Shortbread and Shivers

by Ramona Ransom

  “I didn’t realize she had anything missing at all, but I’m sorry to hear that. I wasn’t sure if you were referring to Percy or everything going on with the land that looks to have been purchased in secret.”

  The look on Ted’s face told Nessa that there was something he wasn’t admitting. When she brought up Percy before, he didn’t seem to react, but when she mentioned the land, it was a different story.

  “Ahh. The land. Melanie, well…” Ted hesitated. “It’s probably better if you talk to her about that directly.”

  Nessa went for it.

  “Did she take the invitations from everyone’s mailbox?”

  She knew that she might not get an answer, but it wasn’t hard to read Ted. He’d be a terrible poker player.

  “I wouldn’t know.” Ted blinked repeatedly, showing Nessa everything that she needed to know. In her experience, people who were lying tended to blink more and she bet that’s what was happening.

  “Are you sure?” Nessa asked, seeing he was already about to break.

  He blinked about eight times and then nodded. “I just wanted to protect her.”

  “What do you mean?” Nessa asked.

  “That’s all I can say for now. Melanie should be done with her appointment and I have to get going.” Ted stood, took his muffin box and ran out of the store like it was on fire.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nessa, annoyed with herself for actually wanting to talk to Bizzie, had decided to take a brisk walk around the neighborhood. She had the day off from work, and since everyone had said that her shortbread creation wasn’t horrific, she didn’t have to spend the day trying to come up with something else. She’d make a fresh batch on her next shift and make sure Bizzie came in to try it.

  She didn’t know what she was hoping or looking for, but as she strolled around, she wanted someone to see her and decide they wanted to talk. After her chat with Ted the day before, it was all she could think about. She didn’t know why he thought Melanie would need protection or what had happened with her hose and other missing items, but based on how easy it was to get information from him, she felt like maybe it would carry over and she might be able to keep it going.

  She’d have loved to know more about Melanie, but she was also desperate to talk to Joy and Raymond again. As much as she wanted to believe it was them who took the invitations out of everyone’s mailboxes, after what Dart and Jill said, it just didn’t seem possible.

  As she went around what she called the small loop, Nessa stopped to tie her shoe. It was just for show, because she noticed Joy outside talking to another neighbor. She tried stalling as long as she could for Joy to finish talking, but she could only make shoe-tying take so long before she’d start to look like she was still learning how to tie.

  Luckily, the other neighbor caught her eye and waved her over. Nessa knew being nice to people would pay off. She always made sure to wave and say hi to the woman when she saw her, and now, it was her way in to talking to Joy. She went over to the women and said hello.

  “Joy, Mary. Nice to see you both.”

  “Good morning, Nessa,” Mary said. “I’m really sorry I can’t stay and chat, but I’ve got a pie in the oven and it’s about to come out. I must get going.” She dashed off toward her house, leaving Joy and Nessa alone.

  “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Nessa commented, trying to break the ice.

  “A little breezy, but yes,” Joy replied, but her attention was focused on her husband who was across the street by Percy’s boat. He was on the phone and by the look on his face, he wasn’t happy.

  “Is everything okay?” Nessa asked.

  Joy sighed, still watching her husband. “I don’t know anymore. It might have been a mistake to buy this land. We’re having so much trouble with people listening to us. Percy refused to move his boat while he was alive and now, well, now Raymond is on the phone with Percy’s daughter trying to get her to tell him when she can move it. Dart and Jill won’t even look in our direction now because they are so mad we bought it. Everything that happened since we did has been nothing but a hassle.”

  “Is there anything I can help with?”

  “Can you get that boat off our property, because at this rate, Raymond is going to lose his mind? Percy’s daughter says she’s tired of people calling her about her father, and I don’t even know what that means.”

  “I’m afraid I’d have no idea how to get the boat out.” Nessa had her Jeep and the ability to actually hook up the trailer and pull the boat out, but she wasn’t going to. It wasn’t her place, and she had no idea about the legality of that sort of thing, especially now that the boat’s owner wasn’t there to have an opinion.

  “Okay, well, if you can’t do that, then maybe you can convince Dart and Jill to get their acts together. I’m about sick and tired of them treating us like we’ve somehow inconvenienced them.”

  It was at that point that Nessa had had enough. She was nice to a fault, and believed that everyone should always be kind, but Joy was being unreasonable. Percy was dead, and she and her husband were acting as though that mattered less than where his boat was parked. And Dart and Jill had every reason to be upset, just as everyone else in the neighborhood did.

  “Joy, did you know that no one in the neighborhood got an invitation to the meeting about the land you bought? Did you know that had we gotten them, most of us would have gone and also would have liked to buy it? Did you know that we think someone went behind Alana after she dropped them all off and stole them so that you and Raymond would be the only ones to go?”

  Joy stood, mouth agape, waiting for Nessa to continue.

  “No one wants to be upset, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t. Everyone feels blindsided and that it’s unfair you and Raymond got the land when none of us even knew about it. This isn’t some personal affront to you guys, it’s just so happens that you’re involved in the way you are.”

