Foliage and Fatality

by Karen Musser Nortman

  The group broke into applause and chatter. A young blonde woman standing by Max leaned over and said, “You’re Terry’s mother? You must be very proud. He’s done a great job.”

  “Actually, I’m his aunt—that’s his mother over there in the gray wig— but we are both proud of him.”

  The blonde held out a hand. “I’m Denise Jansen, by the way. I’m one of the local dentists, but I’ve worked with Terry on the food pantry committee.”

  “Nice to meet you. Where were you working tonight?”

  A man next to her, Vince something who Terry had said was a science teacher at the high school, said “Upstairs. She was my assistant. We had to keep that witch’s cauldron in the bathtub bubbling.”

  They sipped their wine and traded stories about their patrons in each area.

  A half hour later, they were in the car headed home.

  “We got so many compliments as people left,” Melody said. “They were really impressed.”

  Max sat forward from the front seat. “One woman asked me if I knew someone named Al Carson. She, of course, thought I was local. She said she met him on a cruise and thought he was from Burnsville. Do either of you know him?”

  Melody shook her head and looked at Terry. “I’ve never heard the name. Have you?”

  “No, and I know about everyone in town through the bank. Maybe she got the town wrong.”

  Ren, sitting between Max and Lil, bounced up and down. “We really scared one lady, didn’t we, Rival?”

  Rival, in the third seat, whooped. “We sure did! We thought she was gonna have a heart attack!”

  Terry smiled, “Well, we don’t want that. Then no one would come.”

  “But if she died, the house would really be haunted,” Rival said.

  “Let’s change the subject,” Melody said. “How about some popcorn when we get home?”

  Chapter Six

  Lil

  Terry came home early on Monday. “A customer this afternoon said some of the signs on the lane are down at the haunted house. Kids, I suppose. I’m going out to set them back up so we’ll be ready for tonight. It’s starting to cloud up; we may be in for some rain. That’ll probably keep the crowd down.”

  Lil closed the book she was reading. “I’ll help.” She looked pointedly at Max.

  A big sigh. “Sure.” Max hoisted herself up from the chaise lounge.

  Lil rolled her eyes. “Don’t put yourself out.” It had been a long day. Lil figured they were both bored, and therefore crabby.

  Terry looked from one to the other. “Really, I can handle it.”

  “Sorry I snapped. I need to do something.” Max smiled faintly.

  The sisters followed Terry out to his car, but despite Max’s apology, the atmosphere was still a little tense. As they drove, huge black clouds rolled in from the west. They arrived at the entrance to the lane and got out of the car. Lil put her hand to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness!”

  All of the signs had been knocked over into the lane. Most were bent and blown up against trees or under shrubs. The wind built, shaking loose leaves down and rattling branches. Lil looked up in alarm at a howl that came through the woods. The loose signs flopped and somersaulted as they rushed to pick them up.

  Max brought two back to Terry, breathing hard. “Where are those kids of yours when we need them?” She winked. “The ground isn’t as far away for them.”

  “True that.” Terry laid all of the signs in the trunk. “I think we’ll wait to put these back up when we leave. Maybe this will blow through. I want to check the house. Back in your chariot, ladies.”

  They drove up to the front of the house. The rain began with a vengeance. The screen door banged in the wind and the bats suspended from the porch ceiling whipped back and forth in a creepy life-like frenzy. Some of the fake cobwebs came loose and bunched together in non-life-like balls.

  Terry grabbed a flashlight from the glovebox. “Follow me.” He turned to look at them. “Unless you just want to wait here.”

  “We’re with you.” Lil pulled the hood of her raincoat up and opened her door. “I’m not staying here.”

  Max didn’t say anything but followed right behind the other two. They hurried into the house to get out of the rain. The porch floor seemed creakier, and the inside door screeched in protest as Terry pushed it open.

  “It wasn’t locked,” he said. “I wonder if I forgot last night.” He hit the old style push button light switch. Nothing happened. “The power must be out.”

