by D. S. Butler
“Well, we’re not exactly overrun with a choice of restaurants in Abbott Cove,” Jess said. “Maybe he fancied a change from the diner and the Lobster Shack?”
“Humph,” Grandma Grant said. That was often her response to a reply she didn’t appreciate.
“Why do you need Harper to go?” Jess asked.
“Well, I can’t go, can I?” Grandma Grant said, shaking her head.
“Why not?” I asked, feeling put out at the thought of losing my morning to some silly vendetta Grandma Grant had against the Mayor.
“I can’t go into that now,” Grandma Grant said. “It’s not important in the grand scheme of things.”
“Grandma, what did you do?” Jess demanded to know, her tone firm.
“Oh, fine. I may have conducted a small protest outside Giuseppe’s restaurant in Cherry Town a couple of months ago.”
I sighed heavily. “Don’t tell me, they put up the price of the senior special.”
* * *
The following morning, I was feeling grouchy. I had a life, and I resented having to do Grandma Grant’s dirty work for her just because she'd gotten thrown out of Giuseppe’s restaurant a few weeks ago.
Now, I had to traipse all the way over to Cherry Town and make a nuisance of myself by asking the staff whether they’d seen the mayor having any meetings, secret or otherwise.
I didn’t even know if the restaurant staff would recognize the mayor. So I decided to print a photograph of him, along with photos of some of the executives involved in planning the new resort.
It was easy enough to find a group photograph of the major players for the resort. Surprisingly, though, I couldn’t find a photograph of the Mayor on the county website.
I did find one from the Abbott Cove Gazette, which was a weekly paper that mainly listed local interest stories like missing dogs and cats up trees. They had a good, clear photograph of the mayor where he happened to be standing next to Yvonne, Carol and Louise. It was taken on the day Yvonne’s new yoga studio had been announced.
I was looking at the photograph on the screen when Yvonne floated up behind me.
“What are you doing? What are you looking at that for?”
“I was trying to find a photograph of the Mayor. I want to take it with me today and show some of the restaurant staff so I can ask them if they’ve seen him before.”
“I don’t know why you’re bothering,” Yvonne said. “I think your grandmother is a little crazy.”
I happened to agree, but I had to do it because she was my grandmother. She would sulk for months if I didn’t.
I used the mouse to click on the print menu.
“Why are you printing it?” Yvonne demanded.
I looked at her in amazement and wondered whether it was her and not Grandma Grant who was losing her marbles. “I just told you. I need a picture of the mayor to show the restaurant staff.”
“But this is a picture of me, too.”
“And? Why does that matter?”
I couldn’t understand Yvonne’s reaction. She turned her back on me huffily.
“It’s only a photograph.” I wondered what Yvonne thought I was going to do with it and why she was so upset.
“Yvonne, what’s the matter? It’s only a photograph. I know I promised to help find your killer, but I just have to do this one favor for my grandmother. Trust me, she will not let it rest until I do.”
“You shouldn’t let yourself get bossed about,” Yvonne said.
That was rich, coming from her. Yvonne was queen bossy pants. But I didn’t say that. I tried to keep the peace.
“It should only take me an hour or so, and when I get back, we can have another brainstorming session and see if we can pinpoint another lead.”
“I wouldn’t want to put demands on your time, Harper. Obviously, this is more important to you.”
I puffed out a breath in exasperation. “I’m doing my best, Yvonne.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem like it to me.”
“I’m sure I could do a better job if you weren’t hiding things from me.”
“Hiding things? What on earth are you talking about?”
“Well, you’re not exactly a shrinking violet. Usually, you wouldn’t mind anyone seeing a photograph of you, but for some reason, you’re very concerned that I’ve printed this off, and I’m going to show it to the staff at a certain Cherry Town restaurant. So do you want to tell me what that’s all about?”
Yvonne whirled round to face me, her face a mask of anger. “You’re talking nonsense,” she spat.
I was clearly hitting a nerve. “Did you ever go to Cherry Town?”
Yvonne shrugged. “Maybe once or twice.”
“Who did you go with?”
“That’s none of your business,” Yvonne snapped.
“It is my business. I’m trying to find your killer,” I said, my temper close to breaking point.
“It seems to me that you just like to stick your nose into other people’s business.”
A moment of silence passed as I glared at her, and then I decided I was done. That was the final straw. I had had enough.
“That’s it! You can stay here today. You are a very… ungrateful ghost! I’m going to Cherry Town as a favor for my grandmother. She is a member of my family, and I’m not going to let her down to pander to a spoiled ghost. I’m going to visit the restaurant and ask the server if she recognizes the Mayor whether you like it or not!”
And with that, I whirled around dramatically and stormed out of the cottage with the photograph clutched in my hand.
Chapter 15
It didn’t take me long to drive over to Cherry Town. I’d borrowed Jess’s car and parked right outside Giuseppe’s restaurant. It was a large restaurant that specialized in pasta, and I knew from firsthand experience the spaghetti and meatballs were delicious. The reasonably priced Italian food was very popular with everyone in the area.