  “We didn’t steal anything!” Joy shouted.

  “I didn’t say you did. But that doesn’t change the fact that it looks like someone did.”

  “It was probably Melanie,” Joy said. “She doesn’t belong here.”

  “That’s a terrible thing to say about someone,” Nessa said. “And you know what? I also think it was her, but I’d never say she doesn’t belong here.”

  “I’m glad for you, but I’m not wrong. Melanie has been nothing but trouble since the day she moved in. Arguing with Percy about this and that, and her boyfriend keeps hanging around on the docks. Even before we bought the land, it drove us crazy to have a stranger roaming around.”

  Nessa hated the part of her that had to see all sides of a situation. She didn’t want to stick up for Melanie, but she had to.

  “Is he really a stranger if he’s dating someone that lives here?” Nessa asked.

  “You said it right. He doesn’t live here, so why would he be on the docks?” Joy crossed her arms. “The only redeeming thing about Melanie is her gorgeous yard. She’s done so much with it, and I think it brings a special appeal to the entire area. Alana and Clifford agree, and they wish she was around before when the HOA was still a thing.”

  And they were back to that again. She had to wonder more about Alana and Clifford, and if maybe they had more to do with what was going on than she thought.

  “All I know is that everyone should work on being a little nicer. We’ve had something tragic happen to one of our neighbors and if we all stopped worrying about who owned what, then maybe we’d remember what’s important. Percy’s life. You think his daughter wants to get a call about Raymond wanting her father’s boat moved? Not only does she lives hundreds of miles away, but her father was killed.”

  “Okay, so you’re saying that we don’t have a right to do what we want with our land? That doesn’t seem fair, either.”

  “Joy, the last time I talked to you, you said that Percy’s death was all your fault. What happened to caring about that? How about your husband? The last time I talk
ed to him, he snuck over to my house to tell me it was okay for me to use your docks.”

  “What do you mean snuck?” Joy asked, perplexed. “I didn’t even know he went over there.”

  Nessa told her about Raymond and how he’d been trying to hide from Melanie.

  “I didn’t realize you didn’t know, but still. I think it’s time we all just take a step back and calm down.”

  “Easy for you to say.” Joy huffed. “Listen, I have to go. I think you should look into Melanie and that boyfriend of hers if you want to talk about looking into what’s important. Melanie and Percy were the ones arguing right before he was killed.”

  Nessa knew that was true, but it also was true that Joy and Raymond had their own issues with Percy and it was looking like Joy wanted to pass the blame elsewhere. She said goodbye to Joy, neither of them happy with the other, and went back home. It was time to start digging a little deeper.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After lunch, Nessa heard a knock on her door. She hadn’t been expecting anyone but was hopeful that it was Daniel coming to say hi. Lately, they’d both been so busy that they hadn’t gotten to spend much time together. She wanted to bring up the idea to him that they take a day trip somewhere to get out of town and enjoy each other’s company. When she opened the door, she was ready to greet him but was surprised when Melanie was standing there instead. With a green expandable hose in her hand.

  Nessa swallowed hard and stepped back, looking out of the corner of her eye for something to protect herself with. Was she about to be strangled to death on her porch? Certainly, she’d have time to do something before things went that far.

  “I found it,” Melanie said with a sigh. “I know Ted went to talk to you, and I know that he’s a terrible liar. When I found my hose this morning, I knew I needed to come talk to you before you decided that I killed Percy. It wasn’t me. I didn’t kill him, but as I’m sure you’ve already figured out, I was the one stole the invitations out of everyone’s mailboxes.”

  Nessa stood there, staring, mouth open.

  Seeing that Nessa wasn’t going to reply, Melanie kept going. “I’m sorry for everything, but I’m actually kind of glad that Ted told you. I probably wouldn’t have ever admitted it, so in a weird way, I have to thank him.”

  “Hang on,” Nessa said, now sure that Melanie wasn’t there to murder her. “Ted didn’t tell me anything.”

  “No, but like I said, he’s a terrible liar. I know you were suspicious, and I know you thought I did something. I’m here to admit to what I did and clarify that I did not kill Percy.”

  “And that you found your hose,” Nessa added.

  “Yes! I forgot that I put it in a bucket to wash it. It needs to soak for hours and when I realized that my gnome and lights were missing, my brain just automatically went to the worst. I thought someone stole my hose and killed Percy with it. Or worse, that someone would think I killed him myself.”

  “I’m happy you found it, but I have to ask. Why did you take the invitations?”

  “For a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was upset that everyone was on Percy’s side. If I tried to talk about my problems with him, everyone would brush me off. I wouldn’t have bought that land. You couldn’t have paid me to deal with all the people that treated it like it was a free area. I’d be worried about lawsuits, and who knows what else? I mean, I don’t want to talk ill of the dead, but they had so much trouble with Percy. I already had enough going on with him.”

  “So, you took them because you were mad at us?”

