Cookies in the Cottage

by Kathi Daley

  “You’re brave to stay in a house with a ghost,” Annabelle said. “Even if the ghost is outside now.”

  Shelby put an arm around her shoulder. “Trust me. I work in a nightclub frequented by men who are a lot scarier than any ghost is. A few rattles and flashing lights is a cakewalk compared to what I normally have to deal with.”

  “Will you be quitting your job at the nightclub now that you have the inheritance from Henri?” I asked.

  She smiled a huge, genuine smile that seemed to convey that her new situation was finally beginning to sink in. “Actually, I should have said that I used to work in a nightclub because I already quit both my jobs. I’m still trying to get used to the idea. I’ve been running at full steam for years. It’s going to be so weird not to have anything I have to do when I return to Charleston.”

  “I want to have an alcohol free bar at my next birthday party,” Annabelle said to Shelby. “Maybe you can be the bartender. I thought we could do strawberry daiquiris.”

  She tightened her arm around the nine-year-old’s shoulder. “So your next birthday will be your first double-digit birthday. That’s a special one.”

  “That’s why I want to have a huge party with all my friends. You will come, won’t you?”

  “Count on it, little sister.”

  I knew that the decision to sell or not sell the house their paternal grandmother had left to them was a hot topic with the sisters, but I really did hope they would decide to keep it. I knew all the sisters had lives elsewhere, but it already seemed like Shelby and Sierra had settled into the Holiday Bay lifestyle and had become part of the family.

  Of course, there was still the question of whether a person or a spirit was haunting the house. We discussed that subject extensively during dinner. Colt and Lonnie had carefully gone over every inch of the house and hadn’t found a single reason for the sisters to be experiencing noises in the walls or clanks and clatters that woke them from a deep sleep. The noises and lights had stopped after the locks had been changed, but then they’d heard sounds coming from the garden. It did seem that someone was trying to scare them away. Of course, without proof, all they really had was a theory.

  “I like the lights you hung around the windows,” Colt said after the sisters had left and we’d retired to the cottage.

  “Georgia put them up. At first, I wasn’t sure if it would be too much in this small space, but they really do brighten up the place. Of course, once you get the lights on the tree and mantle turned on, plus lights around the windows, it feels like daylight in here.”

  “Maybe some of the lights can be set up on dimmers.”

  “Maybe.” I headed into the kitchen to make a pot of decaf coffee while Colt sat down on the sofa. I cringed when he picked up the photo album I’d left on the table earlier. Some of the photos of me as a child were photos I didn’t necessarily want him to see at this point in our relationship.

  “You sure were a cute kid,” he said. “I especially love this one of you with no front teeth.”

  “I will admit that wasn’t the most complimentary photo taken of me, but I was able to sing the song about wanting my two front teeth for Christmas with authenticity.”

  He chuckled. “I guess that’s true. Is this your mother?” He pointed to the page he was looking at.

  I nodded. “Yes, that’s my mom, and the woman sitting next to Annie is my Aunt Susan. I’m the one snooping around under the tree for my presents, and I guess my dad must have taken the photo.” I paused to look at the photo. “I’m not even sure why I chose this one for the album. It’s not all that good of a photo of any of us.”

  “I like it,” Colt said, closing the book, setting it on the table, and picking up the coffee mug I’d just brought him.

  “So, do you have a lot to do this weekend?” I asked, knowing he planned to leave for a visit with his family on Monday.

  “Not really. I brought my overnight bag in the event you wanted us to spend some time together before I leave.”

  I smiled. “I’d like that very much.” I put my arms around his neck and drew his face toward mine. “I put lights around the window and along the mantel in my bedroom. Do you want to see them?”

  He pulled me onto his lap. “I think I would.” He deepened his kiss. “Maybe I should grab my bag from the truck.”

  “That sounds good.” I got up, took Colt’s hand, and pulled him to his feet.

  He looked at the dogs, who were still fast asleep. “I bet they need to go out. Why don’t I take them out while you go on turn the fireplace and Christmas lights in the bedroom? I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “I think the dogs are fine. They were just out an hour ago.”

  “True, but they might need to go out one last time before we turn in.”

  “Okay,” I said, figuring that Colt was going out to grab his bag anyway, so he might as well take them. “If you really want to take them, I’m sure they’d be happy to go.”

  He grabbed his coat, called the dogs, and headed out the door while I headed into the bedroom. After I’d clicked the fire on and turned the Christmas lights on, I decided to light some candles to enhance the mood. I remembered that I’d left the matches on the mantle when I’d lit the living room candles earlier, so I went back to the living room. As I headed toward the fireplace, I heard voices outside. Glancing out the front window, I noticed Colt standing in the drive talking to Georgia. I supposed he might have run into her when she was making her way to the cottage. I was expecting her to continue to the cottage with him, but after Colt handed her something that he’d taken from his pocket, she turned and headed back toward the inn. He then called the dogs and headed in my direction. Not wanting to be caught watching them through the window, I hurried back into the bedroom and began lighting candles.

  “Did I hear Georgia’s voice?”

  “No. It was just the dogs and me. Now, where did we leave off?” Colt answered, pulling me into his arms.

