Spooky Hijinks (24 page)

“Have you personally seen this man?” Stuart said. When I told him no, he shook his head. “So hearsay from who knows whom?”

“No, your sister saw them at the bar together. It seems Vivian was a partier.”

“So where were you before here?” Stuart asked.

“We had a rehearsal at the lighthouse, with plenty of witnesses.”

“Any leads on Robert?”

“Nope. He’s either been killed or decided to stay hidden somewhere.”

“His mother’s murder might be an attempt to flush him out.”

“That or he’s been taken, and they plan to hold him until whoever stole all those guns makes their delivery. He’d be the perfect suspect, just like the missing Hill boys.”

“If they had him, why keep him alive?”

“I’m not sure, but there has to be a reason.”

“And the Hill boys? How do they figure into this?”

“I’m really not sure, but it’s hard for me to believe that they’ve been taken or murdered,” I mused. “But I can’t imagine anyone leaving them alive, either. I think someone betrayed them, or whoever went out to their place might have been someone they knew.”

“So you have no other suspects other than this man with the tattoo, Mother, with the possible first name of Rosco?”

“I wish I had more to go on now. I wish I had told you that Vivian’s life might have been in danger, and now it’s too late for her. Were the ATF doing a surveillance of her house?”

“They were, but whoever did this must have entered the residence through the back.”

“Her neighbors wouldn’t answer their doors when we went knocking. The only person we had a chance to talk to about Vivian was an old man, and he acted like he was scared about what was going on over here. Perhaps even enough not to call the police.”

“Which neighbor?”

“Third house down the street.”

The door opened again, and the medical examiner, Walter Smitty, strolled inside, wearing his Colombo-style trench coat, like always. “Another stiff, and with our favorite detectives on the job.”

“Go home, Mother, and take your friend with you. I don’t want you here when the ATF shows up. I’ve been running buffer for you so they don’t lock you in a cell as it is.”

“Which is exactly what we should do, but this murder is on our turf,” the sheriff said. “There’s no evidence that it had anything to do with the gun thefts.”

“Of course, this is a partnership,” Stuart said. “I plan to stay on scene and in the loop until we figure out if Vivian was, in any way, involved with the thefts.”

I was glad to hear that. It was good to know that we knew someone on the inside of the case. “Looks like someone covered her head with a pillow and then pulled the trigger,” I pointed out. “She might have tried to flee her assailant. The patio door was ajar. It’s how we got in.”

“See what we have to put up with? Senior snoops on the job,” Sheriff Peterson said. “Leave, the both of you, before I place you under arrest for interfering with an officer.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, so Eleanor and I left quickly.

“Should we have a go at it with the neighbors again?” Eleanor asked.

“If we do that, I’m sure they’ll lock us up this time. Besides, after the last time, I highly doubt they’d tell us anything. I hate myself for saying this, but they might just tell the cops something now.”

Once we were in the car, I drove off toward the Butler Mansion. “We better not be late for dinner. Hopefully we’ll find another clue we can follow up on, and very soon.”

“I just wonder who the other men are who were seen with Vivian and Robert. We’ll ask Martha again. I’m sure she’ll be at the dinner.”

Of course, Martha only mentioned the men gave her the creeps, not if she knew or didn’t know them.

* * *

I dressed in a black pantsuit with matching jacket and white blouse. I wanted to look nice for the rehearsal dinner, even though all I could think about was the case that we just couldn’t solve. I knew that it had to do with those men who had been seen with Vivian at the bar, but I needed to know just who they were, and unless I could find out, we were just sunk. I felt so bad that Vivian had died, too, but I guess I never thought someone would actually murder her. I just hoped that the Hill boys and Robert were okay.

As I came out of my room, Eleanor came out of hers, dressed all in white. I giggled to myself. “We look like we’re getting married, to each other.”

“I guess we do, but I’d rather marry Mr. Wilson, if you don’t mind.”

“Please do. I’m really looking forward to marrying Andrew. We should have done this way before now.”

“It won’t be long now.”

Eleanor and I went down the stairs, where Elsie, Marjory, and Bertha waited on us, each in party clothes. “There’s our girls,” Marjory said. “I’m so excited about your wedding. I just hope my brother stays sober enough to do the ceremony.”

