by Morgana Best
“At least he hasn’t been eaten by cows.”
Alder’s look was incredulous. “Cows?”
As we approached the car, Ruprecht drove past us. He didn’t even acknowledge us.
“He’s obviously trying to reach Camino too,” Alder said. “Quick Amelia, get in the car.”
Alder drove fast, and I sighed with relief when I saw Camino’s and Ruprecht’s cars outside my house. We sprinted inside. “What’s happening?” the onesie Ruprecht said.
“Camino captured a pea thinking it was a onesie, but it’s a person,” I told him.
He looked utterly confused. “There must then be a principle of such a kind that its substance is activity.”
I clamped a hand over my eyes. “This is all too much for me.”
Alder addressed the onesie Ruprecht. “Have you seen Camino or the real Ruprecht?”
The onesie Ruprecht looked offended. “As Socrates says, ‘The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.’”
“Never mind.” Alder took my hand and pulled me down the hallway.
Camino reemerged from the room in which we had trapped the onesies, rubbing her hands together. “I’ve got them!”
“Them?” I echoed.
She nodded. “That pea onesie was acting up at the Halloween Ball. She took the last triple chocolate cauldron cupcake, so I knew I had to deal with her. And then, the onesie Ruprecht tried to convince me he wasn’t a onesie. You know, I think all the onesies are starting to act badly. I locked the onesie Ruprecht in there too.”
“Camino, that was the real Ruprecht!” I said.
“And that pea is a person,” Alder added.
A look of disbelief passed over Camino’s face. “I know a onesie when I see one, and that pea was a onesie.”
“No, it’s a woman,” Alder insisted. “She works at the bank.”
Camino shot him a look of disbelief. I tried to think of something to convince her. “Camino, have you ever even made a pea onesie?”
“Of course, I have!”
“Why would you make a pea onesie?”
“For a military application of course, Amelia. A secret government agent could hide in a pea onesie on a vegetable farm. Criminals are everywhere, you know. If criminals were hiding out on a vegetable farm, then a pea onesie would be ideal for the government.”
“I just want to go home and have a rest,” I said, rubbing my hand over my forehead.
“You are home,” Alder pointed out.
The onesie Ruprecht wandered down the hallway. “Did you find Ruprecht and the pea yet?”
Realisation dawned on Camino’s face. “Oh no! He’s wearing the yellow scarf. I forgot about that. I captured the real Ruprecht! No wonder he put up such a fight.”
“And that pea onesie really is a woman,” I said. “Alder is right.”
The door opened, and Ruprecht and the pea staggered out.
“Thank you, Grandmother,” I called out.
Ruprecht was trembling. “There’s a goblin in there!” he said.
The pea was shaking. Her mouth kept opening and closing, but no words came out.
“What am I going to tell her?” Camino whispered to me.
I shrugged. “Let’s get her into the living room.”
Camino and I took one green arm each and guided the pea into the living room.
“Alder, would you make her a cup of tea, please? Put lots of sugar in it, for the shock.” To the pea, I said the first thing that came into my mind. “I’m Detective Spelled, and we were at the Halloween Ball to investigate the illegal distribution of a drug which causes hallucinations.”
She pointed to the two Ruprechts. “I’m seeing double.”
I patted her hand. “That’s one of the side effects.”
She shrank away from Camino. “She captured me and tied me up!”
I shook my head. “I’m afraid that was all in your mind. It’s one of the side effects of the drugs. You actually ran away from the ball, so I brought you to my house to administer the antidote to you.”
“Will you give it to me soon?” she asked hopefully.
“I’ve already given it to you, and it will begin to wear off soon,” I said. “After you drink a nice cup of tea, we will take you back to the ball.”
She appeared somewhat mollified. “Will I have any more hallucinations?”
“I sure hope not.” I fixed Camino with a steely gaze.
She looked away.
“How many other people were affected?” the pea asked me.