  Chapter 4

  If not for the fact that Shelby’s boyfriend had decided to spend Christmas with the sisters and had brought his hound dog along with him, the body of Henri’s ex-groundskeeper might never have been found.

  “When did you find him?” I asked Sierra, who was standing alone watching the coroner and the two officers who were covering for Colt remove the body from the shed and prepare it for transport.

  She nodded toward one of the men in uniform who was chatting with Shelby and a man who I assumed was her boyfriend. “Scot showed up around lunchtime. He brought Digger with him.” She nodded toward the large, yellow hound dog who someone had leashed and temporarily tied to a tree. “Shelby and Scot went upstairs to spend some time together and left Digger downstairs in the sitting area with me. I was reading when Digger let me know that he wanted to go out. Scot and Shelby were still upstairs, and the estate is fenced and gated, so I just opened the door and let him out. A short time later, we heard this godawful howling. Scot came downstairs to see what all the ruckus was about. I told him that I’d let his dog out, and the howling seemed to be coming from him, so he put his jacket on and went to find him. When he came back, he told me that Digger had found a body that had been stuffed in the garden shed. We called 911, and these two officers showed up. I asked about Colt, but they said he’s out of town and won’t return to work until the twenty-third.”

  “Colt did go out of town to visit his family. The officers who showed up are his new assistants, Conroy and Dillinger.”

  “New assistants?” Sierra asked.

  “Colt is in charge of the local office and has been here his entire career. The others tend to come and go. It seems that there’s always someone new.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you know how long the body has been in the shed?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Sierra answered. “No one has told me much of anything. Scot said the body had been there for at least a few days. Maybe longer. He said it wasn’t fresh. I guess we’ll find out more
once the police have the chance to look into things.”

  I looked around the area, which seemed to be dominated by flashing lights against the gray overcast sky. “Has Sage arrived yet?” I remembered that she was due to arrive on the fourteenth or fifteenth.

  “No,” Sierra answered. “She called and said she couldn’t get here until the eighteenth. It’s been just Shelby and me until Scot arrived.”

  “When we spoke last Friday, you said there had been noises and lights in the garden. Is that still going on?”

  “No. It was just that one night.”

  “I wonder if the ex-groundskeeper had anything to do with your ghostly visits.”

  Sierra frowned. “I guess it could have been him. He probably had a key before the locks were changed, and he probably knew his way around the house. But if that’s true, who killed him, and why on earth would they leave his body here in the shed?”

  “I really don’t have any idea,” I admitted. I blew on my hands to warm them. It was a bracingly cold winter day. “Let’s wait inside while the police do whatever it is they need to do. It’s freezing out here.”

  After we went inside, Sierra made a pot of coffee, and we sat down at the kitchen table. Shelby came in shortly after, but Scot was still outside with the first responders.

  “Okay, that was something unexpected that I’d just as soon have skipped altogether,” Shelby said.

  “Had you ever met the man?” I asked.

  “No,” Shelby answered. “Sierra and I haven’t met any of the staff Henri kept while she was alive. The only way I even knew who the man in the shed was is because one of the cops who responded seemed to know him.”

  “Were you provided with a list of ex-employees when you inherited the house?” I asked.

  Shelby shook her head. “No, but we did find a box full of employee records. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m not sure. It just seems that if there has been something going on here since before Henri died, maybe one of the employees knows something.”

  Sierra got up, crossed the room, and picked up a file that someone had left on a desk that had been tucked into a little nook between the kitchen and the dining room. “As it happens, I do have a list of staff for the past ten years that I put together after we started hearing the strange noises. I guess it entered my mind that someone familiar with the house might know where the noises were coming from.”

  “Were you able to contact any of the staff yet?” I asked.

  “No. I only compiled this list a few days ago and haven’t had a chance to follow up.”

  “Okay, so what do you have?” I asked.

  “The ex-groundskeeper who was found in the shed was named William Andrews. He’d worked for Henri for less than a year. It looks like he started at the beginning of the summer. The groundskeeper who worked at the estate before William was Abe Butler. Abe had been with Henri for over thirty years before he decided to retire.”

  “Does Abe still live in the area?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Sierra answered. “I looked up his last known phone number, but I haven’t had a chance to follow up.”

  I took out my phone and opened my notes app. I opened a new note and typed in both William Andrews and Abe Butler’s names. “Okay, who else do you have?”

  “Tony Halton. He was Abe’s assistant. It appears, based on what I could find, that Tony either quit or was laid off when Abe retired.”

  “Are we sure Abe retired?” I asked. “Could he have been fired? Or perhaps he passed away?”

  “I’m really not sure,” Sierra admitted. “I know he stopped working here after thirty years and that William took over for him. I assumed that he retired, but so far, I’ve found nothing that documents why he left when he did.”

  I typed in a few notes. “Okay, who else? Did William replace Tony?”

