Head in the game, Ruby. You’ve got sales to make and a life to enjoy in Carmel Springs.
The customers arrived in drips and drabs at first, but the crowd of folks seeking out their morning sugar rush soon swelled around the front of the food truck.
Coffees, cupcakes, and treats were served, money was tendered, and people left happy. The ebb and flow of food and customers was interrupted by a shrill screech. And then another. And another.
The cries hadn’t come from the gulls now gathering near the benches, but from the people nearest them.
“What’s going on?” a man called out.
Another shriek rent the air, and then the crowd parted enough to give me a brief glimpse of the water and the beach.
My heart fluttered.
“Not again,” I whispered.
“What is it?” Bee nudged closer, holding a customer’s half-filled coffee cup. Not that it mattered. Just about everyone had turned from the truck to stare at the beach.
“It’s a body,” I said. “Another dead body.”
And indeed, on the pale sand lay the corpse of… a vampire.
5
“Everyone stay back. Stay back! This is officially a crime scene.” Detective Jones stood where the overlook petered off into the long sandy trail that led to the beach.
The police had already set up a line to cordon off the area, and the body had been shielded from view. Naturally, the crowd of onlookers around the food truck had doubled—news traveled fast in Carmel Springs.
Another murder. And on the beach right in front of our truck.
“He can’t pin it on us this time,” Bee said, placing a hand on my back. “Don’t worry, Rubes.”
“I know, but still.” I gave her a look, my face cold likely because I’d gone pale. “Another murder. Here. And we witnessed it again.”
“We didn’t technically witness it.” Bee sighed and walked to the coffee pots. She poured steamy, life-giving liquid into two cups and brought them over. “Look on the bright side. At least this time they weren’t killed with your marzipan.”
I shuddered at the thought—in the short while we’d been in town, we’d had our fair share of brushes with murder. “I wonder who it is. How terrible.”
“Really unfortunate, isn’t it?”
“I feel bad for the people in this town. They can’t catch a break.”
Bee snorted. “It’s got me thinking … just what kind of murder town did we come to?”
I pinched Bee’s elbow. “Things happen. It’s not like the town is inherently evil.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s cursed.”
“Maybe you’ve been reading too many spooky stories.” I’d caught her asleep in an armchair in her suite, a spooky horror book propped open on her chest.
“It’s Halloween,” Bee whispered. “I’m allowed to enjoy a little pulse-pounding fiction.”
“Except you’ve got dark circles under your eyes,” I said. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m just worried about you. You’re my star baker and my friend. I hate seeing you tired and cranky.”
Bee’s frown broke, and she offered me her signature gap-toothed grin instead. “Fine. You wore me down. I’ll cut back on the scary stories, but that doesn’t change things.”
“What do you mean?”
Bee nodded to Detective Jones who stood with his fists on his hips, talking to one of the bystanders—one of our customers who held a Bite-sized Bakery Box in trembling fingers.
“I get the feeling that Jones is going to find a way to pin this on us,” Bee said.
“Impossible. This time, we weren’t anywhere near the body.” I paused, rolling the cardboard coffee cup holder against my palms. “I can’t stop wondering who it is. The victim, I mean.”
“I might have an answer for you.” Gray-haired Millie, the editor of the local paper, appeared. She’d opted for a butterfly costume today, complete with multicolored wings that wobbled as she moved. One of them struck a customer, who yelped and side-stepped as if Millie was about to pounce. “Sorry, dear. Ooh, everyone’s so jumpy.”
“I can’t imagine why,” Bee said.
“You have a smart mouth, dear, and thankfully, a smart brain to go with it,” Millie replied. “You mentioned the death? What did you see?”
I broke it down for her—there hadn’t been much time to witness anything. There was the scream, the body, and the cloak.
“A Halloween costume,” Millie said.
“Assuming, of course, it’s not a real vampire we’re dealing with here.”
“Bee, I told you, you’re reading too many of those spooky stories.”
