Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  Between a helmet and chain and a new basket, I’d wind up spending a fortune on my bike, she thought, laughing slightly. “I suppose I should,” she said. “Abigail wants me to get a new basket for it.”

  “Your cat?”

  Monica bit her lip. “Yes, well, I can tell the basket on there now bothers her. I think it itches her or something.”

  “Gotcha,” Brian said, then looked to Holly. “How are you holding up with all of this?”

  “I just want to figure out what really happened so that we can clear Isaac’s name as quickly as possible,” Holly said sternly.

  Brian nodded and proceed to flop a file down on the table between them. “The autopsy report.” The two ladies opened the file and began to look through as Brian explained exactly what it was he was looking at. “Obviously, the forensic pathologist determined that the cause of death was thanks to the pen that went straight through his eye and into his brain. However, something I didn’t notice was the abrasions our doc found across his face—scratches and red markings looked like someone had slapped him and clawed at his face during the assault. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any DNA evidence found on him or the pen—not enough for us to run a test to clear Isaac.”

  “Ugh! I was really hoping this conversation would go better,” Holly groaned.

  “Well, it could have gone worse,” Brian said.

  “How so?”

  “I could be telling you that they found Isaac’s fingerprints on that pen,” Brian said. “Look, the three of us know the pen belonged to Isaac. Right now—and I’m risking my neck a bit by doing this—but right now, I haven’t exactly put it in the paperwork stating that Isaac showed witnesses a bright red pen earlier in the evening. So, for now, let’s keep that quiet. Of course, once Chief Tollr starts asking for paperwork and this starts moving up for judges to take a look at, I’m going to have to reveal that. I can’t hide evidence, though for Isaac I might…” Brian sighed and paused before continuing. “This gives us a bit of an advantage, though. No one else knows that, yet. Right now, we can just be thankful, because even if DNA evidence had been found on that pen, it could very well have been Isaac’s even if he hadn’t stabbed the victim. So, count it as a win.”

  “What now?” Holly asked.

  “Now, we order lunch,” Brian said. “Can’t work on an empty stomach, and according to the text I got from Monica earlier, all you two have had to eat is chocolate chip cookies and coffee. What made you want to eat cookies so early in the morning for anyways?”

  “We, er, had a girls’ night last night,” Monica said. “I stayed over at Holly’s, and we baked cookies. There was still some left in the kitchen this morning before we met up with Ronnie.”

  This answer seemed satisfactory enough for Brian, so the three of them ordered some lunch and filled each other in on what they had learned. Brian had apparently spoken with Jehu that morning while they had been with Ronnie. So, once the ladies had finished telling Brian about their rather useless interview with Ronnie, Brian filled them in on his conversation on Jehu. “I met him at the funeral home,” Brian said. “The man is really torn up about the whole thing. Can’t blame him. The two guys have been friends as long as you and Isaac have been, Holly.”

  “Believe me, I know,” Holly said. “Small town. Those two have been inseparable. How’s Luke’s family handling it?”

  “Not great,” Brian said. “Well, as to be expected, though, I suppose. Jehu was with Luke’s parents helping them pick out caskets. I never liked those two, but I’ll say this about them: they’ve got each other’s backs. It was almost…weirdly…I guess the word is sweet, seeing Jehu with Luke’s family during this hard time.”

  “Did Jehu tell you anything about what he saw at the Turkey Trot?” Monica asked.

  “He was pretty thorough and honest with me, actually,” Brian said as their sandwiches were placed in front of them. “Thank you, Katie,” he said to the perky server, who trotted off back to the counter to continue taking orders.

  “So, learn anything?”

  “Not really anything new,” Brian said. “He was straight with me about the fight the two of them got into Isaac with. Admitted he had started picking at Isaac once you brought up the blog.”

  “That was so stupid,” Holly grumbled. “They were acting so nice. I should have known better than to think they had grown up since high school.”

