HGM02 A Witchy Mystery

by D. S. Butler

  We’d had a murder in Abbott Cove a few months ago that had shocked everyone to the core and to have another so soon was extremely unnerving.

  “Perhaps we could take you back to The Oceanview,” Jess suggested to Carol.

  The Oceanview was the guesthouse where Carol, her sister and Louise had been staying since they’d arrived in town. They hadn’t yet found anything more permanent.

  I thought Jess’s idea was a pretty good one. Although it wasn’t a cold day, Carol was now shivering uncontrollably, and I wondered whether she’d gone into shock.

  “Perhaps we should ask Doc Morrison to check Carol out before we go,” I said widening my eyes with emphasis at Jess.

  Jess nodded. “Good idea.”

  “Carol, is Louise back at The Oceanview Guesthouse? Perhaps we should call her and let her know what’s happened. It would be a good idea for you to have somebody with you, too,” I said.

  Carol looked up at me, and her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “It’s her day off today. I don’t know where she is.”

  That was unfortunate. Neither Jess nor I knew Carol very well, and it was hard to know how to comfort somebody you didn’t know. I supposed we could take her back to our house for a little while until she calmed down. I really didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be left alone.

  I was thinking things through when Carol surprised me by saying, “Although I don’t think Louise was going to be her assistant much longer. They had a huge row last night.”

  My jaw dropped open, and I looked at Jess. This could be important. If they’d fallen out, had Louise been angry enough to kill her boss? I knew Yvonne wasn’t easy to work with. Perhaps Louise just snapped.

  “What did they row about?” Jess asked.

  Carol shook her head. “I don’t know. They hadn’t been getting on well for a little while, and last night, it just came to a head. I could hear shouting but couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying.”

  Jess shot me a pointed glance, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. But would a woman be strong enough to strangle another woman to death? I didn’t know.

  I knew it was definitely something we should mention to the chief, though.

  Doc Morrison staggered out of the cabin. He looked even paler than when he went in. He sat down on the top step with a sigh.

  I reached over to pat him on the forearm. “Are you okay, Dr. Morrison?”

  He nodded absentmindedly as though he was still in the room with Yvonne’s dead body. “Yes, I’m fine. It was just a bit of a shock.”

  “Is there anything you can tell us? Did someone strangle her?”

  Jess reached over to slap me on the shoulder, warning me that I was being insensitive because Carol was sitting right next to us.

  But surely Carol would want to know how her sister died. I glanced at Carol, who was now twisting her hands in her lap and looking down at her knees.

  I wasn’t sure she was even listening.

  “This is Yvonne’s sister,” I said to Dr. Morrison. “She’s understandably very upset. I wondered if perhaps you could give her something for the shock?”

  “Of course,” Dr. Morrison said. “I think Chief Wickham would like to have a word with her first, and then Carol and I can have a chat. I’m sure I can prescribe something to help.”

  The next half an hour passed agonizingly slowly.

  The chief and Joe hung around in the cabin for a long time, Betty, from the Lobster Shack, approached and called out, telling Chief Wickham off for keeping Carol at the scene of the crime.

  “Would you look at the poor girl? If you want to talk to her, you should do it now, and then let me take her back to the guesthouse. She needs a stiff drink and something to help her sleep.”

  Carol shook her head. “I don’t want to sleep. I know I’ll just keep seeing poor Yvonne every time I close my eyes.”

  “There, there, sweetheart. I’m so sorry this has happened. I’ll make sure you get home and comfortable. Nobody is going to make you fall asleep if you don’t want to.”

  Chief Wickham tried to ask Carol some questions, but he was fighting a losing battle. She was not in any fit state to be a useful witness, so eventually, he relented.

  Abbott Cove was the sort of town that pulled together during a crisis, and that was evident today. Everyone was rallying around to help Carol.

  Chief Wickham allowed Betty to take Carol back to the guesthouse, but he ordered the rest of us to stay until Deputy McGrady had taken the names and addresses of everyone present.

