Ghostly Graveyard (Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Book 17) (3 page)

“Good question.” The whole thing seemed odd. Too odd. My Zodar was beginning to hum and I didn’t like it one bit.

“What did you say Duncan does for a living?” Sue asked.

I hesitated. “I’m not sure he ever said. If he did I don’t remember what he told us.”

“And where is he from?”

“No idea,” I admitted. “Now that I think about it, I don’t know anything about the guy other than that he’s new to town and he claimed to have experience with event planning.” I frowned. “Maybe Willa knows.”

Willa Walton worked for the county and served as the chairperson of the events committee.

“I guess I should get going,” Sue said. “If I know my family, and I do, they’re all waiting for me to come home and tuck them in. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“’Bye, Sue.”

I looked around the room. The crew I’d called in had done an excellent job. You couldn’t even tell that Duncan the destroyer had ever been here. Sue had made some good points about Duncan’s past and present. What exactly did we know about him? Where was he from? Where did he live? Where did he work?

“We’re all done here,” Benny informed me after Sue walked away. “The others have all gone, but I wanted to check with you before I took off.”

“I think we’re good. I’m going to lock up and leave myself. I really want to thank you for spending the whole evening putting everything back together. I can’t imagine why Duncan did this.”

“The man’s a bad seed. Gotta keep an eye on folks like him.”

“Yes, I can see that. See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.”

After Benny left I headed upstairs to check the top floor and make sure all the lights were turned off. The haunted house really was spooky when you were alone, even if the lights were on. I couldn’t help but wonder what species of visitor was creating all the rustling sounds I could hear now that everyone had gone. I hoped it was squirrels. Or raccoons. I hated to let my imagination take over at this point, so I systematically turned off the lights and then headed back downstairs.

I found myself wishing I’d brought a flashlight. Walking back through the graveyard now that everyone was gone was going to be a hair-raising experience. I was pretty sure I’d seen a flashlight in the kitchen, so I decided to try to find it before I left. The kitchen wasn’t really decorated like the main part of the building. I’d strung a few cobwebs and there were jack-o’-lanterns on the counter for effect, but I figured the crew who worked there might want to use it for breaks, so I hadn’t included it as part of the tour.

I made sure the back door was locked and the back window closed. I closed the cabinets that had been left open and picked up the set of butcher’s knives someone had knocked to the floor. I looked around for a large cleaver I knew was part of the set but didn’t see it anywhere. I’d used it earlier to cut a piece of rope, so it was possible someone else had used it for a similar purpose and then forgotten to put it back. I looked around one more time, turned off the kitchen light, and then headed out the door.

I had to walk slowly through the dark cemetery so I wouldn’t trip because I hadn’t found a flashlight. Off in the distance, my car was standing alone in the parking field.

I was halfway to it when I heard a scurrying that sounded like something larger than a squirrel.

I stopped walking. “Is anyone there?”

I listened, but there was no reply. I turned and looked around the area and didn’t see anything. I had taken a step closer to the car when I heard the scurrying again. I paused. The sound stopped, but I noticed a dark shape at the edge of the graveyard. I slowly left the path and started toward that shape. It was large. Maybe a bear. It was hard to make out the shape in the dark night. It seemed the cloud that had covered the moon earlier had returned and brought its friends. I stopped to listen. The air around me seemed to freeze in the silence.

I had just turned to head back to the car when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. I swung around only to look into the hollow eyes of a figure dressed all in black with a hood covering its face. I screamed and ran, but I didn’t make it far before I tripped over something. I rolled onto my back and was preparing to fight for my life, but the figure was gone.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I sat up and tried to make out what it was I had tripped over. I had to suppress a scream when I realized it was the bloody body of Duncan Wright. And it looked like I’d found the missing kitchen cleaver.

Note to self: It isn’t a good idea to plan to get an early start to the morning following a late night of being interrogated by a wet-behind-the-ears deputy when the sheriff is out of town.

Zak groaned as he rolled over and turned off the alarm.

“It feels like we just got to sleep.” I yawned.

“We did just get to sleep.”

“I can’t believe that rookie was actually going to book me.”

I was still angry about the way things had turned out. When I’d found Duncan’s body I’d called Salinger, only to find out that he was on vacation and a guy from the county seat was in town to fill in. Initially, I was annoyed but not alarmed, until I found out that Deputy Warren Lesserman was an idiot. Not only had he not been helpful in the least as to helping me identify the real killer but he’d had the nerve to suggest that I’d done it.

Talk about rude.

“He’s just young and wants to cover all his bases. After the tirade you left on Salinger’s cell I’m sure he’ll call Lesserman and get everything cleared up. In the meantime I suggest we just keep a low profile.”

“Humph,” I answered irritably.

Zak rolled over and pulled me into his arms. He kissed my neck. “I’m sorry this has been so rough on you, and I’m sorry Lesserman kept us up most of the night, but let’s try not to let it ruin our day.”

I yawned. “Yeah, you’re right. I am looking forward to Scooter’s game. I just don’t understand why it was scheduled so early.”

