"Either that, or they're not from around here and don't know Lucky and the other men's backgrounds," Jack said quietly, glancing around to be sure nobody was eavesdropping.
"Which is the opposite of what we think about Darryl's killer." I threw my hands in the air. "Too many criminals and too many crimes. How are we ever going to solve all this?"
Lucky raised an eyebrow. "The opposite of what you think about the killer? What does that mean?"
Jack filled him in on our theory that the person who'd framed Rooster must be familiar with Dead End, but Lucky just shrugged.
"I mean, okay, but I don't see what one has to do with the other. Killers don't usually hang around to commit vandalism just for the fun of it, right? At least, none that I've known about."
Jack leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, his face going hard and expressionless. I was familiar with the look: it was the one he wore when he was having deep thoughts, and somebody was about to be in deep trouble.
"I don't like coincidences, but this has every appearance of being just that," I said. "Maybe—"
But I didn't get to finish that sentence, because Aunt Ruby stepped out onto the stage and headed for the podium.
"Take your seats, everyone, please. And happy holidays to all in whatever tradition you celebrate. Merry Christmas, blessings on the winter solstice, Happy Diwali, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and peace be on us throughout the holidays and into the new year."
Many people responded:
"Happy holidays."
"Merry Christmas."
"Blessings."
"Is there any alcohol at this thing?"
I turned to see who'd said that last and wasn't surprised one bit to see that it was Bubba McKee. His cousin Frog stood next to him, cheeks blazing with mortification at Bubba's comment, or maybe from suddenly being the center of attention again. When Frog caught me glaring at him, he hunched over and stared at the floor.
"Tess. It's not his fault." Jack took my hand. "If he hadn't found the hammer, somebody else would have. The killer made sure that his frame job had its greatest chance to succeed."
Aunt Ruby chuckled, and only those who knew her well would see the annoyance in her eyes. "Bubba, you can drink all the eggnog you want when we're done here. For now, let's get down to business."
She made a few announcements about holiday hours for county government offices, recited the annual warning about not setting off homemade fireworks or fire-breathing salamanders in town for New Year's Eve, and reminded everyone that if we saw the Fae Queen wandering around, she was to be treated like an official and much-loved guest at all times.
"That way, she can't kill anybody because of Fae guest-right law," she concluded. "But the Fae aren't likely to come visit at this time of year, so we should be good. Plus, I gave her the official key to the city."
"Key to the shed," I muttered, grinning. Aunt Ruby was not somebody to be messed with, even by Fae royalty.
She answered a few questions and then took a deep breath and moved on to the principal business of the evening. "As I'm sure all of you know, the UltraShopMart corporation bought a fairly large piece of land on the outskirts of town. They're wanting to put one of their megastores there and also have their eyes on some ancillary properties. What you may not know is that they've already begun excavating, despite the fact that the town council has not approved the land to be zoned commercial."
"Look-away spell," the woman in front of me said, the bright orange feather on her hat bouncing as she nodded. "I hired a wizard to put one on my veggie patch after the deer and rabbits kept getting at it. Turns out, animals are immune. I was out five hundred dollarsandmy entire tomato patch."
"No!" her neighbor gasped.
"If that wizard dares show his face in town again, we'll just see how magical he is when I get my hands on him."
I realized the conversation had distracted me from Aunt Ruby for a minute and focused my attention back on the stage.
"—and so, without further ado, we'll have remarks from Mr. Delvaney Craven on UltraShopMart's proposal to put a store in Dead End, and then any comments from residents will follow."
A few people applauded, but even that quickly died out as Craven strode out on stage, his slick, butter-wouldn't-melt smile flashing whitely at us.
"Thank you, Mayor Callahan. And thank you to all the fine people of Dead End who gave up time from their holiday preparations to hear about the marvelous opportunities UltraShopMart has in store for your wonderful town."
Aunt Ruby gathered her papers and walked over to an empty chair on the stage. As she seated herself, her gaze caught mine, and she gave a tiny shake of her head, frowning slightly.
"She's against it," I whispered to Jack. "She just gave me a signal."
