by Rose Pressey
I glanced over toward the tree where Alexandria Emerson had been standing. She wasn’t there now. I scanned the crowd looking for her, but she was nowhere in sight. Maybe she’d gotten so mad that she’d decided to take off before the contest was even over. But what if her pie was the best? Would she even want the blue ribbon?
Chapter 2
With my stomach feeling twice the size as when I’d started, I made it to the final pie. I picked up the last plastic fork. I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle. I definitely wouldn’t want dinner tonight. I wasn’t sure how all this sugar would affect me on my tour later. I would probably be so fast that the tourgoers wouldn’t be able to keep up. Plus, I was going onto unfamiliar territory. More about that later.
All eyes were on me as everyone anxiously waited for me to finish and make my decision. The silence in the air could have been sliced with the knife that Tammy had used to cut the pies. I sank my fork into the last cherry pie and honestly, I had no idea how I was going to pick because they were all fantastic. Maybe I was leaning more toward one of them.
A bloodcurdling scream rang out that sent a shiver down my spine. Chaos erupted all around. Most of the patrons ran in the opposite direction from the sound. A frantic woman ran into the table, knocking all the pies onto the ground. I’d glanced back just as they tumbled to the ground. I took off in the direction where I’d heard the scream. I thought it came from around the side of the library. Annie ran along beside me—well, it was more like floating along beside me. Tammy ran behind me.
I had no idea what to expect when I turned the corner. I prepared myself for the worst, but I hoped no one was injured. Perhaps someone had seen a ghost.
Silence filled the air now. No screams or even talking for that matter. The only noise was the sound of my heavy breathing as I ran. I knew that Tammy and Annie were thinking the same thing as me. My heart beat fast and my stomach twisted into a knot.
I had hoped for the best, but as we turned the corner, I realized my hope for the best wasn’t the case. What I saw was the worst. I spotted Alexandria Emerson standing over a body. I couldn’t tell who was there just yet. Alexandria must have heard us because she spun around. My gaze met with hers. All I saw was shock on her face. She was frozen. I glanced down at the body and realized that it was Lucy Marcus.
“What happened?” I yelled.
“I’ll call 911,” Tammy said as we continued our run toward the women.
Alexandria and Lucy were halfway between the building. There was no parking or anything at this side so people didn’t come over here often. Most times people were either in the front or back of the library. There were other office buildings on the side of the building, but they were a good distance away. Also, there was a side road in between the library and the office buildings. Annie was sending me messages on my phone, but I hoped she realized I couldn’t pull it out right now and answer her.
“What happened?” I asked again as we got closer.
Alexandria Emerson still stared at me in silence, as if she was in shock, which was totally understandable considering the circumstances. I looked down at Lucy Marcus, but I couldn’t really see what was wrong until I got closer. I had no idea if this was an accident or if Lucy Marcus had done something to Alexandria’s pie. Before I had a chance to ask any other questions, Alexandria took off running away from the body. She ran across the way over to the side road and then out to the main road. I assumed she was headed for her car.
“Should I try to stop her?” Tammy asked.
“I don’t think you could catch up with her now,” I said. “We’ll just let the police handle this.”
Quickly I turned my attention to Lucy. It was much more important that I help her than chase after Alexandria Emerson. I couldn’t believe that everyone had run the other way. Maybe they thought that someone was being attacked and that they would be next. I knelt down beside the book club member that I’d gotten to know more and more over the last few months.
“Are you all right, Lucy?” I asked.
Of course she didn’t respond, although her eyes were open. That was when I saw the blood underneath her. I checked for a pulse by placing my fingers against her neck. I looked up at Tammy and shook my head.
Tammy’s hand flew to her mouth. “You mean she’s dead?”
I nodded. “I’m afraid so.” I pushed to my feet. “You called the police, right?”
“Yes, they’re on their way,” Tammy said.
What would my boyfriend say? I’d been dating Brannon for a while now. He was a detective with the Devil’s Moon Police Department. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been called out to a scene like this where I had been involved in some capacity.
Tammy and I stood together while we waited. Annie had momentarily disappeared. It seemed like forever before the police arrived, but I supposed it really was only a couple of minutes until the sirens sounded. The cop cars pulled up along the street and officers jumped out of their cars. A black unmarked car with tinted windows screeched to a halt in front of one of the other police cruisers. Brannon leapt out and ran across the library’s lush green lawn. I was relieved to see him, but also nervous about having to explain why there was a dead body outside the library.
Brannon had traded his police uniform for dress slacks and button-down shirts after recently being promoted to detective. He looked handsome in his black suit with white shirt and red tie. He’d gotten the tie when we went on a cruise recently. The clothing traced the outline of his fit physique perfectly. His short dark hair highlighted his sculpted features. The look on his face was a combination of shock and panic.
At least I had Tammy with me this time. It was better than discovering a dead body on my own and having to explain why I’d been at the scene.
“Are you all right, Rip?” he asked breathlessly as he approached.
