Candy Canes, Corpses and the Gothic Haunt Read online

  Juniper had assumed that was what would happen. Juniper wouldn’t get to attend his funeral, but maybe she could do something to honor his memory here. “Have you heard anything from the medical examiner yet?”

  He didn’t answer right away, and Juniper knew he was trying to decide how much to tell her.

  “Kaden, I’m not a child.”

  “I know that.” He patted Juniper’s hand. “We got the preliminary findings.”

  “And?”

  “Feliz had trauma to his head.”

  “I know.” Juniper put her hands in her lap so Kaden wouldn’t see them shaking. “He was murdered.”

  “That’s not likely.”

  “But you just said—”

  Kaden held up his hand. “Let me finish. The examiner said the wound on his head could have occurred any number of ways, that, in his opinion, it was likely Feliz hit his head when the wine rack fell on him. Maybe it took him by surprise when it fell and he tripped and smacked his head or maybe he tripped over the bottle as I suggested.”

  Juniper shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, Junie, but we didn’t find anything to indicate that anyone else was there.”

  Juniper stomach lurched. Feliz was in the kitchen making his custard. Why would he leave milk on the stove and go into the wine cellar?

  The answer was that he wouldn’t. Juniper didn’t care what the medical examiner thought. His conclusion was wrong. Feliz had been stone cold murdered. She couldn’t sit any longer. She slid off the stool and paced back and forth. “What about his phone call to me?” Juniper asked. “It’s too much of a coincidence that he said he found something, and next thing we know he’s dead.”

  “Do you know what that something was?” Kaden asked.

  “You know I don’t. He wanted to show it to me.”

  “Do you know for sure someone was sabotaging the Inn?”

  “Not exactly, but Feliz was onto something that night.”

  Kaden sighed. “I know you don’t like it, but unless I discover otherwise—or find some new evidence—it will be ruled an accident.” He got up and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Junie. It’s not what you wanted to hear, and I’d really like to keep it open but we have our hands full right now with the local teenagers. There was another overdose last night, and the mayor is hell-bent on getting answers. These kids are getting MDMA from somewhere. But I promise if there’s any new evidence, or something else comes up, we’ll take another look.”

  After he left, she collapsed into a chair. Juniper was stunned, not only did Bohemian Lake have a killer, it had a drug problem. What was going on and what was MDMA?

  Six

  _____________

  T HE cheese shop, Let It Brie, was next door to Cookies & Corsets, so Juniper decided to start her investigation there, given that Feliz had been suspicious of the owner. The shop was owned by her neighbor Louise Olivet, who in Juniper’s opinion was outgoing and friendly and always had a smile on her face. Juniper was sure she wasn’t the one resorting to sabotage and murder, but she might know something. Juniper needed to order cheese for the charcuterie board before the opening anyway, and this was as good a time as any to do it.

  Louise looked up when the bell on the door chimed as Juniper entered. “Junie!” She set down the wheel of Gouda she’d been wrapping and rushed over to her. Juniper wasn’t too surprised when she pulled her into a hug. “I am so sorry about Feliz. Pike told me about it. Such a horrible thing to happen to someone. I just can’t believe it.”

  “Thanks. I can’t, either.” Juniper paused to look around. The shop was decorated in a hodgepodge of vintage farm and hand-me-down items that somehow looked as if they belonged: pastoral paintings, antique milk jugs that doubled as vases, and cabinets stuffed to the brim with mismatched porcelain. There was a whole vintage French country vibe to the place that Juniper loved. In the center was an old dining table that Louise used to display small chutneys and cheese boards. “Feliz mentioned you were over the other day,” Juniper said, peeling off her leather gloves and loosening her wool scarf.

  Louise curled a swath of shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear. Together with her flowered, baby-doll styled dress, she could have been eighteen years old instead of almost forty. She took Juniper’s hand and pulled her over to the glass counter where she practically sat her down on a milk crate. “Yes, I brought a gift basket of cheese and preserves over to you. I’m afraid Feliz didn’t quite like my selection. We got into a little scuffle about which cheeses went with what.”

