Death of a Dapper Snowman Read Online Free PDF

Officer…” I checked her name tag, which read Peggy Wiggles .
    “Officer Wiggles,” I said. “Wow. That is really cruel. I know the cops around here pull some funny pranks on the rookies, but making you wear that name tag is pretty humiliating.”
    “That’s my name.”
    My cheeks burned hot as I blushed furiously. I couldn’t take her withering gaze, so I bowed my head forward and buried my face in arms on the table. Suddenly, the events of the whole day hit me, and I realized what a wreck I’d made of my supposedly “fresh” start.
    As I sometimes do when I’m overwhelmed, I started to giggle like a maniac. The more I tried to stop myself, the funnier everything got. For one thing, my new tenant thought I was a nutty hotshot Type A lady. The veterinary assistant thought I couldn’t tell the difference between a boy cat and a girl cat. And I started off the day by taking a selfie with a murder victim.
    Officer Wiggles patted my shoulder. “There, there. It’s perfectly normal to cry in the interrogation room. To be honest, I’ve cried in here a few times myself, and I’m supposed to be on the no-crying side of the table. It’s this PMS curse that runs in my family. Five days out of the month, they should lock me up in the drunk tank for everyone’s protection.”
    Her soothing voice stilled my nervous giggles, and soon I actually was crying.
    She got me some tissues and a bottle of water, then waited patiently while I pulled myself back together.
    “You can call me Peggy,” she said. “I’m just a person, trying to do a job. We’re on the same side. We both want to catch the person who did this. Now, can you think back and remember what led you to investigate the snowman?”
    “My father’s cat ran over and scaled it like a tree. After I got Jeffrey down, I took my picture with the snowman, to show my old friends and former fiancé that I’m a fun person.” I laughed awkwardly.
    “Why? If they’re your friends, they should already know how fun you are.”
    I gave Officer Peggy Wiggles a smile. I liked her.
    She continued asking questions and taking down my answers to finish the statement.
    In between her asking me questions, I asked her a few of my own, including the cause of death.
    “We won’t know for sure until he thaws out on the coroner’s table,” she said, “but preliminary examination points toward strangulation. There are marks around the neck.”
    I swallowed hard. “Do you think it was done with the same scarf that was on the snowman?”
    Her eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe. They’ll test everything, of course.” She gave me an appreciative look. “That’s very smart of you to think of the scarf like that.”
    I shrugged. “Growing up with a cop for a father, you learn to see things in a different way. We’d watch the news together sometimes, and if something scared me, he’d explain the statistics of something bad happening, and how to avoid situations where I might get hurt.”
    She nodded slowly. “Sounds like Finnegan Day was a good cop and a good father.”
    I smiled. “He was an excellent cop.” I paused for a moment, then added, “He did the best he could raising us, and I love him.”
    “Good,” she said.
    Her eyes unfocused, like she was lost in thought for a moment. Time passed. I looked around the featureless room and wished it had a vending machine, because the shock was wearing off and I was in need of sugar. They should always have candy on hand , I decided.
    Officer Peggy Wiggles broke the silence by uttering one word, “Strangling,” then shook her head.
    “Yes. Strangling. So awful.”
    “And personal.” She lifted her hands and mimed the gesture. “The killer was an arm’s length away.”
    I shuddered at the thought.
    “But it wasn’t violent,” she said. “We’ll know more once he’s defrosted, but there were no signs of a struggle inside the house, and no obvious marks or defensive wounds.”
    “Was he strangled