Harper Grant 03-A Witchy Christmas

by DS Butler

  I thanked Violet for her hospitality and left with Bernie. It was difficult not speaking to him until we were safely out of sight, but I managed to wait until we were on the trail and then I turned to him. “Do you think what you were going to tell Violet had something to do with Dr. Madeline Clarkson?”

  Bernie shook his head. “It could have been, but I just can’t remember. I suppose it could have been something to do with Dr. Madeline’s counseling sessions, or maybe one of Dr. Madeline’s other patients or… Maybe we are barking up completely the wrong tree, and my murder had nothing to do with that. I just don’t know.”

  “I know it’s hard when you can’t remember. But I feel like this is a step in the right direction.” I smiled at Bernie. “Don’t give up hope. I’m sure we are getting closer to the killer.”

  CHAPTER 22

  As we walked back to the cottage, I asked Bernie questions about Dr. Madeline Clarkson. All he could remember was that she went to New York University. He’d started seeing her for therapy sessions shortly after she moved to the Cove a few months ago.

  I remembered there being quite a kerfuffle in Abbott Cove when Dr. Madeline had moved into one of the small houses behind the church hall. People didn’t quite know what to make of her. Unlike in New York City, therapy wasn’t big business in Abbott Cove. However, she had won residents over with her sweet nature, plus the fact she’d offered free counseling sessions. I’m sure that had helped, too. The residents of Abbott Cove loved a freebie.

  As I pushed open the front door, I said to Bernie, “And you can’t remember anything else about her? Perhaps she confided in you or told you something about one of her other patients?”

  Archie hovered around in a circle and then shook his head. “I just remember her being a very pleasant young woman. We discussed all sorts of things. She was very easy to talk to.”

  I flopped down on the couch and called out hello to Jess.

  My sister came out of her bedroom clutching her e-reader and asked, “Did you have any luck with Violet Morton?”

  “Not really,” I said. “Although, we did discover something Violet and Bernie had in common. They were both seeing Dr. Madeline Clarkson.”

  Jess frowned. “Do you think Dr. Madeline might know something about Bernie’s murder?”

  I shrugged. “Possibly. We’ve just been talking about how much we know about her, and as it turns out, we don’t know very much, at all. I remember hearing she’d moved here from New York, but I don’t remember why, do you?” I asked and wished I’d paid more attention to Abbott Cove’s gossips at the time.

  Jess thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No. I remember her arrival caused quite a stir a few months ago, but I don’t know very much about her background.” Jess reached over to the coffee table and pulled out her laptop. “But that’s easily remedied. These days you can find out almost anything online. I’ll see what information I can find.”

  As Jess set about her research, I leaned back on the couch, and Smudge jumped up into my lap. I stroked her soft fur and then turned to Bernie. “I suppose you might have wanted to talk to Violet about your therapy sessions?”

  Bernie hovered beside me on the couch. “I doubt it. All of my therapy sessions were private. I didn’t do any group therapy.”

  I started to think we might be heading off down the wrong track again. After all, Bernie may have been intending to talk to Violet about something completely unrelated to his murder.

  But before I could get too despondent, Jess spoke up, “Wait a minute. Did you say that Dr. Madeline Clarkson went to NYU?”

  I turned to Bernie who nodded his head. “That’s right. I clearly remember seeing the certificate on the wall of her consulting room.”

  “Yes, she graduated from NYU,” I said to Jess.

  “Not according to this she didn’t,” Jess said, frowning. “I can’t find any sign of her on the alumni list.”

  I leaned forward. “Are you sure?”

  I quickly scanned the lists Jessica brought up from the last several years.

  “Perhaps she got married and changed her name?” I suggested.

  “No, that can’t be right,” Bernie said. “The certificate on the wall definitely said Madeline Clarkson.”

  I relayed the information to Jess who shook her head. “Well,” Jess said, turning the laptop so I could look at the screen again. “There’s no sign of Madeline Clarkson on this list for the past ten years.”

