by J A Whiting
Jenna arrived and Angie and Courtney brought her up to speed as they drove the distance from town passing by meadows, marshes, and residential neighborhoods and crossing over a small bridge that spanned an inlet river. They turned onto the shady lane, headed for the house, and pulled to a stop at the curb. When they got out of the car, a trickle of sweat showed at Courtney’s temple as she took her Angie’s arm. “I’m feeling more anxious than I did before.”
“Yeah,” was all Angie could manage to say. Her heart pounded like a hammer was hitting her chest and her palms were wet and clammy.
Part of the manor house could be seen set back from the road at the end of a long driveway. The three young women stood at the curb staring down to the house. There was a sporty, blue vehicle parked in front of the detached three-car garage to the right of the home.
The neighbors’ houses couldn’t be seen through the thick growth of trees on both sides of the property. No one was around. All they could hear were birds singing and the rustling of leaves high in the trees.
“Should we go up to the house?” Jenna asked, peering down the driveway.
“Do you think we should go knock?” Courtney’s voice trembled a little.
Angie hesitated for a moment as she kept her eyes on the house. There was a strange scent on the air. “Do you smell something?”
Jenna said slowly, “Maybe.”
Courtney gave her sisters a strange look and the pitch of her voice sounded higher than usual. “What do you smell? I don’t smell anything.”
“I don’t know what it is,” Angie said, but she could detect a very distinct odor similar to what she’d experienced when she and Courtney found Mr. Finch’s miserable brother stabbed to death in the candy shop a year ago.
“It smells like blood.” Jenna shoved her hands into the pockets of her light windbreaker.
“What should we do?” Courtney asked warily.
Angie reached into her back pocket and took out her phone. “I’m going to call Chief Martin.”
A look of relief mixed with dread passed over Courtney’s face and she sagged down to sit on the curb to wait. “Good.”
It seemed like forever, but in reality, it only took about ten minutes for Chief Martin to pull to the side of the road just a little past where the girls were waiting.
The chief, a tall, stocky man in his fifties, emerged from the vehicle and walked towards the Roselands. He’d known the girls since they were little when they came to town in the summers to visit their grandmother. Their nana had special skills, too, and sometimes she worked closely with the police to assist on difficult cases. Chief Martin was happy to now have the same kind of help from her granddaughters.
“So.” The chief greeted the three Roselands and glanced down the driveway. “You have some concerns?”
“We do.” Angie repeated the worries she’d shared with the chief over the phone.
“I stopped by the dentist’s office,” the chief said. “The docs still hadn’t shown up to work. The receptionist is concerned. She said she was about to call the police station to report her unease.” With facial muscles sagging, the chief took off his hat, ran his hand over his hair, and placed the hat back on his head. “I’ll go have a look. Wait here.”
The chief disappeared around the back of the house and after five minutes passed, Angie started down the driveway. “I don’t like this. I’m going to see where he is.”
Courtney and Jenna trotted after their sister.
As they came to the end of the drive, the chief came around the side of the manor house and stopped when he saw the girls. His face was pale and his jaw tight. He seemed to be shaking slightly.
“What is it?” Angie asked edging towards the man.
“I called for the investigatory team.”
Barely able to breathe, the girls waited for him to say more.
His voice gravelly, Chief Martin said, “Dr. Chase and Dr. Streeter are dead.”
Courtney let out a gasp.
The man removed his hat and used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Angie stepped to the chief and put her arm around him. “Did you go inside?”
“I looked through the window, from the back porch.” Chief Martin’s breathing was fast and shallow. “Listen, I don’t want you to go in there. It isn’t a good thing to see. The team of investigators will be here soon. Can you…?”
“Do you want us to look through the windows?” Courtney asked.
“No.” The chief was adamant. “I’d like you to get close to the house, maybe stand near the front and see if you can sense anything. Just stay near the front. Don’t go around back.”
“Okay. Should we know anything else?” Angie asked.
“I’ll tell you more later. Don’t go in back,” the chief repeated.
Angie started for the house with Courtney and Jenna hurrying after her. No one said a word. When they crossed the front lawn, they stood at the steps of the place looking it over.
Flowerpots and window boxes were filled with impatiens, greens, and geraniums. Small rose bushes lined the perimeter of the large house. Hydrangeas bloomed along the fence. The home had been freshly painted.
Angie glanced over at the blue sports car. She let her eyes roam over the garage and then she returned her focus to the house. The front door didn’t seem to have been tampered with. “I’m going to sit on the steps for a minute.”
Courtney gave a nod. “I’m going to walk back and forth along the front of the house.” She muttered, “This is as close as I’m going to get.”
Jenna walked over to the sports car and then moved around the front yard. In the past, she’d been able to pick up feelings from a crime scene and was attempting to do that now.
The girls tried to settle themselves and even though their hearts were racing, they tried to push their nervousness aside to clear their heads to be open to sensations that might linger on the air.
Angie wished Mr. Finch was with them. The older man could sometimes see flashes of what had happened during a crime. Because the investigators would arrive any minute and they would have to clear the area, Angie closed her eyes to block out any distractions. Worried they would run out of time, she couldn’t feel anything except her own distress. She slowed her breathing concentrating on taking in air through her nose and letting it out through her mouth. Images began to float in her mind.
