Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  She is my familiar, Monica thought. Even if we don’t exactly get along…maybe I should try to do something to help her? Monica had an idea. She went and found herself a good hiding place in one of the quick-change rooms backstage. She located a pen and paper and began writing a note to the Sorcerers’ Council requesting a follow-up hearing for Abigail. She wasn’t sure if it would amount to much, but she was going to try nonetheless.

  Monica then pulled out her wand, tapped the letter four times, and spoke clearly, “Sorcerers’ Council.” The letter vanished. Feeling somewhat accomplished, she hid her wand once more and slipped out of the quick-change room. She saw Brian walking around backstage, and when their eyes met, he nodded approvingly. “Ah, there you are,” he said. “I got a hold of the director. She told me the troop is doing a memorial service tonight for Jeremiah and that we could come by and speak to everyone.”

  “Oh, perfect,” Monica said. “That’ll give us some time to think about who all we want to talk to and come up with questions to ask.”

  Brian chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose so. For now, though, I think I’ll take you back to your bookshop. I’ll pick you up around closing time, and then we can head to the memorial service. I mean, if you want to come with me, that is.”

  “Absolutely!” Monica declared. “Besides, I think you need me, don’t you?”

  Brian smiled. “Definitely.”

  Once Brian spoke with a few more officers and looked around backstage for any additional evidence, which they seemed to be lacking, they headed to his patrol car. He sighed, seeming a bit discouraged. “There didn’t seem to be any evidence in that theater whatsoever,” he said. “I mean, it was a pretty straightforward crime. No blood. No tussle. This might be a pretty tough one to crack.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” Monica assured him. “You and I make a great team, right?”

  “Right,” Brian said, smiling at her. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed back toward the bookshop. Once Monica was dropped off, she waved happily to Brian as he pulled off to follow up on some other lead he was working. She headed back inside to eagerly await his return that evening.

  5

  Monica was excited when she saw Brian’s patrol car pull up outside of her shop. She had already sent Holly home for the evening, and all of the closing duties had been completed. Abigail, as always, was choosing to remain at the shop instead of accompanying her on her adventure out with Brian. She was choosing to take yet another nap—this time on the back counter. “I’ll be back in a few hours,” Monica said. “Looks kind of cloudy out tonight. Maybe you and I can fly home.”

  “Good. I’m tired of walking,” Abigail complained, curling up to sleep.

  Monica locked the door to the shop before hurrying to Brian’s patrol car, jumping into his passenger’s seat before he had a chance to get out and open the door for her. “Ready!” she exclaimed.

  Brian smirked. “Maybe lose the smile. We’re going to a memorial service for a guy who was accidentally hanged.”

  “Good point,” Monica said, putting on a more serious demeanor. “I am just enjoying the whole super sleuth thing a bit more than I probably should.”

  “Well, you are good at it,” Brian said, pulling out of the parking lot.

  “So, where is this memorial service taking place?” Monica asked.

  “A dance studio a few miles outside of town,” Brian said. “Jeremiah and a lot of the people in the cast take classes there, so the studio was willing to let them open up tonight for this.”

  “They all seemed very devastated by the news,” Monica said. “I imagine that they were all quite shaken up by the whole thing.”

  “From what I’ve gathered, this is the third play the group has done together. They spend a season in rehearsal and a season performing. So, they all spend a good bit of time together,” Brian explained. “I can’t imagine working that close with someone and losing them like that. Theater troops are a lot like family.”

  Monica shook her head at the thought. Soon they were arriving outside of the dance studio. The parking lot was full of cars. “Looks like Jeremiah’s got a lot of people coming to his memorial,” Monica said as they walked up to the building.

  Once inside, they followed signs directing people to the memorial service and eventually found themselves on the second floor inside the studio’s largest dance hall. The room was packed, and it seemed even more so because of the mirrors lining the walls. There were pictures of Jeremiah portraying various roles taped all over one of the mirrors. A table was set up with refreshments, and people were gathered around in various groups consoling one another.

