by J A Whiting
Angie smiled. “Even Ellie. She isn’t thrilled with this special thing we have, but she understands the responsibility that comes with it.”
“No matter how busy you are with the bake shop,” Josh said, “you’ve always had time for the chief and the cases.”
“I know that.” Angie reached over and took her husband’s hand. “But we want to start a family. Will I be able to manage everything when we have a small child in our lives?”
Josh’s warm eyes held Angie’s. “We can wait on starting a family if you feel like the time isn’t right.”
Angie tilted her head to the side. “I think there’s a little girl who is eager to join all of us. I don’t want to keep her waiting.” Last Christmas, three spirits came to help keep Angie from danger … one spirit was from the past, one helper was from the present, and one spirit came from the future, Angie’s and Josh’s daughter-to-be.
Josh’s eyes watered and he said softly. “I think about her every day. I can’t wait to meet her.”
“Me, too,” Angie said. “So no, I don’t want to put off starting our family. Can I manage all we have going on and all we will have going on with another bake shop location on top of everything else?”
“Deep down, do you want the second location?” Josh asked.
Angie said, “Yeah, I think I do.”
“Then go for it. There are a lot of people around who will help us.” Josh chuckled as he slipped his arm around Angie and pulled her close. “We’re going to have one heck of a full life together.”
22
Angie and Megan filled the box with the clean platters, pans, and plates the Roselands and Mr. Finch used to bring dinner to the boarding house the previous night. Before leaving, they’d placed everything in the dishwasher to run and Angie promised to pick up the dishware the next afternoon.
“I think that’s everything,” Megan said.
“If you find something else just put it aside and I’ll pick it up when I come on Monday to drop off the breakfast baked goods,” Angie said. “Where is everyone? The house is so quiet.”
“Maribeth is off to a dentist appointment,” Megan said. “Mary is at her part-time job, and Roger is tutoring a student at the town library. Andy is always at school at this time. I don’t have classes this afternoon. The two new residents aren’t moving in for two more weeks.” Megan sighed. “It will be strange having someone else living in Perry’s room.”
“I bet so,” Angie said kindly.
“It’s also strange not having him around to talk to,” Megan said. “I miss him.”
Angie put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry it’s been so hard on you.”
“Perry’s things have been cleared out of his room. Most of the stuff was donated. I took one of his books.” Megan shrugged. “I just wanted something that had belonged to him.” Slumping against the kitchen island, she asked, “Why can’t the police figure this out? Not having an arrest keeps us from having closure. I want to know who killed Perry. I want the person to go to prison. I want it to be over.”
Angie wasn’t sure Megan would soon find the closure she was hoping for.
“Do you know anything?” Megan asked Angie. “Are the police close to solving this?”
“They don’t tell me things like that.” Not sure if Megan was in the right mood to talk about what happened, Angie took the chance and asked a question. “Can we talk about the night Perry passed away?”
Megan looked like she’d been hit by something. “What is left to say?”
“How did you come into the house that night? After you ran into Charles, what door did you come in through?”
“The front.” Megan’s voice sounded slightly sullen.
“And you went right to your rooms?” Angie asked.
“Yes.”
“But you saw Perry before going into your suite?”
“I told you that, yeah.”
“How did Perry seem?”
“Normal. He said he was tired. He was about to go to bed.”
“Was anyone in the room with him?” Angie asked.
Megan’s eyes widened. “Like who?”
“A friend? A date?”
Megan’s cheeks flushed. “He was alone.”
“Are you sure? How do you know that? Was the bedroom door open or closed? Could you see into the bedroom from out in the hall?” Angie questioned.
Blinking fast a few times, Megan’s eyes watered and when she started to speak, her voice broke, and she went silent.
“Was someone with Perry?” Angie asked.
Megan coughed and cleared her throat. “No one was in his room.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Megan’s arms hung weakly by her sides. “I went into Perry’s room before he closed it for the night. We talked for a few minutes. He told me he was really tired and needed to sleep. I asked if his head was hurting. He said it wasn’t.” Megan stopped talking and looked down at the floor for a minute. “I told Perry I’d make him some tea, if he wanted some. Standing there that night, I was overcome with my feelings for Perry. I blurted out what I felt for him and then I stepped close and kissed him.” A few tears escaped from the young woman’s eyes and traced down her cheek.
“What did he do?” Angie asked softly.
“He stepped back from me to break off the kiss. I was horrified, so embarrassed. I don’t know why I did it.”
“Did Perry say anything?”
“He said he was sorry, but he couldn’t commit to a relationship. He wanted to be friends.” Megan groaned. “It was such a stupid thing to do. I knew Perry didn’t want anything, but I went ahead and kissed him anyway. Ugh. I acted the same way Charles acted with me. I’ve been disgusted with myself since that night. What’s wrong with me?”
“You had feelings for Perry and you acted on them hoping he would feel the same way. There’s nothing wrong with you,” Angie said.
“I complain about Charles and then I went and did the same thing to Perry,” Megan moaned.
