Mysterious Mintwood Murmurs Page 3

  “Are you around this evening?” he asked.

  “Doesn’t it look like I am?” I asked.

  “No lover Wolf coming over?” he said.

  “That sounds like a werewolf,” said Charlie, making a face.

  “Those aren’t real. Come on,” Paws scoffed.

  Charlie just raised her eyebrows.

  “Why do you ask? Pleasure of my company?” I said.

  “Certainly not,” he said. “Honolulu is stopping by. I thought it would be best if you weren’t here. No such luck, I suppose.” He circled around on his crate, almost as if he were nervous.

  He was nervous.

  Honolulu was a ghost cat we had met in the course of one of our investigations. Paws adored her like I had only ever seen him adore being a vicious mouse killer before.

  “Tell her we say hi,” Charlie chirped.

  Greer returned to her seat. “We’re meeting at the Daily Brew. Mrs. Grate wants to come to Mintwood,” she said.

  “That’s excellent,” said Charlie.

  Greer nodded. “Okay. I’ll stop being morose and awful. This wedding is going to be great. One way or another. I’m definitely going to enjoy showing Deacon the guest list Mom already had ready,” she said.

  “Does it cover his side as well?” said Charlie.

  “Sure does. And his embarrassing Uncle Mike isn’t invited,” Greer snickered. “He isn’t going to like that. Uncle Mike taught him every bad thing he ever did.”

  “Probably why he wants him there,” I said.

  “He’ll come,” said Greer. “Mom knows I don’t really take this nonsense from her entirely seriously anymore. My brothers will be pleased. They’re probably going to cause all kinds of trouble as groomsmen.”

  “Hopefully they get along with Jasper,” I said. “At least, I think he’ll be part of the wedding party.”

  “For sure. Then you don’t even have to worry about dating a groomsman, because you already are!” Greer grinned. It marked the first time I’d seen her laugh about anything to do with the wedding.

  “Anyway, let’s talk about something else. Charlie, do you have any news?” said Greer.

  “As a matter of fact, I was just telling Lemmi about Henrietta’s sister,” said Charlie. She caught Greer up on what had happened and what she had discovered. Then she went to get her binders of newspaper clippings and we all flipped through the binder and looked for articles on the subject of Haley’s death. Greer and I both took cookies.

  “She died in a car accident. They think she had some kind of medical episode while she was driving, or maybe something ran in front of her. There was nothing wrong with the car. We do live in the wilderness,” said Charlie, frowning. “I didn’t remember that part. All I remembered was the natural causes part.”

  “She died in a car accident but they thought it was natural causes?” I frowned.

  “Yeah, that’s what they said. No examination, though,” said Charlie.

  I shook my head. “That makes no sense. We should find her ghost!” I said.

  “Tomorrow! I don’t want you coming out of the house reminding me that you’re there tonight,” Paws yelled.

  I glared at the window, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  “Probably best tomorrow. I don’t know where she’s buried,” said Charlie.

  “This article says she lived in Mintwood,” said Greer.

  “So she’s probably buried in the Mintwood Cemetery. Funnel might know her,” I said.

  “That would be perfect! We could try to find out what happened,” said Charlie. Her eyes gleamed with the thrill of a possible case.

  “The report does say that the accident took place in winter,” said Greer. “So she could have slipped on ice or something while she was driving.”

  Charlie was adamant, though. “I don’t believe that for a hot minute.”

  “I said winter. The night might have been cold,” Greer muttered.

  We stayed up talking late into the evening. Greer did in fact finish the cookies. I didn’t have a chance to ask Charlie about Hansen again.

  Not that she would have answered anyway.

  Oh well, I told myself. If anyone could deal with Charlie being Charlie, I had a feeling it was Hansen Gregory. That was her problem.

  Chapter Five

  In the morning I woke up to pounding rain, the kind of intense downpour that sometimes happens in the spring. The world would smell fresh, and we’d barely be able to see while driving.

