Ring In the Year with Murder--An Otter Lake Mystery

by Auralee Wallace

  “Hey,” Freddie said, suddenly appearing at my shoulder.

  I jumped.

  “Did you know that Candace has an Asian sister? I was going to ask her to take a picture with me, but—Why do you look so funny?”

  “I, uh, just said hello to Candace and Grady.”

  “Really? And how did that go?” Freddie asked. “Did you and Candace start pulling each other’s hair and crash into the table with the ice swan?”

  “There is no table with an ice swan.”

  “You know what I mean,” he said. “I want to hear all about it, but before you start…”

  I noticed Freddie looking around.

  “Where is Stanley?”

  The Morning After

  “I can’t believe you lost my dog.”

  “I didn’t lose him. He’s right there.” I gestured to the floor. “He’s fine.” Cone of shame notwithstanding. I took a few shallow breaths. Deep ones felt a little rough on the stomach. “And besides, I thought he wasn’t your dog. I thought he was going back to the pound.”

  “Don’t listen, Stanley, and don’t worry, I’ll never leave you with her again.” Freddie looked up at me. “You know what else I can’t believe?”

  “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “I can’t believe you all thought I’d freak out that your mother was fortune-telling.”

  “I didn’t know for sure that you would freak out. Mrs. Watson was the one who—”

  “Mrs. Watson,” Freddie said, lying back down. “You know she’s just mad because I once predicted someone else’s granddaughter would win the Most Beautiful Baby contest at the fair.”

  “Oh, that’s the unpleasantness my mother was talking about.”

  “And I wasn’t as grumpy as you’re making it sound,” Freddie said, staring up at the ceiling. “Although you were a hot mess.”

  “I will admit the night got off to a bumpy start,” I said, running both hands over my face. “But from what we have pieced together so far, nothing that murdery had happened at this party. Threatening letters, yes. Murder, no.”

  “Oh, that part’s coming,” Freddie said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “It will go down as a dark, dark time in Otter Lake history.”

  Chapter Six

  “What do you mean where’s Stanley?”

  I looked down at the empty floor.

  Uh-oh.

  “Erica, where is my dog?”

  “Kit Kat and Tweety! I left him with them.” I hurried around the partition to where I had been sitting with the twins. No twins. No Stanley.

  “You left my dog with the twins? I wouldn’t let the twins watch a goldfish,” Freddie said, looking around at the empty chairs and floor. “So where is he?”

  “He was here a second ago. He can’t have gone far.”

  “I can’t believe you lost my dog!”

  I held up my hands and took a breath. “I didn’t lose your dog … like permanently. He’s here somewhere. I’m sorry. I was distracted. You’re never going to believe what just h—”

  “Remind me to never let you babysit again.” Freddie’s gaze whipped around the crowd. Then he pulled out his phone. “I’ll get Tyler on it. He’d better have his phone on.” Once his thumbs stopped jumping he looked up at me. “So what am I never going to believe happened?”

  “Oh,” I said, grabbing his elbow and giving it an excited little shake. “I think Grady and Candace might be having relationship trouble.”

  Freddie had gone from angry flutter-blinking at me just a moment ago to the slow blink. It was hard to say which one was worse.

  “I mean, we were talking—just the three of us—and then Candace gave him the ol’ Can I speak to you in the kitchen, honey? but, you know, not in those words.”

  “That’s it?”

  My hands fell to my sides. “What do you mean, that’s it? That’s huge. They even went to another room to talk.”

  Freddie scratched his chin. “So what you’re telling me is that you lost my dog because—”

  “Wait! There’s more.” I was in big trouble here. Freddie’s right eyelid was twitching a bit now.

  “Okay,” he said, folding his arms across his chest, but quickly unfolded them when he saw that he was creasing his silk scarf. “Let’s hear it.”

  “Mrs. Robinson dropped her champagne glass just now and Candace totally freaked out.”

