November 24

Thanksgiving had gone from being totally forgotten to being a frantic state of action! For starters, Cordy had no food in Sophia’s house. With her attention so focused on the case, grocery shopping had pretty much gone to the wayside. As soon as she was off the phone with her mother, she had rushed to grab groceries. Unfortunately, it was Cordy and the rest of the small town at the store and most of the traditional Thanksgiving staples had been largely picked over. But she made the most out of what she could find.

Next stop, she had covered up her detective wall with some poster board and “bookstore” notes. A whole fake schedule with “reminders” about inventory, etc. Scaring her parents to death was not on the Thanksgiving agenda. Best they do not know about Jasper following her with his truck, Marcus’ angry visit, or of any of the other risky activities Cordy had participated in to date.

The food and visit had been a good distraction though. Cordelia almost felt like a normal person with a normal person’s problems for the day.

But now it was the day after, and Cordelia’s thoughts started angling back toward the case…she really wanted to run to the living room and pull the poster board away from her case notes. If she could just sit and study the connections…maybe something would stand out to her.

“Cordy,” Ruth popped her head in the kitchen where Cordy was sipping on some hot cocoa. Cordy’s mom was a chatty woman and always full of energy; the kind of lady who would strike up a conversation with anyone and make friends almost anywhere. “Do you want to go into town and do some Black Friday shopping with your father and me? We can’t buy too much since it has to fit in our luggage on the way home. But there are some good sales. There was an air fryer I saw advertised half off! Do you need towels or anything? I think I saw some fluffy ones that are normally like thirty dollars at that one store you liked with the big red and blue sign and the big doors, back when you were-”

“I’m good, Mom.” Cordy chuckled, cutting her mother off before she could explain the full floor plan of whatever store she was trying to reference. “I think I might go over to the bookstore and prep for Monday’s drive.”

“I can’t believe Sophia doesn’t open the store for Black Friday. I imagine that cuts into her sales a bit.” Ruth shook her head.

“Brea said Sophia wants the holidays to be about family.”

“That’s so Sophia. But what she fails to see if that shopping can be a family activity too! And often is!”

Cordy smiled. Actually, she was glad Sophia didn’t usually have the store open on Black Fridays, because, as it was, the store was still closed as a crime scene. That loss of planned business would be hard to make up; fortunately, this way though, there was limited impact. But that would only be the case if George let her open it up on Monday. As of yet, Cordy hadn’t heard back from Delaney though.

“All right, are you sure you don’t need help with that?” Ruth offered again.

“I’ve got it handled, Mom. You and dad go get your air fryer.”

Ruth nodded and left the room. “I’ll get Wayne a toy! My grandpuppy needs a few more toys from Santa!”

Wayne chased after Ruth at the sound of his name; besides Cordy, Ruth was his most favorite person in the whole wide world.

A few minutes later, Cordy heard the front door open as her parents headed out for their shopping excursion.

“Bye, honey!” Cordy’s dad, Paul, called out.

“Bye! Have fun!” Cordy called back.  

“Cordy!” Ruth shouted. “You had something on the front porch, I’m setting it here inside the door! Bye, sweetie!”

The door closed and the shouting stopped.

Wayne ran back to Cordy with his tail wagging.

“Maybe that’s your kibbles?” Cordy stood up and gave Wayne a pat. She ordered his dog food through an online subscription and a new batch was due for delivery. She walked over to the front door. Instead of a box of dog food though, she found a small present was sitting in the foyer.

The present was wrapped in black paper and topped off with a black ribbon tied into a bow. The present would have been pretty…if it wasn’t in total contrast to the cheerful, colorful first day of the Christmas season.  

Cordelia felt herself shiver; she wasn’t sure if it was because cold air was still lingering in the foyer…or if it was the black present giving her the creeps. She picked it up and looked it over. There was no label, no card, nothing to indicate who the present was for. Was it for her or Sophia?

She decided to open it, carefully. Even if it was for Sophia, Cordy had already violated her privacy ten ways to Sunday, what was one more?

The paper crinkled as she opened it carefully. She made sure she only touched the corners of the paper…just in case it needed to be dusted for fingerprints later.

“I’m getting paranoid in my old age.” She chuckled to Wayne.

Wayne didn’t argue. He just wagged his tail, as usual.

Inside the wrapping was a small black box. Inside the black box was black tissue paper.

“Please don’t be a thumb, please don’t be a thumb.” Cordy squealed quietly as she sifted through the tissue paper – movie scenes flashed in her mind.

She let out a relieved sigh when she saw that the box held an ornament…not a thumb.

The ornament was in the box backward. From the back, Cordy could tell it was an ornament of a female Victorian Christmas caroler, with a long red and black dress on, and a red bonnet.

“Oh.” Cordelia said, thinking the ornament pretty, and maybe the wrapping somewhat thematic. She reached into the box and retrieved the caroler.

She turned the ornament to look at the front. Wayne started barking as soon as she let out a loud gasp!

The front of the ornament showed two black Xs over the caroler’s eyes, the old visual once used to show death in animations.

Over the caroler’s heart was a red X.

Cordy stood in place for a long moment. Looking down at the ominous gift. Wondering still, was this intended for her? Or for Sophia? One of them had made an enemy.

She set the creepy ornament aside and pulled the rest of the tissue paper out of the giftbox. There was nothing else in there. No names, no notes, nothing to establish who it was from or who it was to.

Cordy took a piece of tissue paper and marched into the living room. Her parents would be gone for a while, so she pulled the posters away from her crime board and pinned the tissue paper to the wall. She had nothing to connect it to, so it was off to the side alone.

“I’m just going to assume that was for me.” Cordy told Wayne, who had dutifully followed after her.

She looked over her crime board to see if she could find any connections.

“Let’s see, let’s see.” She murmured to herself.

The ornament didn’t appear to be overly expensive. Since it wasn’t antique and wasn’t made from blown glass or any other expensive material, it might be safe to assume the person who sent her the gift was budget conscious? The black paper, bow, box, and tissue all seemed to be dollar store quality.

“Randy might be budget conscious.” She thought as she looked at the post it note that said “Past Due Invoices.” She wasn’t certain if those invoices were his or his client’s, but she would keep that detail in mind.

Marcus, who was pretty much off her suspect list due to his alibi was a struggling student…and he was not happy with Cordelia one bit. Maybe it was him trying to antagonize her.

“You know who else doesn’t like me?” Cordelia looked at Wayne. “Office George. But how would he fit into this?”

Cordelia wrote on a sticky note and posted “Officer George” to the wall. She had no reason to suspect him, but his hostility toward her and Sophia was certainly something she shouldn’t ignore.

The black-on-black theme of the gift could also fit into Tiffany’s aesthetic. Could it be that Tiffany was trying to send a message? She had motive for stealing the book…maybe she had learned that Cordy was snooping around trying to solve the case and wanted to scare her off? That could fit too.

The ornament wasn’t an antique itself. The paint on the glass was too shiny and new for it to be very old. But the antique nature of the article would have some connection to Joe’s love of old books. Did he love old items in general too?  

Cordelia decided she would make a visit to Joe’s house to see if she could peek in his windows and settle her questions. She also decided she would look to see if his vehicle was missing or not. Did he leave town on his own…or was he “helped”? If helped, did you leave with someone, or did someone kidnap him?

The Story Continues November 25th!