  At least the storm meant that the hammering over at the Manor Portrait House would be quieted today. They couldn’t very well work outside in this weather.

  When I stumbled downstairs, Greer was already in the kitchen.

  It only took a glance to see that she had barely slept.

  “Hey,” she said. She was wearing a black hoodie and PJ bottoms and making coffee and cereal. “I thought I should eat before I saw Deacon’s mom.”

  “I’ll just take a coffee,” I said.

  “Do you know what’s going on with Charlie?” Greer asked as she joined me in the nook.

  The rain was coming down in sheets and dripping down the windowpane. All I could see of the back garden was a blob of vibrant green.

  “No, but something to do with Hansen,” I said.

  “Yeah, you know I got him one of your bracelets,” said Greer.

  “So he can see the ghosts?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” said Greer.

  “Did she give it to him?” I asked.

  “Not that I know of,” she said.

  “I’d have to be there anyway, to make it work,” I mused.

  “You’re the witch,” Greer confirmed.

  “Think that’s what’s bothering her?” I asked.

  Charlie’s door was still closed, and I wouldn’t want her to feel like we were gossiping about her behind her back.

  Even though we were.

  Greer looked at me as if she understood my dilemma. “Maybe. She might view it as serious then,” she said.

  “Pretty sure it’s serious anyway,” I said.

  “Yeah, but don’t tell her that.” Greer rolled her eyes for emphasis. “Truth has less power if she never admits it.”

  “We can corner her again tonight,” I said.

  “Aren’t you going to the cemetery? I have to work,” said Greer.

  “Yeah, but she’s probably coming with me,” I said. “At least, she usually does.”

  “What about the dark ghosts?” Greer asked.

  I shook my head. “I just don’t know. I feel like they’ve gone off somewhere, but not far. I further feel like we’re going to need to draw them out,” I said.

  “The coven?’ said Greer.

  It struck me that we hadn’t had much time to catch up since her engagement announcement.

  “Nothing so far. I’m going to see Scarlett and Josephine soon. I’m not sure when there will be another coven gathering,” I said.

  Greer nodded her head and smothered a yawn.

  “What about you and Jasper?” she said.

  I paused and looked down.

  “We’re great,” I said softly.

  “Of course you are. His grandfather?” Greer prodded. She always knew just how to get me.

  “Haven’t seen him in a while. I don’t know what Jasper has told him. I imagine it isn’t good. I’m expecting one of his many lawyers to show up here any day now and offer me a large sum of money to leave his grandson alone,” I said.

  “He probably thinks he can buy you off because of the porch,” said Greer, smirking.

  I glared at my friend.

  “Don’t you dare,” I warned her.

  She threw back her head and crowed with laughter.

  “What’s all the noise?” Charlie asked, emerging from her room ready for the day as usual.

  “I was making fun of Lemmi,” said Greer.

  “About the porch?” asked Charlie.

  “Hey!’ I cried.

  “It’s the only th
ing. Can we go into town a bit early? I have to stop at the office.” Charlie sounded disgruntled.

  “Sure. I have a couple of errands to run anyway. See what the world looks like at this time of day,” Greer offered.

  Charlie rolled her eyes.

  Twenty minutes later we were on our way. As usual, I made certain that my wand was with me.

  The rain was coming down even harder than before, so I drove slowly. The main street was quiet as Charlie dropped us off.

  “Where do you need to go?” I asked Greer.

  “The town office for a couple of things,” said my friend.

  We went inside the quiet, cavernous space and Greer made her way to the window. While she talked quietly to the clerk, I looked around the entryway at the usual flyers on the bulletin board.

  “See the flyer for the spring festival? I’m a particular fan of the one this year,” said the mayor’s voice behind me.

  I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. Mayor Clabberd was his own sort of character.

  “Morning, Mayor,” I said as I turned around.

