by Louise Lynn
Hazel wanted to believe her mother more than ever, and she understood why Maureen hadn’t told Sheriff Cross about this. It was the perfect motive. A young woman being harassed relentlessly from a man she broke up with six years before. That could drive someone to murder, no doubt.
However, that didn't mean she'd actually done it. They didn't have any proof, besides a complete lack of alibi on Tess’s part.
"Do you have any evidence he was harassing her?" Colton asked calmly.
Maureen shrugged. "I suppose if you look at the emails you'll find it. I don't know how that newfangled stuff works."
"Does this mean Tess is the killer?" Esther asked quietly and glanced around the table at everyone present.
Maureen shook her head, but no one else seemed to share her intense conviction. "You said so yourself that Josh fellow fought with Cameron. It was probably him. After what Violet said about the way he was treated, don't you think he might've done something to Cameron?"
Hazel thought about the mild-mannered Josh Hopkins and sat up straight in her seat. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it before? "You might be right. That makes perfect sense. Colton, we have to talk to Josh Hopkins. I think he might know where Emma is," she said and leapt to her feet.
Esther, her father, and her mother all glanced at each other.
“What did you just figure out," Colton said and looked up at her.
"I think he may have had something to do with Emma, and I'm not entirely certain that she's actually injured," she said and waggled her eyebrows. “Cameron and Josh fought about Jimbo—the fake dead body—the night before Cameron died. And Emma said the body was supposed to be at the house that night. Think about what Josh can do with movie makeup!"
A light flashed in his eyes. "That does make sense, especially how she was gone without a trace when we came back."
"I'm glad I could offer you some help, but if you’re willing to take one more piece of advice?" Maureen said as she stood and began gathering dishes. "You both looked dead on your feet, so before you go searching Cedar Valley in the dead of night for a missing young man, you might want to catch a touch of sleep."
Hazel smiled. She couldn't deny her mother was right.
Chapter 19
"Tell it to me straight. Is the Halloween Fair going to be canceled or not? I've been working on my costume all month, so I really hope it's not," Celia said emphatically as she slipped Hazel her morning bagel and coffee.
Sheriff Cross had been in such a rush to get to his office that morning that he hadn’t even stopped by. Hazel told him she’d pick up his breakfast while he got caught up on everything that had happened during the night, case wise.
Hazel took a long sip from her latte before she answered. Especially since she didn't think it was particularly safe to talk about the case in the middle of CATfeinated. "And what's your costume going to be this year?"
Celia's full lips, painted in a beautiful deep berry, pulled into a smile. "I was going to be Okoye from Black Panther. I got a bald cap and everything. Marcus is going to be T’Challa. Don't tell me. You're going to be a witch again?"
Hazel pouted. "That or a black cat. Either way, my outfit always matches Anthony Ray. I didn't think Marcus was the type to dress up."
Celia chuckled. "He's a surprising kind of guy. It was actually his idea. And don't take this the wrong way, but Colton seems like the kind of guy who would say he was going to be a sheriff and show up in his uniform."
Hazel giggled at that. "Yeah, but I don't mind. And I honestly don't know what’s happening with the fair. The community center is ready in case of rain, but that’s all I know. I'm not at the Sheriff's Office right now getting the lowdown on everything that happened last night, but I can say we’re looking for Josh Hopkins. You haven't seen him around, have you?"
Celia's eyes went wide, and she turned and called to one of her workers. "Casey, didn’t you talk to that guy last night? Josh?"
The young woman hurried over, her freckled face drawn. She had bags under her eyes, as if she'd been up all night studying. Since most of the people who worked with Celia were college students, she probably had been. "Yeah. Interesting dude but he was super jumpy. Why? Oh no, is he the killer?" At least she had the sense to lower her voice to a whisper.
Hazel didn't nod, but she was afraid her expression gave her away. “The sheriff needs to have a word with him. You saw him last night? Where?"
"You can take your break and I'll even give you an extra one for helping out Hazy and the sheriff." Celia nodded her head toward the enclosed porch, and Hazel got the idea.
They dipped out onto the porch thankfully empty. The heater burned in the corner, filling the area with blessed warmth.
"So?" Hazel said and started on her breakfast.
"Okay, it was so weird. I was coming home last night from a late class down in Reno, and as I'm driving near Massacre Mansion—uh, I mean the Pearl House—something huge darted in front of the car. Thankfully, I was doing the speed limit or I might've hit it."
Something huge?
"A deer or bear?" Hazel asked. Up in that part of the High Sierra's, either were possible.
Casey shook her head. "No way. I’ve see both of those on the road and this was definitely not either one. It was bigger than a deer, and it was glowing. Green. I'm pretty sure it was a horse," she said and looked just as skeptical as Hazel felt.
Yet, this was the fifth time someone had seen a green glowing horse around the Pearl House. She would have dismissed the claims if her camera hadn’t caught it also.
“Okay, so you saw a glowing green horse near the Pearl House. But what does Josh have to do with that?"
