The Mushroom Mystery

by Agnes Lester Brown

  “Don’t worry, Gran, we’re here for you,” Lori said. “We Whitewoods always stand together, through thick and thin.” Then something struck Lori. “Did Justus know you’re a witch?”

  “Oh yes, he knew,” Fae answered without hesitation. She waved her hand around the room. “Bit difficult to hide it, right? He was enlightened enough to accept that, and even encouraged me to experiment.” She sighed. “I still can’t believe he came back, only to be gone again so soon.”

  Lori had never before seen Fae so vulnerable and emotional. She was used to her grandmother being thick skinned, impulsive, prone to sarcasm, and fiery, but never realized she could react so viciously when hurt. From the way she talked, it was clear that Justus was her first and last love. It would be totally plausible that, in a moment of recklessness, she poisoned him, she thought as she watched Fae drift off to sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time in history that a woman killed a lover rather than lose them forever. It wasn’t called a crime of passion for nothing. And how much did Justus and Matt discuss the Whitewood family? How much of what he knew did Justus tell Matt? What if Matt already knew she was a witch? She sat with Fae a while longer and then tucked her in before going back to her own room.

  Lori tried to fall asleep, but she kept mulling over the possible scenarios that could befall them. First there was the worst one: Granny ending up in jail. Perhaps they’d let her off because of old age. But, if she was guilty, that would be murder in the first degree. She visualized her granny strapped down in an electric chair. Lori grabbed her pillow, shut her eyes tightly, and forced herself to think of something else, but sleep remained elusive. Finally, in the very early hours of the morning, Trixi jumped on her bed and started purring in Lori’s ear, lulling her to sleep.

  Lori wrinkled her nose in her sleep as the aroma of freshly made coffee slowly reached her senses. She forced her eyes open. Jasmine stood next to her bed with a tray holding two cups and a bowl. “I thought you’d like a cup of coffee and shortbread to start the day,“ Jasmine said.

  Lori propped herself up and smiled. ”You read my mind. Sit down.“ She patted the bed.

  Jasmine looked at Lori with her large, chestnut brown eyes. ”So, what’s going to happen to Granny now?“

  Lori didn’t really want to talk about it over her first cup of coffee for the day so she answered, ”She may get taken in for further questioning, depending on the Chief’s whims.“

  ”Do you think Gran killed the professor?“ Jasmine asked.

  ”It certainly looks that way at the moment. Perhaps she didn’t do it intentionally. If it comes to that, I hope that’s the story the jury will believe.“ Jasmine looked wide-eyed at Lori, shocked by her words. Then Lori thought of her conversation with Matt the previous day. ”But Matt has a few theories of his own.“

  ”Like?“

  ”I can’t talk about it. They’re pretty far-off and vague speculations. Between you and me, I don’t know what his intentions are. I sometimes wonder if he’s being completely honest with me.“

  ”You can trust him. He has a soft spot for you,“ Jasmine said with a twinkle in her eyes.

  ”We work well together, that’s all,“ Lori said. But she trusted Jasmine’s instincts at the same time. Besides, she felt bad about the way she’d fobbed him off the previous day. At that moment, she’d thought he was just trying to make her feel better. But perhaps he was genuinely putting forward an alternative explanation for Justus’ death. She still had trouble thinking of the way he died as murder. Lori gave Jasmine a long hug. ”That’s for the coffee. About Matt, that’s just business.“

  Lori skipped her morning mirror ritual and dressed quickly, after which she hurried to the Misty Hills Inn where she found Matt having breakfast in the dining room.

  ”Hi,“ Lori said, watching his reaction. Matt smiled and beckoned for her to sit down.

  ”I spoke to Ray earlier. He’s talking to the inn’s staff and convention delegates to try and find out if anyone saw Fae mixing Justus’ muesli. Seems like the chief is still convinced it was lover’s revenge.“

  She smiled wryly. ”Hopefully, none of the guests shared Justus’ last breakfast. Else some of them may by now be hopelessly in love, or dead.”

  Matt laughed at her dark humor. Lori cell phone rang. “Speak of the devil,” she said before answering.

