Leighann Dobbs - Mystic Notch 02 - A Spirited Tail (22 page)

As I approached, I could see Elspeth coming up from her garden, a basket overflowing with plump, red tomatoes dangling in the crook of her arm. My mouth started to water at the sight of them. She spotted me and waved, her face youthful even though she was in her eighties. Or even older. I realized I didn’t actually know how old Elspeth was—it seemed like she had been ‘old’ since I was little and hung around with her and Gram, but of course, when you are a kid, anyone over the age of twenty seems old.

My mind drifted to the photo albums I’d seen at the Van Dorn’s.  Bing had said Elspeth knew him well. Had she been in some of those pictures? I hadn’t recognized her if she was.

“Hi, Willa. How are you?” She’d stopped at the porch steps, waiting for me to complete the trek across her yard.

“Great. You?”

“Wonderful.” She bent down and rubbed Pandora behind the ears, then turned to Ranger. “And who is this?”

“This is Ranger, Bruce Norton’s dog.” 

Ranger gave a little ‘woof’ and Elspeth patted his head.

“I heard about Bruce. Such an awful thing.” Elspeth shook her head, a snow-white wisp of hair falling loose from the braid that crowned the top. “He was a nice man.”

“Meow!” A fluffy Siamese appeared at the door.

“A new cat?” Elspeth had quite a brood of cats, but I’d never seen this one before.

“Yes. That’s Lewis.” Elspeth started up the steps. “Come on in and you can fill me in on what’s been going on in town.”

We went inside and Elspeth led us through the living room, with its overstuffed sofas and chairs, and into the old-fashioned kitchen. 

“Sit.” She gestured toward the chrome table and I slid into one of the matching yellow and white Naugahyde chairs while Elspeth set a large, juicy tomato on a cutting board and sliced it.

Lewis wound figure eight’s around her ankles, looking up at her and mewing softly.

Pandora eyed the cat curiously for a few seconds, then ventured forward for a few sniffs which earned her a whack of Lewis’s paw. Ranger kept a safe distance.

“How was your trip to Maine?” I asked.

“Oh, wonderful. I have some distant relatives out there. Four young girls.” Elspeth chuckled, then added, “Well, I guess I should say women. The oldest is in her thirties. But I think of them as girls still. Anyway, they have a wonderful home full of family history right on the ocean in Noquitt.”

“That sounds restful.”

“Yes. They’ve had some … things going on and I just went out to see if I could help them. Hadn’t seen them in many years.” Elspeth spread the tomato slices on a large plate and sprinkled them with salt, then set the plate on the table and took a seat opposite me.

I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth, grateful when she slid a smaller plate and fork in front of me, and said, “Dig in.”

Nothing tastes better than fresh-picked tomatoes that have been grown in your own garden, unless they’re your neighbor’s tomatoes and you didn’t have to do any of the work of growing them. I slid my eager fork under a slice and lifted it onto my plate. Normally, I would just pick it up with my hands and shove the whole thing in my mouth, but I was trying to be polite. I cut off a wedge and slid it onto my tongue, reveling in how the salt enhanced the slightly acidic tang.  

Across from me, Elspeth daintily chewed a slice of tomato. Lewis jumped into her lap, purring contentedly. Ranger’s eyes traveled from the tomatoes to Elspeth to me and he inched closer to Elspeth, extending his nose toward the table for a sniff. Lewis must not have been too keen on having a big dog nose in his face and his paw shot out, whacking Ranger on the head and causing the dog to retreat.

“Now, Lewis, stop that.” Elsepth’s eyes crinkled at the corners as she looked fondly at him and the cat answered her with an asthmatic purr. “He keeps hitting the other cats like that. I think it’s his way of keeping them in line. He has asthma, so I think he might need to lash out sometimes.  Anyway, tell me about the goings on since I’ve been out of town.”

I told her about Bruce’s death and how Steve Van Dorn was selling off Charles’ household items.

“Bing said you were friends with Charles,” I added, reaching for another slice of tomato.

“I was. Actually, I was better friends with Bruce. We’d gone to school together since kindergarten and I met Charles through him.  ‘Course, I hadn’t seen much of Bruce for several decades. He became somewhat of a recluse after everything that happened with Charles and Lily.”