  He aimed his flashlight around the entry. A small table by the stairs was tipped over, and the beam picked out glistening pieces of glass scattered on the floor and three black silk roses lying in the shards.

  Terry shook his head. “This isn’t good.” He opened the living room door and swept the light around the room. “Looks okay.” They made the same checks of the dining room and kitchen and found no damage in either room.

  “Do we need to check upstairs?” Lil asked.

  “I don’t know…it doesn’t look like…”

  Max interrupted. “Someone knocked the table over, and if they weren’t headed into the other rooms down here, they must have gone upstairs. Why would anyone come in, knock over a table, and leave again?”

  “You’re right. We’re here—we might as well check.” He headed up the stairs, aiming the light down at the steps, so the women didn’t miss their footing. Lil shuddered as she looked over her son’s shoulder at looming darkness above them.

  Max brought up the rear. “I hope they left the playroom alone. The kids would be crushed.”

  “You’re right,” Lil answered.

  Terry reached the top and started to head toward the playroom, but turned instead toward the small bedroom at the top of the stairs. He pushed the door open with his left arm and shined the flashlight at the woman in the chair.

  Lil peered over his shoulder and said, “I’m glad you took the axe out of her head.”

  Terry said nothing, just kept the light trained on the chair. He made a choking sound.

  “Terry? What’s the matter?” Lil looked up in her son’s face.

  “Mom, Aunt Max—maybe you should go back downstairs. No, wait, we only have one flashlight. Just stand over there.” He directed them away from the bedroom door with his light. But Lil strained to see what he didn’t want them to see and could feel Max pushing up behind her.

  Lil said, “I don’t understand. What is it, Terry?”

  Max put her hand to her mouth. “It’s a person, right? She was here last night with the bus tour.”

  Terry moved into the room with Max and Lil right behind him. He pulled out his phone as he neared the chair.

  The woman wore the same white dress as the manikin had been dressed in and blood streaked her face. Unlike the manikin, her mouth was closed. Her eyes were open and seemed to emanate fear.

  Max gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and gingerly felt the woman’s neck for a pulse. She looked at the others and shook her head. “No pulse.”

  Terry gave the police their location. “There’s a woman we believe is dead in place of one of the manikins we had in this haunted house project. Okay. Thank you.” He hung up.

  Terry took his mother’s arm. “Let’s go downstairs. There are a couple of kerosene lanterns in the kitchen. We’re going to need more light.”

  Tears ran down Lil’s face. “It doesn’t seem right to leave her.”

  “I know, but with one flashlight, we need to stick together. And whoever did this could still be around.”

  Lil’s mouth dropped open. She grabbed Max’s hand, and they followed her son down the stairs.

  By the time Terry found the lanterns in one of the kitchen cupboards and got them lit, they could hear sirens nearing the house. Intense flashlight beams pierced the darkness and rain, as heavy footsteps mounted the porch. Terry opened the door.

  “Come in, please.” He stood back as three officers entered, led by Josh Mansell. “Sorry to get you out in wea
ther like this, but I can’t believe this has happened.”

  The chief nodded at the women and turned back to Terry. “You said there’s a dead woman here? A real one?”

  Max wasn’t surprised at his question. It would have been her first response too.

  Terry pointed up the stairs. “The room at the top of the stairs. I need to call my wife and have her get the word out that we won’t be open tonight.”

  Chief Mansell nodded. “All right. An ambulance crew should be here any minute just in case there’s any chance for her.” He led the way up the stairs. His heavy-duty flashlight lit up more of the stairwell, helped by those of the other two officers.

  Terry got Melody on the phone and told her what they had found. He repeated it a couple of times; it was obvious that Melody was having a hard time grasping the news. Then they talked about how to best notify the public of the change in the schedule.

  “Call Camille first; I’m sure she has some ideas. Becky Schultz sends out that chamber newsletter each week to all of the club presidents and others for them to share. Maybe she could use that list.” A pause. “Okay, I’ll call you after the police leave.”