  Chief Lambert was his normal, formal self with her. “Can you meet me at your house in half an hour?”

  “Of c-course,” Lori stammered and hung up.

  “Lori, you’re as white as a sheet. What’d he say?” Matt asked, concerned. “Anything I can do?”

  Lori fought back the tears. “He’s coming to the house, probably to arrest Granny.” She swallowed hard. Matt put down his knife and fork and downed his fruit juice.

  “I’m coming with you.” Before Lori could protest he’d grabbed his jacket and was waiting to follow her outside.

  Chief Lambert was standing at the Whitewood Manor’s garden gate when Lori and Matt arrived. He tipped his hat at Lori as they approached and greeted Matt cordially. This is a strange change of behavior.

  Inside the house, they found Fae sitting in the dining room. She’d donned some makeup and had exchanged her arty dreamcatcher earrings for a pair of tiny diamond studs. She wore a stoic expression on her face. “Well, let’s go get this over with,” she simply said before the chief could open his mouth. “Lori told me you were coming, so here I am.” She looked resigned to her fate.

  Chief Lambert cleared his throat. “No, ma’am. I’m not here to arrest you.”

  Fae looked confused. “You mean to say that old fool is still alive?”

  For the first time Lori saw the chief crack a tiny smile before resuming his normal serious demeanor. ”No, I’m afraid he’s still dead. But the autopsy report shows that Professor Sproutley didn’t die of poisoning. He was suffocated and died of cardiac arrest at that point, which is why we didn’t pick up any signs of it. Whatever you gave him to eat,“ he continued, ”merely caused a very bad case of indigestion. Since I don’t believe you had any intention to kill him, and because lovers’ quarrels are not my jurisdiction, you’re no longer a suspect in the murder of Justus Sproutley.“ With that he turned and left the room before anyone could ask questions.

  Lori felt the stresses of the past days melt away as she hugged Fae. She had never felt so relieved in her life before. ”See, I told you Granny was innocent.“ Matt beamed, but Lori hardly heard him.

  ”I guess my potions and spells don’t work anymore,“ Fae said in mock resignation. Then she frowned and tapped her walking stick on the floor repeatedly. ”I hope the police catch whoever killed my Justus! I need to put a spell on that wicked man!“

  Lori chuckled. “Granny’s just kidding around. She likes to think she’s a witch.” Fae glowered at her but said nothing, while Matt merely looked amused.

  Lori and Matt retreated to the kitchen to make coffee. ”I suppose your theory around Justus’ discovery of a mushroom species and someone wanting to kill him for it now makes sense,“ Lori said as she filled the kettle.

  Matt took cups from the cupboard and sounded concerned as he spoke. ”Rumors and conspiracy theories are now being debated during tea breaks at the convention. Hopefully the chief will be a little more open to us working together to catch the killer as soon as possible.“

  Lori didn’t reply. She felt unconvinced that they’d won the chief’s trust. In fact, she was quite happy to back out of the whole saga now that Fae was off the hook. On the other hand, she couldn’t leave Matt to figure this out on his own after he’d believed so much in Fae’s innocence. ”Let’s share your suspicions about someone being after the professor’s new specimen with him,“ Lori said, and Matt agreed it was a good place to start. Hopefully the chief would be more amenable to listening to them now.

  The two of them decided to pass by the police station on the way back to the convention to talk to Chief Lambert. They found Ray at his desk poring over the autops
y report, but no sign of the chief. Ray was his normal, friendly self when he greeted them. Lori wondered for a moment what it would be like if Rosie settled down with Ray. A witch and a policeman. Now there was a powerful crime solving team.

  ”The chief hasn’t been in all morning,“ Ray said. ”I’d have thought he would have gone to your house, Lori, to let your granny know she’s off the hook.“

  ”Yeah, he was there earlier, but he didn’t say much about the case other than it was strangulation,“ Lori said. She sometimes wondered how the two policemen with such different temperaments worked together, seemingly well. She looked at the autopsy report on Ray’s desk. ”What’s your take on that?“ She knew Ray would be a lot more forthcoming with information than the Chief.

