A Ghostly Affair: A cozy mystery series (Death by Chocolate Book 3)

by Pat Amsden

  “I’ve got my phone programmed to dial 911 as soon as I press the button. All we’re going to do is take a look around,” Grandma Ellie said firmly.

  Maxine looked at her in alarm. “We’re not calling 911. Patrick will kill me.”

  “It’s a precaution. Patrick showed me how to do it.”

  Even the wine couldn’t convince Maxine this was a good idea. Unfortunately she couldn’t come up with any concrete reason it was a bad idea. And she was out voted two to one.

  Less than an hour later they were all wearing black yoga pants, black tops and running shoes. Tanya was calling herself their wheelman and Grandma Ellie was hoping to put some of her self-defense moves into action. And that was before Tanya started the car.

  “We’ll just drive by first,” Maxine said. “Maybe there’ll be light. Maybe this is all one big misunderstanding.”

  Tanya turned onto the street. Streetlights showed a street filled with houses that looked lived in. Cars were parked outside. Lights lit up the windows. Inside people were walking around, sitting, their bodies silhouetted in windows and behind doors. A TV blared from one house, the sound of music spilled out onto the street from another.

  Except for the house. The one behind the Dents looked as deserted tonight as it had this morning. Tanya pulled to a stop in front of it. “We’re like Charlie’s Angels.”

  “With a few more wrinkles,” Grandma Ellie cracked.

  “Wait.” Maxine said. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

  “We’ll just look around,” Tanya said.

  “I’ve got the flashlights,” Grandma Ellie said.

  Maxine felt nauseous and she was pretty sure this was a bad idea with a capital B. She was also aware it was too late to stop it.

  Besides, it would probably turn out to be a false alarm. An example of how over-active imaginations could get out of control. Particularly when fueled with wine.

  They walked up to the doorway together and rang the doorbell.

  “What are we going to do if someone answers?”

  “Tell them we’re the Avon ladies,” Tanya said giggling.

  “Sshh,” Maxine said, trying not to laugh and failing miserably. No answer. She rang the doorbell again. The sound of a doorbell echoed throughout the house. She raised the doorbell knocking it repeatedly. Nothing.

  “Well, with the racket you’re making you could raise the dead. If no one’s answered yet, they’re not answering,” Grandma Ellie said.

  “Yeah. I’ve got an old credit card. Maybe we can pick the lock with that,” Tanya said sticking it in and moving it around while she tried the handle. “This is a lot easier in the movies,” she said. Nada.

  Maxine gave it a try with no better results.

  From somewhere in the house came the sound of a dog barking and then another and another. They looked at each other.

  “I guess someone’s home,” Maxine said shakily.

  “We should split up,” Grandma Ellie said, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Two of us can go one way. One of us the other.”

  Maxine shook her head furiously. “No way. We all stick together.”

  “One for all, All for one,” Tanya said.

  They moved slowly down one side of the house. Maxine tried a window with no luck except for a couple of barks.

  “What if the homeowner is away and they have a couple of guard dogs,” Maxine said.

  “Who’d lock their guard dog in the back of the house,” Grandma Ellie said. “They’d have been at the front door barking.”

  They moved further along. Through the hedge Maxine could see the Dents backyard. From the number of lights on they were home. A shiver ran through her. These were her friends.

  They moved to the back. Maxine tried the door. Tanya pointed to a window, almost hidden by shrubbery and open an inch. She tiptoed over and tried to open it. There was more barking.

  “We have to get in there,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  “Aha,” Grandma Ellie said triumphantly pulling a key out from a planter located beside the back door. She tried the key and the door opened.

  The smell of dogs and urine almost choked Maxine. Beside her Tanya’s face twisted in disgust, eyes watering.

  “Sometimes not being able to smell properly is a blessing,” Grandma Ellie said tartly, turning on the lights. A chorus of barks greeted her.

