Snowmen are Murder - Part #21

Cozy Mystery

May 30, 2025

We’ve reached the last installment, and I thank you for joining me for this mystery! Just to recap: Paisley exposed the killer, Archie Cantwell, and Inspector Fontana has her gun on the man.

This is the 5th book in the cozy mystery series, which means four other mysteries with Paisley & Ellie are out! You can find them on Amazon. They are fun, fast short reads. I write them under my pen name, Ann Audree. You can read about the series ON MY WEBSITE.

If you’re new to Snowmen are Murder, start at Part #1.

The Fit Girls: Snowmen are Murder - Part #21

“Halt!”

Inspector Fontana screamed the word, and everyone in the lobby froze. Her gun, however, was only pointed at one person—Archie Cantwell.

Archie held up his hands. He’d stopped steps away from the lobby entrance, mere seconds from escaping. He slowly turned as if giving up—but the deadly prankster had one last trick.

A second shudder rocked the building. The exploding log was the opening act, as the massive fireplace mantle lit up with a thin, sizzling line. It snaked along the grout between the river rock facade, winding the full width and girth up the twenty-foot expanse to the ceiling.

Paisley yelled a warning as Ellie sat up, having ended up on the floor with Paisley shielding her body from the fire embers. The log explosion, however, was nothing compared to the disaster unfolding around them.

Yanking her friend to her feet, Paisley urged Ellie to back up.

A charge rocked the stunning fireplace, loosening the mortar holding all the stones to the wall. Dull cracks signaled the last alarm as the heavy river rocks cascaded off the wall. A waterfall of riverbed boulders fell to the floor, crushing a chair, hitting guests, and bounding into Inspector Fontana’s knees. She dropped the gun.

And Archie sneered.

Paisley pulled herself and Ellie out of harm’s way, bumping into the memorial for Pietro Ricci. She locked eyes with Archie. His smirk said it all, he was going to disappear out the front door, and they’d never catch him. Without thinking, Paisley grabbed the framed picture of Ricci, housed in an 8x10” metal frame, and threw it at Archie like a Frisbee. It hit the scoundrel in the forehead.

Archie fell to his knees and toppled onto his face.

“Dang,” Ellie muttered. “I’m glad you’re on my side.”

As the river rocks settled and the dust cleared, Fontana stumbled toward Archie’s prone form. The stones had missed him, but his forehead was bleeding. He rolled over, groaning in pain.

Ellie retrieved Fontana’s gun, offering it to her with two fingers holding the barrel. “In case you want to fire another warning shot,” she said sweetly, “or something a little more at the target.” She glared at Archie.

“Si,” Inspector Fontana chuckled, taking the weapon.

With the help of the chef, who was a bear of a man, they positioned another chair next to Nico and tied Archie to it. The men glared at each other, their family resemblance evident as they sat so close.

“Your deceit is incredibile,” Nico groaned, mixing English with Italian. “I can’t believe you would do this to our family.”

Archie sulked but kept his mouth shut. Blood trickled from the wound in his forehead, and his disguise faltered. The fall had dislodged his wig, exposing some of his real hair.

“Pull the wig off,” Paisley suggested. “And the false teeth.”

Inspector Fontana shook her head. “We will leave that for my superior.”

But the chef didn’t wait. He grabbed a handful of Archie’s hair and yanked. The wig came off, revealing a dusty blonde mane. Without the wig, he looked even more like the concierge, Ziggy, but Paisley figured he was also wearing a fake nose. His skills with a disguise were impressive.

Nico squinted at Archie. “How could you kill your brother?” Real pain twinged the accusation. Despite his prankster ways, the college student clearly drew the line at murder. “This is my other uncle, Aldo Ricci.”

Archie—Aldo—snarled at his nephew.

“You always were greedy,” Nico said, disappointed perhaps in a former hero.

“Shut up,” Aldo hissed, the British accent he’d used as Archie was gone entirely.

“Both of you,” Fontana ordered, “silenzio!”

Paisley walked over to the pair, believing talkative suspects were a good thing. “If I may,” she interrupted. “Why leave it to your superiors to figure it all out, Inspector, when you can do it for them.”

Nico sat up straighter. “I’ll talk.”

“Shut up!” Aldo yelled, fighting against his restraints.

“Kinda past that point, Archie,” Ellie said, adding a little sass to his fake name. “But I give you props. You really fooled us with the disguises.”

Paisley considered him. “And you gave yourself an alibi when you pretended to be two people. That was brilliant. Archie was the perfect alibi for Ziggy.”

“How?” The single word had a guttural quality. Aldo scrunched up his face in distaste. “How did you know?”

Paisley looked to Fontana, who nodded her approval. “How did I see through your disguises? Well, when you stuck your head out of that window and spoke to me when I was tracking one of your snowmen, you laid some great groundwork for helpful Archie, but you also completely blew it.”

Aldo frowned, not understanding his mistake.

“You didn’t have your straight teeth on,” Paisley explained. “It’s one of those things that bugged me, and once I saw the picture of Pietro with his twisted tooth, the kind that runs in families, I remembered your teeth.” She pointed over to the memorial set up to honor the fallen owner.

Someone had put the picture of Pietro back with the display—the one Paisley had used to stop Archie. The frame was bent and the glass broken, but the smile on Pietro Ricci’s face exposed his crooked tooth. The image almost seemed to be smiling at the outcome.

The chef laughed, bending over and slapping his thigh. “He did that.”

“What?” Ellie asked.

“As Ziggy,” the chef said. “He put up the picture. He insisted on the memorial.”

Fontana smiled, liking the justice. “You overplayed your role, signore, and exposed yourself.”

“Just like you did by stealing too much money from Pietro’s business accounts.” Paisley took a deep breath, finding it all a waste. Nothing was worth a man’s life.

“Uncle Pietro was giving me a second chance,” Nico said. “He had a heart of gold.” Sadness edged his words. “I made a mess of my time at college, but Uncle Pietro thought I could turn my life around.”

Paisley and Ellie shared a look. While they could never forget Nico’s tasteless college pranks that had caused Ellie to leave college, perhaps he’d paid for it. His whole family had suffered.

A rumbling sounded from outside, signaling the return of the CAT. Soon after the machine shut off, Clint barged into the lobby, bigger than life, pleased to see the Inspector and his new best friends—Paisley and Ellie—had the situation under control. “I wasn’t worried,” he laughed.

The Italian police officers also returned, along with the big boss, a sour-looking man whose mood brightened when he learned Fontana had the scene under control, and the murder solved. The officers quickly took control of the lobby, sharing the good news that Eduard received medical treatment in time. He was expected to make a full recovery.

Before they knew it, Paisley and Ellie were packing their bags, saying their goodbyes, and heading to the airport. Fontana personally drove them.

“I owe you thanks.” Inspector Fontana held her hand out for Paisley to shake. “But per favore, warn me if you come back to town. I will go on vacation.”

“Was my help really that bad?” Paisley asked, hoping for a positive answer.

Ellie jumped between them, giving Fontana a quick hug. “Don’t answer that. If you say something mean, I’ll never hear the end of it. And if you say something sweet, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Inspector Fontana bent her head to the side. “You are a good pair. My wish for you is buona fortuna or good luck.”

The good wish lingered over Paisley and Ellie until they took their seats on the plane. From her window seat, Ellie could see the rolling Italian countryside below, thinking of how things might have unfolded if they didn’t always attract trouble. “We never got to ski,” she complained, “but we had an adventure.”

Paisley nodded. “We always have a good story to tell.”

THE END

Snowmen are Murder - Part #21

Cozy Mystery

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