Charity Shop Haunted Mysteries

by Katherine Hayton

  “Give me the phone and I’ll call Slim and the gang,” Crystal said. Her words came between pants as well but of the two, she was slightly fitter.

  A minute later, a sound of wrenching metal greeted them from the other side and Pig pulled open the stairwell door. “The police are going to town with the bribes,” he said, staying behind to shove a metal crowbar back into place. “I reckon they’re stalling to get their men into position. We won’t have long.”

  Emily remembered the room from her earlier visit and hurried there as quickly as her legs could carry her. The sight of Sheryl hooked up to the implacable machines warmed her heart, where before it had been enough to make her blood run cold.

  The woman was alive. That was all that mattered.

  If the spell worked, she’d soon be a lot better off.

  “You’ll have to read it out,” Emily told Crystal, nodding her head. “If I need to do something with the puzzle, let me know.”

  Crystal opened the book, flipping through the pages. “Put the box by her head,” she ordered. “And no laughing at my pronunciation.”

  With a deep breath, she began.

  “I don’t think it’s worked,” Emily said, her voice half lost to a sob. They’d run through the spell, following the instructions with Wanda correcting them when they strayed. After the final words were spoken, the two women had bowed their heads and stepped back, waiting for the miracle.

  Ten minutes later, nothing had changed.

  “How long should it take?” Emily shot a nervous glance toward the corridor where the men from the Mortal Guises gang paced back and forth.

  Wanda leaned over her sister, peering intently at the unconscious woman’s face. “I don’t know. I’ve never done anything like this before. Well…” Her voice faltered.

  “Well, what?” Cynthia asked. Her tone was sharp, and Emily wondered if she was still feeling miffed about the staff exit door.

  “I tried it on a bunny rabbit once. But it didn’t really have a lot going on upstairs, to begin with.”

  Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Cynthia had no such compunction.

  “After all the struggle to get here, the least I expected was for her to gasp and sit up. That’s what they do in all the movies, isn’t it?”

  Crystal slung an arm around Emily’s waist and hugged her. “I promise, we’ll stay here for as long as we can and recite that spell as many times as we need to.”

  Wanda reached out a shaking hand and let a tiny whisper of energy reach out to caress her sister’s cheek.

  Sheryl gasped and sat bolt upright.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I’ve never come out here since the ceremony,” Emily said, placing a bouquet on her parents shared crematorium plot. “I didn’t think of myself as the sentimental type.”

  Harvey put an arm around her shoulders. “Nor me. It’s funny what seeing someone again, just for a second, can do to your emotions. I must’ve dreamed about Mum and Dad more in this past week than I have in years.”

  The ceremonial gardens were in the first flush of autumn. The trees alternated between evergreen and deciduous with leaves showcasing all the colours of the rainbow.

  Emily thought it was strange how dead things could be so beautiful. The mixture of yellows, browns, oranges and reds were as vibrant as any bunch of spring flowers yet heralded the opposite end of the life.

  “If we hurry, we’ll have time for a cup of tea before we need to meet the real estate agent.” She smacked her lips, tea now being a code-word for Harvey’s baking.

  Her brother opened the passenger side door for her before moving around to the other side. He’d taken up the mantle of driver. Although Emily might protest at some time in the future—she’d lost enough skills without letting the ones she did have atrophy—for the time being it was nice to have someone else navigate.

  “I hope the owner’s willing to negotiate.” Harvey frowned as he stopped at an intersection. “If they’re set on their asking price, it just feels like I’m wasting everyone’s time.”

  Emily opened her mouth to say something—words she’d practised every night for the past week—then gasped instead. “Is that Terrence at the doorway?”

  She fumbled for the handle and climbed out of the car, not caring for her lack of grace. “Howdy, stranger,” she called out, waving. “What are you doing back here?”

  “It’s where my house is, remember?” Terrence moved over to give Emily a kiss on each cheek. He mimicked the French style of greeting but rather than air-kissing, he landed those suckers hard enough to count.

  “We saw it for sale,” Emily said, laughing. “So, you’re not going to get away with that for an explanation.”

  “I’ve got to clear everything up before the open days.” Terrence rolled his eyes and stuck his thick tongue out. “At this rate, I’ll be worked to death before we get halfway through the move to Christchurch.”

  “When are they discharging Sheryl?” Emily pulled a seat out at the dining table and hurried through to the kitchen to fetch the Afghan biscuits Harvey had baked the previous night. To her mixed surprise and shame, they were half gone. Eating in front of the television was a habit she really had to stop.

  Terrence was halfway through a biscuit before he swallowed and answered the question. “Once she passes the physical fitness exam at the end of this week, they’ll sign her out. If she doesn’t pass, I think Sheryl will just walk out against all medical advice.”

