A Witchy Bake-off

by Danica Britton

  I was about to thank Franklin when Adele zoomed into Grandma Grant’s house. I mean, I knew she couldn’t exactly knock on the door, but there was no thought of privacy as she floated between me and Jess on the sofa.

  “Oh, who’s this? I’ve never seen him before, and what kind of hat is that he’s got on. And that purple jacket! What a fright.”

  “Adele is here,” I muttered.

  I cleared my throat, about to explain to Franklin how I could see ghosts and how I hoped Adele would assist us in clearing Grandma Grant’s name, when Franklin’s expression suddenly turned sour.

  He folded his arms and looked directly at the spot between me and Jess on the sofa.

  “Well, you are an impolite wretch. If this is the victim, I can’t say I’m surprised she was murdered. The only real surprise is why it didn’t happen before now. There must be a whole busload of suspects for the police to work with.”

  I blinked in astonishment, and Adele’s mouth dropped open.

  Jess began to laugh. “Harper, it looks like you’re not the only one who can see ghosts.”

  Chapter Ten

  “How was I to know he could hear me?” Adele said grumpily. “It’s not really my fault. I wouldn’t have said those things about his appearance if I’d known he could hear me.”

  “Being a ghost isn’t a free pass to say nasty things about people just because they can’t hear you,” I said primly.

  “Perhaps you should apologize.”

  Adele looked aghast. “Apologize? I don’t really think that is necessary.”

  “I do,” Franklin said. Although he was only a short man, with his arms folded over his chest and glaring at Adele, he was quite a formidable presence.

  “Fine,” Adele said with a dramatic sigh, launching herself from the sofa to hover in front of us. “I’m sorry I said those things about your outfit. I suppose it takes all sorts.”

  That wasn’t really the kind of apology I was expecting, but I suppose, for Adele, it would have to do. She floated behind the couch with her nose in the air.

  “I’m not sure that feels genuine, Adele, but I accept your apology, and now I need to go about tackling the important issue.”

  Franklin turned away from Adele, who asked, “You mean finding out who murdered me?”

  Franklin barely spared her a glance. “No, I mean getting Priscilla Grant out of the sheriff’s office.”

  He smiled at Jess, and then me. “Really, you have nothing to worry about now I’m on the case. I’ll get straight down there and bring your grandmother back with me.”

  “You’re not really planning to teleport, are you?” I asked nervously.

  “Why of course. It’s perfectly safe.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he spun his arm in a circle above his head and began to splinter up before our very eyes. Within seconds, he disappeared.

  Oh no. If he turned up that dramatically at the sheriff’s office, or even outside the sheriff’s office where someone might see him, it would cause considerable consternation.

  “What should we do?” I asked Jess.

  Jess was already moving to the coatrack to grab her coat. “We meet him there. Hopefully his entrance won’t be too dramatic and we can try and smooth over any wrinkles with the chief and Deputy McGrady.”

  I grabbed the keys to Grandma Grant’s truck and my yellow raincoat as we headed for the door.

  “What about me?” Adele moaned. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Come with us,” I said.

  Jess shot me a look. “Did you just invite Adele to come with us? I’m not sure that’s a great idea.”

  “And why not? I’ve just died, in case you didn’t notice. I could do with a little support.”

  “She can’t hear you, Adele,” I reminded her. “Come with us and I’ll drop you off at the diner. There is someone there you can meet.”

  “There is?” Adele asked, her curiosity piqued.

  Jess grinned at me. “Good idea. Loretta can do some babysitting… ghost sitting for you.”

  I wasn’t exactly sure how well Loretta would take to Adele. But she’d met up with most of the ghosts I’d helped in the past, and Loretta could be pretty stern herself when she wanted to be. I thought she might be good for Adele.

  We jumped in the truck, and after a few false attempts where Adele kept slipping through the truck and out onto the road every time Jess accelerated, she finally got the hang of hovering within a vehicle and we made our way to the Abbott Cove Sheriff’s department.

