Лейганн Доббс - A Whisker In The Dark

Millie shoved the quiche into the oven. “I’m just going to cook this for a while to let it set and you can heat it up tomorrow morning. Now, let’s talk about the town celebration. Are you all set with the rest of the display items and the loaf cakes?”

“Sure.” I was a bit reluctant to stop the murder discussion since I really wanted to figure out who the killer was, but I supposed that talking about something else would give our collective subconscious time to work on all the clues and suspects. “I’ll dig up that book on the guesthouse history from my room tonight. I made a trial batch of apple-pecan loaf.” I gestured toward the loaf I’d left cooling.

“I saw that. Was wondering when you were going to let me try it.” Millie cut into the loaf and I held my breath as she took a bite and swirled it around in her mouth like she was taste testing fine wine.

“It’s okay. A little tart.” Millie picked up the recipe card and looked over the recipe. “Oh yes, I remember this one. You might want to add a pinch more sugar. Plenty of people like it sweet. And you have the little mini loaf pans and bows?”

“Yep.” I can’t tell you how relieved I was the loaf had passed Millie’s taste test. Sure, she’d complained about it being tart, but the fact that that was all she’d had to say was a high compliment. Millie had given me these cute miniature tinfoil loaf pans, pink plastic wrap and red bows. She’d said the presentation would draw people to my table. I was afraid I needed as much help as I could to get people in my line and out of Stella’s, so I was willing to try anything, even if it meant pouring batter into dozens of tiny pans.

“Okay.” Millie brought her hands together and looked at my mother. “What do you say we leave Josie to it? The bingo game at the senior center starts in thirty minutes and it’s a double pot tonight. Don’t want to miss it.”

“You guys take off, I can handle this.” I gestured toward the oven.

“Great.” Millie pointed. “Let that cook for twenty more minutes, then let it cool and put it in the fridge. Heat it up tomorrow morning for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Easy peasy.”

The cats trotted out to say their goodbyes and Millie and Mom went out the back door. As I was watching them go, Millie turned and said, “Don’t worry, Josie, everything will work out perfectly. You’ll see.”

“That’s right,” Mom agreed. “But you might want to burn some sage, just in case those rumors about Jedediah’s ghost really are true.”

No sooner had Mom and Millie left, than the front door opened and I heard the Biddefords come in. At least they wouldn’t be digging up the yard tonight. The police had taken their shovels, but I also doubted they would be so cold-hearted to want to dig when that’s how their brother had been killed. I lurked in the hallway, hidden by the staircase—not to eavesdrop, but to give them some privacy. Okay, maybe I wanted to eavesdrop a little. They were my prime suspects and one of them might say something incriminating.

“I think a nice simple service with no wake is fine,” Carla said. “We don’t really need to rub elbows with any of Bob’s unsavory acquaintances, so there’s no need for a wake.”

“If the police ever release the body,” Earl said.

“Maybe someone could do a cheese sculpture of a dove to put on top of the casket?” Doris asked.

The kids mumbled their agreement.

“White cheddar would work well for that,” Paula said.

“Boy that Marinara Mariner sure has spicy sauce. I’ll be up all night.” Earl burped.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have eaten so much,” Carla said. I could hear her sniffing. “Did Josie bake something? Maybe we should make sure the kitchen isn’t on fire.”

The siblings laughed and I resisted the urge to march right out there and give them a piece of my mind. I’d burned a few loaf cakes since the Biddefords had been here, but I didn’t burn everything I put in the oven.

“I’m going to bed to see if I can get some sleep,” Arlene said. “It’s kind of freaky knowing there is a murderer running around. I knew this town was weird. Luckily, we’ll only be here a few more days. I don’t even care about the town celebration or how Earl’s ancestors practically founded Oyster Cove anymore.”

“You can say that again,” Carla agreed. “And honestly, I don’t know if I want to sleep in this creepy old house with Jedediah Biddeford’s ghost rambling around. I don’t want to be his next victim.”

“You don’t really think there is a ghost here, do you?” Arlene scoffed.

“That’s what they’re saying in town.”

Great. People were starting to believe this murdering ghost nonsense. Now even the current guests were afraid to stay. I heard the stairs creaking as they all went up to bed.

“You know, it would make sense that it would be Jed’s ghost,” Earl said. “I mean, who else would want to kill Bob?”

“You mean other than one of ush ?” Paula slurred.

“Yeah,” Earl said. “Maybe Bob really did find something and Jed made good on his curse to harm whoever messed with his treasure.”

“Stop it!” Arlene admonished. “I won’t sleep a wink. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Well I, for one, hope there really is,” Doris said. “And I hope Jed is rambling around in here. In fact, I hope he pays me a visit tonight.”

“Why is that?” Henry asked.

“Because then maybe I can persuade him to tell me where he hid the darn treasure!”

Eighteen

The cats had been sitting silently at my feet the whole time I listened to the Biddefords’ conversation. They blinked up at me as if in agreement that the whole family was crazy. But was one of them a killer?

Nero rubbed his face on my ankle and then looked up at me adoringly. I could see why people got so attached to the furry creatures. I was really starting to like them, they could be very friendly and attentive. They were especially attentive when I headed toward the fridge and got out some cheese and an apple for a snack.

“You guys want a snack too? Okay maybe a little cheese.” I broke off two pieces and added it to my plate. At their protesting meows I articulated, “You can have these up in our room after I get this quiche out of the oven.”

Our room. Who knew I’d be thinking of the cats as part of my family in that way?

Meow! they chorused.

Sounded like they’d understood. But when I started toward the back stairs, after securing the quiche in the fridge, the cats meowed loudly… prancing off in the direction of the butler’s pantry. Did they not understand we were going to our room? Or maybe I was the one who didn’t understand. I decided to follow them and find out.

As I started toward them Nero’s tail twitched and he trotted off even further, casting glances over his shoulder as if to make sure I was following. I’d determined he was the smarter of the two after watching them interact. Marlowe seemed younger, more impetuous. Marlowe had trotted ahead not even looking back, her tail waving in the air like a flag to follow.

The other side of the pantry opened into the hallway. At first, I thought they’d go toward the west wing. That seemed to be where everything happened. Bodies, skeletons, who knew what would be next? To my relief, they veered off to the right continuing down the hall to the conservatory.

Oh no. Was something wrong in there now? Had Ed started work and uncovered something dastardly or, even worse, been injured? I’d given Ed the day off but it would be just like him to come in and work anyway. The room was off the beaten path and no one would be walking past it to look in and see if someone was hurt in there.