by DS Butler
Once Archie had gotten rid of all the diner’s customers, and we had called the chief, Sarah, Archie, Loretta and I stood in the center of the room, looking nervously at the grotto.
It was a horrible thought to know that Bernie Crouch was in there with a knife sticking out of his chest.
Loretta was agitated. She kept hovering back and forth, and it was very distracting.
“I can’t believe Archie has let all the suspects go!” Loretta said.
I rolled my eyes. “I hardly think a bunch of five-year-olds are going to be responsible for killing Bernie Crouch!”
“Ah! But what about the parents?” Loretta crowed.
Both Archie and Sarah gave me a startled look, and I realized I’d spoken to Loretta in front of them. I was on edge, and I sometimes forgot I shouldn’t speak to ghosts in public when I was nervous.
I shrugged. “I was just thinking about what I would say to Chief Wickham if he asked us why we made everyone leave the diner.”
Archie nodded slowly. “I didn’t think about that. I suppose the chief will want to talk to everyone, but I was so worried about one of the children seeing that terrible sight.”
Sarah shuddered. “What an awful turn of events. Did either of you see anything?”
She turned to look at Archie and me, and we both shook our heads.
“I didn’t see anything unusual,” I said. “But the place was packed. Anyone could have slipped into the grotto. Did you see what knife was used, Archie? Was it one from the diner?”
Archie groaned. “I didn’t really get a good look. But we’re probably going to be prime suspects, aren’t we?”
“I am sure the chief won’t believe any of us could be involved,” I said. “He’s been having a lot of practice with murder investigations just recently.”
The bell above the door rang as Chief Wickham entered the diner with Deputy Joe McGrady. Both men looked very serious.
“Mmmm, I swear that young man gets more handsome every time I see him,” Loretta murmured with a dreamy look on her face as she gazed at Joe.
I managed to bite back my reply. It was true enough. Joe McGrady was gifted in the looks department. Unfortunately, he seemed to treat me like a minor irritation.
Archie stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Chief Wickham, but I got rid of all the customers. I didn’t want one of the children to see Bernie Crouch like that…” Archie jerked his thumb in the direction of the grotto. “It is not a pleasant sight for anyone, let alone a child.”
Chief Wickham nodded and said, “Is Bernie’s body still in there?”
Archie nodded, and as Chief Wickham lifted the green felt covering the entrance and looked inside, Joe McGrady turned to us.
“Has anybody else been inside since you found the body?”
Archie shook his head. “No, we asked everyone to leave.”
“And who found the body?”
I couldn’t help noticing that Joe was looking at me when he asked each question. I thought that was a little unfair.
I mean, sure, I had been involved in investigating a couple of recent murders in Abbot Cove, but that was only because I found the ghost and they needed my help.
“I found the body,” Archie said and shivered. “It was horrible. He had the knife in his chest, and his eyes were wide open, staring at me.”
Chief Wickham came out of the grotto, his face grim. “It looks like a normal kitchen knife was used. Are you missing any knives from the kitchen?”
Archie shuffled off to the kitchen to find out, and the chief followed him, warning him not to touch anything as they would be asking a forensic unit to come down and work the crime scene.
“You won’t be very popular,” I joked to Joe McGrady. “Making people come out and work on Christmas Eve.”
Joe didn’t laugh at my feeble attempt at humor. “Why do you always get caught up in these things, Harper?”
I shook my head. “It’s not my fault. I work here. I could hardly avoid it. It isn’t as if I go out looking for trouble.”
Joe McGrady raised an eyebrow, the look on his handsome face telling me he thought that was exactly what I did.
As Joe asked Sarah some questions, I looked around the diner, hoping to see Bernie’s ghost. Usually, a ghost would appear shortly after death, but I hadn’t yet seen Bernie.
“Harper?”
I snapped to attention as Joe said my name. Darn it. I hadn’t been listening.
He’d asked me a question… I looked toward Sarah, hoping for some help, but she was no good, at all. She just looked at me expectantly.
