by Mae Fox
But someone did.
Chills ran down Julie’s spine. The lights weren’t supposed to go out so early. But there must have been a simple explanation for it. Hannah probably got the “kill time” mixed up. Any minute now, she would flip the lights back on, and the mystery would begin. There was no need for alarm.
But the lights didn’t come back on.
“What’s going on here?” It was a male voice, and Julie thought it sounded like Liam.
“Julie?” This from Shirley.
“Are the lights supposed to stay out this long?” Joyce asked.
“I would have thought they’d be back on by now.” This came from Sadie.
“Hannah,” Julie called.
“What happened?” Hannah replied from the dark kitchen doorway.
“You didn’t do this then?” Julie asked.
“Definitely not.”
“You must have blown a fuse or tripped a breaker,” Daniel said.
Julie carefully stood, keeping her hands on the table. “OK everyone, we seem to be experiencing a technical difficulty. I apologize for the delay. Please remain in your seats while Daniel and I check the breaker box. Hopefully we’ll have the lights back on in a jiff.” Though she wasn’t sure how she was going to accomplish that. The place was nearly pitch black. How was she going to find her way to the breaker box? “Hannah, could you light the candles in here?”
“I’m on it,” Hannah said.
“Oh my, I think something just brushed my back.” Joyce said. “What in the world—”
A stifled sigh was heard, followed by a muffled thump.
“What was that?” Susan asked.
Julie wasn’t about to say it sounded a lot like a body hitting the floor. In the dark, it could have been anything. Her imagination was getting out of hand.
“I’m sure it was nothing.” Julie did her best to keep her voice calm.
“Everyone stay put,” Daniel said.
Julie felt his hand at the small of her back and wondered how he could even find her in the dark room. But she was thankful he did. After all of her exploits chasing treasures through the dark streets of foreign countries … well, it was one thing to be in the dark by choice and quite another to have that rug of comfort pulled from beneath your feet.
“I think there’s a flashlight in the foyer desk,” she said as he steered them toward the exit.
“Here we go.” Daniel led the way through the dining room doors and toward the front of the inn. A dim light shone in through the front windows, offering them a fighting chance of finding the flashlight.
Julie rummaged through the desk, which was a little more cluttered than she remembered. The bulk of the desk cast thick shadows onto the contents of the drawers, making it that much harder to find what she was looking for. Her fingers finally felt the cold, round, metal object they were searching for.
“Got it,” she said triumphantly. She held it above her head in victory; then she lowered it, switched it on, and silently thanked whatever kind soul had last put in the batteries. The beam of light was strong and true.
“To the breaker box,” she said.
“Any idea where it is?”
“Yes. Follow me.” Relocating the breaker box was one of the first things she’d done when she had taken over. “It’s in the second-floor linen closet.”
“The linen closet?” Even with only the glow of a flashlight beam reflecting on his face, Julie could tell Daniel was frowning.
She shrugged. “I had it moved from the basement in case we ever have an issue with floodwaters.” She started toward the stairs.
“Floodwaters?”
“Hey, you can never be too careful.”
Daniel followed her up to the second floor. “I suppose not.”
“Unless you’re Hannah,” Julie added.
Daniel laughed as they made their way down the hall to the linen closet.
Julie opened the door and peered inside. “Here, hold this.” She handed the flashlight to Daniel, moved a stack of towels to the side, and opened the door to the breaker box.
“They all look OK,” Daniel said, shining the light inside.
“Looks can be deceiving.” Julie methodically began flipping each switch one way and then the other.
Daniel shook his head. “That wouldn’t be the problem. The entire inn is without power. Each one of those would only control a room or two. You need the main switch.”
Julie squinted at the tabs. “Which one of these is the main one?”
He studied the switches and then shook his head. “None of them.”
Julie wiggled out from between the closet and him. “How’s that?”
“The main switch doesn’t have to be in the same box with the others. In fact, it can be on a completely different floor.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
Daniel shrugged nonchalantly, but she could tell he was pleased with her backhanded compliment. “I had an uncle who was an electrician.”
“Your uncle wouldn’t happen to know where the main switch would be, would he?”
“No. But if I had to guess, I would say it’s somewhere near the kitchen.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Again he shrugged. “It seems like a good place to put it in case of a fire. In fact, it may have been moved there for that very purpose. I’m surprised the electrician didn’t mention this when he moved the box.”
“Me too.” Julie smiled in admiration. “Lead the way, detective.”
This time she followed Daniel as he led her back downstairs. After searching the entire kitchen and the surrounding area, they finally located the main switch in the tearoom. Julie thought it was strange that she had never noticed it before. Oh, she had seen it, but had never given the small metal plate on the wall a second thought.
Daniel opened the door and peered inside. “See, there’s the problem.” He wiggled the breaker to show the play and then snapped it back in place. After moving two more switches back and forth, the inn was flooded with light.
No sooner had Julie blinked everything into focus than another scream pierced the night.
“Oh no,” she said and raced toward the dining room with Daniel close on her heels. Julie hadn’t realized just how big the inn really was until she was running through it, summoned by a shriek.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my, …,” someone said over and over again.