  “She’s been there long enough,” Emily said with a firm nod of empathy. “Good on her if she does take a stand.”

  “Except it means I need to get everything ready.” Terrence swallowed hard and screwed up his mouth. “I’m not sure anything will be where it needs to be.”

  “She’s in physical recovery.” Emily gave a chuckle. “I doubt she’ll care if the house is a bit messy.”

  “If she’s trying to use a wheelchair to get about for the first few weeks, she’ll care. It could be even longer until her leg muscles are developed enough to support her weight.”

  Emily stroked the long muscles of her thighs as they twitched in sympathy. “As long as you’re around to shift stuff when she yells at you, it won’t matter.”

  Terrence rolled his eyes. “Wow. You make cohabitation sound so appealing.”

  “When it’s the right person, it is.” Emily smiled and leaned across the table to poke Harvey’s arm.

  “How’s Agnetha doing?” her brother asked.

  “Still no sign of brain activity.” Terrence gave a large sigh and rubbed his temple. The hairs there were thinning, a sign he should probably lose that gesture from his repertoire. “The hospital has arranged a meeting later in the month. I guess, if there’s no change, it’ll be up to me and my parents to come to a decision.”

  When the dust had settled from the battle, Agnetha and Jake had both been left unconscious. Although Jake had rallied sooner than anyone would like, Terrence’s sister hadn’t been so lucky. As Sheryl was preparing to give up her residency of the hospital ward, Agnetha was taking her place.

  “If you need the help of a lawyer, I know a good one. He’ll be able to talk you through the entire process and offer support along the way.”

  Although the motion Gareth had drawn up for her had been overturned, and quickly, Emily believed Agnetha’s powers had more to do with that than a lack of skill on his part. It might take some of the professional sting away if he could perform the same activity without any mystical intervention.

  “Slim dropped by yesterday,” Terrence said after a short pause. “He and the gang think the police have finally given up the chase.”

  Emily smiled in relief. “Thank goodness.”

  Once it became clear the spell had worked, and Sheryl was back in the land of the living, the trouble the group was facing for getting to that point moved to centre stage.

  “I thought for sure the police would nab us as we left,” Terrence said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Slim didn�
�t even hesitate.”

  “I think he might be on far better acquaintance with the police than most people,” Emily said, then blushed. She was also on a first-name basis with the local officers—hardly in a position to cast judgement on others.

  On the night, they’d stacked a row of chairs near the windows where the gang members had been standing guard. With bedspreads on top, the mock-humans wouldn’t stay undiscovered for long, but they’d hoped it would gain enough time to slip down the stairs and out the back to escape.

  Slim and the rest of the Mortal Guises had the foresight to wear balaclavas when they stormed the nurse’s station and locked the on-duty staff into a cleaner’s closet. Although Emily hated to think how much fear they must have engendered in the innocent hospital workers, it didn’t tip the scales far enough to regret saving Sheryl’s life.

  CCTV should have been more of a problem but luckily Wanda’s talent with electricity wiped clean the recordings from the machine and the backup hard drive. The only car within spotting distance by the police was Emily’s. Harvey was safe from accusation, driving it around the block until Crystal signalled him, mission accomplished.

  Emily had chosen to stay at Sheryl’s bedside. Somebody had to be there to help fashion the events of the night differently from the reality. She’d spent many hours in a police cell, both in Christchurch and back in Pinetar, explaining that she hadn’t seen any police blocking the entrance. She’d come to visit, couldn’t find any staff on hand, then Sheryl woke up—it’s a miracle!

  By the time Sergeant Winchester finished his last interview, he was so exasperated she’d almost laughed. Luckily, a bite on her bottom lip put a stop to that. She couldn’t imagine the merriment would have been well received.

  “I’m just glad Wanda was able to put her talents to good use,” Emily said, smiling. “If we had to pin a crime on anybody, I’m happy it could be Jake.”

  As Wanda explained, it was a simple push technique to change the story coming out of someone’s mouth. The trick wasn’t the problem. What caused her many hours of worry was ensuring she was across all the interviews happening in all the police stations. In the first days after the event, she’d hopped between seven different rooms, managing to keep them all straight. That alone was a feat to be celebrated.

  Despite Sergeant Winchester’s misgivings, the official version of events on the record was that Jake had turned up at the hospital, manic, and locked all the staff into a room. Although the policemen who’d first attended the callout insisted they’d seen more than one figure in the windows on that floor, one by one they retracted those statements, something in their memories shifting to accept an alternative scenario.

