Saints & Sinners Ball

by Stacy M Jones

  “I’m not afraid,” Jackson said, his eyes leveling hers. “We are both new in town. I don’t think our first order of business should be pissing off the cops.”

  “I’ll give you that,” Harper agreed. “We need a local to help us navigate. I don’t want to worry Hattie. Do you have any friends?”

  “I’m lookin’ at her,” Jackson quipped with a big smile.

  “Gosh, you’re useless,” Harper laughed. “I think I might know of someone who can help us.” She pulled out her phone and placed the call. Much to Jackson’s dismay, Harper asked the person on the other end of the phone to meet.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dan Barnes’ office at Rock City Life was a nondescript brick building in downtown Little Rock. It was on the second floor over a deli at the corner of E. Markham and Scott Streets in an open loft space. He had the only enclosed office. The rest of the room was open desks and work tables. Harper had been expecting a downtown building like her own in New York, but comparing Charlotte to Rock City Life probably wasn’t fair. She liked the building though. It had good character.

  Harper and Jackson walked back to Dan’s office on the far-right side of the open space. He noticed them and got up from the desk and walked to greet them. Harper extended her hand to Dan as she crossed the threshold into his office. “Thanks for agreeing to see us, Dan. We appreciate it.”

  Dan shook Harper’s hand. “I was surprised you called. I didn’t think we got off on the best foot last night.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Jackson grumbled, coming into the office behind Harper. His hands were shoved into his pockets.

  Harper shot him a look and silently mouthed the words, “Be nice.”

  Jackson shrugged.

  Dan asked Jackson, “What did you say? I didn’t catch that, sorry.”

  Jackson cleared his throat. “Nothing, I was just agreeing with you that we didn’t meet under the best circumstances last night. It’s nice of you to meet with us.”

  Harper knew Jackson was adamantly against meeting with Dan. Back at Cheers, once Jackson realized who she was calling, he kept mouthing the word no and motioning for her to hang up. Instead of being annoyed with him, Harper found it a bit comical. She wasn’t exactly sure what Jackson had against Dan, but Harper had gotten a good vibe. Plus, who better to know everyone’s secrets than the editor-in-chief of the city’s most in-the-know magazine.

  Dan headed back to his desk and moved a pile of papers off to the side and started cleaning up a bit. Harper assumed his desk was probably perpetually cluttered. Dan motioned for Jackson and Harper to sit. Dan started to sit behind his desk. But he was barely down in his chair when he got up again and came around the desk to close his office door. As Dan started back towards his chair, he asked, “What can I help you with?”

  Harper looked to Jackson, but he waved at her to get on with it. She explained, “I’m hoping we can keep this conversation between us. Jackson and I are both new in the city, but we have some concerns about the murder of Tucker Reese, most particularly how it might affect Hattie.”

  Dan interrupted. “How would this affect Hattie?”

  “I met with Matthew Inslee this morning. He was meeting with Fr. McNally as I arrived. Inslee’s already cleared him. He assured me Fr. McNally didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know how that’s possible. Inslee also made some comments about not liking having Hattie in the city and about her shop. I’m worried given how close the murder was to Hattie’s property, Inslee might see it as a chance to make trouble.”

  “What do you think I can do about it?” Dan asked sharply, taken aback.

  Harper shifted in her seat and explained, “It’s not that I think you can help with that, but I want to see what I can dig up. The more I can find, the more I can protect Hattie.”

  “It’s been less than twenty-four hours. Shouldn’t you let the cops do their jobs?”

  Jackson, obviously feeling vindicated, grinned. “That’s exactly what I said.”

  Annoyed, Harper injected. “We can just call it women’s intuition, but something is off. I can feel it. That priest is being let off way too easily. This is a high-profile case, so everyone should be suspect until they are cleared – thoroughly cleared. Inslee gave me no real indication why the priest was cleared – other than Hattie shouldn’t have suspected him in the first place. I was there, and he was acting suspiciously.”

