Horribly Haunted in Hillbilly Hollow (Ozark Ghost Hunter Mysteries Book 1)

by Blythe Baker

  “See? You’re stealing my dog. Some friend you are, you furry little traitor!” He glared at Halee and chuckled.

  “Well, Snowball’s going to be mad when she smells you on me,” I said to the pup.

  “You got a dog?” Billy asked.

  “Not exactly,” I replied. “She’s a goat.” I giggled.

  I had to think whether I should tell Billy about the letters I saw on the ground. He was my oldest friend, after all. He had been great when I told him about the visions, and I had no reason not to believe he would help me work through this as well. I must’ve been deeper in thought than I realized.

  “Well, I see that my prescription for a milkshake didn’t help. Are your ribs still hurting?” Billy asked, looking a little concerned.

  “Huh? Oh! No, I’m okay. I was just thinking,” I replied.

  “Thinking about…?” He gave me a quizzical look.

  I sighed and wriggled to take my phone out of my back pocket without disturbing Halee. “Thinking about whether I should show you this.” I clicked open the photo I had snapped and handed him my phone.

  “Is this some sort of outsider art therapy or something?” he asked.

  “Not quite. I found that in the grass near the outhouse. Just like you see it – I didn’t touch a thing.”

  I could tell he was trying to process what I’d just said.

  “I mean, it’s letters, right? U-S? I’m not crazy, am I?”

  “You’ve always been a little crazy, Emma,” he said, “but not because of this. It definitely says U-S. Or us maybe. What do you think it means?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think it’s a clue to whatever these ghosts or visions or whatever they are might be trying to tell me.”

  Chapter 16

  It was Saturday morning – the day of Preacher Jacob’s funeral. Fortunately, among the things I had packed in my suitcase was a black dress. If there was anything that my time in New York had taught me, it was that one should always have a little black dress, attractive, yet conservative, to be prepared for any occasion. I hated that this was the occasion for which I needed it, but at the same time, I was glad I could dress appropriately for the funeral.

  I went downstairs and had breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa.

  “Mornin’, Emma, dear,” Grandma said. “How’s your side?”

  “Not too bad, thanks. I had Billy take a look yesterday afternoon. It’s just a bruise,” I replied, kissing Grandpa on the cheek as I sat down.

  “What’s the matter?” Grandpa asked. He was less gruff than he usually was, which I put down to his preparing himself to make conversation with everyone at the funeral.

  “Trimmin’ hooves,” Grandma replied before I could. “Samson got her in the ribs,” she said.

  Grandpa looked me up and down. “Well, I bet you know how to hold ‘em next time, dontcha?” He held up his paper, but I could see the grin behind it.

  “Pain’s a powerful teacher, Grandpa,” I replied, grinning back.

  My muscles had been sore for the previous few days from all the chores I had been helping with all week. The team cycling fitness classes I had been taking in my flatiron neighborhood had not prepared me for the level of bending, stretching and lifting I had done this week. I took a nice, hot bath before I got ready to go to the funeral. The water smarted when it hit my ribs, but after a moment, the heat felt good on my tired arms, legs, and back.

  I added some makeup, including waterproof mascara in case I cried, which I suspected I might. Even if I didn’t know the person well, I always felt so bad for the family who were left behind, missing their loved one. I thought of my parents, and kissed the pads of my index and middle fingers, and flipped them toward the sky.

  I straightened my hair and put on the black dress with a pair of black pumps. When I got downstairs, Grandpa had on his charcoal gray suit, and Grandma was wearing a black dress with a thin, three-quarter-sleeved jacket over the top, and her pearls. It suddenly occurred to me that they had these clothes at the ready. At their age, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I wondered how many friends, classmates, and acquaintances they had buried over the past decade. I was suddenly incredibly grateful I had come home, even if the reasons were selfish. I kissed Grandma on the cheek, careful not to ruin her makeup.

  “You look beautiful,” I said. I winked at Grandpa. “And you clean up nicely too.”

  We took the car into town, and when we arrived, the church parking lot was already full. Grandpa dropped off Grandma and me and went to park down by the diner.