“Quite a few, but we administered the antidote. Don’t be surprised if you see anything else strange happening, but you should be fine from now on.”
Alder handed her the teacup in a saucer. Her hand trembled as she took it from him. She sipped the tea.
So far so good, I thought. My ploy is working. My relief was short lived. Just then the TV turned on, the Ghostbusters theme music blaring.
“What was that?” the pea asked us.
“Electrical fault with the TV,” I said. “You’re not hallucinating. Would you like me to drive you back to the ball now?”
“Yes, please,” she said. “Thanks for your help.”
“Camino, I think you should come with us. Leave your car here. Ruprecht, are you coming back to the ball?”
“Yes, thank you,” he said.
When we got in the car, the pea said, “I can only see one of him.” She nodded in Ruprecht’s direction. “I must be getting better now.”
“Yes, it’s clear the effects of the drug have worn off,” I told her. “Please keep this confidential. This is a government matter.”
“Of course. Of course,” she said.
Chapter 19
I woke up after another fitful night’s sleep. Camino had been snoring so loudly that the house had turned the TV volume up to maximum in an attempt to wake Camino to stop her snoring.
And so about three in the morning, Camino and I had shared a cup of tea—metaphorically speaking—we had a cup of tea each.
Camino was upset because she had captured a human instead of a pea onesie, and was also upset because the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was still on the loose. I was upset as I had performed the spell that made all the onesies come to life and I was also upset because the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was still on the loose.
After my cup of tea, I had gone back to bed, only to be awoken half an hour later by the house turning up the volume again. I had awoken with a start and heard Camino snoring horribly.
I had also spent much of the night tossing and turning. Something had occurred to me and I couldn’t wait to tell Alder. As soon as his eyes were open, I said, “We have to hurry and question Darius Dailey. Now that the funeral is over, he might go back home. We should interview him while he’s still in Bayberry Creek.”
“And good morning to you too.” Alder hooked his hand behind my neck and pulled me to him for a deep kiss.
The bedroom door flung open. We jumped apart. I looked up in horror at Camino, her hands on her hips.
“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” Alder said.
“I would not have come in if I had known the two of you were engaging in funny business,” she said, wiping one palm across her eyes. “Have you quite finished?”
“Yes, for sure,” Alder said dryly.
She pulled her hand from her eyes. “When I was awake in the night, it occurred to me that we should interview Darius Dailey in a hurry before he leaves town. We don’t want to fly to Hollywood to interview him, do we?”
“That’s what I was just saying to Alder,” I told her.
“I imagine the police told him not to leave town,” Alder said. “That’s probably why he is still here.”
“We don’t know if he is still here,” Camino protested. “He wasn’t at the ball last night.”
I nodded. “We will have to track him down and question him after the shop shuts at midday today.”
Camino frowned at me. “Why are you shutting the shop
at midday today?”
I sighed. “It’s Saturday. I always shut the shop at midday on Saturdays.”
She nodded slowly. “Of course. What was I thinking? The inaugural Bayberry Creek Masked Halloween Ball was on a Friday night, and so it follows that today is Saturday.”
“Would you mind leaving the room and shutting the door, so I can get out of bed?” Alder asked her.
Camino disappeared, shutting the door behind her.
“Maybe we should keep our door locked while Camino is staying with us,” Alder said in a heartfelt tone.
Two hours later, I was fussing around the shop, getting it ready to open. Thyme appeared through the door to the back room. “Amelia, you look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
“I haven’t,” I confessed. “Camino snores like a freight train.” I shot a look at Thyme. “You look quite bleary eyed yourself. Are you all right?”
She shook her head. “No, to be honest. Mint and I went to the police station to ask if Dawson and Chris were all right. We took some food for the FBI agents to give them.”
“Did the FBI onesie accept the food?” I asked her.
Thyme’s face brightened. “Yes, he was actually quite nice about it. He said they’d been buying them food from the petty cash.”