  “Yes, Feliz was quite passionate about food.”

  “It was silly. I wish I could undo it now.” Louise looked genuinely sad. She pulled out another stool and sat down.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been back over to see you,” she said, “but I didn’t want to get in the way.”

  “You wouldn’t have been in the way. I spent yesterday cleaning and today hiring a new chef.”

  “Really? You hired a new chef?”

  “You seem surprised.”

  “It’s just that, well, I didn’t expect it. Especially not so soon.”

  “I didn’t have any choice with the opening so close. Besides, it’s an old friend of ours. He went to college with us.”

  Louise got up and went behind the glass counter. “So you’ll be opening after all?” She picked up the wheel of Gouda she’d been holding when Juniper came in. “I thought—I mean, I heard—” Her phone rang just then, and she answered it.

  While Louise took care of business, Juniper walked around the shop looking at the jams and cheeses and wondering why Louise seemed to think she wouldn’t be opening the Inn. Was that what everyone was thinking?

  Louise finished her call. “Sorry about that.”

  “No need to apologize.” Juniper smiled. “Although, I do need to place an order for the opening. I’m hoping to make your family’s farm my regular supplier.”

  “Ah, wonderful!”

  Juniper told her what she had in mind, and Louise showed her what she thought would work with the rest of the menu and wine list. Juniper was more than pleased with the prices. After all, the charcuterie board was a classic Spanish tapas selection. When they finished, Louise said, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Actually, there is.” If Juniper was going to find out anything to solve her chef’s murder, now was the time. “Have you seen anything strange going on near the Inn lately?”

  “Strange? I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

  “I mean anyone hanging around who shouldn’t be. Someone going in when no one is there. That sort of thing.”

  Louise chewed her lip. “I haven’t noticed anything. Other than the workmen you’ve had going in and out. But that’s when either you, Jack or Feliz were there. Why?”

  Juniper wasn’t sure how much to share, especially when the police were calling it an accident. “We’ve had a few instances of vandalism. I was just wondering.”

  “Probably kids. Have you heard they’re doing drugs now? It’s so shocking. Every time I put holiday decorations outside, some little brat steals them.” She reached under the counter, pulled out a dented aluminum baseball bat and grinned. “The last time one of them tried to lift something from in here, I brought this baby out. They haven’t been back since. You should get yourself one of these.”

  Juniper laughed. “Well, I’m not quite on your level yet, but I did have an alarm system put in today.”

  “That’s good, but watching them run when I lift the bat is better.”

  After Juniper left Louise’s shop, she headed to the grocery store and pondered what she’d learned. Who knew Louise had such a dark side. Could she have murdered Feliz over cheese? No, that was silly.

  Oh well, maybe she’d have better luck with the others tomorrow.

  Two hours later, the fridge and cupboards were restocked, and she’d fixed an egg white omelet with green peppers and jalapeños for dinner. Juniper had eaten way too much of Finn’s offerings at lunch.
It was time to balance those macros out.

  She’d finished half of her plate when her phone rang. It was the alarm company notifying her that her motion detectors had been set off.

  Seven

  _____________

  T HANKFULLY, she only lived a block away, and she made it back to the Gothic Haunt in record time. A squad car was double-parked on the street near the front entrance and an officer stood at the door. Juniper raced up the icy sidewalk, doing her best not to slip.

  “Juniper Palmer?” The officer looked her over with a skeptical eye.

  “Yes. I’m one of the owners.”

  “I checked the doors already,” he said. “They’re all locked. No sign of forced entry. Do you have your key? I’ll check inside if you’d like.”

  “Yes, please.” Juniper unlocked the door, and he went inside. She followed and punched in the alarm code.

  “Please wait at the door,” he said.