“I um…sorry, could you repeat the question?” I asked.
Joe McGrady’s forehead furrowed in a frown. “Did you see Bernie Crouch drinking? Sarah told me she thought he was drunk.”
I nodded. “He had a hip flask on him. That’s why I decided to call a halt to proceedings and told everybody Santa would be taking a break. We didn’t want an inebriated Santa Claus handing out presents to the children.”
Chief Wickham came out of the kitchen with Archie sheepishly following him.
“There’s a knife missing from the kitchen,” Chief Wickham said. “It looks like it is probably the murder weapon. Who has access to the kitchen?”
“Me, Sarah and Harper,” Archie said.
“And is that all? No one else had access?”
“We have a couple of other waitresses, but nobody else was working tonight,” Archie said.
Chief Wickham looked at us all in turn, and I couldn’t help feeling guilty even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.
The chief and Joe could hardly suspect us of murdering Bernie, though. Archie had run the diner in this town for years, and Sarah had been born and bred here. I was a relative newcomer, but I’d visited Abbot Cove every summer for as long as I could remember.
“Somebody could have snuck into the kitchen while we weren’t looking,” I suggested.
Deputy McGrady raised an eyebrow. “Is that true, Archie?”
I scowled. I didn’t see why he couldn’t take my word for it.
“Yes, I suppose so,” Archie said. “It’s been rather manic here this afternoon.”
Something at the window distracted Joe. I turned to look and saw Mrs. Townsend with her face screwed up and pressed against the glass, clearly trying to get a good look at the crime scene.
“It looks like the Abbott Cove gossip network is already out in force,” Loretta commented dryly.
* * *
Loretta was zooming back and forth in the diner. It was very distracting. Even though I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, my gaze seemed to have a mind of its own, following her erratic movements.
I only realized what I was doing when Archie frowned at me. “Are you okay, Harper?”
I nodded and tried to laugh it off. “I think I’m still in shock.”
Chief Wickham was outside the diner, using his cell phone to call the state police and organize a forensic team. Joe McGrady had also ducked outside to take a call.
I decided to use the opportunity to have a look for Bernie’s ghost. I could only hope he hadn’t wandered off already.
I headed to the storage room out back first because it was calm and dark back there, and if Bernie was afraid, I thought perhaps he might be hiding.
Loretta hovered along behind me. “Oh, this is just awful!”
I nodded and then glanced over my shoulder to make sure Sarah and Archie couldn’t overhear me. “I know. I can’t believe we’ve had another murder in Abbott Cove. Poor Bernie.”
“It’s all right for you. You’ll be able to go home soon, but I have to stay here. I won’t be able to get a wink of sleep until they catch the killer.”
I opened the door to the storeroom, switched on the light and then looked inside, but I couldn’t see anything unusual.
I turned to Loretta with a frown. “But nobody can hurt you, Loretta. You are a ghost.”
Loretta’s eyes flashed angrily at me. “Well, just beca
use I’m a ghost doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. I can’t believe you would rub my nose in it like that, Harper.”
I sighed. I didn’t have time to pander to Loretta’s hurt feelings right now. “I didn’t mean it like that, Loretta. I was just trying to reassure you that you’ll be safe, but if you’d rather come up and stay at the cottage, you’d be very welcome. Can you leave the diner?”
I’d seen Loretta outside the diner before but never more than a few yards away.
Loretta shook her head and looked forlorn. “No, I’m tethered to the diner.”
I had no idea what that meant. Why would Loretta be tethered to the diner?
Although I saw ghosts, I wasn’t exactly an expert on them just yet. Before I could ask Loretta what she meant, I heard Joe McGrady’s voice behind me, and I jumped.
I spun around cringing. I knew I looked guilty.
“Harper, I thought we asked you to remain in the dining area?” Joe said sternly. “We need to make sure no one touches anything so the evidence is still intact when the forensic crew arrives.”
