by D. S. Butler
I nodded. “That’s settled then. We’ll go and speak to Carol this morning, and then you can tag along to the diner with me this afternoon if you want. But you don’t have to stay with me. You can come and go as you please.”
I didn’t want Yvonne to feel trapped, and I believed that a little bit of space would probably do us both good.
Once I’d finished off my smoothie, showered and dressed, Yvonne and I left Jess at home and headed towards the town. As far as I knew, Carol was still staying at The Oceanview Guesthouse, which was on the far side of the harbor.
We left the cottage and entered the shaded trail. It was a chilly day, and the sun was hidden by clouds.
Since we were alone, I took the opportunity to ask Yvonne a few more questions.
“Why did you pick Abbot Cove for your new business? You are obviously very successful, so why here? Why such a small town?”
Yvonne hesitated and then replied, “Oh, well I do like the charm of a small town, and I believe everybody should have access to fitness classes. They shouldn’t only be available in big cities for rich people.”
I couldn’t agree more. But Yvonne hadn’t struck me as someone with a philanthropic nature. Her clothes, jewelry and everything about her suggested she put a high value on material possessions. There was something that didn’t quite sit right with this situation, and for some reason, Yvonne was evasive when I continued to question her about it.
“You could have had an amazing studio in New York or Boston,” I said. “Why Abbott Cove?”
“I told you,” Yvonne said impatiently.
“No, you didn’t. You said you liked small towns, but what was it about Abbott Cove in particular? I mean, there are hundreds of small towns dotted along the coast. Why here?”
Yvonne waved her hand as she hovered slightly in front of me. “Oh, I don’t know. I just liked the sound of the place, I suppose. Why are you so interested anyway?”
She was definitely hiding something, but I wasn’t going to get anywhere by pushing it.
She had decided not to trust me enough to tell me everything. There had to be some reason why she’d picked Abbott Cove, but she clearly wasn’t ready to reveal what her reasons were.
“I’m just curious,” I replied. “It could be important in figuring out who killed you.”
Yvonne sighed dramatically. “For goodness sake, it has nothing to do with who killed me. Honestly, if I have to rely on your intuition to help solve this case, I’m starting to think I’m in serious trouble.”
I bit back a sharp retort as we stepped out of the trail and onto the sidewalk in front of a row of houses. I wouldn’t be able to talk to Yvonne much now because somebody could see or overhear me.
But just because I couldn’t reply, didn’t mean Yvonne stayed quiet. On the contrary, she enjoyed chatting away to me, knowing that I couldn’t respond.
Most of her one-way conversation centered on Deputy McGrady and what a good looking young man he was. I knew what she was trying to do, but it wasn’t going to work. Yvonne was not going to get under my skin this morning.
* * *
As we approached The Oceanview Guesthouse, I was struck anew by how pretty it was. The whitewashed building had a beautiful view of the harbor. Under each window, there were window boxes filled with cheerful, red trailing geraniums.
I knocked on the white wooden door and waited, catching Yvonne’s gaze. It was probably my imagination, but I thought she looked a little nervous.
After a few seconds, Mrs. Dobson opened the door.
Mrs. Dobson ran the guesthouse and did everything herself. She prepared breakfast and dinner for the guests, and she did all the cleaning. She was a very nice lady, but a bit of a gossip, like most of the residents in Abbott Cove.
“Hello, Harper. What can I do for you?” She smiled up at me, her pink cheeks dimpling as she smoothed her gray hair back from her face.
I heard Yvonne mutter behind me, “That silly woman still hasn’t dyed her hair. I told her she would look so much better if she got rid of the gray.”
It took quite an effort not to react to Yvonne’s words. Could she really not see how rudely she was behaving?
“Hello, Mrs. Dobson. I’m sorry to bother you. I was actually hoping to have a word with Carol Dean.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you, Harper. I haven’t seen much of her, to be honest. She likes her own company, but I check up on her every now and then. I made her my special casserole last night, but she didn’t eat much of it, the poor thing.”
