by Morgana Best
“I think you should stay in the manor tonight,” Lucas said. “I’m worried about you with a murderer on the loose.”
Actually, that had occurred to me too. “Yes, I’ll have to take my old room.”
“That’s wise,” Aunt Agnes said, “but the murderer is obviously one of the guests: Colonel Mustard, Scarlett, Green, White, or Plum. And I doubt there will be any more murders.”
“I hope you’re right,” I muttered.
Chapter 7
I awoke the next morning with a start. It took me a moment or two to realise I was in my old bedroom at Mugwort Manor.
I hadn’t heard anything in the night, so I assumed that meant there hadn’t been another murder. I let out a long sigh of relief.
After a quick shower, I made my way downstairs for coffee. To my surprise, my good friend, Linda, was sitting at the kitchen table with the aunts.
“Sit down, Valkyrie. I’ve made you some coffee.” Aunt Agnes half guided, half pushed me into a chair and set a cup of coffee in front of me.
I thanked her and took a sip and did my best not to grimace. Aunt Agnes always made coffee impossibly strong. It was a wonder a spoon couldn’t stand upright in it. Still, as I always said, the first morning cup of coffee was just for the caffeine hit, and the second was for the taste.
“Your aunts have been telling me all about the murder,” Linda said. “That’s why I’m here—word is out about what happened last night.”
I groaned and put my head in my hands. “Already?”
Linda nodded. “And you’re all concerned that they might be shifters or vampires?”
I nodded too. “It’s a possibility, given that none of them seem overly attracted to Lucas.”
“Oh yes, that vampire allure. Still, that’s supposed to disappear when the vampire falls in love.”
I gasped. “Really?”
“I haven’t heard that,” Aunt Agnes said. “We have never lost our allure, have we, Maude and Dorothy?”
They both shook their heads vigorously. “No, I’m as attractive as I ever was,” Dorothy said, clutching Cary to her ample bosom.
“So am I,” Aunt Agnes snapped. “And we’ve all been in love.”
“But are you in love now?” Linda asked them.
Aunt Agnes’s expression brightened. “Oh! I see what you mean. Come to think of it, yes, I did hear that. I think somebody mentioned it to me in the eighteenth century. How did I forget?”
Aunt Maude chuckled. “Looks like Lucas is in luuve. Lucas is in luuve,” she sang.
Aunt Dorothy took up the chant. “Lucas is in luuve. Lucas is in luuve.”
I stood upright, nearly spilling my coffee. “Stop it!”
At that most inopportune moment, the kitchen door opened, and Lucas walked in.
“Don’t say a word,” I hissed.
“Don’t say a word about what?” Lucas asked.
To my relief, Aunt Agnes came to my rescue. “Maude and Dorothy are acting like children,” she said. “Again.”
I was concerned to see Lucas looked tired. “Are you all right?” I asked him. “You look as though you haven’t had any sleep.”
“I haven’t,” he admitted. “I was patrolling all night.”
“Did you think there was going to be another murder?” Aunt Agnes asked him.
Lucas shrugged. “I didn’t want to take any chances. I was patrolling the cottages as well as the manor.”
My heart fluttered. Lucas had been outside, making sure I was safe. Something occurred to me. “You don’t think we’re in any danger, do you?” I gestured to the aunts, Breena, and to myself.
Lucas shrugged again. “I have no idea, but like I said, I’m not taking any chances.”
“Did you see anything suspicious?” Aunt Agnes asked him.
He shook his head. “Not a thing. It was as quiet as a mouse.”
Breena stood up. “Where?” Her nose twitched.
Aunt Agnes sighed. “There is no mouse, Breena. It’s just a figure of speech.”
Breena appeared confused but sat down.
Aunt Maude and Aunt Dorothy exchanged glances and then both looked at Lucas. I was afraid they would say something, so I hurried to change the subject. “Let’s ask Linda whether the guests could be shifters. If you met them, would you be able to tell?”
Linda shook her head. “No, you can’t tell just by looking at somebody. At least, this case seems straightforward, from what you’re saying.”