  “You would have made a good reporter,” Dan said, pointing a finger at her, clearly pleased at her insight. “You’ve got a nose for news. I’ll make you a deal. If I help you, will you help me?”

  Jackson rolled his eyes, and Harper casually reached an arm over and pinched his side. He jerked in his seat. Harper knew she was taking liberties with Jackson he probably didn’t allow others.

  “What can I help you with?” Harper asked cautiously.

  “I was looking into Charlotte,” Dan started. He pulled a few copies of the magazine from the pile on his desk and laid them in front of her.

  Harper felt a twinge of regret seeing the magazine she had given so many years of her life to. She had been very proud of her work. Leaving the way she had, Harper felt like she was missing a sense of closure. Maybe in some ways, Harper was still mourning the life she had.

  Dan continued and snapped Harper out of her train of thought. “You turned the sales for the magazine around in the time you were there. Not that it was failing, but you made some solid changes to up its readership in a time when magazine sales were tanking. I want you to help me here as a consultant. I can’t pay you much, but I have some budget.”

  Harper was flattered. Dan saw more in her efforts with Charlotte than even her father had. Harper hadn’t thought she’d find work this quickly when she arrived in Little Rock, but this seemed like a golden opportunity. It would put Harper in the direct path with movers and shakers in the city. Without missing a beat, Harper agreed.

  “I’ll take you up on the offer. Send me over a contract of what you have in mind. In the meantime, Jackson and I are going to talk through the case. We will figure out what specific information you might be able to help us with. Sound good?”

  Dan smiled big. He stood up and shook her hand. “Sounds like a terrific plan. I’ll get something over to you by tomorrow.”

  Harper got up to leave. She looked down at Jackson who had his legs kicked out, his hands folded over his stomach and a look on his face like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world.

  Chapter Sixteen

  After Lottie, Judy and the other ladies left the shop, Hattie had asked Beatrix to cover the store for her while she ran home for a bit. Hattie couldn’t leave too long in case someone wanted a psychic reading or a special potion Beatrix didn’t know how to whip together yet. But with Beatrix there, it would give Hattie at least an hour or so.

  Hattie entered the house from the back porch. She set her purse down on the kitchen counter and went into her living room. “Beau!” she called out loudly and waited. She hadn’t seen him since the day Harper had arrived in Little Rock. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet in the house, but Hattie assumed he was giving Harper a chance to get settled.

  Heading out of the living room into the hall and up the stairs, she reached the second-floor landing and called out to him again. Hattie listened for any creak or sign. Nothing. She went room by room looking for Beau or the other spirits of ancestors that sometimes inhabited the house. There was nothing but eerie quiet.

  Hattie went into her large bedroom that was in the back of the house. Her four-poster bed was neatly made. Some of Beau’s favorite clothes still hung in the closet three years after his death. Hattie had donated some items, but she kept his favorites. She sat in the comfortable reading chair in the corner of her bedroom and called out to him again. Normally Beau readily appeared. Some days, Hattie couldn’t get rid of him.

  “Beau, I really need you,” Hattie pleaded. She had no control over her mediumship abilities. It was nothing she ever nurtured and toyed wit
h. She had read that if she practiced, she’d have more control. But it wasn’t something Hattie wanted to dive into just yet.

  Frustrated, Hattie got up and looked out the window that overlooked the backyard. The tent company had come that morning and removed the tents, and the caterer had cleaned up their mess. She looked out farther to where the crime scene tape made a weak blockade closing off the clearing between the trees. It was then Hattie saw a man. He was standing with his back towards her. He had on a suit and his hands were folded behind his back as if assessing the scene. Hattie wondered which detective he was. She was sure she hadn’t met him the night before.

  Almost as if he knew he was being watched, he turned slowly and looked directly up to the window where Hattie was peering out. It took Hattie’s eyes a minute to adjust, but then she realized with heart-stopping reality that he wasn’t a detective after all. The black mask with the tacky red beads adorned his face. Blood dripped down the left side of his face and the bullet hole in his forehead was apparent. His mouth set in a grim line. He watched Hattie as she watched him. Then she screamed. His mouth turned up into a cold, evil smirk. Tucker knew Hattie could see him.

