As Gouda as Dead by Avery Aames

exactly those types that surprise us, isn’t it?” She took another sip of tea. “Ah, Tim. He’ll be missed.”
    â€œYes, he will.” For so many reasons. I felt tears brimming in the corners of my eyes and blinked them away.
    â€œIn my opinion, Jawbone doesn’t really fit in, in Providence,” Violet said.
    Apparently we had left the topic of Belinda Bell behind.
    â€œHe doesn’t even try to fit in,” she continued. “That gun shop of his does really well, though. He has a ton of customers. We’ve got a lot of hunters in the area. Many stay here, which surprises me. I usually think of hunters holing up in a rustic lodge, but so many of them are into their fitness programs.” Violet leaned forward and whispered, “Between you and me, I think many are trying to prove their masculinity. They act macho. Some even pretend they’re big shots in the military.” She laughed, the sound reminding me of an orangutan, breathing and panting all at the same time. “You know, that argument between Tim and Jawbone . . .”
    I swirled the spoon in my tea, hoping she would continue.
    â€œOne night at the pub I heard the two of them talking.” Violet hesitated. “Yelling is more like it. Jawbone said he wanted to buy the place. Tim swore he was never going to sell. ‘Never!’” She raised her voice, acting out the drama. “Actually, there were quite a few of us there that night. Tim thought Jawbone was way out of line for suggesting it. Jawbone didn’t take kindly to Tim’s tone. He was lit. He’d had way too much whiskey. He probably wouldn’t remember that he threatened Tim.”
    â€œThreatened him how?”
    â€œHe said that if Tim didn’t sell, he’d get him.”
    â€œHe said those words:
Get him
?”
    â€œJawbone swore that if he couldn’t own the pub, nobody would.”
    â€œThat sounds like a pretty big threat. Are you sure that’s what he said?”
    â€œMaybe not in those exact words.”
    Was she making up this story? Why? To cast suspicion on Jawbone instead of on someone else, namely herself?
Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte
.
She was at the pub with Paige
.
    â€œI think he wanted a place in town to perform his music,” Violet added.
    â€œWhen did this happen? Recently?”
    â€œA year ago.”
    â€œThat’s an awful long time to carry a grudge.”
    â€œYes, but when someone says he’s going to
get you
, you sleep with one eye open. You know what I mean?” Violet finished her tea and set the cup down with a clatter. “I’ve seen Jawbone make threats before. At other places. He seems to pop off his mouth as if it were a pistol. Maybe he gets that way when the liquor is talking. Maybe it’s idle threats, but still . . .”
    I understood what she left unsaid: Maybe this time Jawbone’s threats weren’t idle.

CHAPTER

    I left the inn feeling an incredible urge to sprint to the police precinct to bring Urso up to date with my findings. Granted, he rarely appreciated my unsolicited input, but with one deputy benched for the remainder of the investigation and the other unavailable because his wife was giving birth, I was willing to risk Urso’s wrath.
    Despite the chilly weather, vendors were out in droves along the north edge of the Village Green. They were offering everything from candy to handmade jewelry. One vendor was luring a flurry of people with tastings of hot cocoa. A couple singing a vintage Beatles’ love song at the top of their lungs skipped to the end of that line. A group of teens nearly twirled into me while trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues.
    I spotted Ray Pfeiffer among the crowd, taping something to a kiosk, most likely a flyer for the ice-skating rink’s upcoming Lovers Trail event. When he finished, he joined a few other guys who were standing in line to purchase