“Did you ever go to any of Charles’ parties?”

“Of course. I wasn’t always this old, you know.” Her light blue eyes sparkled with the memories. “Oh, we used to have a lot of fun. Charles was very talented, you know … even Bing had to admit that.”

“Do you think Bruce’s murder is related to the murders back then? He was found in the back yard.”

Her eyes turn to steel, her mouth pressed in a grim line. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it just makes sense. I mean, Bruce hung around there back in the day. The house has been closed up for decades and then, just as it’s about to be opened and looked through again, Bruce is found dead in the back yard. Plus, I don’t think those older deaths were looked into very carefully.”

“Why not?” She narrowed her eyes at me.

I shrugged. “I looked at the files because I got suspicious. You know how I am.” I didn’t want to tell her I’d gotten it straight from the horse’s mouth—Charles.

She chuckled. “Yes, I do. It does seem like an odd coincidence. I never thought Charles killed himself and neither did Bruce.”

“No?”

“Oh, no. He was too happy. Not the type.”

“Well, apparently he couldn’t live with himself after he killed Lily,” I said as a way to see what Elspeth thought about Charles having killed lily.

“So the police said. What reason would he have to kill her?”

It was a good question. Charles’ ghost swore he didn’t kill her and I hadn’t come across any reason for it. But, then the question was who
did
kill Lily. Maybe Gladys did if Lily found out about their affair … or maybe it had something to do with the mysterious Claire Voyant.

“Do you remember someone named Claire Voyant from back then?”

Elspeth made a face like she’d just swigged grapefruit juice. “Indeed, I do.”

“You didn’t like her? I saw her in some pictures at the Van Dorns’ but I also read an article about how they were rivals, so I couldn’t figure out why he would have invited her to his parties.”

“Oh.” Elspeth waved her hand. “They both were in the same business, you know. Spiritual mediums and such, but also they were both somewhat of a celebrity … “Her voice trailed off and she gave me a knowing look.

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“Well, you know how those show people are. Big egos and bad tempers.”

“Do you think she could have had anything to do with Lily and Charles’ deaths?”

“Why do you say that?”

“She’s suddenly shown up in town with a different name.”

“A different name?  How odd. Was she here when Bruce died?”

“I’m not sure, but I can find out … she’s staying with the Bates’.”

“Idris Bates?” Elspeth’s blue eyes grew large on her delicate face.

I nodded.

She frowned down at the table, petting Lewis absently. “You said you were cataloguing Van Dorn’s books, right?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t happen to find any handwritten journals, did you?”

My brows mashed together so hard it almost hurt. Now Elspeth was asking for the journals, too? What was going on with these, and did they have something to do with the murders? 

“No, but several people have asked.”

“Who?” Elspeth looked concerned

“Bing, and Claire. She came to my shop with Felicity Bates, actually.”

“Well, if you find them, for goodness sake, don’t give them to the Bates’.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, well … err… you know how those people are. They’re mean and they don’t deserve Charles’ journals.” Elspeth shook her head. “You give them to Bing.”

“Okay.” I was planning on it anyway because I didn’t like the Bates family. I didn’t realize Elspeth felt the same.

“What do you know about Gladys Primble?” If Elspeth knew Charles, she probably knew the housekeeper. Maybe she’d have some insight as to their relationship or why he left her money.

“Gladys? You mean Charles’ housekeeper?”

“Yes, they were very friendly, I hear.”

“True, they were. She was very good.”

“Almost too friendly, though.”

Elspeth eyed me curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Charles left her a sum of money in his will.”

“Oh, really? That
is
odd.”

“I was wondering why he might do that, and the only thing I could come up with was that they were having some sort of affair.”

“An affair?” She looked at me incredulously. “Certainly not. Why would you say that?”