  Rows of dogs penned up in cages greeted them, all barking furiously. There were labradoodles, Shi Tzu’s and terriers. A dachshund and golden retriever and some breeds Maxine couldn’t name. Tanya dropped down in front of a cage holding a daschund, trembling in fear and eagerness.

  “It’s all right baby,” she crooned. “We’re going to get you out of this.” But the cage was locked. “We have to find the keys,” she said, her eyes tearing up.

  “Who? I mean this can’t be Travis,” Grandma Ellie said. “No teenage boy would come up with this all on his own.”

  “And Travis is a good kid. At least…” Maxine stopped, no longer sure of what to think.

  “Let’s look around,” Maxine said. “Maybe we can spot the keys or figure out what’s going on around here.”

  “Good idea,” Tanya said, but she said it absentmindedly as she tried to reassure the daschund. “It’s OK baby, we’re going to find the keys.”

  “Maybe you should stay here,” Maxine said hesitantly. “If you hear anything or anyone tries to get in let us know.”

  Maxine moved carefully into the next room, keeping Grandma Ellie behind her. It seemed to be a small storage area with bags of dog food and leashes. There had to be keys somewhere.

  She signaled to Gram to follow her up the stairs, not sure what they would find. Her heart beat like a drum. The stairs creaked under their feet, the sound magnified in Maxine’s ears. Behind her she could hear Grandma Ellie breathing hard causing worry to mix with fear. Grandma Ellie should be safe at home, watching Dancing With The Stars or The Bachelor.

  Who was she kidding? Grandma Ellie was more likely to watch CSI or Castle. If they hadn’t brought her she’d probably have snuck in the backseat and hidden.

  At the top of the stairs there was a carpeted hallway with two rooms along the hallway with no sign of people.

  A desk with a computer was in one along with piles of papers and a file cabinet. Maxine itched to explore but Grandma Ellie motioned her to follow. They entered a living room devoid of furniture, moving into a kitchen with dog dishes filling the dishwasher. And keys, Maxine thought triumphantly. A polished mahogany board with places for dozens of keys was mounted on the wall beside the fridge and there were dozens there.

  But were they the right ones? They moved into another room which looked like a den although there was no furniture and a washroom. A roll of toilet paper indicated it was used but there was no shower curtain.

  Empty. Except for the dogs downstairs. Judging by the fine overlay of dust throughout the rooms she’d guess the house had been empty for some time now. But why? There was no sales sign out front and who would leave a house in Oak Bay empty? This was one of the priciest neighborhoods in Victoria.

  “I say we see if these keys open the cages and vamoose,” Grandma Ellie said with no sign of laughter.

  Maxine hesitated with one part wanting to do exactly that and another wanting to check out the computer room. The nosy part won out.

  “You go ahead Gram. I’ll be down in a few minutes. I want to check out that computer room.”

  “Just don’t take too long,” Grandma Ellie said in a whisper.

  “Ten minutes tops,” Maxine said, whispering. Why, she had no clue. There was no one here to hear them. She watched Grandma head towards the stairs and then turned her attention to the computer. She turned it on with no trouble but drew a blank for the password.

  Usually people used their name or the name of a pet but she had no clue who had left the computer. Unless it was Travis but when she typed in 1Travis, 16Travis or any other combination of Travis she could think of
nothing happened. Except the computer booted her out telling her wrong password.

  With mounting frustration she typed in Karin, 1Karin and on a whim, Karin1Envir. The computer began to whir and she found herself staring at pictures of pipelines, of oil… There were notes detailing the times security patrols checked various spots along with instructions on how to cause a leak.

  She went into the documents file quickly spotting files called ‘ransom dogs’ and ‘sale dogs’. Curious she opened that up and saw addresses for labs across the states, dealer addresses under a heading dealers willing to provide false papers and cities particular breeds were popular in across North America. Worse was a list of dog fighters looking for bait dogs.

  Maxine felt sick to her stomach.

  “You,” Karin’s voice snarled at her from behind and she turned to find Karin bringing a huge rock down on her. Without thinking she moved to the side and blocked with her arms causing the rock to go to one side and knocking Karin off balance.