It was a large restaurant, far bigger than our diner or the Lobster Shack in Abbott Cove, reflecting Cherry Town’s higher population.
It was a pretty little town, but it was set inland, away from the coast, and so didn’t get many tourists visiting. The residents were proud of their heritage, and there was a friendly rivalry between Cherry Town and Abbott Cove that went back many years.
I thought the restaurant wouldn’t be open until lunchtime, but I was surprised to see they’d started serving coffee and pastries, catering to the morning crowd.
That was lucky. I’d assumed I was going to have to hang around until I saw somebody open up and start preparing for the lunch shift.
I stepped into the spacious dining area of the restaurant.
One of the servers spotted me straightaway and gave me a warm smile. “Take a seat,” she said. “I’ll be right over.”
I sat down at the nearest table, feeling like a bit of a fraud. I wasn’t sure the server would be smiling so warmly at me when I had to ask her silly questions about the Mayor of Abbott Cove.
Honestly, the things my grandmother got me into.
From where I sat, I had a view of the vet surgery across the street. It made me think of the little stray cat I had started to think of as my own. If she ever trusted me enough, I would have to bring her to the vets to get checked over.
“What can I get you?” I turned to see the server, who had spoken to me earlier, was now standing beside me.
I’d guess she was in her mid-thirties. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and a shiny face, free of makeup.
“I’ll have a flat white and an almond croissant, please.”
“Coming right up,” she said, but before she could leave, I added, “Do you have a minute spare to answer a couple of questions.”
She looked surprised at my request, but she looked around and saw that none of her customers needed attention.
Then she shrugged. “Okay. As long as it doesn’t take too long.”
She slid into the seat opposite me.
“My n
ame is Harper,” I said, purposely not revealing my last name in case this whole thing went south. Plus, I didn’t want the server to put two and two together and realize I was related to Grandma Grant.
For all I knew, this could be the lady who’d sent Grandma Grant packing after another one of her ridiculous protests.
“I’m Marie,” the server said, and she nodded to encourage me to continue.
“It’s a rather delicate matter. I wanted to ask you about somebody who may have been coming in your restaurant to conduct business meetings.”
Marie immediately sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t talk about our customers. What they get up to is confidential. My boss wouldn’t like it.”
“Giuseppe doesn’t need to know,” I said with a wink. I wondered whether she would expect a payoff. I wasn’t used to this kind of undercover investigating.
“What?” A puzzled frowned appeared on Marie’s face.
“Your boss, Giuseppe, he’ll never know you spoke to me.”
“My boss is called Mark. We use the name Giuseppe just for appearance sake, you know, to appear authentic.”
“Oh.”
We were getting off track.
I pushed the photograph of the Mayor, Yvonne, Carol and Louise across the table to Marie. I’d folded the photograph so that it only showed the Mayor.
“Whoever your boss is, I promise he won’t find out, but I really need your help. Have you seen this man here before?”
Marie looked carefully at the image and then nodded. “Yes,” she said slowly and then her gaze left the image, and she looked directly at me. “Are you some sort of private investigator? Has he been cheating on his wife?”
“No… well, I suppose I’m investigating, but it’s nothing official, and it isn’t anything to do with his wife. I just want to know if he’s been meeting anybody here. I won’t tell anybody you told me,” I added, thinking that she needed a little encouragement to spill the beans.
Marie took a deep breath and then said, “He has been here a few times and always with the same woman. That’s why I thought maybe you were looking into him on behalf of his wife.”
I nodded eagerly. Grandma Grant would be happy. There were quite a few women involved in planning the new resort in Abbott Cove, and I was feeling pretty confident by this point that I might have something positive to report back to Grandma Grant.
I pulled the other photograph I’d brought with me out of my pocket and pushed it across the table. It showed a large group of the resort chain’s senior management.
“Was the woman he met one of these people?” I asked.
Marie leaned forward and peered closer. There were lots of people in the shot, so it was harder to see their individual faces. The picture of the Mayor had been larger.
She looked at the photograph for a long time but then finally sat back and shook her head. “No, it isn’t any of them.”
I felt the air rush out of my lungs as I sighed in disappointment. I’d been so sure I was onto something. Now I would have to go back to Grandma Grant and tell her that the Mayor had been meeting a woman in Cherry Town, but I had no idea who it was.
“Have you got any other pictures?” Marie asked eagerly. “This investigating thing is quite exciting.”
I raised an eyebrow at her sudden enthusiasm and then shook my head. “No, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
As I lifted the two photographs off the table and went to put them in my pocket, the photograph of the Mayor unfolded, revealing the figures of Yvonne, Louise and Carol.
“Wait a minute,” Marie said. “That’s her. That’s the woman he was meeting.”
I looked down at the photograph Marie had pointed at.
Well, color me surprised. She’d pointed straight at Yvonne.
I was so shocked that I didn’t speak for a moment.
“Are you sure?” I said eventually.
Marie nodded firmly. “Absolutely. I couldn’t forget her. She was one of the rudest customers I’ve ever had. She told me that I was in dire need of some foundation and powder to fix my complexion. I mean, can you believe it? I’ve always been proud of my skin.”