“Well, it’s odd that he left her money, and I happen to know that he was having some sort of affair he wanted to keep secret. I figured it could be Gladys because she was married so they wouldn’t want anyone to know.” I leaned across the table. “I heard Lily was sweet on Charles, so I was thinking maybe Gladys didn’t like that and confronted Lily. Maybe things got out of hand and she killed her, or maybe she intended to kill her. Maybe Charles found out and she killed him, too. Then when the house was opened up again, she got nervous and went back to make sure there was no evidence lying around. Bruce just happened to be there and she had to kill him to keep him quiet.”

Elspeth’s lips curled at the corners. “That’s a pretty good theory, except it can’t be right.”

“Why not? Is it because Gladys is too old now? I saw her chopping wood and she’s physically capable of hitting Bruce with a club, plus Bruce had a whole file on the Van Dorn deaths fifty years ago at his place, so he might have figured out Gladys did it and confronted her.”

“It’s got nothing to do with Gladys being old, and you’re right, Charles
was
having a love affair that he wanted to keep secret, but it wasn’t with Gladys Primble.”

“Who was it with?”

“Bruce Norton.”

***

Pandora sat on Elspeth’s black and white tile kitchen floor pretending to ignore the humans, but actually taking a keen interest in what they were saying. She hoped what Elspeth was revealing would lead Willa in the right direction.

“Are you coming, or what?” Tigger, Elspeth’s orange tomcat, sat beside her, glaring at the fluffy Siamese in Elspeth’s lap.

“What’s with him?” Pandora jerked her head toward the lap cat.

“He’s new … and quite bossy,” Tigger said. “As you can see, my human is coddling him because he has asthma and he is taking full advantage of her sympathies.”

“I can see,” Pandora replied. “He keeps hitting everyone. What a control freak.”

“Well, that will soon stop. However, he is of no use to us right now and your presence is requested in the barn.”

“Oh, all right.” Pandora turned and trotted out of the room behind Tigger to Lewis’ victorious meow—apparently, the newcomer saw their departure as some sort of accomplishment. Pandora chuckled to herself as she pictured how Otis would set this cat straight.

They padded over to the screen door at the front of the house. Tigger jumped up, expertly turning the knob so that the door cracked open. He slipped his paw into the crack and opened the door, then they all slipped out and trotted across the yard, Pandora feeling a hot breath on her shoulder. She turned to see Ranger following right behind her.

“You don’t have to come this time.”

“What? I want to.”

“Well, it’s not necessary, and I don’t think the other cats like you. I’m not even sure
I
like you.”

“But, I helped find the murder weapon.”

Pandora narrowed her eyes at him. “As I recall, I was the one that found that.”

“No. I don’t think so. I led you to the area and told you where the bad man went.”

“But I—”

“Stop it,” Tigger said. “Let him come. This won’t take long.”

Pandora shrugged and trotted into the barn, doing a mental eye-roll. Was the creature going to follow her everywhere now? She certainly hoped not; having a dog tag along could ruin her reputation. She said a silent prayer to the goddess of cats, Bastet, that Willa would soon find him another home.

Inside the barn, the cats had circled around an orange, curly-furred cat. Inkspot looked up as they entered, his lip curling as his eyes fell on Ranger.

“Euphoria here has some enlightening news,” he said.

Euphoria turned to Pandora, her yellow eyes glowing in the dimness of the barn. Pandora noticed with amusement that Otis had come down from his usual high perch atop the hay bale and was sitting next to the curvy feline.

“What is it?” Pandora asked.

“Euphoria’s human is the one who served the keeper of secrets,” Truffles said.

“Does she know where the important thing is?” Pandora asked. 

Otis smirked. “You mean the thing that you led us on a wild goose chase for?” 

“It wasn’t wild. There was something there, I tell you,” Pandora hissed.

Euphoria reached out to touch Otis’ large paw with her delicate one. “She may be right. My human recently came into possession of something of great importance regarding the fight between good and evil.”

“You mean you know about that?” Pandora asked incredulously. She thought only the cats that frequented the barn were in on the big secret.

Euphoria nodded sagely. 

“So we don’t need to worry about this thing anymore?” Sasha’s gray-tipped fur furrowed between her eyes.

“That remains to be seen.” Inkspot’s baritone cut through the air. “We don’t yet know what Euphoria’s human plans to do with it.”

“So what should we do?” Pandora asked.