Jolly Dead St. Nicholas Read Online Free PDF

shadows of her front porch observing as Jerry Hatfield drove away. She’d been returning from the market when her next door neighbors erupted outside arguing with each other. Somewhat shocked by what she was hearing, Ethel just stood there with her hand on the doorknob.
    Suddenly her front door opened, making her jump. “Why are you standing out here in the cold?” her husband Carl asked.
    Ethel stepped into the wide foyer, quickly shutting the door. “I just heard the strangest argument between Susan and Jerry Hatfield.” She moved through a small hallway into the kitchen of the spacious home that had been in her family for generations. Although the rest of the three-story house was furnished in period pieces, the kitchen was completely modern. Ethel loved to cook, but she had no desire to do those things on outdated, antiquated appliances.
    Carl took the grocery bag from her. “What kind of an argument?” he asked as he began putting the items away.
    Sometimes Carl really exasperated her. “How many kinds of arguments are there, Carl?” She looked at the tall lanky man with the close cropped gray hair and dark blue eyes, whom she’d loved from the moment she laid eyes on him in first grade. Of course they didn’t really become an item until junior year. Back then girls didn’t begin dating as early as they did now.
    “No need to get snippy, Ethel. Just tell me what you heard.” He folded the cloth grocery bag neatly before storing it under the counter.
    “It was about Susan being a little too involved with Reverend Underwood.”
    Carl’s eyes widened. “You must have heard wrong.”
    Ethel huffed. “I did not. There is nothing the matter with my hearing, Carl.” She lifted the tea kettle off the stove, filled it with water then put it back on the ceramic cook top. After selecting the appropriate heat setting, she turned toward her husband. “Something fishy is going on with that woman. I’ve noticed how distracted she’s been lately.”
    Carl’s expression turned pensive. “Now that you mention it, Jerry has been acting a little strange for the past couple of weeks. I just figured it had something to do with business.”
    Carl and Jerry were the two members of the church finance committee who counted the offering money each Monday morning in the church parlor, after which Jerry would make the deposit at the local savings and loan on his way to the insurance office. “He hasn’t said anything to you while you’re counting the money?”
    Carl shook his head. “Not a word that would indicate he suspected Susan of having an affair.”
    “Does that mean he’s mentioned something else?” Sometimes she had to drag information out of Carl.
    “I just know that he’s a little worried because giving is down some.”
    “That’s to be expected, what with so many members out of work.”
    “I told him that. You know, Ethel, if there is something going on between the preacher and Susan Hatfield, those of us on the Staff-Parish Committee will have to deal with it.”
    In the United Methodist Church, church members made up the Staff-Parish Relations Committee who addressed issues concerning the paid church personnel, including the minister. Parishioner complaints against staff members and moral -code violations ended up on their doorstep.
    Since his forced retirement from L&C, where he’d been a line foreman, Carl had been able to devote even more time to his church and community activities. He was now serving his third term as mayor of Crescent Falls. Recently he’d been chosen as chairman of the church’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee. He was also membership chairman of the United Methodist Men. Ethel was so glad he had outside activities to keep him out of the house for periods of time. She loved him dearly, but having a man underfoot all day long was just too much.
    “He followed her tonight. I watched him. There’s trouble brewing, Carl, mark my words,” Ethel predicted just as the tea kettle