  For the next few moments, we were all silent, contemplating what this could mean. The only sound in the room was Smudge purring in my lap.

  Athena was far too grand to sit on anyone’s lap, and she remained haughtily curled up on the rug beside the fire. I was pretty sure she still held a grudge against me for turning her fur blue. I’d had absolutely no luck in trying to reverse the spell so far.

  “What if Bernie discovered that Dr. Madeline wasn’t qualified?” I murmured. “How far would she go to make sure Bernie never got the chance to tell anyone else?”

  Jess’s eyes widened. “Maybe she wanted to silence Bernie for good?”

  Bernie scoffed. “That little lady? She couldn’t have done it.”

  But despite his dismissiveness, he looked a little concerned.

  “Perhaps,” I said, “but I think I’d better telephone Chief Wickham and let him know that Madeline Clarkson may not be all she appears to be.”

  I’d started to walk across the room to the telephone when Jess said, “Are you sure about that, Harper? The chief is going to think you’re interfering again.”

  I hesitated and then looked at Bernie’s sad face. “I’m a big girl. I’ll cope. If it helps solve Bernie’s murder, I can deal with another of Chief Wickham’s reprimands.”

  I took a deep breath and picked up the telephone. I kept my gaze fixed on Bernie as I dialed the chief’s office. Bernie looked confused and unhappy, and after everything that had happened over the past few days, I couldn’t blame him.

  Mrs. Winters answered the telephone. I’d heard through the Abbott Cove gossip vine that she was filling in as the chief’s admin assistant.

  “Hello, Mrs. Winters, could I speak to Chief Wickham, please? It’s Harper Grant.”

  After a long chat, with Mrs. Winters asking after Grandma Grant and Jess, she put me on hold. A few seconds later, she picked up the phone again and told me that Chief Wickham was very busy at the moment and unless it was urgent, could I call back later?

  I thought it over. It could be nothing, but then again… Dr. Madeline had lied, and there had to be a reason for her to do so.

  “I’m sorry Mrs. Winters, but I really do need to talk to him. It won’t take long.”

  “Very well, I’ll put you through.”

  After a brief pause, I heard Chief Wickham’s voice on the other end of the line. He didn’t sound pleased to hear from me.

  “What is it, Harper? Your grandmother hasn’t been getting into trouble again, has she?”

  “It’s nothing like that. It’s actually about Bernie Crouch’s murder.”

  “Harper, how many times do I have to tell you not to get involved?” His voice was gruff.

  “I’m not getting involved. That’s why I am giving you the information. We found out that Madeline Clarkson was giving Bernie counseling sessions.”

  “We know all about that, Harper. I’m not sure what you think we do all day, but we don’t sit here twiddling our thumbs. When we investigate a murder, we look into the victim’s life thoroughly.”

  I gulped. Chief Wickham sounded so angry, I was rapidly losing courage. “Right, I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t doing a good job… I just wanted to tell you we’d found out that Madeline Clarkson isn’t who she says she is.”

  Bernie floated over to me, pressing his head against the telephone to try and hear what the chief was saying. It was quite distracting.

  “What do you mean?” Chief Wickham barked.

  “She didn’t graduate from NYU.”

>   “So? Did she tell you that was where she attended college?”

  “No, she…” I trailed off. I had been just about to tell Chief Wickham that Bernie told me about her NYU certificate, but that wasn’t a smart move. “I mean, yes, she did.”

  I pulled a face at Bernie and Jess to let them know the telephone call wasn’t going well.

  “Right. Thank you, Harper. That’s an interesting theory. We will look into it.”

  I knew a dismissal when I heard one, and it got my back up. “When?”

  “Sorry?”

  “When will you look into it?”

  “When I have the time. Harper, I know you are only trying to help, but right now, you are just adding to our workload. We’ll get to it soon. In the meantime, why don’t you focus your time on making sure your grandmother keeps out of trouble. All those complaints about the defective Christmas trees over the past few days stopped me from focusing purely on the murder investigation.”

