Little Bookshop of Murder

by Maggie Blackburn

  Summer listened to the group as they discussed character arcs, metaphors, and romantic tension. She was impressed by the knowledge of the romance genre and of story craft. It was a more sophisticated bunch than she’d imagined.

  “And oh my God. This book was hot. Like no sex on the page, but so hot! I mean it gave me some amazing dreams!” Glads said.

  Summer grinned. So much for sophisticated.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  After the book discussion, they all hopped into cars to ride to a more remote part of the island. They parked and walked down an unlit path. Some had flashlights, and others used the lights from their smartphones.

  Summer vaguely remembered Full Moon Cove. It was a place that the water receded only during the full moon. Otherwise it was filled with seawater. As a child, her recollections were that she was frightened of it. As it was, she had doused herself with insect repellent and wore layers of clothing—even on a warm night. She was sweaty but was assured no spider would come within ten feet of her skin, mouth, and hair.

  When they finally arrived, Summer stopped walking to take it all in. The cove was lit by torches and candles. She turned toward the sea, with the light behind her, and looked out toward the ocean. The light of the full moon played on the water, and the stars were bright. Her throat burned. This was the exact kind of night her mom would have loved.

  She dizzied. Once she had her bearings, she walked arm in arm with Agatha, Piper and Mia flanking them, into the cove. The scent of burning candles and torchlights, along with citronella, filled the air.

  Summer blinked her eyes, for there was Posey. “Posey? What are you doing here?’

  She cracked a calm smile. “I came to say goodbye, of course.”

  “But are you feeling up to this?”

  She lowered her voice. “Summer, don’t worry so much. I appreciate your concern, but I’m okay. How about you? Are you staying out of danger?”

  “As much as I can.”

  She grabbed Summer’s other hand. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

  Summer’s breath shortened. She took in the women gathered; some she knew and others she didn’t.

  Posey’s voice rang out. “For those of you who don’t know her, this is Summer, Hildy’s daughter.”

  Summer blinked and tried to smile, but her checks felt like slabs of heavy ham.

  “Hey, Summer,” one person said. Another person called out, “Greetings,” and another, “Blessed be.”

  “Before the party starts, I need to say something,” Posey said.

  A hush fell over the cove.

  “Summer is in danger.”

  Oh no, was she going there? Like immediately? At the start of the party?

  “What do you mean?” Piper said.

  “Someone hurt Hildy and wants to hurt Summer.”

  “Hurt? Stop talking in platitudes,” Glads said. “For God’s sake. Spit it out, woman.”

  “Someone killed Hildy, and they want to scare Summer away.”

  One of the women gasped.

  “I thought she had a heart attack,” someone from the group said.

  Posey closed her eyes. “My apologies, Glads. Here comes another platitude. But things are not what they always seem.”

  Summer’s heart raced. This was so not a good idea. The killer could be right here, and Posey was warning her. Telling her that they were on to her.

  “Summer will need your help to figure this out. If anybody knows anything about the last few days of Hildy’s life—anything at all—you need to talk with Summer.”

  “Thanks,” Summer said in an effort to change the conversation. This was supposed to be a celebration of her mom’s life. “Please call me or stop by the bookstore to chat any time. Meanwhile—”

  “Let’s party!” Agatha interrupted. Summer hugged her. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  They gathered into a circle and held hands. Summer swallowed.

  “We’re going to miss you, Hildy.” A young woman Summer didn’t know spoke up.

  “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a little angry. Did someone hurt her? What can we do about it?” another person said.

  A murmur of agreement. A thread of anger drew them inward together.

  “Let’s talk about it after,” Agatha said.

  “With all due respect, Agatha, I don’t think so,” Glads said. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Glads, I appreciate your concern,” Summer said, “but now isn’t the time.”

  “Here’s what we can do now,” Posey said. “Let’s wrap Summer in a protective light, here and now. And remove any obstacles to her finding out the truth.”

