A Puzzle in a Pear Tree Read Online Free PDF

There’s two of each, the one that’s being worn, and the one that’s hanging in town hall, waiting for the replacement. A half hour before you go on, you go to town hall, change, and get ready to take your position in the stable at the top of the hour.”
    “Which hour are you doing?”
    “That’s not set yet.”
    “But you’re not playing Joseph?”
    “No, I am a king of Orient R.”
    “A what?”
    “You know,
‘We three kings of Orient R.’
”
    “No, doofus. You
are
a king of the Orient. There’s no such thing as
Orient R.
”
    “Really. I’ve been hearing it all my life. That’s what I thought it was.”
    “I hope you didn’t use it in today’s article.”
    Aaron had a moment of panic while he thought about it. “No, I did the pageant. The Nativity’s tomorrow’s piece.”
    A horn honked in the driveway. Cora went to the window, peered out.
    The moon on the snow lit up the front lawn. A police car was parked behind Aaron Grant’s Honda, and Sam Brogan clambered out. The cranky Bakerhaven officer was dressed in his winter uniform, complete with leather gloves and fur-lined hat. The hat was slightly askew, as he had been driving without it and had jammed it on his head to exit the car. Sam scowled as he stomped up the path.
    Cora met him at the door. “Hi, Sam. What’s up?”
    “Oh, you’re alive.” Sam didn’t sound particularly pleased. “Think you can stay that way till morning?”
    “I’ll certainly do my best.”
    “Good. Then I done my job. Lock your doors, lock your windows, if you hear anything suspicious call the police.”
    “You got it,” Cora vowed. “Anything else?”
    “Nope. Just don’t get killed, or they’ll be blamin’ me.”
    “I could leave a note saying it wasn’t your fault,” Cora suggested.
    “Yeah, that’s hilarious,” Sam said. “If the chief asks, just remember I was here.”
    “The chief told you to drive by?”
    “He certainly did. So that’s what I’m doin’. Drivin’ by.”
    “And you’re unhappy because you think it’s stupid?”
    “No, I’m unhappy because I’m makin’ straight time.”
    Cora frowned. “What?”
    “It’s my shift. I’m on duty anyway. I swing by here to see you, it’s part of my job. It ain’t a dang thing extra. I’m workin’ anyway. Protecting you on my regular watch.”
    “Isn’t that good?”
    “Yeah, great,” Sam said sarcastically. “Dan Finley’s out keepin’ an eye on the lawyer lady. It’s
not
his shift, he wouldn’t be workin’ now, he’s gettin’ time and a half for doin’ it. So here’s me and Dan out workin’ tonight, and every time I make two bucks, he makes three.”
    “Dan Finley’s keeping an eye on Becky Baldwin?” Sherry asked.
    “At time and a half,” Sam said. “I ask you, is that fair?”
    “Maybe not,” Cora said. “But think how angry Chief Harper will be if
she
gets killed.”
    “Yeah,” Sam said, uncheered by the prospect. “Just remember I was here.” He turned and stomped back to the car.
    “Well,” Sherry said, “Becky Baldwin gets a full-time bodyguard, and we just get a drive-by.”
    “Becky Baldwin gets a bodyguard at time and a half,” Aaron corrected. “I wonder what that’ll do to the town budget.”
    “I don’t know,” Cora said, “but Harper seems to be taking this thing seriously.”
    “And you’re not?” Aaron asked.
    “Oh, but I am,” Cora replied. “I think the puzzle is a personal message meant for me, warning me to get out of that show. I’d be a fool not to comply.”
    “Oh, sure,” Sherry snorted. “You think you’re going to get away with that one?”
    Cora sighed, but her eyes were twinkling. “I can dream, can’t I?”

6
    “MY, WE’VE PUT ON A LITTLE WEIGHT, HAVEN’T WE?”
    Cora Felton glared down at Mabel Cunningham as the costume mistress attempted to button Cora’s milkmaid skirt. A plump woman herself, Mabel seemed to take undue delight in the expanding waistlines of others.
    “I haven’t put on