The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7 Page 44

  “Ladies jackets as well,” he told them. The designs were chunky, oversized and had a hint of native design about them. Even the thick, multi-colored, hand-knitted socks were admired.

  “Can you add a changing area to that design my useful architect builder?” Magda asked Sam. “Looks like we have potential customers.”

  “I rather like that Stetson myself,” Sam admitted.

  “But not black, Sam. You would look better in the lighter shade.” Jeremy flicked the screen and another male model showed off a pose as well as the hat.

  The talk about new stock lightened the atmosphere and by the time Mikey and Rula appeared, the place felt like a normal day. No police arrived to ask questions. They showed Rula the pictures of the clothes.

  “Thing is,” Magda said. “Crystal and now Jezebelle both keep showing me Stetsons over and over again.”

  “Just cats with great taste,” Jeremy told them. “I must say that you guys have started a whole new line of thinking for me to start on when I get back. I love Katie’s pictures. Can you see some of them flowing down the side of a jacket or on a tee?”

  “Fame at last,” Katie said laughing and with a bright smile.

  The usual lunchtime rush kept everyone busy and Jeremy stayed to help. Merle and Branston went back to work at the ranch. Jeremy Swanson loved a little play acting. He donned a white apron and folded a cloth over his arm.

  “Put some music on before he starts to sing like a barber shop trio,” Rula grinned as the man charmed his way around the customers and posed for any number of selfies.

  Jeremy came back beside Magda and asked if she had a picture of these sensible cats that liked his Stetsons. She pulled out her tablet and showed him the four cats plus one of Jezebelle.

  “You know I have never thought about cats before.” He pulled out his tablet and a small stick pen. “Can I borrow that for a minute?” She handed over her tablet and he found himself a spot at the back of the kitchen. When Magda looked across, she nudged Sam.

  “Pushkin wants in on the act.” The faint outline of the black and white cat was weaving around the feet of Jeremy Swanson and he didn’t know. Sam took a photo. Then walked across to the designer.

  “You had approval,” he said and showed him the faint outline of the ghost cat. The designer used the stick on the screen and quickly did an outline of the cat around his legs.

  “That is just magic,” he said. “Thanks. That will definitely be part of my next piece of work.” He showed Magda a rough outline of a jacket with the Birmans twining around the sleeve and onto the shoulders.

  “Little stars they are,” she said. He sent a copy to her phone. “Come back with us at the end of the afternoon and meet them. I’ll call Alison and she can sling an extra serving of dinner in the pot.”

  By the time afternoon came to an end they were all pretty exhausted.

  “See everyone later at the ranch,” Magda said as she locked up. The three of them arrived at the bungalow and Jeremy was shown through into the addition. Like all visitors he was stopped in his tracks by the two-story that soared upwards. The five cats all sat elegantly on the sofa together and stared at him unblinkingly. The man had the presence of mind to take a quick photograph while they were all still.

  “Have a seat until they decide if they want to move,” Sam advised and took a seat himself.

  “They are very contrary,” Magda said. “If you want them to sit still, they’ll move. If you want them to move, they sit still.” She put her phone on the coffee table and sat back to see if anything happened. Crystal slid from her seat, walked regally across to the table and tapped the screen with her paw. Then she gave Jeremy a disdainful look and walked over to the spiral staircase where she sat and looked at them.

  “Okay,” Magda said. She picked up the phone and looked at the screen. “Little minx.” She passed the phone to Jeremy and he laughed out loud.

  “Did you set that up?” he queried. Magda shook her head. The picture was the one he had sketched of Pushkin.

  “Well I never,” he said. Alison called for them to come and eat and Crystal went back to being the boss cat on the sofa.

  “I love your addition. Great to have light and space. I live in an apartment. It’s big and light but still just an apartment.”

  “We have a holiday home in Ireland now, thanks to Aunt Alison here. Sam is going to transform the loft into a modern apartment,” Magda told him. They talked about Ireland and he asked if Alison would be homesick. She shook her head.

  “I am American at heart, but I will have to start house hunting. I can’t freeload on these two forever.”

  “Cooking like that I don’t call freeloading,” Sam said.

  They retired to soft seats with a drink and talked about the séance planned for later.

  “Never been to a séance before,” Jeremy confessed.

  “Nothing might happen,” Magda suggested but she knew in her heart that she was wrong.

  “Warm clothes and flashlights. Mikey will bring folding chairs,” Sam added. “Let’s get started.” As they were about to do that, little Pushkin who was called after the ghost cat, suddenly got up and came to see Jeremy. He rubbed against his legs.

  “That was what the other one did at the café,” Sam exclaimed and as if something had changed, the other cats forgot to be standoffish and haughty and all came to be petted.

  “You be good cats,” Magda said and found some treats. They left the felines crunching away and set off for the ranch.

  At the entrance, the gates were open and the tape from the police department had been removed. Declan, with Katie as a passenger, followed them in his van and Bart was already there and helping Mikey unfold the chairs.

  “I asked the chef to give us a picnic again,” Merle said. “It always seems to give it a light-hearted touch.”