“It’s a tournament,” Zak explained. “There are games going on from dawn to dark and we just happened to be scheduled first. I’ll go down and make the coffee while you catch a hot shower. You’ll feel better once we get up and going.”

Zak rolled away from me. I immediately wanted to pull him back, but I supposed we really didn’t have time for that.

“I’ll make sure the kids are up,” Zak added. “I have a breakfast casserole in the freezer. I’ll toss it in the microwave and it’ll be ready by the time you come down.”

“With biscuits?” I asked hopefully.

Zak leaned over and kissed me on the lips. “With biscuits.”

I rolled myself out of bed as Zak left to get breakfast on the table. I’d tried to reason with the deputy the previous evening, but he hadn’t been listening to anything I said. I mean really. If I’d killed the guy why on earth would I be the one to call it in? And yes, I knew they would find my fingerprints on the murder weapon because I’d used the cleaver to cut the rope earlier in the evening, which is why I took the initiative to explain why he would likely find them on it. The man had the nerve to call my explanation contrived.

Seriously?

After an arduous interview that seemed to go on forever, the man finally let me go, but only after warning me not to leave town. Where else would I be when there was a murder to solve? The guy had no idea who he was dealing with, but once I managed to clear the cobwebs from my brain I planned to make sure he found out.

The main problem I needed to overcome was that the substitute deputy wasn’t buying my story about a man in a dark cloak. He was dressed sort of like a monk, with a robe and a large hood that concealed his face. Lesserman initially suggested I had an overactive imagination and had been seeing things that didn’t actually exist. He’d then suggested that perhaps I had seen a bear. As the interview progressed he’d had the audacity to suggest that I’d made up the story of the man in the cloak to cover up the fact that it was actually me who had killed a man I’d spent a good part of the day threatening.

Don’t get me wrong: I get the fact that a man in a dark cloak lurking around a cemetery on an overcast night just before Halloween sounds like something from a horror movie, but I know what I saw and it wasn’t a bear.

After drying my hair I dressed in a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a harvest gold sweatshirt. Then I slipped on my winter socks and light boots. It promised to be a nice day, but at the crack of freaking dawn there was still frost on the ground.

“That smells wonderful.” I took in an appreciative breath as I entered the kitchen. The rest of the family was chatting and eating Zak’s delicious breakfast.

“It’s really good,” Alex verified as Zak set a plateful of food on the table in front of the chair where I normally sat. “There are two kinds of sausage in it. It’s spicy. I like it.”

“Are you ready for the big game?” I asked Scooter after taking a sip of coffee.

“I’m ready. There are twelve teams in the tournament, but I think with me and Tucker we can win.”

“I’m sure you can. You’ve both been doing so well this season.”

“Can we go into town to play some games when the soccer game is over?” Scooter asked.

I wanted to say no. I wanted to say I was going to come home and go back to bed.

“Yeah, can we?” Alex seconded.

“Absolutely.” I forced a smile.

I ate my meal in silence while Zak and the kids went upstairs to finish getting ready. By the time I’d finished my third cup of coffee I was feeling a little more human. Yes, it was early, but the sun was peeking over the distant summit, which at least made it feel like it wasn’t still the middle of the night. There’s something about getting up when it’s still dark that tends to throw my system out of whack.

“Pass the ball, pass the ball,” I yelled at the top of my lungs as Scooter flew down the field toward the goal. One of his teammates was standing right in front of the goal, if he’d just pass it off as we were trying to teach him to do. Scooter was an excellent athlete, but he still needed to work on his approach to team strategy.

Scooter passed the ball to his teammate, who made the goal. And not any goal but the winning goal.

“That’s my boy!” I jumped up and down, shouting. I turned and hugged Alex, who was jumping up and down as well.

“Did you see that?” Alex wrapped her arms around me. “It was an amazing play.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I took a step back. “It really was.”

I looked across the field, where Zak had hoisted both Scooter and his teammate up onto his shoulders as their teammates congratulated them. Zak wasn’t Scooter’s regular coach, but they’d been short one for the tournament so he’d agreed to fill in.

“Go find Pi,” I instructed Alex. “I have to get into town early today to help out with the pumpkin carving, so we’ll need to go as soon as the team finishes up.”

“He’s talking to one of the kids from the high school,” Alex informed me as she pointed to the far end of the field. “His name is Trip. At least that’s what everyone calls him. You might want to keep an eye on that one.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“Brooklyn told me that Pi first made friends with him because he’s involved in a band and Pi is interested in music. But she also said he has a reputation for getting into trouble. As far as she knew it was petty-crime stuff like truancy and shoplifting, but Brooklyn didn’t think the guy was going to be the best influence on Pi. She said she also heard he was into recreational drugs and might have a drinking problem.”

Brooklyn was one of the kids who attended Zimmerman Academy, a confident sixteen-year-old who had gotten into her own kind of trouble prior to coming to Ashton Falls. Chances were if Brooklyn thought the guy was bad news, he was. I kind of think Pi and Brooklyn might have a flirtation going on, but so far I hadn’t gathered any evidence to support or disclaim my theory.