“Colonel Mustard?” I guessed.
“After all, he was standing over the body with the murder weapon.”
“Yes, but as the aunts have rightly pointed out, no murderer would scream to bring attention to the scene and then be caught standing over the body, holding the murder weapon. A murderer would be too clever for that.”
“Unless that’s exactly what he wanted you to think,” Linda said. She gave a little shrug. “At least you can leave it to the police to solve this case.”
Aunt Agnes immediately protested. “I’m afraid not, Linda. We don’t know if this is connected with… um, I mean, that is to say, we don’t know if they are shifters or vampires, and if that is the case, then the detectives won’t be able to solve it.”
“You think it might be something to do with The Other, don’t you?” Linda said. “You can mention The Other in front of me. I know that evil group wants to kill all shifters, but you don’t need to keep anything from me.”
Aunt Agnes nodded. “Okay, then. We don’t actually suspect this is connected in any way with The Other, but we can’t be too careful. Better to err on the side of caution.”
“Are you going to investigate?” Linda asked Aunt Agnes.
Aunt Agnes planted her palm on her forehead. “Yes, we are, as a matter of fact, and I almost forgot. Valkyrie and I were eavesdropping on the detectives when they were questioning the guests, and both Moxie Maisie and her boyfriend, Finn, said they were kissing on the garden seat near the rose arbour behind the manor. We have a security camera there. We can check that footage to see if they were lying.”
Aunt Agnes stood up, but Aunt Maude protested at once. “We all want to see, Agnes. You can’t go by yourself.”
“Calm your farm, Maude. I’m just going to fetch my laptop.” Aunt Agnes left the room, muttering rudely to herself.
I took the opportunity to tip out my cup of coffee and make myself a new one. I was sipping it when Aunt Agnes returned. She placed her laptop in the middle of the kitchen table.
“I’m going to start it from the time the guests left us last night,” she said. She punched some keys and stood back.
We watched as the screen showed an image of a garden seat. “It’s empty!” I said.
Aunt Agnes waved at the screen “Wait a moment. I set it a bit earlier just to make sure.”
Sure enough, Moxie Maisie soon came into view, heading to her cottage with Colonel Mustard. She had a good look around her, and then her eyes fell on the garden seat. She stared at it for a moment before leaving.
“She was lying!” Aunt Maude exclaimed. “She wasn’t there with her boyfriend at all.”
Aunt Agnes rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you’re all so impatient. Let’s wait to see if she comes back.”
And come back, she did, about five minutes later—five long, boring moments of staring at a screen showing an empty garden seat and a rose arbour.
This time, she was accompanied by Finn. They kissed, rather noisily, for some time. I would have preferred staring at an empty garden seat.
I walked over to the coffee machine. “Would anybody like some more coffee?”
Linda said she would. Breena walked into the room, hissed at the dog, and then sat on the floor.
Aunt Agnes stopped staring at the screen to encourage Breena to sit on a chair. Aunt Maude set a saucer of milk in front of her, and Breena lapped from the saucer.
“Honestly, Maude! You’re encouraging her to continue to act like a cat! She’s a human now. For goodness sake, give h
er a glass of orange juice.”
“But cats don’t drink orange juice!”
“Exactly!” Aunt Agnes turned her attention to the screen. “What’s the timestamp? Oh dear, they’re still at it.”
By the time I had made myself and Linda some coffee, Moxie Maisie and Finn were still sitting on the garden seat, kissing.
“Isn’t this approaching the time of the murder?” I asked. “At least, the time we heard Colonel Mustard scream. “
Before anyone could respond, Moxie Maisie and Finn broke apart. “What was that?” Moxie Maisie asked.
“It was a scream,” Finn said. “Somebody screamed.”
Moxie Maisie jumped. “And that’s another scream!” she said. They both jumped to their feet and ran out of camera shot.
“Two less suspects,” Linda said. “Are you going to give this to the police?”
“I’ll take it to them this morning,” Aunt Agnes said. “That narrows the suspects down to Colonel Mustard, Demelza, or Eli.”