“We’re saying our own vows, so that should help,” Eleanor said with a snicker.

“How are our dresses going?” I asked.

“All done, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. We sewed our little hearts away,” Elsie said.

When we walked into the dining room, the table was covered with a lacy tablecloth, and the entire room was decorated with garland and white lights. On the center of the table was a huge centerpiece that was white and red roses. It was gorgeous!

“Isn’t it nice?” Elsie said. “Henry’s partner, Tony, made it. I had no idea that he used to be a florist back in California. We really need to set him up in a shop, but he insists that he has no interest in going into business. I think he’s just content to be Henry’s man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people so much in love before.”

I smiled. “Well, Henry is a famous author, so it’s not like Tony has to work.”

“I work plenty enough at home,” Tony said as he came into the room with Henry, each of them taking a seat. “That beach house is hard to keep up with. When I’m not cleaning, I’m cooking gourmet meals. You need to stop by sometime.”

I agreed with that. “Perhaps after the wedding.”

Millicent tapped a wine glass. “Please sit, everyone, so dinner can begin. I know am starving, and I imagine at least some of you are, too.”

Eleanor and I quickly sat next to our respective fiancés. Andrew squeezed my hand under the table in greeting as two maids glided into the room, setting down soup bowls in front of each of us. I lifted the spoon to my mouth and tasted the cheesy soup. It was heavenly. Next came lamb-chops with asparagus and baby red-skinned potatoes. I simply enjoyed the company of our guests and listening to Bernice grumble about her sore fingers from poking herself with a needle too many times while she sewed our dresses.

“I know I can speak for both Eleanor and myself when I say we appreciate everything all of you have done.” I glanced around. “Where are Sophia and Trooper Sales?”

“He’s at a murder scene,” Martha said. “Was it Vivian Miller? I recall you saying that you were headed over there to question her.”

“Yes, and we found her quite dead.”

Gasps were heard all around. “How awful,” Tony said. “You must be so traumatized.”

“Not these girls,” Andrew said. “They’re old hands at discovering bodies. I wonder sometimes how they’re able to piece together mysteries like they do. Have you figured out who the culprit is yet?”

“No, but I’m hopeful that something will turn up. Perhaps the cops will find out without our help.”

“That would be a switch.”

“Martha, do you know the men Vivian was with at the bar that day you saw her?”

“I’ve seen them around, but I can’t place their names. I thought they might be part of the militia group, but don’t quote me.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me since I believe someone the Hill boys knew was talking. How else would they know about where the Hills put their guns after we got them back for them?”

“Too bad you can’t find the Hill brothers. I bet they just might know who else is involved here,” Martha said.

“They’re strangers in town, I’m sure of it. Otherwise we’d have figured out who they are by now.”

“Which will make it all the harder to catch them,” Eleanor pointed out.

“You got that right, Eleanor. But we need to enjoy our company and talk about this later.”

We were soon eating our strawberry shortcake, and Andrew winked at me, asking, “Have you written your vows yet?”

“Not yet. I’m thinking about them, if that counts. I mean, how do you put something like that into words?”

Eleanor laughed. “You need to actually write them down. I have mine all done,” she proclaimed.

For once, she really did one-up me, and I was happy that she had hers all done.

“You’ll think of the words when the time is near,” Andrew said. “That’s why I think it’s so important for us to write our own.”

After dinner, we had drinks, and Andrew kissed me deeply under the mistletoe, as did Mr. Wilson with Eleanor. “Save it for the honeymoon,” Martha complained good-naturedly. “Where are you planning to go, anyway?”

“It’s top secret,” Andrew said with a wink. “Let’s just say it won’t involve snow and ice.”

I didn’t care where we went, as long as I did it as Mrs. Hart.

              
Chapter Twenty

I fell asleep rather quickly when I went to bed. We’d had the best rehearsal dinner ever, and we were so thankful that our friends were able to celebrate with us. I missed Sophia and Stuart, but I knew it was due to the discovery of Vivian’s body that they weren’t there. Sophia always sat on pins and needles waiting for Bill to return from a crime scene. I can’t say I blamed her since my late husband was also a state trooper and I did the same thing. You just never know what could happen.

