She turned, gathered up the remaining dishes on the table and headed for the sink.