  ”Well, by the look of things, the killer entered the room with a duplicate key, because Justus was asleep and there’s no sign of a struggle. It must have been shortly after Dr. Crutchley left the room. It’s also possible that he, or she, knocked and Justus opened the door and saw someone familiar. It seems he was suffocated with hardly any evidence showing exactly what happened. That points to whoever it was being a professional. Apart from that, there are no other fingerprints in the room other than those belonging to Professor Sproutley. The guy cleaned up after himself very thoroughly.“

  Matt and Lori listened to Ray intently, digesting what he said. His report deepened the mystery, but at least it was a good start to the investigation.

  ”We better get back to the convention, but thanks for the thorough briefing, it sounds like good police work,“ Matt said and shook Ray’s hand.

  Ray beamed. He appreciated the approval. ”Tell Rosie I said hello," he called after them as they left his office.

  “Let’s go ask Nick if we can look at footage from the security cameras,” Matt said as they walked the few blocks from the police station to the Misty Hills Inn, and Lori agreed it was a good idea.

  However Chief Lambert had already beaten them to it. He was sitting in Nick’s office as they arrived, staring intently at a bank of video screens against one wall of the room.

  “Come in,” Nick said and beckoned for them to enter and sit down. “I was just explaining to the chief that we’ve discovered the security camera on the first floor where the professor’s room is was tampered with. Unfortunately, all footage after Dr. Crutchley left is completely blank.”

  “It looks like it was done by a professional,” the chief added, confirming what Ray said. “This was someone who knew what he was doing. Whoever it was had planned to eliminate the professor, and him coming down with a stomach ailment only provided an ideal opportunity.” He looked at Nick. “I hope you’ve replaced the camera, as a precaution.”

  To Matt that sounded like a good point to enter the conversation. “Chief, can we have word with you please?” Chief Lambert shrugged but joined Lori and Matt in the inn’s lounge where they sat down in a quiet corner. Matt went over the details of Justus’ discovery and the substantial repercussions it could have, not only in the academic community, but for the world at large. He then spoke about the rivalry among botanists and how that may have led to Justus’ untimely death.

  The whole time, Lori watched the chief to gauge his attitude towards the new information, but he showed no emotion. This guy is a hard nut to crack.

  “You’re not giving me much to go on,” the Chief said at last. “But let’s start by looking at that specimen you’re talking about.” He shook his head. “I wish you’d told me about this earlier.”

  Lori followed the two men up the stairs. The room still looked the same as when she’d first seen it— neat and tidy. The bed linens were missing, probably taken by police forensics. The black specimen case still stood against the wall, exactly as she’d seen it before. Matt opens the cupboard with the safe and punched in a code. The door swung up revealing nothing inside. The mushroom specimen was gone.

  Chapter Nine

  For a moment Lori and Matt stared at the empty safe in disbelief. Matt threw his hands in the air and groaned. “This is a disaster. It was still here yesterday, and no one has the lock combination except me. Well, Justus, of course, had it too,” he added.

  “When did you last see it?” Lori asked, more for the benefit of Matt and Chief Lambert than herself. Part of her couldn’t care less about one extra type of mushroom in the world. But she felt sorry for Matt, who by now looked like he was on the verge of tears.

  “I… I packed it in the case back at the laboratory at the university. After I handed the case to Professor Sproutley, I never saw it again. I was so shocked when I discovered him dead that it never crossed my mind to look inside the case, because I didn’t suspect foul play.”

  “Any ideas about who might have taken it?” The chief held his pen over his notebook, waiting for Matt to answer.

  Matt thought about it for a moment. “Like I said, the academic world is filled with rivalry, but none so intense that I ever thought it would lead to someone getting killed.”

  The chief looked irritated. “Let me put it another way. Who would benefit most from the Professor’s death and the theft of the specimen?”

  Matt hesitated before speaking. He didn’t like being put on the spot like this. From the way he spoke of his work Lori knew he’d rather talk about his colleagues’ achievements than guess who may have done his mentor in. ”Probably Professor Sproutley’s colleague, Austin Pearce,“ he said after some hesitation. ”For many years they worked together very well, but then Professor Sproutley won a major fellowship, and changed their relationship… well, it wasn’t the same after that, I think. He started boycotting Professor Sproutley’s work, even locking him out of the laboratory at one point.“ He watched the chief scribbling away. ”Not that I think Dr. Pearce could ever do a callous deed like this,“ he added.

