Spooky Skeleton Read online

  I knew for a fact that I was beaming from ear to ear. I couldn’t help myself. Not to keep my cousins in suspense, I took the note out of my back pocket and set it on the table. They both leaned forward to see what it said, and as soon as Lark saw that it was from Grant, she squealed in delight. “He hasn’t forgotten you! That’s amazing.”

  “I never said he forgot me, exactly,” I muttered. I knew I was being defensive. I had implied as much on a number of ranting occasions. It was just that he’d been gone for so long I had really started to miss him, and to wonder what would happen when he came back.

  “Now we know he’s coming back, and soon. That’s good. He might want to know about this murder in town,” said Lark.

  Pep, unlike her sister, didn’t care at all about the murder or what Grant was doing. All she wanted to know was what kind of date I thought he’d take me on.

  “I have no idea,” I told her honestly. “He clearly has a plan, though. I guess he got Uncle Taft to leave the flowers outside my door last night. It sounds as if his investigation is over.”

  “Hopefully once he gets back he’ll be able to be here for a while,” said Lark.

  “Where do you think he wants to go on your date?” Pep asked, sticking to the point.

  I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Given what a good second date we had, and what a good first date we had, I’m sure he’ll have something spectacular planned. Not to put too much pressure on him, but he’s had plenty of time to think about it,” I said.

  My cousins laughed. They knew I was right. They also knew that I was putting a lot of pressure on the third date; I just couldn’t help myself. I had thought of little else since Grant asked me to go on it, and now that he had started off the process by leaving me a huge bouquet of flowers, my expectations were soaring even higher.

  As we ate and pondered the question of what Grant would dream up next, we heard a car drive up. The three of us exchanged looks.

  “I want to continue this later. Such a romantic gesture,” said Pep with delight. I smiled, appreciating her enthusiasm, and then we stacked our dishes and left the gift shop.

  Without even having to say it out loud, I knew we all expected that the visitor would be the Chief of Police. We went into the study and peered out at the driveway, and sure enough, that’s who was making his way around the mansion.

  Apparently he planned on speaking with Evangeline first. Chief Gray hadn’t been to Haunted Bluff in a long time, and I told myself, not for the first time, that it was a good thing the supernaturals usually stayed hidden during the day. If they hadn’t, the Chief of Police might have been in for quite a shock.

  “I’m going to try and get some work done before he comes inside,” said Lark.

  She disappeared, which just left Pep and me. “I should get some work done too,” said Pep, heading back to the gift shop.

  Left alone in the study, I knew what I wanted to do, and it would be all the easier with my cousins occupied elsewhere. Maybe if I could find Rose quickly, what I wanted would work. The only trouble was that the cat was probably still asleep in the attic.

  “What are you standing in here for?” came a voice from around my ankles.

  I glanced down to see the fluffy white animal and grinned at my clairvoyant cat. Now we could carry out my plan.

  I explained what I wanted, which was to listen in on the Chief’s conversation with Evangeline. I was dismayed to discover that Rose was not on board.

  “We can’t listen in at windows,” she said.

  “Sure we can. Why can’t we? We just happen to be outside,” I said.

  “Doing what? Nothing legitimate. I could go sit outside Evangeline’s house, but if you got caught you’d be in big trouble,” said Rose.

  I was frustrated. Cookie had told us not to meddle in this murder, but I couldn’t help it, even though I didn’t want to let even Pep and Lark know that yet. Something smelled fishy, and I was determined to find out what it was.

  “I was right about there being a draft in the haunted house,” I pointed out to Rose.

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything either,” she said stubbornly.

  “I knew something was wrong. Something is up here, as well. Trust me. We have to find out what it is,” I said.

  In the end Rose agreed, if reluctantly, and the two of us headed out. I was careful to avoid running into any of my family, and just as careful to avoid telling Lark and Pep what I was doing. If anyone was going to get into trouble, it would be me alone; I didn’t want to drag them into it.

  Rose led the way outside, alert for any hazards that we might run into. Like family.

  Evangeline’s cottage wasn’t far away, but the challenge was sneaking up on it without anyone seeing us. Luckily, we managed. Instead of walking near the bluff, we went out and walked along the property line. That way we’d be approaching her house from the front.

  Evangeline’s windows were at the back of the cottage to take advantage of the view, so an approach from the front would be unexpected, and hopefully undetected. Evangeline wouldn’t be sitting near the front door with the Chief Gray, she would presumably have taken him through to the side of the house that overlooked the sea.

  There were enough trees that we had plenty of cover. If anyone came along and asked us what we were doing, I planned on telling them that we were checking on Grant’s cottage while he was away. We had to walk past Evangeline’s to get there, so it was at least a plausible excuse.

  Having reached the cottage without being seen, we proceeded to sneak as near as we could to the sitting room where she liked to take guests. I was desperate to find out why Chief Gray had decided that Evangeline was the first person he had to talk to, so much so that the excitement made my blood boil. This was the fun part of investigating.

  I crawled along under the windows, careful to avoid Evangeline’s perfectly planted flowers.

  “You look ridiculous. Not like a cat at all,” Rose said.

