A Criminal Celebration in Hillbilly Hollow

by Blythe Baker

  “So you believe he’s harmless?” I asked, needing to hear her clarify it.

  “In my opinion. He was never the villain he was made out to be. I hope that’s put your mind at rest, Emma,” Margene said.

  “It has. Thank you, Margene. I have to ask for one more favor, though,” I said.

  “Go on,” Margene urged me.

  “Please don’t tell my grandma I called you. She’ll only worry if she thinks I’m worried, and you know how she gets. She’d never believe I’m not upset, and I don’t want this to spoil the wedding for her.”

  “Don’t worry, dear. I completely understand,” Margene said. “My lips are sealed.”

  I seriously doubted that was true, but Margene and my grandma were good friends, and I knew that as much as Margene enjoyed a good gossip, she would leave my name out of it as she wouldn’t want to upset my grandma. She would just talk, not mentioning any names, and my grandma would soak all the gossip up, never bothering to question its source.

  I thanked Margene again and hung up the call. It was starting to look more likely that Doris Young was my chief suspect. I wasn’t quite ready to rule Derrick out altogether just yet, but Margene had defended him and she was usually a good judge of character.

  6

  I was filled with nervous energy again, but this time, there was no excitement. I wasn’t nervous about the wedding, at least not for now. No, I was nervous about the wedding planner, or more accurately, her death and who had caused it.

  As much as I had liked Doris Young, it was looking more and more likely that she was the culprit. A couple of thousand dollars, Summer getting one over on her, Summer’s attitude towards her... It all added up to a good motive, a simmering resentment that had finally come to the surface and boiled over. It seemed to make more sense than Derrick as a suspect. I had to know more, though. I had to be sure before I could call Tucker and tell him who had killed Summer and why. And as of yet, all I had was an assumption. I needed concrete proof.

  But where was I meant to find that? I knew I could call Doris and ask to go down to Flower Power under the pretence that I wanted to see something or ask something. I would have to be super careful, however. If Doris suspected I was on to her, what was to stop her killing me? And I’d already given her a head’s up that I wasn’t above lying about wanting to see something if there was something to gain from it. I cursed myself for asking to see a bouquet similar in size to mine the other day, just to get rid of the moment of awkwardness between Doris and Summer. It would have been an ideal cover story for now, the perfect way to get into the back of the store and potentially be left alone to dig around for clues.

  There was another option, of course. It wasn’t one I relished the thought of, but I knew it could be the difference between me finding some evidence to back up my theory or not finding anything at all. And until I knew for sure, I really couldn’t rule Derrick, or indeed half of Hillbilly Hollow, out of this.

  With a sigh, I closed my laptop and headed for the stairs. Trailed by Snowball, I went to the kitchen, where the little goat instantly ran for one of my grandma’s tea towels. My grandma saw her coming and moved the towel from her reach, laughing at her indignant bleat.

  “I have to go out for awhile. I won’t be long,” I said.

  “You’re getting involved again, aren’t you?” Grandma asked.

  I raised an eyebrow. How did she know?

  “Margene called,” Grandma said. She laughed at my expression. “Oh, don’t worry, she kept your secret. She just said she’d heard that Summer had been killed and then launched into a long discussion about who it could have been. I didn’t put it together at first, but now you’re rushing off somewhere in such a hurry that you’ve forgotten you don’t have any shoes on. And after you told me you had a lot of work to get through? I can put two and two together, you know.”

  I looked down at my feet and saw that Grandma was right. I had indeed forgotten to put my shoes on. I knew there was no point in trying to deny it now, so I nodded sheepishly.

  Grandma sighed. “I’m not going to try to tell you to stay out of it, Emma, because I know you won’t. But I am going to ask two things of you. Firstly, please be careful. I’ve lost count of the times you’ve almost been killed because of one of these investigations.”

  “I’ll be careful,” I promised. “I’m only going to see Autumn. I’m not going after anyone dangerous. At least, not yet.”

  Grandma raised her eyebrow at the last part, but she made no comment.

  “The second thing is not to let this take over. You’re two days away from your wedding, Emma. You’re meant to be enjoying this time. Don’t let this whole thing ruin your wedding day for you and Billy, okay? I know it’s only one day, and you’re starting a life together based on more than that, but it’s a day you’ll both remember forever, and I want you to remember it for the right reasons.”

  “I promise you this won’t ruin the wedding. I won’t let it,” I said. “I want so badly for our day to be perfect.”

  “Off you go, then. I can see you’re dying to,” Grandma said.

  I smiled my thanks at her and said goodbye. I was almost at the front door when she ran out of the kitchen behind me.

  “Emma?” she said.

  I turned back reluctantly, already dreading this part. The part where she begged me not to go and I had to go anyway.

  “Your shoes.” She smiled.

  I was relieved she wasn’t trying to talk me out of it, and annoyed at myself for forgetting my shoes yet again.

  “Thanks Grandma. I swear this wedding planning has got me a mess. Imagine what I would have been like if Billy and I had tried to do all of this alone.”

