Page 22 of Christmas Mittens Murder

Hayley chortled.

She knew that was exactly where he had been.

Sal went in for a kiss, but Rosana pushed past him and marched up to Hayley. “Despite my husband’s inexplicable suspicions about me, I can assure you, Hayley, I am far from capable of anything so dastardly as driving a knitting needle through poor Esther Willey’s heart. We may have had our differences, but I would never wish her any physical harm.”

Just psychological.

“Honestly, Rosana, I just came by the office to pick up Bruce. I wasn’t snooping around for clues. I believe you. One hundred percent.”

Rosana glared at Sal. “I wish my husband had as much confidence in my innocence as you do.”

“I was just playing around, sweetie pie,” Sal protested. “Of course I don’t think it was you who impaled Esther.”

She ignored him, turning back to Hayley. “Luckily I can prove it. Right before you discovered Esther’s body outside the church, I posted a TikTok video.”

Sal scratched his head. “TikTok? I thought only kids used that app.”

Rosana sighed with a withering look and kept her focus on Hayley, not her husband. “Can you believe the editor-in-chief of a newspaper is so out of touch with what’s going on in the world?” She shot Sal a brief look over her shoulder. “Everyone uses it.”

“What kind of video did you record?” Hayley asked.

“A rap song,” Rosana declared.

“A what?” Sal cried.

“A rap song. For our knitting circle to perform at the bazaar. I wrote it myself.”

Sal, mouth agape, just stared disbelievingly at his wife. “How is it possible that you, who has every song Barbra Streisand ever recorded on her playlist, wrote a rap song?”

“There is something called eclectic taste, Sal. Look it up.” She excitedly turned to Hayley. “I adore Snoop Dogg. Did you know he’s friends with Martha Stewart?”

“I heard,” Hayley said, smiling.

Rosana’s eyes sparkled. “So do you want to see it?”

“Of course!” Hayley exclaimed.

She wasn’t lying.

This was something she had to see.

Hayley and Sal gathered around Rosana, who punched her passcode into the phone and tapped the TikTok app. In a few swipes, she was playing the video.

Rosana and her Happy Hooker knitting circle were decked out in all the Christmas sweaters and hats and mittens that they had made and were lined up in a row as rap music played through a portable speaker on the floor in the background. They danced and sang as a small crowd surrounded them, watching the performance.

“I’m a happy, happy hooker,

Got dinner in the slow cooker,

’Cause my needles are ready to knit,

Making a holiday sweater that fits,

With a Christmas tree on front,

It’s gonna be rad I’ll be blunt,

Frosty the Snowman on back,