Angie sensed the morning sun climbing over the horizon. Dr. Carlie Streeter, petite and slim with dark chin-length hair and bright blue eyes, finished her coffee and packed her sandwich and yogurt into the lunch bag. Her husband, Marty Chase, came into the kitchen and spoke to Carlie as he picked up his briefcase, set it on the center island, and riffled through it. He pulled out a folder, looked it over, and shoved it back into the leather satchel.
The doorbell rang.
Marty went to answer it.
The image blurred and flashes of red and orange flooded Angie’s vision. She startled when someone called her name.
“Angie.” Jenna was on the stone walkway standing in front of her. “The police team is here. We need to go.”
Giving her head a shake, Angie stood, feeling weak and unsteady. Jenna took her arm and they walked along the driveway.
“Someone rang the doorbell,” Jenna told her twin sister.
“I heard it in my mind. Dr. Chase went to answer it, but then my vision faded.” Angie rubbed at her temple. A headache usually came on after she’d sensed things about a crime scene.
“That’s all I got, too.” Jenna noticed Courtney staring at the blue car by the garages and she and Angie walked over to it. “What’s up?”
“This car.” Courtney let her eyes roam over the shiny vehicle. “You feel anything from it?”
“I don’t, no.” Jenna looked to Angie who shook her head.
“I do,” Courtney almost whispered. “But I can’t tease out what it is.”
Chief Martin waved them away from the car. “Time to clear
out. The team is about to get started.”
Walking to their cars, the chief said, “Can I come by the house later this afternoon so we can debrief?”
A time was set to meet at the bake shop and as they headed to their vehicles, Courtney couldn’t help taking one more look back at the blue car parked near the garages of the two murdered dentists.
3
It was late afternoon when the four Roseland sisters, Mr. Finch, and Chief Martin gathered around a small table in Angie’s Sweet Dreams Bake Shop. The bakery-café had closed for the day and raspberry scones were baking in one of the ovens sending the delicious aroma floating over the air, but unfortunately, the group hadn’t arranged the meeting to enjoy good food and conversation. With coffee and tea and a plate of cookies in the center of the table, the chief cleared his throat and started to speak.
“Every investigation is tough, but this one is particularly rough. The dentists had only moved their practice to Sweet Cove a little over six months ago. They bought the house at the edge of town around the same time. I’d met them a few times. They seemed like nice people, eager to involve themselves in the community.” The chief lifted his mug of steaming black coffee and took a look out the window of the shop. “Summer’s almost here. The town is bustling. Things should be happy and optimistic.”
Ellie fiddled with the ends of her long, blond hair. Discovering the family had paranormal powers had been hard on her and she had a more difficult time than the others dealing with crime and murders.
The chief let out a heavy sigh and got down to business. “So … the doctors didn’t arrive at work this morning. Courtney was the first patient of the day. She and Angie became alarmed when the receptionist reported that she hadn’t been able to contact Dr. Chase or Dr. Streeter. Angie called Jenna and the three of you went to the dentists’ house where you ended up calling me.”
“You arrived shortly after the call?” Finch asked, slowly twirling his cane in his hands.
“I did. I went to the house to look around.” The chief’s facial muscles tensed recalling the morning discovery.
“We waited at the end of the driveway near the road,” Angie said.
“Did anything seem amiss from your vantage point?” Finch questioned.
“Nothing.” Jenna held her teacup to her lips. “Nothing at all seemed out of the ordinary … except the sensation that something was wrong.”
“There was a blue sports car parked near the garages.” Courtney’s expression had darkened. “There’s something about that car,” she said under her breath.
Finch looked at the youngest sister with concern, but he didn’t ask anything.
The chief glanced at Courtney to see if she would say any more and when she didn’t, he went on with his report. “I walked around the front and looked in windows to see the living room, foyer, a dining room … everything was in order. I started to think the couple had left for work and maybe, had car trouble on the way. No such luck. I went around back. There’s a deck off the house.” The chief paused. “I looked in one of the windows, to the kitchen. The couple was on the floor. It was clear they were dead.”
No one wanted to hear any details, but they knew it was necessary in order for them to help investigate the crime. They braced themselves.
The chief said, “Their hands were bound. Their throats had been cut. They both bled out.”
Ellie gasped and placed her hand on her chest.
“Were there signs of a struggle in the house?” Angie asked, her face ashen.
“There was a broken water glass on the floor. It looked like Dr. Streeter might have made an attempt to run. She was in the mudroom off the kitchen. Dr. Chase was on the kitchen floor.”
“Did it seem like a robbery?” Finch asked stroking his chin.
“It appeared that some jewelry might have been removed from the upstairs dressing room. So, yes, it might have been a robbery.”
Angie heard some hesitation in the chief’s voice. “But, maybe not?”
“The investigators haven’t shared the preliminary findings with all of us yet. I can’t be sure, of course, but it looked a lot like a revenge killing to me. I won’t say anymore until we hear the first reports from the team.”
