A Witchy Valentine (Harper Grant Mystery Series Book 4)

by D. S. Butler

  Jess noticed how I was staring at a spot of air above Monty’s body. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Can you see his ghost?”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to talk.

  I watched as Monty hovered around, trying to talk to everyone. Of course, no one responded. He then leaned over John and asked why he was sprawled out on the ground. I thought it was strange he didn’t notice his own body lying on the floor beside John and wondered whether that was a ghost thing. When a spirit was formed, were they unable to see their earthly body?

  I would have liked to ask Monty that question, but I didn’t dare, not with all these people around. I hoped he didn’t rush off before I had a chance to talk to him. There had to be some way I could get him alone.

  It wasn’t long before we heard the wail of sirens and saw Officer Tardy pull up. There had been plenty of jokes in Cherrytown over Officer Tardy’s name in the past, but he was perfectly on time today. A dark blue sedan pulled up behind the police vehicle, and I heard Nigel say, “That’s Dr Beecham. He’ll be able to take a good look at Monty.”

  Barbara looked most put out at people doubting her medical expertise. “I told you. He is dead.”

  Officer Tardy rushed over gripping his cell phone and waving his other hand, telling us all to stand back.

  Dr Beecham followed, carrying his medical bag. “Give me some room, please,” he said in a deep voice as he knelt beside Monty. “Do we have two casualties?” He glanced at John, who was still lying on the floor.

  “Only one real casualty,” Barbara said. “Monty got clobbered over the head with John’s sword and died.”

  Officer Tardy muttered a little prayer and then dialed a number on his cell phone. “Nobody move. I’m calling for backup.”

  Dr Beecham began to examine Monty to confirm Barbara’s diagnosis.

  “Did John get injured, too?”

  Barbara shook her head. “No, he just fainted from shock.”

  John sat up and looked outraged. “I did not faint. I just felt a little dizzy.” He scowled at Barbara and then turned to the doctor. “Is Monty going to be all right, Dr Beecham?” John asked, looking anxiously at Monty.

  Barbara rolled her eyes. “Have I been talking in Swahili? Of course, he is not going to be all right. He’s dead.”

  Dr Beecham nodded sadly. “I’m afraid Barbara is right. There’s nothing I can do to help Monty.”

  Everyone was silent as we let the doctor’s words sink in. It was hard to believe life could be snuffed out so quickly.

  Monty was still floating around and was now looking at Dr Beecham quizzically. He was growing impatient and muttering about nobody paying him any attention. He tried to pat the doctor on the shoulder. Of course, that didn’t work, and when his hand traveled straight through the doctor’s body, Monty looked more than a little startled.

  Mr and Mrs Townsend got so close to Monty’s body Dr Beecham was forced to ask them to stand back.

  “Please, let’s show him a little respect,” Dr Beecham said.

  Mrs Townsend folded her arms over her chest and said grouchily, “He’s not going to notice, is he? I don’t think he’s worried about respect now.”

  Little did she know that Monty’s ghost was standing right next to her, frowning.

  Officer Tardy finished his phone call and walked over to us. “Right, folks. I’ll have to ask you all to remain here until Chief Wickham arrives. He has more experience at this sort of thing than me, and I know he’s going to want to ask you all some questions.”

  Mr and Mrs Townsend’s Pomeranian chose that moment to trot over to Officer Tardy, cock his leg and begin to pee on the police officer’s shoe.

  Officer Tardy gave an outraged shout. “Please control your dog!” He glared at Mr and Mrs Townsend.

  Mr Townsend picked up the dog. “He can’t help it. He just thought your brown pant leg looked a bit like a tree.”

  Mrs Townsend stooped and put a hand on the small of her back. “It’s freezing out here. You can’t expect us old people to just wait around in freezing weather like this.”

  “But you were out here anyway, watching the re-enactment,” Officer Tardy said, a confused frown wrinkling his brow.

  “Exactly, so we’ve been out here far too long already.”

  Officer Tardy didn’t seem to know how to respond to that.