  We rushed inside to see Chief Wickham’s assistant sitting by the reception desk.

  Susan looked up as we entered. “I didn’t think it would be long before you arrived,” she said, smiling at us. “But let me tell you, your grandmother is fine. To be honest, I’m more worried about Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady. Your grandmother is a formidable character.”

  “She didn’t do it, Susan,” I said to the receptionist, who gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “I know that, sweetheart. I’m sure nobody really believes she could have done it. The chief is just following protocol.”

  I returned her smile with relief. “I don’t suppose her lawyer has turned up yet, has he?”

  “Oh yes, he was here just a few minutes ago. He’s in there now.” Susan nodded towards a plain gray door that I knew was the room they used for questioning suspects and criminals.

  “He’s in there now with Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady?” Jess asked, before swallowing nervously.

  “Yes, and your grandmother.”

  “Is everything okay? I mean, did anything strange happen?”

  Jess rolled her eyes, and I acknowledged her point. I could have been slightly more subtle.

  “What do you mean?” Susan asked.

  “Oh, just that he’s come from Boston and he might do things a little differently.”

  “Oh, I see. Well, he seemed just fine. His clothes were a little unusual, and he’s quite a flamboyant character, but then that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

  “Well, I don’t see the point in us rushing down here,” Adele grumbled from beside us. Her voice made me jump; I’d forgotten she was with us.

  “Is it okay if we sit down here and wait until they have finished questioning Grandma Grant?” Jess asked, pointing to the row of seats along the wall.

  “Of course, that’s perfectly fine. Can I get you girls a cup of coffee?”

  Jess said she would love a cup of coffee, but I made my excuses and told her I was going to pop along the street to the diner.

  When we came face-to-face with Franklin, the chief, Joe, and Grandma Grant, I was going to have enough on my plate. I didn’t want to have to deal with Adele as well, especially as she seemed to antagonize Franklin.

  As discreetly as I could, I gestured for Adele to follow me and led her along the road towards the diner.

  She chatted away, but I didn’t answer. It was dark now, and the diner was closed. Luckily, I had the spare key Archie had given me and went round the back of the building to let myself in.

  I crept down the hallway, hoping Archie didn’t overhear me. He lived in the flat above the diner, and if he noticed my presence, I was going to tell him I’d left something behind on my last shift, but truthfully, I just wanted to get in here, have a quick word with Loretta, and leave her with Adele for a little while. We made our way to the back room, and when I opened the door, Loretta was standing by the fireplace. She jumped as we entered.

  “Oh, Harper, whatever are you doing here?” Have you come to tell me all about the spring fair? Oh…” Her voice trailed off as she saw Adele hovering beside me.

  “I guess the spring fair didn’t go very well for you,” Loretta said, looking Adele up and down.

  Adele stared at Loretta in shock. “She’s a ghost!”

  “Yes, that’s right. Loretta is the diner’s resident ghost; she’s been here for a long time. She is an old hand at being a ghost and I thought she could give you some
tips.” I shot Loretta an apologetic smile. “I did take a few photographs for you, but I’m in a bit of a rush at the moment. Is it all right if I show them to you later?”

  Loretta’s shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Oh, all right then.”

  I felt terribly guilty. She’d been here on her own all day, and as Archie hadn’t opened the diner, she wouldn’t have even heard any of the gossip about what happened in the spring fair. I wondered again why Loretta was tethered to the diner. Life would be much more enjoyable as a ghost if she could roam Abbott Cove freely.

  “I promise I’ll be back soon,” I said. “Thank you so much, Loretta,” I said, heading towards the door.

  “Why have you been a ghost for so long?” Adele asked as soon as my back was turned. “And why would you choose to stay in a diner when you could be anywhere in the world?”

  “Well, those questions are quite personal,” Loretta said coldly. “Perhaps we can start with some more general questions about being a ghost.”

  “Were you murdered too? How long ago did you die? Your outfit looks terribly old-fashioned.”