  Juniper did, taking deep breaths to slow down her heartbeat, which could have kept time with the traditionally fast-paced “Carol of the Bells”. Juniper couldn’t help replaying Saturday night in her mind. It seemed like forever before the cop returned.

  “The place is clear, miss.”

  “Are you sure?” Juniper said. “The alarm company said the motion detectors were activated. Wouldn’t that mean someone was in here?”

  “Probably just a glitch of some kind. It happens all the time.”

  “This is my first day with an alarm system, so I wouldn’t know.”

  He suggested Juniper follow up with the alarm company in the morning.

  After he left, she locked the door behind him, then went to take a look around herself. Thirty minutes later, she hadn’t found anything out of order. Either the officer was right and there was a problem with the alarm, or the white lady of the Gothic Haunt was now interfering with her technology. Time to try another angle.

  Juniper pulled out her phone and made the call.

  Eight

  _____________

  P ROFESSOR Daemon Wraith greeted her outside the Gothic Haunt with a smile and a firm handshake. He pointed to the new sign they’d just had installed on the front lawn. “That’s quite the fitting name you’ve got for the Inn, Ms. Palmer?”

  Juniper smiled, shaking his hand. “Apparently so. Please, call me Juniper. I thought we were being tongue in cheek with the Inn’s name at the time because of the rumors but that’s what we get.”

  “Why don’t you show me around the place and tell me about your visitor?”

  Juniper nodded. “Sure, for starters I think it’s this woman.” She said, handing him a family portrait she’d received from the old owner, Lulu McCloskey. “That man was a Doctor, and he built this house as a wedding present for his bride, Victoria. I think it could be Victoria that I’m seeing but I don’t know for sure. They say the doctor killed her and then himself but no one knows why because they were so happy.”

  “Yes, it’s always tragic circumstances with ghosts,” he said, looking forward at the Victorian. "Who said they were happy?”

  “I don’t know. Her sister Marjorie, maybe? She lived next door with her husband.” Juniper pointed to Fern Baron’s place. “Her husband is the one who heard the commotion and found the bodies after the Doctor shot himself. Anyway, Marjorie’s husband tried to sell the place after the murder-suicide, but no one would buy it. Marjorie’s husband hanged himself from the chandelier above the stairwell.” Juniper shivered. Saying the story out loud was giving her the creeps. “Then there’s Kaitlyn Patone’s murder. She died in October in the attic but I don’t think this is her. The dress, when I catch a glimpse of it in my mind’s eye, looks antique.”

  “In your mind’s eye? Are you psychic then?”

  “Oh, heavens, no,” Juniper said, taken aback by the suggestion.

  “I only meant when I see her… well it’s hard to explain, but I never really see her straight on. It’s kind of a blur and a feeling, and I guess I just can picture her in my head. We had a fake haunting in October but the woman responsible was arrested. I guess I expected everything to stop after that and the obvious things like the music did stop, but lately there have been cold spots and these sightings.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but I think you have some hidden talents. That isn’t how most people see ghosts.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, but we can discuss that another time. So what's been happening here?”

  “Well,” Juniper said, her hands nervously tilting the photo back and forth. “Every time I go near the basement I get the feeling I'm being watched. And more than that, sometimes I feel like I'm being followed.”

  “Is that all?”

  “No,” Juniper said after a moment. “Lately, I see her and she leads me to the basement. She always disappears when I’m halfway down the stairs. I feel like she’s trying to tell me something, every time…” Juniper paused.

  “What?”

  “Well, it’s just we’ve had a lot of things go wrong here lately. I don’t know if this house is cursed or we’re being sabotaged but every time I turn around some lamp’s been busted, some wire’s been cut, or someone’s dead.” Juniper choked up as she finished her sentence.

  “Your chef, you mean?”

  “Yes,” Juniper whispered, her lower lip quivering. The police ruled his death it an accident, but I think he had help. Are ghosts capable of murder?”