“No, it’s not the same thing. You and Perry were friends. You don’t have any kind of relationship with Charles. And unlike Charles, I don’t believe you would ever have kissed Perry again,” Angie said.
“I wouldn’t have.” Megan wiped the tears from her face. “I never would have done that again. It was too painful to be rejected. I don’t know if I could have stayed friends with Perry. I was too ashamed of myself.”
“He would have stayed friends with you,” Angie assured the woman. “Maybe things would have been awkward for a few days, but your friendship would have fallen right back into place, with no harm done to it.”
“I hope so.”
“What happened after Perry told you he wanted to be friends?”
“I apologized. Over and over. Perry said it was fine and not to be concerned. He said he was going to bed and he’d see me in the morning,” Megan said. “I hurried back to my rooms. I went to my bed and sobbed, for a long time. I exhausted myself. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until I heard the commotion out in the hall the next morning.”
“Is Perry’s room still open?” Angie asked. “Can I go see it for a minute?”
Megan stared at Angie for a few moments and then said, “The door’s open. The rooms are empty. The housekeeper is coming next week to give it a final cleaning before the new person moves in.”
Angie and Megan walked down the hallway from the kitchen to the two suites at the rear of the house and stopped at the doorway to Perry’s former rooms. The space looked sad and lonely with nothing inside but a few dust bunnies on the floor.
Angie took several steps into the sitting room and turned in a circle taking everything in and remembering where Perry’s furniture had stood ... she pictured the sofa, the desk, a chair. She looked out of the three windows on the right-side wall.
Suddenly, a sickeningly strong medicinal odor hit Angie hard causing her stomach to roil and her vision to dim. Afraid that moveme
nt would make her heave, she stood still, closed her eyes, and took in slow breaths, but the smell was too much and she knew if she stayed in the room, she would surely become sick. Rushing out of the room and into the hall, Angie sucked in long, slow breaths trying to calm herself.
“What’s wrong?” Megan asked taking a quick look into the room. “Are you okay?”
“The smell. It makes me feel ill,” Angie wheezed.
“What smell?” Megan questioned. “I don’t smell anything. What does it smell like?”
Angie wouldn’t have been able to describe the odor even if she’d wanted to, and she didn’t want to because she remembered that only she and Jenna had been able to sense the smell when they’d been there previously.
“Can we step outside? Is there a door out this way?”
“Yeah. At the end of the hall.” Megan led the way, passing a laundry room and a small office on the same side as her suite. Perry’s suite was an addition to the house which jutted out on the left side so his sitting room windows looked out to the rear yard.
Unlocking the door, Megan pushed it open so Angie could get out into the fresh air.
Angie sank down on the back steps, holding her head in her hands.
“Can I get you something?” Megan asked. “A glass of water? Some juice?”
“I’ll be okay. I just need a minute.” Being outside was already making Angie feel much better and the sensation of illness was all but gone. She lifted her head and glanced around the back garden. Benches were placed around the yard under shade trees, a fire pit was set up off to one side, two round tables with umbrellas stood on a stone patio, and a vegetable garden had recently been planted. Tall trees lined the periphery of the property and a pathway led out under an arbor and away from the yard.
“Where does the path go?” Angie asked.
“It splits into two. One way goes down through the rocks to the small beach and the other way leads back to the front of the house.”
“What happens when one of the residents gets locked out or they lose their key?” Angie asked.
“Maribeth hid a key in the yard back here,” Megan said. “Sorry, but we’re not allowed to tell other people where it is ... for security reasons.”
Standing up, Angie rubbed at the back of her neck and turned to face the back of the house. She gestured to one of the windows on the second floor. “Is that Mary Bishop’s room?”
“Yeah,” Megan said. “How did you know?”
“Mary asked me up to her room last night,” Angie said. “She wanted to chat privately for a few minutes.”
Megan looked hopeful. “Did Mary have anything to say about what happened to Perry? Did she hear something that night?”
“No, she didn’t. She only wanted to talk about her concerns regarding house security,” Angie said deflecting the question. “Maribeth told me she’ll be having a new security system installed soon.”
“We all hoped it could have been installed sooner, but the company was backed up,” Megan said.
Angie spotted the faucet at the back of the house and walked over to it. She turned it on and splashed water onto her face, and while doing that, she noticed the loose shingle about twelve inches from the spigot.
Touching it with her hand, she pushed the shingle a little to the side and saw the house key hanging from a nail. Megan hadn’t seen Angie move the shingle.
Straightening up, Angie said, “There’s a loose piece of siding here by the faucet. Maribeth will want to fix it.”
“Oh, is there?” Megan asked. “I’ll let her know.”
23
Angie received an early morning text from Chief Martin asking if she and one of her sisters or Mr. Finch could meet him at the boarding house. Making sure the bake shop employees could manage the store for a few hours, she and Jenna hurried to meet the chief, speculating all the way to the house about what might have happened.
“Maybe Chief Martin is making an arrest in the case,” Jenna’s tone was hopeful as she parked the car in the boarding house lot and got out.
Seeing the chief’s somber facial expression as he stood on the front porch erased any hope the twin sisters had about the case having been solved.
