Weaving The Web: A Cold Hollow Mystery (Cold Hollow Mysteries Book 2) (11 page)

CHAPTER 13

He was disappointed to find his latest specimen had died prematurely. He presumed it was because of her wide girth and lack of lung capacity. Either way, her eyes had burst inward, and she was a goner. He examined her bluish-black face and noticed the aqueous humor had leaked from her eye sockets down her cyanotic cheeks. This was the gelatinous ocular fluid meant to nourish the cornea and iris. She didn’t need it anymore anyway, so he filled a metal bucket with quick-dry cement, added water, and stirred it. When it was mixed, he lowered her upright, wrapped body into the bucket up to her midcalf. He pulled an old chair over, sat down, and waited until it dried. He had set his watch, so he knew how long it would take. Once it had set, he would wrap her face and haul her to his vehicle. He decided to use his time to review the video to find out where he had failed. He smiled as he watched her body twitch and jerk during the final death throes. She gave a final buck, which should have brought the entire web crashing down, but it had held true. When her eyes sank inside her head, he knew she had just been too old to withstand the pressure of the silk wraps. He had not failed in his technique; he had just chosen the wrong subject. He shrugged and murmured, “Well, you live and you learn.”

When the alarm on his watch buzzed, he stood and wrapped her face, but not before tapping the top of her head to tell her she had been a trouper through it all. He wrapped it with finesse and knotted it off in the back. He then cut the bindings lashing her to the web and let her body slump over his right shoulder. He carried her outside and listened as the cement bucket dragged along in time with him. When he got her into his vehicle, he drove to the town beach.

Dragging a dead body around in the dark did not faze him. He knew this beach. He followed the tree line and went to the deepest part of the lake. He then dropped her in and watched as the cement did its job and the water sucked her cocooned body deep into its darkest depths. He brushed off his hands and put them on his hips as he peered up at the stars and the full moon. He thanked the moon, as it had provided him with just the right amount of light to guide him to the perfect spot. As he stood there, a flash of inspiration filled him when he recalled his latest victim had a troublesome sister. He slowly turned and sauntered back to his vehicle.

CHAPTER 14

After feeding himself and his two guests, Robert Collins worked late into the night, putting the final coats of paint on the walls of the restaurant’s dining room. The tables and chairs had arrived, and he arranged them all so there was enough space between each. He also arranged them with wait staff in mind. He needed to provide enough of a pathway for them to come in with trays of food. He had also purchased two long benches for the outside of his restaurant as a waiting area in case the place was mobbed on any given night. There was an awning over the area, so the diners would be safe from the elements. The rest of his kitchen equipment had arrived, and the fire chief had inspected the ventilation system and fireplace and made sure Robert followed all of the fire codes. After his new restaurant had passed inspection, he was nearly ready to open, but would do as Myrna requested and wait to see the town’s reaction to his food at the Fourth of July festival. He also had to hire some staff, which would be happening soon, according to the mayor. The staff would wear black slacks, and he had ordered black polo shirts in various sizes with the name “Carla’s” embroidered over the right chest in bright red. He didn’t care what the hostess wore, so long as it was an appropriate dress. He was more relieved to know he had ample time to train them all before the grand opening.

***

Myrna had a busy week ahead of her. With the applicants arriving on Monday, she met with Amanda Borges at the town hall and lined up some seats in the hallway across from her office. She turned to Amanda and said, “Just have them wait here, and I’ll call you when the next one can come upstairs for the interview. I’ll have Robert Collins, Artie, Hugo Morrissey, and Belinda Carlisle wait in the office adjoining mine. I’ll call them in when we interview their potential employees. The chief will be in my office with me. Do you have the available house addresses and keys ready for those we decide to hire?”

Amanda smiled and dangled ten envelopes in the air. “Have the homes all been cleaned?”

Myrna nodded as she placed the last chair in the line. She pointed to a small table where she had set out muffins and fresh coffee for the applicants. “Make them feel at home.”

“Okay, I will.”

Myrna went up to her office and organized the applications in the order they’d been received, followed by separating them by available jobs. Four long hours later, the town had hired one lifeguard/beach groomer, two police officers, and one firefighter. Artie got along famously with the orchard assistant he hired, and Robert Collins was elated to have hired a hostess, two waiters, and one waitress. They all had experience, and he could not have been happier.

