Mulberry Mischief

by Sharon Farrow

  To be honest, I was as relieved to have overnight company as I was when I saw the Humane Hearts vans pull up behind Cameron Sable’s BMW. As soon as he and his thugs drove off, I told Aunt Vicki what had just occurred. It was all I could do to stop her and her boyfriend Joe from hopping into one of their vans and speeding after them.

  Instead, I mollified my furious aunt by calling Kit to tell him about my conversation with Cameron. He was even more outraged than Aunt Vicki. And I thought only my maternal Italian relatives could get angry that quickly.

  “I’ll break his scrawny neck!” Kit shouted over the speakerphone. Aunt Vicki and Joe were listening and nodded in approval. “How dare that bastard threaten you! Then has the nerve to admit he had men break into your house!”

  “Not just mine,” I reminded him. “Old Man Bowman’s, too.”

  “We’ll dust every inch of your place for prints. Bowman’s, too.”

  “Don’t waste your time,” I said. “The Sables are rich enough to hire people who know how to get the job done. You won’t find any prints.”

  I regretted telling him this on my phone. Face-to-face, I might have been able to calm him down. And now that he knew I was surrounded by seven Humane Hearts volunteers, Kit decided to interrogate all of the Sables again today. This time the Sables would encounter a sheriff’s deputy in a much worse mood than just a few hours ago.

  Aunt Vicki grabbed my phone. “Don’t worry, Kit. We’ll swing by Marlee’s house, pick up the animals, and bring her to my place for tonight.”

  I took the phone back. “I’m not letting the Sables make me afraid to stay in my own house. Besides, they’ve already been inside and found nothing. Why would they come back?”

  “To scare you,” Kit replied. “Or worse.”

  The discussion ended when Aunt Vicki and Joe assured Kit they would spend the night at my house. Since I was a little shaky from my encounter with Cameron, I welcomed the suggestion. Kit insisted he would spend the night as well, which was even better. I thought that was that, and I could concentrate on setting out cage traps for the cats, while also searching for suspicious mulberries on the property.

  But news travels fast in Oriole Point, thanks to the other volunteers working with us. By the time I returned home, I found Tess and Natasha waiting for me in the driveway.

  After our conversation, Kit had informed Old Man Bowman that someone had illegally searched his cabin. An angry Bowman passed the news on to Natasha. Tess found out about the break-ins from Marie the librarian, who heard it from Paige, the sales clerk at Gemini Rising, who heard it from Dean, who heard it from his mother at the police station. In an hour, I suspected the news would reach someone’s cousin in Chicago.

  By eight o’clock that night, the pajama party had officially begun. After adding a leaf to the antique table in my dining room, I sat down to a pizza dinner with Kit, Tess, Natasha, Dean, Andrew, Aunt Vicki, Joe, Theo, and Old Man Bowman. I didn’t even bother to ask how Theo had found out. All of us wore pajamas and robes, even the intrepid Bigfoot hunter. And David promised to join us as soon as he finished working on his last set of glass pumpkins. Natasha brought Dasha, her Yorkshire terrier, whose barking convinced Panther to observe the proceedings from atop the dining-room buffet.

  The room was filled with the smells of pepperoni, cheese, and lively conversation. And friends. None of them had to be here tonight, but they were. Simply to make me feel safe, and to help me forget the terrible thing that happened today.

  Looking up from his pizza, Kit saw that I was moved. He reached over and squeezed my hand. “I like your friends,” he said softly. “And your aunt.”

  I smiled back. “I like them, too.”

  Andrew heard us. “She likes me best,” he piped up.

  “I don’t think so.” Old Man Bowman took another slice of pizza from the five different pies laid out on the table. He winked at Kit.

  “I think you’re the favorite,” Theo said as he cut his pizza slice with a knife and fork.

  Kit and I looked at each other. “I hope so,” he said softly.

  For a moment, it felt like we were the only ones in the room. Maybe it was a good thing we weren’t. Or I might have fallen into his arms again and cried. Lord knows, I had cried enough for one day. It wasn’t like me to be so weepy, but my equilibrium had been shaken this past summer. The betrayal by a man I thought I would marry, combined with violent death, secrets, and far too much danger, had left me feeling vulnerable. I knew I could be wounded, physically and emotionally. But I also didn’t know how to protect myself. Or if I even wanted to.

