Witch of Christmas Past (4 page)

He laughed. “Nothing quite that dark, Miss Cooper.”

“So how is it that you know all this?”

“I guess you could call it the ghost grapevine.” He winked.

I was a little surprised to see that there was now a twinkle in his blue eyes. Captain Marsh was enjoying this, though I wasn’t sure if it was due to him being sadistic, or if he just liked mischief.

I bit my bottom lip, unsure of exactly what to say.

The old captain slowly floated toward me, closing the gap between us. “You can overcome this curse of the first born Cooper, but it is going to take some work.”

Instinctively, I backed away. “I’m doing the best I can. I’m even looking into Muriel’s case. You know she thinks you killed her.”

Although I could still see the captain, the apparition was blurring. He no longer appeared quite as solid as he had a moment before.

“Has it ever crossed your mind the reason she doesn’t know who killed her is because she never saw her attacker?” His voice had also grown faint.

It was true that Muriel didn’t actually remember her murder, and that could be because she was blitz attacked.

Before I had time to ask him what he knew about the case, he was gone.

“You could have stuck around for a few more minute,” I sighed. Solving mysteries was always so much easier with a little help from the other side.

Oh well. I was hungry and not really in the mood to entertain anyway.

All I could think of was Dad getting tricked into handing my soul over to the devil. There was no doubt in my mind that he was tricked. Dad would have never made a deal like that, knowingly.

There was something else that nagged at me.

Captain Marsh had mentioned something about the first-born Cooper. Did that mean that the curse didn’t end with me?

Getting more information about this deal was going near the top of my priority list. The last thing the Cooper family needed was more people in my situation.

I’d been home over an hour and the lights were still out. That meant taking a shower by candlelight, which was something I wasn’t thrilled about. Thankfully, both Julius and Muriel let me shower in peace. If one of them had decided to show up in my semi dark bathroom, I’m sure I would have had a heart attack.

I took my time in the shower, letting the hot water wash away the tension in my body. By the time I was standing at the bathroom sink, brushing my teeth, I was feeling much better.

In fact, I was so relaxed; the sight of the dark wings on my back didn’t bother me. Usually, I did my best to ignore them, but tonight I didn’t even care. It wasn’t as if anyone could see them, except maybe Julius and Tim. The only time I could see them was in my reflection.

Finished with my nightly grooming ritual, I dressed in the flannel - candy cane pajamas Granny had given me last Christmas.

Remembering Granny was like someone squeezing my heart.

Who was I kidding?

No matter how many cookies and loaves of gumdrop cake I baked, it wasn’t going to make up for Granny being gone.

I needed help to find her, but no one seemed to know anything. Delia, the Good Witch of Mystique Island had suggested that she might have passed on, but we’d never found a body. Besides, I was convinced Granny would have come to me if she were dead.

The one gift I’d managed to hold onto after my transformation from witch to fallen angel was my ability to see the dead.

Taking the coffee cup candleholder, I made my way back to the kitchen table where Muriel’s file awaited me.

What I knew about the lighthouse murder was limited to legend, which I suspected wasn’t going to be entirely accurate.

When I opened the file, the first thing I saw was a stack of black and white crime scene photos.

I couldn’t help but feel for those crime fighters of the mid-twentieth century. The forensic tools available to them were archaic compared to nowadays.

There was a picture of Muriel’s purse on the stairs leading up to the lantern room, which was now the broadcast room for Uncle Aaron’s radio station. Lying on the wooden floor of the main room was a light colored sweater that appeared to have some blood stains on it, though I couldn’t see its actual color, thanks to the black and white images.

There were also some photos of shoe prints in the sand, outside the lighthouse. They were small and had obviously been made by the victim. There were other prints, but the investigating officer concluded the prints had been left by the kids in her group.

So they had no way of knowing if someone had already been in the lighthouse, or if she’d been followed.

At the time the murder occurred, the lighthouse had been abandoned. It wasn’t until years later that the historical society took it over and restored the old building.

The purse and sweater were the only signs of Muriel that they had ever been found.

Aside from the photos, there were witness statements from the friends she’d been with that day, and reports on the search for a body.

It was no wonder they’d never found a body. The search only lasted a couple days before a category three hurricane shut it down.  They’d been too busy repairing damage after the hurricane to resume the search. By that time, it was believed that most of the evidence would have been disturbed by the storm.

They were probably right about that.

According to the witness statements, the group of friends had been exploring the lighthouse. When they went outside to have their picnic on the beach, Muriel realized that her purse was gone and decided to go back to the lighthouse to look for it.

A few minutes later they heard a scream. At that time, they ran to fetch Muriel, but the lighthouse was empty. That was the last anyone saw of her.

Out of the group of people with Muriel that day, I only recognized one name.

What had become of the rest?

Sure, it was possible that most of them were deceased, but I was sure I would have at least heard about them.

The only witness on the list that I knew was Janet Collins, now Janet Kennedy, the current owner of the Bayside Grill. Old lady Kennedy had inherited the grill from her late husband, Jonathan Kennedy.

Well, I knew for sure that Janet was still alive and kicking.

It had been awhile since I’d been to the Grill. Maybe I’d get an early start in the morning and stop in there for breakfast.

* * *

It was barely 8:00 and the morning rush was already in full swing. Janet was busy pouring coffee.

Now I was thinking it might have been better to stop by in the evening. There wouldn’t have been as many people after dinner.

It was too late now.

Janet stopped by my table and gave me a distracted smile. “Coffee Miss Izzy?”

I tried not to stare at her twitching eye. It was a nervous condition that she couldn’t help, but I was always worried that she would think I was staring.

“Yes. Coffee is exactly what I need this morning.”

There was a cup sitting on the table in front of me. She flipped it over and proceeded to fill it with coffee. Just the aroma helped clear my head.

