Hallow Haven Cozy Mysteries Bundle Books 1-3

by Mara Webb

  “Yes. I don’t remember how they met exactly, but she lived over on Skerry and the two of them were in love,” Jeff explained. “They couldn’t be together in Hallow Haven on account of the rivalry between the two islands.”

  “It would have been forbidden,” Honey added. “There’s no law or anything, but you aren’t really supposed to even talk to the Skerry people, let alone marry one.”

  “Exactly,” Jeff continued. “They communicated through me quite often. I got them the paperwork that they needed, and Robert actually paid for both of them.”

  “So, he was even richer than we thought,” Miller mused. “You said paying for one person to travel was pricey enough, right?” He was directing the question at Honey.

  “Oh yeah!” she nodded. “If he was also the one to pay for the tickets to Australia, and he had paid off the pilot bribe for two people, well…”

  “Where did his wealth come from?” Miller asked.

  “Not too sure,” Jeff answered. “I think his father was a teacher and his mom worked in the school kitchen. It’s only a small school on Green Holt too. I’m not even sure what Robert did for a job, but he had the cash and love in his heart, so I was happy to help make his dreams come true.”

  “The motive to kill him could have been related to his relationship with Natalie,” Miller said. “The three men on the beach on Skerry mentioned that their aunt had gone missing around the same time. We need to get a name from them, then we can start stitching these events together.”

  “Do you think she is dead too?” I asked.

  “I don’t like guessing, especially when we have so little to go on at the moment,” Miller sighed. “But those guys said their aunt just disappeared, which is what everyone said about Robert.”

  “Her body could be out there,” Honey said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “She could be lost just like Robert was.”

  “Yes,” Miller nodded. “But I think we are getting somewhere with this passport thing, because we came to look for you, Jeff, and someone else beat us to it. Someone is looking to cover their tracks, perhaps your mystery blackmailer has something to do with Robert’s murder.”

  “What was taken?” I asked. “When we mentioned that a body had been found on Green Holt, you had a strong reaction. Jeff, what were you keeping in that safe?”

  Jeff gulped and lowered his head. The injury above his ear looked so painful, whatever had hit him must have been large and heavy to cause bruising like that.

  “A little money, but I also kept my own records,” Jeff replied. “If someone requested my help then I would write it down. I had a little checklist you see, which documents they’ve been given, which ones they’ve given back, the dates and the payment.”

  “Who knows you keep records?” I asked.

  “Anyone that has ever sought me out for help with passports has seen it,” he nodded.

  “So who ever took it would have to be one of those people that has gotten a passport,” Miller sighed. “That narrows it down to Green Holt or Skerry, I guess. Are the tunnels still flooded?” He was asking Honey.

  “I imagine so,” she answered. “It rained pretty heavily, and it takes a good while for it to evaporate off in the sun.”

  “If someone from Green Holt or Skerry travelled to the main island to get your book, Jeff, then they must have taken a boat,” Miller said. “Any chance you guys are using your logbooks here?”

  “That silly little thing where we write down if we leave the island?” Honey laughed. She realized Miller wasn’t joking. “Well, on account of the fact that we aren’t really supposed to be leaving the island all that much, we got rid of it,” she grimaced. “Someone from the main island brings over supplies for our little grocery store and that’s about it.”

  “If they managed to avoid the marina on the main island, then there would be no record of them getting over there,” Miller said. “I was hoping that finding the mystery attacker would be a little more straight forward.”

  “Sorry,” Jeff smiled. “I’ve made such a mess of everything. If I knew the name of my blackmailer then I would tell you, I swear it. I wonder if they will have heard about my injuries, or if they will still expect the payment tomorrow…”

  “Hold on,” Miller said, his eyes almost sparkling. “Tomorrow? You are expected to leave money at your drop off point tomorrow?”

