by CeeCee James
Elise took another sip, this one going down easier. “How did you know where the Freedom dollars were, Aunt Myrtle?”
“Oh, child, I knew where those coins were all these years. Papa used to hide them himself in fake books, in the bookshelf, in his room. Heck, I watched Anna pilfer half of those coins up there. She never knew I followed her. That Anna always had trouble with taking things that didn’t belong to her. It was like an addiction. She couldn’t resist a shiny object. She took everything; silverware, Mother’s perfume, Papa’s coins. Over time, I just got used to sneaking up there to the cave and hauling things back so no one would notice they were missing.”
Aunt Myrtle sighed. “And I never got caught by her. Until the last time when I popped out. I thought we could share the secret. I never realized how much it made her ashamed. I think it shamed her when she saw me there.” Aunt Myrtle twisted her fingers together, making Elise wince at the harsh treatment of the woman’s knobby knuckles. “After she fell,” Aunt Myrtle’s voice dropped. “And I knew she was gone, I searched her pockets and took back the miniature lamp and vase that she’d swiped. I didn’t want anyone to know.”
Lavina stared at the floor, while Elise studied the liquid in her cup, both listening. “We love you, Aunt Myrtle,” Lavina whispered.
The old woman glanced up at them, and a small smile fluttered over her mouth. “And I love you, too. But don’t tell anyone I said that. I’ll never admit to such hogwash sappiness.”
The two young women laughed.
“So,” Aunt Myrtle took another sip. “That Hamilton was Anna’s beau, huh? Worked for me all those years and never let on how angry he was at me.”
Elise nodded. “Anna is at peace. It was never her stealing things from you or from the dollhouse.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks. There’s a piece of me that kind of wishes it was, and maybe I’ll just decide to believe it was so.”
The quiet descended over the room again as Anna played on their thoughts. Finally, Aunt Myrtle sighed and struggled for her cane. “Well, I’m going to bed,” she said and stood up unsteadily. She straightened her cardigan draped over her shoulders and slowly thumped out of the room.
“That is the first time Aunt Myrtle offered me a drink,” Lavina murmured.
“I’m not sure she really did. I think you just took it.” Elise hiccuped.
Lavina turned to look at her with concerned eyes. “My good gracious, are you buzzed?”
Elise laughed. “Maybe a tiny bit.”
Lavina rolled her eyes. “You’re going to be useless to answer my questions.”
“Nonsense,” Elise argued. “Ask away.”
“So, why were the things from the dollhouse taken?”
“Hamilton was trying to haunt Aunt Myrtle. He’d been doing it for years. Back when he first got a position here, he started stealing baby clothes. Anything he could do to ruin her happiness and never let her have a moment of peace.”
“What a dirt bag.”
“Yeah, he was. I think the last real advocate Aunt Myrtle had was Constance. My great grandma adored her.” Elise bit her lip in deep thought. “But I’m pretty sure Aunt Myrtle was the one who found Constance’s diary. Hopefully, it comforted her to know how much Constance cared.”
“It’s just so bizarre how your relative took care of her when she was young, and here you are now taking care of her.” Elise nodded as Lavina continued, “You said when you got back to the Manor you knew who had murdered the gardener. How did you know it was Dave?”
Elise shook her head. “It was the weirdest hunch. When I saw the knife stabbed into the hood at that angle it reminded me of how he’d done a knife demonstration at class. And then it clicked where I’d seen him before. It was the day I was exploring the maze. He was in there too, checking out the hole the gardener had dug. Both Hamilton and Dave had been suspicious that the gardener had found the silver already.”
“Hamilton was in on it with the gardener too?”
“Yeah, they were actually cousins. In fact, Dave alluded to it when we were at class, probably thumbing his nose at the both of us. Remember when he said practically everyone was related up there?”
“That jackknob. Who else is related?”
“I think that’s all. I know Charlotte was his girlfriend. At least, he told her that, probably using her to gain information about the house. I don’t foresee that he would have stayed with her, once the money had been found. Dave was desperate for money to support his exercise studio. He was having a hard time keeping it afloat.”
“What about the shoes? I remember you telling me about shoes that were missing.”
“Not missing, mismatched. Either Hamilton or Charlotte tried to scare Aunt Myrtle with the shoe prints through her room. Apparently the paint, or whatever it was didn’t come off, and it was just carelessness that they replaced them with a different size.”
Elise got quiet for a moment before blurting out, “And that’s another thing, Aunt Myrtle’s room has French doors. People most likely have been coming in and out of the house unseen for years through her room and the connecting hidden passageway.”
“Hidden…?” Lavina looked at her with one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised.
Elise sighed. “Honestly, I’m exhausted now. I’ll tell you more about it later.”
Matilda tapped on the library door before poking her head in. “I’m sorry to disturb you ladies, but someone is here to see you, Ms. Pepper.”
Directly behind the housekeeper was the best thing Elise had ever seen. Brad.
Lavina took a quick glance at him before standing up and placing her cup on the table. “Well, on that note, I’ll say goodbye.” She gave her friend a hug before sidling passed Brad with a nod of her red head.
Brad hurried over to Elise and grabbed her in his arms. “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”
She snuggled in, breathing in his spicy cologne. “Brad! What are you doing here? What about your training?”
“Tomorrow is just paperwork, which I’ve already finished. I’ll have to go back for one more weekend, but it was worth getting out to see you.” He groaned and buried his face in her shoulder. “I just can’t believe I talked you into taking a safety course with that creep.”
“You couldn’t have known. And trust me, it helped. Thank you.” She tickled his chin until he looked up.
Brad reached over and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Well, I’m super proud of you. My little kung-fu hero.”
Elise smiled, feeling all warm inside. “Me too, actually. I really overcame something during that class. Something I never thought I would.”
“Just don’t be thinking you can go around kicking bad guys to the ground any time you want.” He lowered his eyebrows and gave her a pretend scowl.
She laughed. “You got it.”
“Which reminds me, what are you thinking about the future?”
“The future?” Her cheeks started hurting from the big grin she was trying to hold in.
“Yeah.” His hand slipped down her arm until he held hers. He gave it a gentle squeeze. “With me.”
The End
Grab a cozy blanket and a cup of tea and curl up with the rest of the Angel Lake Mystery series. Five books in all- Each one better and better- Amazon review
The Bitter Taste of Betrayal
The Sour Taste of Suspicion
The Honeyed Taste of Deception
The Tempting Taste of Danger
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Winner of 2016 best memoir Ghost No More
Wrecked and Yours
Out of the Wreckage
A Beautiful Wreck
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