  “Perhaps we could sit in the police cruiser,” Mrs Townsend suggested.

  Officer Tardy looked at them through narrowed eyes and finally seemed to come to the decision that they weren’t likely to take the police vehicle for a joyride. He nodded. “Come on then,” he muttered with a sigh and escorted them over to the cruiser.

  I was glad Jess and I had wrapped up warmly this morning. It looked like we were going to be here for quite some time.

  Jess whispered in my ear again, “What’s Monty doing now?”

  “Not much. He’s just floating around looking at things.”

  Pete and Nigel helped pull John to his feet as he kept repeating how much he regretted hitting Monty. “I just got carried away in the moment…In the heat of battle. I really didn’t think it would hurt him.”

  Pete patted him on the shoulder. “We all know you didn’t mean it, John.”

  Officer Tardy rejoined us and looked critically at our group. “So, who wants to be first to tell me what happened?”

  “I will,” Nigel said. “We were re-enacting a battle. Monty organized it. He was leading our army, which was the English side, and John was the leader of the French army. They were clashing swords, nothing out of the ordinary you understand, and then John whacked Monty over the head with his sword.”

  John let out a miserable sob and covered his face with his hands. “I didn’t hit him that hard.”

  Nigel backed John. “There was no malicious intent. It was just an unfortunate accident.”

  At that moment Dr Beecham spoke up. I’d been so busy following Monty’s ghost around that I hadn’t noticed the doctor was still examining Monty’s body. “I’m afraid to say it wasn’t an accident.”

  Everyone turned to look at the doctor.

  “What do you mean, Doc?” Officer Tardy asked.

  “Well, he was wearing a helmet, which should have protected him from a blow like the one John gave him. However, freak accidents are known to happen, but that doesn’t explain this…”

  The doctor pulled the armor and chain mail away from Monty’s chest, and we could all see an angry, red rash prickling over his skin.

  “There are a number of small wires, a bit like steel wool, interwoven with this chain mail. I think it was put there to purposely scratch the skin.”

  “But a few scratches wouldn’t hurt a big man like Monty,” Officer Tardy said.

  Dr Beecham nodded. “True, but it could be used as a way of introducing poison into Monty’s system.”

  “Poison!” Officer Tardy dropped his notepad and pen and then scrambled on the ground to pick them up.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. Of course, I’ll know more after the toxicology screen.”

  Officer Tardy scratched his head. “Are you sure? Poisoning will mean a heck of a lot more paperwork than a simple accident. Poisoning… well, that means murder, Doc.”

  Dr Beecham pointed at Monty’s head. “Look carefully, there are no red marks or blood. I’ll be able to tell from the post-mortem if the head injury had anything to do with his death, but right now, my money would be on poison.”

  Chapter 4

  Everyone looked very shocked after hearing Doctor Beecham’s verdict. I took a quick look at the group of people around me and wondered if anyone present could be responsible for putting the steel wool and poison into Monty’s armor.

  I don’t know what clues I expected to see. Perhaps someone cackling evilly and rubbing their hands together, but of course, it wasn’t that easy.

  Laura was still sobbing, but at least she wasn’t screaming and wailing now.

  Barbara stood completely still, sta
ring down at Monty’s body, and John put his head between his knees and groaned. Nigel walked a short distance away from the group muttering to himself, but I couldn’t quite hear what he was saying.

  “It looks like Chief Wickham has arrived,” Jess said, nodding towards the edge of the field, where Officer Tardy and the doctor had parked.

  I felt reassured when I saw the bulky figure of Abbott Cove’s Chief of Police get out of his vehicle. Chief Wickham had dealt with cases of homicide before, unlike poor Officer Tardy, who seemed completely out of his depth.

  I sucked in a breath when I saw Deputy Joe McGrady exit the same vehicle. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of weeks, and I just knew he would be disappointed when he saw me here. He thought I went around looking for trouble. It wasn’t true. Okay, so I had been involved in solving a couple of murders that took place in Abbott Cove recently, but that was hardly my fault.

