“His temper was rather nasty at the best of times,” the chief said. “But yes, I recall Minerva mentioning that he was behaving badly, even for him. She put it down to tension over the important concert, but perhaps he was merely vexed that he’d have to put up with us till Easter to get another big cash haul. And since poor Mr. Vess was killed after starting an inquiry into Lightfoot’s background and Lightfoot took flight so soon after the murder—well, it’s a lucky thing you and your mother managed to apprehend the real killer.”

We fell silent. I didn’t know what the chief was thinking, but I was musing over the fact that however annoying Barliman Vess had been, he had probably helped save Trinity from a good many real financial problems. He’d caught on to Riddick’s plot in the end. He’d probably been the first to suspect Lightfoot. He’d still be around to vex us all if he’d trusted Robyn or his fellow vestry members enough to confide in them. We’d be choosing his replacement on the vestry soon, and we’d better find someone else with his unique combination of financial savvy and suspicious nature. I pulled out my notebook and wrote a reminder to think of some good candidates before Mother tried to draft me.

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer,” the chief said, standing up to signal that our interview was over. “Thanks to you, we’re having our full schedule of Christmas Eve activities over at the New Life Baptist Church. Minerva said if you don’t have a chance to get home for lunch, you’re welcome to drop by for the potluck at noon.”

“I’ll keep it in mind if anything interrupts me on my way out of town.”

Chapter 41

But nothing interrupted me on the way out of town. Mother had saved me a plate, and I arrived in time to help Michael’s mother and the boys make Christmas cookies. Michael disappeared—ostensibly to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, though I knew he was actually going over to start cooking our private dinner, especially the turkey, which was larger than expected and would take forever.

“But what happens when you need to leave for the live Nativity and the carol singing?” I asked. “You can’t just leave the turkey cooking in an empty house.”

“I’ve hired a sitter,” he said.

“For the turkey?”

“One of my students who isn’t going home for the holidays will be sitting in the apartment, studying and basting the turkey at half-hour intervals while I’m gone. And no, we don’t have to invite him to share the bird he’s basting. He’ll be at your mother’s tomorrow with the rest of the hordes.”