  I shot Loretta an apologetic look as I shut the door behind me. When I got back to the sheriff’s office, Jess had almost finished her coffee.

  “Any news?” I asked, sitting down beside her.

  “Not yet, but I did hear raised voices a moment ago. I’m not sure that’s a good sign.”

  Raised voices? No, that didn’t sound good at all.

  A moment later, the door to the questioning room opened and Chief Wickham appeared. “Oh, I should have guessed you girls would be here. Well, you’ll be happy to know that your grandmother can go home.”

  “Thank goodness,” Jess said, getting to her feet. “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you cleared her.”

  “I wouldn’t say that exactly,” the chief said, “but we’re done with questioning… for now.”

  Franklin appeared next, looking even more flamboyant next to the rather staid chief of police.

  Then Grandma Grant followed Franklin, smiling at us as she saw us in the waiting area.

  “Oh, you didn’t have to come down here.” Although she said that, I could tell she was pleased we were worried about her.

  Joe came out of the interrogation room next, shutting the door behind him. He gave me a tentative smile but I turned away. I was still really angry with him.

  “Ah, I see you couldn’t wait for me at home,” Franklin said. “Good news, the police have nothing on your grandmother at all, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “I wouldn’t say that exactly,” the chief said. “We have some evidence. We’re building our case slowly.”

  “If you had evidence, you would have used it to hold my client.” Franklin said cuttingly. “You don’t have enough evidence to charge her. And I’d thank you not to talk to my client again unless I’m present,” Franklin added with a sniff.

  “But you’re based in Boston,” the chief said. “It’ll take you hours to get here each time we want to question her.”

  “Oh don’t you worry; I can be here very quickly when I’m needed.”

  Franklin adjusted his beret and then offered his arm to Grandma Grant. “Come along, Priscilla.”

  Grandma Grant put her arm through Franklin’s. “I can’t wait to get out of here,” she said, giving the chief a dirty look.

  Jess began to follow them out and I went to follow, but Joe put a hand on my elbow.

  “Harper?”

  I paused and looked at him. “Yes?”

  Joe waited until the chief had gone back to his office and then said quietly as Susan was photocopying behind us, “Are you sure Mr. Reynolds is the right lawyer for your grandmother… He seems a little out of place.”

  I nodded slowly. “He comes highly recommended. He’s just a little unusual. You know these big-city types.”

  Joe frowned. “I’ve lived in plenty of big cities in my time, but I’ve never come across a lawyer like him.”

  Joe wasn’t looking at me. He was gazing at the glass panel in the door, looking through straight at Franklin, and I wondered what had gone on in the interrogation room.

  Had Franklin appeared in a puff of smoke like he had at Grandma Grant’s house? No, I didn’t believe that. If he had, it would have caused quite a panic.

  “He’s unconventional,” I said, “but he’s an old friend of Grandma Grant’s.”

  “He seems clever enough,” Joe said. “Don’t tell the chief, but in my opinion, Reynolds was running rings around him in the questioning. He’s going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the night.”

  I smiled. Good. That would teach him for suspecting my grandmother. “Well, now maybe you can focus on the real investigation,” I commented, to make sure he knew I hadn’t forgiven him for suspecting Grandma Grant.

  “Yes, we are going to be working late tonight.”

  Jess poked her head back round the door. “Come on, Harper. It’s starting to rain again.”

  I said goodbye to Joe and followed Jess out of the sheriff’s office.

  “Is Adele still hovering about like an annoying mosquito?” Grandma Grant asked.

  “Not right at the moment. I dropped her at the diner to spend some time with Loretta. She didn’t exactly get off to the best start with Franklin and I thought we could do without the distractions.”

  “Quite a mean-spirited woman,” Franklin said.

  “That’s Franklin-speak for a pain in the backside,” Grandma Grant said. “You don’t like her either, do you? I can tell.”

  “No, I didn’t exactly warm to her.”

