“What kind of music?”
“A waltz.”
“Can’t say that I have but then again I always have my power tools on blast, at least the Doctor’s House has classy ghosts.”
“Mmm.”
“By the way, I’ve been meaning to talk to about you something. Can we go sit downstairs and talk?”
Juniper set her phone down and turned her attention to Jack. “That sounds serious. Everything okay? Did we miss a payment on something?”
“Everything is fine. It’s about...”
“About the business?” Juniper finished his sentence for him.
“It’s just…” Jack swallowed. “Did you hear the door?”
“Hello? Anyone here?” A strange voice called out from below.
“That sounds like the detective. He was meeting me for lunch.” Juniper explained. Then, raising her voice, she called, I’ll be right down.” Juniper turned back to Jack. “What were you going to say?”
“It’s nothing. Go on your date.”
Juniper froze. “Jack? What is it? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I just have to go out of town for Halloween, so I won’t be here for the ball. I didn’t know how you’d feel about hosting the ball alone considering what’s happened.”
Juniper looked stunned and gaped at him for a moment. “That’s it? Wow, that’s just… wow. You trying to give me a heart attack? Pike will be here and besides I’m not really hosting. We’re just lending them the house.”
“Right, sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound that important,” Jack reached out and touched her hand. “I just thought you might not like having to play chaperone on your own.”
“Oh… yeah. I guess, but I won’t be alone.”
“No, I guess you won’t be.”
Chapter Fifteen
_____________
T he pub in the next town over was full of dark wood paneling and oil paintings. It was the sort of place Juniper enjoyed and she was glad the detective had suggested it. Pretentious dudes were not her style.
“This place sort of reminded me of the Doctors House so I thought you might like it,” Cody said as they sat at a small table in the corner.
Juniper nodded, “Yes, it was a good pick, Detective, almost as if you were trying to put me at ease.”
He smiled and winked. The waitress came and took their orders: a glass of wine for her, beer on tap for him. She was young and pretty, and clearly intrigued by Cody, who was paying no attention to her.
“So, I learned something interesting from one of the volunteers yesterday,” Juniper said finally. “Apparently, there’s a picture missing from the attic. An old family photo of the Doctor and his wife.”
“Okay.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “Is that somehow relevant to us?”
“Well, to be fair, it wouldn’t seem so, however, I just happened to see a photo like that at Lulu’s.”
Cody looked up from his glass. “I’m sorry. I probably should have made this clear. I was asking you here on a date, so that means no shop talk.”
Juniper laughed. “Yes, sir.”
He fixed her with a look. “Tell me about you and Jack? What’s the full story there?”
“I already told you.”
He remained still, but his eyebrows lifted. “It’s just sometimes I get the vibe that things aren’t exactly over between you.” He took a deep draw on his beer and tilted his head. “Am I right?”
“I’m not going to get into the specifics, but trust me when I say we’re over. He’s getting married… I’d say that’s pretty over.”
“But you’re not happy for him.”
“Jack has been my best friend for many years. I’m protective of him, that’s all. When he lost his mother at twenty, I was there for him. When my first apartment flooded, it was Jack who took me in. We’ve always had each other’s backs. Anyone he marries or I date will need to be tolerant and respect our relationship.”
“And she doesn’t?”
“No. Big Boobs is threatened by me. That’s why I don’t want him to marry her.”
The waitress came back with two burgers and a plate of smoked meat poutine, which was basically a heaping pile of smoked Montreal meat and fries smothered in cheese curds and gravy.
Cody picked up his burger and bit into it.
“Please,” he said, pushing the plate toward her. “Help yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Juniper took a couple fries and then turned the table on him.
“So what’s up with you, Mr. Twenty-one questions? What’s your story? Why are you this town’s most eligible bachelor?”
He laughed. “Hardly.”
“You seem pretty popular to me.” She nodded at the waitress who was still openly staring and flirting. “Is it true you’re seeing Penelope Trubble from the Bohemian Private Eye ‘cause she knows martial arts so I’d rather not mess with her?”
Cody gave Juniper a crooked smile and laughed. “Truthfully, I did kiss Ms. Trubble in the summer after we closed a case and we had a meal once or twice. She’s an ex-cop and we relate on a level that most civilians don’t.”
“So, what’s the problem? Why are you asking other women out?”
“It seems Penelope isn’t ready to date anyone just yet. She’s getting over a breakup and from what I’ve heard around town, she’s also dating an editor from the magazine she freelances for. I’m not interested in playing second fiddle which is why I’m asking you about Jack.”
The waitress chose that moment to come by. She asked him if there was anything, anything at all, she could get for him.
He gestured to Juniper’s empty wine glass. “Yes, a refill for the lady, please.”
The waitress returned with the wine and slipped Cody an extra napkin.
“Oh, thank you,” he said. She gave him a smile full of promise, then left.
“Anyway, I can’t seem to find a suitable young woman who doesn’t have a complicated relationship with her ex…” He trailed off as Juniper reached over and turned his new napkin over.
Sure enough, the waitress had written down her name and number.