  I felt sorry for the chief. Trying to solve the last murder in Abbott Cove had been very difficult for him, and I had a feeling this one would be even more stressful than the last.

  Chapter 5

  As the ladies queued up to give Deputy McGrady their names and addresses, I decided to have a bit of a poke around outside the cabin to see if I could find Yvonne’s ghost.

  I didn’t know whether Yvonne’s ghost would have stuck around. The other murder victim I had come into contact with recently was Elizabeth Naggington. She had stayed around until her murderer was caught, and she only moved on once it was clear her killer would be brought to justice. I suspected the same thing might happen to Yvonne. She’d probably be stuck in ghost limbo until her killer was found.

  Although I’d seen many ghosts in my time, I hadn’t had much contact with murder victims, thankfully. So I wasn’t exactly an expert. I felt a responsibility towards Yvonne, though, since I was the only person who would be able to communicate with her. My only choice was to wing it and hope for the best.

  It would make matters easier if there was a way to detect ghosts, but as far as I could tell, there wasn’t. I’d seen all the movies and TV shows where the environment would suddenly drop a few degrees when a ghost was present. That would have been a handy sign. I remember one TV show I’d watched focused on ghost ectoplasm, but I’d never come across that, thank goodness!

  All I knew, from first-hand experience of walking directly through Loretta, was that you could sometimes have a brief shiver when you walked through a ghost, but other than that ghosts were actually quite hard to spot.

  Jess left me to it. We might argue and bicker, but no one knew me better than my sister, and she realized exactly what I was doing without me needing to tell her.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t having much luck on my hunt for Yvonne. The clearing was completely free of ghosts.

  I got a few odd looks as I walked around the group of ladies, thinking perhaps Yvonne could have integrated herself between them to hide. But she hadn’t. Her ghostly form hadn’t been in the cabin when we discovered her body, so I had to assume if she’d stuck around, she was somewhere in the immediate vicinity, probably hiding in the woods. It must be quite a traumatic experience to be murdered and then find yourself a ghost. I could understand the desire to hide.

  I had my hands on my hips, and I was staring towards the woods when I heard Joe McGrady’s voice directly behind me, “What are you doing, Harper?”

  I jumped guiltily and quickly turned around to face him. “Me? Nothing. Why would I be doing anything?”

  Internally, I cringed at my overreaction. Just act normally, Harper, I told myself. Otherwise, he’s going to think you’ve lost your marbles.

  I looked over Joe’s shoulder and saw that Jess was now talking to Chief Wickham.

  “Do you know how she was killed yet?” I asked, trying to shift his attention away from my suspicious behavior.

  Joe looked down at me, his handsome face stern. “I don’t think I should discuss the details yet, Harper.”

  I nodded. I supposed that was fair enough.

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You were looking a little odd just staring off into the distance like that?”

  My cheeks flushed, but I tried to act normally, as normally as I could anyway. Normal just wasn’t part of my personality. It wasn’t in the Grant family DNA.

  It was nice of him to ask after me, though, and I did
appreciate it.

  “I’m fine. I guess we’re all a bit in shock. It’s such a horrible thing to happen.”

  Joe nodded gravely and then he went and trampled on my warm, fuzzy feelings towards him by saying, “I came over to warn you not to get involved. You know what happened last time you interfered in a murder investigation, and it could have been a lot worse. Leave the investigating to me. Understand?”

  My mouth hung open in surprise. For a moment, I couldn’t even gather any words to respond. Of all the rude, unnecessary… If it hadn’t been for me, Elizabeth Naggington’s killer would have escaped justice.

  The whole town had thought I was a hero.

  Of course, I was quite lucky that Joe and the chief had been on hand to save me when Elizabeth’s killer had tried to finish me off. But I had solved the case, and a little appreciation from Deputy McGrady would have been nice. I couldn’t believe he was warning me off, as though I wanted to get involved in a case where there was a crazed killer on the loose.

