JAMMED WITH MURDER

by Donna Walo Clancy

“I guess there are,” Tabby agreed.

  “Let’s get this place closed up. I have a date,” Janice said.

  CHAPTER 6

  * * *

  Main Street was as quiet as a cemetery at midnight on Tuesday morning. The whole town was at the church for Mrs. Piper’s memorial service. It was a closed casket. A large picture of the elderly woman standing behind the desk at the library sat on the casket lid. Her daughter thought this very fitting as that was how most of the people in town would remember her mother.

  Tabby and Greg sat with Jenny and Bea towards the back of the church. Greg’s shop had done the flowers for the service and the church looked stunning, decorated in white and green Calla lilies, pale pink roses, and white Queen Anne’s Lace.

  The service was short, but a real tear-jerker. Many of the locals were mentioned in the service in a memory or event that had taken place during Mrs. Piper’s life. After much crying, laughing, and hugging, the service ended with a final announcement of a buffet to be held at the house on Ball Road. Everyone was invited to attend, have some lunch, and share stories while they ate.

  As everyone was leaving, Tabby noticed that the Bensons were among those exiting the church. Even though they were new in town and didn’t know the librarian, they had attended the service like everyone else. She didn’t say anything to anyone, but she did think it was a little weird that they were there.

  “Tabby, are you ready to go?” Greg asked for a second time.

  “Oh, yeah, I guess so,” she answered. “Let me say goodbye to Jen and Bea; they are not going back to the house

  “Where were you just then? You had that faraway look like when you are trying to figure something out,” Greg surmised.

  “It’s not important. Are you going to the house?”

  “Seriously? Me pass up free food? I heard Lily’s Layover catered the buffet and I’m not missing her home-style cooking,” Greg said, licking his lips.

  “I told you food came first with you,” Tabby said, taking his hand. “Let’s go.”

  Mrs. Piper’s house on Ball Road was a quick five-minute walk from the church. Tabby and Greg joined the throng of people heading in the same direction. The temperature had dropped considerably, and everyone was bundled up for the short walk.

  Samantha Moon, Tabby’s mother caught up with them and kept them company on the way to the house. Everyone was chatting and reminiscing about Mrs. Piper’s life along the way.

  “Not many people know this,” Samantha informed her daughter and boyfriend. “Mildred Piper was into the occult. She swore she was going to come back and haunt every kid that drove her crazy in the library.”

  Tabby gave her mother a strange look.

  “I’m not joking. She bought many items from my store and asked me not to tell people what she bought. She said it was none of their business anyway. I kept her secret and always did, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”

  Samantha Moon owned Mystic Happenings on the south end of Main Street. Her shop specialized in crystals, incenses, occult items, and ghost hunting apparatus. A hippie, whose mind and lifestyle never left the sixties, she was single her whole life and raised Tabby on her own.

  It never bothered her that people still snickered behind her back after living in the town for twenty-four years; she went about her business and lived her life the way that she wanted to live it. She raised her daughter to be a strong person, to think on her own, and not worry about what other people said or thought.

  Tabby stopped walking and pulled Greg and her mother aside.

  “Are you serious, Mom?” Tabby asked.

  “About what?”

  “That Mrs. Piper said she was going to haunt people?”

  “That is what the woman told me every time she came into my shop,” she answered. “Why?”

  “You can’t say anything to anyone; promise?” Tabby requested.

  “My lips are sealed,” her mother stated.

  “What she said,” Greg answered as Tabby looked at him next.

  “This morning, Tillie saw Mrs. Piper’s ghost standing behind the front desk at the library. It scared the daylights out of Tillie,” Tabby said.

  “I’ll be, the old girl pulled it off,” Samantha Moon declared, smiling broadly.

  “And you believed Tillie?” Greg asked his girlfriend.

  “If you could have seen her face, you would have believed her too.”

  “I guess I will have to make a visit to the library and see if I can use these old psychic abilities to find out what Mildred is sticking around for,” Samantha Moon replied.

  “Enough ghost talk; let’s go before the food is all gone,” Greg insisted. “I don’t believe in ghosts anyway.”

  “Ah, another disbeliever,” Samantha whispered as they joined back into the procession of people heading to Ball Road.

  “Hi, Tabby,” Sandy Benson said as she and her husband passed by them. “I’ll see you at the house.”

  “Is that the new couple that just moved to town?” Samantha asked.

  “Yes, that’s Sandy and Samuel Benson. He’s looking to open a new real estate business here in town. He’s not very friendly though.”

  “They rent a place near me,” Greg stated.

  “Not for long. Talk around town is that they are already talking to Betsy Piper about buying her mother’s house.”

  “Interesting,” Tabby muttered. “They didn’t waste any time, did they?”

  “What do you mean?” Greg asked.

  “Never mind, I have no evidence to support my thoughts anyway,” Tabby replied. “Mom, have you ever heard of The Floater?”

  “That old story? I had forgotten all about it, it’s been so long since someone mentioned it.”

  “Then you have heard of him?”

  “Heard of him? I have seen the ghost with my own eyes.”

  “Here we go again,” Greg groaned.