“That sounds like Susan,” Julie said as she and Daniel skidded around the corner and into the dining room.
“Do something,” Inga demanded of Julie.
Julie looked down to where the grim housekeeper’s calloused finger was pointing and saw the body of Alice Peyton sprawled out on the floor. A dark spot stained the floor near her head, and a heavy brass candlestick lay off to one side.
“Julie?” Shirley asked, a slight tremble in her voice. “I don’t understand. This wasn’t—”
“I’m calling an ambulance,” Inga said.
Dear God, please let Alice be alive, Julie silently beseeched, gently falling to her knees beside the body. Was this the source of the thump they’d heard earlier?
Hesitantly, Julie reached out two fingers and lightly touched the woman’s throat.
No pulse.
Maybe I’m not doing it right. Julie moved her fingers a little to the right, then a little to the left. Still nothing.
Her eyes met Daniel’s as he knelt beside her. He lifted Alice’s limp hand and pressed his fingers to her wrist. After a few seconds, he shook his head.
“Well?” Shirley demanded as Daniel pushed to his feet.
Julie slowly stood. Another murder; it was only a few months ago that Daniel's best friend, George Benning, had been murdered. This time, it was blatantly obvious that this was murder.
“Well?” Shirley asked again. Her tone more of a shriek this time.
Julie shook her head.
Finally, Daniel broke the tense silence. “She’s dead.”
THREE
> “But she’s supposed to be dead, isn’t she?” Susan asked. She stood off to one side with Kenneth hovering slightly in front of her as if he were protecting her from everyone else in the room.
“Of course she is,” Sadie said. “Alice is our murder victim. Isn’t that right, Julie dear?”
“I didn’t think any of the guests were supposed to be the victim,” Joyce interjected.
“We don’t need an ambulance,” Julie murmured, still shocked by the grim turn of events. “We need to call the police.” She looked at Daniel to find he already had his cellphone pressed to his ear.
“Yes,” Daniel said into the phone. “The Quilt Haus Inn. Thank you.” He tapped his phone off. “Done,” he said to Julie.
“The police?” Susan asked, the weight of the situation finally settling in.
“I knew I felt something brush behind my back in the dark,” Joyce said. She looked accusingly at Carrie. “It felt like something short and small.”
Carrie let out a small gasp as all eyes in the room swung in her direction, her face turning bright crimson. “It wasn’t me!”
“Well, I’m certain I heard footsteps near my chair right after the lights went out,” Gregory said. “They were heavy footsteps. Like that of a man.” He eyed the other men in the room with suspicion, casting a brief glance at Inga too.
“This is absurd,” Liam said. “I’m not going to stand around in a room with a dead body and a room full of suspects listening while we all accuse each other of murder.”
Julie turned to Shirley. “Why don’t you take everyone into the tearoom? I think it would be best if the guests remain together—and out of this room.”
Shirley swallowed hard and then nodded.
The guests cast accusatory looks at one another as Shirley, with a little help from Inga, herded them out of the dining room. Only Brandon, Daniel, and Julie remained.
“Brandon?” Julie turned toward the young actor. He stared at the body with disbelieving eyes. “Brandon?” she said, louder this time.
“Huh?” He jerked his gaze up to meet Julie’s.
“Perhaps you should join the others in the tearoom.”
His wide-eyed gaze strayed to the body and then quickly back to Julie. “Yeah, I think I will.” He hustled out of the room as if someone had set fire to his feet, leaving Julie and Daniel alone with Alice’s body.
Julie sighed. “Now I guess we wait?”
Daniel nodded. “But I don’t think we should wait in here. It’s probably best if we join the others in the tearoom—if for no other reason than to keep a war from breaking out.”
Julie slowly nodded, although joining the others was the last thing she wanted to do. Or was it that she didn’t want to leave the body of Alice sprawled out on the dining room floor? It seemed wrong somehow to simply walk away when someone had just suffered such a wicked end.
“And you’re sure she’s …?” Julie waved a hand around, reluctant to say the word.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Julie gave a stiff nod. “I guess I’d better go tell Hannah. I’m not sure she has any idea what’s really going on in here.”
“I’ll go check on the others.”
Julie managed a small smile. “Thank you, Daniel. I’m so glad you’re here.”
He looked to the body on the floor and then back up to Julie’s eyes. “Me too.” He sighed, giving Julie a wan smile, and then headed toward the tearoom.
Julie couldn’t stop her gaze from darting back to Alice one more time. She tried to remember what she had learned about the woman from their earlier conversations. Alice was fifty-something with a couple of grown children, recently divorced, and a bit bitter about it if the downward curve of her mouth was any indication. That was about all Julie knew.
“Oh my stars!”
Julie whirled around as Hannah walked into the room carrying two large pillar candles and a box of matches.
“What happened in here?” Hannah asked as she dumped the candles onto the table.
Julie shook her head. “I’m not sure. But Alice is … dead.”