* * *

When my cellphone rang, I barely heard it, but I then sat up with a start, juggling until I found it. I said hello a few times before I heard a female voice mumbling on the other end. It was hard to recognize who it was, since the woman was crying.

“I can’t understand you. Who is this?”

“It’s Megan. You have to get over to my mother’s house. They’re moving the guns tonight and plan to kill Robert.”

That got my attention for sure now. “We’ll be there soon.”

I scrambled from the bed, and luckily, I had lain down without changing, so I didn’t even have to get dressed. I slipped on my shoes and raced across the hallway and shook Eleanor until she woke up. Eleanor was also still dressed, thankfully.

“Wake up, Eleanor. We have to get over to Megan Schultz’s house. They’re moving the guns tonight, and she told me they’re planning to kill Robert.”

Eleanor practically dove out of bed and into her shoes. We donned our coats and were on our way down the stairs, out the door in record time. I frowned when I saw ice on the windshield and quickly scraped off just enough so I could see. The engine turned over, and after tapping on the gas pedal a few times, we were off like a shot into the night.

“Should we call someone?” Eleanor asked.

“Yes, Stuart.” I tossed my cellphone at her. “He’s in the contacts.”

Eleanor made the call and said, “He’s not answering.”

“Leave a message. Tell him where we’re going and what I told you.”

Eleanor left the message, set the phone down and she gripped her purse tightly.

I barely could see well enough to drive as the ice melted rather slowly off the window, but I did manage to make my way to the Schultzes’ place. There were cars parked in the driveway, and my only thought was that we were outnumbered, but I had to at least go in there to stall. Robert needed us.

Eleanor and I were motioned toward the garage by Megan. We darted inside, and I asked, “Where’s Robert?”

“In the basement.”

“Why hadn’t Robert been killed already if this was what they had planned?”

“I begged Mom not to kill him, but you know how she is about Robert. She apparently can’t be trusted.”

“Did you know your mother was involved in the thefts, or possibly the ringleader?”

“No, I didn’t, I swear.”

“Come on, you had to have. Why didn’t you tell us that day what was really going on?”

“I couldn’t. I knew my mother wouldn’t be gone that long.”

“We could have alerted the police.”

“But the guns weren’t here then. You wouldn’t have had any evidence.”

“Fine, but I hope you didn’t get Robert killed by not telling us sooner. His mother was killed just yesterday.”

“I-I know. I told you the man with the tattoo was dangerous. Vivian knew he was involved with the gun thefts. Robert told me she did. When she gave you the guns, she was killed in retaliation.”

I wished Stuart had answered his phone, but we had to act now. “How are we going to get into the house unseen?”

“I’ll show you the way.”

We followed Megan into the house, and we heard loud voices say, “We need to hurry before someone sees our lights out here.”

We went down the stairs as quietly as we could.

“This seems too easy,” Eleanor whispered. “I hope we’re not walking into a trap.”

She had a point, and sure enough, once we were at the bottom, we could see that Robert was pacing the room. “Finally,” he said.

My eyes were now drawn to the gun pointed at us by the man with the dragon tattoo. “Thanks, Megan. I knew I could count on you.”

“Wh-Why were we called here?”

“I’m getting very sick of you raising all the fuss about me. You’ve been making it impossible for me to be in town now,” the man said.

I’m sorry,” Megan said. “They made me call you here.”

A door off the basement was opened, and Curt and Curtis Hill were yanked out, their hands bound, a gag over each of their mouths. It was then that my eyes were drawn to the skinny man with the sunken eyes that we’d seen at Harvey’s house, the same man I’d seen pictured with the Hill brothers at their house. He held Curt tightly, and I could tell by the look in Curt’s eyes he wanted to throttle the man.

“You!” I said. “You’re the one who betrayed the Hill brothers.”

“You could say that,” he said as he sneered.

“I saw a picture of the Hills and you at their house. Why would you betray them?”

“I needed the money, and if they hadn’t blabbed to you and Eleanor and convinced you to get their guns back, I wouldn’t have had to take them hostage, but we did need a scapegoat.”