Sweet Fire and Stone (A Sweet Cove Cozy Mystery Book 7)

by J A Whiting

  Ellie straightened. “No. He’s still a guest here, but I’ve barely seen him. He used to follow me around like a shadow, but now I barely run into him. He doesn’t take breakfast in the mornings anymore and he seems to be gone most of the day.”

  Angie’s face clouded. “I just remembered. I have a hair appointment with Gloria tomorrow. Maybe I’ll cancel it.”

  “I think you should go.” Chief Martin looked pensive. “There will be plenty of people around. She doesn’t know that you suspect her. Have a chat. Maybe something will slip out.”

  “I’m going to go with you.” Ellie pushed her hair over her shoulder. “I need a trim.”

  Angie made eye contact with Ellie and cocked her head. Ellie usually wanted to stay far away from trouble of any kind. “Why do you want to go?”

  “I told you, I need a trim.” Ellie made a face. “I don’t really know why. I just know I’m going with you.” She turned her hands up in a helpless gesture.

  The cats trilled their approval.

  Everyone stared at Ellie, but no one said a word. They weren’t about to question someone’s intuition, at least not the intuition of someone in this family.

  17

  Angie opened the back door of the house to walk around the garden while she was waiting for Ellie to get ready to go to the hair salon. She spotted Professor Tyler standing near the fire pit looking up into the oak tree. He had a scowl on his face.

  Angie watched him for a few moments before stepping out and saying hello.

  The Professor startled momentarily. “Oh hello, Angie. It’s a nice morning. I thought I’d get some air before heading off to the library.”

  “How is your research going?”

  “Slow, but that’s often the case.” He gestured to the fire pit. “Do you use this often?”

  “Pretty often. This weekend, we’re planning to have drinks and desserts out here around the fire. Ellie likes to do that every weekend in October to celebrate the season. She’ll let all the guests know which day and time.”

  “Very nice.” The man seemed distracted. His eyes flicked about the yard and at the carriage house. “The yard is lovely.”

  “Ellie handles the landscaping and flowers. She does a nice job with the fall decorations.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” The Professor nodded. “This is the first time I’ve been out here.”

  Euclid was inside near the back door. He howled to be let out. When Angie didn’t respond, he let out a loud hiss.

  “What’s wrong with the cat?”

  Angie was about to say that Euclid tended to get fussy when he didn’t get his way, but she stopped herself as a little shiver ran along her spine. She eyed Professor Tyler and took Euclid’s cue. “You haven’t been out here before? Didn’t I see you walking around in the garden just the other day?” Angie lied.

  Professor Tyler blinked. He opened his mouth and then shut it. He gave Angie a smile. “Oh, right. I forgot.” He shook his head. “I’ve been very distracted with my work lately.”

  Euclid howled again.

  “Did you notice the mistletoe in the tree?” Angie used a conversational tone.

  “What? You have mistletoe?” A cool breeze hit the two of them and the professor tucked the ends of his scarf inside his coat.

  Angie pushed her hair out of her eyes and pointed up at the oak tree branches.

  “Well, look at that.” The professor took a few steps towards the driveway. “It’s invasive you know. It will kill the oak tree if you don’t get rid of it. It happens quickly and then it’s too late. You should have it removed.” He strode away. “Must get to the library. See you later.”

  Angie watched him go wondering how so many people knew so much about mistletoe. She went inside the house through the back door. Euclid sat there, his eyes intent, his plume swishing across the floor, back and forth.

  “Thanks for alerting me to the professor’s lie.” Angie nodded to the cat. “I’ll keep my eye on him.” Euclid, satisfied with her response, trilled, turned, and walked through the kitchen to the hall just as Ellie came into the room.

  “I’m ready.” Ellie lifted her jacket from the wall hook. “I thought I heard Euclid fussing down here.”

  “He doesn’t like Professor Tyler.”

  Ellie stopped in the middle of zipping her jacket. “No?”

  “Who knows why?” Angie shrugged. “But it won’t hurt to be watchful when he’s around.”

