Лейганн Доббс - A Whisker In The Dark

“Yep.”

“Perfect. I don’t like to waste food. We can use that up in here,” Millie said. “You know, back when I ran the guesthouse in my younger days, I used to like to pre-prep. Some things like the frittata must be prepared fresh that morning, but I always preferred doing something the night before, that way I didn’t have to get up early. I could just rush down, heat it up and then put it on the breakfast buffet with the other items. I never did like to get up early.”

“All those late nights out with your boyfriends,” my mother teased.

Millie blushed and fluffed her hair. “Well now, I guess I’ll just start assembling these ingredients.”

She opened the cupboard and took out some salt and pepper, then grabbed eggs, cheese and milk and the rice out of the fridge before taking the frozen broccoli out of the freezer and popping it into the microwave. “It’s always a good idea to have some frozen veggies around, comes in handy when you need to whip up a quiche.”

I nodded. The broccoli must have been left over from when Millie owned the place. I certainly didn’t remember buying it.

As she worked, she talked. “Did you learn anything new about…” She jerked her head in the direction of the pond.

“I talked to Jen and she said people around town think Jedediah’s ghost came back and committed the murder.”

My mother gave a nervous laugh, her eyes darting around the room as if she expected a ghost to manifest out of nowhere. “That’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, of course it is.” Millie cracked an egg into a bowl and started beating it. “That man was definitely killed by a human. He was bludgeoned over the head with a shovel. Ghosts would do something less physical.”

“I think all of Bob’s siblings are still suspects. I’m not sure about Flora, she did say she was out there… but she didn’t kill Bob, of course.” I chewed on my bottom lip. Should I mention to Mom and Millie that she’d sort of lied? Millie would probably say she had just been forgetful, she was quite old. I wondered if the police still suspected her.

“I haven’t talked to Seth Chamberlain, have you?” I asked. Millie always could wrangle sensitive information out of him.

Millie blushed. Just as I suspected, she’d been doing more than talking with Sheriff Chamberlain. Good thing for us though as we could use all the information we could get.

Millie added rice to the egg and beat faster. “I happen to know the siblings are still suspects but don’t tell anyone I told you.”

“All of them?” my mother asked as Marlowe jumped up onto her lap. “I thought maybe Earl had cleared himself with the shoes.”

Millie nodded. “Yes. His Nikes do seem to clear him, but who can believe what Paula said? Maybe she didn’t see fancy shoes at all.”

“And is she a suspect?” I asked. “I mean, she does admit she was in the proximity. She says she was asleep under the bench, but she could be lying about that.”

“I don’t think we can rule any of them out because they all argued with Bob,” Mom said.

“And Flora didn’t,” Millie added. “She has no motive.”

“Other than the treasure,” Mom added.

“If only we knew what those arguments were really about we could determine if his siblings had something to kill over,” I said.

“And let’s not forget about Myron Remington. He was acting very strange and overly interested in the case. He dresses fancy. I bet he has a pair of Italian leather shoes like Paula said she saw. Didn’t you see him here last night, Millie?” my mother asked.

“Yep. I think he was with Stella Dumont, but you’re wrong about one thing. He’s not really interested in Bob’s case, he’s more interested in Jedediah’s case. The skeleton,” Millie said. “He was asking Seth all about it.”

Millie had mixed grated cheese in with the egg and rice and she pressed that into a pie plate to make the crust. I watched carefully. Millie made it look easy.

“Myron said he wasn’t here that night,” I said. Millie turned to look at me, her left brow quirked up. “I asked him directly.”

“I saw him. I know it was him,” Millie said.

“Why would he lie?” my mother asked.

“If he was with Stella he might not want anyone to know,” I suggested.

“Or maybe he’s the killer and pretending he is interested in the skeleton as an excuse to find out more about the police investigation into Bob’s murder,” Mom said.

Millie mixed the rest of the eggs and the other ingredients together and poured it in the pie plate on top of the egg and rice crust. The cats begged and she tossed them a piece of cheese. “I don’t know. Myron has always been worried about what people think. Always boasting about how his family has been here for generations, as if that was some sort of pedigree. He probably just didn’t want anyone to know that he’d lowered himself to the level of regular folks.”

“Did Flora say what she was doing down by the pond? Or even if she was there?” Mom asked.

“Not to me,” I said. “I didn’t hear her deny Paula’s accusation either though.”

Millie pressed her lips together. “Seth didn’t mention what he talked about with Flora. I know he thinks I am biased about her. But if Paula is telling the truth and she was awakened by the shoe stepping on her hand, then saw Flora, that means Flora was coming down the path after the person with the fancy shoes,” Millie said. “Do you think Flora might’ve seen something and is afraid to talk about it?”

The cats meowed loudly. They were over by a small bookshelf that held ephemera related to the guesthouse. All kinds of old brochures, menus, pictures. Nero swatted at the little blue plastic ring from a milk bottle that had fallen on the floor and it skittered under the bookshelf. The two cats peered after it, then Marlowe snaked her paw under to retrieve it.

“She might have seen something, but I doubt it,” Millie said. “I mean, have you ever seen Flora afraid to speak up?”

“Good point,” I said. “And what about this business about a trip to the Caribbean? Why would Annabel say Flora was taking one if she isn’t? Or if she is, why would Flora lie?”

Millie waved her hands dismissively. “Annabel probably thinks if she says it enough times Flora will think it’s her idea. She’s doing a big renovation on her travel agency and I bet she needs the money. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s saying that about everyone—you know, planting the idea sort of like a subliminal message.”

“Maybe. I just hope Seth will leave Flora alone now. He has many more interesting suspects to consider,” I said.

“Not the least of which is Jedediah’s ghost.” Mom stared at the cats, who were now staring at the bookcase as if mesmerized by something the rest of us couldn’t see. “Maybe Nero and Marlowe know more about that than we do.”

Mew!

They turned to look at us as if they knew we were talking about them, then continued playing with the plastic ring, Nero swatting at it and sending it skidding into the butler’s pantry.

“Oh, go on.” Millie waved her hand in the air. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

“Maybe not, but plenty of people do believe it.” Mom glanced at me. “I just hope it doesn’t hurt the reputation of the guesthouse.”

“All the more reason to figure out who really killed Bob so the rumors can stop.” I would like nothing better than to solve this case quickly and move on. I hadn’t gotten a reservation for the guesthouse in the last couple of days and soon the Biddefords would be leaving. I needed new guests to pay the bills. And I didn’t need something like a lingering murder investigation to scare them off.