by K P Stafford
“Shirley, someone is in your house, are you okay?” She yelled as she looked out the patio door. Whoever had been in Shirley’s home had already vanished into the wooded area.
Lexi turned, the smell of burned cloth seeped into her nostrils. A light fog of smoke drifted in from the other room. Beams of sunlight highlighted the small wisps floating around the room.
“Fire!” She yelled as she called out to Shirley again. “I think something is burning. We need to find out what it is.”
She looked towards the open door where the smoke came from. She entered the bedroom and saw a dark mass on the floor, smoldering, the smoke thicker in this room. Her hands went to her chest realizing what she was looking at.
She hurried to the mass and looked down. “Oh no!” She shrieked.
Heavy sobs escaped her as tears streamed down her face upon seeing the body of Shirley on the floor. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to gain some kind of composure. She looked around the room, but didn’t see any candles nearby, only a smashed jewelry box lying on the floor, jewelry scattered everywhere. Apparently she’d interrupted a robbery, but why would anyone use such a cruel method to get a handful of jewelry?
She looked back at the body on the floor. Tears continued to stream down her face. She’d found her share of bodies since moving back to Cryptic Cove, but this was the most disturbing. This lady had been a long-time friend of her grandmother’s. How would the town be able to handle this?
She composed herself and pulled out her cellphone to call John.
The sheriff arrived shortly after John. Of course he started giving her the third degree for being the one to find another body in Cryptic Cove.
Lexi stood straight and crossed her arms over her chest. “Why do you always assume it has something to do with me?”
“Miss Danforth, you’ve only been here a little over a year and a half. This is the fourth murder in that time. This town hadn’t had a murder in over ten years when you came back. How do you think that looks? Besides, you have this strange habit of finding the bodies.”
“That’s ludicrous. I can’t help that I find the bodies, but I assure you, I’ve had nothing to do with any of these deaths. You know good and well that I’ve always helped with these investigations and been more than cooperative.”
“Humphhh. I’m still keeping my eye on you.”
“Of course you are. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Lexi turned and headed out the door. The overbearing sheriff was the least of her problems at the moment. She wanted to get to her grandmother before the town gossip train took off. Grams would take the news much better if it came from her. She only hoped she was alone at Crystal Scents, although she knew there was a slim chance of that. She made a quick phone call to Peyton while she drove the short trip back into town. She knew Peyton would keep it quiet until a statement was released to the public.
Grams and Ms. Jensen took the news more calmly than Lexi expected. She stared at them in disbelief as they shot each other sideways glances. Did they know something? She didn’t want to seem overly suspicious of the two older women, but their behavior was strange indeed.
They were almost unemotional at the news. Maybe they were in shock. Grams looked over at Ms. Jensen after a few quiet moments. Ms. Jensen returned the look, her face slightly pinched, like she was using some kind of ESP to speak with her eyes. Grams raised an eyebrow. Neither woman was wailing or crying at the loss of their friend. Was there something more to this? Something Lexi was missing? Surely they weren’t speaking to each other without using words. They were just in shock and unsure of how they should react in front of each other. A tear trickled down Grams face, the first sign of any real emotion. Lexi felt the sadness surround them, but that didn’t explain why they were being so out of sorts about the whole thing. Baxter flew in from the backroom. Grams had a small doorway built for him over the backdoor so he could come and go as he pleased, just like at her home. He landed on Grams’s shoulder and appeared to whisper in her ear. Her face turned pale as she looked at Ms. Jensen again, this time her expression more ominous. Lexi didn’t know what was going on, but it was strange, more strange than she’d seen these two women act before, and she had seen some strange things the past year and a half. There was definitely a new murder case in Cryptic Cove, but what did it mean? The whole thing reeked of a cult or something. Lexi wasn’t sure she was up for this one, but she and John had to get to the bottom of it.
4
The day had been long, mentally and emotionally draining. Lexi tucked herself into bed and stared at the ceiling. The nightlight from the hallway cast shadows throughout the room, but the ceiling appeared to glow at times. She and John had more questions than answers and nothing pieced together. The idea that they were working on several cases instead of just two crossed her mind. Nothing made sense. They even considered the fact that they were trying to put pieces into the wrong puzzle. Perhaps they were grasping at straws.
Her droopy eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep.
“Stop them!” The voice was clear. Her eyes flew open and she looked around. No one was there. In the darkness she was looking at the mausoleum, the broken gargoyle lying on the ground staring up at her. She shook her head. How can this be? The caretaker had already cleared the crime scene and was working on getting the creature restored. Whispers carried across the fog that rolled in and enveloped her. A man’s voice, and then another, sliced through the thick moisture. She knew that voice. She strained to listen. “Find the truth. The town has secrets.”