“I’ll mention it to Zak,” I promised. “I know Pi plans to fill in with Jeremy’s band for the concert in the park tomorrow and they’re practicing later this afternoon, so I think he’ll be fine for today. Right now why don’t you just run over and tell Pi that we’re leaving?”

“Okay,” Alex agreed.

“I guess you heard about the haunted graveyard.” Tawny Upton walked up beside me after Alex had gone to talk to Pi. Tawny owns the Over the Rainbow Preschool and is a member of the Ashton Falls Events Committee.

“Yeah. It’s a shame to cancel it after we worked so hard to get it decorated, not to mention cleaning it up yesterday.”

“It’s going to hurt our bottom line, that’s for certain,” Tawny said. “But I guess it’s a crime scene with Duncan being dead and all.”

“I hate to think unkindly of the dead, but being murdered in the cemetery seems like such a Duncan thing to do. I mean, really. It’s as if he set out to ruin the event, and although he didn’t quite manage to do it while he was alive, he pulled it off from the grave.”

Tawny looked at me oddly. “You might want to refrain from saying things like that. I know you disliked the guy, but he’s dead. The deputy who’s covering for Salinger is going around town asking everyone if we felt you might have had motive to kill Duncan, and if you continue to bad-mouth him it’s going to get back to Lesserman.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re right. It is uncouth of me to trash the guy when he can no longer speak for himself. I really didn’t care for Duncan, but I’m sorry he was murdered. And not just because he ruined the event. I plan to try to help track down the real killer, which, in spite of my outbursts, wasn’t me. Any ideas?”

Tawny thought about it. “I did hear that Willa was concerned that Duncan had gone forward with the dunk tank without taking insurance considerations into account. She mentioned that the tank provided an injury risk to the person being dunked, and the insurance rider for the specific event was going to cost more than the activity was likely to make. She was pretty mad, but I don’t see her killing him over it. Still, there was something odd about the whole situation.”

“Do you know anything about the guy?” I asked. “Where he lived before he moved here? What sort of job he had? Where he lived now?”

“No,” Tawny answered, “though I’m sure he must have told us all of that when he showed up for his first events committee meeting.”

“I don’t think he did. I think he just said he was new in town and had a lot of experience with event planning and wanted to get involved. Then he tossed out a couple of good ideas for the Hamlet and before we knew it, he was not only part of the group but he’d taken over completely.”

Tawny frowned. “I wonder if his enthusiasm for the event was just a ruse. Maybe he intentionally joined the committee and volunteered to help so he would have access to the venues. Maybe he planned to rob us. Or maybe he wanted to ruin the event to get revenge on someone.”

“Yeah, but who and why?” I wondered.

“I don’t suppose we’ll ever find out now that he’s dead and therefore unavailable for questioning.”

After the game Pi went off to hang out with friends until it was time for him to meet up with Jeremy, and Zak took Alex and Scooter into town to play games. I headed over to the pumpkin patch, where I was scheduled to serve as cashier for a two-hour shift. When I got there I found out Hazel Hampton had been scheduled for the same shift, so I took advantage of the break to head over to the boathouse to check on Ellie and the baby.

Before I moved in with Zak I had lived in the boathouse my entire adult life. My grandfather still owns the property and I have a huge soft spot for the converted building I designed and decorated.

It had warmed up quite a lot since we’d left home, so I stopped by the house to change into lighter clothing and check on the animals. I decided to walk down the beach to the boathouse, which is just a hop, a skip, and a jump from the mansion where I now live.

It had turned out to be a beautiful autumn day. The sky was as blue as the lake, and the aspens that were sprinkled over the mountainside were a brilliant yellow and orange. The three dogs trotted along beside me. I figured I’d need to walk back to the house Zak and I share with the kids to get my car later, so I might as well get the dogs some exercise while I was out and about.

When I arrived at the boathouse Ellie was sitting on the back deck, which overlooks the water. There was a stroller beside her that was covered, but I was willing to bet the baby was asleep inside it.

Ellie’s dog Shep ran out to greet his doggy friends when we arrived. I pulled up another chair and sat down next to my friend.

“You look exhausted,” I commented.

“I feel exhausted. Poor Mariah doesn’t know me from Adam and she’s having a hard time adjusting to not having her mommy here. She cried during half of the ride home and for most of the night. She’s sleeping now. She seems to like it out here.”

“It’s peaceful with the sound of the water lapping onto the sand, combined with the birds singing from the trees. Have you heard anything more about Skye’s condition?” I asked.

“I called the hospital this morning. They said she’s stable, which is good, but she hasn’t regained consciousness, which is bad. They did say they weren’t discouraged by her progress at this point. She suffered a pretty severe head injury, but they’re hoping she’ll wake up once the swelling goes down. In the meantime, Mariah and I are adjusting the best we can.”

I curled my legs up under my body. This was one of the most beautiful spots on the lake. I knew I would never grow tired of it.

“Where’s Levi?” I asked.

“He went back to his place to get some sleep. He tried to help out, but I could see the crying marathon was really getting to him. He’s not used to babies.”