Smulder took the ring gingerly and left us along.
I sagged in my chair.
“Posture, Charlotte,” Gamma said. “Even when odds seem insurmountable. You must face evil and ire with a stiff back.”
I straightened, though I didn’t want to. “What now?” I asked. “We’re no closer to finding out the truth than we were, and Grandpa’s going to close the noose fast.”
“Poor choice of words given the circumstances.”
“Sorry. I meant he won’t let us go anywhere.”
“Then we won’t go anywhere,” Gamma said. “We have the evidence we need in this inn. We only have to wait for my contact to get back to me and we’ll know more.” But the words sounded empty. We were stuck, and I would have to spend the night anticipating an attack from Kyle.
“You’ll be sleeping in my bedroom tonight,” Gamma said, reading my mind as she was wont to do. “We’ll take the night in shifts. If he comes knocking, he’ll have my pump-action shotgun for a welcome party.”
I could always count on my grandmother to have my back.
It was bound to be a long night.
14
The following morning…
A long night of nothing.
Kyle hadn’t showed up, though Gamma and I had dutifully taken turns staying awake in case he made his appearance. Somehow that made it more annoying—it was the waiting that was the worst. The not knowing.
“You OK, Charlie?” Lauren asked from the stove. She’d decided on bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy for breakfast this morning.
“Just tired,” I said, trying for a smile though it didn’t quite reach my eyes. “How are you?”
“Worried,” Lauren replied.
“About?”
“The inn. Georgina. You. Things have been different around here ever since Jordan passed. I’m afraid of what it might mean for the Gossip Inn. People in town have been talking a lot about what happened.”
“Not the ‘Murder Inn’ stuff again.”
Lauren pulled a face and nodded. “Exactly.”
“Don’t worry about it too much,” I said. “Everything will work out in the end.” Because Gamma and I would make sure it did. Not Kyle nor Jacinta Redgrave at The Gossip Rag nor Jessie Belle-Blue would stop us from keeping the inn open and the guests happy.
Lauren finished off the last of the eggs and we plated up, sliding them onto grand silver platters that I carried through to the inn’s dining room. There were fewer guests this morning—a lot of them had checked out after the murder, and many others had called ahead to cancel their stays at the inn, as well.
I picked up my usual pot of coffee and started making my rounds, trying to bring more energy and happiness that I did on any other day. The guests didn’t notice. I wound toward the Wart table and found only one of the sisters seated there, eating eggs and bacon.
This time, it was Josephine, the sister with the severe bob. She didn’t so much as glance up at me when I stopped next to her table.
Josephine cut her bacon into perfect squares, stopping only to scratch her neck. The front of her throat and her collar bone area were covered in angry red spots.
“Good morning, Miss Wart,” I said.
“I’m trying to eat my breakfast,” she replied, without looking at me. “What do you want?”
“I wondered if you’d like a refill?” Or a prescription for cortisone cream? “How are you this morning? You seem to have an irritation on your neck.”
“No coffee! I’d like to be left alone now, thank you.”
“Of course.” I backed away to a safe distance and continued studying her.
The scratching grew more frantic, but Josephine was determined to finish her breakfast. She inserted one of the perfectly cut squares of bacon between her lips and chewed rhythmically. Like a cow in the field.
Itchy red neck. Necklace?
My eyes widened.
What were the chances that Josephine happened to have irritated skin on and around her neck after her sister, Kayla, had told us that her sister had stolen her necklace?
But what does the necklace have to do with the murder?
It was linked to Jordan. That had to mean something.
I did a last round in the dining room, ensuring everyone was catered to, then placed my pot of coffee on the sideboard and slipped into the kitchen. Lauren was occupied with icing cupcakes and didn’t notice me slip by and out into the hallway.
On the first floor, I found the Lavender Room where Josephine was staying and slipped my set of keys from my apron—provided to me so I could clean the rooms in the inn. I slipped an ornate key into the equally fancy lock and gave a satisfied smile when the latch clacked.
I’m in.
But I had to be quick about this.
Burying my misgivings about whether the necklace was relevant or not, I started my search of Josephine’s room. I found the necklace and Josephine’s journal under her bed. Not exactly the smartest hiding place, but I wasn’t complaining.
The necklace was… weird. A collection of silver chain links ending in a pendant that had once held a circular gem but was now empty. A niggling suspicion started in the back of my mind, but I set it aside for now and opened Josephine’s journal instead.
Dear Diary,
I can’t stand the way my sister has been acting lately. She’s completely obsessed with this disgusting little man with ginger hair. He works in the kitten foster center at the inn and has somehow managed to worm his way into her good graces.
He’s given her a necklace. Cheap looking thing with a stupid pendant without a gem! It’s got some silver ball in the very center of it.
I quit reading, my eyes widening. A silver ball? Like the pea-sized pill we’d found at the crime scene?
He’s too poor for her, but she won’t see sense. And I find it alarming that she would fall in love with someone she’s known for two days. You’d swear he’d cast a spell on her or something.
Anyway, I’ll talk to her about it, but I don’t hold out much hope.
That entry had been written on
