by S. Y. Robins
“You, over there, in that chair.” Mrs. Carpenter said to Milly, pointing at the chair with the nail gun.
Milly moved over to it slowly, knowing from Mrs. Carpenter’s slight size that she could probably take her down if she had the opportunity. Milly tripped over Mr. Carpenter writhing on the floor, and stumbled over to Mrs. Carpenter, the unexpected move knocking the nail gun free as Milly landed on top of the tiny woman. Milly wasn’t all that big herself but Mrs. Carpenter was barely five feet tall and weighed less than a bag of air, or so it seemed to Milly. She quickly pinned the woman down, the self-defence training she’d taken a decade ago suddenly coming back to her automatically and soon she had the woman pinned down on the ground beneath her.
Milly looked around her and saw the string Mrs. Carpenter had been planning to tie her up with and used that to tie the woman’s hands. Then she moved the nail gun out of the way, dragged Mrs. Carpenter over to the car and tied her to a hole she’d seen in the boot earlier. She wasn’t going to go far. Looking around once more Milly saw a mobile on the floor and picked it up, dialling emergency services for the second time that year.
“I’ve been kidnapped, I need help. Come quickly please, I have the woman tied up and she’s shot her philandering husband in the knee with a nail gun.” She left the line open after giving the address, following the instructions she was given but she kept her eyes glued to the pair in front of her. She knew from his responses that Mr. Carpenter likely hadn’t had a lot to do with this but she wanted to make sure they both got whatever justice they deserved.
The police and an ambulance quickly arrived, with the police ushering Mrs. Carpenter off and a paramedic rolling Mr. Carpenter out on a stretcher. Somehow Callum and Thomas found out what was happening and they showed up to comfort Milly.
“So Mrs. Carpenter was the killer all along.” Callum stated. “I should have known by the tiny footprints when I cleaned the shop up.”
“That’s what I’d forgotten!” Milly exclaimed. “Something’s been bugging me for ages now; I just couldn’t remember what it was. I should have known when she kidnapped me tonight; I kept thinking how tiny she was.”
“If only I’d passed that picture along to the police, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” Thomas said miserably.
“It’s not your fault, Thomas. I waffled on it. I’d planned on handing it over this evening but Detective Barnes didn’t show up. It’s my own fault; I acted so weird when the Carpenters came in earlier tonight.” Milly replied, trying to reassure the younger man.
“Neither of you are at fault, in my opinion,” Callum interrupted their pity-fest. “The ones at fault were Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter. And though it may be harsh, even Davina. She chose to have an affair with the man after all.”
“Surely you aren’t saying her death was justified!” Milly cried, outraged.
“No, not that at all. But she did have an affair with a married man. She is not to blame for her death, apparently Mrs. Carpenter is to blame for that, but she did have an affair. She’s not totally innocent in this.”
Milly squinted at Callum, still not sure she agreed with him but letting it go for now. She just wanted to go home, stop answering questions, and play with her dogs and cat. Because Davina had finally been found and no she wasn’t coming home. The authorities were waiting until Milly and Thomas left to remove Davina from Mrs. Carpenter’s trunk, but Milly still knew, at last, where she was. The dogs needed a new home and Milly was the best candidate.
“Let’s get you home, Milly, you look like you’re about to fall down.” Callum urged, signalling to Thomas that they were heading back to Milly’s place. The young man stared at Mrs. Carpenter’s car once more and then joined them. Milly had no idea what he felt or how this was going to impact him but she’d be there for him. She took his arm as they walked back to her place, letting him know she’d give him strength if he needed it. Smiling up at him, she told him she’d be there if he needed her.
He patted her arm and said “Thank you, Milly. I believe I’m going to need all the support I can get to deal with this. I still have to call my mother later.”
Callum reached over as they approached Milly’s shop, taking Thomas’s other hand and shook it. “Would you like me to come in with you while you make the call?”