“But she wasn’t even supposed to be the victim.” Hannah searched Julie’s face as if waiting for her friend to laugh and say it was all a joke.
“No,” Julie said simply. “She wasn’t.”
A noise sounded from the foyer.
“The police must be here,” Julie said. With any luck it wouldn’t be the same officer who had investigated George Benning’s murder last fall. Julie had seen enough of Detective Everett Frost to last a lifetime. “Stay close by,” Julie said to Hannah. “I’m sure they’ll want to speak to everyone, whether you were in the room when it happened or not.”
Hannah nodded, cast one last look at poor Alice, and then scuttled to the kitchen as fast as she could go.
Julie left the dining room just in time to see her “favorite” detective duck into the tearoom.
Fabulous, she thought wryly.
Two more uniformed officers and a paramedic rounded the corner and walked toward her.
“Is this where she is?” the paramedic asked.
Julie nodded mutely.
They pushed into the dining room, and the paramedic knelt beside Alice. He felt the pulse points. “No vitals,” he said. “I’ll call it in. We’re either going to have to transport her or wait for the coroner to make the official call.”
One of the officers nodded and then headed toward the tearoom. Julie followed close behind. When she entered the room, she met the shocked expressions of her guests.
The weekend was not going at all as planned.
The officer joined Detective Frost and said something quietly to him that made the detective nod. Then the officer left the room again.
“You don’t understand. She wasn’t supposed to die,” Shirley blurted. She appeared to be on the brink of tears.
Julie cringed as Detective Frost turned his hawklike stare from Shirley to her. “Hello, detective.”
“Julie Ellis,” he greeted. “Why am I not surprised to find you in the middle of all this?”
Before Julie could reply, Susan asked, “If she wasn’t supposed to die, who was?” The woman’s nose was red, a telltale sign she’d been crying. Her husband had one arm wrapped protectively around her, even though his eyes sparkled with interest.
“What do you mean?” Frost demanded. “Was this a murder gone wrong?”
“We had a murder mystery event planned for this weekend,” Julie said. “There was supposed to be a fake murder, part of the act.”
“I was the one who was to die,” Inga said stiffly as she stepped forward. A few people started at her words, as if they hadn’t realized she was there until she spoke. Julie could sympathize. Inga had the same effect on her.
“Well, settle in, folks, because no one’s going anywhere until I get some statements.” Detective Frost pinned them each with one of his cold stares. “From what we can tell, someone was murdered here tonight, and it’s my job to get to the bottom of it.”
Julie sighed. It was going to be one long night.
Thankfully, two more detectives arrived to help take witness statements. One was talking to Susan and Kenneth while Sadie and Joyce sat down with the other. Liam, Gregory, and Carrie sat at a table with Shirley and drank coffee. Everyone was obviously shaken.
It was just Julie’s luck that Detective Frost was the lead on the case. Naturally, he wanted to talk to her personally.
“Now, tell me how this all came to be,” he said to Julie.
She ran through the highlights: Millie wanted them to host a murder mystery weekend, and today was the first day of the event. Alice was a guest at the inn. Julie didn’t know who would want to kill her or why. She didn’t know anything about her other than what they had talked about in the tearoom. Everything at dinner had been in character.
“And the … uh … dress is all part of the play?” he asked, waving a hand toward her.
She glanced down at her dress and nodded her head
. How could she have forgotten they were all still in costume? She thought about explaining again how the murder mystery weekend worked and why the guests looked like extras in historical movies—though not the same one—but she decided against it. He was a detective; it was his job to deduce.
“It was more of a costume party,” she said. There. That was a good answer.
Detective Frost cocked his head. “Why were the lights cut?”
“Well, in reality, I’m not sure what made them go out so early. It’s a mystery.” Julie did her best to ignore the detective’s stern frown. “But in theory, Hannah was supposed to turn out the dining room lights for a few seconds. When they came back on, Inga was going to pretend she was dead. But the lights went out too soon. When we realized Hannah hadn’t turned the lights off, Daniel and I went to find the breaker box.”
“Daniel Franklin.” His frown deepened as he said the name. “How long do you suppose the lights were out?”
Julie thought about it for a moment. “Twenty minutes maybe. Long enough for us to get our bearings, find a flashlight, go upstairs, check that box, and then return to the main box down here.”
“Here?”
She pointed to the corner of the tearoom where the main breaker box was located.
The detective turned to one of the uniformed officers hovering by the door. Julie wasn’t positive, but it seemed that every peace officer in the area had shown up for this one. “We need to dust that breaker box for prints.”
Great. “Daniel and I both touched that,” she said.
Detective Frost nodded.
“Has the coroner been called?” she asked.
“Yes.” The detective smiled grimly at her. “I know how to do my job, Miss Ellis.”
Best not to respond to that. “How long is she, Alice, going to be … uh … here?”
Frost looked at his watch. “Hard to say. Couple of hours. Maybe more.”
A couple of hours?
“It’s going to take a while for us to get all the prints and process the crime scene,” the detective continued. “Then we’ll remove the body and notify the next of kin.”