“Oh, poor Carol,” Yvonne said behind me. “She must be absolutely distraught without me.”
“It must have been a terrible shock,” I said. “I wanted to pass on my condolences in person.”
“Oh, did you know her well?” Mrs. Dobson asked.
“I saw both of the sisters in the diner from time to time, but I didn’t know either of them well,” I said. “They both seemed very nice, and it was such a horrible thing to happen.”
Mrs. Dobson nodded. “It was shocking! And you found the body, didn’t you?”
I nodded, understanding that Mrs. Dobson was fishing for gossip, but two could play at that game.
“Yes, I was there when we found Yvonne in the cabin. Such a tragedy. I don’t suppose you’ve heard anything about how the investigation is going? I had hoped they would have apprehended a suspect by now.”
“I don’t think they’ve arrested anyone yet, but, I have confidence in our lawmen,” Mrs. Dobson said. “I’m sure the chief will soon have the culprit behind bars. But I haven’t heard any news today. It seems like they’re holding their cards very close to their chest.”
I smiled to hide my disappointment. If Mrs. Dobson hadn’t heard anything, then that meant the chief and Joe McGrady had successfully shut down the Abbott Cove gossip vine, which was extremely annoying. How was I meant to find out anything if I couldn’t rely on gossip?
“It is nice of you to come and visit Carol, though,” Mrs. Dobson said. “I don’t think she knows anybody else in town apart from Louise, and she hasn’t been around much.”
“Has Louise left town already?”
Mrs. Dobson shook her head. “Oh, no, she’s not allowed to leave. The Chief has asked them both to stay in Abbott Cove until further notice.”
“Oh, I hadn’t realized.”
Mrs. Dobson nodded. “Well, I suppose it makes sense in case the chief needs to ask them any more questions. I’ve been feeling very sorry for Carol. To be honest, Louise seems a bit short with her, and she doesn’t have much patience. And the only other person who has visited her was the gentleman who called last night.”
That got my attention. A man? I wondered who that was. “Hopefully, he is someone she can lean on in such a difficult time.”
Yvonne snorted. “The silly old woman must be mistaken. My sister doesn’t know any men in Abbott Cove. And she certainly wouldn’t be entertaining anyone so soon after my death. I can’t remember the last time she had a boyfriend.”
From inside the guesthouse, the telephone rang. “Oh, do come in. I’d better answer the phone.”
Mrs. Dobson bustled off, and I gave Yvonne a scathing sideways look.
“I’m not surprised she hasn’t had a boyfriend with you around all the time,” I said to Yvonne through gritted teeth.
I spoke quietly so Mrs. Dobson wouldn’t hear me.
Yvonne smiled and preened. “Well, I suppose I do rather put most other women in the shade.”
I turned to face her, my mouth hanging open. “No! I meant the fact you were always undermining her confidence. That’s why she didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“I didn’t undermine her confidence. How could you even say such a thing?”
Before I could reply, I heard a woman’s voice call out. “Oh, hello, you’re the lady from the diner, aren’t you?”
It was Carol. She was walking down the staircase at the end of the hallway.
I walked towards her. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Harper
. I just wanted to pop by and tell you how sorry I was about your sister.”
As I got closer, I could see that Carol’s cheeks were still very pale, and she had dark circles under her eyes.
“That’s very kind of you. I’ve just come down for a cup of tea. Would you like to join me?”
Mrs. Dobson finished on the telephone and told us she would bring tea out to us on the porch.
When we stepped outside, the sky was cloudy, but it was still pleasant to be outdoors, watching the boats in the harbor.
I chatted to Carol, asking how she had been coping. I wasn’t really sure how to broach the subject of Yvonne’s killer. Of course, Carol had no idea that Yvonne was hovering between us, and if I’d told her that, I’m sure she would have freaked out and then ordered me to leave her alone for good.
I decided to go for the safest option of asking her about her sister.
“You must miss her terribly,” I said as Mrs. Dobson set down the tea tray.