  And as much as I feared being hurt again, I couldn’t let it prevent me from helping someone who came to me for help. Or from letting myself love again.

  Kit put down his pizza and gathered me close. “Don’t cry, Marlee,” he whispered. “I’m here.” He hugged me even closer. “And I love you.”

  That did bring me to tears. “I love you, too,” I whispered back.

  It was the first time we had admitted our love for each other. Not how I’d pictured it happening, with Dean and Andrew fighting over the last can of Diet Coke, Minnie singing Ba-ba-ba Ba-ba ba-Ran, and Natasha ordering the yapping Dasha to be quiet in Russian. Although it somehow felt perfectly right.

  “Get a room, you two,” Tess said with a laugh. “Oh wait a minute. You’ve got four bedrooms in this house. I’ll amend that to, go to your room.”

  Kit and I broke apart, exchanging smiles.

  “Not until we’ve had dessert,” Dean said. “I brought five bags of candy. I say we get a head start on Halloween.”

  “We shouldn’t eat the Halloween candy,” Theo told him. “It’s for the children.”

  I looked at Dean. “Speaking of Halloween, I still don’t know what your costume for the parade will be.”

  His brother answered for him. “He stole my Broadway theme. Only he’s much cheaper than Oscar and me. Do you know how much we paid for our Hamilton costumes? A lot. All Dean is wearing is a white shirt, black tie, and black pants. And he bought a book. Big deal.”

  “I don’t get it,” Tess said. “What are you supposed to be?”

  I laughed. “You’re going as a missionary from The Book of Mormon, aren’t you?”

  Dean nodded in acknowledgment. “Subtle, simple, different.”

  “And cheap,” Andrew repeated.

  “I cannot find my golden snake,” Natasha wailed. “It is lost at conference center. How can I be Cleopatra without the snake that bites with poison?”

  Old Man Bowman picked up his bottle of beer, “Don’t worry. I got lots of snakes at home. I’ll find you a snake to wear with that costume.”

  Natasha looked thrilled at the offer. I didn’t think she understood that he meant an actual snake.

  “After everything that’s happened, I’m looking forward to Halloween,” I said. “I love when the children come trick-or-treating at the shops. Then I get to watch them in the afternoon parade. They’re so cute. And I can’t wait to put on my own costume.”

  Tess sighed. “David plans to wear his chipmunk costume all day and night. I warned him he has to take the head off every thirty minutes, otherwise he’ll overheat and pass out.”

  “If so, people will think he’s a zombie chipmunk,” Dean said. “He might even win ‘Best Costume.’”

  “Nah, I’m gonna win,” Old Man Bowman announced.

  “What’s your costume?” Joe asked.

  All of us answered at the same time, “Bigfoot!”

  The doorbell interrupted our laughter.

  Kit grew serious instantly. “If that’s another Sable, I swear I’ll arrest them. I spent hours today questioning the whole clan and their flunkies. I’m out of patience.”

  Tess jumped up. “Let me see who it is.”

  We looked at each other. All evening we had managed to avoid talking about Ellen, the Sables, Felix Bonaventure, and that missing laptop computer. Time enough to worry about it tomorrow. Or the day after. There was a li
mit to how much danger and sorrow I wanted to deal with. Especially since I had nothing to do with any of the murders, starting with the poor nanny.

  Tess came back with a wide smile. She was followed by Piper, Lionel, and five men carrying boxes of equipment.

  None of us knew what to say. Even Minnie grew quiet.

  “How nice to see both of you.” I smiled at Piper and Lionel. “And your friends. Only I’m not certain why you came.”

  “We came because I heard your house had been ransacked by employees of Dr. Sable.” She sounded insulted. “That is unacceptable.”

  “And illegal,” Tess added.

  “To think a man of his renown would sanction such a thing!” Piper jerked on her blazer in anger. “And after I invited his family to be our guests. They have abused my hospitality.”