  * * *

  “KEEP ALERT. See what you can pick up on when we go in. Watch Gloria. See if you notice anything suspicious.” Angie eyed Ellie and she nodded as they opened the salon doors and stepped inside.

  Angie was escorted to the chair in front of the big wall mirror and as soon as she was seated, Gloria bustled over and covered the young woman with a dark blue cape. Gloria ran a comb though Angie’s hair. “Gorgeous color. You are one lucky duck to have such natural, lovely hair tones.”

  The hair stylist was looking fashionably professional as usual. She had on black slacks, a pressed white blouse, and an unstructured black and white v-neck sweater. Her makeup was perfect and her hair nicely styled.

  “Just a shaping?” Gloria reached for her scissors and chatted away with Angie.

  Ellie sat two chairs down the aisle. She was making conversation with the stylist doing her hair, but she was listening intently to her sister’s chat with Gloria.

  “Any news on the fires?” Angie asked.

  “Lots of speculation. No answers.” Gloria snipped the ends off Angie’s hair. “No arrests.”

  “The house is a total loss I hear.”

  “What a shame. It’ll be knocked down. Such a waste.”

  “Do you know the new people who moved in recently next to the burned house?” Angie watched Gloria’s face in the mirror.

  “I didn’t even know that house was a rental.” Gloria lifted a lock of Angie’s hair and cut a half inch off. “I wonder if the new neighbors are worried. Not the best way to be welcomed to a new neighborhood.”

  Angie agreed. “It’s such a busy season in town, lots of people buzzing about. The B and B is full. We have a couple of interesting guests. A professor is staying with us. He’s written books on the Salem Witch Trials.”

  “Such a fascinating topic.”

  “The other interesting guest is quite secretive about what he does for a living. Courtney is sure he works for the government in some secret job.”

  “He doesn’t let on about his occupation?” Gloria seemed intrigued.

  “No and he claims that he doesn’t have a permanent address because he moves around all the time.” Angie’s eyes didn’t leave the woman’s face. “The name he gave us is actually the name of a long-dead painter.”

  Gloria’s eyes widened. “Interesting. It must be coincidence that he has the same name.”

  “Or he’s lying.”

  “Why would he lie?”

  Angie said, “He might be a government spy or something.”

  Gloria chuckled. “Then he must be quite bored being in Sweet Cove unless he’s investigating scarecrows being set on fire.”

  “That was a sight, wasn’t it?” Angie tried to catch Gloria off guard.

  “I’ll say. It lit up the whole common.” Gloria reached for a different pair of scissors.

  Angie’s throat tightened at the woman’s answer. Gloria had told Angie when they’d met at the house fire that she’d been in the next town on the night the five scarecrows were set up and she hadn’t seen the fire on the common.

  Angie asked a question before Gloria could realize her mistake. “Someone said they saw our secretive odd guest coming out of this salon. Do you know him? He says his name is Walter Withers.”

  Something fleeting flickered over the hair stylist’s face and then she recovered. “Really? I don’t recall anyone with that name.”

  Angie’s heart sank. Until now, she’d never wanted to consider Gloria as a suspect. “Have you been back to look at the house that burned down?”
/>
  Gloria waved the scissors in the air. “Oh, no. I don’t want to gawk at someone else’s misfortune. It seems like courting bad luck.”

  Looking at the woman in the mirror, Angie gave an agreeing nod. After giving me all these fictional answers, you must be headed for a heap of bad luck. All Angie wanted was to get out of that salon and get as far away from Gloria as she could.

  Ellie came up beside her sister and the stylist. “I’m done. I just wanted my bangs cut.” She eyed Gloria suspiciously.

  Gloria smiled at Ellie. “Your bangs look nice.” The woman’s eyes traveled to the hollow of Ellie’s neck. The cabochon on the necklace that belonged to the girls’ mother rested just below Ellie’s collar bone.

  For a few seconds, the stylist’s eyes locked onto the necklace. “So pretty. Is it new?”