  “I was told it’s a man floating from stone to stone as if he’s reading the inscriptions,” Tabby stated, repeating Janice’s story to her mother. “Do you remember when the story first started?”

  “I don’t remember the first time he was seen, but it was a while ago,” her mother answered. “The sightings started after we moved here.”

  “Did we skip back to Halloween and no one told me? Shouldn’t we be talking about Christmas trees and the snow that is coming our way?” Greg asked.

  “Boy, are you cranky when you don’t eat,” Tabby noted.

  The Christmas lights that blanketed Mrs. Piper’s house were lit. Her daughter figured what better way to greet the people of the town than with the many thousands of green and red lights on even though it was in the middle of the day. It was overcast enough that the lights could be seen.

  They walked up the steps and entered the house. It was already packed with people balancing plates of food and cider or coffee. Greg went straight for the tables of food and proceeded to fill up his plate with a sample of everything. Samantha wandered off and was talking to Mr. Wells.

  Richard Wells owned three-quarters of the town of Whipper Will Junction. His great-grandfather founded the town over two hundred years ago. He was the beloved town elder and lived in a secluded log cabin outside of town.

  Tabby picked up a glass of cider and walked around to socialize. She was checking to see if certain people that were on the library list were at the house. She knew the Bensons were already there. She spotted Dave Tullinson and Jack Fletcher conversing in the far back corner of the kitchen. Her stomach growled as she stood there watching the two men, so she decided to get food, but still keep an eye on her two main suspects.

  Janice and her boyfriend were ahead of Tabby in line at the buffet table. She filled her plate and stood in a central spot where she could see into all four rooms on the first floor. Greg was talking to a young woman that Tabby did not recognize.

  “Maybe a family member of the deceased,” she thought while she ate.

  Jack Fletcher left, followed shortly by D
ave Tullinson. Her main suspects gone, Tabby decided to go out and sit in the solarium where there were less people. As she ate, she looked out the floor to ceiling windows that surrounded her.

  Tabby thought it was a weird place to build a solarium as the only thing it overlooked was the Whipper Will Cemetery. Why would a person want to sit in a beautiful sunny spot only to look at a depressing sight of grave markers as far as the eye could see? Still, she sat there staring out the windows, lost in her own thoughts.

  “You look like my mom used to look when she stared out the windows,” Betsy Piper said as she sat down next to Tabby.

  “It’s a depressing sight, but, yet, it draws you in,” Tabby replied.

  “My mom used to sit in this solarium for hours. It was almost like she was looking for something out there. And God help me if I disturbed her,” Betsy said.

  “She did this for a long time?” Tabby inquired.

  “Ever since I was a little girl. My mother was not an easy person to live with. It was almost like she didn’t want me around; she wanted to be by herself. My dad died in a fire when I was six. I think my mom would have been much happier if I had died, too,” Betsy said sadly.

  “Oh, Betsy, I am so sorry you feel like that.”

  “It’s okay. I accepted the way she was a long time ago. She was never in her right mind after my dad died. You got a minute so that I can show you something?” Betsy asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Follow me.”

  Tabby followed Betsy upstairs. They entered the first room off to the right at the top of the stairs. It was probably a bedroom, but right now it was being used for storage. Betsy walked to the fireplace and reached under the mantle. A faint click could be heard and a portion of the wall swung open.

  “Have you ever heard of Carl Bender?” Betsy asked waving Tabby over.

  “He was the bank robber that lived here before your mom did,” Tabby answered.

  They entered a small room that was no larger than a butler’s pantry. The walls had been hacked open in various places leaving gaping holes in the plaster. A small desk with a wooden chair tucked under it sat in the corner. The floorboards had been pulled up and left askew after they had been searched under. The room had been destroyed.

  “He built this room. My mom found it many years ago and she swore the stolen money was somewhere in here. She ripped this place apart, but never found a single dollar. It became an obsession for her; to find the money.”

  “So that was why she originally bought the house? She wanted to be able to look for the money?”

  “Yes, exactly. After a while, she started to dabble in the occult hoping she could raise the spirits around the property to tell her where the money was hidden. She didn’t think I knew what she was doing, but I did,” Betsy admitted. “That was when I finally moved out.”

  “Why did she watch over the cemetery like she did?” Tabby asked.

  “My mom believed that The Floater could tell her where the money was. She thought he might have seen something as he wandered around the property. If she saw him from the solarium, she would run down to confront him, but he would vanish as she drew near enough to speak to him.”

  “Are these the memories you are trying to get away from by selling the house?”

  “I have my own house and my own life. This house is beautiful, but I just can’t come back here. There is no mortgage on the house so anything I sell it for would help me to be able to retire in a couple of years,” Betsy explained.

  “I hear you already are talking with someone to purchase the place,” Tabby stated.

  “Samuel Benson came to me with a very good offer for the house.”

  “Please, do me a favor. Do not accept any offers until we find out who killed your mother.”

  “Do you think it was done to get the house?” Betsy asked, stunned.