  She stepped back from the window and let the curtains close. Turning quickly, Hattie was startled once again. Beau’s ghostly form was standing in the hallway.

  “Hattie, what’s the matter? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he laughed. It was a running joke between them, but Hattie’s heart was pounding in her ears. Hattie wasn’t sure why she was surprised she could see Tucker, she’d seen other spirits on the property. He was vile in life. She had never wanted to encounter him in death.

  “Seriously, Hattie, what’s wrong?” Beau moved towards her. He was a big guy in life, not overweight just tall and broad-shouldered. Sometimes Beau came to Hattie as he did in the last years of his life, like Hattie was now — wrinkled and aged. Other times, Beau came to her as he did now, the way he looked in his youth when they had just been married. He reached for Hattie, but his energy just passed through her arm.

  “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since Harper arrived.”

  “I’ve popped in and out. I didn’t want to startle Harper or have you need to explain why you were talking to yourself so I’ve kept my distance,” Beau said, still with a worried expression on his face.

  Hattie sat down in the chair. “There was a murder here last night at the Saints & Sinners Ball. Tucker Reese, the elected prosecuting attorney, was shot in the clearing between our house and the parish. Harper found the body.”

  Beau knelt down in front of her, making direct eye contact with Hattie. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I was at the ball for a little while, but you all seemed to be having so much fun, I left you to it.”

  “You were there?” Hattie asked.

  “Yes, but not for long. Minutes maybe. It’s hard to judge time on this side.”

  Excited, Hattie asked, “Did you see a man in a red and gold devil mask? It covered his whole face and had horns coming out the top.”

  Beau stood and seemed to think for a moment. “I think I did. Briefly though. It was right around the time I was leaving. I thought it odd he had a full mask on when everyone else’s just covered their eyes.”

  “That was the killer,” Hattie confided. “That’s all Harper saw of him. What else can you tell me?”

  “My dear, I wish I could tell you who it was. I can’t, but let me think about what I can remember,” Beau said. He walked to the window and looked out. With his back turned, Beau detailed, “He had on gloves. I remember that. I would say that it was definitely a man. I didn’t see the back of him just the front, and the horns were blocking his hair. If I recall, he was also somewhat taller than I would assume for a woman. Not close to my height but average man if I had to venture a guess.”

  He turned back to Hattie, “Does any of that help?”

  “It’s more than we had before. Did you see who he was talking to?”

  “No. I was there to see Harper. I was looking for her. She looked lovely.”

  Hattie smiled. “She really has grown into a wonderful woman.”

  “She has,” Beau agreed. He went back to Hattie and wrapped his ghostly arms around her. He nuzzled her neck, which just felt cold and tingly against Hattie’s skin.

  “No one has ever been more beautiful than you, my sweet Hattie.”

  Hattie blushed. The fact that Beau could still make her blush this many years on made Hattie smile. They had a great love in life. It seems it was continuing on even after death. Her gift had one good benefit. She let herself enjoy the feel of his energy for a moment. Then Hattie was brought back to reality.

  Hattie asked, “Did you see Tucker Reese outside? I just saw him when I was looking out the window.”

  “I didn’t, but I’ll keep watch.”

  Just then, Hattie heard Jackson’s truck pull up. “I should go. Harper and Jackson are home. Please stay close.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Hattie hit the bottom step with her dogs in tow just as Harper and Jackson walked into the kitchen from the back porch. Hattie tried to regain her composure, but she was still shaken from having seen Tucker in the backyard. Maybe Hattie could just simply ask who killed him. Surely, Tucker would know with whom he was speaking to right before he was shot or at least Hattie hoped so. But that meant having to talk to him, and that’s something Hattie was hoping to avoid.