  No reaction.

  Oh wait, that was because he didn’t know what Mrs. Watson had told me. “I realize that doesn’t sound like much, but Candace is the one who has been receiving the threatening letters in town. Multiple letters.”

  “What?”

  I held up my hands. “Okay, so Mrs. Watson was taking me to see my mother in her fortune-telling room, and—”

  “Fortune-telling room?” Freddie asked, suddenly looking even more dangerous. His eyebrows were pointed down now like two thin lightning bolts. “Your mother is fortune-telling? And nobody thought to tell me?”

  “Let me back up for just a moment here. Or maybe I should just fast-forward over that part to—dog!” I suddenly shouted, pointing toward the hallway that Candace and Grady had headed for. “I see tail!”

  The tiniest of smiles touched the corner of Freddie’s mouth.

  I smiled big back at him and nodded. “It was the I see tail, wasn’t it?”

  He whacked my arm. “Let’s just go get my dog.”

  Freddie and I navigated our way through the rapidly thickening crowd to the far side of the foyer.

  “He must have gone in that door at the end,” Freddie said, pointing down the hallway.

  We had only walked a few steps down the wood-paneled passage when Freddie stopped short. So short that I stumbled into his back. It was my fault. This was a pretty nice corridor, and I wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy running my fingers along the glossy wood. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “Why are we stop—”

  “Shush!” Freddie hissed.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “Don’t you hear it?”

  “Hear what?”

  “Voices.”

  “We’re at a party,” I said. I kept my voice to a whisper though.

  “Not just voices. Angry voices.”

  I stopped talking to try to hear what Freddie was going on about, but all I could hear was the jazz music and din of conversation from the party at our backs. “I don’t hear any—”

  “Shush!” Freddie hissed again, waving me forward.

  Suddenly I did hear a voice. It was coming from the far room.

  “And we’re right back to where we started, aren’t we?”

  My breath caught. That voice had sounded an awful lot like Candace’s …

  Silence.

  Then …

  “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

  Chapter Seven

  I don’t think I can do this anymore.

  That was definitely Candace!

  Freddie and I exchanged wide eyes.

  “What do you want me to say?”

  I gripped Freddie’s wrist. No mistaking that voice.

  Grady.

  Grady and Candace. They were the ones with the angry voices.

  My heart thudded in my chest. “I don’t think we should be listen—”

  “We’re doing our job,” Freddie shout-whispered, clutching my arm. “People are angry. We are security. We need to”—he snapped his fingers—“keep an eye on things. Besides, my dog’s in there. He is going to pee everywhere.”

  I shook my head and took a step back. “We can’t. Eavesdropping is not what we were hired for and you know it.”

  Freddie stamped his foot. “The only thing I know is that we are both dying to know what Grady and Candace are fighting about in there, but you’re too worried about being a good person.” He put some air quotes around that last part. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to drag you down there now, so we can hear, and then it won’t be your fault
. Consider it a late Christmas present.”

  I chewed the corner of my lip.

  “We both know there’s no way we’re not doing this.”

  I didn’t move.

  “Okay, fine,” Freddie said, throwing his hands up in the air. “We’ll be good people. We won’t—”

  I held out my wrist for Freddie to grab.

  “There’s my girl.” He pulled me down the hall, so we could sneak right up to the edge of the door.

  “I can’t talk about this right now,” Candace said. “I can’t. Not with everything that’s going on.”

  “Wow. She does not sound happy,” Freddie whispered. “At least you managed to ruin her night.”

  I leaned in close to his ear and hissed, “I didn’t want to ruin Candace’s night. I—”

  “Shush. Grady’s talking.”

  We leaned as close as we could to the doorjamb without being seen, our backs pressed against the wall. I pushed Freddie down a little so I could slide my head closer to the threshold over his.

  “It could be anyone,” Candace said. “This entire town hates me.”

  “Nobody hates you. It’s not about you.”

