by D. S. Butler
I’d watched enough true crime programs and Dateline episodes to know that when a person was murdered, particularly a woman, the killer was usually someone close to home. Someone they knew.
I narrowed my eyes. In my opinion, Robert Naggington and his son were definitely suspects.
After I had poured their iced tea, I asked them how they were doing.
Robert Jr peered at me in a way that very much reminded me of his mother, Elizabeth. He had the same way of looking down his nose at me, even though he was sitting down, and I was standing up. That was obviously a talent he’d inherited from Elizabeth.
“Oh, we are muddling through together,” he said.
“I saw you yesterday,” I said, watching him closely for his reaction. “You were running away and hiding something under your coat.”
Robert Jr visibly paled. His lower lip wobbled.
I knew it! He was showing all the signs of being guilty.
So I pushed on, “What were you hiding under that large coat?”
Then, to my horror, Robert Jr burst into tears.
Not quiet, gentle tears trickling down his cheeks, but huge, great body-wracking sobs.
I stared at him, panicked.
Elizabeth flew over to my side. “What have you done? What did you say to him?”
Mrs. Townsend, who had been sharing the table with the Naggingtons, gave me a very sharp look and said, “Harper Grant, you should be ashamed of yourself. This poor boy has just lost his mother.”
There were a few murmurs of agreement from other people in the diner.
I blew out a breath in frustration. It wasn’t fair. I was sure he was faking, and I was absolutely positive he had been hiding something.
“He was hiding something,” I insisted. “Ask him yourself.”
Robert Jr let out an ear-piercing wail.
And at that moment, Archie rushed over. He put his hands on my shoulders and steered me away from the Naggingtons’ table. All around the diner, customers were watching me and shooting me daggers.
“I think you should get off home, Harper. We don’t need a scene today.”
I stared at Archie for a moment, feeling absolutely furious.
I’d believed in him and supported him when he was worried he was about to be accused of murder, and now he was sending me home to avoid a scene with the Naggingtons.
“Fine,” I said, shoving my order pad in my apron and undoing the ties around my back.
I hung my apron on the hook by the door, grabbed my coat and purse, and stormed towards the exit.
I’d only been trying to help Elizabeth, but I’d managed to set all the customers in the diner against me.
No doubt this would get back to Joe McGrady, too.
“How could you? I thought you were trying to help me!” Elizabeth snapped at me as I walked past her and headed out the door of the diner.
I left Elizabeth there and stalked home, with the chilly fall breeze swirling around me, feeling absolutely furious.
Jess would still be at work at the library, but I didn’t want to talk things through with her yet. She would probably only tell me that it was my fault anyway, which would just annoy me even further.
As I walked down the overgrown path, I could hear rustling sounds ahead. It sounded like the noise was coming from the old greenhouse.
As I got closer, I could see that Grandma Grant was working away inside the greenhouse.
I moved very quietly, taking care over every step I took and wincing when a twig broke beneath my feet.
I wanted to find out what she was up to. She had definitely been acting very suspiciously lately.
When I poked my head round the door, I could see that Grandma was looking down at a little pot on top of the large work bench.
I stepped inside the greenhouse, immediately feeling warmer and sensing the increased humidity in the air. The rich smell of compost and plants surrounded me.
“What are you doing?”
Grandma Grant spun around and put a hand against her chest. “Harper, you shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!”
“I wasn’t sneaking,” I lied. “What have you got there?”
I moved closer so I could see what she was looking at. There was a very small sunflower plant in a pot. I looked at it closely, but I couldn’t see anything odd about it.
I looked around the rest of the greenhouse but didn’t see anything particularly suspicious.
“I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that,” Grandma Grant said. “I was just potting up some new plants for Mrs. Townsend.”
But as Grandma Grant spoke to me, her eyes kept shifting back to the small sunflower, which was making me feel very uneasy.
“You’re back from work early.”
I scowled. “Archie sent me home.”
“Sent you home? Why? Are you sick?”
I shook my head. “No, it was all because I dared to ask Robert Jr what he was hiding when he ran away from me. I just know he had something under his coat.”
“And what did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything. He just burst into tears, and everyone thought I was the devil incarnate for upsetting a poor man who’d just lost his mother.”
“And Archie sent you home for that?”
“Yes. He didn’t stick up for me. Even though I stuck up for him when the police suggested he could be a suspect.”
Grandma Grant’s gaze shifted down to the sunflower again, then back up to me as she patted my arm. “Things will work out in the end, Harper.”
“How? How am I ever going to help Elizabeth pass on when I can’t find out who killed her? If she doesn’t get peace soon, she’ll be hanging around forever like Loretta.”
“I thought you liked Loretta?”
“I do. But it’s hard enough trying to remember not to respond to one ghost in public, let alone two.”
I didn’t want to be alone as I knew I would only mope about, feeling sorry for myself, so I spent the rest of the afternoon helping Grandma Grant in the garden.
She had a variety of fall plants that needed to be planted before the frosts came.
It was good, peaceful work, and it calmed me down.