  Lionel laid a hand on her shoulder. “My wife has been most upset. She blames herself for these break ins. I told her there was no way she could have guessed the Sables would stoop to such levels.”

  She sighed. “We can’t let them get away with this. Who knows what Dr. Sable will instruct his people to do next. Oriole Point and its citizens must be protected.”

  “If he used professionals,” Kit said, “there’s no way to prove it. And I’m certain he did.”

  “They come back to my house again, I got a surprise waitin’ for them.” Old Man Bowman sent Kit a warning look. “Don’t ask unless you really want to know.”

  “Please don’t ask,” I whispered to Kit.

  “We can at least protect one of our citizens.” Lionel gave me a benevolent smile.

  “I don’t understand,” I said.

  Piper waved at the men standing behind her and Lionel. “These are the gentlemen who installed my home-security system. They are here to do the same for you, Marlee. No one will ever be able to break into your house again.”

  “They’re going to install it tonight?” I asked.

  She snapped her fingers at them. “Immediately.”

  The five men took off for parts unknown in my house.

  “Now I’m afraid we’ll never be able to get out,” Dean muttered.

  I looked down at Kit, who shrugged, “It’s not a bad idea,” he said.

  I didn’t know what to think about it, but Minnie spoke for all of us when she said, “Oh my Gawd.”

  Chapter Twenty-four

  I wished I’d scheduled someone besides the Little Mermaid to work the Saturday shift at The Berry Basket. But since Gillian now lived near campus, she only came to town on weekends. Which meant she worked Saturdays.

  Today, however, she wasn’t much help. She hadn’t told me that she planned to come to work wearing a costume. A pity. I could have warned her a slinky fishtail skirt, waist-length red wig, and a necklace of large seashells weren’t conducive to making berry smoothies and scooping ice cream.

  In fact, I suspected her voluminous wig put us in violation of the health department’s rules—at least around the ice cream and pastry counters.

  “Gillian, why don’t you let me handle the food today?” I suggested as I boxed cupcakes for a customer. “You can take care of the register.”

  “Thanks, Marlee.” She minced over to the register. Her ankle-length green skirt didn’t leave a lot of wriggle room . . . literally. “And I’m sorry about the costume. I thought because I’m wearing this for the parade tonight, I might as well keep it on all day. Not my wisest decision.”

  “Look at it this way. You’re the most glamorous person we’ve ever had in the shop.” We exchanged smiles before Gillian turned her attention to cashing out a young couple, while I tied string around the box of cupcakes.

  Theo had exceeded expectations with his pastry selections this morning. Because it was Halloween, he made Strawberry Ghosts dipped in white chocolate, Berry Spooky Cupcakes (which I especially loved because of their blood red raspberry puree batter), and the vegan and gluten-free Halloween Bloody Cups, Theo’s version of peanut butter cups using raspberry sauce filling. He rounded out the Halloween selection with a surprising choice: mulberry cookie bars covered with orange icing. Theo told me he made them to honor the Lake Lady. All I could think was how much Ellen would have loved them.

  I’d sampled all the pastries this morning, along with the Halloween candy on the counter. I fully expected to go into sugar shock by dinnertime.

  Only the customers saved me from nonstop snacking. There were a lot of them today, all in a festive mood. It took Halloween to finally draw them away from that Harvest Health Fair. It helped that the day was sunny and sixty degrees, ideal conditions not only for trick-or-treating, but the pumpkin carving contest in River Park and the Children’s Parade at two.

  Gillian and I were kept busy, but there was an occasional lull. This let me fill her in on all that had occurred since last weekend.

  Every few sentences she interrupted me to say, “Are you kidding?”

  When I was done, she shook her head and said, “Wow.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I feel so bad for Leticia. Or should I call her ‘Ellen’?” She frowned. “Now I wish I had tried to befriend her.”

  “I don’t think it would have mattered.”

  “What are the police going to do about her death? And this Felix guy? I mean, if one of the Sables killed them . . .”

