Mysterious Mintwood Murmurs Read online

The instructions didn’t say anything about where to find the cat. I made sure she had plenty of fresh water, then I took the cat food out of the cupboard and shook the bag. This was usually either a method of last or first resort to bring a shy pet out of hiding.

  Either way, the critter usually came running.

  I waited.

  There was nothing.

  I poured the food into the dish so that Duchess would know I meant business. I might not be her owner or her usual caretaker. We might not have had a chance to meet before the mayor went away. But I was going to take great care of her whether she was scared, stubborn, or anything in between.

  Now I sat at the kitchen table to wait.

  And wait. And wait.

  After a long time, I resigned myself to the need to go searching. It was always touch and go how tolerant a cat would be of a stranger. Sometimes they were perfectly fine and sometimes they were perfectly happy to avoid you forever.

  I leveraged myself out of the chair and made my way upstairs. To the left at the top of the landing was a bathroom. In front of me was a bedroom. The bedroom door was nearly closed, but I could still see the foot of the bed. The door to the right was open, so I decided to try that room first.

  It was small, but it had a nice view of the woods at the side of the house. It sported a neat desk, a red leather chair, and countless books. I was so focused on finding Duchess that at first I didn’t realize there was anything strange about the space.

  Then I started to reconsider.

  On the shelves were several antiques. One of them actually looked like a wand. There was a book about the history of witchcraft in the country. That was serious stuff. I frowned, then I glanced around at the desk, my heart hammering in my chest.

  I glanced at the stack of papers on top of the desk, unable to stop even as I told myself that what I was doing was terribly wrong. I had seen something that made my heart nearly stop beating.

  Witch Hunter.

  Just as I stepped up to the desk to get a closer look, the hissing and sputtering of a thousand rattlesnakes filled the air. The next instant the largest, fluffiest, whitest-furred cat I had ever seen went dashing out of the room.

  “Duchess!” I cried as I chased after her. Despite her size, which was considerable, she could clearly move quickly when she wanted to. Unfortunately for her, she wore a bell on her collar. I could hear her footsteps pounding down the stairs to the tune of a loud twinkling.

  I raced after her, trying to keep my footsteps soft so as not to scare her. It was always preferable to be a friend to my charges.

  In his note, the mayor had said that under no circumstances did Duchess ever eat treats. She was on a strict diet. I would have liked to be able to give her treats to encourage her affection for me, but sadly, that avenue was closed. I had, however, brought a couple of toys with me in case she wanted to chase a mouse or something.

  By the time I arrived in the kitchen, breathing hard, the cat had already made it to her food.

  Duchess gave me reproachful glance before she lowered her head again and kept on eating.

  The cat having been found, I had time to admit to myself that there was something mighty strange going on here.

  I sighed and went to sit at the kitchen table. Duchess checked again to make sure I was a decent distance away, then lowered her head for a third time. Her ears were up, and I knew that despite the fact that she was eating, she was also monitoring the dangerous intruder.

  I expected her to rush away when she finished her food, but she stuck around to wash her paws. She didn’t come near me, though, and she made it clear that if I offered something like my hand for sniffing she would instantly depart.

  By then I had been at the mayor’s house for almost an hour, and I still had Ms. Ivy’s cats to look in on. It was time to get going.

  “Maybe you’ll be happy to see me by the end of the week,” I said to Duchess.

  She gave me a look that clearly said, “I think not.”

  Part of me wanted to sneak back upstairs. Another part of me knew that it would be wrong, and I needed to leave. The more rational part of me won out.

  This time.

  When I got into the Beetle I released a long breath. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding the air in my lungs; only now did I understand how much tension the visit to the mayor’s house had inspired.

  The day was still sunny, but I was chilled. Suddenly I felt very far away from everything, very alone out here at the edge of the woods.

  I took one more look at Mayor Clabberd’s house, reminded myself that I was a witch and as such should get it together, and drove away.