“I’m fine, but she’s not.” I gestured with a tilt of my head.
Brannon darted around me toward the body. Other officers and emergency workers had surrounded Lucy as well. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. When I looked to the right I saw three people standing at the edge of the library building. I frowned. That was odd. I supposed some people had come back around to see what was going on after all. Now that they thought they weren’t in danger they wanted to see what happened. Talk would spread across town as quickly as a swarm of bees. Just as I was ready to point out the trio to Brannon they disappeared right before my eyes. I gasped. Yes, I’d seen ghosts before, but I never got over the shock of having them vanish right from before my eyes.
I wanted to tell Brannon, but he was leaning down next to the body, so of course he hadn’t seen them. Brannon was a paranormal investigator part-time. He’d seen a few ghosts during his investigations as well. Therefore, I knew he’d be interested.
There had been two women and one man. I supposed I should’ve thought something was wrong from the beginning. They wore clothing from a different time. The brunette woman wore a light blue dress with crinoline and high neck bodice. The dark-haired men wore brown suits.
Well, the contest was definitely over now. A murder at the pie contest? It was hard to wrap my mind around that. Eventually I’d get around to announcing the winner. I couldn’t even think straight to figure out who I wanted to win. I supposed it would’ve been Alexandria’s cherry, but I wasn’t sure. Plus, it wasn’t important right now. We had a dead woman on the ground and the possible killer had run away from the crime scene. After all, I’d heard Alexandria Emerson say that she was going to kill someone. I could only assume that she thought Lucy Marcus had been the one to switch her pie.
“What happened?” Brannon asked as he pulled me to the side.
I explained to him everything that had happened up until this point. How Alexandria had been wild with fury over her pie.
“So you’re telling me that someone was murdered because of a pie contest?” Brannon asked with a frown.
“I know it’s crazy, but I’m just
telling you what she said.” I shrugged.
“We’ll see if we can find her and get to the bottom of this,” Brannon said.
“I can’t believe we have a murder scene. How do you think Alexandria Emerson killed her? I never heard a thing and it happened so fast.”
“I’m almost certain there’s a stab wound. Did you see Ms. Emerson with any kind of sharp object?” Brannon asked.
I shook my head. “No, not at all, but she had a purse with her. Maybe she put it in there.”
“It’s possible, but I’m surprised it happened so quietly,” he said.
“Well, there was a lot of noise with the contest going on,” I said.
“It must have been a wild pie contest with that amount of noise,” he said.
“We heard the scream though.”
“Don’t worry, Rip, we’ll figure out who did this.” Brannon ran his hand through his hair.
“It’s over now and I have to tell everyone that it’s over,” I said around a sigh.
Looking around, I noticed the only people there stood out by the street because the police had taped up the entire perimeter of the library.
“Okay, so I guess I don’t have to tell anyone today,” I said. “We have to get the books put inside and then close up for the day. I have to get to the tour.”
“You’re still going to do that after what happened?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, I really don’t want to do the tour, but I have some people coming from out of town and I don’t want to cancel on them after they’ve made a special trip.”
“That’s understandable,” he said, gently touching my arm. “Are you sure you’re holding up okay?”
I pushed my hair out of my eyes. “As well as can be expected. I just feel sick about what happened. And terrified at the same time.”
“Everything will be just fine,” Brannon said.
Tammy was still standing over by the toppled over table in shock. Pies still the littered the ground. Birds took off in flight as they’d been dining on the contest remnants. Tammy finally snapped to attention when she saw us. She’d been in a daze. Brannon helped Tammy and I put the table back upright.
“You have an investigation to take care of right now. Tammy and I will handle this,” I said.
“I’ll get some people to help you take the books inside,” he said with a grin.
He motioned for a few of the officers to come over. With some help from the officers it didn’t take long for us to get the tables and books back inside. We would have to organize everything later. Right now, I just wanted to get out of there.
I had to admit that I kept thinking about the ghosts that I’d seen at the side of the library. I hoped that the portal wasn’t open again. I hadn’t seen anything unexplained in the library for a while, but now I was a bit nervous that I would see the ghosts again.
Since the library was in such a large building, that meant there were many corners that hid shadows and allowed thoughts of spooky things to run through my mind. With the tall ceilings and windows that allowed in light, often shadows danced around the stacks. I never knew if it was a ghost I saw out of the corner of my eye or just a trick of the light.
A long reference desk where patrons could check out books stretched along the far wall in front of the doors when anyone stepped foot inside the library. Rows of bookshelves marched across the floor to the left and the right. Wood tables with reading lamps on top and chairs around filled the space on the right. Straight ahead and to the right just a bit a grand staircase led to the second and third floors. Floor-to-ceiling windows on the front of the building allowed in sunshine that made the hardwood floors and intricate trim molding throughout gleam.
“Do you really think Alexandria killed Lucy?” Tammy asked as we grabbed our stuff from behind the reference desk.
“I guess anything is possible. Who else could’ve done it?” I asked.