  “Thanks so much for those words of encouragement,” I muttered.

  Unfortunately, it was too cold for Evangeline to have the windows open, so I intended to perform a subtle enchantment that would let me hear what was being said inside. At least that’s what I hoped to accomplish.

  And it worked! In no time at all Rose and I were listening to the conversation taking place in the sitting room.

  “It’s a nasty business. People around town tell me you knew him,” said Chief Gray.

  Evangeline’s response was so much quieter that I found myself straining to hear. I heard the words “acquaintance” and “not really,” but not much else.

  Chief Gray’s booming voice said, “That’s not my understanding. My understanding is that the two of you were once a couple. You’ll have to forgive me for implying this, but so far I haven’t found anyone in town who had ever spoken to the man, not for at least the last ten years. That leaves you. Did you two date?”

  Either there was silence on the other side of the wall, or the response was too low for me to hear. But my mind was racing. The chief’s theory would explain how Cookie had known Elton; she had been close with Evangeline until they had a falling out, so she would probably have known if Evangeline was involved with someone.

  And then a further thought struck me. Could the falling out have actually been over this fellow?

  I couldn’t hear much more of the conversation, because Evangeline was speaking so quietly. All I could gather was that her response didn’t take long.

  Soon the chief was saying his goodbyes. He didn’t sound very satisfied; Evangeline clearly hadn’t helped him much. Not that I was surprised. If Evangeline had dated Elton ten years ago or more, how could she be expected to remember much now?

  Still, given that Elton had been murdered, and Evangeline was (allegedly) the only person in the area who had known him, it was starting to sound as if as if she could actually be a suspect in his death.

  Frustrated at having to leave the garden outside the
cottage with more questions than answers, Rose and I crawled away.

  Chapter Nine

  Once I was away from Evangeline’s cottage, I hurried back to the mansion. Chief Gray had said he’d be stopping by the mansion next, and I wanted to be there when he knocked on the door. Otherwise he might suspect that I was up to something funny. I wouldn’t want him to know the truth, would I?

  I had just rushed into the kitchen when I heard a knock at the front door. Luckily, Audrey wasn’t around to question what I had been doing outside.

  Then I flew into the foyer, desperate to be the first one to the front hall. Unfortunately, just as I rounded the staircase I saw smooth leather legs sashaying toward the door.

  My feet skidded to a halt. Lizzie was going to beat me to it. As she opened the door, she looked over her shoulder at me and simpered. I fought to control my annoyance.

  Lizzie opened the door wide and gushed, “Chief Inspector Gray. What a surprise. How are you? Do come in.”

  “I thought I knew everybody who lived at Haunted Bluff, since I see your family at the market from time to time. Are you new?” he asked her.

  Lizzie twittered an incredibly fake laugh. I was amazed that the chief didn’t recoil from the bath of insincerity. Still trying to control my irritation, I walked forward calmly and said, “She’s not a fan of the market.”

  Lizzie’s eyes sharpened on me. She had a loose relationship with the truth, and she preferred to put out an image of herself as fun and accommodating.

  “It’s always just that you want to go so badly,” she said to me with a smile, “and out of the goodness of my heart I let you.”

  To my utter disbelief, the Chief of Police nodded as though he not only believed her, but was impressed.

  “That’s so very good of you, cousin,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Any time. By the way, I’m not lazy,” she said, barely sparing me a glance and then turning back to the chief. “Would you like some refreshment? You can come into the library.”

  “I was actually hoping to speak with your grandmother. This murder has been a terrible business. If anyone in the house has any information, I’d be appreciative,” he said.

  “I’m sure we don’t know anything,” said Lizzie.

  “No better example of that than you are,” I muttered under my breath.

  Lizzie pretended not to hear me.

  “Jane, be a dear and get the chief some refreshments. I’m sure he’s famished,” she said with a big smile.

  “Oh, I can’t possibly put you out. I did just have tea at Evangeline’s,” said Chief Gray.

  The chief certainly looked like the sort of man who would eat more than one meal in a row. His wife one of the best cooks in town, which we knew because everybody was forever talking about it. Whenever there was a potluck dinner to fund raise money for some cause, Mrs. Gray always brought at least three dishes, and they were always the first things to vanish from the table. She was a real caretaker.

  “No trouble at all,” I said. “I’m sure I can scare something up. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  I ground my heel into the floor and spun away just as Lizzie was telling the chief that she didn’t know where Cookie was, but we could certainly find her.

  Now she was telling more lies. I had a feeling that my grandmother would be conspicuously absent from this proceeding.

  Audrey, who was also an excellent cook, always had something prepared in case guests showed up. Today it was a sponge cake. I grabbed some, arranged a few slices nicely on a tray, and fetched some small plates and forks. I thought about not bringing enough plates for Lizzie to have cake, then realized that Lizzie really didn’t want cake to begin with. She always said that sugar went right to her hips. Personally, I thought she could use some sugar on her hips, but no one was likely to ask my opinion on the subject.

  I got some extra plates just in case.