  The intensity of Gloria’s gaze startled Ellie and she took a step back. She stammered, “I’ve had it for a while.”

  “What kind of stone is it?”

  Ellie’s hand went to the cabochon. “I’m not sure.” Something about Gloria’s interest felt off and Ellie didn’t want to give her any information about the necklace. “We need to get back to the house. I’ll wait for you at the front desk,” she told Angie.

  * * *

  WALKING BACK through town, the girls discussed Gloria’s lies and seemingly strong interest in Ellie’s necklace.

  “It was weird.” Ellie kept reaching to her neck to touch the stone. “She wouldn’t take her eyes off my necklace.”

  “She admitted to me that she was at the common fire. The other night she told me she hadn’t been on the common.”

  “She must have been the person I saw in the long coat.” Ellie shivered. “What’s she up to?”

  “Gloria lied about knowing Walter Withers, too.” Angie’s jaw was set from her anger and disappointment. She felt betrayed. “I asked if she’d been back to Greenhill Road … if she’d seen the burned house again. She said no, but she was there last night.”

  “Does she want to hurt us?” Ellie didn’t wait for a response. “Why does she want to hurt us?”

  Angie stopped and faced her sister. “Why was she staring at your necklace?”

  “I felt weird when she was looking at it.” Ellie protectively placed her hand over the stone at her neck.

  “Last night you felt like you had to come to the salon with me today, but you didn’t know why. It must be because we needed to notice Gloria’s interest in the necklace. The necklace must be a clue.” Zings of electricity thrummed through Angie’s body. “Put your collar up. Cover it over.” She glanced around to see if anyone was watching them and then she put her hand through Ellie’s arm. They hurried down Main Street.

  “Gloria lied about everything.” Ellie’s voice shook.

  Angie thought of Professor Tyler’s lie to her that morning about never being in the back garden before. Euclid knew the man had been in the yard previously. Angie’s eyes narrowed. “Gloria’s not the only one lying to us. We need to find out what’s going on.”

  18

  When Angie and Ellie got home they busied themselves in the kitchen making vegan macaroni and cheese and a pasta Alfredo with lemon asparagus. Angie put together a garden salad and some garlic bread to go with the pasta dishes and there were small glasses of coconut ice cream with chocolate shavings and small butter cookies for dessert. When the others arrived home for dinner, they carried the food into the family room where they could speak freely and not be interrupted by B and B guests.

  “This is delicious.” Courtney got up from the easy chair and took a second helping from the serving dishes on the side table. “I was starving.”

  Euclid and Circe ate a bit of macaroni and cheese from their saucers.

  Angie and Ellie told the family what had happened in Gloria’s hair salon. “I’m really disgusted with Gloria,” Ellie said. “I always thought she was good. Can no one be trusted?”

  “I’m confused though.” Courtney held her fork in the air. “Why haven’t we picked up some bad feelings when we’ve been around Gloria? We all get our hair cut there. How could she hide her badness and ill-intentions from us for so long? Not one of us has ever picked up anything when we’re in the salon.”

  “Why is she lying to us?” Ellie scowled. “Why is she sneaking around the Crosswort house with Walter Withers?”

  No one had an answer.

  “And I caught her off guard.” Angie sipped from her tea mug. “She told me before she wasn’t in Sweet Cove the night of the scarecrow fires, but today she mentioned something about how the common looked when the fire was burning. She didn’t catch her mistake.”

  Ellie unconsciously moved her hand to the white stone around her neck. “And the way she looked at my necklace. It was unnerving.”

  “Gloria loves jewelry though.” Jenna balanced her dinner plate on her knees. “She comes into my shop a lot. She always buys a few pieces when she comes in. Maybe the necklace just caught her eye. Maybe there isn’t anything sinister or peculiar about her interest in Ellie’s necklace.”

  Ellie considered Jenna’s comments and then she scrunched up her nose. “But it didn’t feel right.”

  “I think we need to respect your sense of intuition.” Mr. Finch said. “I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt, but not in this case. That woman is up to something and it involves us.”