  “This is a pretty nice setup,” Monica said. “They didn’t have much time to plan it.”

  “We all pitched in,” a voice behind them said.

  Monica spun around to see Kevin, the show’s assistant director and stagehand, standing in a suit and holding a red solo cup. “Oh!” Monica said. “Brian, this is Kevin. He was the assistant director for the show,” Monica said.

  “Have you and I met?” Kevin asked.

  “Briefly,” Monica said. “My friend and I met you and some of the performers right before the last show.”

  Kevin nodded. “That’s right. The one who snuck her cat into the auditorium.”

  Brian gave Monica a quick, confused glance before shaking his head and stifling the temptation to snicker. “We’re sorry for your loss,” Brian began.

  Kevin nodded and sighed. “Yeah, it’s been pretty rough on everyone. We were all close. Especially the actors. They’re all pretty broken up about Jeremiah. He was kind of the pack leader, you know?”

  “You say that you all pitched in to do the memorial service?” Monica asked.

  “Yeah. Austin called everyone first thing this morning and gave us all a little assignment. Something to bring or do. Whenever Austin is having a hard time, he likes to stay busy, so he was the sort of ring leader of this shindig. He and Jeremiah were really close, so I think planning this was the sort of distraction he needed,” Kevin said. “You’re the officer who helped pulled Jeremiah down, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” Brian said. “I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to get him down quickly enough.”

  “You tried, man,” Kevin said. “Don’t get in your head about it. Austin sure is…”

  “You say those two were especially close?” Brian asked.

  “Best friends since, like, grade school,” Kevin said.

  “Can you tell us more about Jeremiah’s relationships with some of the other members of the troop?” Monica asked.

  Kevin nodded, thinking for a moment. “Guess you two are working the case then? I heard this morning from Jasmine that this has turned into a murder case.”

  “Jasmine?” Monica asked.

  “The show’s director,” Brian said. “The one we brought in for questioning. She just barely escaped that negligence charge. But, yes, we are now investigating this as a homicide case. So, can you tell us more about Jeremiah’s relationships with the rest of the cast?”

  Kevin again nodded. “Yeah… Let me think… I wasn’t around as much as some of the others. I was the stagehand and assistant director. You should probably talk to some of the actors. I can tell you Tiffany and Enid both were head over heels for the guy.”

  “Tiffany… She’s the one who played Abigail Williams, right? And Enid played Missus Proctor?” Monica asked.

  “That’s right,” Kevin said. “I’m not sure of the details, but I know there was some sort of love triangle going on there. And I already told you about him and Austin. Jeremiah got along with pretty much everyone. I can’t imagine who would want to do something like this.”

  “Well, we appreciate you being open with us,” Brian said. They asked a few more questions, but eventually Brian and Monica had to concur with Kevin’s suggestion to try chatting with some of the actors who knew their victim better.

  Eventually, they were able to locate Austin, and Monica knew right away that his
grief was all-consuming. The man was clearly using every bit of strength he had to keep it together. They found him by the mirror that was covered in pictures. He was looking at one in particular of two toothless young boys. “Is that you and Jeremiah?” Monica asked from behind him, causing the man to jump.

  “Oh! Yeah,” he said, shaking off his surprise.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “We met the night of the last performance. My name’s Monica, and this is my friend, Officer Brian.”

  “Cat lady?” he asked, and again Monica received a puzzled look from Brian.

  “That’s me,” she said.

  “And you’re the officer who helped me get Jeremiah down,” he said, his voice croaking a bit. He glanced back at the picture of himself and Jeremiah. “That was us…third grade…right after a swim in his parent’s pool.”

  “You two look like a couple of hooligans,” Brian said in a friendly tone. “Those kind of friendships are hard to come by. We’re very sorry for your loss.”

  “His parents are flying in tonight,” Austin said. “We’re all from Chicago. I’m going to fly back with them for the funeral, but we wanted to do an actual memorial service here for the troop.”