It wasn’t until we’d washed up and I was heading back to Grandma Grant’s for dinner that I realized I hadn’t seen Elizabeth since I’d left her at the diner.
I wondered if she was hanging around and sulking somewhere, and I walked around the outside of the house looking for her.
But there was no sign of Elizabeth. I shrugged, thinking that she’d turn up eventually. She couldn’t hold a grudge against me for that long, especially as the only people in the town she could hold a conversation with were Loretta and me.
Jess joined us for dinner. Grandma Grant had prepared a lasagna, and I fixed a salad to accompany it.
The lasagna wasn’t terrible by our standards, but it certainly didn’t hold its shape. As soon as it was spooned onto the plates, it spread outwards like an oozing mess.
Grandma muttered a few words, clicked her fingers, and the lasagna popped back into shape.
“Grandma!” Jess exclaimed. “You always told us we couldn’t use our magic for things like that.”
“Do as I say, not as I do,” she said smugly.
“That isn’t fair,” I said.
Grandma shrugged. “Well, I had to set some ground rules when you both moved to Abbott Cove. Besides, Harper, you’re only jealous because you can’t do spells.”
I fought the childish urge to poke my tongue out at her.
We were all sitting around the kitchen table, and it was growing dark outside. I had thought Elizabeth would be back by now.
I was starting to feel anxious. “I wish I knew where Elizabeth had gone.”
“She’s already a ghost,” Grandma Grant said. “It’s not like anyone can actually hurt her.”
Maybe not, but I was still worried. It wasn’t easy transitioning into a ghost, and I hated to think of Elizabeth out there
alone.
“I don’t even understand why she is angry at me,” I said. “I only asked her son the question because I was trying to help her. He was acting so suspiciously.”
Grandma Grant swallowed a mouthful of lasagna, and then she said, “Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, Harper.”
I frowned. It wasn’t like Grandma Grant to say something so mystic. “What does that mean?”
Grandma shrugged. “I just thought it sounded good. I read it in a magazine. Lighten up.”
I tightened my grip on my fork and used it to spear a lettuce leaf. I opened my mouth to tell Grandma Grant exactly what I thought of her telling me to lighten up when suddenly a warm feeling of calm washed over me.
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered…
I was safe here, warm and cozy and…
My head shot up, and I glared at Jess and Grandma. “Stop it.”
Both Grandma and Jess tried to look innocent, and Jess said, “Whatever is the matter, Harper?”
I shook my head at them both. I wasn’t that naive.
“You’re trying to put a calming spell on me.” I glared at them, waiting for one of them to deny it, but both of them looked sheepish.
I shook my head. The spell didn’t usually work well on other witches, and I was annoyed that I was so susceptible.
I pushed my plate away and stood up.
“I thought you might at least take my concerns seriously,” I said. “I’m not some child in need of a calming spell.”
Jess raised one perfectly arched eyebrow in response, “Really, Harper, don’t overreact.”
That was enough to tip me over the edge.
I flung the napkin down on the table and stormed off.
Chapter Eighteen
It’s not easy to sleep when you’re mad.
I tossed and turned for what felt like hours, before switching on the bedside lamp and plumping up the pillows so I could sit up in bed.
I couldn’t believe no one else was willing to consider Robert Jr could be a suspect in his mother’s murder. I mean, I understood Elizabeth’s reluctance to accept it, but I’d expected everyone else, including the members of my own family, to be more supportive.
Archie, Jess, and Grandma Grant should have at least been willing to hear me out.
I sighed and leaned back against the headboard. I felt bad for upsetting Elizabeth. I probably could have been a little more tactful when I’d questioned her son.
And the fact she seemed to have disappeared into thin air only made me feel worse. She couldn’t help being an interfering busybody. I was the only living person who could see and talk to her, so I owed her my help.
Joe McGrady’s attitude was even worse. When I told him about Robert Jr hiding something beneath his coat, he’d been dismissive. He was supposed to keep an open mind during investigations, and everyone knew that it was usually the spouse or someone close to the victim, who was responsible. Didn’t Joe watch TV?
I should have gone straight to Chief Wickham.
I heard the trash cans rattling outside and got up out of bed to peer out of the window.
It was dark, but I couldn’t see anything moving out there. Elizabeth’s murder had set me on edge.
I stood by the window for a moment longer just to make sure, aware I was being silly. After all, why would the murderer want to go through my trash? It was probably just a raccoon.
I turned to go back to bed and then suddenly stopped as an idea dawned on me.
It was trash day tomorrow… What if Robert Jr was trying to throw away incriminating evidence?
By the time the police got round to considering him as a suspect, he would have managed to throw away any evidence and the police would never find it.
Maybe that bulky object under his coat had been evidence…
Even if I didn’t find whatever he’d been hiding under his coat, I might find something else…maybe cheese wire?
I felt a tingle of excitement. If Joe McGrady wouldn’t listen to me, I’d get some evidence myself. That would make everyone sit up and take notice.
I yanked open a drawer and pulled out a black sweater and then selected some black pants from my wardrobe.