Juniper handed it back to him. “Go on. You were saying you’re so hard pressed.”
Cody’s face flooded with color. “I didn’t mean to encourage her. I apologize.”
Juniper smiled.
“You didn’t encourage her,” Juniper said. “However, you do seem to undervalue your charm.”
Cody laughed and Juniper couldn’t help but smile in response.
He shook his head, still chuckling, and stared at her for a long moment. “You really don’t pull any punches, do you, Juniper Palmer?”
“I really don’t,” Juniper said.
Chapter Sixteen
_____________
J uniper appeared in the kitchen doorway of Cookies & Corsets, startling Pike into almost dropping the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and large bowl she was trying to balance in her arms. “I guess I missed the big customer lunch rush today.”
“It’s almost 3pm. What have you been up to all day? I didn’t hear you leave this morning. Did you even get a coffee?” She settled the ingredients on the large prep island in the middle of the kitchen.
Juniper nodded, peeking into the oven to see the yummy cupcakes Pike had on the go. “Jack brought me coffee and a bagel sandwich but I’m hungry now.” Pike worked the butter and sugar together in a large stainless steel bowl.
“I was going to see if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight,” Pike said cracking an egg. She set the bowl under one of her new mixers, turned the machine on low then watched as the beaters did the job of blending the ingredients. “We can drink wine and catch up on our gossip.” Pike left the mixer, moving over to a rack of cooled cupcakes. Picking up a long knife, she slid it across the top of the pan, expertly slicing off the cupcake tops in order to ice the middle. “By the way, I can make up the spare bedroom for you if you want to stay for a while. That couch probably wasn’t ver
y comfortable.”
Pike set the cupcake tops on a rack. Moving over to the mixer she turned it off, hefted the bowl, poured the batter into the little cups of a fresh cupcake pan and slid it into the oven.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to inconvenience you. What with all of the hot dates you got on the go.”
Pike rolled her eyes, eliciting a laugh from Juniper.
“Well, perhaps my dating life can be put on hold. Axl is the only one who flirts with me and I think he’s got a girlfriend now.” Pike finished up the butter cream and the sugary vanilla scent made Juniper’s stomach growl. Pike smirked and handed one of the finished frosting stuffed cupcakes to Juniper just as the bell over the front door announced the arrival of a customer.
“Can you help whoever’s out there? I’ve got to get these in the oven.”
Juniper pushed through the door and saw a woman of about seventy standing at the glass.
She smiled when she saw her. Her brown hair was curled and plastered with hairspray into a giant bouffant.
“Well, now, you must be our newest resident? I was just coming to see Pike about a coffee and a fritter. I didn’t expect to see you manning the place. You taking over the street?” she teased.
“Apparently, I’m a jack of all trades,” Juniper said, pouring her a coffee and grabbing the tongs to reach in for a fresh apple fritter. “I saw you at the funeral, didn’t I? You were with Helen, right?”
“Yes, I do confess to being there but trust me when I say I was not with Helen.” She folded her arms across her ample chest. “I was simply there supporting my nephew Frank and his babies.”
Juniper blinked, but didn’t say anything.
“I’m Lorraine. Frank’s aunt. Helen and I don’t really see eye to eye,” She blew on the surface of her coffee. “We are amicable, but that’s about it.” For a moment her eyes teared up and Juniper thought she was going to have yet another woman break down in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
“I am. I’m sorry. I’m just emotional lately.”
“That’s okay,” Juniper said. “I’m sure it’s hard losing Kaitlyn like that.”
She nodded and wiped at her eyes. “Yes. It is. I miss her terribly.”
Juniper nodded. “Would you like some water? I could use some.”
“Sure.”
“I spent last night with the kids—Meg and Axl, they’re heartbroken,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “I’m just overly emotional for them.”
She took a long sip from her coffee and it seemed to steady her. She took a deep breath and leaned back on her stool. “You know, Jack says really nice things about you.”
“You know Jack?”
“Since he was knee high to a grasshopper,” She smirked. “I lived here my whole life up until about a year ago. Now I live in the next town over but I’m here often enough and I saw Jack just yesterday.”
Juniper smiled at her. “Jack and I are very close or we used to be.”
“He still loves you,” she said. “I mean, I know he’s with Sally, but anyone with eyes can see how he feels about you.”
Juniper wondered if that were true.
Her face clouded over and she stared into her coffee again. “Relationships are funny, aren’t they?”
Juniper nodded. “If I may ask, why don’t you and Helen get along?”
Lorraine’s eyes narrowed, and she set her cup down on the table. She placed her hands flat on her thighs and looked at Juniper.
“Because,” she said, glowering. “She is a stupid, horrid, waste of a human life.”
Now they were getting somewhere.
“I’m sorry, that was blunt, wasn’t it?” Lorraine said, picking up her coffee mug again.
“But why’s that?” I asked, trying to sound vaguely interested without coming off as totally intrusive.
“Mainly because I think she’s a lying shrew.”
“Oh.”
