Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates (distant reading .txt) 📗

“In the daytime or at twilight or sunrise. Not in the middle of the night. And they don’t come at night without a car. Let’s go back inside. I’m cold.”

“Okay.”

I tugged at the leash, and Fluffy stopped scratching her ear. She stood up, looked around her, and let out one loud bark. Connor hesitated and then came with us. I almost dragged both of them after me. When we reached the safety of the lighthouse, I glanced behind me. All was dark once again.

Chapter Fifteen

“How was the house you saw today?” Josie asked.

“A complete and total disaster. The thing’s barely standing upright. We didn’t stay more than a couple of minutes. Connor was furious at the realtor for wasting our time.”

“You don’t want a fixer-upper?” Louise Jane asked.

“We don’t mind a fixer-upper,” I said. “That is, Connor doesn’t mind, and he’ll be the one doing the work. If it’s within reason. Not only was that place not within reason, but if we do get a house needing a lot of repairs and renovations, the price has to reflect that. They want top dollar for a bottom-dollar property.” I stuffed an oatmeal cookie into my mouth.

“Help yourself,” Josie said.

“Don’t mind if I do.” I took another.

Thursday evening we were in the third-floor meeting room of the library, getting ready for book club. As always, Josie had brought treats from her bakery to accompany the lemonade and iced tea provided by the library.

“I probably shouldn’t be eating all these myself,” I said. “I’m expecting a full house tonight. Not only is The Hound a popular book, but Mom and her friends are coming.”

“I mentioned it to Daisy and James,” Louise Jane said. “Daisy said she’d try to make it.”

“Not James?”

“He’s busy with something or other,” Louise Jane said.

“Is that so?”

She gave me a look. “Why do you say it like that?”

“No reason,” I said quickly. “Just making polite conversation.”

“They’re due to go back to England next week. Daisy said they’ve accomplished a lot in their time here and she can’t wait to get to writing it up. I’ll miss her.”

“Maybe you can go and visit her in Oxford,” Josie suggested.

“I went on that tour of the haunted castles of England last year, and it was great. I’d like to go back sometime.”

I checked the time. “Almost seven. I’ll go downstairs and greet people.”

I stood on the front steps as cars began to arrive. At seven o’clock the sun was still up, although dipping in the west, casting long shadows between the trees lining the drive and across the lawn. I’d spent some time today thinking about book club and coming up with questions I could ask to start the discussion off. I found my thoughts constantly returning to the convict Selden, hiding out in the great Grimpen Mire, signaling his sister at Baskerville Hall to make sure the coast was clear.

Was that what had happened last night? Not escaped prisoners hiding out on the moors but me allowing the Conan Doyle story to take control of my imagination and run with it? Connor had been right: people had come by boat or had left their car in a copse of trees to observe the marsh at night. They hadn’t been signaling to anyone in Morse code but waving their arms in front of the beam of light they needed to guide their way.

Cars began bouncing down the long driveway, pulling me out of my thoughts. Most of the regulars had come tonight: Mrs. Fitzgerald, head of the library board; Josie and our friend Grace Sullivan; Mrs. Peterson with Primrose and a sour-faced Charity; Steph and Butch, who as usual shouted a quick “Hi, Lucy,” and galloped upstairs for the baked goods before they were all snatched up; Theodore Kowalski, complete with Harris Tweed jacket, paisley cravat, clear-glass spectacles, surrounded by the scent of tobacco even though he didn’t smoke; CeeCee Watson, wife of the detective, who told me Sam had hoped to make the meeting but was held up at work; and Louise Jane. Plus several library patrons who weren’t club regulars but came to meetings if the book was of interest to them. Daisy skipped down the path, her long golden hair swaying around her shoulders, and greeted us all warmly. Tonight she wore a light summer dress with spaghetti straps, and I could see that her tattoos covered not only her arms but most of her right shoulder as well. The light over the front door reflected off the silver ring in her nose.

“So glad you made it,” Louise Jane said. “Come on, we have to hurry if we want to get a seat. Lucy’s been in the cookies already.” They bustled off before I could casually ask what James was up to tonight.

I greeted everyone as they arrived and directed them to the meeting room on the third floor. At quarter after seven, when I’d decided I couldn’t wait any longer and was about to lock the door and head upstairs to start the meeting, two pairs of headlights broke through the trees.

“Sorry we’re late, dear.” Mom spoke to me, but she glowered at Evangeline.

“Yes, sorry,” Evangeline said, sounding not sorry in the least. “I couldn’t decide on suitable shoes.” I glanced down, wondering what she considered suitable. I suppose the open-toed stilettos with four-inch heels were suitable to match her perfectly tailored pale-blue suit jacket, navy-blue blouse with a big bow at the neck, and tight knee-length skirt.

“I don’t know what was the matter with the ones you had on,” said Mom, who’d been known to arrive at a dinner party an hour late because every pair of shoes had to be tried and retried, discarded, and pulled out of the closet once more. And then, shoes decided upon, maybe the dress wasn’t quite right.

Evangeline was obviously getting on Mom’s nerves.

“We’re here now.” Evangeline gave me an air kiss heavy with perfume. “No harm done. The boys are right behind us.”

A second car had pulled in