“Celeste, you remember Jake Cooper? He’s helping us figure out who framed me,” Morgan said.
Celeste eyed Jake suspiciously, then nodded a greeting.
Fiona slipped the jewelry out of her pocket. “Celeste, do you know what this is?”
Celeste leaned over and took a quick look at the item. “Sure, its a nose ring.”
“Nose ring?” Fiona stared at the ring as Celeste handed it back. “Really? It looks too big.”
“It’s not for the side, it goes in the middle—in your septum.”
“Eww, in the middle of your nose?
Like a bull? That seems like it would hurt.” Fiona wrinkled her brow at the piece of jewelry.
“Who wears those?
I don’t see too many people with a nose ring like that around town.”
“Mostly young kids.”
“Yeah, a few of my friends from High School have them,” Jolene said from the doorway. “Personally I think they are gross.”
“What would it be doing in the woods?”
“The kids spend a lot of time in there, drinking and avoiding the police. It might not have anything to do with Prudence’s murder, especially since we didn’t find it near the scene. Maybe some kid just lost it while they were partying,” Jake said.
“That could happen, but it’s actually pretty hard to get those things out.” Jolene came closer to take a look at the ring.
Fiona put it on the counter. “Okay, well this may or may not be a clue. So now where does that leave us?”
“We don’t have much, an old scarf and a nose ring. I’m not sure how any of those point to our main suspects—Berta, Josiah and Ed.” Morgan raised her eyebrows and looked at the others. “It doesn’t look promising.”
“Actually, it’s even worse.” Jake said. The girls swiveled their heads in his direction and he continued. “I checked with the hospital and Berta did sprain her wrist last week, so I don’t think she would have physically been able to strangle Prudence. Plus she was at the hairdresser at the time of death. Josiah’s deck hand verifies they were out fishing that day and two other lobstermen also saw his boat off the point at the time of the murder. Ed’s alibi with Cutty Marine checks out too. So, looks like none of them could have done it.”
Fiona felt her stomach drop. She stared at Jake incredulously.
“Well, if Berta didn’t do it, Josiah didn’t do it and Ed didn’t do it, then who the hell did?”
Anastasia LePage fluttered into
Sticks and Stones
in a flurry of chiffon and gemstones.
“I do hope you girls can help me.”
She stared over her magenta bifocals, aiming her gaze first at Morgan and then Fiona.
“Of course we can, Annie.” Fiona smiled at their eccentric customer. The wealthy octogenarian had discovered
Sticks and Stones
on a vacation to Noquitt several years ago. Being a true believer in the healing power of herbs and crystals, she usually made many purchases a year. Fiona and Morgan were happy to give her exactly what she needed.
“What is it you need?” Morgan came around to the other side of the counter and pulled out a chair, motioning for Anastasia to sit.
“Well, as you girls know, I’m getting on in years. I’ll be eighty-two in December.” She winked at Fiona. “And I’m just dying to have a great-grandchild.”
Fiona raised an eyebrow at her. “How can we help?”
“My granddaughter’s been married for two years and I’m very disappointed that she hasn’t produced a child.” Anastasia leaned closer toward the girls and lowered her voice. “I’m afraid she might need some help.”
At the perplexed look on the girls’ faces, she continued, “Do you girls have herbs and crystals that help with fertility?” She waved her bejeweled fingers around the room, indicating the shelves of herbs and cases of crystals.
“Oh, yes, of course!” Fiona laughed.
“Then that’s what I need for my granddaughter. Can we package them up like gifts? I don’t want her feelings to be hurt.”
“Of course.” Morgan went over to her herb rack. “I can make a bottle of evening primrose oil she could use for skin care and I can make some custom tea bags with dong quai and false unicorn root. Those are great for fertility.”
“I can create a necklace, earring and bracelet set with moonstones, rose quartz and amethyst. Those stones go perfectly together and they will help with fertility too.”
Anastasia clapped her hands together. “Perfect! I knew I could count on you girls.” Stabbing her cane onto the floor, she pulled herself up. “When can I pick them up?”
“I’ll probably need a couple of days, what about you Fi?”
“I have a few other orders to work on, so about four days. Could you pick them up on Friday?”
“Certainly. I’m here for the entire summer, so no rush.” Anastasia said graciously as she turned toward the door.
“I hope you dear girls haven’t been hurt by all that dreadful business with the Littlefield woman.” She half turned to face them.
“Not too much. We’ll be fine.”
“It was quite disturbing. My cottage is only a stone’s throw from where it happened.” Anastasia shuddered.
“Oh, that must have been scary for you.” Fiona narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t see or hear anything, did you?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. “You did?
What?”
“I was having tea on my porch, as is my custom in the morning, when a young man burst out of the woods and ran off down the road toward the ocean. It quite startled me. I nearly had a heart attack.”
“What time was that?”
Anastasia wrinkled her brow looking up at the ceiling. “Well, it must have been around quarter past eight or a bit earlier. I usually take my tea between eight and eight thirty.”
Fiona felt her heart beat racing. That was just about when Prudence was killed! “Did you see what he looked like?”
“My eyes aren’t too good these days, dear. All I saw was that he had one of those hooded sweatshirts, but as he ran by the hood fell back and I noticed he had one of those awful tattoos.”
“A tattoo?
Of what?”
“I’m not sure. It looked like a lightning bolt or something.”
“Anastasia, did you tell the police about this man?”
“The police?