  He was wearing his usual white, but today he also had on a navy blue raincoat and was carrying an umbrella large enough to shield the whole town office if necessary.

  “How are you getting on these days, Lemonia?” he asked.

  “Oh, fine,” I said.

  “Detective Cutter tells me you’ve been out of his hair for weeks now. I must admit he sounded pleased,” the mayor said with a smile.

  “We have solved a lot of cases,” I said, intentionally leaving the “we” ambiguous.

  The mayor appeared to be in a chatty mood. “The spring festival is coming up. I heard from Liam that he wanted the secondhand store in Bright Lights to open around then,” he said.

  “I heard the same thing,” I said.

  “He has a lot of work to do. That building was in serious disrepair,” said the mayor.

  “Sure was,” I agreed.

  He continued to linger, and I waited him out. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what he wanted.

  He glanced at Greer, who looked as if she was finishing up her business. Then he cleared his throat and asked, “So you have a pet sitting business, don’t you?”

  I knew that my face contorted into a surprised expression. I wished it hadn’t, but I couldn’t help it. “For a couple of years now. Ever since I moved back. It’s actually been a pretty good business,” I said.

  “Of course. Of course. Your aunt Harriet is traveling isn’t she?” he continued.

  “Off on her next adventure,” I said. “She was never one to settle down.”

  “Of course not. It’d be silly. Anyway, I have a cat. Her name is Duchess. You may have heard of her,” said the mayor.

  I frowned. “I don’t think I knew that, actually,” I said.

  “She’s getting to be an old lady at ten years, three months, and eleven days. Young at heart. I’m sure that if any mice ever got into the house she’d still be on it,” he said.

  “So she still likes to chase mice?” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Anyway, I’ll be out of town for a few days,” the mayor explained. “I don’t usually leave town, you know. I like to be here. Figurehead of Mintwood and all of that. But pressing business draws me away, and this time I don’t want to leave Duchess untended,” he explained.

  “It sounds like the two of you are very close,” I assured him.

  “We are. Ten years is a long time to have a cat. Anyway, I need somebody to look after her while I’m away. Usually my sister does it, but she isn’t available this time, so I might as well go to a professional,” he said.

  I had known the mayor for years, and I had never in my life seen him look as unhappy as he did now. I almost wanted to burst out laughing.

  “I have a lot of experience taking care of cats. Dogs are probably my most requested in terms of pet sitting, but cats aren’t far behind,” I told him.

  “I’m sure you’re very good,” he said. “It’s just difficult for me. You know, to be separated from her. I am sure she’ll be devastated as well. Although it’s always harder to tell with a cat.”

  “They do have a reputation for being stoic,” I agreed. And bossy. And stuck up. I kept those judgments to myself

  “Would you mind terribly looking after her?” he said.

  “I would be happy to,” I said.

  “Excellent. Excellent, I’ll be leaving tomorrow. Do you know where I live?” he asked.

  I frowned and thought about it. He must live in town. Nobody around here would stand for it if our own mayor lived somewhere else. “I can’t say that I do.”

  “I live over down the Castle Road,” he said. “At the end on the right. I inherited the property from my father and he inherited it from his father before him. A nice set of woods behind the house. Not that Duchess ever goes out there. Good spot of land. Here’s a spare key.” He hesitated over handing me the key, as well. Then he put it in my outstretched hand and pursed his lips.

  “You want me to start tomorrow and go over for a few days?” I asked him.

  “Yes, and I would appreciate it if you could give her a little more attention than normal. She’s used to having me around a lot in the evening. Unless I have a work function, I’m usually home. She gets a lot of attention. I don’t think she’ll like it if I just leave her alone,” he explained.

  “Of course. I’ll try to come by a couple of times a day and spend some time. Does she like playing?” I asked.

  “Playing?” he said.

  “Yeah, like with a toy,” I said.

  “Sometimes she plays with the steak bones I give her,” he said.

  “Okay. Maybe we’ll just see how it goes,” I suggested.