“That’s a relief,” I said. “Did you see them?”
“No, but the FBI onesie assured us they were all right. I’m not too worried. I know the FBI onesies are not malicious, and they would be trying to do the right thing. After all, they don’t know they are onesies, and so they would be following the letter of the law. They wouldn’t harm cops.”
“No, they wouldn’t,” I agreed, although I would be quite beside myself if FBI onesies had locked up Alder. To distract Thyme, I said, “We’re going to see if we can interview Darius Dailey today.”
“Is he still in town?” Thyme asked me.
I paused from placing some red velvet cupcakes in the display cabinet and turned to look at her. “No idea. He wasn’t at the ball last night, but Alder is convinced the police would have told him not to leave town.”
“Do you suspect him?” Thyme asked me.
I hesitated. “Yes, because he certainly has a motive. He lost everything when Henry successfully prosecuted him. That is a rock solid motive. Plus, he was seen in the hospital around the time of the murder.”
“Why didn’t he murder Henry in America?” Thyme asked me.
I shut the display cabinet door. “No idea. Maybe, he thought Australia was a better place to murder someone?” I shrugged. “Who knows!”
Camino arrived and turned on the coffee machine. “I know we had coffee at your place, but would you like some more, Amelia?”
“I’d never refuse coffee,” I said. “Thyme?”
“Yes, please. I’ve only had one today.”
“Did Amelia tell you that the house kept waking us up last night?”
Thyme looked surprised. “No. Why did the house do that?”
“Camino snores, so the house tried to wake her up to stop her snoring,” I said.
Camino chuckled. “Sometimes, I snore so loudly I wake myself up.”
I walked to the door to flip the sign to Open, and to my surprise and delight, our first customer was to Darius Dailey.
“I haven’t seen any of the paparazzi around since the funeral,” I told him.
“The police told me I had to stay in town. Aren’t you one of the detectives?”
I had to think fast. “Yes, but I’m a part-time detective. In Australia, detectives can choose whether to have a part-time or a full-time job. I have a part-time job.” I did my best to avoid looking at Thyme, who was doubled over with laughter behind the counter.
Camino piped up. “That’s right. She is married to the full-time detective, Alder Vervain, but she had to give up being a full-time detective when she inherited this cake store.”
“I see,” Darius said. It was clear my story didn’t interest him in the slightest. “So, can I leave town yet?”
I shook my head. “I’m afraid not. You can’t leave town until Henry Vanderbilt’s murder is solved and we have the alleged perpetrator in custody.”
He frowned, while clenching and unclenching his fists. “And how long will that be?”
“No idea. We never know how long cases will take until we actually solve them,” I said. “Anyway, you can help us with our inquiries. Do you have a minute or two? May I ask you some questions?”
He looked pointedly at his watch. “I don’t really have much time.”
“Free cake and coffee,” I said.
His expression brightened a little. “Okay.”
I beckoned him to the back room. “Come with me. We can chat in the kitchen.”
I walked into the kitchen and indicated he should sit opposite me at the table. He looked around the walls. “Has there been a fire in here?”
“Several,” I admitted. I didn’t tell him that the walls were blackened because of my baking.
“Do you have earthquakes here too?”
I was surprised. “No. We don’t have many earthquakes in Australia. I mean, there was the big one in Newcastle years ago, but that’s about it. Why do you ask?”
He pointed to the floor. “There are strange indentations in the floor. I assumed it was the floor buckling as a result of earthquakes.”
I laughed. “Oh no, I just dropped several of the cakes I made.”
For some reason, he looked confused. I launched into my questions. “The uniformed officers told me that you were present in the hospital around the time of the murder. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
I had hoped for more than a one-word answer. “Tell me about it,” I prompted him.
“Tell you about what?”
Camino walked in and deposited a large latte and a cheesecake-stuffed witch’s hat cupcake in front of him. I sure hoped it would loosen his tongue.