  With all the eye-witnesses eventually coming around to the same story, there was little the police could do but turn the evidence over to the prosecution. Jake the Snake was in custody, awaiting a hearing on his plea.

  Wanda would have a few more trips to court in her future but given what the man had done to her sister with Agnetha’s help, she was more than willing to do whatever it took.

  “Oh. I almost forgot.” Terrence pulled a puzzle box out of his jacket pocket. “Sheryl insisted I give this back to you. She said it’s only fair since you paid good money for the thing.”

  Emily turned the wooden toy over in her hand, holding it up to catch the light. Nothing about it drew her attention now. If this was sitting at the auction house today, she wouldn’t even look twice.

  Still, it could sit on the mantelpiece. Maybe, one day, a visitor would take it down and ask for the story behind it.

  “I should be heading off, now,” Terrence said with reluctance in his voice. “Honestly, I don’t know how the house managed to fill up with so much stuff. Sometimes I think there’ll never be enough boxes to pack it all.”

  “Well, you know the charity shop accepts donations, twenty-four seven. I’m happy to come out to your home and help you sort your belongings if you’re willing to gift us everything you don’t want to keep.”

  “That’s a good point. I’ll keep it in mind.”

  As she and Harvey waved goodbye on the front step, her watch relayed the time.

  “Goodness, we’d better get a move on. Bryant will wonder where on earth we are and sell the place to somebody else.”

  “He’ll probably end up doing that anyway,” Harvey said with a sigh. “I really can’t scrape together all that much and without a permanent job, the bank isn’t likely to lend me money.”

  “The job with Crystal might be short on hours at the moment, but I’m certain it’ll grow to a full-time role, soon enough.”

  Unlike Harvey, Crystal’s brush with the ghostly population of Pinetar hadn’t left her when the door between realms closed. Emily could no longer lay claim to being the only true medium in the township.

  It was early days, but it seemed certain her mediumship business would continue to expand. She’d already enlisted Harvey to act as secretary. Not a job he’d been trained for but one he enjoyed.

  “Even if it doesn’t, I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you occupied around here.” Emily hooked her arm through his. “And I’ve been thinking, it’s silly for us to maintain two houses if we’re both planning on staying in Pinetar.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Emily giggled at the worried expression on her brother’s face. Harvey did always seem determined to look on the bad side of any situation.

  Just like a big brother should.

  “I mean, if we both like the house, then I’m quite happy to put mine on the market and share the cost with you. It’ll be silly for you to try to find a flatmate or live forever on my couch when we can share a perfectly good home.”

  A wary smile crept across Harvey’s face. “Are you sure? This is a big commitment, you know. If we have a gigantic falling out, we’ll be stuck with each other until we can sell again.”

  “I don’t think that’ll happen, but if it does, I volunteer to paint a line down the middle of every room.”

  Harvey rolled his eyes. “We haven’t even taken a look at the place and already you’re redecorating.”

  Emily laughed, then pulled on her brother’s arm to stop him. She looked him squarely in the face. “Would you like to buy a house together?”

  When he nodded, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. Colour spread up his cheeks, and he nudged her away.

  “You’ll ruin my reputation as a hard man if there’s anyone watching.”

  She snorted in amusement and turned back to the path. “Reputation’s nothing. Family is everything.”

  Also by Katherine Hayton

  Sundial D for Death (Dog Yoga Mysteries)

  Downward Dog (Dog Yoga Mysteries)

  Miss Hawthorne Sits for a Spell (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  Mr Wilmott Gets Old School (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  Mrs Pettigrew Sees a Ghost (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  A Bed for Suite Dreams (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  A Stay With Reservations (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  A Job of Inn Dependence (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  The Double Dip (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  The Honey Trap (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  The Buzz Kill (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries – Books 1-6

  Hibiscus Homicide (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Keeping Mums (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Orange Juiced (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Deathbed of Roses (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Berry Murderous (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Pushing Up Daisies (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  The Sweet Baked Mysteries - Books 1-6

  Cinnamon and Sinfulness (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Raspberries and Retaliation (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Pumpkin Spice & Poisoning (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Blueberries and Bereavement (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Strawberries and Suffering (Sweet Baked Myst
ery)

  Cupcakes and Conspiracies (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  The Only Secret Left to Keep (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  The Second Stage of Grief (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  Christchurch Crime Thriller Boxset

  Breathe and Release (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  Skeletal (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  Found, Near Water (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  About the Author

  Katherine Hayton is a middle-aged woman who works in insurance, doesn't have children or pets, can't drive, has lived in Christchurch her entire life, and currently resides a two-minute walk from where she was born.

  For some reason, she's developed a rich fantasy life.

  www.katherinehayton.com