  “Monica’s from Chicago too,” Brian said, and Monica cringed.

  “Oh, yeah?” Austin asked. “What part of Chicago?”

  Monica froze. “Um…” she said. “The…north…part…”

  “What, like, near Lincoln Park or closer to Old Town?” Austin asked.

  “Lincoln Park,” Monica said.

  “Nice area,” Austin said. He looked at the picture and then back at Brian and Monica. “You’re going to find out who did this, right?”

  “Of course,” Brian assured him. “Can you tell us what you remember?”

  Austin shivered a bit. “I mean… It was just like any other show. Everything went right, for once. I don’t think anyone forgot a single line. Show’s not normally that smooth, but that’s live theater for you. I guess he went out on a good performance, at least. The lights went completely out. It was…darker than usual because someone had left the backlight off.”

  “Backlight?” Brian asked.

  “Yeah, it’s the light behind the stage that shines toward the audience,” Austin said. “Really, we just leave it on so that we don’t trip over each other trying to get off stage. It’s not that bright. But it had been left off, so we were all struggling to find our way to the wings.”

  “So, you were about as blind as the audience, then?” Brian asked.

  “Yeah,” Austin said. “I don’t know who would have turned the light off, though.”

  “Whoever did might have been the same person who pushed Jeremiah,” Monica said. “Made sure the other actors wouldn’t be able to see him.”

  “Well, that could have been anyone,” Austin said. “The backlight is just a light switch. Anyone could have had access to it. Even the actors who were in the final scene. Someone could have turned it off when they were offstage.”

  “Well, that’s not really helping us narrow it down,” Brian said.

  “I wish I was more help,” Austin said. “He was my best friend. I don’t know who would want to do something like that to him.”

  “We’re going to find out,” Brian assured him and placed a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “If we have any follow-up questions for you, we’ll let you know. For now, can you point us in Enid or Tiffany’s direction?”

  Austin shrugged. “They were here earlier, but the two of them left about twenty minutes ago. I think it was getting to be a little much for them standing around talking about Jeremiah. I’m pretty sure those girls were both totally in love with him. That’s Jeremiah, though. Always the charmer. I think they went to get some drinks or something.”

  “Any idea what bar?” Brian asked.

  “Could be anywhere,” Austin said. “They live across town, and there’s several places between here and Enid’s. Pretty sure she was driving, so they probably wouldn’t have headed to Tiff’s.”

  “Thanks for the information,” Brian said, and he and Austin shook hands. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help Jeremiah that night. We’re going to do our best to get him justice.”

  “I know,” Austin said, shaking a bit. “Thank you.”

  Brian and Monica left the memorial service, deciding to go on a mission in search of Enid and Tiffany. They stopped at the nearest bar, but they had no such luck. Austin had been kind enough to give them Enid’s address, so they decided to scope out any place that served alcohol between the dance studio and her apartment. This led them to a total of three bars and two restaurants before arriving outside of Enid’s apartment. Her car wasn’t there, and no one was home.

  “Well, this was a rather productive night,” Brian groaned, checking his phone for the time and moaning loudly when he realized how late it had gotten. “Geez, it’s almost three in the morning.”

  “I need to go back to the shop to get Abigail,” Monica muttered. “I didn’t realize it was that late!”

  “We’ll worry about finding those two in the morning,” Brian said, and he drove her back to the shop. “You want me to drive you home?” he asked.

  She glanced up and smiled at the cloudy sky. “No, I’m good. I got a ride,” she said and promised to talk to Brian in the morning. Once she was inside the shop, Abigail railed at her for being out so late and for keeping her stuffed up in the shop all night.

  “Sorry, lost track of time,” Monica said, leading her outside. “But, good news, it’s late, there are no cars on the road, and it’s a cloudy night. That means we can fly home.”

