East Pender Boxed Set: Cozy Mystery Series Bundle of Books 1-14

by Leona Fox

  Steeling himself against those thoughts he reached up to a cupboard and paused as he opened the door, unsure if he really wanted to face this part of his past. Yet, he knew somehow that he had to do it. His fingers curled around the wooden handle and pulled open the door, then he reached in with both hands and pulled out a box, setting it down beside him. Rooting through the things in the box he found an old high school picture, faded now, given all the years it had sat in the open air unprotected. He ran his finger across his face, finding himself in the back row, standing tall with a proud smile on his face.

  It was strange to see himself back then. He had changed so much, but at that age he never would have fathomed that his life would turn out the way it had. There were so many things he would say to that boy if he could go through time and meet his younger self. His eyes drifted over the rest of the class and he remembered them all, but when he got to their faces his eyes froze. All the memories came back to him, as vivid as though he was there, living through them again. His fingers squeezed the edge of the picture tightly, so tightly that the ends of his fingers turned white. Then, he dropped it and left the room.

  Later that night he was awoken by a sharp noise. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked around, half-asleep. Then he saw the moonlight being caught on the floor by the shards of glass, each of them reflecting a piece of the moon. In the middle of them sat a hefty rock. Alexander's throat ran dry. The curtains were fluttering now that the night air was flowing through a hole in the window. He got out of bed and carefully made his way to the window. Taking the curtain in between his fingers, he pulled it back slightly as he peered out, hidden in the darkness. As his eyes scanned outside he gasped and lost his hold of the curtain. Three figures stood at the edge of his front yard, staring up at the window, up at him. He staggered back, holding his head in his hands, whispering to himself, 'no, no, no.' When he summoned the courage to return to the window he saw the three figures were no longer there.

  But he knew they would be back.

  Chapter 7

  Since Ellen had seen the note she was sure the mystical symbol was not the focus of the investigation and there was no sense in pursuing that. In some ways she was glad as it would have opened up a whole new world for her, and really, humans are monstrous enough without there being actual demons wandering the globe. But Alexander's refusal to give her anything troubled her as it made the stakes higher. This was no longer a simple case of vandalism, for it had turned into harassment. She left Alexander's house feeling annoyed at him, but knew she had to do something. Otherwise, she would go stir crazy.

  Trying to work through the reasons why someone would vandalize Alexander's house after all this time, she spoke aloud while playing with Scampy. She tossed a ball around the room and took it from his slobbering mouth every time he brought it back. Sometimes she would trick him by merely pretending to throw it. His little body would twist and almost get caught up in itself as he was overwhelmed with excitement.

  “Okay, so whoever did this wants to remind Alexander of something and get back at him, really torture him psychologically. They always have gone to his house when he's not there, which would suggest they have been watching him. So they're local. Why after all this time? Why not do it when he was in the house? Have they just returned to East Pender? Have they only realized that Alexander is still in East Pender since he started working at the cafe? Given that he shut himself away after his relationship with Stephanie, it's not likely that it happened after that. So it had to have been while he was with Stephanie or earlier, probably earlier given how Stephanie had mentioned that he kept secrets. Although, she did also mention that he changed over the time they spent together. So maybe it happened while they were together.” Then she realized she needed to speak to Stephanie again, as the woman was the only person who knew anything about Alexander, other than the man himself.

  Stephanie looked much the same as before, but this time when she saw Ellen she was not as friendly, and was almost disappointed.

  “I guess you haven't been lucky in your search,” she said, opening the door, allowing Ellen to walk through.

  She gestured toward the lounge as she disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. Ellen sat in the same place as she had before. This time the television was off and a book lay open on the sofa. When Stephanie sat down she folded a corner of a page and placed the book on the coffee table. She already had a half-empty mug of hot chocolate on the table, and pulled this close to her as she folded her legs underneath her body.

  “So what can I help you with today?” she asked.

  “I hope everything,” Ellen said.

  “We haven't got anywhere with the case and Alexander isn't even saying anything, but the attacks have continued. There was a symbol burned into his front yard, and a letter was posted through his door. It said, 'We'll never forget'. Do you have any idea what this could mean, or who could be doing this? I know last time you said you didn't, but I was hoping now that you've had a few days to think about it something may have come back to you.”

  “I really wish it had, but it's like I said last time. He kept things from me and I tried to get him to open up about them, but he never would.”

  “You did say, though, that he changed during your relationship. Could you tell me a little more about that?”

  “I guess it's just like in any relationship. You find out more about the person the longer you're together. It was just one of those things that happened.”

  “I'm not entirely convinced that's the case. Can you think if there was a period when you first started to notice this change? Perhaps there was a time when you saw that there was a change in his behavior. Then maybe try thinking if anything strange happened around that time also? I think whoever is doing this wants to remind Alexander of something. I think it either happened when the two of you were together, or it was brought back up, and that's why he changed and started on a downward spiral.”