It was time to admit it. I was definitely addicted to caffeine.

Janet wore her curly gray hair cut short, as most women her age did. At barely five foot and with a very slight frame, she was a tiny woman.

I wondered what she looked like at sixteen?

“Thank you.” I smiled. “Actually, I’m here on official business. Do you think you could spare a few minutes to talk with me?”

Janet looked around at the dining room full of people. “Not at the moment, but if you’ll give it fifteen minutes, the crowd should start to thin.

“Sure. That will give me a chance to eat some breakfast. I’ll just have the house special.”

Janet scribbled down my order. “Okay. I’ll get that right out.”

After several swallows of coffee, my head cleared even more. It was probably a good idea to have some breakfast and coffee before interviewing Janet. I was a zombie until I’d had my morning coffee.

The power was back on, but I didn’t have a coffee maker. It seemed too much trouble to make my own coffee in the morning, so I usually got my dose of caffeine from the Quick Stop.

While I had a few minutes, I decided to search for an electrician. After looking through the yellow pages on my phone, I found only a couple electrical contractors. The first was Mystique Island Electrical.

I’d seen their trucks around the island. As far as I knew, they mainly handled commercial work. Right below the listing for Mystique Island Electrical there was Stony’s Electrical Service.

Not exactly a name to inspire confidence, but I figured they’d be a lot less expensive than a bigger contractor.

I dialed the number. On the fourth ring, a man picked up the phone.

“Stony’s.”

The guy sounded so grumpy that I almost hung up.

“I was calling to see if you do residential work?”

“Of course. What is it you need?” he asked, still not sounding too friendly.

“Well, I would like a motion sensor for my front porch light, preferably combined with a light sensor as well,” I explained.

“That should be easy enough. When did you want this done?”

“Tonight, if possible. I won’t be home from work until after 6:00.”

“We can get it done in the evening, but there is an extra service charge for after hours.”

“That’s okay,” I told him. Paying a little extra wasn’t a big deal, as long as I didn’t have to come home to a dark house again.

“I can be there about 6:30,” he informed me.

“If I’m not home yet, the breaker is out back. You can turn it off from there and get started.”

I ended the call just as Janet was bringing my breakfast of bacon and eggs, with a side order of toast.

“Give it just a few more minutes Miss Izzy, and I should be able to sit down and have a chat with you,” she said, setting the plate in front of me.

I nodded. “No problem. Take your time.”

Although waiting for Janet would probably make me late for work, I would have a good excuse. After all, I was actually working on a case, and besides, a girl had to eat. I was famished and breakfast smelled delicious.

About twenty minutes later, Janet brought the coffee over and refilled my cup, and then poured a cup for herself before sitting down across from me.

“So how can I help you, Miss Izzy?”

I decided it was best to get right to the point. “Last night when I was going over the case file for the old lighthouse murder, I noticed you were a witness, but really didn’t say much in your statement. According to the other witnesses, you were the first at the door after hearing Muriel’s screams, but it was jammed. Were you the one who finally got it open?”

According to legend, they hadn’t been able to get the door open, but the police report had different information. They had gotten the door open, although at first it had been jammed.

Janet’s face drained of color. “It’s been a long time. I’m not sure what I remember.”

I didn’t believe it for a minute. People just didn’t forget something that traumatic.

It seemed a little persuasion might be in order. “Muriel was your friend. Don’t you want to help solve her murder?”

“Of course.” She nodded. “But I don’t know what I can add.”

“You were the first one inside. What did you see?”

Janet looked away, as if by doing so she could block out the memory. “It was just a shadow really. It disappeared down the shaft that leads to the caves.”

“Caves? I didn’t know there was a passage to the caves?”

Janet nodded and then took a drink of her coffee. “I believe Dorothy has had it blocked off since the renovation, but at one time there was a staircase leading down to the caves.”

Suddenly I was certain that’s where we would find Muriel’s body.

“That’s really all I can remember,” she said before taking a sip of her coffee.

“I noticed that they ruled her boyfriend out. Was he with the rest of you when you heard her scream?” I asked, prodding for more information. I wasn’t buying the excuse that she couldn’t remember.

“Yes, I think I recall him being with us when we heard her scream.”

It was obvious this was going to take more than one interview. Whatever she’d seen, it had scared her badly enough that I was going to have to pry it out of her.

“What happened to everyone else who’d been there that day? Your name is the only name I recognized.”

Janet shrugged. “Mostly their families relocated off the island. A couple of my friends were killed in accidents the next summer. That started the rumor that Muriel had cursed the people who had been with her that day.”

“But you don’t believe that?”

“I just think that if Muriel did put a curse on us, there would be no hiding from it.”

“The one thing I find curious is that her friends would think she would curse them. Why would she curse her friends?” I asked.

“Because we couldn’t get in there in time to save her.” Her answer was short and simple, maybe a little too simple.

“Hmm … well as you have probably guessed, we are reopening some cold cases and Muriel’s case is the first. Since you are the only witness still on the island, I’ll probably need to talk with you again.”

Janet gave me a weak smile. “I thought as much … though as I said, I don’t know what else I can add that would be helpful.”

“Who knows?” I shrugged. “Maybe now that you are thinking about it again, you will remember something that could be important.”

“Truthfully, I’m surprised you are not already familiar with the case … with Muriel being Stella’s sister and all.”

I was stunned.

Like everyone on the island, I’d heard the tales of Muriel’s murder and the haunting of Shipwreck Point, but I’d never heard anything about her being an Osborne.

Instead of admitting as much, I decided to play it off. “I just thought you would know more about the murder itself.”

“Of course I’ll help you out as much as I can … but if I were you, I’d stay away from those caves.”

Before I could ask any more questions, she jumped up to help some new customers.