  All the while I drove, my mind stayed on what I had seen in that upstairs office. Had I just been imaging what was written on the papers? Was there a simple explanation that I was missing?

  The Ivy cats were fine. They were also quite accustomed to having me come around, so I didn’t even have to stop pondering my upsetting hour at the mayor’s house while I took care of them.

  When they were all set for the day, I decided to go home and see if Greer was ready to head back to Henrietta’s bridal shop. As luck would have it, she was.

  We swung by Charlie’s office to pick her up, then made our way to Henrietta’s. Charlie could barely contain her excitement.

  “I can’t believe we’re finally going wedding dress shopping,” she said, clapping her hands together.

  “What do you mean?” said Greer.

  “I’ve been waiting for this day forever,” Charlie breathed.

  Her eyes had taken on a faraway look.

  “Um, the day we go shopping for my wedding dress?” Greer asked.

  “Not just yours. Any one of ours. It’s an important milestone,” said Charlie.

  “We haven’t even set a date,” Greer complained.

  “Have you heard anything more from your mom?” I asked.

  Greer shook her head. “Deacon heard from his, though. She was downright pleasant. Offered to help with whatever we needed. Said it was our big day. It’s worse than I thought. He’s terrified.”

  Charlie scoffed and I grinned at Greer in the mirror.

  She looked back at me. She wasn’t kidding.

  “Do you think she’s talked to your mom yet?” I asked.

  “Has there been an earthquake? Then I doubt it,” said Greer. Now she did smile. “I’d like to say I’ll do whatever they want, so long as the two of them agree on it,” she added.

  “You don’t think that would mean you’d end up with some huge wedding at the Easton Estate?” I asked.

  “Deacon would love to get married there. It’s like an outdoor adventure park. He and Jasper would have an awesome time. Speaking of Jasper . . .” said Greer, looking slyly at me.

  I groaned.

  “What about him?” I said.

  “You two lovebirds look all . . . lovey whenever I see you,” said Greer.

  “Always hugging and smiling and all that stuff,” Charlie jumped in.

  “You’re one to talk,” I grumbled to Charlie.

  “I’m going to get around to talking to Hansen,” she mumbled.

  “Oh, yeah? When?” Greer demanded.

  “Soon,” said Charlie.

  “How is it that I’m the most standoffish of us and yet I’m in the most solid relationship?” said Greer.

  “Some mysteries we will never have the answers to,” said Charlie.

  Greer leaned forward. “Talk to Hansen. Soon.”

  “I will! I will,” said Charlie.

  “He likes you. He’s a good guy. He gets your work. And he’s cute,” I said. “What more do you want?”

  “I want to like him and not get hurt,” said Charlie promptly.

  “You can only have one of those things for certain. Do you like him?” I asked.

  Charlie was quiet for so long that I thought she’d gone back to not answering. Then she slumped in the car seat. “So. SO much.”

  In the mirror I saw Greer grin.
<
br />   Chapter Ten

  There were a couple of customers already in Henrietta’s shop when we got there, two women who were speaking to Henrietta in hushed tones.

  “We just wanted to have a little party to commemorate two years of marriage,” said one of the women, who had dull brown hair.

  Her friend nodded. “They’ve made it a whole two years! Isn’t it wonderful?” she squealed.

  Henrietta smiled and pointed to a few things in the book she had open in front of her, showing the women their options for the party they wanted to have.

  Greer took Charlie around and showed her a few of the dresses she’d liked before. While we waited for Henrietta to be free, the three of us made sure to look through more dresses, in case we’d missed some the first time.

  The two women didn’t linger. They said something about lunch plans and then were off. I watched them cross the street to where a grumpy-looking man waited. He kissed one of the women on the cheek before they walked off, and I could only assume he was her husband.

  Henrietta came over to us with a big smile.

  “Greer and Lemmi from yesterday, right? I see you brought another bridesmaid.” Henrietta gave a big grin.

