Page 93 of Christmas Mittens Murder

“I’ll grant you that. But it sounds like Rafael didn’t upset Arthur, the detective did.”

“Hmm. It was probably a bit of both. Rafael apparently told Quan he didn’t know if I’d killed Val or not, but he—Rafael—certainly hadn’t. That was what sent my boy running.”

“And before then, Arthur hadn’t known that anybody had been killed.”

“He had not,” Allie agreed. “Neither kid had.”

I stopped moving. “I feel bad Artie didn’t come right back to me, that he felt he had to escape.”

Allie put her arm around my shoulders. “It wasn’t anything about you, sis, honestly. Along with his attention deficit, my boy is really impulsive. He needed to hide from everything for a bit, that’s how scared he was. Including from you. You know he adores you.”

“I do.” I gave her a quick hug. “And he bounced back so fast. I could hardly believe how quickly he was smiling and skipping and looking for gifts for you and Fuller.”

“Plus anticipating monster candy canes, apparently.” She smiled.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s the holidays. We’ll get through all the sugar and back to our routine in January.”

“You will.” I gently scrubbed Fuller’s favorite cast-iron skillet, one that I knew never to use soap on and how to re-season after it was clean and dry. “Can we get back to what Rafael said about ending his estrangement with Val?”

“Val told him she thought downtown should develop according to her vision. She said mine was wrong and poorly conceived and would ruin all the businesses.”

“Wow.”

“And she said she’d let the CCC know her views, which she did.”

“But simply because you two had different visions for the future of downtown Colinas doesn’t mean you murdered her.” I made sure to keep my voice soft.

“It doesn’t.”

“Did Rafael tell you why they’d been estranged?” I asked. “Which is fancy talk for one of them not speaking to the other.”

“It is. He hinted at her being mentally ill, but nobody else has ever spoken about her being unwell. No, he didn’t really say.”

“Mommy!” Franklin burst into the room. “Come see. You too, Auntie Cee.”

“What are we going to see?” I asked.

He grabbed my hand. “Come on. It’s a surprise.”

“I’ll be right there, sweetheart,” Allie said. “I need to start the dishwasher.”

I let my nephew pull me along even as I pondered Rafael’s history with his sister. And his sideways foisting blame onto Allie while her own son was listening. Rafael was going to have to answer to me for saying so, and then some.

Chapter Twenty-three

Cam and I set out for the Colinas farmers’ market at eleven, twin boys again in tow. Allie and Fuller had both looked grateful for the gift of a couple of hours alone together. Franklin carried his own cloth market bag, but Arthur insisted on using a nylon drawstring backpack, saying he liked his hands free. He had a point.

“Did you get your stuff organized?” I asked Cam.

“Pretty much. I’m probably going to check a bag going back, depending on what I pick up at the market today. Narini totally sold me on her olive oil last night, and I might find a few other gifty items I’ll want to carry home.”

“Will you see your parents for Christmas?” I asked.

“Not this year. They’re going to Daddy’s last remaining aunt in New Jersey. But they’re coming for Ruthie’s birthday in January.”

“A Capricorn daughter?”