She awoke in a cold sweat, like the damp fog had crept into the room and drenched the entire bed. She sat up and looked around. It had only been a dream, but it felt so real. Or was it a dream? She and John had run so many scenarios around that day it was possible her subconscious mind was overwhelmed and trying to piece anything together that made sense. Of course, standing in a cemetery in the middle of the night listening to voices made absolutely no sense. But this town, and the people, weren’t exactly known for making a whole lot of sense. What did the voice say? The town has secrets. Why is the voice so familiar and why can’t I place it?
She got out of bed and headed downstairs for a cup of chamomile tea. Tomorrow would be another trying day and she needed rest. They couldn’t ignore the reporter any longer. He would have questions about the murder investigation now, and not just his silly Halloween story. Plus, it was possible he knew something and could be behind the vandalism and the death of Shirley.
Lexi found her Aunt Agatha sitting at the kitchen table, the light over the sink illuminated the room just enough to see her. She walked over to her aunt and placed her hand on her aunt’s shoulder as she noticed another cup of tea sitting on the opposite side of the table. “Are you and Grams having trouble sleeping too?” She asked as she pointed to the steamy cup.
“That’s for you.”
Her eyes grew wide. “How did you know I was coming down for a cup of tea.”
Agatha waved her hand in the air, nonchalantly. “You and Velda aren’t the only ones with the intuition thing.” She said with a smile.
Lexi sat down in the chair across from her and took a sip. “Can you tell me about this so-called gift we have? It’s not doing me a lot of good right now. It won’t even tell me who killed Shirley, why they killed her and how all these pieces fit together.”
“The town likes to keep its secrets.”
Lexi almost choked on the tea. “What did you say?”
“Secrets. The town likes to keep them.”
She stared at Agatha in disbelief. Her aunt knew all about secrets. She had been one of the best kept secrets in this town for most of her adult life.
Agatha cocked her head sideways, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something. What’s wrong Lexi?”
“A voice in my dream. It said the same thing, that the town has secrets.”
“Then you should start digging into that.”
“What do you know, Aunt Agatha?�
� She leaned forward and raised her eyebrows. “You’ve lived here all your life.”
Agatha put her cup down. “Well, for twenty-five of those years I wasn’t exactly an active part of this town.”
“I know, I just thought maybe you remembered something from your childhood.”
“We buried something.” Her aunt said, just above a whisper.
“Really? Do you remember where? Maybe we could go dig it up.”
“No, sweetie, not like something in the ground. At least I don’t think it was something literal that they buried. I seem to remember it was our grandparents. I heard voices in the living room one night, so I snuck downstairs. Several of the town’s people were here. I heard them saying the secrets needed to be buried and never mentioned again. I remember trying to get Velda and Shirley to help me go dig for the treasure. At the time, I thought they had really buried a treasure.”
“What if they did? What if that’s what all of this is about? People kill for things like that all the time.”
Agatha’s forehead creased, “I’m not so sure. As we got older and asked about it, our parents told us it was simply secrets that needed to stay buried.”
“But, they may have said that to keep you from digging up buried treasure.”
“True.” She grew quiet like her thoughts were wandering. “Have you tried the library?”
“I plan on going there tomorrow.”
“Ms. Jensen was librarian for over 40 years. Maybe you should ask her too,” Agatha said as she stood up. She walked around the table and kissed Lexi on the forehead. “You’ll find the answers. I have no doubt. You found me, remember?”
Lexi finished the tea and headed back upstairs to bed with still more questions, but oddly, she felt better about the fact that this town did have secrets from long ago. Maybe the dreams were kind of like premonitions, although they didn’t really tell her anything.
5
Lexi met Peyton for a late lunch and told her about the vandalism at the cemetery, the crow that appeared to be sacrificed and how Shirley had been murdered in a similar fashion. Peyton said it sounded like something from a cult movie. And they both agreed the way Grams and Ms. Jensen handled the news was quite odd, even for them.
“Of course, they are very stoic women,” Peyton said. “Perhaps, with all the murders here the past year and a half, they’ve become desensitized to it?”
“You could be right, but Shirley was a long time friend. How can that not send them into an emotional state? The more I think about it, the more it seems like they were expecting something bad to happen.”
“What do you mean?” Peyton asked.
“I’m not sure, but the initial expression on their faces was shock, but then it turned into dread, like they realized something bad had been coming or something.”
Peyton tapped her fingers on the table. “I know there’s some pretty old town secrets. I barely remember them being mentioned when I was a kid, but the whole town has gone quiet about the past.”
“Maybe it’s related to the past then.” Lexi suggested.
“This has always been a strange town and my parents never would tell me the history. I’ve gone to the library, but all the information on older town history doesn’t exist. It only goes back so far.”
“Really? Most libraries keep all of the town historical documents and newspapers.”
“This one doesn’t. In fact, I asked Ms. Jensen when she was the librarian, and she claimed there had been a fire that destroyed everything.”
“Maybe that’s true?” Lexi inquired.
“I don’t think so. This town has never mentioned a big fire at the library. It seems something of that magnitude would still be talked about today.”