“Both Demelza and Eli would have known that Colonel Mustard was going to go to Priscilla’s room that night,” I said. “It was a good way to set him up.”
“But they wouldn’t have known he would pick up the candlestick,” Aunt Agnes pointed out.
“Maybe they just got lucky.” I shrugged.
A loud banging on the kitchen door startled me.
“Help, it’s an emergency!” Moxie Maisie screamed.
Chapter 8
Aunt Agnes rushed to the door and opened it.
Moxie Maisie tumbled in, followed by Finn.
“Has somebody else been murdered?” I asked them.
Moxie Maisie looked at me as though I were mad. “Of course not! But there is an emergency.”
“What is it?” Aunt Agnes prompted her.
“The detective told us we’ll have to go to the police station today to be fingerprinted, but we don’t have a car.”
“You didn’t hire a car?” Aunt Dorothy asked them. “Weren’t you expecting to go anywhere on your holiday?”
“We intended to use public transport,” Moxie Maisie said, wrinkling up her nose. “My mother refused to hire a car. She said it would be good for me to learn how the other half lives.”
“What other half?” I was perplexed.
Moxie Maisie rolled her eyes. “Those not as well off as I am, obviously. The peasants.”
“There are no trains here, only the one that runs to Sydney or Brisbane, and the only public transport is in town.”
Moxie Maisie pursed her lips. “Why, that’s ridiculous!” When nobody responded, she quickly added, “Then you will have to drive me, Finn, Mother, my stepfather, and Frances to the police station.”
I was about to protest, but Aunt Agnes said, “All right. Would you drive them, Valkyrie? You can take my car.”
“It’s not big enough to fit them all in,” I protested.
Linda spoke up. “I can take some in my car. I’m heading back to town now, anyway.”
“You’ll have to wait for us,” Moxie Maisie said in commanding tones, “and return us after the police have fingerprinted us.” She made a small sound of disgust.
I looked at Linda. “Maybe I could buy you coffee and cake while we wait?”
Linda nodded. “It’s a deal. But those two will have to go with you, and I’ll take the others.”
It was all I could do not to groan aloud. It was a short trip to town, but I was sure it would feel like an awfully long one when in the presence of the most unpleasant Moxie Maisie.
“We might as well leave now. Are the others ready, Moxie Maisie?”
“How should I know?” she snapped. “Do I look like I have a crystal ball?”
“Then why don’t you run and ask them,” Linda said. “Ask them to come here, and then we will drive them to town as a big favour to you all.”
“Big favour indeed!” Moxie Maisie said. “It’s the least you could do after Grandmama was murdered on your premises.”
With that, she hurried away, with Finn tagging along behind her. He did have the grace to cast an apologetic look in our direction.
Once the door was firmly shut behind them, Aunt Agnes turned to me. “Valkyrie, why don’t you send all the photos you took of the diaries to my phone, and we can go through them while you and Linda are away.”
“What diaries?” Lucas asked.
“Moxie Maisie told the detectives she kept diaries and noted everybody who had a grudge against her grandmother,” I told her. “I took photos of her diaries.” To Aunt Agnes, I added, “I didn’t have much time to take individual photos, so I had to take one long video at the end.”
Aunt Agnes waved one hand at me in dismissal. “I’m sure that will be fine.”
“Where are these diaries now?” Lucas asked me.
“Moxie Maisie gave them to the police,” I told him.
“And she said they contained incriminating evidence?”
I nodded and then shook my head. “Well, not in so many words, but that was the implication. Wouldn’t you say so, Aunt Agnes?”
“Indeed,” Aunt Agnes said. “If we hadn’t seen her kissing her boyfriend the whole time that her grandmother was being killed, she would be my prime suspect for sure.”
“Just because someone is an unpleasant person doesn’t mean they are a murderer,” Lucas pointed out. “It’s often the mild-mannered ones who are the perpetrators.”
“Like Plumb,” I said, and quickly amended that to, “Eli. He’s mild-mannered, and it seems as though he wouldn’t kill a fly.”