  I bristled. “I have absolutely no intention of getting involved. I don’t know what would give you that idea.”

  Joe unsuccessfully tried to suppress a smile. “Of course not. How could I possibly think you might want to snoop?”

  Now he really had gone too far. Accusing me of snooping? I wasn’t a little old lady fixated on her neighbor’s business.

  I stuck my nose in the air and said, “I’m not going to even dignify that with a response.”

  Joe chuckled then and leaned closer to whisper, “Be careful Harper. Whoever did this is a violent killer and very dangerous.”

  I felt a shiver run along my spine as I closed my eyes and pictured poor Yvonne lying dead on the floor of the cabin. It would be a long time before I managed to forget that image.

  * * *

  Joe left me when Chief Wickham called him over, and Jess walked over to join me.

  “What were you two whispering about?” she asked.

  I made a huffing noise and said, “Joe warned me not to get involved. Can you believe it? It’s as if he thinks I get involved in these things on purpose.”

  “Well, I suppose he doesn’t know about the seeing ghosts thing. He probably just thinks you’re really nosy.”

  I narrowed my eyes and glared at my sister to let her know I didn’t appreciate that comment.

  My ghost-spotting ability hadn’t been of much use so far today. My attempts to find Yvonne had just made me look odd.

  “Have you seen her ghost?” Jess asked.

  I shook my head, feeling disappointed. “No, there’s no sign of her. I’m guessing, if she is still around, then she’ll most likely be hiding out in the woods somewhere. Perhaps all the commotion has scared her off.”

  Jess nodded. “Yes, I suppose it must have been quite a shock for her. Maybe she’ll make her way to town?”

  I hoped not. I was relying on her staying close to the place she died. Otherwise, I might never track her down.

  “I think I’ll try to come back up here before my shift at the diner. Hopefully, the forensic team and officers will be finished with the crime scene by then, and it will be quieter. She might be more likely to show herself if things calm down. Plus, when everyone leaves, I can have a proper look without people thinking I’m a total oddball.”

  Jess smirked. “How could anybody think you were odd, Harper?” she said and reached up, ruffling my hair.

  I pulled back, irritated, and tried to smooth my messed up hair. “Cut it out!”

  Jess chuckled. “Sorry, I forgot you want to look your best for Deputy McGrady.”

  Jess winked at me and then scurried off before I could order her to take those words back.

  I had absolutely no idea why she thought I was interested in Joe McGrady. I could never be interested in anyone who called me a snoop.

  Chapter 6

  When Chief Wickham was satisfied Joe had taken down all the names and addresses of the people at the scene, and we’d answered all his preliminary questions, he allowed us to go home. Instead of going back to our cottage, Jess and I headed for Grandma Grant’s house to let her know what had happened.

  As usual, she was in the kitchen when we arrived, grinding up some ingredients with a gray granite pestle and mortar.

  “You’ll never believe what happened this morning,” Jess said as we walked in.

  She sat down at the kitchen table, looking expectantly at Grandma Grant.

  “You mean the fact that Yvonne Dean, the yoga lady, is dead?” Grandma Grant deadpanned.

  She didn’t even look up from her pestle and mortar.

  I slid into the chair opposite Jess, and we exchanged a look. How on earth did she know already? That was some serious witchcraft. Had she used some kind of spell or a crystal ball? I’d never known her to use a crystal ball. In fact, I’d always thought they were a myth.

  “Have you been casting spells to see into the future?” I demanded.

  Grandma Grant finally looked up. “No, Harper. And if you had studied your spells like a good witch is supposed to, you would know that doesn’t work. Looking into the future with spells is very dangerous and hardly ever works.”

  “Then how did you know?” Jess asked.

  “The usual way. The Abbott Cove grapevine. Leticia Markham dropped in for some plants earlier, and she told me.”

  I rolled my eyes. We should have guessed. Honestly, nothing happened in this town without everybody knowing about it within a split second.