Climbing the steps, Angie said, “It doesn’t seem like you have good news for us.”
“You’re right.” Chief Martin walked the sisters to the side of the porch where seven small mailboxes were set onto the railing. “In the past, there was some minor trouble when the mail to the house got mixed up in one box. Residents took the wrong mail, things got lost, so Maribeth decided to set up the separate mailboxes. That way, each resident has their own mail set in their own boxes. It was a simple thing to do, but it kept people from fussing and blaming others for mixed up mail.”
“Is that why you asked us here?” Jenna asked with a cheeky smile. “To show us the mail setup?”
“In part,” the chief said. “Something was delivered yesterday to one of the house residents.”
Angie’s chest tightened. “What was it?”
“A syringe. A syringe full of melathiocaine.”
Angie’s breath caught. “The same thing that killed Perry.”
“It was found in Megan’s mailbox,” the chief pointed out.
“Was it wrapped in anything?” Jenna asked. “Or was it out in the open?”
“It was underneath some other mail. She could easily have been pricked by the needle, but it wouldn’t have been lethal.”
“Megan found it?” Angie asked.
“She did,” Chief Martin said. “And was not happy about it.”
“You think it’s a warning?” Angie asked. “Whoever put it in the box couldn’t have thought it would harm Megan. It’s probably a message?”
“I had the same idea,” the chief said.
“It’s awfully bold, isn’t it?” Jenna asked. “To put a syringe in the mailbox in a place where a number of people live. Anyone could have seen the person do it.”
“Except if it was done at night,” Chief Martin said. “Most of the residents don’t stay out late. Someone probably decided to drop off a syringe when the house was pretty dark. Lots of shadows to hide in.”
“Do you think this person is toying with Megan?” Angie asked. “Trying to frighten her?”
“I’d have to guess yes,” the chief said.
“What’s the point of trying to scare her?” Jenna asked. “By now, she’s told law enforcement everything she knows about Perry.”
“To throw her off, to make her frightened, to keep her mind busy so she doesn’t piece things together to point to a killer,” Chief Martin said.
“Do you think Megan knows something?” Jenna asked.
“Not necessarily, but I think it deserves paying attention to.” Chief Martin stepped to the side for a few minutes to speak with an officer.
Jenna moved closer to her sister. “Do you think Megan knows something?”
“I’m not sure what to think,” Angie admitted. “Megan could have planted the syringe in her mailbox to make her appear innocent, to make it seem that someone has it in for her.”
The chief returned to the young women. “Someone is coming by soon to pick up the syringe for testing. I’m going to allow myself some optimism and hope there are some fingerprints on the syringe.”
“Longshot,” Angie said. “But they may as well try. Clues aren’t exactly numerous, are they?”
“I’m not all that hopeful,” Jenna said. “Whoever did this didn’t zoom over here half-baked. It would be very lax behavior to leave behind a print on the syringe.” She glanced to the front door. “You think whoever left the syringe lives in this house?”
“It would make sense,” the chief said. “He or she wouldn’t have had far to go to get to the mailbox and leave a surprise for Megan. However, I’m not dismissing the fact that this could have been done by someone living outside the house.”
“Maybe it was the person who was with Andy Hobbs the night of Perry’s murder?” Angie aske
d. “Did that person place the item in Megan’s mailbox? I agree that it could be a warning. Maybe Perry’s killer wants to murder Megan, too, and is trying to freak her out before he strikes.”
“Maybe playing a little game of cat and mouse,” the chief said.
“Where is Megan now?” Jenna asked.
“She’s inside with an officer,” the chief said.
“Angie brought up a good point. What if Megan put the syringe in her own mailbox,” Jenna asked. “What if Megan is actually Perry’s killer and she is trying to throw suspicion off of herself.”
“She could have made up the story about kissing Perry the night he died,” Angie said. “She might have made it up to make her seem vulnerable, to get my sympathy. To keep me from thinking that Megan is the killer.”
“What about Andy Hobbs?” Jenna asked. “He could have accessed Megan’s mail. He seems to have his nose in a bunch of different places.”
“There’s something that bothers me,” Angie revealed. “Megan made a move on Perry shortly before he died. She kissed him when they were standing in front of the big windows of Perry’s room. It was dark, but the room was lit. If anyone was watching, that person certainly could have thought Perry and Megan were involved in a relationship.”
“If jealousy was the motive,” Jenna said, “seeing the kiss might have fueled the killer’s rage.”
“Have you talked to Andy Hobbs about who he was speaking with at the back door of the house?” Angie asked.
“Andy was away for a couple of days,” the chief said. “He’s going to have a chat with me in about ten minutes. Will you talk to Megan when she’s done with the officer? See what you can find out? I asked her to come out here when she’s done inside.”
Angie and Jenna agreed just as Andy Hobbs stepped out onto the porch carrying a dark brown briefcase.
“Morning.” Hobbs nodded to the sisters and his gaze sent a cold chill racing over Angie’s skin. He turned to Chief Martin and asked, “Are you ready? I don’t have a lot of time right now. I need to get to school.”