I rummaged around for ages looking for a little black hat I used to wear, but I couldn’t find it, so in the end, I decided just to tie my hair back and hope for the best.
I took my flashlight from my bedside cabinet. We often had power cuts at the main house and at the cottage. As we were stuck on the edge of town, we suffered from a less than perfect power supply.
I shoved the flashlight in my back pocket and snuck downstairs.
The television was still on in the sitting room. Jess was up late tonight. She never seemed to need much sleep.
I found that suspicious and often wondered whether she’d cast a spell allowing her to get by on less sleep. The idea was appealing as less sleep would mean I could get a lot more done, but I did love my bed.
The television drowned out any sound of my footsteps sneaking out of the house. I closed the front door softly behind me and then set off from the house at a jog.
I soon slowed down. I hadn’t run since I was in high school, and after a few hundred meters, I was bent over at the waist, clutching the stitch in my side.
Just because I was going out investigating didn’t mean I was some kind of ninja.
I decided to walk the rest of the way, slowly.
On Wisteria Avenue, all the lights were off except one right at the far end. I thought it was Mrs. McCluskey’s house. But luckily, the light was far enough away that I was sure no one could see me.
I wandered along the avenue and walked up to Robert Naggington’s house as if it was the most natural thing in the world. When I reached the two trashcans at the end of the drive, I paused and looked around.
It was quiet, and I couldn’t see any movement anywhere, so I lifted the lid of the trashcan and then recoiled in horror from the smell.
It smelled of rotting fish. My stomach turned, and I started to think perhaps this hadn’t been such a good idea.
I lifted my sweater over my mouth, trying to breathe only shallow breaths, which made it a little more bearable. I turned my flashlight on and shined it in the trashcan.
All the trash was enclosed in bags, so I reached in, grimacing as my hand closed around one.
I opened it slowly, pulling a face. In the first bag, I saw the source of the smell. Fishbones, mackerel if I wasn’t mistaken.
My stomach rolled rebelliously, and I held my breath as I started to rummage through the bag.
Then suddenly a voice shouted right next to my ear. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Elizabeth.
She’d startled me so much, I’d dropped the flashlight in the damn trashcan.
“I’m looking for evidence,” I muttered as I tried to fish the flashlight out of the trashcan.
Unbelievable. It had fallen right down to the bottom. How was that even possible?
I leaned down, putting my arm right into the trash and feeling my stomach heave.
“You won’t find anything. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Robert Jr is a good boy.”
“You’re his mother. You would say that.”
When my fingers finally closed around the flashlight, I pulled it out, and to my disgust, I saw bits of potato peel all over my black sweater.
“Yuk,” I said, pulling the peelings off one by one.
I was thankful Elizabeth was okay and still talking to me, even if she was very annoyed.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe Robert Jr isn’t involved, but he was definitely hiding something from me the other day, and I want to find out what it was.”
“And you think you’re going to find it in the trash?” Elizabeth said shaking her head at me.
Well, when she put it like that…
It had seemed a good idea at the time.
I looked reluctantly at the trashcan, but I’d made it this far. There was no point gi
ving up now.
I leaned down determinedly into the trashcan, holding the flashlight in my other hand and pulled something out.
Some kind of wrapper. I read the label. A cheese wrapper, and it still had some cheese in it. Exactly the type of cheese you could use cheese wire for.
I smiled triumphantly and was about to turn and show Elizabeth when I heard footsteps behind us.
I gasped and quickly ducked down behind the trashcans. I’d been so preoccupied with Elizabeth, I hadn’t been paying close enough attention to my surroundings.
The footsteps got closer and closer and then finally stopped right next to the trash.
I curled up into a little ball and tried to make myself as small as possible. I wished I was a super witch who could use a spell to make myself invisible.
There was another footstep, and a pair of black boots were now directly in front of me. I stared at them in horror.
Oh no, please, not him. Anybody but him.
“I know you’re there. So you may as well come out and stop hiding.”
I reluctantly stood up, dusting myself off and trying to look as if this was a perfectly normal situation as I looked up into the sparkling blue eyes of police officer Joe McGrady.
It must have been a trick of the light because I could have sworn I saw a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“Next time you’re trying to be stealthy, Harper. You may want to leave the flashlight at home.”
“I wasn’t trying to be stealthy. If I’d been trying to be stealthy, you’d never have seen me.”
Why did I say that? Did I actually want to get myself into more trouble?
Joe cocked an eyebrow at me.
“Now you’ve blown it,” Elizabeth said behind me.
I ignored her. “I’m not doing anything illegal.”
“Actually you are.”
My cheeks flamed in embarrassment as I pictured myself being carted off to the police station and having to have Grandma Grant come down to bail me out.
The smart thing to do would be to apologize. Of course, I didn’t do the smart thing.
“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you’d investigated Robert Jr when I asked you to!” I snapped.
Joe looked at me in disbelief and shook his head. “I need a reason, Harper. Law enforcement needs a pesky thing called evidence.”