by D. S. Butler
Jess gave me a sharp look that made her look very like Grandma Grant. “It was awful. But don’t change the subject. It’s time to get up.”
I peered at the clock on my nightstand. It was only six thirty, practically the middle of the night. We still had more than an hour before we had to leave for yoga. The class didn’t start for ages.
I looked up at Jess, puzzled. “We don’t have to be there until eight. I can have another thirty minutes in bed at least.”
“No, you can’t.” Jess shook her head. “We are going to walk to the yoga center.”
“Walk? Why would we do that? Are you crazy? I thought the class was in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s half an hour’s walk, along a lovely track. It will be good for us, and get our blood pumping before yoga.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You really are crazy. I agreed to yoga. You didn’t mention anything about a hike.”
“Don’t exaggerate, Harper. It’s hardly a hike. More like a gentle stroll.”
It didn’t look like I was going to get any peace until I got up, and I could hardly fall back to sleep with Jess nattering on at me. So I flung back my bedcovers and swung my legs out of bed.
“Fine. But if I have to go on this walk. You are going to tell me all the gory details about your date last night.”
Jess pulled a face, and I grinned. I guessed from her expression she wasn’t exaggerating when she said it had been awful, and I was looking forward to hearing all about it.
It didn’t take me long to get ready, and soon we were outside, walking in the fresh air toward the cabin that Yvonne had reconditioned into her new yoga studio.
“Why on earth did she choose a cabin in the woods instead of a nice studio in town?” I muttered as we walked along side by side.
“Something about being close to nature,” Jess replied.
I huffed and swatted a fly that flew straight at my face. This morning, I felt nature was overrated.
I was grumpy. I liked my sleep, and I hated to be woken up early.
As we walked further along the trail, I did eventually start to relax and appreciate our surroundings. The air was fresh and cool, and birds darted in and out of the hedgerows all around us, filling the morning air with birdsong.
“So, tell me about this disastrous date you had last night,” I said.
Jess gave me a sideways glance and then shrugged. “Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. He’s a nice guy. I met him at work. He is the county library manager. He’s young and good looking. On paper, he’s perfect, but in real life, he bored the socks off me. He likes to take part in historical reenactments. Now, I’ve got nothing against that. Everyone needs a hobby, but honestly, he didn’t talk about anything else all night.”
I grinned. It made me feel better about my night in.
“What’s his name?”
“Pete Bell.”
“I suppose you’ll just have to let him down gently. Otherwise, it will be really awkward at work.”
Jess pulled a face. “Don’t remind me. I didn’t really think that through before I agreed to go out with him.”
“Well, what are you going to say to him? You can’t avoid him forever.”
“I’m determined to avoid him for as long as I can. Anyway, I was bored last night, so he probably was as well. He gave me a ride home, and I rushed out of the car and into the house so quickly he must have gotten the hint.”
“But did you actually tell him you weren’t interested?”
Jess gave me a shocked look. “Of course not. That would be cruel.”
“They call it being cruel to be kind. You would be putting him out of his misery,” I said confidently.
Jess smirked. “And now suddenly you’re the expert on dating. When was the last time you went out on a date exactly?”
“I’m quite happy being single, thank you very much. I have no one to please but myself. I’m pretty sure I had a better evening than you did last night.”
“It wouldn’t have been hard,” Jess said grudgingly.
Finally, we approached a clearing at the end of the trail. At the center, sat an old wood cabin. It appeared quite pleasant from the outside but looked more like a holiday cabin than a yoga retreat. It didn’t look particularly spacious either. I thought with Yvonne’s reputation and wealth, she would have bought something quite fancy and modern for her yoga studio.
The comfortable, cozy looking cabin didn’t match Yvonne’s image, at all.
A group of women had gathered outside, so I guessed that Yvonne was planning some dramatic unveiling before we were allowed inside for the first yoga class.
I sighed. Trust Yvonne to be a drama queen.
“I bet she is keeping us waiting so she can make a dramatic entrance,” I whispered to Jess. “She’ll probably want to smash a bottle of champagne against the door.”
“That’s just for boats, Harper. No one does that for buildings. They cut ribbons,” Jess said.
I smothered a yawn as we walked towards the group of ladies, who were waiting close to the door. The cabin was on a raised platform and three steps led up to the door. As there was no other seating in the vicinity, a number of ladies were sitting on the steps.
I recognized Betty from the Lobster Shack and avoided getting too close to her. She held a grudge and hadn’t yet forgiven us for Grandma Grant’s protests over her raising the price on her senior special. I think she blamed me for having to give Grandma Grant a discount, which was rather unfair, but I was used to Grandma Grant getting me in trouble.
I looked pointedly at Jess. “See, the class hasn’t even started yet. You could have given me a few more minutes in bed.”
“Oh, get over it. I’m sure Yvonne will be here soon.”
Mrs. Townsend, who was dressed all in Lycra, began to limber up in front of us. I averted my gaze. It certainly wasn’t a sight I wanted to see that early in the morning.
We walked about a little, chatting to various people. The nice thing about Abbott Cove being such a small town was the fact we knew everybody. Sometimes it was a little irritating when everybody knew your business, but most of the time, I enjoyed the friendliness and security of a small community.