Casey tucked her brown hair behind her ears. "I was so freaked out I turned the wheel and slammed on the brakes and nearly ran off the road. As I was sitting there freaked out, I saw this guy walking. At first I thought it was the axe murderer. But then he just looked freaked out too. I'm not stupid, so I had 911 on speed dial, and I was ready to get out of there, but then he sat on the ground and started crying. It was so loud I could hear it inside my car."
Well, that was different. Not exactly what Hazel expected. "You talked to him?"
Casey nodded. "I thought it might be a trap, but I had my mace. I stayed ten feet away from him the whole time. He was really freaked out and upset and he kept saying that this wasn't how it was supposed to happen. And that he was sorry and everything."
“Did he say anything about a girl named Emma?"
Casey shook her head.
“But he said his name was Josh? Did you call any of the deputies?"
Casey frowned. "I didn't even know who the guy was until Celia told me this morning that she thought he was involved with Massacre Mansion. I had no clue. I just thought he was some crazy guy. So I didn't call anybody. But I can tell you he was across the street from that place, and he looked really distraught. Honestly, I don't think he could kill anyone with an axe the way he was acting last night."
Hazel nodded absently. She wasn't entirely convinced of that. Josh could've been putting on an act, or maybe his guilty conscience got the better of him.
However, they needed to find him soon.
When she stepped back out into CATfeinated proper, her bagel and latte both gone, Celia had Sheriff Cross’s breakfast ready and an extra latte for Hazel.
She smiled gratefully at her best friend. "No matter what happens, I'm gonna make sure Halloween isn’t ruined completely. I really want to see you guys in those costumes."
Celia grinned. "I know you'll do everything you can. Oh, that reminds me, before you deliver that to Colton, Marcus is at the library. He just texted that he found something you might be interested in. And he said your dad was there."
That sounded promising.
* * *
Hazel couldn't remember the last time she'd been in the Cedar Valley Public Library. It was a bit shameful to admit that to herself since she loved books, though she tended to get most of hers via the Inte
rnet these days.
It smelled just as she remembered, musty and dusty but also like knowledge and hidden worlds, things that her father told her libraries held quite well.
She didn't have to step far to notice Marcus and her father bent over one of the tables in the section dedicated to local history.
"So you guys are having a little powwow. What did you find?"
Her father's eyes sparkled, and when Marcus looked at her, he had the same intense expression. "We just ran into each other accidentally, he heard me asking questions about the murders at the Pearl House and we started up a conversation. Turns out he's your dad. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hart," Marcus said and held out his hand, always the gentleman.
Her father shook it, and his beard bristled with delight. "Likewise. I’ve seen you and Celia about town. I’m glad there’s finally someone worthy of our little Cece."
Hazel was caught between the urge to either grin or roll her eyes. "I'm glad you guys are getting along, but what did you find?"
"More accurately it’s who disappeared from the history books besides Dora Pearl and her fiancé," her father said.
Hazel furrowed her brow. She really didn't have time for a history lesson, and she felt her foot tapping impatiently. "Who?"
"Henry Alister," Marcus said and pushed a xerox copy of an old Cedar Valley Post article across the table.
Hazel skimmed it and glanced between the two men.
"He was a stable hand at the Pearl House when the oldest son was killed. And then, just a few months later, he vanished. Mr. Pearl claimed Henry took off in the night, but the local police did a minor investigation. They found that Henry left all of his belongings in his quarters. What kind of person takes off in the middle of the night and doesn't take any of their things?"
Hazel felt the familiar excitement of puzzle pieces clicking into place. "The dead kind. Wait? Do you think he's the body in the garden? The one without the head?"
Her father shrugged. "Who knows, but I did drop by the Sheriff's Office this morning, and Deputy Simmons said that body is male. So, he could be."
Hazel decided not to ask how her father got Deputy Simmons to talk about a case he was supposed to be tightlipped about. Her father had a way with people. Or maybe it was his semi-celebrity status as a National Geographic photographer that made people want to talk.
“So that case isn’t quite what it seemed either. But who killed him?" Hazel asked, more to herself than anyone else.
“Who had motive to want a stable hand dead?" her father said.
Hazel’s eyes widened. “Mr. Pearl. If he thought it was Henry’s fault the horse threw his son. But then who did Dora have a secret affair with?"
Her father shrugged, and his eyes sparkled. “We may never know."
“I still say she did it. Her motive was to avenge the death of her lover. Do you have anything else?" She couldn’t prove it, but that didn’t matter in this case. It made a good story.
Marcus pointed at the blueprints which took up nearly the entire table. His dark hand splayed across them. "Your father told me you found a secret passage that went from the study to the master bedroom. Well, I haven't stepped foot in the house myself, unfortunately, but these blueprints are quite illuminating."
"Did they show more secret passages?" Hazel said and looked at them as if they would make sense. They didn't. She was a photographer, not an architect.
Her father shook his head. "Not quite, but," her father said and pointed. “See this space between the walls? The other spaces between the walls are narrow, less than half a foot. These are several feet wide each. And one of them winds from the study all the way to the master bedroom," he said and looked as if he were pleased with himself.