Loretta seemed to forget all about her terror over spending the night at a murder scene and said in a seductive purr, “Well, isn’t he domineering. I have to say I quite like a man who takes control of the situation. I wonder if he’d be the same in the bed—.”
My cheeks burned scarlet, and I turned to glare at Loretta and cut her off by saying, “I’m very sorry Deputy McGrady. I thought I heard a noise and came to check it out.”
Joe frowned, and I could tell he didn’t believe me. “If you had heard a noise, Harper, the sensible thing to do would have been to tell me or Chief Wickham.”
“Of course, I shouldn’t have done it. It won’t happen again,” I said as I breezed past him and walked back into the main area of the diner.
Beside table five, I skidded to a halt when I saw Grandma Grant step inside the diner. I stopped so abruptly Joe bumped into me. “What’s the matter now?”
I didn’t answer him. I was too busy trying to figure out why my grandmother was here.
Chief Wickham stood in front of her and said, “Afternoon, Mrs. Grant. I am afraid I can’t let you come in. The diner is now a crime scene.”
Grandma Grant didn’t seem impressed. “I know it’s a crime scene. I heard about Bernie’s murder from Cara Sinclair, who’d heard it from Jenny Tucker, who’d been told by Mrs. Townsend. You can’t keep something like this quiet in Abbott cove.”
“Er…Right,” Chief Wickham said, blinking at the speed of Grandma Grant’s explanation. “Then you’ll understand why you can’t come in.”
He nodded at the door, but Grandma Grant didn’t take the hint.
She pointed at me, Archie and Sarah over Chief Wickham’s shoulder and said, “Then why are they in here?”
Joe stepped forward. “They’re witnesses. They were here when it happened, and we are questioning them.”
Grandma Grant put her hands on her hips. “Well, I suggest you finish questioning Harper quickly because I need her.”
Chief Wickham took a step back. I didn’t blame him. Grandma Grant might be tiny, but she could be scary when she’d set her mind on something.
“We are almost finished,” Joe said.
“Good,” Grandma Grant said and took a seat at one of the tables. “I’ll just sit here until you’re finished.”
“Well, I don’t think that’s a good idea…” Joe started to say.
Grandma Grant’s eyes narrowed. “Young man, I hope you’re not suggesting a poor old woman like me should sit outside on a freezing cold night like this?”
“No… I didn’t mean… Oh, never mind. Just sit there and don’t touch anything,” Joe blustered.
The next ten minutes didn’t go very smoothly. After each question Deputy McGrady and Chief Wickham put to us, Grandma Grant would interrupt, either by making a tutting sound or by sighing loudly and pointedly looking at her watch.
“And you are sure you didn’t see anybody enter the grotto?” Joe asked, typing notes into his phone.
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t see anyone enter the grotto after I told everyone Santa needed to take a break.”
“Is that the only entrance?” Chief Wickham asked, pointing at the flap of green felt I’d fashioned into a makeshift doorway. I hadn’t thought much of my artistic skills before, but now the Christmas lights had been turned off, the grotto looked even more forlorn and depressing.
I nodded, but then suddenly Grandma Grant’s voice piped up out of nowhere.
We all turned to look at the spot where she’d been sitting. Her chair was empty.
Joe let out a growl of annoyance, and Chief Wickham said, “I don’t believe it. Where has she gone now!”
Grandma Grant’s head popped up behind the grotto. “I am here. I was just saying someone could have gotten in the back way. All they would have to do is lift this layer of felt. It is not secured to anything.”
Chief Wickham rushed toward her, flapping his arms. “Stop touching it! It’s evidence.”
Grandma Grant rolled her eyes and calmly walked back around the front of the grotto. “It is just as well I dropped by. Otherwise, you would never have noticed somebody could have crept in the back.”
“We would have noticed,” Joe said irritably. “But we’re waiting for the forensic team to get here.”
“Of course you would have noticed, dear,” Grandma Grant said in a patronizing way as she shook her head. Then in a loud whisper to Sarah, she said, “Men! They don’t like to admit when they are wrong. I find it easier to humor them.”