  “But that’s not fair,” I protested. “Grandma Grant’s given everybody their money back, and she apologized.”

  Chief Wickham sighed heavily on the other end of the line. “Goodbye, Harper.”

  I heard a click on the other end of the line as Chief Wickham hung up.

  I put the telephone down and turned back around to face Jess and Bernie. “Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned.”

  “Isn’t he even going to ask Dr. Madeline why she lied?” Bernie asked.

  “He told me he would get around to it.”

  “It’s nice to know my murder is a priority,” Bernie said gloomily and hovered over to the window to gaze outside. “Your grandmother is walking down the path.”

  I looked out of the window beside the front door and saw that Bernie was right. Grandma Grant was marching up the path with a determined look on her face. I shot a guilty glance at Athena, who was still curled up on the rug. Grandma Grant would not be happy when she saw her cat was still blue.

  I opened the front door just before Grandma Grant reached it, and she looked at me in surprise. “Are you expecting someone?”

  I shook my head. “I just saw you coming. Fancy a cup of tea?”

  I figured if I pretended this was just a social call, I might get out of a stern telling off. Grandma Grant’s eyes narrowed, and I knew I was out of luck. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Athena.

  “I haven’t got time for a cup of tea. I have a spell to cast.” She bustled past me and walked over to the fire, gathering Athena up in her arms. “It looks like I’m going to have to turn her back to her original color. She’ll turn gray if I keep waiting for you, Harper!” And with that, Grandma Grant turned and marched past Jess and me toward the front door.

  “Lovely to see you, too,” Jess said sarcastically because Grandma Grant hadn’t even acknowledged her presence.

  “Don’t get smart with me, young lady. I hold you equally accountable.” Grandma Grant paused by the front door.

  Jess looked outraged. “Me? Why? I didn’t turn Athena blue!”

  “Maybe not. But you should have encouraged your sister to practice her spells more often.”

  When Grandma Grant left us, Jess flopped back in the armchair, shaking her head. “That’s so unfair.”

  I agreed with her, but I wasn’t going to say so.

  “So what are we going to do?” Bernie said. “Now that we know Madeline has lied about her past, we can’t just do nothing.”

  I shrugged. “I’ve told the chief. I’m not sure what else we can do.”

  Bernie hovered close to me and whispered, “We could go and see Dr. Madeline ourselves.”

  I looked at him as though he were mad. “You have to be kidding. We can’t go and see her. It could be dangerous. Besides, we wouldn’t be going to see her. She’d only be able to see me.”

  Bernie waved away my concerns with a flap of his hand. “It won’t be dangerous. She won’t know you suspect anything. All you have to do is get her talking, and I’ll go into the counseling room and check out that certificate on the wall.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I thought you said you were sure that the certificate was from NYU? If I’ve gotten Dr. Madeline into trouble with Chief Wickham over nothing—”

  “I am sure,” Bernie insisted. “But there might be something else on the certificate or in her office that gives us another clue.”

  I sighed and looked at Jess. She was shaking her head. “Don’t tell me, you’re going to go and speak to Madeline Clarkson.”

  I nodded. “Yes, but I have a feeling I’m going to regret it later.”

  CHAPTER 23

  I’d been right. I regretted agreeing to go with Bernie even before I knocked on Dr. Madeline’s front door.

  Dr. Madeline lived in one of the rows of houses behind the church hall. They were all pretty, well-kept properties, with neat little front gardens. The light dusting of snow made the house look like a picture postcard.

  Despite the cute appearance of the row of houses, as we approached Dr. Madeline’s, I began to feel very uneasy. The feeling of dread grew as we walked up the garden path and found that Dr. Madeline’s door was slightly ajar.

  I turned to Bernie, who was hovering beside me, “The door is open. Why would she leave it open on such a cold day?”

  Bernie didn’t seem to share my foreboding. He hovered ahead of me happily.

  “Maybe she meant to shut it, but it didn’t catch on the lock,” he suggested.