  Grandma Grant, who still had her arm linked with Franklin’s, turned back to smile at me. “Franklin always did have good taste.”

  The others waited in the truck while I went to fetch Adele.

  Loretta greeted me stonily, but Adele seemed to be in good spirits.

  “I suppose you still don’t have time to show me the photographs?” Loretta asked.

  “I’m sorry. Tomorrow, I promise. It’s just been a nightmare. Grandma Grant was arrested and we’re just waiting to take her home now. The others are waiting for me in the truck outside.”

  I expected Loretta to say something cutting or moan, but when she just gave a sad little sigh, it made me feel even worse. I really needed to make more of an effort.

  With one last apology, I disappeared out the back door of the diner with Adele.

  Once we were all back in the truck, Grandma Grant started the engine and I turned to Franklin.

  “So where do we go from here?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Jess said. “What exactly do we do now?”

  Franklin grinned. “Now comes the fun part,” he said. “Now we make our plan of attack.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Making a plan of attack was easier said than done. We all went back to Grandma Grant’s house and settled in the sitting room area.

  Grandma Grant had made a pot of tea and Jess had dug around in the cupboards until she found some cookies.

  We’d already eaten half of the cookies and finished our tea, but we’d gotten no closer to a definite plan of what to do next.

  “I know what we need,” Franklin said, getting to his feet dramatically and clapping his hands. “A whiteboard. We can do some brainstorming!”

  With a click of his fingers, a large whiteboard appeared directly in front of the fire, narrowly missing Athena’s tail.

  She gave a disgruntled meow and leapt out of the way before settling on Grandma Grant’s lap.

  “Oops, sorry about that, Athena; I didn’t spot you there,” Franklin said, and then reached for the pen at the bottom of the whiteboard.

  In the center of the board, he wrote Adele’s name.

  “In order to find out who killed Adele, we’re going to have to focus on her life, her secrets, and her misdeeds.”

  Franklin was very dramatic, which Adele didn’t appreciate. She zoomed up close to the whiteboard and put her face just a few inc
hes from Franklin’s. “Secrets? I’m an open book, and I don’t have any misdeeds. Ask anyone. I was the perfect model citizen.”

  Franklin gave her a patronizing smile. “No one is perfect, Adele, and no one is universally liked.”

  “Well, I was. Everyone liked me.”

  I spluttered but decided not to comment. Unfortunately, Grandma Grant wasn’t so polite.

  “If she’s telling you everybody got on perfectly with her, she is lying,” Grandma Grant said. “Adele is delusional. She was one of the most disliked people in Abbott Cove.”

  Adele glared at Grandma Grant and made a rude gesture. I was quite glad Grandma Grant couldn’t see her.

  “Right, back to the matter at hand. Even if you were well liked, Adele, there has to be someone who would benefit from your death. What about your family? You’ve got the townhouse so somebody must inherit that.” I turned to Adele expectantly.

  She scowled. “My family wouldn’t be involved with something as awful as murder. We are a respectable family. On my death, my daughter inherits the house, but we were very close. So you’re barking up the wrong tree there.”

  Franklin wrote daughter in big letters on the whiteboard.

  “I told you she wasn’t involved!” Adele said heatedly.

  “We need to put everything down,” Franklin said. “No matter how unlikely it might seem.”

  Adele turned back to me. “It’s silly looking at my family. It’s a waste of time. We need to focus on strangers who were lurking in Abbott Cove. Shady characters, the type that would stab a poor innocent woman like me.” She pressed her hand to her chest in the very spot the knife had been plunged. “Yes,” she said, nodding to herself. “We are looking for a knife-wielding maniac, a stranger. Possibly a serial killer.”

  I blinked a couple of times, not quite sure how to respond, and Franklin said dryly, “In most cases of murder, the victim knew their killer. Fortunately, knife-wielding maniacs are relatively rare.”

  Athena purred contentedly on Grandma Grant’s lap.

  “Well, as a matter of fact, it might be nothing, but I did see a couple of strangers recently…” I said.