Carol nodded her thanks to Mrs. Dobson, who discretely bustled off, no doubt to somewhere she could eavesdrop on our conversation, doing her bit to maintain Abbott Cove’s reputation as a hotbed of gossip.
“I do miss her very much,” Carol said. “We did everything together really. People used to say I was her shadow. I’m well aware that sometimes people saw me as a bit of a wallflower compared to Yvonne, but I can say I never once felt jealous. I only ever felt proud of my sister.”
I smiled and added a little milk to my tea. “I suppose you’ll inherit her business. Will you carry on with your plans for a yoga studio in Abbott Cove?”
Carol sighed and put a hand on her forehead. “I hadn’t even thought of that. I still need to contact so many of her friends. I haven’t managed to get in touch with them all yet, and of course, arrange the funeral. I wanted to take her body back to New York, but there is so much red tape because of the ongoing investigation.”
I nodded. “Yes, trying to make plans must be very difficult in the circumstances.”
Carol nodded and took a sip of her tea.
I asked, as casually as I could, “Was the man who called on you earlier a friend who can help with the arrangements?”
Her cup rattled against the saucer as Carol put her tea back on the table. “What man?” she asked sharply.
“Oh, Mrs. Dobson mentioned you had a friend call on you. I thought perhaps he could help you through this difficult time.”
Carol’s voice had a steely edge as she said, “Mrs. Dobson must have been mistaken. I haven’t had any men visiting me here.”
Carol no longer looked delicate and wounded. In fact, she looked extremely angry.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, I’m sure you’re right.”
I tried to rescue the conversation and steer the subject around to who she thought killed Yvonne, but I sensed Carol didn’t trust me now. She answered the rest of my questions in monosyllables and apparently couldn’t wait to get rid of me.
Whoever that man had been, she certainly didn’t want me or anyone else to know about him.
Chapter 12
“I should have known Carol wouldn’t have invited a man around to visit her so soon,” Yvonne said. “I mean, the very idea of her conducting a covert love affair after her beloved sister has been murdered is ridiculous.”
We were walking along the harbor, away from the guesthouse and making our way towards town. My shift at the diner was due to start soon, but I still had a few minutes to think things through.
I took a quick look around and couldn’t see anyone so I decided to chance speaking out loud to Yvonne.
“So you believed her when she said a man hadn’t visited her at the guesthouse? I was sure she was lying.”
Yvonne looked at me as if I was crazy. “Of course, I believe her. Why would she lie?”
That was a very good question. I didn’t know why Carol would lie. But if she wasn’t lying that meant Mrs. Dobson was fibbing about a man visiting Carol at the guesthouse, and she had even less reason to lie as far as I could see.
None of this was adding up, but deep down some sort of witchy sense told me Carol was the one who was lying.
As we walked, the sun broke through the clouds, and gulls circled the air above us. I stopped beside the wall edging the harbor, breathing in the tangy scent of the sea.
I stood there for a moment trying to collect my thoughts. I couldn’t just go on my instincts. I had to have a genuine reason to believe Carol was lying. I needed evidence. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on...
“Are we just going to stand here all day?” Yvonne interrupted impatiently.
I sighed. It didn’t seem as though I was going to get a chance to think things through with Yvonne around.
I continued to walk, and as we left the harbor, I saw Sal’s ice cream shop. It was the perfect day for an ice cream.
As I paused by the ice cream shop to peruse the menu hung in the window, Yvonne said, “I hope you’re not going to indulge, Harper. Think of your waistline!”
I hadn’t been planning to buy one. I’d only intended to check out the different flavors, but because Yvonne annoyed me, I decided to buy one just to prove a point.
I stepped inside and asked Sal for a strawberry cornet. I enjoyed every lick as we walked along Main Street towards the diner. Yvonne kept shooting me disappointed looks.
When I’d finished my ice cream, we entered the diner, and I said a quick hello to Archie before heading to the back room to pick up my apron. Loretta soon joined us by floating through the wall.