Hazel couldn't blame him. "So we just have to see where the place in-between the walls are wider and that's where the presumed secret passages will be?"
Marcus nodded. "We've already done that. This is all supposition, however, in order to check it you have to be in the house. But the wall is wider here in the parlor, and it leads up to this bedroom. Is that where the crime happened?"
Hazel nodded slowly. The parlor to Dora’s bedroom. That made more sense than the study. "Anything else?"
Marcus’s eyes danced. "One more. From the kitchens all the way to what appears to be the third floor."
His finger landed at the room at the end of the third floor hall. The blueprint didn't say what room it was, but Hazel had an idea. She'd seen Emma's body in that room the day before. "That's the bathroom in the servant’s quarters."
"I hope that's helpful," her father said and gave her shoulders a squeeze.
Hazel nodded. "We need to make copies of these so I can get them to Sheriff Cross right away."
Marcus chuckled and handed her a folder. "Already done. Two copies each. Celia said I had to do whatever it took to win you over, so is it working?"
Hazel buzzed with excitement and felt a new surge of energy at these revelations. "You didn't have to do anything to win me over, but this is more helpful than you can know," Hazel said and ducked out in a rush.
She needed to talk to Colton now.
* * *
"There are three secret passages in the Pearl House?" Sheriff Cross said and rubbed his cheeks. He hadn’t taken the time to shave that morning, and despite his full eight hours of sleep, he still looked ragged.
She nodded and pointed them out as best she could. He'd already finished his breakfast, and she’d told him about Casey's late-night run in with Josh Hopkins as well.
“Good, we’ll have to check these out, but I needed to pull some of the deputies away from the house to look for Josh Hopkins. I think he might be our guy, Hazel, but we don't have any hard evidence against him," he said as his bright blue eyes met hers.
Hazel nodded slowly. She wasn't a hundred percent convinced, but he had all the right skills and motives to pull it off. Especially considering his love of gory crime scenes and the fight he’d had with Cameron the night before. “I know what you mean. He was missing when Cam went into Dora’s room. With these secret passages, he could've easily gotten into that bedroom, killed Cameron, and gotten away before anyone was wiser. I know you didn’t get any prints off the axe, but is there anyway to tell if it was the same one used on Jimbo?"
Sheriff Cross rubbed the bridge of his nose behind his reading glasses. He needed them to look at the blueprints. “I’ll ask the lab, but they’re all the way in Sacramento. If Josh is involved, he could've used makeup on Emma so she looked hurt, and they made off in that secret passage before we had a chance to get inside."
"That means Emma is involved."
Sheriff Cross sighed. "I know, but Violet was right about those Ghost Hunters Extreme outtakes. Cameron did nothing but belittle them on a constant basis, Josh most of all. If Josh killed Cameron, he chose the perfect way to do it without ruining the Ghost Hunters Extreme name. It makes perfect sense, motive wise. And Josh and friends were playing with an axe the night before. Acting out the murder. If we can prove it’s the same weapon, we have him."
Hazel agreed, but something still nagged at the back of her mind. She wasn't sure that solution fit the pieces perfectly. Something was missing. Cameron and Josh had fought, and Josh had the right skills and a reason to want Cameron dead.
However, what Cameron said as he was dying rang in her ears. He’d been wrong about something, but what?
Was it Josh or Xtreme_Skeptic?
Or was it something else?
“It makes sense, but why bring a horse?"
Sheriff Cross shrugged. "Why murder someone in such an exaggerated fashion? I know you don't want to hear this, but sometimes there isn't a rational explanation. Sometimes crazy people are just that. Crazy."
Hazel pursed her lips. He was right. She didn't want to be told there wasn’t a rational explanation for how everything unfolded. But he was also right that sometimes people were just crazy, no matter how illogical it seemed.
"Fine, but I st
ill think that horse is real, and it scared Josh. There is a chance that only one of them committed the murder and the other one just thought it was a prank," Hazel said.
Sheriff Cross leaned across his desk and grasped her hand. “Until we have the evidence, and we can talk to Josh or Emma, it's going to be impossible to know. That's why we’re looking for them as hard as we can right now. And you’re giving me that look. What are you planning on doing?" He sounded as tired as Hazel had ever heard him.
She grinned. "I'm gonna try to find a horse. I promise I won’t cause any trouble."
"You saying that tells me you’re going to cause all kinds of trouble. Just don't go alone. I'll send Simmons," he said and held up his hand to summon the deputy.
Hazel shook her head. "No, I'll take Michael. You need Simmons looking for Josh and Emma. I promise I'll be okay."
He didn't look as if he believed her.
Chapter 20
While the storm clouds that had threatened the day before never made good on their promise, as soon as Michael and Hazel arrived at the Pearl House that morning, the clouds burst and rain began to fall. It couldn't even be a light autumn mist. Instead, it was a deluge, and Hazel hadn't even brought Anthony Ray's raincoat, though she thankfully had her own. Well, he would have to do without and brave the mud and wet if he wanted to go with them.
He eyed the rain with his ears pressed flat to his head and gave her a pitiful meow.