These Haunts Are Made For Walking (Haunted Tour Guide Mystery Book 1) (20 page)

Footsteps sounded from behind me. I whipped around expecting to see a killer or at the very least a ghost. Instead Mrs. Stanley the former librarian stood behind me. She stopped and clutched her big brown purse to her chest when I turned around so abruptly. Mrs. Stanley wore her usual business suit, although this one was a shade of dark blue. Her gray hair was styled in a bun at the back of her head. She peered at me over the top of her black-framed eyeglasses. Mrs. Stanley’s blue pumps looked as if she’d just taken them out of the store box and her purse matched the shade exactly. She must have bought them as a set. Her red lipstick had bleed into the tiny lines around her mouth. She had just enough rouge on her cheeks to give her that healthy glow.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?” I asked. It was more like she had scared me, but I knew she hadn’t meant to.

She lowered her bag. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. You were walking so quickly I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to catch up.”

I gestured over my shoulder. “I was just on my way home.”

“Yes, it is getting late.” She looked up at the red- and yellow-streaked sky.

It was only seven. But sadly, I had no plans for the evening, so I would probably be in bed by nine. Mrs. Stanley would probably stay up later than me.

“How do you like your new job, dear?” she asked.

I pushed hair out of my eyes. “It’s good.”

I had hoped to sound a little more enthusiastic, but I was positive she knew about Marion. It was hard to be that excited when such a bad event had happened on my first day.

She nodded. “It’s such a tragedy what happened to Marion.”

“Yes, that’s one way to put it.”

“How are you getting along with Leslie?”

There was no way to hide my disappointment with that relationship. “To be honest, things could be better. I just think we got off on the wrong foot.”

Mrs. Stanley had probably hired Leslie and therefore gotten along with her just fine. “She can be a bit of a pain, but I’m sure she will come around. She’s such a good worker.”

“Well, I haven’t seen that part yet either, but I’ll give it a little more time.”

Silence settled over us. I wasn’t sure what to say next. Mrs. Stanley stared at me as if she expected me to continue the conversation. She acted as if she wanted to ask more, but so far she hadn’t. Did she want to mention something else about the murder? Or the ghost? Had Annie made herself known to Mrs. Stanley as well?

“Was there anything else you needed to tell me about the library?” I asked. This would be a perfect opportunity for her to say something.

She shook her head. “I can’t think of anything, dear, but if I do I will make sure to stop in.”

Another long pause and then finally I said, “Well, I’d better go. It was nice seeing you.”

She stared at me. “It was nice seeing you too.”

Her voice changed. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it gave me the creeps. She walked around me, watching as she passed. She continued down the sidewalk, and I watched her for a few more seconds before heading to my car. I wanted to make sure she didn’t turn around and follow me. What had she wanted to tell me? I should have just asked about the ghosts. Everyone knew I believed in them. It wasn’t like it was a secret anymore.

Now that Mrs. Stanley had gone, I continued down the sidewalk. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was walking behind me. I glanced over my shoulder expecting to see Mrs. Stanley again. She wasn’t there. But I did recognize a face back there. She had paused to look in a store window. But I wasn’t falling for that act. I knew that Leslie had been following me. What did she want? I called out to her, but she didn’t look my way.

When I turned around to walk in her direction, she darted down an alleyway. What was that all about? I knew she didn’t want to talk with me, but this was taking it a little too far. When I reached the alleyway, Leslie was nowhere in sight. I’d have to ask her why she’d followed me, although I knew she’d probably just deny it, so what as the point?

I’d almost made it to my car when my phone rang.

“What did you find out?” Tammy asked as soon as I answered.

“Not much about anything.”

Tammy sighed. “Well, that’s a bummer.”

“Oh, but I did spot a notepad at Sue’s. It was just like the paper I discovered in the book at the library,” I said.

“Hm. That is interesting. But I guess it could have been anyone’s.”

“The paper was sold at Marion’s shop. So it wasn’t like it was just a scrap piece of paper. It was from a pretty stationery set.”

“Sue always has been obsessed with stationery,” Tammy said.

“Aren’t we all?” I asked.

Tammy chuckled. “Good point. So what do you do from here?”

“I guess I just keep looking for clues.” I picked up my pace, feeling the cool wind swirl around me.

I hadn’t told Tammy about the texts from Annie yet. She really would freak out when I told her that another ghost was following me and sending texts too. There had never been the right time to share this information with her. It was hard for me to start that kind of conversation. It was one thing to believe in ghosts, but it was another entirely to get texts from them. That was daily-visits-to-the-psychiatrist kind of crazy.

With Annie constantly texting me, I might have to reveal my ghostly secret to Tammy soon. It wasn’t the kind of thing I could tell just anyone. However, I didn’t think Tammy would believe my claim of just having a hunch about Ted Alistair’s books for much longer. I had to tell her that it was all Annie’s information that had led me to the books. I knew it would be hard for anyone to believe, but surely Tammy would believe me.

I continued to share the chain of events with Tammy. “First I went to Sue’s salon, and then I went to Katherine’s cupcake shop, and then to Dana’s coffee shop. I covered everyone and I still don’t know what to think.”

“What did you find out about what Sue said?”

“She didn’t seem too broken up about what happened to Marion.”

“Well, she’s always had a tough exterior,” Tammy said.

That was true. Everyone handled things differently. “Sue sent me to Katherine’s and then Katherine sent me to Dana’s. So they must be pointing fingers at each other.”

“I hate to see their friendship fall apart. The Book Wormers have been together for a long time,” Tammy said.

“Sue told me that it was Dana’s idea to use the book for this month’s book club. What are the odds that she would pick that book and then the murder would happen just as it had in that book?”