“No, I think it may be best done on my own. But I wouldn’t mind a drink up at the pub later, if you wouldn’t mind going with me. The locals still haven’t sussed me out and they stare when I walk in. I’m sure news of this will be spreading and I may be mobbed.”
But he wasn’t, people were respectful and offered him drinks but nobody asked a single rude question. Milly knew because for once she went up for a drink as well. She, perhaps, more than anyone drew the attention of the crowd in the pub. None of them had ever seen Milly take a drink before and there she was drinking rum and coke. This, more than anything, told the villagers that their Milly was shaken to the core and they left her in peace as well.
Over the next few days the villagers showed their support for both Thomas and Milly in little ways, bringing food by, coming in to help out, and by patronizing their businesses. This was the community Milly knew and loved and even though there might be quite a bit of gossip and very little out of the ordinary ever happened, she wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.
Milly smiled a few days later, looking over her full shop and started to listen to conversations as all of the tables were full and orders had been filled. Mrs. Andrews was missing some of the towels she’d received as a wedding present. She was certain her husband was using them in his machine shop. Mr and Mrs. Stevens were missing some tableware and spices and had no idea what had happened to them. Mrs. Edwards was missing a toilet brush, of all things, and had no idea what had happened to the thing.
Callum had walked in while Milly was listening and looked at her sternly as he sat behind the counter with her, his new place when he came to the shop. Clearing his throat he looked around then looked back at Milly.
“Just leave it, Milly. It’s police business if anything. You don’t need to get involved. Just leave it. Your business is tea, cakes, and the delightful way you dance in your kitchen in the mornings as you decorate.” Callum said smugly.
Milly’s eyes widened, her mouth forming an O. “How do you know about my dancing then?” She asked when her throat would work again.
“I may have seen you through the windows a few times, belting out a tune or two. I find it delightful. You take such joy in it and I love watching you.”
Glaring over at him, Milly decided that perhaps it was best to shut the blinds when she went on a dancing spree in the morning. Smoothing the lines out of her face, however, she smiled and spoke to Callum. “Hey, if that’s what makes you smile, watch away.” She was interrupted by Edgar pouncing up into her lap. The cat purred, slouching over to Callum as she scratched Edgar’s ears. The cat purred louder, rubbing and nudging at Callum’s hand until his hand was over Milly’s. She looked over at Callum, gasping but he spoke before she could.
“Seems Edgar’s trying to tell us something, Milly.” Milly just smiled back at him, then got up to refill a customer’s tea pot. That wasn’t a place she necessarily wanted to go to at the moment. It might lead to heartache and she’d had enough to deal with over the last few weeks. For now, though, she’d hold the feeling of his warm hand encompassing hers, close. Smiling back at him, Milly looked out over her customers and hoped the tragedies were over and that life could go back to some semblance of normalcy now.
The End
III
Gone Missing
Cozy Mystery
About the Book
Milly Dupont is recovering from an attack that nearly took her life and is settling back into the new normal. Her secret crush, Callum Davidson, has moved in next door and has brought his nephew Jake with him. Milly soon becomes aware that people have started to lose items from their homes and suspects it may be Jake but isn’t sure. Then a local family from Wirk
ster is found murdered in what cops are calling a ritualistic fashion, and Milly is almost certain it’s Jake when she finds a rather unique shirt covered in blood and thrown away in the woods. Is the young, often sullen, Jake capable of such a crime or is he really just the innocent, abandoned child she thinks he is?
With the help of Edgar, her trusty tomcat, and the ever tempting Callum, Milly soon discovers there’s far more going on in Wirkster than she ever knew about and what she doesn’t know can hurt her!
1
October
Milly Dupont looked around the kitchen area of her tea shop as she decided whether she should actually hit play on the playlist or not. If anyone from the village heard her playing these songs, the whole place would know she was listening to music too obscene to even repeat the words in public! With a sly grin, Milly decided it was worth it to start her morning off right, and she hit play. Instantly, her new sound system, designed to play off of her new mobile phone, filled the small kitchen with a heavy bass and a woman’s voice singing about her current mood. Milly gave a delighted shout of laughter, threw her head back and began her morning ritual of decorating cream cakes while she danced around her kitchen.