  As if it were that easy. Hildy put a lot of stock in this, and Summer tried. They’d had conversations about ritual just being another form of prayer, which was something Summer related to. Out of respect for Posey and Hildy, Summer held her tongue. But her chest was squeezing. She wanted to run out of the cove, feet on the sand. Toes in the foamy water.

  “Let’s set the intention and sing it into being,” Posey said. They crowd quieted. No words were spoken. Summer watched the shadows on the rocky cove walls.

  Someone’s voice rang into song. “We all come from the goddess, and to her we shall return. Like a drop of rain going to the ocean.” Another joined her. Soon, song enveloped Summer. The sound circled her and vibrated deep in her chest.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Summer said after it quieted. “Now, let’s eat!”

  “Woo-hoo!” Mia yelped. “I’m so hungry!”

  Summer’s stomach growled. When was the last time she’d eaten today? She couldn’t remember. But suddenly she was famished, and it was all she could do to not rush at the table and stack her plate too high to be considered polite.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  As the crowd dispersed, each woman came up to Summer and offered condolences and stories of Hildy. One woman talked about the doctor. It took Summer a minute to realize it was his assistant, Lucy. Out of context, Summer didn’t recognize her.

  “I’ll tell the doctor to get right on it tomorrow.”

  “Thank you,” Summer said.

  Soon, only Summer, Mia, Agatha, Piper, Glads, Marilyn, and Doris were left in the cove.

  “We’ve got to do something more to help you,” Glads said in a tizzy. “We’ll protect you.” Doris and Marilyn nodded.

  “Doris, I know this upsets you, but is there anything else you can tell us about the day Hildy died? You were the only person with her,” Agatha said.

  Summer had wanted to ask her again, but given how upset Doris had gotten last time, she’d waited.

  Doris’s face hardened and turned pale. “I … uh … don’t know what else I can say,” she stammered.

  “Now, Doris, if you could just try to remember anything at all,” Marilyn said.

  “I’ve already said. I’ve already told the police, you all—well, everybody.” Her voice rose. “I don’t know what else to say. She screamed and fell … The next thing I knew, I was on the floor next to her, trying to hold her … comfort her.” She sobbed. “I don’t know what you want to know!”

  “Calm down, dear,” Glads said. “It’s okay.” She wrapped her arm around Doris. “Let me take you home.”

  Doris pulled away from Glads. “That’s okay. I’ve got my car, and I better get going.”

  She didn’t say goodnight, thank you, or anything. It was as if we had drained all the energy and words right out of her.

  “Poor dear,” Agatha said.

  “I don’t like her,” Mia said.

  “Mia!” Piper said.

  “I’m sorry. I know it’s awful. But she was the last one to see Hildy alive.” She crossed her arms. “And I hate her for it.”

  Stalwart, cool Mia erupted into a squall of emotion. Was she crying? Angry?

  “Mia, you don’t mean that,” Agatha said, trying to pull her off to the side.

  “Yes, I do. I’m not a baby, Gram. She should know more. Why d
oesn’t she? She was there!”

  “Sometimes there’s nothing more to know,” Glads offered. “We all want answers. But I doubt that Doris could give anybody answers. She’s a hot mess.”

  “But how could someone else have hurt her? She fell down at the bookstore because she had a heart attack,” Marilyn said.

  “Mom was very healthy. Most people who have a heart attack have symptoms. I spoke with the yoga teacher, the teller at the bank—well, everybody who saw her that morning. And she didn’t seem to have any symptoms. It’s very rare for people to just die from a heart attack without having some problems first,” Summer said.

  “That’s why the autopsy is so important,” Piper said. “Doc has it and will look it over tomorrow. “

  “Good, but who on this island would hurt her? I don’t get it. I can’t think of a soul,” Marilyn said.

  “Well, there is Rudy,” Agatha said. “He wanted to expand.”