Millie leaned one arm on the countertop, her wing bobbling behind her. “Now, there were several vampires roaming around last night, but I have it on good information that one of them went missing in the early hours of the morning.”
“Oh?” My eyebrows arched.
“Theresa Michaud,” Millie whispered. “I was up late last night, helping the Cleaning Committee sort out the stalls after yesterday’s debauchery, as well as managing the ambulance calls.”
“Ambulance calls?” I asked.
“Oh, Detective Martin passed out from heatstroke,” she replied, waving a hand like it wasn’t of any consequence. “But while I was there, I heard one of the wives of the on-duty police officers complaining that she had to clean up by herself. Apparently, he was meant to come help her out but couldn’t because a missing person’s case had just been filed for Theresa Michaud.”
“I thought you had to wait a day or something before you reported someone missing. We saw Theresa yesterday morning.”
“Oh no,” Millie said, waving again, “that’s just what Hollywood wants you to think. You can report someone missing right away, especially if they went missing under suspicious circumstances. So, I think we’ll find that the body of the vampire is, in fact, the body of Ms. Michaud.”
“Wait a second,” Bee said. “That’s the same Theresa who Sam told us was in the midst of a non-range war with the clown from last night, Franny. They had a fight over the cookie yesterday morning, right?”
“That’s my best guess.” Already, the cogs whirred in my mind.
Theresa, the vampire, had been fighting with Franny, the clown. It was easier to categorize them as costumes in my mind since I wasn’t exactly best friends with either of the women. Bottom line was they had been sworn enemies according to the local gossip mill, and who better as a prime suspect but the sworn enemy of the victim?
And last night, there had been an argument between Franny and one of Theresa’s relations, her brother.
“Uh oh,” Bee said, as she poured another cup of coffee and handed it over to Millie. “Looks like Ruby’s getting in the zone.”
“Thinking of following the trail?” Millie asked. “Heaven knows, the more you hinder Jones, the happier we all are. The minute he solves a case, he becomes insufferable. Wants to run for the office of Police Chief. Mayor Jacobsen is at his wit’s end with the man.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s not my place.”
“Well, if you change your mind, I might know a little something extra regarding Theresa’s untimely demise.” Millie’s bright blue eyes shifted. She scanned the waiting crowds, checking for eavesdroppers. “Apparently, Franny’s nephew was arrested this morning. Not sure what for, but it’s a little suspicious, don’t you think, that he would be arrested right after his aunt’s sworn enemy is found washed up on the beach? Shawn Clark,” Millie continued. “You saw him last night, remember? At the stalls? The mayor was chasing him.”
“Hmm.” Bee tapped her chin.
Jones had finished interviewing the folks closest to the beach and marched off now, casting one last furious glance at the truck. He disappeared into the blue crime scene tent that shielded the body from view.
I fell into silence, my gaze stuck on the tent.
Just who had killed Theresa Michaud? Surely, one cookie wasn’t enough to spark a homicide? It was
none of our business anyway.
“For once,” I said, “we’re not actively involved in a case. I say we stay out of it. It’s better this way.”
Bee let out a disappointed huff. “If that’s what you really want.”
“Well,” Millie put in, “if you ladies are thinking of looking into it, you know where to get your information.” She turned to leave but paused, looking back over her multicolored, glittery wing. “And just so you know, I mean, if you dears are curious, Theresa Michaud’s house is right next door to Franklin’s, just off Main Street. You can’t miss it.”
And then she was gone, and I was left with an itch to find out more that I shouldn’t.
6
At noon, Bee and I called it a day on the truck. Nobody was buying any treats or coffees, as most were too nauseated by the sight of the forensic tent to even consider eating. A sign of a healthy mind, in my opinion. Who could eat at a time like this?
Theresa was dead, and we’d had a front-row seat.
“This is amazing,” Bee said, chomping down on a powder donut and sprinkling confectioner’s sugar all over her lap and the passenger seat.