  “Yes, there’s a spot in the cliffs on the main island. Of all the drop off points, this is my least favorite,” Jeff explained. “I’ve used this drop site a couple of times. I have to shuffle along a narrow ledge to reach a small cave, stash the envelope with the money and then get out of there quickly.”

  “What time?” Miller asked.

  “Noon,” Jeff replied. “I drop it then walk away. I think they watch to make sure I’m gone; I’ve never seen their face. They are masters at this.”

  “Well, I’m pretty smart too,” Miller grinned. “And so’s this one.” He was pointing in my direction and I felt myself blush. “If someone is taking advantage of you, then we will see to it that it comes to an end.”

  “You’re a good man,” Jeff smiled. “I only wish I could be of more use.”

  “I think it’s time you got some sleep,” Brielle said. “I assume you are going to want him to make this drop off tomorrow?”

  “Yeah. We need to make it look as if everything is normal, so it has to be him,” Miller replied.

  “Okay, well then you need rest and plenty of it,” Brielle ordered. “Honey, could you show us to Jeff’s room? I’ll need a room next door so I can pop in and out to make observations, and I was thinking…” Brielle’s voice trailed off as she walked out into the hallway with Jeff and Honey.

  “Are you guys free to look at the photos yet?” Effie asked. Her and Kate stepped back into the room; Kate still had a firm grip on her Furby. “I know you’ve been busy with this whole mess, but I think that I have some really good ones.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re gonna love them,” Kate nodded.

  “I think I need to get some shut eye,” Miller said. “But don’t let that stop you.”

  “Miller, you are missing out on some mind-expanding stuff right here,” Effie said, patting her laptop. “But if you wanna crawl off to bed alone then fine.” She winked at me and I wondered why she had emphasized the word ‘alone’ like that.

  “If you need me, you know where I am,” he smiled, waving as he walked towards the doorway. “Back to Skerry first thing. We will try to clear up this missing aunt business before we need to be at the drop site with Jeff.” He walked through the door into the hallway and was gone.

  “You are hot for teacher!” Kate laughed.

  “What?” I blushed. “What does that even mean?”

  “I don’t know exactly, but you are getting some serious feelings for that man, Sadie. I don’t need to be a mind reader to know that,” Kate said. “I mean, I am a mind reader…”

  “Yeah, I feel like you two have moved into a new place, emotionally speaking,” Effie said. “What’s going on between you two?”

  “First of all,” I replied. “It’s private. Secondly… well nothing’s really happened yet. He’s kissed my forehead once or twice but anytime we are by ourselves we seem to be stepping into a crime scene. It’s hardly been a whirlwind of romance so far.”

  “Girl, you are the only one here that seems to be going after a guy that isn’t an idiot,” Effie said. “I’ve famously just been pining over my ex-boyfriend for the past year, and it turned out he was into dark magic and murder, not a great combo. My darling sister over here, well she basically got into the same situation as me. You are chasing an adult man with a job and a full head of hair, it’s like a fairytale.”

  “If you ignore the werewolf thing,” Kate added.

  “Well yeah obviously, you obviously have to ignore the werewolf thing because—”

  “Stop!” I called out. “Were you guys about to dish out some advice?”

  “We are living vicarious
ly through you, Sadie,” Effie answered. “You have a real shot of living happily ever after, so don’t screw it up.”

  “That’s not really the advice I was looking for,” I moaned.

  “Has he invited you to the Shell’s Day parade yet?” Kate asked.

  “Er…”

  “Sadie, if you are hoping to get some romantic time with that tall drink of water then you need to invite him to the Shell’s Day parade,” Kate gasped. “It’s like valentines’ day, but we do it four times a year.”

  “Some people think that the jewelry store just invented Shell’s Day as a cash grab, which they did, but honestly it’s great and even single people love it,” Effie nodded.