  Grady sounded tired. I wouldn’t go so far as to say frustrated. But definitely tired. They’d had this conversation before.

  “Grady, I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but what do you think that so-called invitation I got to leave town was? A kind suggestion from a concerned neighbor?”

  “I told you. We’ll find out who sent that note.”

  Hmm, note. Not multiple letters. Amos must have exaggerated things to his aunt. Or she exaggerated the details for me. Or—

  “Grady, we both know if you could have figured that out, you would have already. We might as well go ask Summer’s crystal ball.”

  Freddie shot me a look and mouthed, She has a crystal ball?

  Thankfully just then Candace went on. “Otter Lake will never accept me,” she said. “This town doesn’t accept anybody who wasn’t born here.”

  “That’s not true,” Grady said … again. “Everybody likes you.”

  “But nobody wants me here.”

  “They don’t want MRG here. There’s a difference.”

  I couldn’t help but think Candace’s statement was the kind a girlfriend makes when she wants her boyfriend to say I want you here. And I couldn’t help but notice that Grady hadn’t said that. And there it was again. That tiny thrill of hope shooting through my veins. Followed quickly by guilt. I was the last person on the planet Candace would be wanting to hear this conversation. I grabbed Freddie’s elbow and took a step back just as I heard Grady say, “Candace, It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure everything out.”

  Then I heard a funny sound like someone colliding with a heavy piece of furniture.

  “Candace, I—”

  “I mean it. Don’t touch me. No—”

  Suddenly we heard something clatter to the floor. Freddie jolted so hard he nearly lost his footing. He then took a super quick peek into the room. “She just dropped her drink.”

  “Did it break?” Grady asked.

  “No,” Candace answered. “I’ll go find a cloth or something.”

  “I can do it.”

  “I’ll do it. I need a moment,” Candace said. “Why don’t you just go back to the party and take Freddie’s dog with you before he licks this all up. You and Erica can share more Otter Lake stories.”

  Freddie shot me another look. At least this time it was of the Oh no she didn’t! variety.

  I took a step back as my eyes darted around. We needed to get out of here. Hide. There was a shut door on the opposite side of the hall. I tugged at Freddie’s elbow.

  He waved me off.

  I did not like this. I was officially a bad person. The sweat popping up under my armpits told me so.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s the stress. I didn’t mean—”

  “Candace, I don’t know how many times I have to say it. I think it’s pretty clear to just about everyone, except you, that Erica and I were never meant to be.”

  I let out a breath like I had been punched in the stomach.

  “Ouch.” Freddie hissed some air through his teeth. “Okay, time to go. We stayed just a moment too long.”

  I couldn’t seem to move.

  “Come on,” Freddie said, pushing my back. “Go! Go! Go!”

  Footsteps came toward us. We darted across the hallway and ducked into the room I was eyeing earlier, quietly, shutting the door behind us.

  It’s pretty clear to everybody that Erica and I were never meant to be.

  Hot pricks stung my eyes.

  Nope. Nope. Nope.

  I blinked furiously. I was fine. This is exactly why I had moved on … so I wouldn’t be completely devastated hearing Grady say something like that.

  Yup. I was fine.

  Just fine.

  Actually, I’d be even finer maybe if I folded up that particular little incident like a piece of paper and shoved it in the back pocket of my consciousness. Forever.

  “Whoa,” Freddie said, yanking me back to the fact that we were somewhere that we had no right to be.

  It was a big room with a fireplace across from the bed. I had always wanted a fireplace across from the bed. The linens and furnishings were all dark neutrals. Very masculine. And the spicy scent of male deodorant, cologne, and other products hung in the air—which may not sound that sexy, but mixed with the undercurrent of just the right pheromones it was pretty overpowering. All things considered, this bedroom looked kind of like the setting for a Ralph Lauren photo shoot. All it was missing was the hot man.