  “Why couldn’t you leave well enough alone,” Karin said as she grabbed at Maxine pulling her down with her. “Why do you have to be so damn nosy!” She grabbed a handful of Maxine’s hair pulling as hard as she could.

  Pain ripped through Maxine. Her eyes watered and it would have been so easy to give in, to let Karin do what she wanted. She pulled her knees up and under Karin and rolled over kicking at her until she had to let go.

  “Bitch,” Karin shouted at her, coming away with a clump of Maxine’s hair. She grabbed at the chair but not before Maxine realized what she was doing. Maxine grabbed hold of the chair legs while kicking out at Karin and knocking her off her feet.

  Karin landed on top of her, biting and scratching. They rolled over with Maxine blocking most of the blows even as she tried to get her off her. But Karin held on tight digging nails in and then trying to bite her.

  Footsteps pounded up the stairs as Maxine tried to bring her arms in under Karin, then use them to force Karin away from her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Maxine was too busy fighting for her life as Karin fought with the strength of a mad woman to notice anything else. Hands came down on Karin’s back, male hands and she was being pulled off but not without managing to scratch and kick at Maxine who curled up in a ball shaking and crying at the same time Karin was handcuffed and led away.

  Patrick sat beside her on the floor telling her she was OK, that everything was all right now. Gradually she stopped shaking and crying allowing Patrick to hold her tight.

  “Is, is Grandma Ellie all right? And Tanya?” she said between tears.

  “They’re going to be just fine,” he said roughly. “They’re both being looked after by paramedics.”

  “I have to see them,” she said, frantic now.

  “And you will,” he said, picking her up and carrying her down the stairs where paramedics were looking after both of them.

  Grandma Ellie had her head wrapped in gauze and was sitting on a stool while another paramedic checked Tanya out. “I think you’ll be fine,” he said. “Just take it easy for a few days.”

  Maxine’s eyes teared up looking at them. She didn’t know what she’d have done if something had happened to either of them.

  Grandma Ellie just laughed. “It’s going to take more than that to kill us.”

  But Karin’s arrest left more questions than answers. The police dismantled the computer and removed all the files.

  “It’s part of an ongoing investigation,” Patrick said, which she found less than helpful.

  They did allow her to call Wendy along with Heather and every other dog lover she could think of to clean up the dogs. Wendy surprised everyone by insisting the dogs be brought over to her house.

  The basement turned into an impromptu dog washing and grooming salon with the dogs being washed thoroughly in a tub with warm soapy water and then toweled dry by volunteers and combed out.

  The dogs responded with barks and tail wags.

  “We’ll have them checked over by a vet tomorrow for tags and start doing what we can to reunite them with their owners. Of course we’ll expect cooperation with the police in testifying against the dognappers.”

  “I’ll be happy to help in any way I can,” Wendy said stopping what she was doing for a minute. “And I’m sure the other pet owners will feel the same way.”

  Wendy was in her glory although she was soaked with water herself and a puff of bubbles had landed over top on ear. “Can we release the dogs to their owners if they know they’re here? I’ve already had several dog owners call.”

  “We do need to make sure we’ve got pictures of them and evidence before they’re released to their owner’s care but I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

  “Oh thank you,” Wendy said with heart felt gratitude. “These dogs are like family to their owners.” She returned to washing dogs.

  Toto was kept busy running back and forth with a steady stream of yips.

  Patrick hugged Maxine tight. “You know some people like to stay home and watch TV, read a book.”

  “And miss all this? Besides I thought you were working tonight,” she said.

  “I was,” he answered but when Grandma Ellie texted me I got here as fast as I could.”

  “So that’s how come there was such a big police response.”

  “That and calling 911,” he said.

  Dressed in jeans and a hoodie he looked more like someone out for a midnight stroll than an undercover agent. She looked at him questioningly. “Are you going to tell me what you’re working on?”