Belinda Carlisle’s farm assistant had been the biggest challenge. They were trying to help Belinda out, and she still showed no gratitude. She acted like an animal by bullying each applicant. Myrna was disgusted, until the final applicant stood up to her and gave her such a tongue-lashing Myrna wanted to encourage her to keep on speaking. When the interview was over, Belinda briefly dragged the chief into the adjoining office and shut the door behind them. Myrna heard the chief raising his voice and scowled, but straightened out her expression when she noticed Belinda’s new farm assistant staring at her.

Belinda returned, pointed at her new farm assistant and snapped, “I don’t take kindly to lollygagging. Let’s get a move on.” She followed the new hire out of the office door and begrudgingly drove her to her farm, where she later asked the woman to cook her some meals she could store and heat up. The woman ended up feeling bad for her and cooked enough dishes to last her a week because she would have to eventually go to her original home, pack up, and officially move to Cold Hollow.

With the previously vacant homes in the town now occupied, Myrna knew she had done the right thing. She was one step closer to shaking the commissioners off the town’s tail. Their annual visit was fast approaching, and she dreaded it.

***

It came too soon. The commissioners had shown up right on time for the Fourth of July weekend. There were four of them, and Commissioner Jones took the lead at each meeting. Myrna had other things on her mind, but had managed to arrange for their lodging at the bed-and-breakfast and made their supper reservations at the local tavern. She did not care where they ate lunch. There was a pizzeria they could go to, or they could go to her bakery. She was not about to baby them. She had other things to worry about. The chief had no solid leads in the disappearance of Bernadette Carlisle. He had found a car in Warren’s barn, but he said it had not been moved in a while and had a thin layer of dust on it. She had to maintain her professional stance and pray nothing went wrong during their inspection

The meetings with the commissioners were boring and tedious as they pored over the books. Amanda Borges, Artie, and Myrna had to be present. When it came time to review the parole records, the chief and the parole officer attended. They would inspect the shops and stores in town on their own. So far, they had been pleased to see things were running smoothly and nothing was out of the ordinary.

They were excited about the holiday event Myrna had organized and decided it was a wonderful idea. Myrna was convinced they would wear their business suits to the event as well. What pleased them even more was individuals who did not belong to the prison system had taken up residence in the town and were melding wonderfully with all of the parolees. Myrna could have cared less what they thought. She had a million things to do before the extravaganza at the beach. She had asked Hugo Morrissey to remove some trees and make a clearing for food stands. Because the parking area at the beach would be reserved for the small carnival arriving in town, she had sent out notices to the townsfolk and asked them to walk to the festival; if they lived on the outskirts of town, they could park along Main Street and walk from there. No one had balked. The fire station had been alerted to the fireworks and would have their trucks present at the festival. The chief had allowed overtime for the night and scheduled two extra officers. The lifeguard was eager for the event and said he would stay as long as there were people in the water. A stage was being built for the small band Myrna had hired. They would be located close to the beach so people could sing, dance in the sand, and enjoy the day. When the fireworks went off, they would play the national anthem.

Sarah Macy and Donnie had been working feverishly at the bakery to make their food stand the best in history, or so they said. Myrna had giggled when they both began babbling, nearly incoherently at times, about their ideas. Daryl yawned through the entire explanation and said he was looking forward to playing his banjo and performing with his brother at the food stand. He hoped they received an abundance of tips. Myrna had laid out the recipes for the delights they would be selling at the fair, and Sarah had added a few of her own. Myrna was putting Donnie and Sarah in charge of the food stand. She would make sure to do some taste testing beforehand.

She knew Robert Collins had been working around the clock at his new restaurant; she had stopped in to see it only yesterday. It was beautiful and elegant. He gave her the grand tour and even made her a light lunch. She savored each bite as she reviewed his menu for the festival and knew he was going to be a phenomenal success. He informed her Becky and Carla Macy were helping him with service the day of the festival, and Myrna didn’t quite know how she felt about it but imagined it was a good thing. He had even purchased folding tables and chairs to place around his food stand so the attendees could eat in comfort. His excitement was palpable, and Myrna left his new restaurant with a smile on her face.

Some of the women in town had organized a chili cook-off, and she stayed out of it. She didn’t have time for their gossip. She let them organize and plan their station and agreed to ask the commissioners to be the judges and award the ribbons to the winners. Thankfully, they had agreed and said they were looking forward to it. Commissioner Jones slammed a roll of TUMS on the table and said he was going fully armed. This elicited a few chuckles, and Myrna rolled her eyes.