“Do we know any more about the doctors?” Jenna asked. “Where they came from? Why they moved to town? Any family?”
“Dr. Streeter has a sister. Marilyn Streeter. A few years older. She’s on her way here from Boston.”
“How old were the doctors?” Angie wondered aloud.
“From their driver’s licenses, we’ve determined that Carlie Streeter was thirty-six and Marty Chase was ten years older.” The chief drained the coffee from his mug.
“Wait.” Courtney sat up to attention and asked in a worried voice, “Did they have any children?”
The chief replied, “Their receptionist told me the couple didn’t have any kids.”
Courtney exhaled with relief thankful that there weren’t any children who were victims.
Chief Martin looked at Ellie. “The sister will arrive this evening. Any chance you can put her up here at the B and B?”
Ellie gave a quick nod. “I’ll shuffle people around. Now that Tom has moved out of the carriage house, I have that apartment to accommodate guests.” Tom had sold his own house and moved into one of the carriage house apartments for the few weeks before his and Jenna’s wedding. Now, the newlyweds were renovating and living in a huge, old house two doors down from the Victorian.
“I appreciate it,” Chief Martin said. “I told the sister to come here first to see if a room had been set aside for her.”
“I’ll go see to it right now.” Ellie got up and hurried from the bake shop into the Victorian. When she opened the door leading to the main house’s kitchen, Euclid and Circe scooted in and padded over to the shop’s window, jumped up on the wide sill, and settled down to listen to the humans discuss the morning situation.
Courtney rolled her eyes at Ellie’s reluctance to hear any more information about the murders. “Any excuse for her to run away from what we’re talking about.”
“Miss Ellie is a very sensitive person,” Mr. Finch remarked kindly. “The world’s horrors have a most powerful impact on her.”
They’re having an impact on me, too.” The chief shook his head while checking his phone. “The team wants to meet with me. I’ll keep you posted.” He collected his things and headed for the door. “I’d like you all to come back to the dentists’ house at some point.” Before stepping out on the porch, he looked back at the group around the table. “I hope you know how much I appreciate all of you.”
When the door clicked shut, Courtney leaned forward and crossed her arms on the tabletop. “This is a nasty one. Revenge killings? Chief Martin thinks the murders were the result of revenge?” She groaned. “Revenge about what? What could two dentists have done to make someone so full of rage?”
“It might not be revenge,” Jenna said. “It might have been a random robbery. Well, maybe not random. The person must have planned it ahead of time and picked that house. The manor house is set back from the road with lots of trees around. The place is well-tended, there’s a sports car in the driveway. It gives the impression that the people living there have money. It would make a reasonable target for a robber.”
“The person must have watched the house.” Angie swallowed hard. “The person must have been familiar with the schedule the doctors kept.”
“This gives me the creeps.” Courtney’s blue eyes flashed. “Is someone watching our house? The Victorian gives the impression that we’re wealthy even though we aren’t. Someone could be planning to rob us.”
“No, someone isn’t planning to rob us.” Angie’s voice held a trace of tension.
“How do you know?” Courtney asked.
“Because. We’d sense it … or something.” Angie was clearly shook-up by the idea that what happened to the dentists could happen to them.
“I have the feeling the murder
s of Dr. Chase and Dr. Streeter were not random and did not involve robbery,” Finch said.
Everyone turned to the man with interest.
“Why don’t you think it was random?” Jenna asked. “Or motivated by robbery?”
“The chief didn’t come out and say it directly, but the implication was that the deaths were violent, hence he leans towards a revenge killing.”
“Yeah.” Courtney nodded. “I sensed anger at the house. Lots of it.” She traced her finger over the table. “There’s something about that car, too, but I don’t know what it is.” She looked at her sisters. “Did you pick up on anything about the car?”
Neither one had.
“I didn’t really pay attention to it,” Angie told them.
“My thoughts were on what happened inside the house,” Jenna told the group.
“We need more information,” Mr. Finch said. “We’re grasping at straws at the moment. When the chief meets with the investigatory team, he will have more to tell us.”
Angie added, “And when the sister of Dr. Streeter shows up later today, we’ll learn more about the couple by interacting with her.”
A knock on the bake shop door caused everyone to jump. Courtney’s boyfriend, Rufus, had his face pressed up close against the glass in the door. Betty Hayes, Mr. Finch’s girlfriend, stood slightly behind Rufus and gave them a wave.
When Angie unlocked the door, the two swept in.
“We met in the driveway,” Rufus explained. “We saw you through the windows.”
Betty, a successful Sweet Cove Realtor, hurried over to Finch and squeezed him tight in her arms. “Victor, have you heard the terrible news about the two town dentists? It’s simply terrible. Murdered in their own house.”
Angie took in a deep breath. News certainly traveled fast.
Rufus pulled up a chair next to Courtney and put his arm around her. “Did you hear about it? Did you know the people?”
Courtney explained that she’d been waiting in their reception room that morning due to her broken tooth and that the doctors never showed up to work.
“Oh, my.” Betty placed her hand at the side of her face. “You’re a patient in their practice? Which one of the doctors is your dentist?”