  “I dread to think.” Grandma laughed.

  I ran up to the attic and pushed my feet into my sneakers. Then I hurried back down the stairs and straight out the front door before I could change my mind or get called back for anything else.

  I jumped in the truck, put it into drive and headed out for Summer’s office building. Now I just had to hope that Autumn was there. And that she was willing to let me poke around in her dead sister’s things. I felt bad for disturbing Autumn at this time, but it was Summer herself who had pushed me to get involved. It wasn’t like I was just being nosey.

  I pushed on the door to Summer’s office unit and smiled to myself when it opened. At least one thing had gone right today. Stepping inside, I closed the door quietly behind me. The place began with a small lobby with a desk and chair for a receptionist and two small chairs and a coffee table adorned with bridal magazines. I presumed it was a waiting area. Judging by the empty feel to the place, Summer and now Autumn didn’t bank on receiving many visitors here. Now I thought about it, I had never been here. We always met at the farm, or at Billy’s house or at one venue or another.

  No one manned the desk and no one appeared to be coming from anywhere to see who I was or why I was here. Maybe I wouldn’t even have to disturb Autumn. Maybe I could just sneak into Summer’s office myself and have a look around. If I found something, then surely Autumn would just be grateful that I had helped to solve her sister’s murder. And if I didn’t, well she would never have to know I had even been here.

  I wondered briefly if Tucker had already been here and searched Summer’s office, but I dismissed the idea. He wouldn’t have thought to come to this place. He would no doubt have searched her house, but knowing Summer and how her business was her life, I suspected anything of significance would be right here on her business premises.

  I looked around quickly. A fire exit stood to my left and a passageway snaked off to my right. Wherever Summer’s private office was, it had to be down that passageway. I began to walk along it, staying as silent as I could. The doors were solid, no glass, which made me happy. There was no risk of Autumn or whoever was here glancing up from their desk at the wrong moment and spotting me creeping past.

  I moved quickly, passing a door marked Autumn Martin. I practically held my bre
ath as I made my way past. The door opposite it read Supplies. A few more bore no name plates. The one at the end bore the name I was looking for. Summer Martin. I reached out, preparing to open the door. As my hand touched the handle, I heard a noise behind me and I turned to find Autumn standing there, an eyebrow raised. She held herself tall, and for the first time since I had met her, she looked confident.

  “And what exactly do you think you’re doing going in there?” she asked, her voice low and menacing.

  I had two choices. I could be honest with her and hope she took pity on me and wanted her sister’s murder solved. Or I could lie. There was only one problem with my second plan. In the moment, caught out like that, I couldn’t think of any lie that was even vaguely convincing.

  As I tried to decide what to say, I noticed a change in Autumn. Her shoulders slumped, her posture returning to normal. She sighed loudly and when she spoke again, there was no menace in her tone, only a deflated acceptance.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I know why you’re here. You only pretended you were going to let me take over your wedding planning on the phone because you were too polite to say no. So you sneaked over here to steal your file and check up on me, didn’t you? Were you planning on firing me straight away or would you at least have waited until I actually deserved it?”

  I felt awful looking at Autumn’s face. She wore an expression that said she had been expecting this. She had really left me no choice here. I had to tell her the truth. It was bad enough that she had lost her sister. I didn’t want her to think she might lose her business as well. Not because of me.

  “I can explain,” I said.

  Autumn shrugged. “You don’t need to explain. I’m no Summer, I get that. But I need you to know I’m not useless, Emma. I’m just quieter than Summer, but my way works as well as hers, maybe more so because none of the vendors hate me.”

  She went quiet, aware of what she’d said. I made no comment on it and she went on.

  “You can have your file. I just wish you had been honest with me. You won’t find the file in there, though.”

  “Listen to me, Autumn. I’m not firing you. Assuming you still want to work with me after what I’m about to tell you,” I said. “Can we go into your office to talk about this?”

  “Sure,” Autumn said, looking curious.

  At least she was willing to hear me out. That was something. She turned and went into her office. I followed her, shutting the door behind me. She motioned for me to sit down. I took the chair she indicated and took a deep breath. Then I told her the truth.

  “What I’m about to say stays in this room,” I started.

  Autumn nodded her understanding.

  “I don’t know how well you know Sheriff Tucker, but …”

  “I’ve known him for years,” Autumn interrupted me.

  “So you’ll know he’s a nice person but he....struggles a bit in his job, yes?”

  She smiled a little and nodded again. “That’s true but he tries, doesn’t he? Like he genuinely cares about the people in Hillbilly Hollow,” she said.

  “Oh yes, that he does. But his strong point isn’t as a detective. In the past, I’ve found myself being kind of an amateur sleuth and helping to nudge the police in the right direction. Summer was good to me, and... I don’t know. I just kind of feel like I owe her one. I wasn’t going into her office for my file. I was going in there to see if I could find any clues at all to the identity of her murderer.”

  “Wow,” Autumn breathed. “I have to admit I didn’t see that one coming. Are you serious?”

  I nodded.

