by Fiona Grace
SKEPTIC IN SALEM:
AN EPISODE OF DEATH
(A Dubious Witch Cozy Mystery—Book Three)
FIONA GRACE
Fiona Grace
Fiona Grace is author of the LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY series, comprising nine books; of the TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY series, comprising seven books; of the DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books; of the BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY series, comprising six books; and of the CATS AND DOGS COZY MYSTERY series, comprising nine books.
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Copyright © 2021 by Fiona Grace. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Jacket image Copyright JENNY STYLE, used under license from Shutterstock.com.
BOOKS BY FIONA GRACE
LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY
MURDER IN THE MANOR (Book#1)
DEATH AND A DOG (Book #2)
CRIME IN THE CAFE (Book #3)
VEXED ON A VISIT (Book #4)
KILLED WITH A KISS (Book #5)
PERISHED BY A PAINTING (Book #6)
SILENCED BY A SPELL (Book #7)
FRAMED BY A FORGERY (Book #8)
CATASTROPHE IN A CLOISTER (Book #9)
TUSCAN VINEYARD COZY MYSTERY
AGED FOR MURDER (Book #1)
AGED FOR DEATH (Book #2)
AGED FOR MAYHEM (Book #3)
AGED FOR SEDUCTION (Book #4)
AGED FOR VENGEANCE (Book #5)
AGED FOR ACRIMONY (Book #6)
AGED FOR MALICE (Book #7)
DUBIOUS WITCH COZY MYSTERY
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF MURDER (Book #1)
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF CRIME (Book #2)
SKEPTIC IN SALEM: AN EPISODE OF DEATH (Book #3)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY COZY MYSTERY
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A KILLER CUPCAKE (Book #1)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A MURDEROUS MACARON (Book #2)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A PERILOUS CAKE POP (Book #3)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A DEADLY DANISH (Book #4)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A TREACHEROUS TART (Book #5)
BEACHFRONT BAKERY: A CALAMITOUS COOKIE (Book #6)
CATS AND DOGS COZY MYSTERY
A VILLA IN SICILY: OLIVE OIL AND MURDER (Book #1)
A VILLA IN SICILY: FIGS AND A CADAVER (Book #2)
A VILLA IN SICILY: VINO AND DEATH (Book #3)
A VILLA IN SICILY: CAPERS AND CALAMITY (Book #4)
A VILLA IN SICILY: ORANGE GROVES AND VENGEANCE (Book #5)
A VILLA IN SICILY: CANNOLI AND A CASUALTY (Book #6)
A VILLA IN SICILY: SPAGHETTI AND SUSPICION (Book #7)
A VILLA IN SICILY: LEMONS AND A PREDICAMENT (Book #8)
A VILLA IN SICILY: GELATO AND A VENDETTA (Book #9)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
EPILOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
Mia Bold plastered a green tea mask on her face. She was still trying to get the grime out of her pores after yesterday’s excursion, tramping through the Hockomock Swamp. Her Border collie mix, Tandy, and her white kitten, Rose, watched her curiously, not sure why their mistress had green goo all over her face.
“It’s just a pore cleanse,” Mia explained. “Ten minutes from now and I’ll look normal again, I promise.”
Tandy looked at her skeptically, not sure what the ritual meant exactly.
Yesterday, Mia and Tandy had gone location scouting for her podcast, possibly soon-to-be cable show, Bell, Book, and Candle. They drove an hour and a half south of Salem, Massachusetts, to tramp through the tangled area known as the “Devil’s Swamp,” part of the infamous Bridgewater Triangle and a hotbed of paranormal activity. A half dozen electromagnetic readings later, Mia and Tandy had headed home, covered in mud and bug bites and slightly sunburned even though the weather was cool. Even with all the discomfort, it had been a great day.
Now, Mia was back at her apartment on Essex Street wrapped up in a terry robe, skin flushed from a steamy shower, hair knotted on top of her head, and the green-tea mask tingling on her face. She imagined she could feel her pores tightening. Mia made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a coffee, and headed for her desk, stepping over files and weaving around the stacks of books peppered across the living room floor. This was research week and her usually tidy apartment looked like a hurricane had passed through. There was also the fact that she and Tandy had tracked muddy paw and boot prints everywhere after their day in the swamp. She’d finally given Tandy a bath while Rose watched from a safe distance, leisurely cleaning her pink kitten nose and white whiskers as Tandy was scrubbed down vigorously, leaving a ring of dirt and debris in the tub. But there was no time to clean the apartment. She had to finish her research before M-day turned her life upside down!
Mia looked at the calendar above her desk, where a giant “M” was scrawled in red marker. Tomorrow was the day her family, the Middletons, were due to arrive. Once that happened, they would undoubtedly distract her with a million questions and activities. Today was the last day she had to complete her research in time, since the production meeting to discuss the next show was also scheduled for tomorrow.