  When I got back to the library, I found that Lizzie had seated Chief Gray in my chair. Okay, it wasn’t technically my chair, but it was the one I sat in the most, the one next to the huge bank of windows that overlooked the ocean. The chief was so mesmerized by the view that they hadn’t even started talking.

  “Did you find Cookie?” I asked brightly.

  Lizzie glared at me. “I haven’t had a chance to look. I didn’t want to leave the Chief of Police by himself.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it. I do really need to discuss some things with her,” said Chief Gray.

  Lizzie got up reluctantly just as I held out the sponge cake to her. “Hurry back. You have this to look forward to.”

  She gave me another fake smile and hurried away.

  I hoped that Pep and Lark would come soon. Surely they had heard the knock on the door, so they’d know that the chief had arrived. Meanwhile, I meant to take full advantage of these few precious moments alone with Chief Gray.

  I decided to employ a tactic that wasn’t often used in the Garbo household. I went for subtlety.

  “You must be exhausted. Sponge cake?” I asked. I did my best impression of a graceful hostess and set the tray on the table between us before sitting down on the nearest sofa.

  “Yes, please,” said the chief. “That would be excellent. My wife would probably be relieved that I ate something.”

  I served each of us a piece of cake; it certainly wasn’t as if I was going to refrain from enjoying it. Once we were both munching away I said, “This must be your first murder investigation.”

  “No, actually, I was born in Shimmerfield, but I went to college out of state. I worked as a police officer in Boston for ten years before I moved back home. You never get used to it, though. Especially when it’s someone like Elton. Nobody seems to have known him. I can’t find one person who ever spoke to the man, even though most of the town had their cars fixed by him. He had a downright monopoly.” He shook his head in bewilderment.

  Given that the Chief of Police was inclined to talk, I was inclined to let him.

  “Had he lived here his whole life?” I asked. I thought maybe old school friends or acquaintances of his parents might have said something.

  The chief sighed and shook his head. This was apparently another mystery that was stumping him.

  “That’s the thing about it. He seems to have appeared here about thirty years ago. He set up shop as a mechanic and that was that. Nobody remembers him before then.”

  “What was the shop used for before he took it over?” I asked.

  “It was a mechanic’s shop then, too. It was just owned by somebody else. There’s a deed of sale on record at the town office. Elton seems to have bought it fair and square,” said the chief.

  I nodded my head, mulling over this information. I really couldn’t see how it helped.

  “You said you spoke with Evangeline?” I asked.

  Now the chief became a little bit more guarded. I was almost sorry I had asked the question.

  “I’m trying to speak with everyone who lived here thirty years ago, anyone who might have known Elton when he arrived. As the Chief of Police, I do try and get around to most of the town from time to time, but whenever I’ve been to Elton’s shop he hasn’t been there. Now I’m thinking that he is there, and that he just doesn’t want to see me, or anyone else, either. Anyhow, eventually I gave up going. I just accepted that his mysterious behavior was the way it was,” he said.

  “It does make it more difficult to see a motive for murder,” I said.

  “I figure he was hiding from something. Seems like there’s a decent chance that something found him,” said Chief Gray.

  I couldn’t argue with that logic.

  Just then the library door opened and my mother and Meg came in, closely followed by Pep and Lark. There was still no sign of Cookie and Lizzie.

  Maybe my grandmother had taken her granddaughter and dropped her into a well, intending to keep her there until Chief Gray left. It was too much to hope for, but I really would have enjoyed seeing i
t.

  “So sorry to have kept you waiting,” said my mom. “I’m so glad Jane is here to talk with you. She even got the cake. It’s not like her to be so hospitable,” said my mom.

  “It was that girl Lizzie’s idea. She seems great,” said Chief Gray.

  Lark put her hand over her mouth to cover a smirk.

  Everybody sat down on one couch or another, and Lark helped herself to some cake.

  “What is it we can help you with?” my mom asked.

  “I’m going around to as many people in town as possible. I assume you’ve heard by now that Elton was murdered. We’re trying to find anyone who knew him,” he said.

  My mother was sort of bobbing her head slowly, her expression not changing at all.

  Something fishy was definitely going on. After a morning spent doing paperwork, I decided that I needed some fresh air. I wanted to mull over some questions I had about the investigation, and I got Lark and Pep to come out and have lunch at one of the picnic tables.

  Unfortunately, it was so cold outside that we changed course and headed for the conservatory. That glassed-in room was still chilly, but we started a fire in the fireplace and were soon comfortable.

  Once the fire was lit and we had started in on our lunches, Pep said, “I can’t believe they can’t find anyone who knew Elton. I’m sure they’d love to talk to the skeleton, if only they knew he existed.”

  “It doesn’t sound like they’ve found the house, either. I’m thinking they aren’t even going to look any further. They think he just lived in the shop,” said Lark.

  That much was clearly true.

  “When Cookie goes back to talk to Paul, I’d like to go with her,” I said. “There’s something else going on here beyond Elton just being a reclusive human.”

  “If he wasn’t a human, what was he? Do you think he was killed to keep his identity secret?” Lark asked.

  “It’s hard to tell. It doesn’t sound like anyone from town had any motivation to kill him, since nobody even knew him. Then again, I suppose someone could be lying about that,” I mused.