  “Tell me the truth, Emma, because your file really is in here.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. I would have asked your permission, but I know her death is still so fresh and I didn’t want to upset you when it could be for nothing. I figured if I didn’t find anything, then you wouldn’t have to be reminded of what had happened.”

  I was telling the truth. Or almost the truth. I wasn’t about to explain that her sister’s ghost had threatened to ruin my honeymoon if I didn’t find her killer. That would be the point where Autumn either thought I was crazy or lying to her.

  As if reading my mind, she said, “How can I forget her death? I feel like her ghost is here watching me. Does that sound crazy?”

  Not to me. How could it?

  I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I think it’s normal to feel like someone is still watching over you, even if you think they’re only watching to make sure you don’t mess anything up.”

  She smiled at the last part and shook her head. “Okay. So here’s the thing. I can’t bring myself to go into Summer’s office so soon. Luckily the files are kept in a common area so I haven’t had to go in to get anyone’s information yet. But I don’t mind if you do.”

  “You’re sure?” I checked.

  “I’m sure,” she confirmed. “Hey if you can solve this thing, then who am I to stop you?”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

  I left her office and walked back along the hallway to Summer’s office. I felt nervous suddenly, like I was invading Summer’s privacy by going into her office alone. I reminded myself once more that this investigation was being done at her request, as I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  The office was exactly what I would have expected from Summer, immaculate and modern looking. Nothing sat on her desk except for a computer. The books on the shelves that lined the far wall were organized alphabetically. Everything about the office screamed efficiency.

  As I looked across the titles on the bookshelf, my mind went back to Autumn. She had been helpful, but she was almost too helpful. I wondered if there was anything suspicious in that. After all, she had every motive to kill Summer. Summer always treated her badly, perhaps worse than she treated any of her contacts, and it would have been incessant for Autumn, who had to be around her all day every day.

  But then I shook my head. Could someone really be too helpful when it came to something like this? Maybe she was being helpful because she really thought I could solve this murder. She knew Tucker. That meant she had to know that I was her best shot at solving this, even if she didn’t know my reputation, which she didn’t seem to.

  I moved away from the book shelf. Nothing looked to be out of place and I didn’t want to waste my time looking through the wrong space. I knew where I should be searching, I was just reluctant to poke through Summer’s personal correspondence. I told myself I was just being silly and made my way over to her desk.

  I sat down in the chair and opened the top drawer. Rifling through the papers there, I found that they were all invoices and receipts. The next drawer down held stationery supplies and business cards, both hers and ones for contacts she had picked up along the way, all held together in a sleek organizer. I didn’t bother checking, but I would have been willing to bet every cent I had that they too were alphabetized.

  The bottom drawer was empty except for a few sheets of paper. The logo on the letterhead was Flower Power’s logo and I took them to be more invoices. I started to shut the drawer, but a voice in the back of my mind whispered to me, asking if I really thought Summer was the type to not have all of her invoices together.

  Maybe this was the invoice for the job Summer had swindled Doris on, the one Margene had told me about? It wouldn’t be concrete proof of anything, but it could be useful to at least see it.

  I lifted the papers out and began to flick through them. My eyebrows rose as I read each of the three sheets. They were all threatening letters from Doris to Summer, claiming that one day Doris would have her revenge. The notes said that Summer had better watch her back or she could find herself coming to a bad end.

  My heart hammered in my chest. This could be it. This could be the evidence that Doris was guilty of Summer’s murder. It wasn’t enough to go on alone, but it was definitely compelling proof of Doris’s total hatred for Summer, more compelling than town go
ssip ever could be. And it was solid, something tangible that showed Doris had a motive for the murder. Now if I could just find one more thing to tie Doris directly to the killing this could well be over.

  I wondered for a moment how I could find more on Doris. I should probably hand these letters over to Tucker and wash my hands of this, but Tucker would say what I already knew; sending someone a threatening letter and actually murdering them weren’t the same thing. No, I needed more.

  I had to find a way to get into Doris’s home and search it while she was at work. Then maybe I could find the incriminating tool she had used to cut the brake lines. Or I might find a manual or something detailing how to do it. I didn’t know exactly what the proof would be, but I had to find something.

  I also knew it would likely have to wait until Billy and I came back from our honeymoon. The shop would be closed for the day now, and I certainly didn’t want to interrupt Doris tomorrow. She would be working on our wedding flowers.

  As much as it pained me to admit I would put this off to get my flowers, I would. There was no way I could get another florist on such notice, and I didn’t think for a second Doris was dangerous to any of my guests. It wasn’t like she would be at the wedding itself like Derrick.

  I slipped the notes into my pocket and left Summer’s office. I tapped on Autumn’s door on the way past.

  “Come in,” she called.

  I pushed the door open.

  “I’m just letting you know I’m leaving,” I said.

  “Okay,” she agreed. “Now stop worrying about this and get some rest before your big day.”

  I nodded. She looked away and then back up at me.

  “Did … did you find anything?” she asked.

  “Nothing I can use on its own, but maybe something that will point me in the right direction. That’s really all I can say right now,” I said awkwardly.