“Oh no, you’ve brought her back!” Loretta moaned, sneering at Yvonne. “I’d hoped you would have gotten shot of her by now.”
I sighed. I couldn’t put up with two ghosts at each other’s throats all afternoon. They would have to find some way to get along together.
I turned to Yvonne. “Apologize to Loretta.”
Yvonne looked horrified, and she shook her head obstinately.
“You have to, Yvonne. You don’t have any choice. She is the only other person you can talk to, and I am not speaking to you when I’m at work. So you can either hover off somewhere and be miserable on your own, or you can make friends with Loretta and have somebody to talk to. It’s your choice.”
Yvonne stared at me with her mouth hanging open and then she gave an outraged gasp. I guess she wasn’t used to being spoken to in such a way.
I didn’t mean to be cruel. But the world didn’t revolve around Yvonne. We were all trying to help her, but we just needed Yvonne to help herself, too.
After a brief hesitation, Yvonne groaned. “Okay, fine.” She spun around to face Loretta. “I’m sorry I made a comment about your outfit. I take it all back. You look quite stunning.”
Her words dripped with sarcasm. I would have liked to give Yvonne a good shake. But to Loretta’s credit, she decided to overlook Yvonne’s cattiness this once.
Before I could have any further discussion with either of the ghosts, Archie burst into the back room.
His face was pale and his eyes were wide as he said, “Harper, you better come quickly.”
I followed him out of the back room and asked, “What is it? What has happened?”
“The mayor is here,” Archie whispered. “And he’s looking for you!”
For me? Why on earth would the mayor be looking for me? I didn’t even realize he knew who I was.
But then again… I was part of the Grant family. I smothered a groan. This had to be something to do with Grandma Grant.
The mayor was in the center of the diner, looking extremely hot and bothered.
As I approached, he turned around and glared at me. “Harper Grant!”
I stepped towards him, but I was careful to maintain a little space between us. He looked furious.
This was not good.
“You need to control your grandmother,” the mayor said sternly.
If only it were that simple, I thought. There was no chance of me ever having control over Grandma Gra
nt.
“What has she done now?” I asked, dreading his answer.
“What has she done? I’ll tell you what she’s done. She is, right at this moment, sitting on the hood of my car, eating a senior special from the Lobster Shack, and she is refusing to get off. I have special mayoral duties to perform. How am I supposed to do that with an old-aged pensioner sitting on the hood of my car?”
“Ah, I can see how that would be a problem.”
“Oh, you can, can you? I’m ever so glad. Now, get out there and get her off my car!” the Mayor roared.
I hung my apron on the peg—I hadn’t even had a chance to put it on yet—and rushed outside to try and talk some sense into Grandma Grant.
But if I was honest, I didn’t like my chances. Sense and Grandma Grant didn’t often go hand-in-hand.
As I walked further up Main Street, I could clearly see a crowd had gathered around the Mayor’s car, and yes, Grandma Grant still sat on the hood.
She’d stopped eating, though. That was a good start, wasn’t it?
As I watched, she gingerly got to her feet and began to address the audience gathered around her from the roof of the car. She was shouting and accusing the mayor of participating in dodgy deals.
I’d spoken too soon. This was most definitely not a good start. Bad-mouthing the mayor to an audience while standing on his car was going to annoy him a heck of a lot more than merely eating lobster on it.
Oh no, this wasn’t good, at all. Where was Jess? She was much better at this sort of thing than I was.
I started walking slower and slower, not wanting to face the truth and confront Grandma Grant.
I briefly considered running away and hiding. That wasn’t a real option, though. Not if I wanted to prevent our family getting slapped with a lawsuit.
I briefly considered running away and hiding, but that didn’t last long. I heard the Mayor’s booming voice behind me. “Get that crazy woman off of my car!”
Grandma Grant heard him and turned around, shifting her position on the car.
“Oh, here he comes. Ready to do some more deals, are we, Mr. Mayor? How many more backhanders do you intend to accept to get this resort through the planning committee?”