  “I just don't get why he wouldn't have told me,” Stephanie said, uncurling her legs and shifting her position as she tried to think.

  She took a long sip of her drink and then set the mug back down on the table, letting her hands rest in her lap. “We shared everything back then. At least, I told him everything. I didn't think he'd keep anything from me. Let me think...” she said, drumming a finger against her lower lip as she cast her mind back to when she was in love, and thought the future would be filled with romance, passion, and happiness.

  “I guess I first started to notice around then, but I tried to brush it off because...oh my gosh,” she said, and a look of realization came across her face.

  “The letters! I can't believe I forget about them!”

  “Letters? What letters?” Ellen asked, leaning forward as she was intrigued.

  Stephanie leaned forward, too, gesturing wildly with her hands as she tried remembering that which had been lost in the recesses of her mind for so long.

  “He started getting these letters. I don't know how many. I only found out because I came home earlier than him one day and found one. It was handwritten and was from a local address, but he never would say who wrote it or what was in it. But yeah...I guess now, thinking about that, it was around then when he started becoming different, moodier, lashing out at me. I don't even know how long the letters had been coming or how long they lasted. At first I thought it was another woman. So one day I tried to sneak into his desk to find them but they all had been shredded. Whatever was in those letters was important, so important he couldn't tell me what it was.”

  Ellen leaned back on the sofa and puffed out her cheeks. “Are you sure there wasn't any indication about the contents of the letters or who they were from? Did you notice anyone lurking outside your home or anything?”

  Stephanie shook her head. “No, nothing like that. At the time I didn't really pay as much attention to the letters as I should have. Our problems started and those took over and then we had more problems than
just the letters,” she said, a sad look upon her face.

  “And you're sure there's nothing else you can think of? It could be anything, no matter how insignificant...”

  “I'm sorry, but no. I don't really like thinking about that time, you understand. The letters are the only thing. I know what you must be going through, trust me. I lived with that for too long, and I kept trying to get him to open up to me, but the thing with Alexander is he always thinks he has to face things alone. He can never let anyone else help him. I don't know what made him that way, but that's what ultimately drove him away from me. Now it seems like it's getting him in more trouble.”

  Ellen pursed her lips, then took a sip of water before she bid Stephanie farewell and left the woman to her book. Ellen walked to her car with much on her mind. Letters were a personal thing to send. So whoever was sending them to Alexander had a personal vendetta. Given how Alexander seemed to have changed at the same time as the letters began arriving, Ellen concluded that whatever this matter concerned it probably happened before he was with Stephanie. The letters must have brought back some terrible memory that caused him to lose his grip on his life.

  However, there was so little information about his life before his twenties that Ellen had no facts to rely on, and was going purely on instinct. She smiled for she and Andy had had many arguments regarding her speculative leaps of logic, but most of the time she was proven right as her instincts were her most valuable asset. This made sense. It made sense that something during his teenage years had come back to haunt him, something so powerful it caused him to lose focus on his relationship and become a recluse. Perhaps someone had been threatening him and that was why he was so scared. Maybe he thought nobody could protect him and he didn't want anyone else getting in harm's way.

  During her first conversation with Stephanie, Ellen had noted that while Alexander had told her of his childhood she didn't seem to know anything about his teen years. Alexander had shared stories with Ellen from his childhood, but not from his teen years. That is why Ellen thought what she did. Of course, the other possibility was that the letters were from another woman with whom Alexander was having an affair and the stress of hiding it had taken its toll on him and eventually fractured his relationship. Yet that didn't quite seem to fit with what she knew about Alexander, and it would be strange for a woman to get revenge after all these years. Passion was often the cause of crimes, but it was a flame that burned brightly. After all these years it most likely would have dimmed. No, this had to be something much deeper than a scorned woman.

  To try shedding some light on his past Ellen went to the library, greeting the librarian with a friendly smile. The librarian nodded toward her with a knowing look in her eyes, obviously aware that Ellen was working on another case. As Ellen walked past the fantasy section she laughed a little at herself for believing there had been a supernatural element to the case. Those kinds of things didn't exist in the real world. The only monsters that existed were the ones that humans made for themselves.

  She made her way to the section that held all the local historical records. In the city she was sure this kind of thing would have been obsolete as there were far too many people to keep track of. However, in East Pender there were meticulous records of the high school graduates and newspapers from years gone by, and books written about notable events and people.

  There were many about the historical figures that had graced East Pender and helped shape its destiny. Although it was just a passing thought, she did wonder if, at some point, somebody would deem her a subject worthy of a book. After all, Andy practically was featured in his brother’s books, and now a movie, and she was not fortunate enough to have a famous author for a brother. So why shouldn't she join the ranks of the luminaries that rested on the shelves?

