The Santa Slaughter - A Very Merry Murder Mystery

Chapter 8

"...and a very merry Christmas to you, young man!" George lets out another jolly ho-ho-ho and high-fives his little visitor, and I hand the boy his candy cane and a paper ticket to come back and collect his photograph at the end of the day. As soon as he leaves the grotto, George pulls his fake fluffy beard off his face and sighs. "Is that the last one?"

"For now." I peer out into the Hot Chocolate Hut and see Jessica and Ella have put the back in five minutes sign at the head of the queue. "Time for a break, and I'm going to go get a drink. Do you want anything?"

"Not for me, dear." George salutes me with a water bottle. "I came prepared!"

My smile freezes a little and I stop on my way out of the grotto, turning to look back at George. He doesn't look like a murderer...but he's certainly pleased to be in this role he never would have got if Bill hadn't been killed.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself," I say, striving to keep my tone light. "Have you played Santa before?"

"Not officially." George takes another swig of his water and shakes his head. "It always went to Bill..." He trails off and when I squint I think I see tears in George's eyes.

"You know each other well?"

"Yes..." George blinks rapidly a few times, then looks back at me. "We hated each other for over a decade." My surprise at this easy admission must be obvious because he quickly explains himself. "We used to work together, and when there was a chance for a promotion, only one of us could get the role. I needed that job. I deserved it, too, with all the extra hours I'd been putting in." His hand clamps tightly around his water bottle and I hold my breath, scared that if I make a single sound to distract him he'll stop telling this story. "I spent ages working on a proposal that I knew would clinch it for me. Got the whole thing printed professionally, too. It looked beautiful. Anyway, I took it into work one morning, ready to make a presentation to the bosses only to discover Bill had beaten me to it." He scowls. "He'd got wind of what I was doing, and because he was all pally with the printers - like he is with everyone in this town - they'd let him have a peek at my proposal. Of course, he stole the whole thing and marched into the office an hour earlier, presenting it as his work."

My mouth falls open. This doesn't sound like Bill at all. It's so...awful!

"He got the promotion, of course. He always gets everything he wants." George's expression turns into a grim smile. "Well, not anymore, I guess..." He seems to remember I'm standing there, and his smile vanishes. "You must think I sound dreadful, talking like this. Especially about a man who's just died."

I shake my head, willing my features to remain neutral. Inwardly I'm screaming to go call Kate, but my feet remain rooted to the spot.

"The thing is, despite popular opinion, Bill was not a nice man. I guess I'm not the only one who thought so." He raised his water bottle. "Well, so long, Bill. I hope you're in a better place...but I doubt it."

I turn and stride away as quickly as my little elf legs will take me, trying to memorize all that George just said. If only I'd thought to record him! I fumble with my phone, wondering if I can go back and persuade him to repeat it while I covertly point my microphone toward him...but no. That'd be...what do they call it? Entrapment?

"Here you go, love!" Maggie passes me a steaming cup of hot chocolate without me even having to ask. "Oh, Meredith! Are you alright? You look a bit pale. Here, sit down and have a proper rest. I'm going to ask one of those teenagers to take your place when you guys open up again. It isn't right they just stand around chatting to their friends and leave you to do all the work." She frowns. "And sneaking off all the time to meet their boyfriends. It's just not good enough."