Thanks, guys! Great timing!
As soon as she had her research done and felt prepared for the meeting, she planned to dive into tidying the apartment. In its current state of chaos, the place would give her mom and stepdad a fit.
Mia sighed and looked over at her map of the Devil’s Swamp, spread over the coffee table and covered in sticky notes. Each sticky marked sightings of Mothman, Bigfoot, an infamous red-eyed swamp beast, and various ghosts. But even though the swamp was a dream location, in the end she’d decided that the show would need more people and equipment to film that rugged area than Bell, Book, and Candle could afford. That was okay though; she had already come up with a great list of other sites.
In most cities and towns, haunted places were a rarity,
but not in Salem. Ever since Mia moved to the small town with a spooky reputation, the sheer number of hauntings was astounding. It seemed like everyone in town had a story about a haunted encounter. She had been inundated with so many myths, stories, and ghost sightings, she could barely keep up. In fact, her inbox was so out of hand, she was going to have to ask Will the intern to help her answer mail soon.
She settled back at her desk and typed an email to her producers, Graham Stone and Ollie Cooper:
RE: Locations for next Episode
After visiting a dozen sites, I have narrowed my top 3 choices for our next episode to the following locations:
The Joshua Ward House in Salem
Dungeon Rock in Lynn
Fort Sewall in Marblehead
I also want to discuss as a possible future location should the series be picked up: Hockomock Swamp, Bridgewater Triangle.
Talk to you soon.
She pressed Send and smiled to herself. That should hold them off for a while. A little teaser before the big meeting. Even though she had decided against the Devil’s Swamp for now, she hoped to do a show there in the future. Now, she just needed to prepare for the inevitable questions from her producers and crew about each location. She needed to review lighting, terrain, ghost sightings, the history of each place, and other random details. Maybe she was being overly cautious, but she hated being caught off guard. Another full day of research would make her feel calm and confident.
The fact that a cable network was interested in their show was so exciting! Mia thought. According to Graham, the network loved their last episode. And Ollie had said the cable network was considering a full run of episodes. Both producers were pushing everyone to turn out a great second episode of the show.
Mia had to admit, her career was going really well. Up until recently, Bell, Book, and Candle was just a podcast. Now, after filming a single episode, they were under consideration to be a cable show. Mia had never imagined she would host a TV show, but that was exactly what was happening. And though she was easily putting in twelve-hour days, she loved her job. And now she was even earning a salary. It wasn’t much yet, but it was an upgrade from working for free!
Mia looked at the clock. Her best friend, Sylvie, who lived down the hall, would be waking up soon. She was the Bell, Book, and Candle sound engineer and editor. They always had a million things to discuss, from boyfriends to camera footage. Today, they were planning to head down to Café Noir, their favorite local restaurant, owned by Hugh Wolfe, the sexy, six-foot-tall chef Mia was dating. Well, one date so far. But they had both been dancing around the idea of a second date. The thought of handsome Hugh Wolfe gave her butterflies in her stomach. Maybe today he would ask her for a second date over some delicious French cuisine. All in all, this promised to be an excellent day!
Tandy put his paws on Mia’s lap and tried to lick her mint-green face while Rose curled up in a growing patch of sunlight and purred. Mia had found the small abandoned kitten in the street. Now she was growing and fast becoming a silky cat with faint silver stripes under her white fur.
Mia made a note to herself to talk to Will about installing the cat run kit she’d ordered. Her landlord, Tom Hatter, had given the project a green light, even though he claimed white cats in Salem were bad luck. The box was tilted against the wall by the kitchen.
There was a loud knock at the door.
Finally! That would be Sylvie. Time to wash off the green goo and get ready for a delicious breakfast. And to see sexy Hugh Wolfe, of course.
“Come on in,” Mia called out, stepping over a stack of papers.
As the door swung open, Tandy jumped up and barked loudly. That’s weird, Mia thought. Tandy rarely barked and never at Sylvie. Then a horrible sinking feeling hit Mia. She realized what was happening, but it was too late.
“Oh no,” Mia said as she saw who was standing at the door.
CHAPTER TWO
Mia clutched her robe tightly, staring at her surprise guests as the green tea mask cracked across her face like the Sahara Desert. She wanted to curl up and disappear. How could this be happening?
“I—I thought you were coming tomorrow,” Mia managed to say. Standing in the hallway was Mia’s entire family: her stepfather, Daniel Middleton, dressed in a soft tweed jacket, deerstalker hat, and travel pants; Mia’s mother, Madison Monroe Middleton, who wore a stylish car coat and scarf tied around her frosted blonde updo; and her stepsister, Brynn, dressed in a plaid Chanel jacket, designer jeans, and kicky heels with brass buckles. Finally, Daniel had brought his assistant, Reynolds, who stood off to one side, dressed in a plaid shirt and khakis and wearing wire-rimmed glasses.