  “When the time is right.”

  Maxine decided not to tell him about the memory sticks she’d stuck in her yoga pants before Karin showed up. For tonight she was just happy to be safe and warm.

  “What will happen to Karin?”

  “I’m not sure but I do know she’s going to be going away for a long time,” Patrick answered.

  “And Travis?”

  “According to George Dent he wasn’t involved in Karin’s schemes. For now he’s going to live with an aunt. We’ll never know for sure but George Dent is claiming he never knew of her continued loyalty to Environment First. He thought it was just something she got caught up in when she was young. He’s already trying to arrange a plea bargain giving Travis immunity for Karin’s full cooperation. Whether Karin will go for it is another matter.”

  Maxine shivered. The Karin she had encountered tonight was so much different than the Karin she had thought she knew. Her eyes had blazed with hate and anger and she’d shown absolutely no remorse . “You’ll see,” she cried. “The ends justify the means. History will prove me right.”

  Maxine was left shivering and not just with the cold. The certainty and fever of Karin’s convictions filled her with fear. But Patrick only laughed.

  “The law will deal with her.” He’d taken Maxine , Grandma Ellie and Tanya home, making sure they were safe before leaving to tie up loose ends.

  Maxine didn’t make it into Au Chocolate until the afternoon the next day and even then she still felt exhausted. Heath had kept everyone on track and was busy finishing a Haunted Halloween cake for a house party when she came in.

  He grinned at her when she arrived. “Sounds like you had quite the night.” The sight of him working away on a cake almost brought her to tears. He was her rock and knowing she had him in her corner made her feel safe.

  Freshly washed hair and skillfully applied make-up didn’t begin to cover the damage of the night before. There were scratches up and down her arms to say nothing of on her back and other places most people would never see. A bruise under her jaw had been partially covered by make-up but it couldn’t hide the swelling while one eye was partially closed. She’d worn dark glasses in the car and walking up the stairs but in the safety of her kitchen she allowed herself to be seen without them.

  She shuddered. “I have absolutely no skill in judging people,” she declared dramatically.’

  “Harsh,” Heath said bri
nging her a coffee. “None of us figured Karin Dent as an eco terrorist either.”

  “But I kept going over and talking to her. She must have been laughing her head off.”

  “Given your track record she was more likely shaking in her boots. Now that she’s been put away and the dogs are being returned to their owners everything’s back to normal?”

  “I don’t know about that,” she said pulling out the memory stick. “There’s still a lot of unanswered questions.”

  “And you don’t think the police, as in Patrick might be the ones to answer them?”

  “I think I want to know what’s on this memory stick she said going over to the computer and sticking it in.

  The memory stick yielded lists of people and places. Targets by the looks of it. Maxine felt sick to her stomach. She’d wanted to know how Travis was involved and if Zak’s death had been an accident or something more sinister.

  “It doesn’t even make sense,” she said in horror. “Any one of these will cause environmental disaster.”

  “And stir up public opinion,” Heath pointed out. “The end justifies the means. At least that’s what these guys would say.”

  She called Patrick and he made it to the shop in twenty minutes. “We know most of it all ready,” he said after looking at the memory stick. “We’ll just add this to the evidence.”

  “So you’ve already got people working on this?”

  He gave her a crooked grin. “What do you think I’ve been working on for the last month?”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “So, what about Zak?”

  “Karin was angry at him because AZK developments weren’t willing to back down in developing Eagle Ridge. She wanted to scare him and she used Travis’s drone. She had it rigged so that she could take it apart and hide it under her Mother Earth costume. Travis guessed but what was he going to say? It was his mother.”

  “How horrible.”

  “Yeah, she’s not exactly going to be winning Mother of the Year. But I really don’t think she meant to kill Zak. Just scare him.”

  “And the dognapping?”

  “It was a cash grab. There were dogs from all over BC. They were using the house behind the Dent’s because Karin had agreed to look after it for the owners. They were going to be over in Europe for a couple of years.”