  “They’re far too influential and powerful. We need proof, not just our suspicions.” I watched out the window as people began to line up along the sidewalk for the parade. “That’s why I have to find that laptop. I think she hid it somewhere on her property. Then covered it with mulberries so I’d find it. But I didn’t see anything when I was there yesterday. I’ll go out tomorrow. Not alone, of course. I’m not making that mistake again.”

  “Let the police search for it, Marlee. You’re already got the entire Sable family believing you have her computer. The last thing you want is to actually find it. If they killed two people for it, they won’t stop at you.” Gillian gave me a stern look, difficult to do in that wig.

  Denise Redfern stuck her head in our open door. “Parade’s about to start!”

  None of us wanted to miss the sight of all those kids marching down Lyall Street, many accompanied by their leashed dogs, also in costume.

  I helped Gillian wiggle her way out of the store, then locked the door behind us. It was already crowded, and we had to search to find an empty space along the curb.

  Two thunderous gongs reverberated overhead. Several children screamed, while Gillian covered her ears. I glared at the bell tower down the street.

  “I swear, that thing gets louder every day,” I complained. “I might end up paying Old Man Bowman to come here and shoot it down.”

  Gillian straightened her wig. “Let me know if you do. I’ll chip in a hundred bucks.”

  * * *

  I twirled on my front porch as two young girls clapped. My ankle-length gown flowed about me.

  “Are you a fairy queen?” one of them asked with wide eyes.

  “Don’t be silly,” the other said. “She’s a dragon queen. Look at the dragons.” She pointed to the small dragons attached to my costume. Two on my skirt, one on my shoulder.

  “She’s right.” I exchanged smiles with the girls’ parents. “And my name is Daenerys.”

  Of course I didn’t expect the children to recognize my favorite character from Game of Thrones. But they got the general idea. And in my silver gown and flowing white wig, I did resemble a queen. I couldn’t wait for everyone at the adult parade to see it. Especially Kit. Unfortunately, he couldn’t join me for the trick-or-treating at my house. Ellen Nagy’s relatives arrived earlier today to claim the body, and the entire department had been occupied with the Nagy family. But he swore he would meet me in time for the adult parade later. Dressed as Jon Snow, as promised.

  “Where’s Queen Cersei?” the little girls’ father asked with a chuckle.

  “I made her stay away.” I gave them my most imperial look. “I’m the only queen here.”r />
  “How about Jon Snow?” their mother said. “I thought he’d be here, too.”

  “Jon had business at Winterfell.” I smiled at the next wave of trick-or-treaters climbing my porch steps. “But I shall see him soon. My dragons will fly me there.”

  I continued my Daenerys performance while handing out candy from a big wicker basket. The weather continued to cooperate with a gentle breeze, and temperatures dropping oh so slowly as the sun set. Orange lights twinkled from where I had entwined them about my porch and shrubs. Four jack-o’-lanterns also flickered along the path that led from the sidewalk to the porch.

  A glance in either direction along Lakeshore Drive revealed costumed children, rushing from house to house. The night air rang with squeals of laughter and cries of “trick or treat!” So far, Halloween had been wonderful. And after the week I had had, I wished the fun could go on forever.

  But an hour later, this part of the festivities had drawn to a close. Since the children began trick-or-treating before the sun set, they were worn out by seven. I looked down at the basket. Empty, except for three peanut butter cups, which I quickly ate.

  I’d spend extra hours at the gym this week to make up for the candy consumption. Basket in hand, I gave a last look at the street, pumpkins flickering in either direction.

  With a contented sigh, I went inside. I’d left Minnie on her perch in the kitchen, and she greeted me with five consecutive “Trick or Treats.” I had a feeling I would be hearing that phrase constantly for the next month. Even though it was a bit early, I decided to put Minnie in her sleep cage. I needed to decompress before the big parade, and conversation with Minnie was not the best way to relax.

  She must have been tired, too. When I opened the door to her sleep cage, she quickly hopped on a perch. I placed the thin cover over the cage, giggling when I heard her murmur, “Trick or treat. Andrew is sweet.”

  I checked on Panther next. I had left the kitten in my sunroom with a mountain of cat toys. It must have tired him out because when I brought him up to my bedroom, he fell asleep after only a few minutes of petting. I left the bedroom before I was tempted to join him.