  “I remembered truffles,” Magda said and put a plastic box on the table.

  “Beers here as well,” Branston added “but afterwards we might think it was the booze if anything happened.”

  In that cheerful vein, they put the chairs in a circle and when Merle had everyone seated, she turned out the lantern they had brought. The darkness was quite intense.

  “Can hardly see you all,” Sam observed.

  “Your eyes will get used to it,” Merle answered and went through her protection routine. “I’ll call out first but if anyone wants to say something, join in. I am going to ask in general and Declan will tell us if he sees anybody. Then maybe I will ask about Trisha. If anyone is upset, tell me and we’ll stop.”

  She took a breath and spoke out loud.

  “If there is anyone here from the spirit world, will you come and see us, please? We don’t mean any harm. Please step forward.” There was no response and she tried again. Declan told her that the lady from the garden was visible.

  “Where is she?” Merle asked.

  “Behind Rula but a little bit away,” Declan said.

  “Not quite as sad tonight,” Merle said. “Hello lady who grows vegetables. I am Merle. Will you talk to us?”

  “She has stepped closer,” Declan said.

  “Can you hear me. Make a noise if you can. Merle spoke out and looked at Rula although she could not see the figure behind.

  “I can feel somebody behind the chair,” Rula said and gripped Mikey’s hand tightly.

  “Bang once for yes and twice for no,” Magda joined in. “Can you hear us please?” There was one very loud noise that seemed to come from the earth beneath their feet.

  “Thank you,” Magda added. “Are you waiting for someone?” There was a pause and then two distinct noises.

  “That was a no,” Sam exclaimed.

  “Hello lady from Whitemist. I am Sam. We wondered why you feel sad.” There was no response. “She is clinging very close to Rula,” Declan said. “Speak to her, Rula.”

  Rula was shaking lightly but said her name was Rula and did the lady from Whitemist want to speak to her.

 
“Good question,” Merle said as one bang sounded.

  “I can see a shadow where you are standing behind Rula,” Bart joined in. “Are you feeling that Rula is sad as well?” A loud and instant noise came at their feet.

  “Do you know why she is sad?” Bart asked and again there was an instant yes.

  “Wow. Did you see us find the body?” Merle questioned and another bang answered.

  “Were you sad for the person buried there?” Magda asked with a sudden insight and the one bang told her she was right.

  11

  “At least we found her at last,” Magda said. “She was Rula’s cousin and my friend.”

  “Thank you for talking to us,” Merle added. “Did you live in Whitemist?” There was another loud noise, but it wasn’t quite the same as the others. “I think she is worried about something else. It feels like she’s upset somehow.”

  Declan agreed and said that the woman seemed agitated.

  “I can see the shadow sort of moving about. It is going away and coming back. Like a dog if it was wanting you to follow it. I know that sounds a bit crazy.” Bart added.

  “Do you want to show us something?” Merle asked. There was a definite bang.

  “I can see you,” Declan said. He very rarely spoke at these sessions. “If you go to where you want us to follow, I can watch you.”

  “I can see your shadow as well,” Bart said. “Just show us what you want us to see.” There was another, softer noise and the shadow that Bart was watching moved near to where the body of Trisha had been buried.

  “That was where we found Trisha,” Magda said when Bart and Declan said where she was standing. “Is that what you want to show us?”

  The two bangs that followed were so loud that the ground almost shook.

  “Lord above,” Magda said. “That was a definite no.”

  “Is this spot special to you?” Merle asked and again there were two loud bangs.

  “Is it from the time when you were living in Whitemist?” Sam asked and again there were two bangs.

  “She is really upset now,” Merle said. “I don’t know what to ask.”

  Jeremy had not spoken or taken part and just held hands in the circle to watch what the others were doing. He cleared his throat.

  “Lady from Whitemist,” he started, “is there something to see from our time and not yours?” Bang.

  “Is it upsetting you?” Merle asked and there was another yes.

  “Is it something to do with my cousin, Trisha and what happened to her?” Rula asked with a bit of a shake in her voice. Another bang.

  “Oh, Lord,” Branston said. “There must be something else buried. Something the police missed.” There was another bang even though he had not asked a question.

  “If we look tomorrow when it is daylight, will that be alright?” Merle asked and was relieved to hear a gentler noise.

  “Can the two of you remember where the lady stopped when she moved to the place she was worried about?” Merle asked Bart and Declan. They both said that they could.

  “Shall I stand on the spot now?” Bart asked and when the others agreed, he walked to the spot. It was a short distance away from the place where Trisha had been buried. There was nothing unusual about the ground.

  “Before we finish, can you see anything else, Declan?” Merle asked but he shook his head.

  “The woman has gone back to where she is normally seen and seems to be fading now.”

  “The sadness has lifted a little as well,” Merle added and went through her closing routine. Then she turned on the lantern and they all went to where Bart was standing.

  “I’ll find something to mark the spot,” Sam said and started to look around for a large stone or something.

  “That was so interesting,” Jeremy said.

  “Except that it didn’t tell us anything about the ghost town,” Bart added.

  “So, we need another session,” Jeremy replied. “Can we do that, Merle?”