“Oh! Good gracious, Mimi!” Brynn said, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Is that you?”
Mia nodded helplessly. Then it struck her that her apartment looked like a zoo, one where the animals had all escaped and gone on a rampage.
“Maybe I could meet you later—” Mia said, trying to block the view of her apartment.
“—Nonsense! We’ve come to take you to breakfast,” Daniel said and barged through the door. Mia stepped back as the herd of Middletons marched inside. Brynn called Tandy over and patted him.
“Boo boo baby? How’ve you been, boy?” Tandy wagged his tail, happy to see her. Then she saw Rose. “Ohhhhhh! Who is this?” she said and scooped the small cat up in the crook of her arm. Rose reached her pink nose up to nuzzle Brynn.
“Rose,” Mia said, overwhelmed. “My kitten.”
“Well, she is adorable!” Brynn said and walked close to Mia. “I guess we took you by surprise,” she whispered.
“A little heads-up would have been nice, Brynn,” Mia whispered back, her throat tightening. “You could have texted.” Underneath the green mask her face was bright red from embarrassment.
Reynolds, Daniel’s assistant, looked down at his feet, mortified as he realized Mia had just been caught, not just by surprise, but in flagrante delicto.
“Sorry, Mia,” Reynolds whispered anxiously.
Madison stepped inside the apartment and took in the mess as if she were the lady of the manor.
“Oh dear,” she said imperiously. “Do you always keep your apartment like this?”
“Of course not, Mom!” Mia said. “I’m working on a project.”
“What kind of project?” Daniel said. He walked over to the map on the coffee table and squinted at it curiously. “The Jersey Devil and Mothman?”
“I’m scouting locations,” Mia said. “You know, sightings.”
“I see, you’re hunting things that don’t actually exist? I’m not sure that’s the best use of your time,” Daniel said, scanning the living room with distaste, noting the muddy paw prints everywhere. “I certainly hope you aren’t always this messy,” he said. “Reynolds? Let’s look into getting Mia some cleaning help.”
“Yes sir,” Reynolds said.
“I don’t need help,” Mia said lamely. “I’m just researching. I went to a swamp yesterday and I’ve been busy going through my findings.”
“A swamp? That doesn’t sound very ladylike,” Madison said.
“The Devil’s Swamp?” Daniel said, peering at the map. “Hmmmm.”
“That’s all right, dear,” Madison said, slipping her arm through Mia’s sleeve. “I can see you need a moment. I’ll make some coffee while you get dressed.”
Mia gazed at her maps covered with stickies and sighed wistfully. Her plans to do more research had just gone up in smoke.
Brynn raised her eyebrows and made a brushing sign to Mia to go get herself cleaned up and dressed.
“I know, Brynn,” Mia said. “I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared into the bathroom and quickly splashed water on her face until the mask dissolved and the water ran green. As Mia pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt and brushed her long wavy dark hair, her mind was already in full freak-out mode. The Middleton clan was off to a rousing start. She couldn’t believe how badly things were going. Daniel
clearly disapproved of her job, her place was a mess, and now she was going to have to wing it at the production meeting. Could this situation get any worse? She walked back into the living room to shut down her computer. The whole family was in the kitchen. Mia ran around the room tidying up the piles and picking up stray glasses and cups. When she walked in the kitchen, she found all the Middletons jammed together. Reynolds leaned on the counter while Daniel sat stiffly in one of the kitchen chairs, like a king presiding over his court. Brynn was texting on her phone, while Madison had started doing dishes.
“Mom! Stop,” Mia said.
“It’ll just take a second, dear,” she said and glanced down at the tile covered in paw prints before releasing a sigh.
“What are you doing here?” Mia said. “Weren’t you supposed to arrive tomorrow afternoon?”
“Daniel got an opportunity to upgrade to first class,” Madison said.
“I had Reynolds send you a copy of the itinerary,” Daniel said.
“Last week?” Mia said.
“The updated itinerary. Yesterday afternoon.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. Then he tapped the first slot on the section marked today. “Do you see here? Morning. Breakfast.”
Mia stared at the itinerary and realized she was trapped. Once Daniel committed something to his itinerary it was set in stone. He must have changed everything while she and Tandy were wandering through the swamp. She’d been so exhausted when she got home, she fell asleep early without checking her email. So much for another day to finish up her research.
There was another knock at the door. What now? Mia thought. This time Tandy ran over and wagged his tail. Sylvie walked in wearing tartan trousers, a black top with crisscross straps, a cropped leather jacket, and Doc Marten boots painted with flying pigs.
“Ready? What the—” she said and stopped, taking in the fact that the entire Middleton clan was wedged into the tiny space.