  As soon as we got out of the car, Grandma was besieged by ladies of a similar age, all of whom had been in the town their whole lives. Jackie Colton, Suzy’s Mom, found her and they made their way to look for Margene Huffler, who was undoubtedly trying to keep Prudence from falling to pieces.

  I saw Suzy and Brian coming down the sidewalk and paused to wait for them. When Suzy got close, I looped my elbow through hers.

  “How you holding up?” I asked, seeing that she was emotional.

  “I’m okay. I mean, we weren’t super close – we didn’t all socialize or anything, but I still can’t believe it,” she said.

  “Me too. I told you guys, I had just seen him,” Brian added. “It seems like just yesterday my Grandpa retired and Preacher Jacob took over. He was such a good man – Grandpa was completely confident handing the reins over to him.”

  We all walked into the church, and I saw all the little factions of townspeople form as everyone greeted each other before the service. Grandma’s quilting circle were all gathered around a completely bereft Prudence Huffler. Mayor Teller, Jim Stinnett from the First National Bank, and Sam Puckett, the town attorney everyone simply called Puck, were huddled up in a corner, undoubtedly talking business.

  The actual mayor – the current one – Mayor Bigsby, was near the church doors, and Tucker was right next to him in his dress uniform. He was greeting everyone as they came in. Betty Blackwood sat in the front pew on one side of the church, surrounded by Mr. Littman, Sadie Cooper, Vernon Dykstra, and a few other people I recognized as board members for the historical society. It dawned on me that, with no family, Preacher Jacob would be attended by his church family and the members of the historical society in which he had spent most of his time.

  On the opposite front bench sat Prudence Huffler. She seemed in a daze, and I wondered if Billy had prescribed something to calm her. Just as I was thinking how composed she was, she stood, zombie-like, and took a few steps forward. Margene, Grandma, and the others had busied themselves talking to the last quilting circle members to arrive and didn’t notice her. I patted Suzy’s arm and pointed to the front, careful not to draw attention. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Billy.

  “Uh-oh,” he said before he could sit down. He quickly began walking toward the front of the church.

  Prudence ascended the two steps up to the stage where the lectern usually stood. On this day, the lectern was instead on the floor level, and on the stage was Preacher Jacob, his large casket flanked by huge wreaths and large sprays of flowers. By the time Prudence got to the casket itself, Billy was as far as the front pew. He hastened his pace but was not fast enough to stop the scene that started to unfold.

  “Why? Whyyy?” Prudence wailed, reaching into the casket, grabbing Preacher Jacob’s lapels. “I shouldn’t have done it! I shouldn’t have! Why?” She moaned and sobbed, her lanky frame bent over into the casket in a futile embrace of the dead man.

  Grandma, Margene, and the others turned, gasping. Grandma literally clutched her pearls at the sight.

  Billy, though, was already upon Prudence when the assembled mourners began to react to her outcry. I couldn’t hear what he was saying from where we sat, but he had grasped her by the shoulders and stood her upright. He was whispering into her ear as he walked her off of the stage and back to her seat in the first pew. He kneeled in front of her, one hand on her knee as if he meant to pin her to the seat. I saw him take something from
his jacket pocket, and motion to Margene, who disappeared, returning a moment later with a bottle of water. He handed to Prudence what must’ve been a pill of some kind, followed by the bottle of water.

  Standing, he grasped her shoulder, patting it firmly, and said something to Margene before he walked back to his seat beside me.

  As he sat beside me in the pew, I looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

  “Well, that was impressive,” I said.

  He unbuttoned his jacket and sat back in the seat, putting an arm around me. I gazed at his hand, which was flopped around my shoulder, then looked up at him inquiringly.

  He leaned to me and whispered, “Sherrie just walked in. Give a guy a break will ya?” He sat upright then continued. “I just told Prudence that she had to pull herself together. What can I say? People listen to doctors.” He shrugged.

  “Some people do, I guess,” I replied with a smug grin.