“How can you eat right now?” I asked. “And how is it you’re so messy while you’re eating?”
“I’m nervous-eating. It’s the third body that’s shown up in Carmel Springs in the last month and a half. Do you mind if a woman sates her nerves and fears with a few donuts?”
Donuts, I had established, were Bee’s favorite treat. That and hot cocoa with mini-marshmallows. “You know, you’d swear you were a cop.”
Bee froze, mid-chew, sugar coating her lips. She coughed and a little puff of white dust erupted from her lips. “Why do you say that?”
“The donuts?”
“Oh. Oh right,” she replied and gave an awkward laugh. “I’ll clean it, by the way.” She gestured to the mess on the passenger seat.
“I know you will.” I smiled at my friend. She was strange and fun to be around. Wasn’t that the best combination one could find in life? Someone who kept the interesting conversation alive but was trustworthy and loyal.
I parked the food truck in front of the Oceanside Guesthouse, anticipating a long bath to ease the knots of tension from my shoulders. Whenever Detective Jones was around, my insides hurt a little. I’d half-expected him to come charging over and question us. Or to accuse me of being involved and close down the truck. He’d done that once before.
“Yum,” Bee said, finishing the last of her donut. She got out of the truck and proceeded to dust off her seat.
I exited too, taking a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. It soothed me, and the nerves and nausea had abated somewhat—I had never been good with all things icky. That had been one of the reasons I’d left my job as an investigative journalist. I’d seen far too many dark and depraved events. Now was the time for sweets and candies, comfort and success.
A banging came from the front of the guesthouse.
Sam stood on the porch, desperately tugging at the end of a roll of orange and black crepe streamers that had gotten caught in the door.
“—no, no, no,” she said, under her breath. “No. No!”
“Sam?” I hurried over. “What’s going on?”
The owner of the guesthouse gave another great tug, and the crepe paper tore in half. She stumbled and nearly fell backward but steadied herself on the railing. “No,” she said, meeting my gaze, her dark hair in disarray.
Samantha was big on first appearances. She kept her guesthouse and herself neat at all times, and she wasn’t flighty either.
“What’s going on?” I walked to the door, opened it, and removed the rolls of crepe, bringing them out to her. “You know, you could have just fetched—”
“I know that.” She snatched them from me. Her bottom lip quivered, and her anger dissolved. “Oh, Ruby, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just so frustrated.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Bee had finally finished dusting the donut sugar out of the truck. She came up the steps, frowning. “Wait a second, this isn’t right.” She peered around. “What happened to your jack-o’-lanterns?”
My eyes widened. I’d been so concerned about Sam, I hadn’t even noticed that most of her decorations were just… gone. “And the spooky ghost! The skeleton. The mummy? Where are they?”
“I don’t know,” Sam wailed. “And that’s why I’m so upset. I woke up this morning and they were just gone, and it’s a disaster. A total disaster. I’m supposed to have everyone over tomorrow for my Halloween party and banquet. I invited the mayor, for heaven’s sake, and the head of the Events Committee. One look at this place, and they’ll rule me out of the competition for good.”
“Don’t say that,” I said. “We’ll help you fix this.”
“Yeah!” Bee put up a sugar-dust tipped finger. “We’ll go to the General Store and get more decorations.”
“That’s sweet, guys, but it’s no use. There’s no way Old Man Lester’s place will have anything I can use. I have to face facts. It’s over. Over before it even began.” Sam hung her head, dropping the rolls of black and orange streamers to the porch.
Trouble danced out of one of the windows, leaped, and attacked the rolling paper.
“Don’t say that, Sam,” I said. “Come on. We’re going to find a way to make this better. We’ll fix it. Right, Bee?”
“Right. We’ll go out there and see if we can get you some new decorations. You go make yourself a cup of tea and have a cookie. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“Are you sure?” Sam asked, the first glimmer of hope appearing in her gaze.