  He looked relieved that I had stopped asking strange questions.

  “Hey. Ready to go? We’re going to be late for breakfast,” said Greer, appearing next to me and greeting the mayor with a nod.

  “Ms. Dice. Your family just made a sizable contribution to the spring festival fund. We very much appreciate their generosity,” said the mayor.

  “So nice of them,” she agreed.

  After we parted ways with Mayor Clabberd, Greer waited until we were well away from the town hall before asking what that was all about.

  I just shook my head. “He wants me to cat sit.”

  “Of course he has a cat,” she said.

  “I always thought he was married to his job. Turns out he has a cat named Duchess,” I said.

  “The best part of all of it is that you get to see what his house looks like,” she said with amusement.

  “I have to admit, I’m very curious,” I said.

  We reached the Daily Brew and found Charlie waiting for us outside. “No sign of Deacon’s mom.”

  “It’s a little early. Let’s go inside and wait for her there,” said Greer.

  We were late enough to have missed the morning rush, but we found Bridget trying to keep everything together without Mrs. Barnett there. She waved in our direction as we went to claim the large table in the corner. We were just turning around from setting down our jackets when Deacon’s mom came in.

  “Greer. So nice to see you,” said Mrs. Grate. “And you’re Lemmi and Charlie. So nice to see you both. It’s been a while.”

  She had met us many times. Why she acted otherwise I did not know.

  “I see you’ve reserved seats for us. I’ll set my things down. Please don’t hesitate to order,” she said.

  There was nobody else in line, so we went right up to the counter and ordered breakfast sandwiches and more coffee. Today was going to be one of those coffee-heavy kind of days.

  Mrs. Grate joined us in line and spent a long time staring at the menu, then had to go through a specialized order with Bridget.

  “I would like egg whites. Do you steam spinach? No, more’s the pity. How about just some fruit? Of course you have green tea? I will have a mug of that as well, please. No, nothing else,” she said.
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br />   My friends and I had retreated to the table, where I sat and hoped that Bridget would recover from not being able to give Mrs. Grate steamed spinach.

  “So, good morning,” said Mrs. Grate as she came back to the table. “I’m so glad you three asked me to join you. Especially with Deacon out of town. I always miss him terribly when he leaves.”

  Bridget brought our food quickly. She set everything down, asked if we needed anything else, and hurried away when we all said no. I might have been imagining it, but I got the impression that she was relieved to put some distance between herself and our table.

  I couldn’t imagine why.

  “What was it that you wanted to meet with me about? Surely it’s not just out of the goodness of your hearts,” said Mrs. Grate, getting right to the point.

  Greer had decided to leave her engagement ring at home, probably so she could control the timing of her revelation. Mrs. Grate managed to make it hard even without the ring, but Greer took a breath and plunged in. “Deacon wanted to tell you this himself. It was just that the timing wasn’t quite right, and anyhow he thought this could be a good way for us to bond,” she said, pushing her plate forward and adjusting the placement of her mug.

  I could already hear a slight note of desperation in her voice.

  “Here I was thinking that we had already bonded so well,” said Mrs. Grate. She cut into her fruit and took a bite.

  “Of course. Of course we have. This is just news that I wanted to share with you. Although it might be more usual for Deacon to share it with you, we decided it would be best if I did it,” said Greer.

  She was basically making it sound as if she was pregnant.

  From the expression on Mrs. Grate’s face, that was what she thought as well.

  I was growing anxious on Greer’s behalf.

  Charlie was starting to shake ever so slightly.

  Greer, who tolerated no nonsense at her job as a bartender, apparently used up all of her badassery at work. She was ruining this reveal in a big way.

  “I must admit, you’re starting to make me nervous,” said Mrs. Grate. With an air of careful deliberation, she took another bite of breakfast.

  “I’m sorry. That was not my intention. We’re engaged!” said Greer. She tried to force a smile on her face.