No. They didn’t even bother to talk to me,” she said waving her hand in dismissal. Then she turned the knob and opened the door. “Well, you girls have a lovely day.”
Fiona shot Morgan a raised eyebrow look. “A young man running out of the woods right at the time of Prudence’s death? Maybe he saw something?”
“Or killed her.”
Fiona felt a chill run up her spine. “Either way, one thing is for sure, we need to find out who has a lightening tattoo on their neck and pay them a visit.”
Fiona liberated the steamed clam from its shell and carefully peeled the membrane from its neck. She dunked it in broth, then butter and popped it in her mouth making nummy noises as the sweet, salty steamer slid down her throat.
“These are awesome, thanks for bringing them home from work,” she said to Jolene, seated across from her at the wrought iron table.
“Yes, thanks,” Morgan and Celeste echoed her words.
Jolene looked up from dunking her own clam and smiled. “You’re welcome.”
The four of them sat on the back patio in the fading evening sun. Situated high on a cliff, the patio sat at the point where the water from the Atlantic flowed into Perkins Cove, giving them a three sided view of ocean.
The sound of seagulls and sting of the salt air were a perfect backdrop for the sister’s to indulge themselves in the ritual of eating steamed clams. She loved simple times like this with her sisters. Which reminded her, there might not be more of them if Morgan ended up in jail.
“We got another lead in Prudence’s murder today,” Fiona said.
Celeste raised her brows. “You did? What?”
“A customer is staying in one of the cottages near the woods where Prudence was killed and she saw someone run out from there. We might need help in identifying him.” Fiona looked down at Belladonna, who had appeared at Morgan’s side begging for a clam.
“Sure, anything. Do you think he’s from town? What does he look like?”
“I don’t know if he’s from town, but the woman said he had a very distinctive tattoo on the side of his neck. I was hoping that, if we all ask around, we can figure out who he is.”
Morgan threw Belladonna a clam. Fiona watched the cat pounce on it, sniff it, then flick her tail and walk away.
“She said it looked like a lightning bolt.” Fiona looked up to see Jolene’s eyes grow wide.
“I think I know who that is,” Jolene said dropping her clam. “Joshua Gray.” She looked around the table. “I told you guys about him before, remember.
He’s kind of a bad apple. He also wears one of those nose rings like you had last night.”
The table went silent.
Fiona’s heart stopped. “Do you know where he lives?”
“Over in Wells, right on the town line. He lives in a mobile home, but not in the trailer park, about a mile past it.”
Fiona’s chair scraped the concrete patio as she got up.
“Where are you going?” Morgan squinted up at her.
“To pay Mr. Gray a visit.”
Fiona sprinted into the kitchen and grabbed her keys. Morgan ran in behind her.
“Wait, don’t you think we should call Jake before we go?”
Fiona slowed down. They probably
should
, but that would waste time. Then again, if Joshua Gray was a killer, it might not be very smart to go there by themselves.
“You can call him in the car on the way over.” Fiona yelled over her shoulder at Morgan as she sprinted for the front door.
***
The decades old single-wide trailer sat in the shadow of the woods, its door slightly ajar and angled on its hinges. Grimy curtains fluttered out the kitchen window as if trying to escape. Fiona’s heartbeat raced as she approached it.
“Joshua?”
She was met with silence. Unusual silence. No chirping birds, no scurrying squirrels. The only sound was the door squeaking as the breeze moved it back and forth.
Fiona found the silence unnerving. Her heartbeat kicked up another notch as she stepped up to the trailer door and knocked on it.
“Joshua Gray, are you in there?”
Nothing.
Over to her left, Morgan had ventured to the end of the trailer and was rounding the corner.
Fiona’s chest tightened as she put her foot on the step and poked her head into the trailer through the open door.
“Hello?”
The 60 inch flat screen television that took up one whole end of the living room space was at odds with the rest of the decor which could only be described as junk. The floor was strewn with beer bottles and trash. Dirty clothes were draped on a stained lazy-boy chair and the sink and counters were hidden by piles of dirty dishes.
“Josh, are you in here?” Fiona called out again, just in case he was in one of the other rooms.
“I don’t think he’s going to answer.” Fiona’s heart lurched, she wheeled around to see Morgan, white faced and shaking.
“Why? What happened?”
Morgan pointed to the side of the trailer and Fiona walked in the direction she indicated, her legs getting heavier with each step.
She rounded the corner.
Her heart lurched when she saw it. A body lay on the ground amidst a pile of leaves that were stained dark red.
Fiona gasped as she took it all in. Legs splayed at an impossible angle. Torso drenched in blood. Sightless eyes staring up at the sky. And a lightning bolt tattoo clearly visible on the neck.
Fiona gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth, then she turned and ran back to join Morgan. Josh Gray wouldn’t be answering any questions for them, after all.
***
Fiona sat on the trailer steps with her head between her knees. She was barely aware of the blaring sirens and sound of cars pulling into the driveway. The clams that tasted so good going down earlier in the evening were threatening to make a comeback and she was certain they wouldn’t be as tasty on the way up.
A cool hand on the back of her neck caused her to jerk her head up.
“Are you okay?” Jake looked down at her with concern in his eyes.
She nodded, too queasy to speak.
He massaged her neck while Overton barked orders behind the trailer.
Finally, the nausea subsided and she lifted her head to see a flurry of police activity going on around her.
Jake squatted down so that his face was level with hers. “What are you doing here?”