Cotton Candy and Corpses Read online

  “You went to see her?” asked Lydia.

  Trina added some more wine to her glass. “I think having your fortune told can be fun. And honestly, I wanted to hear a little more about Carl and me. He’s been more attentive lately.”

  “Because I briefly considered him a murder suspect,” Lydia said wryly.

  “True, but he’s been a better boyfriend lately. And it’s got me thinking about the future. And I just wanted to hear someone’s opinion about our future. Since there was someone new, I thought I’d check her out and see what she had to say.”

  “And you didn’t like what she had to say about you and Carl?” Lydia asked with a frown. “I’m sorry. But I don’t think these predictions are real. You can still control your fate. And it’s really up to Carl and you if you make it as a couple.”

  “No. That’s not the problem,” Trina said with a little shudder. “You see, Miss Cassandra didn’t even talk about Carl. She said that she was in tune with the spirits and that I should see who in the afterlife wanted to talk to me.”

  “It was creepy?”

  “It was Rhonda,” Trina cried. She tried to collect herself and hide her fear. However, her shudders woke Sunny up, and the dog moved closer to be of more comfort. “I’m sorry. I know it’s probably not real. But she said that she was Rhonda. You know, my coworker who was killed not that long ago. And it was pretty scary because Rhonda and I hadn’t been on the best of terms, to begin with. And well, ghost Rhonda seemed to still hold a grudge. And, well, the whole experience was pretty terrifying.”

  Sunny licked Trina’s hand that wasn’t holding the wine glass. Then, Trina started petting Sunny affectionately to show how much she appreciated the comfort.

  “I don’t get it,” said Lydia. “That doesn’t sound pleasant at all. How does she expect to stay in business if she’s going to upset clients?”

  “That’s the thing,” Trina said. “She says that she really can talk to the dead. She’s not doing this for the money. She’s just trying to communicate what the spirits want to say.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  Trina shrugged. “It seemed convincing at the time. But I guess anyone who read the newspaper knew about Rhonda’s death, and it would be easy to discover we were coworkers. But it does seem in poor taste to bring it up unless… well, unless a ghost was involved.”

  Lydia frowned. She didn’t like what she was hearing about this new psychic at all. Hopefully, Leo’s talk with her would make the psychic less eager to upset customers.

  She was just about to suggest that they watch a movie to put them back in a happy mood when there was a knock at the door. After the discussion they were just having, it made Lydia jump. However, she reasoned that a ghost wouldn’t knock.

  She went to the door with Sunny following behind her and saw Leo there. However, Leo didn’t look quite like himself. His face was strained and pale. His dark hair was messy as if he had kept running a hand through it.

  “Leo, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Leo said, almost nonchalantly. “I just have a lot going on at work. Didn’t eat very much.”

  “Come on in,” Lydia said, ushering him through the door. “I have leftover burgers.”

  Sunny barked as if this was the best offer in the world. Leo bent down to pet her but didn’t do it as long or enthusiastically as usual.

  Lydia led him to the kitchen and handed him a burger. Trina joined them. She motioned to Lydia to ask what was wrong, but Lydia just shrugged. Leo took a bite of the food and then set it down.

  “Thanks. That was great,” he said. “Lydia, I do want to ask you something.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Leo tried to look like what he was asking wasn’t a big deal, but his nerves were showing through. “Did Uncle Edgar say anything to you about me before he died?”

  Lydia frowned. Uncle Edgar had been like a father to them, and they had both taken his recent passing hard. However, Leo had even more trouble processing the death than she did because of his unusual will. Uncle Edgar had made sure that his wife, their Aunt Edie, would be able to fulfill her dream of traveling the world after he was gone. He had left enough money for Lydia to be able to fulfill her dream of opening up a taffy shop on the boardwalk. For Leo, he had left instructions on how to sell the family home that Lydia was currently staying in until the sale was made.

  Lydia thought that the reason that Leo had not been left anything substantial was that she and Aunt Edie had needed a push in the right direction to follow their dreams. However, Leo had already achieved his when he became a detective. She knew that the unequal inheritance was not because Uncle Edgar loved them differently, though that was a doubt that haunted Leo.