“You’re right. Somehow we’re going to have to dig into this and find out the truth. A good place to start is with Grams and Ms. Jensen, but I have a feeling they aren’t going to be very forthcoming with any information.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
“Although, John has been here just as long. I think I’ll start by questioning him. He’s never kept anything from me before. If he knows anything I’m sure he’ll tell me.”
“I hope so. A case like this is going to turn the town completely upside down. It’s going to be a lot worse than the last two murder cases you and John worked on.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Lexi let out a sigh, the corners of her mouth turning downward.
“Oh, didn’t you mention a historical society meeting the other day?”
“I did, and Grams came home pretty upset. I think that meeting may be connected to Shirley’s death and that old mausoleum at the cemetery. The crazy thing is, the name on the old tomb is my last name.”
“Are you serious? I didn’t think any Danforth’s had been here before your dad moved here to marry your mom.”
“I didn’t either, but it seems there was. I was going to go to the library, but after what you just told me, I doubt I’ll find much information about it.”
“It sounds like something else for which our town elders may be the best resource we can tap into.”
“I agree.” Lexi said as she jotted something in her a notepad.
“Do you think this is going to affect the wedding?”
Lexi’s heart sank at the mention of her upcoming wedding. “Without an official date set, it’s hard to tell. I guess it depends on how long this drags out. It doesn’t seem like the right time for a celebration.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” She patted Lexi’s hand. “You know you can count on me to be as nosy as I can without seeming too obvious.”
Lexi reached over and pulled Peyton into a hug. “I should get back to the office. I’m sure John has turned the ringer off on the phone by now, so he can get some work done, or the reporter has barged in wanting to know why our meeting was canceled.”
Lexi paused as she entered the constable’s office. Her eyes scanned the room. Nothing was out of place, but an ominous feeling swept over her. The same feeling she’d had when she walked into Shirley’s place earlier. She’d gotten used to having some kind of sixth sense about little things, and an occasional gut feeling when it came to solving cases, but this was more than that. This sucked the breath out of her, like someone had punched her in the chest. She drew in a deep breath and composed herself as she walked over to the door of John’s office and peeked in. He was sitting in his chair staring at something on his desk. She tapped on the door frame to get his attention.
With a ragged breath he spoke, “Come in Lexi. I want you to see this.”
She walked over and looked down at the object that had him so mesmerized. It was a cylindrical device with lettering on it and things that looked like tumblers in a lock. She had seen similar items in movies. Small items that could hold small bits of paper or jewelry. The uneasy feeling washed over her again as she stared at the item. After a few minutes she shook her head. Why was this thing so intriguing? She looked at John. “What is it, exactly?”
“I believe it’s a Cryptex. Very much like a combination lock, except these will open and reveal a compartment inside.”
“Where did you get it?”
John rubbed his eyes before looking up at her. “It was clutched in Shirley’s hand.”
“Oh my gosh! I wonder why she was holding that?”
“I think it contains secrets this town buried long ago. I’m guessing Shirley was the keeper.”
“The what?” John wasn’t making much sense, but this was a good opportunity to question him about the town’s past. Agatha and Peyton had mentioned that the whole town stopped speaking of things many years ago. Lexi searched her memories trying to remember back to her childhood, before her father packed up and moved to the city. She would almost get a glimpse of something, but it would fade quickly.
John used a pencil to turn the object around on his desk, afraid to touch it. He took in a deep breath. “It hasn’t been mentioned in many years, but there
’s always been someone designated as a keeper in this town, someone who keeps up with the town’s past and has hidden much of Cryptic Cove’s secrets. It’s been so long it’s become a fairy tale of sorts. It hasn’t been mentioned since I was a child.”
Lexi sat down in the chair. “Aunt Agatha remembers their grandparents hiding something. Maybe that thing is what they were hiding.” Lexi said as she pointed at the object. “And Peyton vaguely remembers her parents talking about the town going silent when we were kids, but she can’t remember anything else. I was going to ask you about it before I start digging into some research on the Danforth name inscribed on that tomb.”
John looked up at Lexi. “I still need to run down some leads on the fires and the vandalism at the cemetery.”
“Do you think the two are linked?”
For the first time since she’d met John, she saw fear in his eyes. His hands trembled as he grabbed a handkerchief and wrapped it around the item before shoving it into the inside pocket of his jacket. “I don’t know.” The words stuttered out of his mouth. “I, um, I have some things to do. Keep an eye on the office.” And just like that, he was out the door.
Lexi didn’t want to close the office completely, it was too early, so going to the library was out of the question today. But, she’d kept some of the paid research sites in good standing, so she decided to see if there was any kind of information about the Danforth who’d lived here. She pulled out her cellphone, looked at the picture she had taken and decided to start with the dates under the name.
Two hours later, she had found very little information at all. It’s like the person, and even this town, had never existed. She checked the clock as she leaned back in her chair. John had been gone awhile, which wasn’t all that strange, but she was starting to get a little worried. She closed her eyes and hoped Jake would call during his lunch break on the west coast.