Edgar, her black tomcat, along with Daisy and Mildred; the terriers she adopted when her friend and neighbour, Davina, had been cruelly cut down, leaving them ownerless, all stared up at her, twisting their heads with her movements. This was also part of their morning routine now, first a walk then Mummy danced around the kitchen, badly, to music that was somehow worse than her dancing. They often looked at each other in confusion, as if conferring on whether Milly had finally lost her sanity or not. They hadn’t come to a consensus yet but they were close, those looks seemed to say.
Milly was finally learning to get past Davina’s loss. Her subsequent kidnapping and the shock of having her whole world turned upside down was starting to ease, and though Milly still feared the night and being alone, she was finally starting to get some sleep at night. That was probably helped by the fact that Callum, and his nephew Jake, had moved in with Thomas, Davina’s grandson, next door. They were only a thump on the wall away and Callum usually spent an hour with her in the evenings, making sure everything went smoothly as she shut her tea shop down.
As she decorated the cakes, her thoughts turned to the ever increasing talk around town about household items going missing from the villagers’ homes. The odd loo brush and tea towels were the first things to go missing. Now other things like microwaves, blankets, clothes, even pots and pans had started to go missing. Milly totted up the items and realized that the thief, for she had a feeling microwaves didn’t just get misplaced, was apparently doing up their home with loot. It wasn’t like you could get rid of a used loo brush after all, or sell it on Ebay.
Milly thought it an odd way to stock your home but knew people did strange things in desperate times. This wasn’t any different. She had a few ideas of who the culprit could be but dismissed them easily. She totted up her suspect list and realized there were only really four people on it. First there was Jake, Callum’s nephew. The boy’s mother had abandoned him in his last year of school when she ran off to California of all places, to get married. Seems she didn’t want Jake there, ruining her “vibe” as his mother called it, and the boy came to live with Callum not long after Callum made the move to Thomas’s flat. Then there was Thomas. And finally, the new couple that Milly had thought were only tourists that not-so-long-ago day when Callum had discovered the shop ruined and Davina missing. The couple, now known to be the Hendersons, had moved into one of the abandoned homes that cropped up when home prices soared, presumably after purchasing it. Home owners moved away, thinking they were going to make a pretty penny on a house that they soon found they couldn’t sell in a bad economy.
Milly thought over her reasons for suspecting Jake. There was the fact that he was a teenager and teenagers did odd things. Then again, he could be acting out because of his abandonment, seeking attention from his missing mother. But why household items, she thought as she licked a spoon clean and placed it in the sink to wash. No, it mustn’t be Jake. Or Thomas, the man had a ready-made home when he moved into Davina’s three bedroom flat. He’d invited Callum in not for the sake of extra cash, but so he wouldn’t be alone, apparently he got spooked over there at night with nobody else around to make noise. Not him either, she decided as she took the tray of cakes out to the shop floor. Perhaps the new couple?
They had far too much money, Milly decided, as she walked back to the kitchen for more pastries. Everyone knew they had money, though nobody had ever heard mention of how they’d made that money. They drove an expensive car, had bought a home that none of the locals could afford to buy, despite their families living in the area for generations, and were often seen dining out; something else few of the villagers could afford to do right now. No, it can’t have been them either; Milly concluded, unless they’re doing it for the thrills but wouldn’t you steal jewellery or some other expensive items, something to make it worth your while, not tea towels and loo brushes?