  Charlie beamed at her. “Sure did. Wanted to see all the beautiful dresses Greer told me about,” she said.

  “She’s going to be a beautiful bride,” said Henrietta.

  “I didn’t know you helped plan anniversary parties as well,” I said.

  Henrietta glanced at the door through which the two ladies had departed.

  “Oh, just for customers whose weddings we helped with. She married her husband two years ago. They want to celebrate,” said Henrietta.

  “That’s so nice,” said Charlie.

  “What can I help you with today? Did you want to look at some bridesmaid’s dresses?” Henrietta asked.

  “Sure,” said Greer. “Might as well get an idea about that as well.”

  Forty-five minutes and a lot of horrified expressions later, Greer took a break. She disliked most of the dresses. They were too frilly or not flattering or a terrible color. She tried to be polite when expressing her reactions to Henrietta, but it was clear that she was disappointed.

  “I actually wanted to talk to you about something else, if it’s okay,” said Charlie to Henrietta, who was standing by while Greer continued to look at dresses.

  Henrietta looked at Charlie in surprise. “There’s a lot to being a bridesmaid. We have books and pamphlets on it if you’re concerned. I’m sure you’re going to be great,” she said.

  “Greer is so stressed about the moms, I could throw spaghetti at the wall and she’d hardly notice,” said Charlie with a grin.

  Greer rolled her eyes while the rest of us laughed.

  Then Charlie got serious. “What I wanted to ask you questions about, was your sister Haley,” she said.

  Henrietta’s eyes went wide and she shifted on her feet as if she was hoping to run away. Charlie tried to paste a placid expression on her face. “I hope it isn’t too much trouble,” she said quietly.

  Henrietta appeared to stumble over the words that she wanted to use. She looked back and forth at each of us in turn and finally asked Greer, “Are you even getting married?”

  My friend was so surprised, she threw her head back and laughed. When she remembered that this was not a laughing matter, she cleared her throat and said, “Yes, of course I am! We’re high school sweethearts, as a matter of fact. Everything we have told you is true. In fact, just coming here is how we found out about your sister. I came here with no agenda other than to find a wedding dress I truly loved before my mother found one I truly hated.”

  Henrietta looked a bit more at ease after that, but she was still looking at Charlie with some reserve. “I’m sorry. I don’t really conduct interviews about my sister. It’s all too painful.”

  “I was just hoping to find out what happened to her,” said Charlie.

  “She was murdered, that’s what happened to her. Plain and simple. Nobody believes me. The police officer who worked here at the time is long gone from the force. There’s no one for me to talk about it with. I went to the current detective, but he said the case is open and shut. Open, as in, it was an accident, and she wasn’t murdered. Shut, as in no one is going to do anything more about it,” Henrietta said quietly.

  “I’m a journalist, but I like to think of myself as a detective journalist,” said Charlie. “Sometimes my friends and I solve cases around the county. After I heard about your sister’s story, I wanted to give it a try.”

  Now the shop owner’s eyes went wide. “You’re that Charlie Silver who writes in the Mintwood Gazette. I didn’t really put two and two together. I’ve heard your name, but I wasn’t really thinking about it. I read your articles all the time.”

  Henrietta licked her lips as if she appeared to be thinking. She glanced around the empty shop, then said, “Okay. I’ll talk to you. Just, don’t write any articles yet.”

  “You mean except for the one that was in today’s paper?” said Charlie, wincing a bit.

  “Oh, there have been articles over the past two years. Haley is always mentioned when there’s a discussion of drivers’ accidents. I just meant that I didn’t want to be quoted just yet,” Henrietta explained.

  “Of course,” agreed Charlie. “This can be all off the record until we know more.”

  Henrietta turned around and bustled back to the counter, motioning for Charlie to join her. All three of us went over and watched Henrietta pull out a large binder. Much like Charlie’s, it was stuffed full of paper.

  “What is this?” Charlie asked.