  “I have my suspicions. What do you really know about the Bensons? They just moved here, but your mother seemed to recognize them in the diner the night before she died,” Tabby answered honestly. “Besides, I know someone who would love this house for its architectural beauty and not for some supposed bank money.”

  “I will not talk to anyone about selling the house until I hear from Sheriff Puckett that you have found the person who strangled my mother,” Betsy promised.

  “Good! Let’s say we return to all your guests downstairs before they send out a search party for us?” Tabby laughed. “And Betsy, I promise to keep everything you just told me in confidence.”

  “Thanks. I don’t want people to think I’m as crazy as my mom.”

  As they descended the stairs, Greg, who was still talking to the unknown woman, looked up. He smiled, shook her hand and headed towards Tabby.

  “Are you ready to go? It’s almost time to open up for business,” he stated.

  “Is it that late already? Let’s grab our coats and head out,” Tabby said, reaching for Betsy’s hand. “I’ll be in touch.”

  They walked out the front door, hand in hand, unaware of the evil looks they were getting behind their backs. The woman that Greg had been talking to was glaring at Tabby as she left with Greg. She left shortly after the happy couple did.

  It had started to lightly snow while they were in the house. It was the first of the season and it was already transforming the town into a beautiful glistening landscape. Greg and Tabby took their time walking back to their respective workplaces, enjoying the first sign that the winter season was really upon them. As they walked, Tabby’s curiosity got the better of her.

  “So, who was the pretty face that you were talking to?” she asked.

  “Her name is Becky Tillman. She is opening a bakery in the empty building next to the flower shop in the Spring. She was picking my brain on who was who in town and if I thought a bakery would make it here,” he answered innocently.

  “And she just happened to latch on to you? I didn’t see her talking to anyone else,” Tabby stated, mad at herself for leaving her boyfriend alone the whole time that they were at the house.

  “Are you jealous?” Greg asked smiling.

  “No,” Tabby snapped back.

  “I think you’re jealous,” he said, stopping and pulling her close. “How many times do I have to tell you that you are the one for me?”

  “A million times. I guess,” she admitted.

  “I knew the first time I saw you that you were the future Mrs. Stone. There will never be anyone else; can’t I make you see that?” he insisted, wiping snowflakes off her nose.

  “I know in my heart what you are saying is true, it’s my overactive brain that keeps making me think otherwise,” Tabby smiled.

  They kissed as the snow fell on them covering them in white. People passed by and they didn’t even realize that they weren’t alone.

  “People are waiting in front of your shop,” Greg said, looking past his girlfriend’s shoulder. “We really should go.”

  Greg left Tabby off at the front of her shop and continued on his way to the flower shop. Janice walked up as Tabby unlocked the front door.

  “Who was your friend across the street?”

  “What are you talking about?” Tabby asked, looking across the street. “There’s no one there.”

  “There was. A woman with dark hair was watching you and Greg. I noticed her as I was walking up the street from The Tilted Coffee Cup. She’s gone now.”

  “You didn’t recognize her?”

  “Not from where I was.”

  “Well, I can’t worry about it now. We need to get this shop open,” Tabby said, holding the door open for her customers to enter. “I’ll get the register set up, you get the lights.”

  CHAPTER 7

  * * *

  The week finished on a high note. Tabby’s shop sales hit an all-time high. As busy as they were in the shop, Tabby was just as busy upstairs cooking. She hadn’t seen Greg since the memorial service as her nights had been spent cooking her jellies and jams into the wee hours of the morning
. Sunday couldn’t come quick enough for Tabby who was going to cook in the morning and then take the afternoon off to go find a Christmas tree for her apartment.

  Sunday evening was the second and last meeting to finalize the plans that had been made at the first meeting for the annual children’s party. They had made a good amount of money at the two haunted houses in October which usually was more than enough to finance the Christmas party. This year however, it seemed there had been more families that moved to Whipper Will Junction than realized and the funds were tighter than planned on.

  It had snowed two more times during the week. It didn’t amount to much, but it was enough to get people in the Christmas spirit. Lights began popping up everywhere, trees were decorated and placed in the front windows of homes and businesses, and the DPW had hung wreaths on all the street lights. The town gazebo had been decked out in multi-colored blinking lights which Tabby could see from her apartment’s front window.

  The businesses up and down Main Street had decorated their front windows for the Window Display Contest that was also going to be judged this coming weekend. Christmas music could be heard coming from all the shops along Main Street when front doors were opened letting customers in and out with their purchases.

  As much as Tabby loved her own front window, she had fallen in love with Greg’s flower shop window; it was gorgeous. An old-fashioned, single runner sleigh filled with gold tipped poinsettias sat on a bed of white snow surrounded by potted pine trees. Fake white snow mixed with gold glitter had been sprinkled on the trees and plants.

  A male mannequin, dressed as a coachman, was sitting on the front bench of the sleigh with reins in hand. The window scene portrayed him driving through the woods to deliver his precious cargo. The gold glitter reflected the various color lights that shone through the window from the street. It was breathtaking.

  Tabby didn’t like to admit it to herself, but she really wished that Greg would win the contest. It would mean months of listening to him brag and driving Janice crazy, but he did deserve to win.