  “Don’t wait for him to ask you, you should make the first move!” Kate shrieked. “Oh, I’m getting all fired up at the thought of it. You are gonna march in there and tell him that you want him to accompany you to the Shell’s Day parade and that you wanna run your hands through his shaggy hair and—”

  “Okay, I get the idea,” I interrupted.

  “Yeah, women can make the first move now, Sadie. We hold all the power,” Effie said. “Time waits for no man, and neither do you.”

  “Right, at some point tomorrow I will ask him and if he says no, I will buy a small house on this island and stay in hiding for three to four months until the humiliation blows over,” I grinned.

  “Good plan,” Kate nodded. “If you two kiss at that parade, I want to hear every detail, do you hear me? My history with boyfriends is dark and twisted, so you are my only hope. I may never date again! I mean, I have a date tomorrow night with a guy called Eric, but what if he is a serial killer?”

  “Can I show you my pictures now?” Effie said. “Otherwise, we will get sucked into the vortex of Kate complaining about her love life.”

  “Please,” I begged, making my eyes wide with urgency as Kate quietly complained.

  Effie opened up her laptop and connected her camera to it with a small cable. I pulled my chair closer and squinted at the screen as she scrolled through the folder filled with pictures. She must have taken thousands of photos in the short time she was out on the hunt for the elusive water monster.

  “Well, where’s your prize-winning shot of the Loch Ness Monster?” I asked.

  “I know you are trying to poke fun at me,” Effie said. “But if I had an actual photograph of the Loch Ness Monster then I wouldn’t be hanging around with you guys, I’d be on a yacht with Tom Hanks and Oprah drinking martinis out of a diamond glass.”

  “I think you are massively over-estimating how much money you could get for one picture,” I muttered.

  I watched the laptop screen as Effie flicked between one murky blue photo and another. Some pictures had strange green ribbons across the bottom, which I quickly realized was just seaweed.

  “What is it exactly that you wanted me to see?” I asked.

  “Just wait,” Effie replied. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

  All of a sudden, she stopped clicking. The picture on the screen was no longer just a blue rectangle. There were two figures in the water, their arms wrapped around each other. Effie had taken these pictures today, but I couldn’t believe my eyes. Both of the figures were facing the camera, and I recognized one of them; Robert Barton.

  14

  After twenty minutes of staring at the photograph, we had all decided to go to bed. It wasn’t an easy decision as we were all energized with adrenaline, but tomorrow promised to be a hectic day. I needed to be prepared.

  Effie had recited the opening part of her acceptance speech for the ‘greatest photograph of all time’ award, and Kate had started looking online for the different ways in which she could get involved in the stock market. They were both convinced they had captured something special, and I agreed.

  There was a dead man in the water. Or at least it looked like the dead man I had discovered in a bunker. Miller had been told by the police station that they had successfully recovered Robert’s body and taken it back to the main island. How could he appear in this photograph in the water? Who was the other person in the picture?

  Effie and Kate had gone to their rooms and I had wandered out to the corridor and stared at Miller’s door. He was probably sleeping. He had walked away from the dining room so that he could get the rest he needed to carry on with the investigation tomorrow. I didn’t want to wake him up to tell him about a creepy picture that Effie had taken.

  What if it was just a trick of the light? I thought about the possibility that Effie had taken the photo at a strange angle and that it was just some coral, or a few fish close together. That would be impossible though. There was just no way to accidentally get a picture that looked so much like Robert Barton hugging another human being under water. I had to trust my gut, and my gut was telling me that something freaky was going on.

  I walked up the stairs to my own room and lay down on the bed. Even in the dim light from the lamp on the nightstand I was able to see the magnolia color of the paint on the ceiling. Beyond the bedroom window there was probably at least forty feet of grass before the tree line, yet I could hear birds loudly calling to each other. How had I even managed to get any sleep last night?