  Suzy had been engrossed in conversation with Brian and turned to look at me, and immediately saw Billy's hand on my shoulder. She gave me a self-satisfied look and grinned. I tried to be inconspicuous as I crooked my thumb toward Sherrie Selby, who had just sat down across from us.

  “Mm-hmm, sure,” Suzy whispered.

  We may have all been out of college and thirty-something, but sitting across the pew casting looks at each other and whispering, I felt like we were right back in high school at one of those interminable assemblies.

  The music began, and the service started. Danny Baxter did the preaching, and Mr. Littman did the main eulogy, then several of the town elders also got up and spoke. Prudence didn’t make a scene again but sobbed quietly throughout the service. As I looked around the chapel, I saw Betty Blackwood sitting upright, stiff as a board, looking not so much sad as stoic. Mayor Teller, who Preacher Jacob had been in some sort of heated exchange with just before his death, sat, leaning his back against the pew, arms folded across his ample belly. Prudence was a shell of a woman, held by her mother and my Grandma who had her propped up on either side.

  Those three, I thought, those are the only ones who had any motive to hurt him.

  I hated to admit it, but I tuned out the rest of the service. My mind kept going back to the things I had seen. Preacher Jacob pointing toward the fort, almost beckoning me to follow him. The sticks that spelled out U-S. Preacher Jacob’s ghost again pointing toward the old fort, leaning forward, then collapsing.

  As I thought about that motion – leaning forward and collapsing to the floor, a chill ran up my spine. I had a revelation, and I suddenly knew how to find out just who had killed him.

  Chapter 17

  After the service, Preacher Jacob was laid to rest in the church graveyard. Only his closest friends, and the town elders attended the graveside. The rest of the congregation and townspeople who didn’t regularly attend church milled around in the fellowship hall. The ladies’ charitable society had put on quite a spread with everything from casseroles to fried chicken.

  Suzy, Brian, and Billy got plates and sat at one of the large, round tables. I grabbed a pop but thought I had better make the rounds instead of sitting with my friends.

  “Be right back,” I told them when I spied Tucker come in from outside. I made a beeline for him.

  “Hi, Tucker,” I said as I strode up to him.

  “Emma,” he said, touching the brim of his hat.

  “The service was really beautiful,” I said, leaning in closer.

  I could see several of the single women in town keeping a close eye on me as we spoke. Tucker was certainly handsome, especially in his dress uniform, but my interest in him was purely theatrical.

  “It was. Such a shame to put a good man in the ground well before his time.” He shook his head and crossed his arms.

  “You know,” I put my fingertips on his forearm and leaned in closer still, “I was thinking how hard all of this must be on you and your men.”

  “Well, it’s been a rough few days, I reckon,” he looked down, then back up at me. “But protecting and serving is what we do. Gotta make sure these folks are safe what with a killer runnin’ around.” He nodded as if to himself.

  “Well, I, for one, sleep a lot better at night knowing you and your men are on the case,” I said.

  His humble smirk relaxed into a full smile, beaming down on me with warmth and pride.

  I smiled back and broached my next question. “So, Tucker.” I brought my voice down to a whisper so he’d have to lean in to hear me. “Do you think it was someone here today? I always hear that criminals like to return to the scene of the crime, and, well, a funeral is pretty close to doing that.”

  He looked a little bewildered for a moment as if he hadn’t thought of the possibility that the killer could be in the same room with us at that very moment. Then, he regained his composure and leaned in, almost whispering in my ear, “Don’t you worry, Emma. There’s a few people I got my eye on. My boys are on the lookout for anything strange.” He winked at me and gave me a quick pat on the back. “We’ve got it covered.”

  “Oh, that does make me feel better. Thanks, Tucker.” I touched his arm again and walked off. I caught Billy and Suzy both giving me a glare, but I didn’t have time for damage control. Someone else had been watching my interaction with Tucker, and that’s who I needed to speak to next.

  I walked over to the biggest gossip in town – the one woman who wouldn’t hurt a soul, but who traded in gossip like the Native Americans who first settled this land had traded fur pelts.