  “Pshaw, Rudy is a wuss. He’d never do anything to hurt anybody. Have you seen him with his granddaughter?” Marilyn said, sunflower wiggling on her upper arm.

  “Still, someone was sending her threatening notes,” Piper said.

  “I admit, that’s odd,” Marilyn said.

  “Then there’s Henry,” Summer said. “I think he’s still dealing with his gambling problem. Don’t they always say to follow the money when it comes to murder?”

  “Love and money,” Glads said.

  “She wasn’t seeing anybody, was she?” Summer said.

  Mia turned her head to pay close attention.

  “You’re her closest friends. You’d know if she were seeing someone, right?” Summer persisted.

  “She wasn’t seeing anybody,” Mia said. “Had no interest in it anymore. Didn’t have time, she said.”

  “Right,” Marilyn said. “She told me that too.”

  “So we can strike love off the list,” Glads said.

  Summer’s scattered thoughts pulled together. “What about an unrequited love? Was there someone who loved her? Had a thing for her and she didn’t reciprocate?”

  Silence permeated the cove. The sound of the waves rushed in the distance.

  “Oh, honey,” Marilyn said, “I don’t think you want to go down that road.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “There were so many past lovers … men who wanted her but she didn’t want them … men who wanted to marry her … live with her.”

  “Men adored her,” Agatha said.

  “I don’t think we could even make a list of them.” Glads smiled. “She kept a lot of them to herself.”

  “How many?” Summer asked, not even wanting to know the answer to how many lovers had Mom had taken over the years—only one answer was what she wanted when it came to that—who’d fathered her. And while Summer was growing up, Hildy had kept her dates and escapades hidden from Summer.

  “Who knows?” Agatha said, shrugging. “We didn’t keep a list, did we?”

  Glads laughed. “I didn’t, but I often wondered if she did. Like kept a journal of them.”

  “I’ve not seen anything like that.”

  “That’s because there’s no such thing,” Mia said with her arms folded, making Summer’s ears prick. She made a mental note to return to this subject with Mia.

  “Of course not,” Agatha said, turning and winking at Summer.

  Chapter Sixty

  Summer and Mr. Darcy had just gotten to sleep when a knock came at the front door. At first, Summer thought she was still dreaming, for she was dreaming and sleeping deeply. But Darcy pecked at her, and the door wouldn’t stop knocking.

  She rolled off the couch in a stupor and glanced at the clock: one thirty AM. This couldn’t be good. She peeked into the hole. It was Dr. Chang.

  She opened the door in a rush. He gasped and jumped back.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, realizing she was still wearing her mask on her face. She pulled it off quickly. “I’m sorry.” Her face heated.

  “Summer? Jesus! You startled me.” He walked into the house. Darcy was walking through the hallway.

  He pointed. “There’s a bird over there.”

  “It’s okay. It’s Mr. Darcy.”

  “Oh, I see,” he said in a tone that told her he didn’t see.

  “What are you doing here? We were fast asleep.”

  “I’m sorry. But I’ve heard from fifteen women tonight. My cell phone hasn’t stopped.”

  Summer laughed. “Okay. Can I get you something?”

  “No, given the late hour. I just wanted to let you know …” He stopped, watching Mr. Darcy waddle back across the hall. “Maybe some water. Yes. Pour yourself a glass too. Let’s sit down and talk about this.”

  Summer’s heart raced. “What could it be?”

  “Summer. Bedtime.” The bird said clearly.

  The doctor’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Okay, Darcy. I’ll be there soon.” She swatted away feathers from her shoulder.

  “Have you been sleeping with that bird?”

  “Sit down, Doctor. I’ll get the water.” She reached into the cupboard for glasses and bought two down, filled them up. “I’ve slept with Darcy for a few nights. He was very sick—upset, we think, about my mother’s passing.”

  She slid his glass in front of him. “Why are you here?”

  “Summer? Is someone downstairs?” Piper’s voice rang out from the second floor.

  “The doctor is here. With news,” Summer yelled back.