  The chief said something under his breath and stopped writing. ”We’ve already interviewed Dr. Pearce, and he has an alibi for the time of the murder. And he was full of praise for the deceased. We don’t have anything factual that proves he was involved.“ He put his notebook away. “Let me know if you think of anyone else who had a motive.” He waved both of them to the door. “Let’s go so Ray can lock up.”

  Lori and Matt went downstairs to the lounge area and slumped into two chairs. It was morning tea time, and the lounge was filled with convention delegates standing around having drinks and snacks.

  “Is the Convention program continuing today?” Lori asked as she watched the delegates.

  “No,” Matt replied. “The chief is still conducting interviews, so only informational discussions are going on. I must say, up to now, the townspeople, and especially your Aunt Hazel and cousins, have been doing a splendid job keeping everyone fed and happy.”

  Lori nodded. Then she leaned forward. “Okay, let’s take stock of the situation. My granny is no longer under suspicion, we have a suspect with an ‘alibi’ — but who knows how solid that is—and not much else to go on.“ She looked out the window and saw Chief Lambert crossing the street. ”And, a police chief who enjoys treating us like kids,“ she added.

  Matt nodded in agreement and ordered coffee for them. For a while they sat in silence. Suddenly he perked up. ”Okay, I have an idea.“ He looked around at the delegates in the lounge. ”But it’s better if we talked about it in private. Mind if we discussed it in my room?“

  Lori smiled. Matt looked so bashful, as if he were asking her on a date. ”Of course not. Let’s go.“

  Before he opened his bedroom door for Lori to enter, Matt peeked inside. Relieved that he’d cleaned the room before he left, he stood aside for Lori to enter. He opened the curtains and a stream of light lit up the room.

  Lori sized up the room. She’d gotten to know Matt well in a work situation, and was now hoping to spot clues about the Matt-behind-the-scenes guy. She glanced around the painfully neat and tidy room. A mushroom field guide lay on his bedside table. A map of Fennelmoore and the surrounding land was spread out on the desk. A la
rge, red X covered the Emerald Forest on the map, and several small circles were drawn over other areas. Matt was clearly an outdoors type of guy and had been exploring around. Small wonder they bumped into each other in the fields. Or, was he looking for something specific?

  Lori sat down on the bed next to Matt. ”So what’s your plan?”

  “We need something that’ll put pressure on the killer. So, we create an event or a scenario where he may unwittingly say or do something that’ll incriminate himself, or at least give us more ideas as to who it may be.” Matt’s sudden enthusiasm was infectious, and Lori’s face brightened up.

  “How about that field trip you spoke of, wouldn’t that be…”

  Matt beamed as he interrupted her. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. There’s a strong possibility that Fennelmoore’s forests are where Professor Sproutley found his specimen of the Halo mushroom. Imagine if someone finds another specimen. It may force the thief who took the one from the professor’s room to make a reckless mistake.” He’d moved in closer to Lori as they spoke, and their shoulders touched.

  As soon Lori felt that happen, she got up. ”Okay, you let the delegates know the details of the field trip, and I’ll work on some of the logistics.“ She looked at the door, and then smiled apologetically at Matt. ”Sorry, I have to go check on the shop, but we’ll talk about it later. See you." With that, she almost ran out Matt’s room before he could say a word.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, a group of enthusiastic academics wearing comfortable shoes, day packs, and an assortment of colorful hats could be seen standing outside the entrance to the Misty Hills Inn. After sitting in lecture halls listening to presentation after presentation, then waiting for the police to do their jobs, the Mushroom Convention delegates were more than ready to spend the morning ambling through the scenic forests outside Fennelmoore and breathe fresh air for a change. The weather was sunny and perfect for the field trip. A few scattered clouds floated lazily in the powder blue sky and a soft breeze lifted the flag in front of the town hall.