“Don’t be too sure about that, he’s stubborn and he’s been threatening Josie.” Mom brought the cheese tray to the table and we all sat down.
“Speaking of which.” I turned to Mike who had sat beside me. “What exactly did you tell him about the gazebo? He mentioned something about it when I saw him at the bank earlier and he did not seem happy.”
Mike blushed.“Yeah, sorry about that. Anita Pendragon was nosing into the building permits and she saw my notes about the gazebo not being safe and making sure guests knew it was off limits. I guess he overheard us talking. I didn’t realize he’d think it was a big deal, because it’s not.”
Millie waved her hand dismissively, the chunk of cheese atop her cracker wobbling precariously as she did so.“Of course it’s not a big deal. Anyone can see the place is falling down so anyone with half a brain would steer clear.”
“Yeah, except I saw footprints near there. The ground is a little muddy and the mud was tracked onto the boards. So, it appears someone was there recently,” Mike said.
“Victor mentioned something about talking to Jed at the gazebo. Maybe he was scoping the place out,” I said.
“Probably trying to make sure the setting was dramatic enough. Wouldn’t put it past him to be the one that made the fake ghost noises. You know, to set the stage, so to speak,” Millie said.
As if on cue, Nero and Marlowe appeared, circling us like vultures waiting for a morsel of cheese to drop. Mom snuck a pinch of Gouda to them.
Mike shoved a cracker in his mouth.“Sothat’s why Anita was so interested in the gazebo. I’m sure she’s planning on trying to get a scoop.”
“She mentioned that she was in cahoots with Victor,” I said.
Millie’s left brow quirked up. “They’re working together?”
I nodded.“To get in on this movie deal apparently.”
“Ha!” Mom said. “I don’t trust either one of them. I once heard Anita say she’d kill for a big scoop and I wouldn’t put anything past Victor.”
“I don’t think Anita killed Madame Zenda though, because they were working together in the beginning. She was Anita’s ticket to the big scoop.” I reached down to pet Nero, who was tapping at my ankle. He dodged my hand and trotted toward the back door. Just like him to pretend like he wanted something, then walk away when you gave it to him.
Millie snorted.“So Anitasays…”
“Let’s consider this logically,” Mike said. Mom and Millie looked surprised at his words. It almost sounded like he wanted to help us investigate. Odd, because the last two times there was a murder he seemed against our involvement. Maybe he was mellowing. “Who are your suspects and what are their motives?”
“Well, there’s Anita because she wants a big story,” Mom said.
Meow.
Meroo.
The cats were meowing at the door so Millie got up to let them out.“And Victor, of course. He wants a movie deal or something.”
“And let’s not forget Esther,” I said, glancing out the window to see the cats sitting in the yard staring at me. “She seems nice, but she also seems very competitive with Victor about talking to Jed’s ghost.”
“So you think the motive is this movie?” Mike pressed his lips together. “Seems kind of far-fetched, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s not even a done deal. Murder is pretty extreme.”
“You might be right,” Mom said. “Didn’t all these people know each other before? Esther knew Madame Zenda’s name was really Betty Sue Lipowitz.”
Mike nodded.“Ahhh so a previous connection. Maybe the death had more to do with that. Some kind of revenge?”
Meroooolow…
The cats muted meows filtered through the window and I saw them pacing back and forth near the overgrown grass at the edge of the lawn.“But she’s not the only one who knew her. Look.” I got my laptop from where I’d stashed it on the counter in the butler’s pantry. The picture of the cruise was still up on the screen. “This cruise was a few years ago. You can see in the picture right up front, the featured psychics are Madame Zenda, Esther Hill and Victor Merino.”
“Huh, how about that.”
“Yeah, and Esther was at the bank. Did you know they have a display of older items there? It’s bank history and such.”
“You mean like buckles?” Millie asked.
“No buckles, but Belinda May gave me an envelope for Esther.” My attention was drawn to the window again. Now the cats were twitching their tails and looking over their shoulders at me. I had the feeling I should go out there but not until we were done going over the clues.
Millie’s brows shot up. “What was in it? Buckles?”
“No, just paper. I’m not sure exactly what was on it though because I was trying to get that out of Esther when the ghostly moans happened.”
“Speaking of which.” Mom stuck a slice of Swiss on a round cracker and then topped it off with another cracker. “Where did the ghostly noise come from?”
“Sounded like it was from outside. In the back,” Mike said.
“How would someone do that? We were all in the foyer.” Mom bit into the cracker sandwich.
“Remote control?” Millie turned to Mike. “Is that possible?”
“Yeah, sure. Lots of things are possible these days. There’d have to be a speaker of some sort though, to allow the noise to carry.”
“That sounds like a lot of trouble to go to, and how would they work the remote without us seeing them?” Millie asked.
“Maybe they put it on a timer?” Mom suggested.
Millie squinted at the picture on my laptop.“So Esther and Victor knew Zenda…”
“And that tea-leaf lady, Gail.” Mom pointed to a face in the back row of the picture and Millie squinted even harder. It was Gail.
“I didn’t even notice her!” I said. “I was so focused on the names of the other psychics listed on the bill and she isn’t one of them.”
“Yeah, what is she doing lurking in the back there?” Mom asked.
Speaking of lurking, she’d been doing that in the butler’s pantry too. She’d said she was looking for tea, but now I wondered. “She seems to lurk a lot. And Anita thought it was suspicious that she didn’t have much of a history as a psychic.”
“Thatis a bit odd. Maybe she’s new? I mean, people have to start out somewhere. Look at Millie and me. We weren’t ace detectives last year. We had to learn the ropes.” Mom chewed a piece of cheese thoughtfully. “Then again, Gail was the only one who wasn’t in the foyer when the ghostly noises happened.”
Millie, Mike and I stared at her. She was right. I glanced out the window to see the cats trotting down the path that led to the gazebo.
“Maybe she wasn’t there because she was at the gazebo orchestrating the noises.” I pushed up from the table and headed toward the door. “And if she was, she might have left some evidence!”
Twenty-Two
“We better hurry, it’s getting dark,” Millie said as we followed the cats down the narrow path that led to the gazebo. It was still daylight, but the sun was starting to dip below the trees behind us as we picked our way through the overgrown grass, saplings and small shrubs.
It only took about five minutes to get to the gazebo. It stood on a highpoint of land and had a view of Smugglers Cove in the distance. The ocean was a hazy light blue, the sky pink with the reflection of the setting sun behind us.
The gazebo had seen better days. To say it was dilapidated was an understatement, though I’m sure it was once beautiful. I could see evidence of gingerbread molding in the corners, fancy lattice underneath and copper flashing on the roof, but all of that was now hidden beneath rotting boards and peeling paint. Grass and shrubs had grown up along the sides, vines wound around the railings and a thin tree had sprouted on one of the benches and grown through a hole in the roof.
It wouldn’t be this unsightly for long though. Ed would start work soon and it would be grand again… if my loan held out.
A flock of pigeons flapped out of the crumblingcupola noisily as we approached. Millie stopped a few feet from the structure.“Look! Footprints!” She pointed to the mud where various partial impressions of shoes could be seen. I tried to make out what types of shoes. Surely that would help us figure out who had been here? The work boots were probably from Mike and Ed. There were others too, which looked like some sortof soft-soled tennis shoes. Millie took out her cell phone and snapped off a few pictures.