  There was a fan on the ceiling that was spinning slowly. It didn’t feel like it was cooling the room down any, but just pushing warm air around. There was an air conditioning unit on the far side of the room; unplugged. If I didn’t get up and turn it on, then I would wake up in a sweaty puddle tomorrow and feel gross. Laziness was stopping me from getting off the mattress and I knew if I tried to use my magic to turn on the AC, I would probably end up blowing the unit into a million pieces and starting a fire.

  A strange ticking sound caught my attention. A lifetime of watching action movies caused my brain to immediately scream ‘bomb!’, but I knew that was unlikely. I sat up on my elbows and looked around the room to see what might be ticking. There was a small clock on the vanity, the red hand that ticked by with every second was moving in time with the noise.

  Had that been there the whole time? How come I hadn’t heard it before? I hadn’t noticed it last night. The birds. There was no more tweeting and calling from the trees outside. The birds were silent. Not a single animal sound was making its way into the bedroom. I’d seen enough documentaries to know that some animals can sense danger, so I jumped to my feet to look outside.

  The stillness of the night air was spooky to say the least. The water lapping at the foot of the cliff was distant. I opened the windows and stepped out onto the narrow balcony, the humidity still thick and stifling. The only distinct sound was that of the clock. I looked down at the lawn and saw a shadow move quickly across the grass; someone was down there.

  I considered shouting out to them, it was probably just Honey, right? Why would she be creeping around in the dark though? I realized that, with the light on my nightstand turned on, I was fully visible. I looked over my shoulder at the lamp and it simply turned off, my magic must have worked in connection with my thoughts. Interesting.

  Now I was able to step forward on the balcony without being seen, but somehow my eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that I could still see the figure moving around below. They seemed to be walking in a circle over and over. There was something in their hands. Was someone trying to mess with the pit that had exposed the bunker? Maybe it was the treasure hunters again.

  After seeing the photograph Effie had taken of Robert’s body in the water, I knew that something paranormal had taken hold of this mystery. We still didn’t know who had dug the pit in Honey’s lawn, but if they had come back now then maybe it was because they knew something. Whatever that person was doing down there was probably sketchy, why else do it in the middle of the night?

  I crept backwards through my room and carefully crept out of the door to the stairs. The corridor was dark, but I could see well enough that I didn’t bump into anything. I thought about the quietest way to get to the back yard; the door from the dining room ont
o the back porch might make a sound that would spook who ever was out there. I walked through the front door and kept my back to the outside of the building as I moved.

  The birds were still silent in the trees, meaning that the sound of a chanting voice was audible even though they were whispering. The voice was saying something over and over in a language I didn’t understand. I got close enough to peer around the corner of the guest house and look out at the lawn.

  I still couldn’t see a face. Suddenly flames sprouted from the earth and wrapped themselves around the pit above the bunker. The fire was a strange blue-green and burning in a dome shape, it wasn’t like any fire I’d ever seen. I saw the back of someone as they turned to run towards the woods and for some reason, I decided to follow.

  The birds suddenly started to tweet again, so much louder than they had before. They were almost shouting by the time I reached the tree line, running across the undergrowth in pursuit of the arsonist. I was trying to follow the sound of the retreating footsteps, my eyes still able to see well enough in the dark that I didn’t run into anything.

  Innocent people don’t run. I kept repeating that to myself over and over as I moved through the palm trees. I regretted not knocking on Miller’s door, if he were here then I would feel infinitely safer. The trees began to thin, and I found myself standing on grass again, the stars above providing enough light to see that I was close to a huge house.

  The floodlights at the base of the building all turned on at once, shining upward like they do at a museum or a monument. What was this place?

  Something grabbed my wrist and pulled me backwards. I stumbled trying to stay upright. The floodlights were in the distance, but they were enough to illuminate the face of the person next to me. “Effie? What are you doing here?” I whispered.

  “Me? Me? What am I doing here?” she hissed. “Are you kidding? I just watched the back yard of that guest house go up in dark flame and then saw you running off into the woods! Dude! You have some explaining to do!”