  I wanted to call out and tell him to wait, but I didn’t want Dr. Madeline to hear me.

  So, despite the fact the door was open, I knocked and waited on the doorstep for Dr. Madeline to answer.

  It felt as though I was waiting for ages. I rubbed my arms to keep warm.

  “Hello?” I called out into the hallway.

  She couldn’t be out. Her Toyota Prius was in the driveway, and the front door was open.

  I swallowed nervously and pushed the door open wider. There was no sign of Bernie, who hadn’t bothered to wait for Dr. Madeline to answer.

  I knocked again and called out a little louder this time.

  Still nothing, but I could hear the gentle drone of a television set. She must be in. Perhaps she couldn’t hear me over the sound of the television?

  I stepped inside cautiously. There were four rooms off the hallway. Bernie was in the one on the left, which looked like Madeline’s counseling room, judging by the large desk, filing cabinet and comfortable seating area.

  He saw me in the doorway and said, “I was right. The certificate does say she graduated from NYU. It must be a forgery. I’m just trying to see if I can discover any other clues.”

  “Have you seen Dr. Madeline?” I whispered.

  Bernie shook his head and went back to rummaging through Dr. Madeline’s possessions.

  “You shouldn’t be looking through her private things like that,” I hissed, but Bernie ignored me.

  I walked forward, following the noise from the television set and entered a pretty front room. The walls were painted cream, and the furniture was upholstered in a soft gray material with duck egg blue scatter cushions and matching curtains.

  At first glance, I thought Dr. Madeline wasn’t in the room, but then I saw her. Or, at least, I saw the back of her head. She was sitting in a wing-backed easy chair positioned in front of the television.

  She must’ve fallen asleep.

  For a moment or two, I just stood there, wondering what to do. This was awkward. I considered backing off and leaving Bernie to it. At least no one could see him. I figured I’d be better off waiting outside, but something made me take a couple of steps forward so I could peer around and check if Madeline really was asleep.

  But instead of looking into a peaceful, sleeping face. I saw Madeline’s eyes were open and staring at me.

  I smothered a gasp and took two steps backward almost knocking over a vase on the cabinet.

  I felt my stomach flip over as my gaze focused on the knife sticking out o
f Madeline’s chest.

  I put a hand on the cabinet behind me to try and steady myself because my legs felt like spaghetti. I took a couple of deep breaths and then called out, “Bernie, I need you to come in here. There’s something you should see.”

  I heard Bernie’s voice behind me, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Dr. Madeline.

  Bernie didn’t sound surprised as he drifted in the room and replied, “I’ve got something you need to see as well, Harper.”

  I turned away from Madeline’s dead body to see Madeline as a ghost. She hovered beside Bernie and looked pale and partially transparent. Panic was etched on her face.

  “Harper, thank goodness,” Madeline said rushing up to me. “I’m so glad you’re here. I must be seeing things. I just had a vision that the ghost of Bernie Crouch came back to visit me.”

  Madeline looked very on edge, and I didn’t want to cause her any further anxiety. I needed to handle this with care.

  But before I could say anything, Bernie intervened, “I’ve tried to explain to her, Harper. But she doesn’t believe she is a ghost. She thinks I’m a vision, and she is having some kind of funny turn.”

  Madeline gasped and turned around. “He’s still here, Harper. I can see him!”

  “So can I, Madeline. I’m sorry, to have to tell you that Bernie is right. You’re a ghost. Both you and Bernie are ghosts.”

  Madeline stared at me as though I were mad. “What? That just isn’t possible.”

  I turned around and stepped out of the way so that Madeline could see her dead body propped up in the armchair.

  “I don’t suppose you remember who did it?”

  Dr. Madeline stared in horror at the knife sticking out of her chest. She shook her head. “This can’t be happening. I must be dreaming.”

  “I know it has to be a shock. It will take some getting used to. I’m sorry, Madeline.”

  Madeline examined her body from all angles as Bernie, and I waited patiently for her to come to the same conclusion we had. She was well and truly dead.