  Nervous energy caused Ellie to shift around in her seat. “Why did we all dream of the mistletoe the other night?” Her voice seemed to go up an octave. “Why was my face reflected in it? What does it mean?”

  Angie looked over at Finch. “You went to the library the other day to research mistletoe. What did you find out?”

  “I didn’t end up at the library after all. I took a detour.” Finch smiled. “I decided to speak to a horticulturalist.”

  “Did you visit the florist shop?” Angie questioned.

  “No.” Circe perched on the arm of the chair that Mr. Finch was sitting in and he held a small piece of macaroni in his hand so that the black cat could nibble it. “I went to see Miss Betty.”

  “Oh, right.” Courtney sat up with interest. “I forgot Betty has a small greenhouse behind her house. She knows all about flowers and plants.”

  “I had a most interesting chat with her over lunch.” Finch patted the velvet fur of the cat. “She is a wealth of knowledge.”

  “What did you learn?” Jenna was eager to hear.

  “Many of the same things that Rufus told us. The history, the cultures that held the plant in high esteem, the legends about it. Fascinating, really. Miss Betty has quite a nice library on horticulture. We spent time looking things up in her books.”

  “You found the things that Rufus told us?” Angie asked.

  “Yes. Mistletoe has been thought to have many magical properties. The belief that kissing someone under the plant will lead to a long and happy life together is held by many cultures all over the world. The white berries contain powerful magic and can light the way when someone is lost. The plant is supposed to have the power to open all locks.” Finch raised an eyebrow. “And it protects against fires.”

  “Huh.” Courtney blinked. “That must be why it shows up each time there’s a fire.”

  “It’s not protecting against fires very well, is it?” Ellie sniffed. “We’ve had two fires in town in a couple of days.”

  Courtney cocked her head. “Well, maybe the plant is protecting. Maybe without it, those fires would have gone out of control, burned other things down, too.”

  “Good point.” Angie had her index finger resting against her cheek. “Chief Martin told me that the fire at the Greenhill Road house went out of control in an oddly fast way. The fire chief thought it strange that no one noticed the fire or called it in until it was out of control.” Something else came into Angie’s mind. “And what about the electrical disturbance that caused the security tapes from businesses around the common to go all snowy right at the time someone would have been p
utting the scarecrows up and starting the fire?” Angie took a deep breath. “There seems to be some paranormal influence at work.”

  “I think you’re right, Miss Angie.” Finch furrowed his brow. “I think when I sensed the danger coming for us the other day, it felt more powerful because of the paranormal element involved.”

  “Oh, this is just great.” Ellie stood up and started pacing. “What are we going to do?”

  Courtney said, “I think we need to chat with Walter Withers some more. See if we can sense anything from him. Try to get an inkling of what he might be up to.”

  “I also think we need to pay attention to Professor Tyler. I’ve enjoyed talking with him. I thought he was a nice man.” Angie bit her lower lip. “But he lied to me today. He said that this morning was the first time he’d been in the back garden, but Euclid knew he was lying.”

  “And we can add to all these happenings the fact that someone broke into Tom’s and my house. It must all be related.” Jenna shook her head. “So much deception going on. Why? What’s the reason?”

  “It’s like the squares of a quilt.” Ellie stared out the window into the dark yard. “You can only see the whole pattern once the pieces are stitched together.”

  “Then we’d better start stitching,” Courtney said. She glanced down at Euclid who was squished in the chair with her. “Because I get the feeling we need to figure this out pretty darned soon.”

  Euclid trilled his agreement.

  * * *

  ANGIE WOKE with a start and sat up, disoriented. She was aware that she’d had a nightmare, but she couldn’t recall any of the details. It was like someone took an eraser and rubbed the dream out her memory. She leaned back against the pillows and tried to recall the images and how they’d made her feel.

  After a minute passed, she was still unable to remember any part of her dream, but she could feel her tension draining away as she rested there breathing slowly in and out. She turned her head to the window and could see stars high in the night sky. Her eyelids felt heavy and in a few moments they shut as she drifted off to sleep.