“No one that I know of,” Tammy said.
Now I spotted Annie out of the corner of my eye. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me back to my house, Annie?”
I don’t like the ghosts there. Annie sent the text message.
Yes, I had ghosts staying at my house. I didn’t think they were that bad though. As far as I knew there wasn’t a portal there like here at the library.
I’d rather take my chances here. Plus, I have to stay with Jane Austen.
Jane Austen was the cat that stayed at the library. She’d strolled in one day and made the library her home. Sometimes she came home with me like Annie, but most of the time she just liked to stay here and hang out with Annie. They preferred this space over my house. Jane Austen lounged on a nearby table, cleaning her black fur with a lick of her little pink tongue.
“Well, send me a text message if you need me, Annie,” I said.
Be careful out there, she responded.
Tammy and I walked toward the door. I glanced back for one more look. The light in the mystery section flickered. Maybe I needed to have the bulbs replaced. Annie had turned her attention that way. She must have noticed it too. I flipped the lights for that section and the others. Only a few lights stayed on all night. They gave off a faint glow, just enough that the place wouldn’t be pitch dark. I eased the doors shut and secured the lock. Tammy waited for me on the steps.
“Are you working tonight?” I asked. “I don’t know if you’re up to it.”
“Oh, look who’s talking. Someone who is doing a haunted tour after what happened,” Tammy said with a wave of her hand.
“Well, this is different. I wouldn’t do it if the people weren’t coming from out of town.”
“I’m going into the tavern just because they’re short tonight, but I will try to see if I can get off as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure that what happened is the talk of town now,” I said around a sigh.
“Oh, I’m sure it is.” Tammy shifted her bag to the other shoulder.
“Plus, the fact that I was the one who found the body.”
“Well, technically we both found her at the same time,” Tammy said.
“Yeah, I guess that makes me feel a bit better,” I said.
The heavy police presence still surrounded the building, but some officers had started to leave. Brannon stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for us. I noticed that the coroner was taking the body away.
“I’ll give you a ride to the cemetery,” Brannon said, trying to block my view of the body. “And Tammy to the tavern.”
That did help. It meant we wouldn’t have to walk all the way there. Walking a lot was something that I wasn’t in the mood for tonight. I would get enough of that with the tour.
Chapter 3
Once in the car with Brannon I would have to break the news to him that I wasn’t starting the tour at the cemetery as I normally would. Tonight was different. I had agreed to take a group of people on a tour of a nearby wooded area. Brannon would be absolutely against it, but I had been there quite a few times now and I felt that it was safe to take the group out there. If I had no confidence in my ability to maneuver around the area I would never go. I had enough sense to know when something was bad, although my friends and family might question that theory.
When I got off work I had planned on walking all the way home tonight. I’d finally bought a car after my other one had broken down quite a while ago. I probably should have driven into work today, but I enjoyed the exercise that I got from the walk. As if walking round town for the tour wasn’t enough exercise. But after the pie contest I figured I would need to burn the extra calories.
Anyway, now I would have to walk from the tavern to my house. I’d pick up my car from my house and head right over to the woods. At least the walk would be shorter. I was a bit apprehensive about this tour, but I was used to walking around dark places, so I figured this would be no different. What was to worry about? Well, other than someone had been murdered today. However, that had nothing to do with the haunted woods.
>
Tammy and I walked with Brannon toward his car. She had no idea about my plans either. I felt Tammy and Brannon would tell me not to do the tour and that was why I’d kept it a secret. Typically, I didn’t keep secrets from them, but I was only doing it to make them feel better. Well, and make me feel better too. There was no way they would go along with this plan. I thought it would be a fantastic way to add a new feature to my tour. I wouldn’t offer tours of the woods all the time, just on special occasions or events.
The group of people going on tour tonight had actually contacted me and asked if I could take them. They’d heard it was haunted. Naturally they assumed I gave tours of any haunted location around Devil’s Moon.
Tammy climbed into the back seat and I slid up front. With all the extra equipment there wasn’t a ton of room. Brannon got behind the steering wheel. My anxiety grew because I knew that I had to tell him soon. A call came through the radio as I buckled my seatbelt. It sounded as if Brannon would have somewhere else to go soon. Thank goodness it wasn’t for another murder. Brannon started the car and pulled away from the curb.
Since it was such a short distance I knew my time to tell him was running out. Unless I just let him drop me off and think that I was going to the cemetery. That was deceitful, and I hated to do it, but at this point, maybe it was the best option. I would tell him later about what happened. I knew he had a lot of work to do and didn’t have time to worry about me. Tammy would be working so she wouldn’t know either.
Brannon talked about the murder but focusing on any of the words seemed impossible because I was so preoccupied about what was about to happen. It was a lot for me to take in. Poor Lucy Marcus being killed and Alexandria Emerson the likely culprit. Now I had to go to this uncharted location for a tour. Brannon pulled up to the curb and cut the engine. I hoped he didn’t offer to walk me all the way back to the cemetery.