  “You probably know more than us,” I grumbled. “I asked Deputy McGrady how Yvonne had been killed, and he wouldn’t tell me. Although I think it was obvious she had been strangled with her silk scarf. I saw some nasty bruises around her neck.”

  “It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Grandma Grant said as she began to pound the herbs ferociously into a pulp.

  A frown puckered Jess’s forehead and she asked, “What do you mean?”

  “Being that flexible just isn’t natural,” Grandma Grant said with a completely straight face.

  “Yoga didn’t kill her!” Jess practically shouted the words. “She was strangled!”

  Grandma Grant gave her a cool look. “I didn’t say yoga killed her. I said being that flexible wasn’t natural.”

  “Being bendy didn’t lead to her death, Grandma,” I said as I sensed Jess was starting to lose her temper.

  Jess threw her hands in the air, and I took that as a signal that she was giving up. I didn’t blame her. Sometimes it was very hard to work out how Grandma Grant’s logic process worked.

  “Did you find the ghost?” Grandma Grant asked me as Jess got up from the table and filled the coffee pot at the sink.

  I sighed. “There was no sign of her. Perhaps she just passed and didn’t become a ghost,” I suggested.

  “Not very likely,” Grandma Grant said, shaking her head. “The more violent a person’s death is, the more likely it is for their ghost to stick around. I’m sure she’ll turn up soon. You should probably keep an eye out for her, Harper.”

  I nodded. “I intend to.”

  As Jess prepared the coffee, I asked Grandma Grant about the little cat I’d seen last night.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve seen it, have you? It was a tiny little thing, and I think it must have been starving. I left a bowl of tuna fish out for it last night but forgot to have a look this morning to see if it had been eaten.” I looked pointedly at Jess. “It slipped my mind because Jess got me up so early.”

  “Are you ever going to let that drop, Harper?”

  I smiled. “Maybe sometime next year.”

  “Interesting,” Grandma Grant said.

  Jess and I exchanged a look. We weren’t quite sure what Grandma Grant was referring to. Me holding a grudge for a year? Or the stray cat?

  “What’s interesting?” Jess asked as she put two mugs of coffee on the table. Grandma Grant always kept coffee in the house because Jess and I loved it, but she never touched the stuff, preferring to stick to
her herbal teas. As usual, she had half a mug sitting on the countertop beside her. I don’t think I’d ever seen her drink plain water in all the years I could remember.

  “The cat. The way it followed you, Harper. It could be a sign.”

  “A sign? A sign of what?”

  Grandma Grant nodded to herself. “Yes, very interesting.”

  Jess took a sip of her coffee and then put it back down on the table with a clunk. “Grandma, we have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, they say a witch doesn’t find her cat. Her cat finds her.”

  “So you think that little stray is my cat? It’s found me?”

  Grandma Grant nodded. “Possibly. It’s a rite of passage, Harper. A real witch always has a cat.”

  “I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. It was just a stray cat. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean you’re more of a witch because a mangy, starving cat followed you home.”

  “It wasn’t mangy,” I said, defending the cat, and then I smirked at Jess’s insecurity. Usually, it was the other way around. Jess was the witch who could do no wrong. She was perfect at casting spells and making potions, and she read about the history of witchcraft just for fun. That was something I could never understand. Reading one page of those large, leather-bound books she loved, would send me to sleep in an instant.

  Jess narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know why you’re smirking.”

  I broke out into a proper grin then. “Yes, you do. You’re just jealous because the cat followed me home and not you.”

  Jess rolled her eyes again and picked up her coffee. “That’s ridiculous. Honestly, sometimes I think my whole family is crazy.”

  Before we could talk about the cat anymore there was a knock at Grandma Grant’s front door, and as she bustled off to answer it, Jess leaned forward over the kitchen table, ready to give me another piece of her mind.

  “It’s just a stray cat, Harper. And you shouldn’t leave food out. It will attract raccoons,” Jess began, ready to launch into a long nagging session, but suddenly she stopped talking mid-sentence and ducked beneath the kitchen counter.