  “Well, we never saw the man with the strange hat and the lady was more concerned about the present time than when it was Whitemist,” Branston said. “I think we should have another go.”

  “I wonder if there is anything where the woman showed us. Waiting till tomorrow seems a bit wrong. I don’t think I would be able to go to sleep,” Magda remarked.

  “I know what you mean,” Rula agreed. “Can we hold lights and give it a shot now?”

  Branston said that he would drive to the barn and find some shovels. He jumped into the off-road vehicle that he used and roared away up the track to the ranch. The rest of them looked at the area and talked about the possibility of what they might find until he returned. Branston, Sam, Declan and Mikey all took shovels and started on the spot where Bart had stood.

  The earth was pretty sandy and not too hard to dig. With four people working the hole widened and became deep. Mikey met an obstruction and told the others.

  “Doesn’t feel like a rock,” he said and they held the lantern over the hole and peered down. Sam knelt down and scraped away the loose soil with his hand.

  “Feels like material,” he said and scraped a bit more. “Maybe it was a dumping ground.” He scratched around a little longer and managed to hold onto whatever was buried. He tugged at what felt like a piece of leather and it came away suddenly so that he fell over and dropped the item in front of them. It was a gun belt with holster and a gun. They gazed at it.

  “Oh, heavens,” Magda said. “Is it the gun that killed Trisha?”

  “We shouldn’t touch it in case it is evidence,” Alison added. “We should call Detective Southern.”

  “Very wise words Mrs. Carty but you don’t need to call me because I am already here.” There was a gasp of surprise as the detective and his partner appeared beside them with a couple of uniformed men.

  “We have been watching your little session,” Southern said. “We were waiting to see if anyone returned who had been digging the other night but we had a seance to watch instead.”

  He walked to where the gun belt was lying on the ground. It was covered in soil and very much deteriorated but definitely a gun belt. He put on rubber gloves and picked it up. Then he shone a light into the hole.

  “You didn’t have time to go further,” he told them. “Marty, call this in. There’s another body down there.”

  “Oh, my Lord!” Rula gasped and leaned against Mikey. Alison clutched at Magda and they all waited for instruction from the detective.

  “Move away from the crime scene,” he told them. “We might as well use these seats as we wait for the crime team. I saw what you were doing. I need to know why.”

  Merle looked at the others as she told him that they had carried out these sessions before and they were keen to just get a sense of when it was a ghost town.” Jeremy broke in to say that he had investigated a hundred ghost towns already and wanted to get as much data as he could.

  Southern and his partner recorded what the group told them; reinforcements arrived and taped off the area. They continued digging where Mikey had met the obstruction and one of the team came across to the group.

  “Looks like a man, sir. Also looks about the same deterioration as the previous remains. It appears the gun had been fired three times. It’s been bagged up now.”

  Southern turned back to the group and asked if they had any initial ideas about a man from ten years ago.

  “There must be some sort of connection.” They all shook their heads and when he asked them to leave so his team could get on with recovering the body, by common consent they went up to the ranch. Branston found drinks and the warmth and cheerfulness of the big living room were welcome.

  “The lady wanted us to find him, didn’t she?” Magda asked.

  “I think so,” Declan said. “She was agitated when we didn’t understand what she wanted.”

  “But she was definitely from the past and connected to the ghost town,” Merle observed. “I know it seems ridiculous, but do you think she
saw the murderer and her sadness was for the people who had been killed?”

  “That sounds possible. She was happier when we found the spot,” Bart said. “Thanks, by the way, for letting me be part of it. I’ve never worked with anyone who was interested in these things before.”

  “I guess the police will find out who he was and maybe it will give them some clues as to who killed poor Trisha,” Rula put in.

  “We still need to investigate the ghost town,” Magda pointed out. I suppose we will be banned from the place until they finish the investigation.”

  “They’ll be longer this time because they missed this second person the first time. I bet they have a look to make sure there are no other remains,” Sam observed.

  “Oh, my goodness,” Magda said. “Like it could have been a serial killer.”

  Alison gasped and they stared at each other in dismay. The knock at the door made everyone jump and the detective came inside.

  “I can get statements at a later stage,” he said. “I saw what happened anyway, but can I ask you to not mention this to anyone at all? We will keep a watch to see if anyone visits the site. You did frighten off the intruder the first time but he might come back. We will put a press blackout on this until we know what we are dealing with.” He looked at Bart. “No press coverage, okay?” Bart smiled at him and agreed.

  “I’ll write it all up so that my paper gets the headline first when you give the go ahead.”

  Jeremy asked if he could go back to his business but he would come back in a couple of days.

  “I think you are so well-known Mister Swanson that we would be able to find you anyway.” He told them to go home and leave the police to do the investigation. They agreed and stood up to leave.

  The detective looked at Rula.

  “If it helps, it looks like your cousin probably saw something she shouldn’t on her way home and was killed to keep her quiet. We don’t think she was abducted or interfered with in any way. The autopsy shows a clean gunshot wound and no sign of a struggle.”

  “Thank you,” Rula told him and Mikey put his arm around her.