“I think that is too much of a coincidence,” Tammy said.

“I do too. But I couldn’t accuse Dana of murder. And she seems so nice.”

“Ted Bundy seemed nice too. Have you ever read the books?” Tammy asked.

“No, I haven’t. What about you?” I asked.

“No, they’re not my usual genre. But we really should read books one and two in the series for more clues,” Tammy said.

I knew that Annie would try to tell me that she could just explain what happened in the books. Nope. I had to do this myself. I might miss something if she gave me the CliffNotes version.

“Okay, so I’ll read book one and you can read book two.”

“I hope they are standalones.”

“I don’t think it really matters at this point,” I said.

“You have a point. What about book three? Is it out yet?”

I sighed and then said, “Yes, but it’s been checked out.”

“By whom?” Tammy asked.

“A woman I went to visit today. Dorothy Blanton. Apparently she’s on vacation.”

“I guess that rules her out as the murderer.”

I finally reached my car. “I suppose it does, since she wasn’t at the library at the time.”

“Do we know for sure that the killer was at the library when this happened?” Tammy asked.

“No, I don’t know anything for sure. I’m just about as clueless as they come.”

“I think I have you beat in that department,” Tammy said.

I chuckled. “I doubt that.”

“I’ll talk to you soon and we can see what our next move is.”

“Thanks, you’re the best,” I said.

“It’s what I do. Think nothing of it.”

I hung up the phone and pulled away from the curb.

Within a few minutes, I had arrived home. I thought about the times that Brannon had walked me home and I wondered what he was doing now. Would he show up for my next ghost tour? I hoped so. Would the ghost? I was surprised that I hadn’t seen him tonight. Although I hadn’t made it to my front door yet and there was still time. I climbed out of my car and looked around as I made it to the front door. So far, I didn’t notice anything unusual. I hoped it stayed that way.

I took out my key and hurried to open the door. When I entered, I looked back over my shoulder, sure that I would see something, but luckily there was nothing. I had made it home safely this time.

I moved over to the line of mailboxes. There was a piece of paper sticking out the edge of my box. I recognized the paper right away. I’d seen it before and in fact had a piece just like it in my pocket. Someone really loved this paper. Apparently, the person liked to write all their notes on it.

I pulled the note from my box. My heart thumped quicker as I unfolded it.

You’ll never figure it out.

That was all that was written on the note. This had to be from the killer. And the killer knew where I lived and that I had been trying to find out who had murdered Marion. It sent a shiver down my spine. How had this person gotten into the building to leave the note? I bet it was my neighbor. She was always forgetting to shut the door. It was clear that someone didn’t want me to solve the murder. This was definitely a threatening note.

The next morning, I decided to walk to work. I was still shaken up about the note I’d received the night before. I figured it was probably time that I told Brannon about what I had found. I had so hoped to solve this on my own, but I guessed it wasn’t meant to be.

As I walked along the sidewalk, I couldn’t help but notice that a few people watched me as I walked by. I was getting some strange looks. Of course, that made me uneasy. What would happen next? At least if I gave Brannon this information they would know that I had nothing to do with Marion’s death. At least I hoped that was the case.

I reached the library and hurried through the massive doors. Since the lights were on and the door was unlocked I knew that Leslie was already there. She wouldn’t be happy. If I wasn’t there first she considered me late. I was fifteen minutes early and considering all that I’d been through I figured that was pretty good.

Leslie glanced at me when I entered, but didn’t speak. I didn’t feel like dealing with her attitude, so I didn’t ask why she’d been behind me last night. The longer I worked with her the more I was convinced she wanted my ob. That was her way of getting me to quit. The nastier she was to me the more I would want to leave. There was no chance of that happening so she could give up that dream. Annie was standing by the front desk, but I couldn’t talk to her with Leslie right there. I still didn’t understand why she didn’t show herself to Leslie or Tammy.

As I went about my morning routine, a lot of people were looking at me strangely just as they had when I’d walked to work. I didn’t like the feeling. Annie was sending me text messages, but I couldn’t read them right now. I already had people looking at me and I didn’t need to add to that. As soon as it slowed down I would be able to go back to my office and find out what she wanted. I was sure she just wanted to know what I’d found out on my visits to the women’s shops.

I was behind the front desk with a woman with gray hair approached.

“May I help you?” I asked.

She scowled and shoved books toward me.

I smiled and said, “I’d be happy to help you with the books.”

She smirked but didn’t answer.

I checked out the books for her and then said, “They are due back in two weeks.”

“Thank you.” She frowned. “We didn’t have any problems until you came back to town.”

What was that supposed to mean? “I’m sorry?” I asked.

“I think you know what I mean.” She picked her books from the counter and rushed toward the exit.

I stood in silence for a moment thinking about what had just happened. Suddenly the townspeople wanted to get rid of me? Was that why I was getting so many strange looks? Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Devil’s Moon was my hometown and they wouldn’t get rid of me that easily. They would just have to get used to my presence again. And it better not take them fifty years to like me either. And how could I have stirred up the ghosts? Just by having the tour? Was that why Annie had appeared? Was it all because of me? Why hadn’t this happened sooner? Why only now that I had returned home?

As I worked that morning several people came into the library and proceeded to tell me that I needed to leave. They didn’t think I could replace their beloved Mrs. Stanley. I was tired of hearing that and the next person to say it would get a tongue-lashing from me. They had some nerve coming up and telling me this to my face. Couldn’t they just continue to talk behind my back like every other small town? That was okay. I could handle it. I was strong and could face it. Nothing they said could deter me.