“Positive,” I said.
And with that, Bee and I set off into town, walking the long road toward the General Store on Main Street, clutching our coats to ourselves. It was better to walk—I’d had too cupcakes this morning and about five cups of coffee with half-and-half. Working off the calories was a must.
“Poor Sam.” I tucked my hands into the pockets of my puffy pink coat. The wind tugged at my shoulder-length hair, brushing it back from my ears.
“I wonder who did it.”
“What? The murder?”
“No,” Bee said. “The decorations. Someone had to have stolen them. They can’t have just vanished into thin air. Perhaps it’s one of the other folks in town who wants to win the competition?”
We turned the corner, and my heart skipped a beat, cutting off what I’d been about to say. Franklin’s house was up ahead, and that meant that Theresa’s place would be next to it. I nudged Bee, gesturing toward Franklin’s done up Halloween home. “Remember what Millie said?”
Bee’s eyes lit up. “Hmm. But which house is it?”
We had slowed significantly—anyone who peeked out of the houses on the suburban street, flanked as it was by the sidewalk, wrought iron lamps, and trees shedding their golden-brown leaves, would think us strange. Or suspicious.
On one side of Franklin’s house sat another that was done up in Halloween style, with a pumpkin-head knocker of all things. And on the other…
An old house that looked as if it had seen better days. A smashed pumpkin lay on its side in a yard that was all dry grass. The windows bore drawn curtains, the door needed a swipe of polish, and the porch stairs looked like the kind that would creak.
A battered mailbox had been perched on the crumbling brick wall. “Michaud” was printed across it in bold letters.
“Well,” Bee whispered. “I guess we have our answer.”
“What happened? It looks like it hasn’t been lived in for months. Or years.”
“Smashed pumpkin, though. And look at the mailbox. See how it’s on its side with the wooden pole still sticking out of its end? Splintered too. Looks like someone vandalized the place,” Bee said.
A door slammed further down the street and spurred us into action. We hurried off, me occasionally glancing back at Theresa’s house.
If it had been vandalized, then who had done it? And why?
The inside of the General Store was neatly decorated, the only hints of spider webs were the fake ones Old Man Lester had put up in the corners in celebration of Halloween. The aisles were stocked with all the necessities and even a few imported and specialty items I wouldn’t have expected to find in a small town like Carmel Springs.
It was a sign of a business owner who cared for himself, his business, and the people of the town, and I admired that.
“All right,” Bee said. “Now, let’s see if there’s anything we can find.”
We grabbed a shopping cart from the front of the store and pushed it down the aisles, me pushing, Bee walking and stopping as we searched the shelves for Halloween décor. We entered the aisle containing stationery and found the last vestiges of decorations there.
A single plastic jack-o’-lantern, more orange and black crepe, and a set of creepy, blood-red candles.
“Oh wow,” I said. “Sam wasn’t kidding. There’s nothing here. What are we going to do?”
“It’s not looking good.”
“We can’t give up. We promised Sam we’d come back with something.” I paced to the section that held the stationery, frowning. Cards, pens, scissors, glue, glitter. There were all sorts of things we could use to make home-made decorations. But would that be enough?
“What are you thinking?” Bee asked.
“Two things,” I said, putting up my fingers. “That we create something with these supplies and pumpkins, if Old Man Lester still has some in stock, and that we bake creepy cookies and varnish them.”
“Varnish them?”
“You know, cover them in polish so that they don’t spoil. We can bake all sorts of crazy things and hang them up around the place.”
“Oh!” Bee exclaimed, lifting a finger. “We could turn Sam’s Guesthouse into a real-life witch’s house. You know, from that old fairytale, Hansel and Gretel? That Brothers Grimm story.”
“It’s a big task, but, if we focus, we might be able to get the whole place ready. We have the rest of the afternoon and the whole of tomorrow until the evening,” I said, excitement bubbling in my stomach.
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