I blinked a couple of times. Well, that certainly sounded like Yvonne to me.
“You have lovely skin,” I said. “Don’t pay any attention to her nasty comment.”
“Did I help? Do you know who she is?”
I wasn’t sure how to answer. If I told Marie her name, chances were she would have heard on the local news about Yvonne’s death, and I wasn’t ready to tell anybody about the link between Yvonne and the Mayor yet. I hadn’t fully processed the information myself.
To be honest, I was shocked. I knew Yvonne had been hiding something from me, but I didn’t expect it to be something like this. No wonder she hadn’t wanted me to come here and ask questions. She’d obviously been having an affair with the Mayor and wanted to keep it secret. He was a married man as well!
I hoped Yvonne would be at the cottage when I got back because I certainly had some questions for her to answer.
“Oh, she’s no one important,” I said to Marie. “But you were very helpful, thank you.”
One of the other servers waved at Marie, signaling her to hurry up.
Marie got to her feet and said, “I’ll just get your coffee and croissant. I won’t be a moment.”
She left me alone at the table, and I tried to think things through. It was now quite clear to me why Yvonne didn’t want me showing her picture around this restaurant. She’d been worried I would find out about her affair with the mayor. I wondered how long it had been going on.
They made an odd couple. Yvonne had been beautiful and elegant, and the Mayor…Well, the Mayor certainly wasn’t beautiful, and he was a lot older than Yvonne, too. Still, there was no accounting for taste, I supposed.
Grandma Grant had been correct to claim the Mayor was coming over to Cherry Town for clandestine meetings, but apparently, those meetings had nothing to do with business…
I wondered whether Chief Wickham and Joe McGrady were aware of the Mayor’s link to Yvonne. Was it possible that Mayor Briggs could have had a hand in Yvonne’s murder?
Perhaps he didn’t want his wife to find out about the affair and decided to silence Yvonne for good. I fiddled nervously with the place mat in front of me. Grandma Grant may have been wrong about the reasons behind the Mayor’s meetings, but I was glad she’d made me come here today. It had given me my first real lead since I’d found Yvonne’s ghost.
* * *
I went back to the cottage after returning from Cherry Town, but there was no sign of Yvonne. I didn’t have time to wait around, so I figured I’d just go to work and hope she came to the diner later.
I debated whether to go and tell Grandma Grant what I’d discovered, but I wasn’t ready to do that yet, and I was cutting it fine for my shift as it was. To be honest, I was quite worried what my grandmother would do with the information. Grandma Grant wasn’t one for subtlety, and I thought she might confront the Mayor with the information as soon as she found out.
I knew I should really tell Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady what I’d unearthed before I told Grandma Grant.
Besides, I was going to see Grandma Grant at the town hall tonight at the meeting about the resort, so I’d be able to fill her in along with Jess.
I had half expected Yvonne to be hovering around the diner waiting for me, perhaps even ready with a grudging apology, but there was no sign of her.
As soon as I arrived, I caught sight of Loretta sitting in one of the empty booths. There were quite a few people in the diner, and it was already filling up ahead of the lunchtime rush.
I gazed in horror at one of the booths. There was food smeared all over the table and what looked like a portion of hash browns dumped on the floor. I sighed.
Loretta hovered over to me and said, “I’ll give you two guesses who made that mess.”
I didn’t need two guesses. There was only
one person in this town who could make so much mess: a small boy called Tommy Breton. He and his mom came in the diner most days, usually for breakfast, but today they’d obviously decided to grace us with their presence a little later than usual. I didn’t for one second think Archie would have left the booth in that state all morning. The table looked like a bomb had hit it.
I sighed as I headed to the back room to pick up a clean apron and start on the clear up.
Archie was just coming out of the kitchen. “Did you see the mess?” he growled. “I’ve never known a child like it. There’s not one other child in Abbott Cove that makes as much mess as that boy.”
I sighed. At least Archie wasn’t the one who had to clear it up. I put my apron on and tied it around my waist. “I guessed it was him from the state of the table,” I said. “Are you going to the town meeting tonight?”
Archie shrugged. “I thought I’d go along. If only for the entertainment value. The mayor is talking, and I’m sure your grandmother will have something to say about that.”
“What do you think of him, Archie?”
Archie frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The Mayor, does he strike you as a violent man?”
Archie shook his head. “I’ve never really thought about it. I would have said no, but…”
“What?”
“Well, he did look like he was pretty close to getting violent the other day when your grandmother was on the hood of his car.”
Fair point, but Grandma Grant had the ability to drive most people to want to commit a violent act.
I nodded, but I still couldn’t imagine the Mayor getting so angry he committed murder. He didn’t seem the type, but then again, I suppose no one did. Killers didn’t come with a warning sign, unfortunately.
I got to work clearing up the table and soon had it looking almost back to normal.
Loretta hovered beside me. Sometimes her constant presence was an irritation. She had been a ghost a long time and was perfectly capable of picking things up and moving objects around, so I didn’t see why she couldn’t lend a hand now and again.