“Tell me why you were in the hospital at that time. The more help you can offer in solving the case, the sooner you will be able to leave town.”
He sipped his large latte and then popped half the cupcake in his mouth. I waited for him to chew it. Finally, he said, “I was there to visit Nancy Newton.”
“Nancy? Are you a friend of hers?”
He shook his head vigorously before depositing the remaining half of the cupcake in his mouth. He swallowed it noisily. “I’d never met the woman.”
“Then why did you visit her?”
“I didn’t know she was in a coma, you see. I wanted to visit her to get dirt on Henry Vanderbilt. I didn’t know he had been murdered at that point, of course. I mean, I don’t think he had been murdered at that point.”
I waved one hand at him. “Please go on. Tell me exactly what you mean about getting dirt on the victim.”
“Well, I knew Nancy didn’t like Henry…”
I interrupted him. “She didn’t? I thought she liked him. Do you mean to tell me they didn’t have a good relationship?”
He chuckled. “She couldn’t stand him. Haven’t you checked into the background?”
“It is I who ask the questions,” I said. “Tell me everything you know about the relationship between Nancy Newton and Henry Vanderbilt.”
He took several sips of his latte before setting down his cup. “Nancy Newton was the nanny for Henry and Bernard. She was the nanny from the time they were very young children until the time they were teenagers. Henry told Aurelius Vanderbilt that Nancy had stolen jewellery from the estate.”
That surprised me, considering Nancy had spoken well of Henry. “And had she stolen any jewellery?”
Bernard shook his head forcefully. “Of course not! Henry was the one who had stolen the jewellery, I’m sure of it. He would have sold it to support his weed habit. That’s marijuana, by the way.”
“I know what weed is,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Were the police involved?”
“Yes, the police were involved, but there was no evidence she
did it. It was simply circumstantial. If you ask me, I think the police suspected Henry but didn’t want to tell his grandfather. Of course, Aurelius sacked Nancy and she couldn’t get another nanny job.”
I wondered why Camino hadn’t told me that. I stood up. “You sit right there. I’ll fetch you another cupcake. What sort would you like?”
“I’m not fussy,” he said. “Surprise me.”
I hurried out the door and over to the coffee machine. I tapped Camino on the arm. “Camino, Darius told me that Aurelius Vanderbilt accused Nancy of theft years ago when Henry was a teenager. Darius thinks Henry stole the jewellery and blamed Nancy to cover it up. Has Nancy ever mentioned that to you?”
Camino’s jaw dropped open. “No, she’s never said a thing. I don’t know her that well, mind you. We just play croquet together on occasion because we’re in the same croquet club. It’s not like she’s a close friend or anything.”
“And how long have you known her?”
Camino tapped her chin. “Probably only five years.”
“Thanks.” I grabbed the nearest cupcake I could find and plopped it onto a paper plate. It was a white chocolate ghost cupcake. I walked into the kitchen and deposited it in front of Darius.
“You Australian police are awfully strange,” he said. “In America, police don’t give you cakes when they question you, or even good coffee for that matter.”
“Yes, we Australians are quite strange,” I said. “So, tell me more about Henry accusing Nancy of theft.”
This time, I had to wait for him to finish the entire cupcake. When he did, he said, “I don’t know much about it. It was before my time, you see, well before Henry became famous.”
“How did you find out about it?”
“My lawyers found out about it,” he said. “I had good lawyers for my court case. Not as good as Henry’s lawyers,” he added angrily. “My lawyers turned up everything they could find, but it wasn’t enough for me to win the case.”
“And you did have a good motive to murder him,” I said. “You lost everything in the court case, and you had the opportunity to murder him, because you were seen in the hospital around the time of the murder.”
Darius turned white. “Look, I didn’t do it. Sure, I had a motive to murder him, but so did lots of other people. Nancy Newton had a motive to murder him, and then there are all the people in Hollywood who had a motive to murder him.”