  Another siren announced the arrival of the ambulance. Terry went to the front door to direct them.

  Max and Lil stood in the kitchen around one of the lanterns, still in shock. The surreal event, the dim light, the indistinct voices and shuffling noises from upstairs all contributed to a pervasive chill.

  Finally Max said, “I keep thinking how much worse it would have been if someone with small children had discovered that—her.”

  Lil shook her head and rubbed her arms. “It would have been Ren and Rival. They always go upstairs as soon as we get here. We were lucky that the problem with the signs brought us here early.”

  Terry came back in the kitchen and said to Max, “You recognized the woman?”

  “I don’t know her name, but she was with the bus tour last night. She’s the person who asked if I knew a local man—I can’t think of the name now—but I asked you about him last night. You said you’d never heard of him.”

  “Right. I can’t remember the name either right now, but keep thinking.” He scrolled through his phone. “Here’s the name and number of the tour person—I need to write that down for the police.” He opened another cupboard and pulled out a small notebook.

  They turned toward the entry hall at the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. Chief Mansell walked into the kitchen, shaking his head. “I never expected something like this in this town. Do you know her?”

  “No, but my aunt, Max, says she was in the bus tour group that came through here last night.” He handed Mansell the slip of paper. “This is the name and number of the tour guide. You’ll have to get her to make the identification.”

  Mansell looked up from the paper at Terry. “Do you know if they’re still in town?”

  “Yes. They were going to tour the brewery and the museum today and some of the shops tomorrow. They’re staying at the Hilltop Inn.”

  The chief stuck the paper in his shirt pocket. “We’ll have to call in the state crime lab. We’re not equipped to handle something like this. Can you keep the house off limits until then?”

  “Yes. I’m not sure we’ll even want to open again. The Board will decide, I think.”

  “Who has keys?”

  “I do, of course, and Camille Bamford.” He ticked names off on his fingers. “Patsy Johnson, the school liason. Art Carnel. Tom Muller. Trish Yoder. That’s it.”

  “Would you make a list of those people? I will need to check and see if they all have theirs and if any of them were here today. And I’ll need a key to the house.”

  “I’ll do that. You can have my key, and we’ll get out of here so that you can lock up when we leave.” Terry pulled the key off a ring and handed it to the chief. “Is there anything else?”

  “Just a couple of other questions.” Mansell turned to Max. “You visited with this woman?”

  “Very briefly.” Max explained about taking Art’s place reading in the garden. “When I finished, she asked me if I knew a man from Burnsville whom she had met on a cruise. She assumed I was local, you see. I told her I was only visiting and knew very few people here, but when I asked Terry later, he had never heard the name either.”

  Josh Mansell raised one eyebrow and pulled a note pad and pen out of his pocket. “What was the man’s name?”

  Maxine shrugged. “We were just talking about that. Neither of us can remember. Sorry. Anyway, then she left.”

  More footsteps on the stairs signaled the ambulance crew removing the woman’s body.

  Chief Mansell conferred with the other two police officers.

  One raised a large camera. “Difficult to get good pictures with the power out. Benton finally got a big spotlight out of the car so we’re okay.”

  “Good,” Mansell said. He nodded at Terry, Max, and Lil as they went out the front door.

  Terry started the car but didn’t put it in gear. Thunder crashed around them and the wind still howled.

  He wiped the raindrops off his face. “Wow. I didn’t know the woman, but it’s a horrible thing. She probably has family and friends, wherever she’s from, but all I can think of right now, is how am I going to tell the kids?” He looked across at Lil.

  She patted his hand and said, “Maybe Mel already did.”

  Chapter Seven

  Max

  But Melody hadn’t. “I just told them we wouldn’t be open tonight because of the weather.” She looked at Terry apologetically. “I wimped out.”

  “That’s fine.” He hugged her. “We’ll figure something out together. Where are they?”