  I could see ghosts and communicate with them, so I felt it was my responsibility to help them out when no one else could. Joe McGrady and Chief Wickham didn’t know about the whole ability to see ghost thing, so they assumed I enjoyed sticking my nose into their investigations.

  As Officer Tardy trudged off to greet Chief Wickham and give him an update, I took the opportunity to try and communicate with Monty before the Chief and Joe started to ask us questions.

  Monty had drifted away from our group, and I thought I might be able to talk to him without being overheard. I would have to do it quickly before Officer Tardy, Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady got too close. I looked over my shoulder as I walked toward Monty and was pleased to see Officer Tardy had opened the door to the police cruiser so they could speak to Mr and Mrs Townsend. That should buy me some time.

  “Monty,” I hissed as I approached him.

  He turned to face me just as I stumbled over a lump of turf. He reached out to try to break my fall, but his hands slid straight through me. He blinked down at his partially transparent fingers in disbelief, and luckily, I managed to right myself before I face-planted into the mud.

  “Monty, this must be very confusing for you, but I promise I can explain everything.”

  “At least you’re talking to me. Everyone else is giving me the silent treatment. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve that. Did I hurt John? He’s making an awful racket.”

  Monty nodded in John’s direction. He was right. John was still sitting on the ground, groaning and moaning.

  I shook my head. “They can’t see you, Monty. Only I can. I can’t talk to you in public because people will think I’m crazy.”

  “But… I don’t understand…”

  “I know I’m not making much sense, but please trust me.” I shot another glance over my shoulder and saw the police officers making their way across the field toward us. “I’m going to have to stop talking to you now. But if you want some answers, you can find me later at Archie’s Diner in Abbot Cove. Do you know it?”

  Monty nodded. “Yes, but…”

  I was grateful Chief Wickham had decided to talk to the Townsends first, which had given me time to talk to Monty. Now that time had run out.

  I didn’t wait for Monty to finish his sentence. I quickly turned away and walked back towards the group, trying not to arouse any suspicions.

  Jess gave me a meaningful look, but she didn’t comment. She had guessed I’d been trying to talk to Monty.

  Jess tugged at her scarf. “I hope their questions don’t take long. My feet have turned into blocks of ice.”

  I was feeling pretty cold myself, but I knew Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady were thorough, and I doubted we were going to be allowed to return to Abbot Cove any time soon. I hoped Monty took me up on my offer and headed to the diner. He was still hovering a few yards away, watching me quizzically. I tried to communicate by nodding my head and waving my hand at him to indicate he should go. But he widened his eyes and shook his head.

  “Er, Harper, you should probably stop waving your arms around now. You look a bit strange,” Jess said.

  “That’s the story of my life,” I muttered.

  From a few yards away, Chief Wickham narrowed his eyes as he saw Jess and me.

  “What are you two doing here?” he called out as he got closer.

  “We came to watch Pete in a re-enactment,” Jess said.

  I shuffled my feet and stuffed my hands in my pockets. I knew I looked guilty. People trying to hide things always did. The fact that I was trying to hide my ability to see ghosts didn’t make any difference to Joe McGrady and Chief Wickham.

  Joe’s eyes locked on me as they approached. Chief Wickham paused to say a few words to Officer Tardy, but Joe walked straight up to us.

  “Harper, is there something you want to tell us?”

  I shook my head quickly. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

  Joe raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps because you’ve been involved in every murder I’ve investigated since I got to Abbott Cove.

  “Define ‘involved’,” I said, immediately regretting it. This situation called for contrite Harper, not cheeky Harper with a boatload of attitude. I blamed Grandma Grant. I’d been around her for so long that her snark was starting to rub off on me.

  “You’ve either been at the scene or been talking to witnesses in every murder,” Joe said, frowning. “Statistically speaking that doesn’t look good.”

  “I’ve never been very good at statistics. Math wasn’t my strong point.”

  Joe gave me a wry smile.

  Why did he look at me like that? It made me feel uncomfortable and guilty. It wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t as though I went looking for murders.

  “Right, don’t go anywhere. I’ll speak to you after I’ve had a word with John Gastineau.”