She stared at the mug like she was going to take a bite out of it. “That woman was bad news for my nephew from day one. But he wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to warn him off, but he just got sucked in by that succubus.” She snarled at the cup and took a sip. She licked at her lips. “I can’t think of one good thing that has come from their relationship. Not one good thing.”
I looked around, thinking of the three kids she’d just mentioned, but decided not to comment. “So you would be happy if they got a divorce?”
“Oh, you betcha,” she said, nodding furiously. “You betcha. I would be so glad. It wouldn’t be soon enough if I never saw her again. She’s a horrible creature who would be better off living at the bottom of a lake where she could bottom feed for the rest of her pathetic life,” she said. “Among other things.”
“Right,” Juniper said, sipping her water.
She waved her hand in the air. “We just didn’t get along. At all. Anything that interested Frank, Helen would belittle or dismiss. The only things that mattered were the things that mattered to Helen.” Her eyes narrowed again. “And I think she stepped out on him with that brother-in-law of hers.”
“You mean had an affair?”
She tugged at the lapel on her blazer. “Frankie told me I didn’t know what I was talking about, but I always had a suspicion. No proof, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it.” A small smile creased her lips. “She always wanted what Lulu had. Poor Lulu. When Lulu told me her and Peter were getting married, I couldn’t help but hug her. That sweet girl deserved happiness.”
“I’m sure,” Juniper said.
“Helen wasn’t happy though,” she said, still smiling. “Pretty sure there was a lot of crying after that ceremony.” She shook her head. “She was not happy that day in any way at all.”
The wheels were spinning in my head. “But I heard that it was Peter who wanted her.”
She shook her head. Adamantly. “No way, no how.” Lorraine smiled.
Juniper pressed her lips together and thought back to her conversation with Helen. That was a far different story than what she’d told at the house.
Juniper swallowed. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach.
Chapter Seventeen
_____________
T he next day Juniper lingered outside the property in her FJ Cruiser, sizing up the mansion’s beautiful Victorian exterior while placing a few calls. First things first: she dialed a certain local psychic. She had a few more questions about Ms. Kaitlyn Patone and her mysterious lover. Pearl’s soft voice burst into laughter when Juniper mentioned Peter and his red Camaro.
“You can’t be serious. Who told you that? Was it Helen? You know she wasn’t Kaitlyn’s real mom, right? Bring me dinner at five—I like sushi.”
“Excuse me? How do you know that?”
“I have back-to-back clients all day so if you want to see me then you’ll bring me dinner at five.”
“They don’t have sushi here,” Juniper clarified. “I just need five minutes to talk to you about Kaitlyn—and who she was seeing.”
“I understand that but, believe me, it will take more than five minutes. Chinese is good, too—something with noodles. Gotta go. My three o’clock is here.”
She hung up before Juniper could respond. She texted Pike to let her know that dinner would be delivered to her doorstep—sesame chicken and shanghai noodles and since Juniper was paying for it, she decided she would get Pearl’s take on her life—in particular, some guidance on what to do about Jack. He was the perfect partner if only he wasn’t engaged to the devil’s handmaiden and… if only she didn’t still love him. Give Juniper water damage over a romantic relationship any day. Love was so much harder to repair.
She hit up the hardware store, then returned several calls from suppliers and checked in with Jack.
After that she picked up dinner and headed for Pine Street. It wasn’t far, so she decided to walk. Pearl’s house turned out to be in a split level brick bungalow. The note on the front door said to use the back entrance.
“Pearl?” She called. “It’s Juniper. Juniper Palmer. I’ve got your dinner.”
No answer.
The main door was open and the screen door wasn’t latched. She could have sworn she heard sobbing coming from inside the house. She cautiously pulled the screen door open a crack and called her name again. There was a phone ringing from somewhere inside. Why wasn’t she answering her phone, and that’s when she saw her on the floor, in a pool of bright red blood.
Chapter Eighteen
_____________
T here was a young man in the room, down on one knee, leaning over the body. At Juniper’s footsteps he turned and whispered, “Call nine-one-one.”
Juniper instantly recognized the voice. Then her eyes lit upon what looked like a butcher knife lying on the floor next to Pearl. It was covered in blood. Her stomach lurched.
“Axl.” He looked pale—probably suffering from shock. Juniper assumed he was re-living his sister’s murder. Either that or he was the murderer, and he was overcome with regret. A cellphone on the table to her left began vibrating. The name, Hatti flashed on the screen. Juniper pulled out her own cell phone and punched in Detective Lumos’s number. He answered on the second ring.
“Juniper. Just the woman I was thinking of. You ready to take me up on that dinner invite?”
“Not quite,” She said, and gave him Pearl’s address.
“What’s the situation? Anybody else there?”
Juniper turned away from Axl, who remained beside the body. “Axl,” She whispered.
“Wasn’t he also there when you found his sister in the trunk?”
“He was here when I got here.”
“Go outside. I’m five minutes away.”
Juniper hung up. “Shouldn’t be long now. He suggested we go outside and get a breath of fresh air.”
Juniper felt awkward as Axl followed her out the back door. “What were you doing here? Did you have an appointment for a reading?”
“No. I just dropped in.”
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