It wasn’t long before people started to wonder what the holdup was. Betty was getting restless and started to pace back and forth in front of the cabin.
“The class was due to start at eight,” she moaned. “I’m supposed to be at the Lobster Shack to handle my deliveries. I’ve got my husband waiting there now, but he has to get off to work before nine o’clock.”
Mrs. Townsend straightened up from a hamstring stretch and said, “Do you think they’ve been delayed?”
Mrs. Dorsett, who ran one of the gift shops on Main Street, wasn’t known for her patience. She snapped, “Of course they’ve been held up. That’s why they’re ten minutes late. Trust you to state the obvious.”
“There’s no need to be rude,” Mrs. Townsend snapped back. “I didn’t know they were exactly ten minutes late. I don’t wear a watch. I don’t like to be shackled to modern technology like some people.”
“Shackled? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s only a watch.”
“Did you just call me ridiculous?” Mrs. Townsend demanded in an extremely high-pitched voice.
I looked at Jess, and we both rolled our eyes. This was going to get out of hand pretty quickly.
So I intervened. “I’m sure nobody meant any harm. Perhaps we should all leave. There’s clearly been some kind of hold up.”
“Oh, no! We are not leaving, Harper,” Jess said. “You are just looking for an excuse to get out of it.”
“That’s not fair,” I protested. “I walked all the way up here. I’m just as disappointed as everybody else.”
Jess looked at me skeptically.
“Well, I’m not leaving. I came up here for a yoga class, and I’m going to stay until I get one,” Mrs. Townsend said with such fierce determination I actually took
a step back, feeling slightly afraid.
“Has anyone tried the door to see if it’s open?” Jess suggested.
Betty looked at Jess as if she had fallen out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down. “Yes, dearie. We may be a bunch of old women, but we’re not dumb. We tried the door already, and it’s locked.”
The cabin windows were too high to peer into because the building was raised from the ground.
“Give me a leg up, Jess,” I said. “I’ll take a look in the window.”
Jess shook her head and folded her arms across her chest.
She was still annoyed with me because she thought I was trying to get out of going to the stupid yoga class, which of course, I was, but that was beside the point.
“I’ll do it,” Mrs. Townsend piped up.
She was only a tiny thing, and the Lycra she wore only served to highlight her scrawny arms and legs. I very much doubted that she could support my weight, but she linked her hands and squatted down beside the window before nodding at me.
“Go ahead.”
“Oh, well, I don’t really think… I mean… What if I hurt you?”
“I’m stronger than I look. Come on, get on with it.”
I did as I was told.
I put one foot in Mrs. Townsend’s grip and tested my weight slowly, hoping she didn’t strain anything. But she wasn’t lying when she said she was stronger than she looked. Suddenly, she gave me a huge boost, and I nearly toppled over. I only managed to save myself by grabbing onto the raised edge of the windowsill.
“See anything?” Mrs. Townsend grunted.
“Give me a minute,” I replied and tried to steady myself.
I leaned against the rough wood and peered in through the window. It was quite nicely laid out inside, rustic, yet luxurious. I had to hand it to Yvonne. She had made the space look very nice. She was good at interior design, even if she wasn’t very good at timekeeping.
I peered closer, so close my breath steamed up the windowpane. When I saw something on the floor, I gasped.
“Well, Harper, what do you see?” Jess demanded.
“I think we might have a problem.”
I quickly wiped away the steam on the window from my breath and looked closer to make sure I wasn’t mistaken.
But there was definitely someone there lying on the floor.
We clearly had a problem.
* * *
I would be the first to admit that my dismount would not be awarded a high score in gymnastics. But it wasn’t my fault. My ungainly tumble had quite a lot to do with the fact Mrs. Townsend straightened up and clapped her hands over her mouth, quite forgetting that she was supposed to be supporting me.
I should have waited until I was back on solid ground before telling everyone I could see a person sprawled on the floor of the cabin. Lesson learned.
Without Mrs. Townsend’s support, I’d toppled over, falling down, catching my cream sweater on the rough wood of the cabin windowsill and landing on my butt.
I’m sure Jess would have been very amused normally, but considering the gravity of the situation, she managed to refrain from laughing.
“Everyone, stay calm,” Mrs. Townsend yelled and began to rush about frantically, doing exactly the opposite.
Quite what she was trying to achieve, I had no idea.
“Do you think we can break down the door?” I asked Jess.
She shook her head, and Betty spoke up, “I shouldn’t think so, dearie. It looks pretty solid to me.”
Everybody fired a hundred questions at me at once.
“Are you positive it was Yvonne? Was she moving? Is she hurt? Was there any blood?”
I tried to block out all their questions and concentrate. We had no mobile phone signal up here so someone would have to go down into town to call for help.
Jess, in her normal cool-headed way, began to allocate tasks to everyone. She told Betty to take her car immediately and go to town and get help.
But before Betty was out of sight, we heard another car pull up. The parking area was set a long way back, behind a row of trees, so we didn’t see the car, but we could hear it.