***

The Fourth of July finally arrived, and Myrna, Tom, and an excited Liam walked from the town hall to the festivities at the beach. Myrna didn’t hear any noise and became confused until they reached the corner of the access road and walked down it a few yards. Liam’s eyes grew wide when he heard the carnival music and saw the rides. They were meant for the children of the town, but Myrna began laughing when she saw some adults riding on them, namely Amanda Borges and Artie Lavoie. There were also a few booths of chance. Liam tugged on Tom’s hand when he noticed some of his friends from school and began dragging Tom toward them. Myrna tried to keep up but was distracted by all the activity that had already begun at the food stations. They were mobbed, and it wasn’t even lunchtime. When she peered further down the road, she saw activity in the water and games being played with abandon. The lifeguard was there, his whistle propped between his teeth and his eyes sharp. The sounds of laughter, water splashing, and carnival music echoed and rode a soft breeze blowing through the area. She also saw the band setting up on their stage. She heard a familiar call and turned to see the chief waving her down. Typical of his nature, he was at the food stations. Myrna could not imagine how he had not gained weight and assumed he just had an overactive metabolism.

She made her way over to him and noticed he was eating one of his usual muffins from her bakery. She glanced over his shoulder to see Donnie and Sarah rushing to keep the customers content; they were hungrier than usual due to the water activities. It wouldn’t be long before Donnie and Daryl broke out the banjo, sang, and danced to entertain the crowd.

She also noticed Robert Collins warming up his dishes for the lunch crowd and starting up his outdoor grill. The chili women were at their station, chattering and laughing, and no doubt gossiping. The weather was perfect. It was sunny and not too hot, just right. There was a balmy breeze blowing, and she inhaled the fresh mountain air deep into her lungs. She had chosen to go in her one-piece, cobalt-blue bathing suit. She threw an ankle-length beach wrap around her waist and topped her outfit off with her sandals. With the warm weather, she had her long red hair up in a ponytail.

She noticed Warren Measly sitting away from the crowd in a lawn chair, enjoying a baked good. His dog sat by his chair, staring at the treat and salivating.

Wally and Alice Dumont had a gaggle of children following them around, but the older couple was in heaven and it showed in their expressions. One could not have smacked the happy off their faces.

Ted Cutler and Sylvia Rossini were there as well. Ted was in uniform and armed, but Sylvia followed him around and didn’t seem to want to be anywhere else. Myrna was happy for her.

The commissioners showed up, and Myrna had to escort them around. Afterward, they were on their own. To say she was surprised to see them in shorts, polo shirts, and sandals would be an understatement. She was shocked. As she approached them, Tom and Liam shouted to her, they were heading toward the beach. She nodded and waved at them before reaching the commissioners. She gave them the grand tour, which lasted all of one hour. She was grateful when, they were called over to the food stations to begin judging the individual chili.

As Myrna walked away toward the beach, Liam came running to her, his wet bathing trunks sticking to his legs. He was pointing toward the far end of the lake near the waterfalls. “Mama! Hurry, I just found the biggest cocoon in the universe!” As she chuckled, she took his hand so he could lead her to this unbelievable discovery.

“Where is Papa Tom?”

“He’s waiting in the spot so I wouldn’t forget where it was. He sent me to get you and told me to ask you if you have your radio with you.”

Her eyebrows knitted together, and she quickened her pace. She had clipped the radio to the waistband of her summer beach wrap before leaving the town hall in the morning, but could not fathom why Tom was asking about it.

They traveled the beach and hit the tree line. They walked the overgrown path there and stopped when they saw Tom pointing down into the water. “See, Mama? I told you it was big!”

Myrna hunched down and reached behind her for a tree branch. She poked at the large, white cocoon and grimaced. Her head slowly turned upward to Tom. “Could you please take Liam to Robert Collins’s stand for some lunch? I won’t be long.” She mouthed the words, “I don’t like this,” to him and saw him nod in agreement. She gave Liam a kiss before they left, and congratulated him on the unusual find. She then unclipped her police radio and hailed the chief.

“Where are you?”

“I’m with the commissioners at the chili booth.”

“Step away from them and have Officer Cutler come to the beach. He is to travel the path along the tree line until he sees me.”

“Hell, you say. I’m grabbing Hugo Morrissey and coming. I’ll leave Ted with the commissioners.”

“Sounds good to me.”

As she waited, she stared at the cocoon, and something in her gut told her that this discovery was bad and an extremely untimely event. However, she would be damned if she ruined the entire town’s festivities or alarmed the commissioners.

Within ten minutes, Hugo and the chief showed up and hunched down on either side of her.