  “Hi, Grandma,” I said, sitting down next to her.

  “Hello, Emma. I saw you talking to Tucker. Everything alright?” she asked sweetly.

  “Oh, yes. I was just asking him…” I looked around, feigning the need for privacy for what I was about to say next, and leaned in. “…about the case. You know, if they were any closer to catching Preacher Jacob’s killer?”

  “Oh! Is that right? And…what did he say?” she asked.

  “Oh, you won’t believe it!” I leaned closer still. “He said that they had a new piece of evidence. Apparently, the murderer left a clue at the scene of the crime. He said that he wanted to make sure everything was orderly while folks paid their respects today, but tomorrow, they’re going back to the scene with a forensic team to recover the evidence!” I leaned back a little and nodded my head knowingly.

  “You don’t say! My goodness!” she replied. “Did he say what it was?”

  “No, he said that’s all confidential police business, but whatever it is, he said it positively identifies the killer.” I nodded as she put her hand up to her mouth in surprise.

  “Well, how do you like that? A killer right here in Hillbilly Hollow! I never – I mean I really never!” She shook her head.

  “But Grandma, you mustn’t tell anyone I told you. I don’t want to get in trouble for interfering with a police investigation, you understand.” I smiled. “Anyway, I’m going to go sit with Suzy, Brian, and Billy for a bit. I’ll get one of them to bring me home. Talk to you later.”

  I went back to the table where my friends had finished with their lunch. “What was all that about?” Billy started as soon as I sat down.

  “Oh, nothing,” I replied.

  “Nothing? I gotta say, you and Tucker looked pretty chummy, Emma,” Suzy added.

  “Are you kidding? As if! No – I was just talking to him about Preacher Jacob,” I replied.

  “Emma, you really should be careful. If one of these folks is really, you know, responsible…just think what they’d do to you if they catch you poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. If something happened to you…” Billy trailed off.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to me.” I shrugged. “I just wanted to find out if they had any real leads.”

  He looked at me with that stern, doctor’s expression, and I suspected he knew why I wanted to know so badly how the investigation was going.

  As I sat at the table, I watched as my plan took root. During the service, I’d ha
d the idea to spread the word that the killer had left something behind. Who better to tell than my grandma? I loved her dearly, and she wouldn’t hurt a fly, but that woman loved a good story! I saw her go from table to table, stopping to talk with Sadie, who immediately told Betty. Betty looked concerned. She might have just been upset at the idea of further investigations at the fort. Or, she could’ve been the killer. After all, Billy said he was strangled from behind, and I saw Preacher Jacob’s ghost pantomime being bent over, surprised, and succumbing to the strangulation. Betty Blackwood wasn’t a big woman, but the element of surprise and the leverage of standing over a man who was bent down might have given her the advantage.

  I saw Grandma talking to Margene and Prudence. Prudence seemed to have a hard time registering what Grandma was saying, but Margene was visibly shocked. She leaned over and whispered into Prudence’s ear, and a fresh round of tears started to flow from Prudence’s eyes as she sobbed into her handkerchief. She might have killed him in a fit of jealous rage when Preacher Jacob rejected her. Realizing her crime, she could be overcome with remorse. She did keep saying, “I shouldn’t have done it.” I wondered if she meant the confession of her love for Preacher Jacob, or the murder.

  Grandma walked around and talked to a few other people, but what I saw next was surprising. Brian had told Tucker that he saw Preacher Jacob and Mayor Teller get into a verbal altercation at Teller’s antique shop just a few days before the murder. Still, Tucker didn’t seem the slightest bit suspicious of our former mayor. I never saw Grandma speak to him. Sadie Cooper, however, got up a few minutes after talking to Grandma and made her way to the hallway between the kitchen and rectory. As she walked by Mayor Teller, I saw her just barely graze his arm, and a moment later, he followed her. I could just see them out of the corner of my eye without being too obvious, but they talked for several minutes, and it looked like he had taken her hand in his. Someone obstructed my view, and a moment later, Sadie was coming out of the hallway without Mayor Teller anywhere in sight.