  “Jehu has always been a twerp,” Brian said. “But that doesn’t mean he can’t be upset that his best friend got stabbed in the eye. He told me he had gone to the bathroom while Luke had said he was going to wait him by some of the carnival games. Jehu also told me that he did not in fact see Isaac hurt Luke. That he had arrived on scene right after Isaac and Ronnie, and because of the way Isaac was standing over Luke and because of the fact that Luke had socked him earlier in the evening, he assumed that Isaac must have stabbed him.”

  “That’s consistent with what Ronnie told us,” Holly said. “But Jehu admitted that he didn’t actually see Isaac hurt Luke, right?”

  “That’s right, but he is still pretty convinced that Luke was killed by Isaac, as are most people outside of this little group here,” Brian said, waving his hand around to the three of them. “We’re going to find out what happened. It’s only a matter of time. After lunch, I’m going to the paper to try to find Tiff. I saw her interviewing a bunch of people at the festival last night after what happened, so maybe she spoke to someone who saw something.”

  “Good call,” Monica said. “I think I’ll go back to the station and see if Chief Tollr is in a better mood and will let me have a full conversation with Isaac.”

  “I want to go with you Monica, but I should probably go back to my apartment and make sure the elf…cat…make sure the cat hasn’t destroyed the place,” Holly said.

  “You got a cat?” Brian asked.

  “It’s just Abs,” Monica said.

  Brian looked at her curiously. “You brought your cat on your girls’ night at Holly’s?”

  “Well, Brian, you do realize that Abigail is one of the girls too?” Holly teased slightly, a bit of nerves evident in her voice.

  Brian laughed about this, but he quickly grew serious. “Okay, I’ll keep in touch with you two after I speak with Tiff. Let me know if you learn anything new from Isaac, and we’ll meet up later.”

  Brian wrapped up what was left of his sandwich before heading out. Monica and Holly, however, elected to stay and finish their lunch. “So, what is that thing Ronnie mentioned earlier? You seemed uncomfortable talking about it…what was it…MUFON?”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “MUFON is the Mutual UFO Network. Been around since the sixties or seventies, I think. The big name in alien abduction histories and research. They interviewed Isaac when he was a kid, and that’s kind of what started the whole bullying thing in school.”

  “Why was a group like that interviewing Isaac?” Monica asked.

  “Isaac went missing when he was…I guess twelve. It was all over the news. Parents scared out of their minds, and when he was found, he was acting really weird and saying weird things. Paramedics said it was dehydration. It was costing his parents a fortune in therapy bills, so they let MUFON interview Isaac about his so-called experience. Worst thing they could have done, if you ask me. They needed the money, though. His dad had lost his job around this time, and they needed to be able to pay for Isaac’s trauma recovery. MUFON did this huge broadcast, and after that, Isaac was convinced he really had been abducted by aliens, and kids like Jehu and Luke started picking on him about it. He’s outgrown it now. He knows he was just lost in the woods, but he is still really into the whole alien abduction conspiracy thing.”

  Monica frowned. “So, what really happened? Why did he go missing?”

  “Went camping with his dad and wandered off,” Holly said. “That’s about the end of it. Dad couldn’t find him, panicked looking for him. Isaac was missing for…eight days, I think? Long time for a kid to be completely by himself
in the woods. I think it was pretty traumatizing for him.”

  “I bet,” Monica said, shaking her head. She imagined being Isaac for a moment. She didn’t really blame him for trying to fight Jehu and Luke after they had started picking fun at him again for being the infamous alien-boy of Bankstown. I would have tried to swing on them too, Monica decided as they made their way out of the sub shop.

  8

  Much to Monica’s pleasure, Chief Tollr seemed to be in a much more accommodating mood and allowed Monica to come back to the holding cells to see Isaac. She was even allotted a chair to sit on just outside his cell. Bankstown was not a particularly crime-ridden town. In fact, Isaac was the only one currently in holding waiting to hear from a judge, so they had privacy apart from a cop sitting a desk a few yards away, though Monica was fairly certain the man was half-asleep.

  “How are you holding up?” Monica asked.

  “Nervous,” he admitted. “I’m afraid to go to prison, Monica.”