  She came to the yearbooks and did some quick math in her head to work out Alexander's graduation year. She ran her fingers across the blue and yellow spines as the dates receded into the past. If she had gone back far enough she would have found her own yearbook with the embarrassing picture and the awful hairdo, but that was better left in the past.

  She soon found the book she was looking for and pulled it out, flicking through it until she found the class pictures. It wasn't difficult to spot Alexander, who looked very similar to the way he did in the present day. A number of pictures showed the members of his class. Ellen recognized some of them as still living in East Pender, but most of them had moved on to pastures new. Of course, Ellen knew well that just because someone had left their hometown it didn't mean they never would return. She remembered her own high school years and how she couldn't wait to experience the world and see what the city had to offer. Yet now she was back at home and she was sure she was going to live out the rest of her years in East Pender.

  As she scanned the pictures she saw a group of three boys who often appeared together, and in more than one picture they were glowering at Alexander. Her brow furrowed as she started piecing together a theory of bullies who hadn’t stopped when high school was over and had returned to terrorize Alexander years after he thought he had escaped the trauma. It certainly would explain why he didn't want to talk about it to anyone, since it would bring back intense emotions. It also would explain why he shut himself away; he probably was scared. And now they had returned and were attacking his house.

  Ellen burned with anger. There was nothing she hated more in the world than bullies. Most of them were cowards, only bullying people to make up for their own insecurities, getting off on the power of making people feel weak and scared rather than trying to understand people and build a bridge of communication and understanding. Quickly, she flicked through to find out their names, and vowed that she would see them soon.

  Chapter 8

  It didn't take long to find out their addresses, and the librarian was all too eager to help as she felt like she was helping with the case. Ellen couldn't blame her; working in the library was not the most high-octane occupation in the world. After she got what she was looking for Ellen checked out the first address, but there was nobody there.

  However, at the second she heard noises, and when she knocked on the door the homeowner, Richard, opened the door. He was a tall man with broad shoulders. His eyes were misty and his hair was graying, even though he was only in his late twenties. Behind him Ellen could see the other two, Thomas and Harold. Thomas was a stout man with a double chin and small eyes that seemed to become swallowed up in his pudgy face. Harold had a thick beard with long hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and wore a casual T-shirt and ripped jeans. The three of them seemed more normal than Ellen had figured they would be, but she reminded herself that bullies came in all shapes and sizes.

  “Can I help you?” Richard asked.

  Ellen introduced herself and watched to see their reactions, although none of them seemed to take much notice of her other than the idle curiosity that came with someone knocking on their door.

  “I work with the police and we're just investigating some acts of vandalism in the area. Have you heard or seen anything about that?” she asked, eyes darting among them to see if any of them reacted. Thomas' eyes looked away, and she was sure that Harold's breath caught in his throat, but the man in front of her remained calm and collected.

  “I'm afraid we don't. To be honest, we don't take much notice of what goes on around here. We like to keep ourselves to ourselves,” he said.

  “What type of vandalism was it?” Thomas piped up.

  He had a high-pitched voice, and the moment he spoke Richard and Harold's necks snapped around to glare at him. He looked at them innocently, and then looked at Ellen.

  “Someone's house has been the subject of numerous acts of vandalism. We're just trying to see if anyone can help us. We're reminding everyone to be vigilant in case whoever does it strikes at someone else,” she said.

  “Do you have any descriptions of the people? If we knew some details it might help us to identify any possible crimina
ls,” Richard said.

  Ellen looked him straight in the eye and there was an understanding between the two of them. For a moment Ellen was tempted to lie and tell them that they had eyewitness reports of three men. But as she looked into Richard's eyes, she knew that he knew that she knew they were the criminals, and lying would have been a pointless endeavor.

  “No, unfortunately there haven't been, but we're keeping a close watch on the house. We're just afraid that if they pop up anywhere else we won't be able to catch them. However, I'm sure with people like yourselves looking out, we'll stand a good chance,” she said.

  “You can count on us. We have lived here all our lives. We only want the best for the town, of course.”

  “Of course,” she said, and took one last look at the three of them, letting her eyes linger on each of them in turn. Thomas seemed uncomfortable but Harold and Richard managed to maintain their composure.

  “Is there anything else we can help you with?”

  “No, I believe that's all for now,” she said, and then bid them farewell.

  The door closed behind her and she almost could sense each of them breathing a sigh of relief. She'd looked at their clothes to see if there was any sign of yellow paint and, unfortunately, there was none. But she was sure the three of them were the culprits and now that she had identified them it was just a matter of time before she caught them. Furthermore, now that they knew they were under suspicion she hoped it would put an end to the attacks on Alexander's house, as it would be too great a risk to continue now. Of course, there was a slight chance it would force them to hasten their plans, but she didn't think they had murder in mind.