Sarah snorted and tried to stifle her laughter. I groaned as Joe and the chief stared daggers at Grandma Grant.
“Are we done yet?” Grandma Grant whined. “Harper has had a traumatic experience. She needs to get home.”
Joe frowned as he looked at me and then nodded. “You’re right, everyone should get home. If I have any more questions I can find you all tomorrow.” He gave me a gentle smile and patted me on the shoulder. “Will you be all right, Harper?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Grandma Grant replied for me. “Of course, she’ll be fine. She’s a Grant, isn’t she?”
She marched up to me, looped her arm through mine and practically dragged me out of the diner.
Now, it would be lovely to think that Grandma Grant was so concerned about my welfare she’d come into town to rescue me, get me home safely, and make sure I didn’t have any terrible nightmares, but I knew my grandmother.
There was a reason she wanted me out of that diner, and it wasn’t because she was worried about my traumatic experience.
As soon as we were out on the sidewalk and I’d shrugged on my coat, I put my hands on my hips and looked down at Grandma Grant.
“Okay, what is this all about? What have you done this time?”
Grandma Grant pressed a hand to her chest and pretended to look hurt. “I don’t understand why you would say something like that, Harper. I was just concerned about you.”
I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. “Nice try, but I know you. What’s the problem?”
Grandma Grant gave me her sweetest smile, and my stomach sank down to my shoes. If she was pulling out that smile, it meant we had a serious problem.
CHAPTER 3
“It is nothing to worry about,” Grandma Grant said, and I immediately knew I should be very worried indeed.
“Tell me,” I demanded.
“I’ve had a little issue with some of the Christmas trees,” Grandma Grant explained as she stamped her feet and buttoned up her coat. “It’s freezing tonight. Come on, I brought the truck. I’ll give you a ride home.”
As I followed Grandma Grant to the truck, I tried to get more information from her. “You mean the Christmas trees you’ve been selling to the residents of Abbot Cove? What’s wrong with them?”
It had been another one of Grandma Grant’s money-making schemes. She had a large greenhouse and ran a small nursery on the land beside the
Grant family house.
Although Jess and I both lived in a separate cottage, we were still close by and could help Grandma Grant out from time to time. But I was pretty sure she didn’t need my help watering the plants today.
Grandma Grant nodded. “Yes, those Christmas trees. There’s just one teeny, tiny problem. I mean, it’s not really a big deal, but the customers are making a fuss.”
“What is wrong with the trees?” I asked as I pulled open the passenger door.
Grandma Grant hopped up to the driver’s seat and turned on the engine, putting the blowers on full blast to try and warm up the cab. “They seem to have lost their needles.”
I shrugged not really seeing the problem. “Well, that’s normal. Natural trees will lose some of their pine needles. If that bothers them, they should have bought an artificial tree.”
Grandma Grant’s hands gripped the wheel as she turned into Main Street and then shot off up the road at a high rate of speed.
The radio suddenly switched on and began to play a very loud rock song. I leaned forward to turn it down so I could hear her.
“Well, they haven’t only lost one or two needles. They’ve lost all their needles. The trees turned brown and then everything fell off.”
I was pretty sure that was something that didn’t happen in nature, which meant Grandma Grant must’ve been using magic.
Jess and I had nothing against her using magic from time to time, but it wasn’t fair when she tried to sell things she’d made from magic because that affected normal, everyday people and could be dangerous.
“So, let me get this straight. You cast a spell on the trees, and it went wrong, making all the pine needles fall off?”
Grandma Grant shrugged and nodded as she turned off Main Street, heading up the hill. “That’s about the size of it.”
I shook my head.
Unbelievable.
And she had the cheek to be always on my case about improving my dodgy spell-casting skills.
“I guess you’re not quite as good at spell-casting as you thought,” I said smugly, unable to resist a little dig.
“I told you before, Harper. A good witch should always be learning. If a witch doesn’t learn new skills, she gets stagnant, old and boring.”