“You mean an ant,” Aunt Agnes said with a chuckle.
When the others looked confused, she added, “He’s an assistant lecturer in etymology with a research interest in ants. Apparently, that’s why Priscilla always wore a peacock coat.” She held up both hands, palms outwards. “And before you ask me what the connection is, I will tell you. Peacocks eat ants. Apparently, she did this to annoy Eli.”
“And how did you find all this out?” Dorothy asked her.
“We overheard the conversations with the police, as you very well know, Dorothy.”
“If I very well knew, I wouldn’t have asked you,” Dorothy said. “I knew you were eavesdropping, but I didn’t know what you heard, did I?”
The ensuing bout of bickering was cut short by a knock on the door. Lucas opened it, and in tumbled Moxie Maisie, Finn, Demelza, and Eli, followed by Colonel Mustard. Demelza and Eli were glaring at each other.
“My mother and stepfather have just had a nasty fight,” Moxie Maisie announced to all.
“Really, Moxie Maisie. Why do you always have to air our dirty laundry in public, embarrassing us?” Demelza said.
“Oh Mother, you are such a people pleaser. I’m sure these Bed and Breakfast establishment people couldn’t care less that you and my stepfather have had the most frightful row.”
“It was only a small disagreement,” Demelza protested.
Moxie Maisie pouted. “Whatever!”
“Moxie Maisie and Finn, you come in my car, and Demelza, Eli, and Colonel, um, Frances, you can go in Linda’s car.” I grabbed my keys and my handbag which were sitting by the coffee machine. “Let’s go.”
Demelza, Eli, and Colonel Mustard thanked Linda, but Moxie Maisie did not thank me. I wasn’t expecting it.
Soon, we were on our way to the police station. I was grateful for the lack of conversation. A quick glance in the rear vision mirror showed Moxie Maisie staring fixedly out the window.
There were several vacant spots in the police station parking area, so I parked in the closest spot to the road. Moxie Maisie went to get out, but I said, “Wait a moment. I’ll give you my phone number, and you can call me when you want to be collected.” I scrawled my number on a piece on a sticky note and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she grunted.
Finn nodded to me, and they got out of the car. They stood on the edge of the parking area next to a garden bed in which were several tall, red c
ordylines. I wondered why they were both standing there and then realised they were waiting for the guests in Linda’s car.
They didn’t have to wait long. Linda’s car pulled up next to my car, and Demelza and Eli wasted no time getting out. Their faces were still bright red. Colonel Mustard gave me a little wave, and then they all walked into the police station.
I waved Linda over to my car, and she hopped in beside me. “They are a bundle of laughs, aren’t up they?” she said.
“Thankfully, Moxie Maisie didn’t say a word the whole way,” I told her. “Were your passengers arguing?”
She shook her head. “They didn’t say a word either. It was a very tense atmosphere.”
“Well, I’ll drive to the café, and we can eat some fat and lots of carbohydrates,” I said. “That will make everything feel better.”
Linda readily agreed.
There were no parking spots available near our current favourite café, so I had to drive around the block a couple of times. Finally, I found a parking spot a fair way from the café.
“At least we will burn it all off on our way back to the car,” Linda said with a chuckle.
I hopped out of the car and was locking it when my phone rang. I checked the caller ID. “It’s Aunt Agnes,” I said to Linda.
I skirted around behind the car and stood on the footpath before answering.
“We found something strange when we were looking through the diaries that you might have already noticed but not thought to tell us,” Aunt Agnes said breathlessly.
“What is it?”
“Moxie Maisie’s diaries have the words Witch’s Diary on the front.”
“I didn’t notice that,” I said. “Do all the diaries have that?”
“As far as I can tell from the video,” Aunt Agnes said. “I can see why you overlooked it. Still, the diaries lying in the background of the videos all have the same covers with those words.”
“How awfully strange,” I said. “Were they handwritten, or did they come like that?”
“It seems as though she bought them like that,” Aunt Agnes said. “They’re leather, embossed with the words Witch’s Diary in gold.”