  Sierra nodded. “After William took over, he hired a man named Troy Winkelman as his assistant. It appears he worked here at the estate until Henri died and everyone was laid off. There were three maids who rotated so that two came in almost every weekday and one part-time maid. The most recent maids were Fran, Helen, and Jane. It appears as if Fran had been with Henri for quite a while, but the others were newer hires. All worked for her right up until she died. In addition to the maids, there was a cook who worked five days a week. Her name is Alma. If you remember, she’s the one who found Henri at the bottom of the stairs and called 911. She seemed to manage the house and the others who worked here, and she was with Henri for a long time.”

  “Have you had a chance to speak to Alma about everything that’s been going on?” I asked.

  “No,” Sierra admitted. “We were going to, but then the noises stopped, and I guess we sort of put the whole thing on the back burner.”

  “I’ve been sitting here thinking about things while the two of you have been talking,” Shelby said. “We have a list of names and their last known phone numbers. I think we should go ahead and call these ex-employees to see if any of them know who might have wanted to kill William. It seems obvious he was murdered, and I, for one, would like to know why.”

  “Are we just supposed to call these people we’ve never met and ask them outright?” Sierra asked.

  “Sure. Why not? We can explain who we are and why we are asking, and then wait and see what they say. It couldn’t hurt.”

  I wasn’t sure, as Shelby said, that it couldn’t hurt, but it didn’t seem like a terrible idea.

  “Maybe if we can speak to one of the staff, they can help with introductions to the others,” I suggested. “Maybe the cook. Based on what you said, Alma had been around for quite a while, and she was on the premises five days a week. It seems reasonable that she would know the others, including the outside help.”

  “Okay,” Shelby said. “Let’s start there.”

  Luckily, Alma was still at the same number, and she was happy to speak to us. She was sorry to hear about William, but she mentioned that there was something off about him. He’d been hired after Abe suffered a heart attack and had decided to move to Kansas to live with his daughter. Alma told Shelby that William had done a good job with the grounds, but his personality left something to be desired. We arranged to meet with Alma in her home later that afternoon. We wanted to be sure that the police officers who’d responded to the murder didn’t need us for any reason before we left for several hours. Scot came into the house shortly after Shelby had spoken to Alma. He indicated that he wasn’t interested in going to the interview with us and would just stay at the house with the dog.

  After Shelby spoke to Conroy and Dillinger to let them know that she and Sierra planned to be out for a few hours, the three of us headed into town to the address Alma had provided. Based on what we’d been able to determine, Henri had actually left Alma a small settlement in her will. When Shelby spoke to the woman, she indicated that she planned to use the money Henri had left her to move to a warmer climate as soon as she could figure out where she wanted to move to and make the arrangements.

  “Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with us,” Shelby said after we arrived at Alma’s home and were escorted into the living room.

  “I’m happy to help if I can, and to be honest, I’ve been curious about you all ever since Henri passed, and I learned about her granddaughters. Would you like some tea?”

  We all declined the offer, preferring to get right to the point. I’d decided to simply observe since the murder was one that seemed to involve Shelby and Sierra more directly. Sierra wasn’t as verbal as her extroverted sister was, so it seemed natural that Shelby would conduct the interview while Sierra and I simply provided backup.

  “So what can you tell us about William?” Shelby began, jumping right in and skipping the chit chat that preceded many conversations.

  “As I said on the phone, the man was sort of odd. To be fair, Abe and I were close. We’d both worked for Henri for a good portion of our lifetimes, and while Abe worked outdoors and I worked inside, we d
id take breaks together, and we did form a relationship of sorts over the years. I was upset when he left, so I suppose in a way it was natural that I didn’t warm up to William right away, but I think there was more than that going on.”

  “What do you mean specifically by more going on?” Shelby asked.

  “William was a quiet man. He did his job, and during the first month or two he was with us, he mostly stayed outdoors. But then, maybe two or three months after he started, I noticed that he began coming inside the house more often. I didn’t think anything about it at first. There was no rule dictating that the man couldn’t be indoors, and Abe had come inside to take breaks all the time when he was working as the groundskeeper. The thing is that Abe had come inside for tea and a visit, while William’s reason to be inside was a bit vaguer.”

  “So he didn’t visit with you?” Shelby asked.

  “No. William never even came into the kitchen. The only reason I even knew he was inside was because I ran into him every now and then.”

  “Ran into him?” I asked. “What exactly was he doing when you ran into him?”

  “One time, he was coming down the stairs between the first and second floor. Another time, I found him in the hallway. I asked what he was doing, and he said he needed to fix a lightbulb. I thought that odd since the maids changed all the bulbs in that particular hallway just a few days earlier. Of course, I suppose even a new bulb can burn out but, looking back, the encounter seemed odd to me.”

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  “There was one time when I found him rustling through some boxes in the attic,” Alma continued. “I asked him what he was doing, and he said that Henri had sent him up to look for some lawn ornaments we’d set out in years past.”

  “I suppose that’s a reasonable explanation,” Sierra said.

  “Yes. I thought so at the time, but later, I asked about the lawn ornaments since they never did show up on the lawn, and Henri didn’t seem to know what I was talking about.”

  I made a mental note to go up to the attic and look around once we got back to the mansion. I knew Colt and Lonnie had already looked in the attic when they’d searched the house, but, given the situation, I felt like another look was warranted.