Everyone fell silent as we waited to see who the newcomer was. I was hoping it was Chief Wickham, but that was unlikely. The Chief couldn’t have gotten here that quickly.
From some distance away, we saw Betty waving to someone, but I couldn’t quite see who it was. Then a figure appeared from behind the trees and began to run towards us. It was Carol, Yvonne’s sister. I recognized her from her long, blue coat.
She ran all the way to the cabin and arrived breathlessly in front of us, starting to fumble around in her purse.
“I’ve got the spare key in here somewhere. I know I have.”
Everyone stayed silent as Carol opened the door. Her hands were shaking, and she called out, “Yvonne? It’s me. Are you okay?”
There was no reply, and Carol hesitated in the doorway. She turned to me and said, “Are you sure it was her?”
We both stepped inside the cabin and saw Yvonne’s body at the same time. Carol screamed and then clamped her hands over her mouth.
“Yvonne! Oh, God. Is she dead?”
I moved past her gently, and as I approached Yvonne, I saw what I had feared was true.
Yvonne lay in the center of the room, unnaturally still. If she’d been sleeping, although goodness knows why she would have been sleeping on a hard, wooden floor, she would have been woken by all the commotion.
I stepped around her body and saw her lifeless eyes were wide open and staring at me.
I heard Carol sobbing behind me as I realized there was nothing we could do for Yvonne. She was dead.
I heard footsteps behind me and heard Mrs. Townsend say, “Oh no, she’s dead, isn’t she?”
I managed to nod, but I didn’t trust my voice to speak. I had a lump in my throat.
Yvonne wore the yellow scarf she’d had on yesterday. It was knotted around her neck, and just above it, I could see bruises on her skin. I was no expert, but I was willing to bet Yvonne had been strangled with her own scarf.
I straightened up and turned to face Carol and the rest of the women who were gathered by the door.
“Someone had better call Chief Wickham.”
Chapter 4
It seemed to take forever for the chief and Deputy McGrady to arrive. Jess and I did our best to comfort Yvonne’s sister, Carol, while we waited.
Tears spilled down Carol’s pale cheeks, and she couldn’t stop trembling. I couldn’t imagine how awful this situation must be for her.
I was quite sure I would never forget the sight of Yvonne’s body on the floor, her eyes wide open and staring at me.
When Chief Wickham and Joe eventually arrived on the scene, the chief strode up, looking anxious.
We had persuaded Carol to sit on the steps that led up to the door of the cabin as we were genuinely worried she might collapse. Chief Wickham looked down at us, a kind expression on his old face.
“I’m dreadfully sorry to hear about the loss of your sister, ma’am,” he said. “I’m going to go inside the cabin now. I’ll be out to speak to you shortly.”
The Chief wasn’t in the cabin long. He stepped out again and exchanged a curt nod with Joe McGrady. Then he turned to face Carol with a grave expression on his face.
“I know this is a very difficult time for you, ma’am, but can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt your sister?”
Carol blinked up at him and looked confused. She seemed to be really struggling to process what was happening.
I exchanged a glance with Jess, who wrapped an arm around Carol’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“Perhaps you could talk to her later Chief Wickham,” I suggested.
The chief nodded slowly. “Of course, Doc Morrison is on the way. He should be able to give Miss Dean something to help with the shock.”
Then the chief beckoned Joe and headed up the steps towards the cabin.
As Joe McGrady passed us, he put his hand on my shoulder for the briefest second and said, “I hope you’re okay, Harper.”
I nodded and managed to swallow past the lump in my throat. I didn’t trust myself to reply. I was shaking almost as much as Carol.
The Chief and Deputy headed inside the cabin to deal with the formalities, examining evidence, securing the crime scene and making sure no one else entered until the forensic team got there.
Abbott Cove wasn’t a big enough town to have its own forensic team, so the chief would need help to come over from another police department.
Doc Morrison was next to arrive on the scene. He was Abbott Cove’s most senior doctor, and he’d managed the only medical practice in the area for a long time.
Jess and I hadn’t had much to do with him because we’d only moved permanently to the area a few years ago, before that, we lived in New York with our parents.
He walked up to us like a condemned man. I couldn’t blame him. He was just a local doctor, used to treating people for flu and other minor ailments. I’m sure he hadn’t often been required to examine the body of a murder victim.
His eyes darted towards us, and then he chewed on his lower lip as he gazed at the entrance to the cabin.
“I take it I need to go in there,” Dr. Morrison said nervously.
Jess and I both nodded, and Carol stared straight ahead as though she didn’t even see the doctor.
Doc Morrison gave us a grim smile and climbed the steps to the cabin.
Although Yvonne was long past needing a doctor herself, I knew the chief would be hoping Doc Morrison could give them something to go on before the forensic team arrived. Anything he could tell them about the time of death or cause of death could help them apprehend the suspect sooner. The trouble with living in a small town like Abbott Cove was that you had to wait for assistance for a long time, and by then, the murderer could be long gone.
I thought it was quite obvious how she’d been murdered. Those bruises around her neck certainly didn’t get there by accident.
Jess chewed her fingernails nervously. She liked to be in control at all times and didn’t like it when she couldn’t see a solution to the problem.