  Abigail seemed pleased with this. Anything to avoid having to walk across town to their cottage. Monica leaped up onto her broom, and Abigail quickly joined her. After kicking off, the two of them were soon soaring through the beautiful night sky toward home.

  6

  Monica used her broom to sweep up some dirt that had been dragged in by some young customer’s dirty shoes. The building was cleared of customers now, so as soon as she finished sweeping up the mess, her broom jerked away from her and proceeded to bop her on the head for daring to use it as a cleaning utensil. “Well, excuse me for wanting to keep my shop looking clean!”

  Holly laughed. “Maybe we should get you an actual broom? You know, one that doesn’t have a mind of its own?”

  “Good point,” Monica said, shaking her head. “Go on, back to the corner with you before someone sees.” Her broom zipped through the shop, propping itself up in a corner.

  “So, any news on the case?” Holly asked.

  “Not yet,” Monica said. “Last night, we were trying to find Enid and Tiffany, they had left the memorial service early, but we couldn’t find those women anywhere. Brian is looking for them today so that we can interview them.”

  “You think this might have been a love triangle gone wrong?” Holly asked.

  “It’s certainly possible,” Monica said.

  Then, suddenly, the door to the back of the shop flung open. A swirling purple gust of wind swooshed in so quickly that it nearly knocked the sleeping Abigail clear off the checkout counter. “What in the world!” Abigail roared, and then in a puff of smoke, a letter appeared right in front of her.

  “Someone sent you a letter,” Monica said, coming over.

  Holly smiled. “That’s awesome!”

  “Who would send me a letter?” Abigail questioned, eyeing the envelope. Her eyes widened in suspense. “It’s from the Sorcerers’ Council!” She started to pace. “I’m in trouble. I just know it! Oh my goodness… What did I do this time? Well, go on! Someone open it for me… It’s not like I have thumbs!”

  Monica rolled her eyes and opened the letter, setting it down on the counter so that Abigail could read it. “Well?” Holly asked.

  Abigail’s hair seemed to stand up on end, but when she spoke, she spoke with an overwhelming amount of excitement in her voice. “I’m being summoned by the Sorcerer’s Council to discus
s my case! What…what does this mean? Do you think they could be reducing my sentence? Or…do you think they’ve decided I’ve served enough of it? I could be a witch again!”

  “Easy there, Abigail,” Holly said, taking the letter to examine it. “It doesn’t really give you much detail other than a date. And, look, Monica, it says you are to attend as a character witness.”

  “A character witness!” Abigail exclaimed. “That must be good, right? Could you imagine? Me—two legs once more!”

  Monica smiled. It seemed as though the council was going to hear her out. “Good,” Monica said. “Well, it’s tomorrow evening, so that gives us time to think about what you’re going to say to the council when you meet with them. Whatever you say, I suggest you not say whatever it was you said the last time when they sentenced you.”

  “I told you why I got such a lengthy sentence. I tried to escape them. Terrible idea, really. I should have just gone with them when they caught up to me in Boston, but no! I had to go and try to take on the entire council,” Abigail groaned.

  “You really think the length of your sentence was because of that and not the multitude of deaths you caused?” Holly asked.

  “Holly’s right, Abigail,” Monica said. “You need to show that you are remorseful for what happened in Salem, or there is no way they are going to hear you out.”

  “Of course I’m remorseful,” Abigail exclaimed. “What I did was awful. I’m not some monster. I’ve told you before, I was a bit scared of being recognized as a witch. That’s all that happened. That town was full of hysterics, and I just wanted to make sure I got out of there alive. Well, I’ll have to behave myself in front of the Sorcerers’ Council, won’t I? Try not to lose my head. Be respectful and all that. I wonder why they have decided to hold a hearing again?”

  “Well, I may have written them a little letter,” Monica said.

  Abigail’s ears stood up on end. “You wrote them a letter? What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I wrote them a letter stating that I would be willing to testify on your behalf as a character witness to try to get your sentence reduced,” Monica exclaimed.