Christmas Grift by Sam Cheever

Author:Sam Cheever
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery animal, amateur sleuths, funny mystery, women sleuths, small town mystery, holiday mystery
Publisher: Electric Prose Publications
Published: 2016-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Agnes grumbled from the sour depths of the dumpster. Standing next to her with melted ice cream dripping from her fingers and a piece of corn glistening in the center of her bouff like a crown jewel, Flo raised her brows. “Do you see me in here with you?”

Snow fell steadily on their heads, glazing everything around them but only serving to turn the unpleasantness they were digging through into cold, wet nastiness.

A piece of cardboard flew past Flo’s head and she wobbled as a soft boohind bumped her hip, nearly toppling her into the slop at her feet. “Stop your dang complaining,” TC mumbled angrily. “We’re all nudging up against the fiery pits of Hell right now, the sooner we get to the bottom of this...literally...the sooner we’ll figure out who the buyer is at Silver Hills and...” She straightened, running the back of her hand over her forehead with a sigh, “...the sooner I can take a four-hour shower.”

“Amen, sister,” Agnes said on a grimace. “You do realize it will be my third shower of the day, right?”

Flo shook her head. “Your showering habits are not the main concern here...”

“Obviously,” Agnes grumbled. “Finding jewelry in this dumpster is.”

TC frowned. “I’m not sure why you think that will clear Alphonse.”

“It might not. But it could add a smidgeon of doubt. After all, if Alphonse had stolen those jewels to fence them, he wouldn’t have flung them into the dumpster and risked losing them when the trash truck came in the morning.”

“But he might have thrown them in here if someone planted them on him in an attempt to frame him.”

“Exactly,” Flo said. Her nose puckered under a truly horrific smell. “I can’t believe garbage still smells this bad in the winter. You’d think all the odors would freeze.”

Agnes straightened from the spot where she’d been digging and held up a half-eaten chicken leg. She didn’t look nearly as disgusted by her find as she should have. “Don’t even think about it, Agnes.”

“But I’m starving.”

“You’re not starving enough to justify eating dumpster delicacies,” TC said, grimacing.

“I’ll find you some pie in the kitchen when we’re done with this,” Flo said by way of distracting her friend.

Agnes’s lips curved upward in a surprised grin. “You’d do that for me?”

“No. I’d do it for my stomach. Because if I watched you bite into that right now, I’d no doubt heave into this dumpster.”

“And then we’d be digging through vomit,” TC reminded Agnes helpfully.

That finally seemed to get through to Agnes. “Ewww, okay, I’ll...” She started to lower the chicken leg and then stopped, her eyes widening. “Is that a maggot?” She lifted it back to her face and Flo panicked.

“Agnes, no!” She flung herself at her friend and hit her in the center of the chest with both hands, surprising Agnes enough to send them both sailing backward. Agnes hit the edge of the metal container with an “umph!” and Flo pinged off the squishy roundness of her belly, landing on her butt in the putrid refuse.

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