  “I know,” she said. “Which is why Brian, Holly, and I are working around the clock find out who really killed Luke. Holly’s checking in on Abigail at the moment, but she and I interviewed Ronnie this morning. Brian pushed to get the autopsy report in overnight, and he’s already spoken with Jehu and interviewed him and is heading to meet with Tiff at the paper to see if she heard anything while she was interviewing people at the Turkey Trot.”

  A subtle smile snuck its way onto Isaac’s face. “Sounds like you all got your hands full… Thanks…”

  “Okay, tell me what happened when you came up to Luke,” Monica began.

  “I mean, I was only there for a second before Ronnie showed up,” Isaac said. “I had been holding ice over my face and decided I wanted to go get some funnel cake. I still was holding the ice over my eye, and I nearly tripped over Luke. I dropped the ice bag, and I just stood there staring down at him like an idiot. Then Ronnie came running up, looking just as shocked as I was, I’m sure. Next thing I know, Jehu is tackling me to the ground.”

  “Tell me about the fight you had with Jehu and Luke,” Monica said.

  Isaac lowered his head, looking a bit embarrassed. “They were just being…being Jehu and Luke. What can I say, Monica? I snapped. Those guys were jerks to me when we were kids, and they came up acting like they were trying to play nice or whatever. Holly told them that I was this big famous blogger, and they asked about it. Then Jehu started making fun like he always did. We’re grown adults. I thought that sort of thing was behind me, you know?”

  “How did it start?”

  “I mean, I pushed first, so I guess that’s on me, really,” Isaac said.

  “No, I mean the bullying,” Monica corrected. “Holly told me about the interview with MUFON.”

  Isaac’s cheeks turned a bright pink shade. “She really told you about that?”

  “Isaac, I know you and I haven’t known each other that long, but we’re friends. You know that, right?” Monica tried her best to sound reassuring, but talking to someone you barely knew about some sort of unusual childhood trauma was awkward.

  Isaac wrung his hands, but after a moment of quiet, he started talking. “Dad took me camping. Dang, I was probably…twelve. It was the middle of the night, and I heard a noise. Honestly, I don’t remember much after that. I thought I did, but my parents spent too much money in therapy for me to go back to that.”

  “Go back to what?”

  “Go back to all my crazy stuff,” he said. “People thought I was crazy, Monica. Well, everyone except Holly. Do you have any idea how many friends I lost? I had cousins in school with me who wouldn’t even sit with me at lunch because they thought there was something wrong with me. I was missing for days, and I came back rambling and talking about space and aliens like I believed… I did believe…”

  “Do you believe now? Or are the blogs just your way of coping with what you saw out there? Holly said the doctors mentioned dehydration?” Monica asked.

  “Dehydration. Wild imagination. Trauma. Whatever you want to call it. I didn’t eat for days,” Isaac said. “Dad had just lost his job. It’s why he was able to take that stupid trip… I hate camping, but they wanted to take care of me. MUFON got word about a kid in Bankstown talking about aliens, and they called my mom asking for an interview. I don’t think MUFON was trying to take advantage of me or anything. That’s what their organization does, is investigate stuff like that. Mom told me to just talk to them, and I was just excited that someone wanted to listen. So, I did. Next thing I know, everyone at school had seen the interview, and things just got so much worse. Especially Jehu and Luke.”

  “I’m really sorry you dealt with that, Isaac,” Monica said.

  “I’m okay now,” he said. “I mean, everyone goes through some sort of childhood trauma, I guess. Probably not quite like I did. But I had awesome parents. Had a good friend in Holly. I moved on from it, you know?”

  “So… I have to ask… Do you really believe in aliens?” Monica asked him.

  Isaac beamed in a way that told her he believed she wouldn’t judge him. “Kind of,” he said. “I mean, I’ve always loved astronomy. I have an astrology minor along with my journalism degree, you know? I know those aren’t really things that make sense together, but MUFON paid for my schooling. I wanted to study space. A part of me wanted to become an astronaut or astrologist or something like that, but I landed an awesome internship with the local paper and fell in love with it.”