  “Upstairs watching a video. So who is this woman? Do you know?”

  “No,” Max said. “Remember last night when I asked if you knew some man from Burnsville. Neither Terry nor I can remember the name. The woman who died is the one who was asking.”

  “Oh, you mean Al Carson?” Melody asked.

  Max snapped her fingers. “That’s it. How did you remember that?”

  “It made me think of Al Carstenson, who was in my high school class,” Melody said. “But I’ve never heard of Al Carson. You said she met him on a cruise?”

  “That’s what she said. I’m thinking maybe he was a sleaze who gave her a fake name and town.”

  “I wondered about that, too,” Melody said.

  Terry got out his phone. “I should give that name to Mansell. Maybe someone in her group knows what cruise line, and they could track him down. Kind of suspicious that she starts asking about a non-existent person and then is found dead.” He put his phone away. “Voicemail. I think I’ll drive to the Inn. I’m sure that’s where the chief is, and I should also express condolences to the tour group on behalf of the bank.”

  Max said, “I’d like to ride along.”

  Terry raised his eyebrows. “Doing a little sleuthing? I heard you were solving murders at the reunion last summer.”

  “Murder. Singular. And I didn’t solve it on my own. Your mother helped. But seriously, I think it must be a terrible shock. Sometimes people become pretty close on those bus trips.”

  Lil said, “I’ll go too. Is that little bakery still open? We could pick up some treats for them.”

  Terry looked at his watch. “They would be closed by now. Besides, the Hilltop Inn, where they’re staying, has the best-baked stuff in town. Let’s just go express our sympathy.”

  The wind was still howling and rain lashed the sides of the house. Terry had pulled his car into the garage so they didn’t have to go back out in the weather, and when they arrived at the Hilltop Inn, they were able to park under the portico. They still hurried to the door to minimize drenching by what seemed like sideways sheets of water.

  The door opened into a traditional entry hall with a wide staircase. A stooped man in a too-big flannel shirt looked up in surprise as he was about to turn into a double doorway carrying a tray of coffee cups. He s
eemed somewhat feeble and unassuming; Max was reminded of the many nervous characters played by Don Knotts. Yet incongruously, he appeared to have broad shoulders under the loose shirt. His face was pleasant and he squinted in their direction.

  “Oh, Terry! It’s you, isn’t it? Come in and get those wet things off.” He set the tray down on a sideboard and reached for their coats. A hall tree in the corner provided space for the dripping garments.

  “Mother, Aunt Max—this is Wendell Welter, the owner of the Hilltop. Wendell, my mother, Lil Garrett and my aunt Maxine. I assume the bus group has gotten the bad news?”

  Wendell picked up the tray again. Max noticed his hands shook. “They’re in the living room. Chief Mansell arrived a little bit ago and told them. Such an awful thing.” He shook his head and then got almost a smirk on his face. “I told the Chamber I thought that haunted house was a bad idea. I was right.” He led the way through the double door.

  People stood or sat in groups, hugging each other, patting others on the back, and shaking their heads. Several women cried visibly. Chief Mansell stood in one corner with a pad and paper talking to a thin well-dressed woman, who Max recognized as the tour director.

  The chief looked up at Terry and the women as they entered and motioned them over.

  The tour director gave Terry a thin smile. “Do you know yet what happened?” Her tone held suspicion.

  Terry shook his head. “We have no idea. It was a shock to us all.”

  Chief Mansell said, “Maybe you and I could find a little more privacy to talk to Ms. Tarrington. Wendell, could we use one of the other rooms?”

  Wendell, who had been setting up the coffee cups by a large chrome pot nearby, nodded. “Of course. Follow me.”

  Max and Lil moved out of the way. “I don’t think we were invited,” Lil muttered.

  “Definitely not. But we can certainly talk to the others.” Max led the way to three women standing by the window, one dabbing at her eyes with a wadded up tissue.

  One woman said, “Oh! Aren’t you the one who read the stories in the garden last night?”