  “And because I was never invited to the parties Alana had. And she didn’t even bother to put an invitation in my mailbox. Imagine my surprise when I get home, my jacket pockets full of envelopes, and I open mine and find nothing? I was happy that I took them at that point. I felt bad for doing it until then. Why doesn’t anyone like me?”

  “You can’t say that. I like you just fine, but I don’t even really know you. Did you ever think that maybe others feel the same? You haven’t lived here for that long, so it’s possible that you haven’t gotten to know everyone well enough.”

  “All of you sided with Percy.” Melanie stood her ground.

  “I don’t think anyone took sides and I don’t think Percy wanted us to.” She thought back to his comment again about how he didn’t want there to be any sides.

  Melanie looked behind her and then raced into Nessa’s house, pushing her aside and shutting the door. At first, Nessa worried for her safety, but when she realized it was Melanie who looked scared, she didn’t know what to do.

  “What’s wrong?” Nessa asked, peering out the window.

  “Don’t you see Alana? She’s walking this way!”

  Sure enough, Alana was walking toward her house, coming from the direction of Melanie’s house.

  “I see her. Why are you hiding?” Nessa asked.

  “I… Well, I don’t exactly know.” Melanie straightened, trying to calm herself down.

  Another knock came and when Nessa reached to answer it, Melanie hissed, “Wait!” She slunk back, making sure she was out of sight. “I don’t want her to know I took the invitations. Please,” she begged.

  Nessa nodded and opened the door.

  “Alana, what a surprise!”

  “I’m so glad you’re home. I’ve been going door to door and you’re the last house on my list. I’ve come to invite you to a little gathering we’re having next weekend. We’d love it if you could come.”

  “Oh. What’s it for? Are you celebrating something?” Nessa asked.

  “Not quite. I’ve just invited all the neighbors for a lunch. We’ll probably play some cards, and maybe talk about the potential new homeowners association,” Alana explained.

  She wanted to know about the homeowners association plans, but she wanted to know more about why she’d said she went to every house so far but Nessa had seen her skip right over Melanie’s.

  “You invited everyone, huh? That’s going to be a big event. I’ll admit that I haven’t gotten a chance to see the hall where they spend their time, but there were an awful lot of people in their neighborhood, so she wondered how many people would be there.”

  “We have the room, so yes, I invited everyone I can’t wait for it and I hope I see you there,” Alana said.

  “You said something about the association. Are you thinking of bringing it back?” Nessa asked, wondering how that all worked. She didn’t have an opinion about it either way, but she knew some other folks did.

  “It’s just that it solves so many problems. There won’t be any questions about what belongs to who, or what something should look like. It’s all decided for us. Certainly no one can complain about that. Clifford agrees with me wholeheartedly and so do Joy and Raymond. I don’t exactly know what Bizzie thinks, but she told me she’d consider coming. Maybe you can talk to her for me and convince her.”

  Nessa felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket. She took it out and looked at the screen. “Speak of the devil. That’s Bizzie now. Thanks for coming by, Alana. I think I will come next weekend.”

  Waving to Alana, Nessa shut the door and answered her phone, putting it on speaker.

  “Alana just left. She invited me to the hall next weekend to talk about the homeowners association. She wants to bring it back and then she said something that… Wait, let me put you on speaker phone so Melanie can here, too.”

  Nessa, stop talking. I just left the hardware store because I had to pick up a can of paint and I saw Raymond there. He was buying a hose. A green hose. Just like the one that was around Percy’s neck. What if he’s replacing his, because he used it to kill Percy?

  She’d wanted to say something sarcastic to Bizzie when she’d told her to stop talking, but Nessa was glad she’d listened. Now that she knew Melanie had found her hose, she believed that the woman didn’t kill Percy. On the other hand, it sounded more and more like Raymond might have.

  The problem was that there were so many things going on at
once that Nessa didn’t know what to address first.

  “Where are you right now?” she asked Bizzie and held up a finger to Melanie, who was still in her home.

  “In my car. I ran out here to call you the second I saw him. Should I do anything or say anything to him?”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, but now I have something to tell you. Two things, actually.” First she told Bizzie about Melanie and how she’d found her hose and admitted to stealing the invitations just because she was mad.

  That seems over the top, but whatever. At least now we know she’s just a thief and not a killer, right?

  “Then there’s the part about Alana that I tried saying earlier. She just left and she told me about the event and when I asked about her trying to get the HOA up and running again, she told me that Cliff, Joy, and Raymond are all on board.”

  Great. Why does that matter? Raymond is buying a replacement hose, or did you forget?

  “Bizzie. Do you think it matters if Cliff agrees if he doesn’t live here anymore?”

  Now, Melanie was paying attention, eagerly listening in.

  Probably not. Where are you going with this?

  “I’ve never met Cliff, so I don’t know anything about him, but what if he killed Percy so he could get his house? He seems so interested in the HOA, at least according to Alana, that it might make sense.”

  We think Cliff killed Percy now? What part of replacement hose aren’t you understanding?

  “I’m getting off the phone now. Come over when you get back.”

  Nessa ended the call with Bizzie and turned her attention to Melanie.

  “Well, now that you heard all of that, what do you think?”