  She moved down the hallway, calling out to Harper, trying to make her voice sound calm and even. “That took a while. How’d it go with Matthew Inslee?”

  Harper popped her head out of the fridge. “He’s arrogant and a bunch of other things I shouldn’t say aloud.”

  “Yes, we know that, Harper, but how did it go?” Hattie stressed.

  Harper pulled out the pitcher of sweet tea and held it up to Jackson who was sitting at the kitchen table. “Want some?” He said yes, and Harper poured three glasses. Handing one to Hattie, she said frustrated, “Fr. McNally was there as we walked in. Inslee cleared him already. The meeting went downhill from there. It was pointless.”

  Hattie set the glass of tea down on the counter and wrung her hands. She knew Inslee wasn’t going to take her suspicions of the priest seriously. People rarely did when the clergy was accused of any wrongdoing. Hattie knew she was going to have to do something about it.

  “What did Inslee say about me?” Hattie asked, leveling a look at Harper.

  Harper looked to Jackson. Hattie interrupted, drawing Harper’s attention back to her. “We do not keep secrets in this house, Harper. If he had something to say, tell me. I can’t do anything about it otherwise.”

  Harper sighed but relented. “Inslee basically said that of course you’d accuse a priest given you’re a witch. Then he wondered why people in the Heights hadn’t run you and your shop out of town yet.”

  Hattie shook her head, disgusted. She walked over to the table with Jackson. She sat and turned to Harper. “What are we going to do about this?”

  Jackson spoke up. “What do you mean? There’s nothing we can do. The police are investigating. I tried telling Harper that already.”

  Hattie turned to her niece. “You want to look into things, don’t you?”

  Harper shrugged and sat at the table. “I want to nose around and see what I can find. There’s no way Fr. McNally was cleared that easily.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Hattie said, smacking her hand down on the table. Turning to Jackson, she instructed, “You can help her.”

  Jackson let out a surprised laugh. “I love how you two just boss me around.”

  Hattie raised her eyebrows at him.

  Jackson held up his hands in surrender. “I already tried arguing with Harper and lost. I’m already helping. We just came from Dan’s office.” Then with a mischievous grin, Jackson added, “He has a crush on Harper so he’s willing to help us.”

  Smacking at him playfully with her hand, Harper howled, “He most certainly does not have
a crush on me!”

  “Calm down,” Jackson chided her. “Yes, he does. That’s why he was so eager to help you. Sure, you did great work at the magazine, and he wants to benefit from that, but he also wants to spend time with you.”

  Harper started to argue, but Hattie put her hand on hers. She agreed with Jackson. “Harper, I think Dan does have a little crush, and that’s okay. Let him. He’s a nice guy.”

  Looking between Harper and Jackson, Hattie asked, “What’s the plan then?”

  “I thought Jackson and I could make a plan of action. Any ideas where we should start?”

  “I think you should talk to my friend Lottie and her friend Judy. They knew Tucker and his wife Lizzie very well. You should probably talk to Lizzie, too. From what I heard today she was thinking of divorcing him. Now that’s just gossip, which runs fast and loose in the Heights.”

  “Did you hear that?” Harper interrupted. “I thought I heard a car door slam.”

  Jackson stood and looked out the side kitchen window that gave him a view of the driveway.

  “You did. The cops are here in full force.”

  They all jumped at the sound of heavy banging on the front door. Hattie went to answer the door with Jackson and Harper in tow.

  She was met with Det. Granger. He thrust paperwork towards Hattie. She peered down at it, but it didn’t make sense on first glance. Hattie looked up at him for an answer.

  Det. Granger didn’t make eye contact with her. He mumbled, “We have a warrant to search your home. Given the proximity of the murder and the burglaries of your guests…”

  “This is asinine!” Harper yelled, interrupting him. “You have no reason to suspect Hattie or me for that matter of anything.”

  Hattie waved Harper off and said resolute, “This is Inslee’s doing. I know you’re just doing your job, Det. Granger. Just try not to trash my house, please. It’s very old. Things are fragile.”