  I nodded miserably and watched Joe head over to talk to John, who was still sitting on the floor but had progressed to clutching his legs and rocking back and forward. I wasn’t sure Joe or Chief Wickham would get any useful information out of him.

  While Joe had been talking to me, Chief Wickham had been busy discussing the situation with Officer Tardy. They spoke in low, grave voices. When they were done, Chief Wickham pulled out his notepad and pen, getting ready to ask us some questions. Officer Tardy stood beside him, eager to participate.

  “Now, I want you to tell me in your own words what happened, Jess,” Chief Wickham said.

  I started to try and explain the situation, but he quickly interrupted me. “You’ll get your chance in a minute, Harper. I want to hear it from Jess first.”

  I frowned, and Jess looked startled. This didn’t sound good. Surely Chief Wickham couldn’t think my sister was involved in a crime like this. He’d known us both for years, and my grandmother had known him since he’d been in diapers, something she often liked to remind him of when she wanted to embarrass him.

  Jess’s voice shook slightly as she explained what we had seen unfold on the battlefield. She ended up saying, “I’m sure it was an accident. John hit him with the sword, but then when the doctor turned up, he said he thought Monty had been poisoned.”

  “And do you know anything about that?” Chief Wickham asked sternly.

  “Of course, she doesn’t!” I interrupted, not liking the way the conversation was heading.

  Chief Wickham frowned and gave me a pointed look. “I’m asking Jess.”

  Jess tightened her grip on my arm. I didn’t understand why Chief Wickham was so interested in Jess.

  Pete noticed Jess was trembling and moved toward us. He put an arm around Jess and muttered a few reassuring words.

  “I don’t know anything about poison,” Jess insisted. “The first time I saw the armor was when Monty was wearing it.”

  Chief Wickham nodded slowly and then turned to face Pete.

  The Chief had a face like thunder. “I’ve already spoken to the Townsends.” He nodded in the direction of the police cruiser, where no doubt Mr and Mrs Townsend were toasty warm with the hot air heaters on f
ull blast. “They told me about a big argument between Pete Bell and Monty.”

  “What?” Jess asked turning to look at Pete.

  Pete shook his head. “It wasn’t a big argument exactly. They’re exaggerating.”

  Chief Wickham tapped his pen on his notepad. “I’ll be the judge of that. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

  Pete ran a hand through his hair, looking stressed. “Well, what do you want to know?”

  I frowned. I figured it was quite obvious what Chief Wickham wanted to know. He wanted to know why they’d been arguing. Why was Pete stalling for time?

  “I’ll give you a hint,” Chief Wickham said. “Two weeks ago, at the last re-enactment, you were overheard by Mr and Mrs Townsend telling Monty he needed to be taught a lesson.”

  Pete’s eyes widened. “Well… I didn’t exactly say that.”

  “Did you say, ‘you need to be taught a lesson, and I’m the one to do it’?”

  Officer Tardy chose that moment to speak up. “That sounds like a threat to me.”

  Pete shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. I said something like he needed to brush up on his history lessons. Monty had a habit of making the battles go the way he wanted to regardless of the historical result, and he wasn’t above creating fictional battles for his enjoyment.”

  “Something like? That’s not good enough. We’d like to know what you actually said,” Officer Tardy said scornfully.

  Pete shrugged. “It was two weeks ago. I can’t remember my exact words.”

  Although I was trying desperately to concentrate on the conversation between Pete and Chief Wickham, I couldn’t help being distracted by Monty. He hovered close to Chief Wickham’s shoulder.

  “What are the police doing here? Why is nobody asking me any questions?”

  I couldn’t believe Monty was still completely oblivious to the fact his dead body was lying only yards away. Still, he would have to wait to get his explanation. There was no way I would dare to talk to him, not with Chief Wickham and Deputy McGrady close by. Joe already thought I was a nutcase.

  As Chief Wickham asked Pete further questions, I saw realization dawn on Monty’s face. He looked horrified. “They think Pete killed me. What’s going on? I don’t understand what is happening.”