  “Great Gatsby,” Freddie said. “We must be in—”

  Just then a man walked out from an adjoining room.

  “Hi, Matthew,” I said with a small wave. “Happy New Year.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Hey guys,” he said, hands frozen mid-buttoning on his shirt. “Happy New Year to you too.”

  “Me three,” Freddie said. “I mean, Happy New Year from me too. Additionally. Um … changing shirts?”

  “Oh,” Matthew said, looking down at his hands. “Yeah, I got an overly enthusiastic hug from Ms. Applebaum and her red wine.”

  “Nice,” Freddie replied. “The shirt, I mean.”

  I nodded in agreement. “And the house looks fantastic.”

  “There are still a lot of renovations going on upstairs.” He cocked his head as a bemused smile spread across his face. “But I don’t think you’re here to talk design…”

  I broke first. “We were eavesdropping on Grady and Candace having a fight, and we were about to get caught, so we ducked into the first available room, which, I guess, just happened to be yours.”

  Matthew nodded slowly. “Makes sense.”

  We all just stared at each other before Freddie said, “We just need to wait here a few minutes until the coast is clear.”

  “Of course.”

  “Oh crap,” I said, looking at Freddie. “But Candace told me earlier she was going to look for Matthew!”

  “Relax. I doubt she’d just barge into his bedroom,” he said. “I mean, that would be pretty rude. Somebody will find her a paper towel or something.”

  “Paper towel?” Matthew asked, adjusting his black silk bow tie around his neck.

  “She spilled her drink,” I said. “But don’t worry. Freddie’s dog is licking it up.”

  “Yeah.” Freddie chuckled. “My dog is getting hammered tonight.” Then his face dropped. “You don’t think he’ll throw up, do you?”

  “When did you last feed him?” I asked.

  His eyes darted side to side. “Um…”

  “You are feeding him, right?”

  “Of course I’m feeding him. It’s just…”

  “Just what?”

  “I may have forgotten to give him supper.”

  “Freddie!”

  “I do not appreciate you taking that tone with me. You’re the one who lost
him.”

  “That’s it,” I said. “You’re doing the Year of the Adult with me.”

  “Oh no, I’m n—”

  “Year of the Adult?” Matthew asked.

  Freddie and I looked back over to Matthew. We had momentarily forgotten he was there—which was almost crazy impossible given how he looked in his natural bedroom setting.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “It’s a long story,” Freddie added. “And we’d better get going. We need to find Stanley. I don’t want him puking all over the snowmobile on the way home.” He reached for the door. “No telling where it might end up.”

  I took a step away from him. “I’m not going out there.” It’s not like I was still thinking about what Grady had said about us and was worried that I might start crying if I saw him—because the excitement of nearly getting caught and the visions I had of Matthew doing a half-naked photo shoot were totally distracting me—but yeah, I was thinking that. And crying would really be a setback to my having achieved moved on status.

  “Well, you can’t stay in here all night.” A smile spread across Freddie’s face. “Or can you?” He double-popped his eyebrows.

  I felt my cheeks burn.

  “Or if you want, we can just walk around the terrace?” Matthew pointed to the glass door behind him. “It leads all the way around to the back. No one will even know you were in my bedroom.”

  “Perfect,” Freddie said, sliding out the door. “Meet ya back at the party.”

  “Wait. Why don’t you come with…”

  Freddie had already shut the door.

  “… us.”

  I turned back around.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  Chapter Nine

  “You okay?”

  “Totally fine,” I said with my best casual nod. “It’s a great party.” I nodded some more. “Really … great.”

  “Good,” he said. “I mean, good that you think it’s great.” He smiled that friendly warm smile of his that seemed to say everything was going to be okay. “I’m glad you came.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You are?”

  “Well, I’ve got something you might be interested in.”

  Wow. That remark could be taken in all sorts of ways.

  “The Arthurs,” he said. “They’re here already. I told them you wanted to talk to them.”