She listened throughout the day as the locals came in discussing how some walkers had their camping gear stolen while out on their treks and had to be put up at an inn for the night. Other items were starting to go missing as well; it seemed old Mr. Watkins was missing hedge clippers, a pile of face cloths, and three boxes of denture cream he’d bought when they’d gone on offer. He looked all over his home and couldn’t find either of the items. Milly thought it was time the police were called in but nobody had mentioned it yet. Not until Mrs. Williams came in talking about her missing Tiffany lamps that her grandfather had bought for her grandmother back in the 1920s at great expense. She was fuming and by the time she left Milly’s shop, she was on a crusade. She would have her lamps back, she proclaimed.
As one might expect, talk of the missing items was soon forgotten by those in the village when news of the murder of Mrs. Andrews, and her two grown sons, started spreading like wildfire by the end of the day. There was word that it was the work of Satanists.
Milly learned from Callum that evening that the police were considering Satanists because the bodies had been laid out with their heads touching, as if they were spokes in a wheel. Apparently, there’d also been some crude drawings on Mrs. Andrews’s obsessively maintained oak flooring and the drawings looked like some kind of “Satanist stuff” from what one of the detectives had told Mr. McHenry, Mrs. Andrews’s grocery delivery man.
“That’s all they’re going on; placement of the bodies and some crude drawings that could refer to anything? I see our finest are on the case again.” Milly said with some sarcasm. Well, lots of sarcasm, she thought.
Callum smiled over at Milly, sweeping the floor while she finished her nightly paperwork sat at one of the now empty tables in the shop. “You know they’re doing their best. They’re specially trained for these sorts of things, after all; we civilians wouldn’t understand.” He said with a toothy smirk. Milly tried to rein in the schoolgirl sigh and twitchy eyelids Callum’s smile always produced in her reactions. She really must stop doing that, she scolded herself, repeating Callum’s girlfriend’s name to herself.
“How is Maria by the way, Callum?” She asked, a little brightly.
“Maria,” Callum asked, confused by Milly’s sudden topic change. “She’s alright, I guess. Off on one of her benders again. She’ll come home when she gets fed up with it.”
The man sounded like he was trying to convince himself, Milly thought. She looked back at him and tried not to let the sympathy show through. He was sweeping the floor, his curly hair in need of a cut sweeping his eyebrows and hiding the brave smile he’d plastered on. He didn’t like being pitied so she tried not to let on.
Getting his own feelings under control again, Callum looked back up at Milly with a bright smile, that one slightly crooked tooth making the smile even more endearing somehow, and he spoke to Milly. “Besides, at least she’s safe if she’s not here at the mo
ment anyway. Have you had that security system installed yet?”
“No, but I mean to call them straight off first thing in the morning. It’s at the top of my list.” Milly assured him, hoping secretly that Maria, Callum’s girlfriend, never came back. She was just too much trouble when she was here, always making a scene, and Callum wasn’t happy even when she was around. If she just left and didn’t come back, Milly thought, Callum might learn to move on.
“See that you do, then. I’ll sleep better knowing you have that at least. The noise of the alarm might be enough to scare an intruder away.” Callum said gravely. He cleaned up the pile of dirt and refuse he’d swept up, then sat down with a cup of tea in front of Milly. “I’ve switched over to the room straight across from yours, just in case. I’ll be able to hear if you give the wall a bang or shout out loud enough. I can be straight over from the patio as well.”
Milly reached out and brushed his hand but didn’t linger, admonishing herself for even reaching out to him in the first place. She smiled instead and said, “Thank you, Callum, you’re ever so helpful and kind. I’ll sleep a million times better knowing you’re just a wall away.”
Milly wanted to hide her head in her arms as she heard the words coming out of her mouth, telling herself she was a thousand kinds of fool and to shut her yap. She quickly did and got up from the table, putting her papers in her safe as she did some last minute sorting before showing Callum out. He gave her one last smile, their nightly ritual over, and told her he’d see her in the morning. Milly wondered if she was actually going to get much sleep that night between pondering the most recent murders and Callum’s presence so close to her own wall. She wondered if he would hear the noise if she moved her bed closer to that wall, as she walked up the stairs turning the lights off in the shop as she went.