  “But…aliens?”

  “I know, it’s weird, but think about it. We’re just such a small speck of the known universe,” he said, a bit of passion in his voice. “We’re so insignificant. Who are we to honestly say that we’re the only intelligent life out there? What are the chances with all the billions and billions of stars and planets and moons out there that we’re the only one that wound up with anything more than bacteria? It’s so…small of us to think of ourselves as that important.”

  Monica grinned. “That’s actually pretty beautiful, Isaac.”

  He shrugged. “I guess.”

  Her phone buzzed, and she looked to see that she had a few messages from Brian and Holly about meeting up soon. “Listen, Isaac, I got to go. Don’t worry. We got your back.”

  Isaac nodded. “I know you do.”

  Monica left feeling a slight hint of satisfaction. Though she had not learned much regarding the case apart from the fact that Isaac’s story was lining up with everyone else they had interviewed, she felt like she had gotten to know him better. This was the first time she had ever heard about how he had gotten into alien conspiracy theories—or the fact that he had studied astrology in college—or the fact that he had a scholarship from MUFON.

  They decided to just meet at another coffee shop, and it was rather close to the police station, so she wound up there first. It seemed like she would be stuck there waiting for a while, so she pulled out her phone, deciding that it was about time she took a look at one of Isaac’s blogs. The home page had a sort of mission statement about wanting to discover truth and expand knowledge. There was a nice picture of Isaac on the homepage that looked very professional along with his biography, which included the camping incident that had started his passion for all things extra-terrestrial.

  This biography was not misleading for the readers—he admitted to not being sure of what happened to him exactly and that he had memory displacement due to the trauma and years of therapy, but it focused on the fact that his younger self had been convinced of some sort of abduction. Monica, a witch—a woman raised in the realm of the mystics—was not sure if she herself believed in such things. But how close-minded was that? She had giggled to herself quite a bit about Isaac and his talk of aliens and abductions and conspiracy theories. But didn’t Holly think of witches as a thing of fantasy until she had met a witch? Could it be possible that they were out there?

  Monica pulled up a tab on the blog that read specifically Bankstown. The page began by stating that Bankstown was a hotbed for alien act
ivity. The most recent story was posted at the top, so she thought she would read it. Before she could actually read it, though, her eyes widened as she saw the picture at the top of the blog entry. It was a picture of the night sky right above Isaac’s apartment complex. The picture was fuzzy, but it was evident that something humanoid was flying rapidly through the clouds, and that shadowy figure, Monica felt certain, was her on her broom.

  “Oh…oh crud,” she said, tugging at her shirt collar. She continued scrolling. Isaac had the story of Kevin’s disappearance on there as well as a potential alien-related activity, citing the fact that officers had all fallen asleep mysteriously. The fact that cameras had all gone down. And there was more. Things that Monica knew, while certainly not alien, were definitely mystic in nature. A few escaped fairies playing in the streetlights, goblins hiding in an abandoned sewage drainpipe, and various other photographs that could easily be taken for alien activity. All the photos were of poor quality, and the creatures had clearly been dipping out of sight before the pictures were taken, but they were evidence of mystic activity either way. Isaac was just assuming they were aliens.

  “This isn’t just bad. This is really, really bad.” Monica said, biting her bottom lip. She quickly texted Holly, knowing that she and Brian would both be arriving soon. Unfortunately for Monica and Holly, they now had another problem to deal with aside from Isaac’s case and an escaped Christmas elf.

  9

  Brian arrived at the coffee house to meet Monica first, so the two of them sat together for a moment waiting on Holly, discussing what they had learned thus far. “Isaac told me about his run-ins with Luke and Jehu when he was a kid. Sounds like it was pretty brutal,” Monica said.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard,” Brian said. “What did he tell you about the crime scene?”

  “His story pretty much meshes with everyone else’s. He says that he came up on the body, that Ronnie showed up next, and then Jehu, and that Jehu tackled him and started accusing him,” Monica said.