  Piper, looking as if she hadn’t just been awakened, still put together, strode into the kitchen. “Oh, hey,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was thinking about going for a walk.”

  Summer drank from her glass. The water felt good sliding down her throat. It did nothing to calm her heart. Sweat beads formed on her forehead. “What’s the news, Doctor?”

  “Okay,” he said, then took a drink of water. “I can see why people thought your mother had a heart attack. Because she did.”

  Piper, who had been walking around the table to the fridge stopped. Summer put her glass back down. The room filled with stunned silence.

  “But here’s the thing. I studied these tox reports and inspected her bloodwork. The guys who do autopsies sometimes don’t have the time to study things like the labs.”

  What is he saying? Summer couldn’t ask because her heart was racing so fast and her mouth had gone dry.

  “For God’s sake, get to it,” Piper said.

  “Hildy’s insulin levels were off the charts. Let me try to explain what happened. It was as if your mother had been a diabetic and had eaten a lot of sugary snacks.”

  Summer remembered the granola bars in her car. Just how much sugar was in them? She caught herself. Her mom wasn’t diabetic, so it wouldn’t have mattered.

  “How could that have happened?” Piper asked.

  Good, Piper. Summer couldn’t formulate her thoughts.

  “I’ve been thinking about that. And I’m just not sure. It’s as if someone gave your mother a huge dose of insulin. One that would kill her.”

  This was the answer Summer had been hoping for—she wanted to feel relieved. But she was numb.

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. Something she ate? Or did someone prick her skin with a needle to shoot her up with all of this insulin? I just don’t know. I’ve contacted the medical examiner to see if she can find a needle mark.”

  He drew in a breath, released it slowly. “Summer, I can’t say for sure, but I think your instincts are right. Someone killed your mother. And this is evidence I can’t ignore.”

  Darcy walked into the room, whistling “Happy Birthday.”

  They all turned toward the bird, then their attention focused back on the doctor.

  Summer had no words. It was like someone had kicked her in the guts, and she struggled to breathe, to make sense of the world. Proof that her mom had been murdered. This was what she’d wanted, right?

  But the magnitude o
f the situation, the sadness, the feeling of betrayal enveloped her. She drank her water.

  “Are you okay, Summer?” the doctor asked.

  She nodded. She should feel vindicated. Why didn’t she?

  “Can you talk with Ben in the morning?” Piper asked. Summer should have asked that. What was wrong with her brain tonight?

  “I sure will,” he said. “Hopefully, the police will find who did this to our Hildy.” He paused. “Of all the people on this island … well, she was very loved.”

  A hot, burning tear escaped from Summer’s eyes.

  “I hate to see anybody killed, but Hildy? No, this is a travesty.” He stood, reaching across the counter and touched Summer’s hand. “I’m so sorry Summer. If there’s anything I can do.”

  Summer nodded again. “Ah,” she said, “you’ve helped tremendously. Thank you.”

  “I don’t feel like I have,” the doctor said. “I hate delivering this kind of news. But ultimately, we need to know. As difficult as it is.”

  “Yes,” Piper said. “Now there’s something solid we can go on. We just need to figure out how this happened and who did it.”

  “Indeed,” he said. “I’m sorry to awaken everybody. But I received fifteen calls about this.” He smiled. “I better go. I’ll find my own way out.”

  The doctor exited.

  Summer heard the front door open and shut. She and Piper sat quietly.

  “Who could have done such a thing?” Piper’s voice pierced the quiet.

  Summer shrugged. “The sad thing is it had to be someone close to her, right? I keep thinking of her being betrayed like that. What must she have thought? Were her last thoughts of hurt and betrayal? That kills me.”

  “All I know is it happened very quickly. I don’t think she realized something. And as a mother myself, I can tell you my last thought would be about how much I love Mia.”

  Tears were now flowing vigorously. Piper handed her a box of tissue.

  “I hope you’re right. I hope her last thoughts were good ones.”