  “Sometimes,” he said with a nod. “Okay, if you'll lead me inside I'll get to work.”

  “Can you really help?”

  “That's why I’m here, Juniper," he said. “Give me a few hours and let me see what I can do.”

  He followed her up the four steps to the front entryway and they went inside.

  “My goal is to move the spirit on,” he said confidently as they moved into the foyer. From his back pocket he pulled out a small gadget.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s an electrostatic meter; it measures variances in electrostatic energy.” He held his arm out and waved it in a circle around the foyer.

  With an eye on the needle bouncing back and forth across the gauge, he moved ahead through the foyer and up the stairs. The needle gave a jolt as he passed by the main chandelier. The needle bounced again. He put the little gadget in the back pocket of his jeans and closed his eyes.

  “So far, I’ve picked up two energies here, one female and one male, and you’re right: one of them is not giving off a pleasant vibe. I’m going to focus on the female first. You said her name was Victoria, right?”

  Juniper nodded.

  There, at the end of the hallway, he stopped. "It's all right," he said aloud. "I'm not going to hurt you."

  Juniper noticed an immediate dip in temperature. She pulled her plaid scarf tighter around her shoulders and shivered slightly, feeling the icy coolness penetrate her clothing and her skin, seeping into her bones. He attempted to speak with the ghost for several minutes. Juniper left him to it and went to sit in the parlor to warm up.

  When he finally returned, he said, “she’s having trouble communicating. That sometimes happens if the spirits are new or tired. You said she’s been reaching out a lot lately so she’s probably been expending much of her energy. All I can get from her is that she’s scared. She keeps repeating that he’s under the house!”

  Juniper gasped.

  "I won’t know for sure until she gets a little stronger. The man who murdered her—energies like him often create a portal to a lower plane of existence where they can become stronger and more deviant. He’s not here right now, but I get the feeling he has a doorway stashed somewhere, so he could be your poltergeist—the one messing with your stuff. Although it would take unimaginable concentration on his part to sever a wire or to bash someone in the head, so your chef’s death seems suspect. I’ve known spirits that could push someone down the stairs but that is usually the extent of it. If this male spirit was your culprit, then the only way to combat him would be
to close the portal, but I’m afraid I can’t find that doorway unless he makes an appearance and I track him back to it. Have you seen him in your mind’s eye?"

  “No, never.”

  He looked relieved. "Alright, well I’ll have to come back, then, and hopefully Victoria will have regained some strength by that time," he said with a smile. "But it won’t be until the New Year. I’m afraid I’m off on another assignment until January."

  Juniper nodded. He’d informed her of this when she called him. "Of course," she said, handing him his fee. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I’ll be in touch with you should this continue and I’ll try to find that diary of Victoria’s that Lulu gave me."

  After he left Juniper went into the taproom to plug in the Christmas lights, only to find the cord had been cut—just like her vent. Not to mention, the Christmas presents she’d collected to donate to the local toy drive were missing, too. Someone really had broken in. But how in the world had they gotten inside? And out? Juniper was a little spooked about the whole thing, so she reset the alarm, locked up, and headed home.

  Nine

  _____________

  U NABLE to sit still, Juniper paced the living room floor. What was this person’s motivation? There were other—and probably better—ways to go about keeping her from opening. Why not just burn the joint down?

  And it totally baffled her how the person had gotten into the Inn with no telltale signs. No door or window alarms had been set off, only the motion detector. She’d double-checked the tunnel’s doors as Feliz had suggested and they were still bolted, so how had it been done? Juniper suddenly had an idea. She picked up the phone and called Kaden’s cell.

  “Hey, Junie,” he said. “How are you?”

  “I’m okay. Someone tampered with my lights and stole some gifts. Do you happen to have Feliz Merlot’s keys for the Inn?”

  “I can double-check, but I didn’t see them in his personal effects. Why?”