  “This is everything I’ve compiled about what happened to Haley. All the articles, all the information about what she was doing at the time. I have a timeline for where she was. I have a list of all of her clients, although I’ve cleared most of them from suspicion,” Henrietta explained.

  She slid the binder across to Charlie. “You can take it. Just don’t share it with anybody. I certainly haven’t gotten anywhere with it since the murder.”

  “Thank you. I promise I will keep it safe and return it to you soon,” said Charlie, picking up the precious resource.

  Henrietta nodded, satisfied and maybe a bit relieved at having found someone – at last – who didn’t pooh-pooh her theory.

  “Sometimes I do work with one of the journalists at the Chronicle,” said Charlie. “He also maintains the highest levels of secrecy. Would it be all right if I shared this with him?”

  My face wanted to work into the form of all kinds surprised expressions, and I barely managed to school my features into blandness.

  Henrietta’s eyes went wide again. She looked downright pleased. “You can share the binder with him, but I don’t want him to repeat any of this either. And I don’t want to be quoted in any new articles unless I’ve given specific permission.”

  “Of course. He would never do such a thing,” said Charlie.

  “Isn’t that Hansen Gregory?” Henrietta asked, now sounding excited. “Because he’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, barring a couple others I don’t know the names of.”

  “That’s who it is. We’ve been rivals for a long time, but sometimes we work together,” Charlie explained.

  “If a man that cute wanted to share information, I’d share it with him too,” said Henrietta with a giggle.

  Far from being annoyed or possessive, Charlie beamed.

  “Anyway,” Henrietta resumed, as if summing up, “I think she my sister was murdered. Something strange was going at the time, but it’s all in the binder, and I can’t say I know any of it for certain. She just said she had a funny feeling. Somebody had been hanging around her place. She’d gotten a couple of strange letters. Threatening.

  “The letters had no name attached to them, and Haley almost thought they were meant for somebody else. She ran a wedding dress shop, for goodness sakes! She said she didn’t know what to do with the threats, and she want
ed to go looking for help, but she chickened out and decided not to at the last minute. I was really busy at the time because I was in grad school. I wasn’t here as much as I am these days.

  “Now I just live here full-time. Before I lived about an hour away and was going to classes, and just tried to help her with the business in my spare time.

  “Haley always had a bit of a dramatic streak, so I didn’t think much of what she was saying about threats. Then, two days after she last spoke to me about the situation, she died. At first I believed the reports. She had gotten into an accident. Back roads, sometimes that happens, as awful as it might be. Then I started to think about it more, and as I’ve said, I just don’t believe it. She didn’t have any health issues, and the coroner didn’t find any ailments that had gone undiagnosed. On top of that, Haley was a very safe driver. It was daylight when she crashed. Maybe a deer ran in front of her, but she wouldn’t have been going that fast. I just don’t see how it could have happened.”

  Henrietta paused, but just when I thought she had wound down, she had to sum up one more time.

  “Following on the heels of her saying funny things had gone on I started to be more skeptical. Ever since then I’ve been trying to find out if she was murdered,” she finished.

  “But you couldn’t get anyone to believe you?” said Charlie.

  Henrietta nodded sadly. “My poor sister was the nicest girl in the world. She did not deserve to be treated like that.”

  “Did you have any suspects at all?” I asked.

  Henrietta sighed and shook her head. “Like I said, she was kind and sweet. She had several good friends. I knew all of her neighbors and they all liked her as well. Haley had never gone on a date in her life. We didn’t have any other family, just each other. I just can’t imagine what happened,” she said.

  Charlie reached across the table and put her hands on top of Henrietta’s. “We’re going to find out what happened to your sister. I promise. We are really good at this,” she said, with a bright smile that made even me confident.

  Henrietta gave a watery laugh. “Maybe you will. Maybe this is exactly what I need. For the last two years I’ve wanted help. Now here it is. I wanted somebody to believe me that something awful took my sister. And now, here you are,” she said.