  This had been a source of great tension between the siblings for a while, and Leo had held a huge grudge against her. However, when push came to shove and a killer was after Lydia, Leo acted like family again and helped her. It seemed like they were getting along again. Had something happened to change that?

  “What do you mean?” asked Lydia.

  “You were taking care of him with Aunt Edie,” Leo said. “You were with him a lot. Did he say anything about me?”

  “Uncle Edgar liked to reminisce a lot. And whenever he saw your name in the paper for closing a case, he said he was proud.”

  “That’s it?” asked Leo. “He didn’t say anything about something I did? Something he didn’t like?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lydia said.

  “What’s going on?” asked Trina. “You’re acting weird.”

  Leo shook his head. “It’s nothing. I just went to see that new psychic. And she knew some things she couldn’t have known. But she also said something I didn’t understand. So, I was just wondering if you knew what she meant.”

  “Miss Cassandra pretended to talk to Uncle Edgar?” Lydia asked.

  “I know. It’s silly. I don’t believe in this stuff. I’m sure she didn’t really talk to him,” said Leo. “And he’s not really disappointed in me.”

  “There’s no way he could be disappointed in you,” Lydia said firmly.

  “Forget it. I should go. Thanks for the food,” Leo said, making a hasty exit.

  Lydia’s hands balled into fists. “I can’t believe that woman. First, she pretends to be your murdered coworker, and now she’s acting like my dead uncle. And I know for certain now that she’s a fake because there is no chance that Uncle Edgar would say something like that to Leo. How dare she do that!”

  “Yeah. I’m not a fan of her either,” Trina agreed.

  Sunny barked, but this might have been because there was an almost whole burger just sitting on the counter and not because she agreed with their views on the psychic.

  “Tomorrow I’m going to see this supposed psychic and give her a piece of my mind,” Lydia pledged. “And I don’t think she is going to see this coming!”

  3

  Psychic Crime Scene

  The next morning, Lydia’s anger still hadn’t cooled. She made sure that her taffy shop was opened properly. Then, after making sure that Kelsey and Jeff would be all right on their own, she headed down the boardwalk toward Miss Cassandra’s place.

  A thousand scenarios ran through her head about what she would say, so she figured she would just wing it when she got there. She wasn’t sure exactly how the mystic would react. Would she deny that she was lying? Would she pretend that Uncle Edgar had a message for her too? All Lydia knew was that she was going to give this psychic a good telling off about hurting people who were already vulnerable after the death of a loved one. Lydia wasn’t someone who often lost her temper, but this situation really rubbed her the wrong way. She was protective of both Trina and Leo and to find that they were both upset by Miss Cassandra’s ghostly communications was enough to make her take action.

  She reached the storefront that was minimal in its décor and had a sign that simply said, “Miss Cassandra.” She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. She didn’t want
to seem crazy when she told Miss Cassandra what she was doing was inappropriate.

  She entered and appeared in a small lobby with a few chairs for waiting in and a receptionist podium. There were dark curtains that separated it from another room, and a sign was in front of it that read “With a believer.”

  Lydia frowned and sat down in one of the chairs. She didn’t particularly want to cause a scene in front of anyone else, but she didn’t like being delayed in her purpose either. She tapped her fingers on the armrest and kept checking her watch.

  After ten minutes, Lydia was tired of waiting. She moved closer to the curtain. She hadn’t heard any of what Miss Cassandra was telling this believer. Were the curtains that efficient as a sound barrier, or was she not really with anyone?

  When she still didn’t hear anyone, Lydia said, “Miss Cassandra, I have a few things I’d like to say to you.”

  There was no response. Was the psychic ignoring her? Briefly, Lydia wondered if the woman did have some vision of the future and didn’t want to listen to Lydia in person. However, then Lydia threw back the curtain and entered the other room.

  She froze as soon as she took a step inside. She had meant to give Miss Cassandra a piece of her mind, but it looked like somebody else had beaten her to it - and did so in a deadly manner.

  The woman that must be Miss Cassandra was lying dead on the floor. It looked as if she had been hit on the head with her crystal ball.

  Lydia inhaled sharply. She felt too surprised to react properly. She knew that she should walk into the other room and call the police, but her feet didn’t want to move.

  She couldn’t believe that the woman she wanted to talk to had been murdered – and because the crystal ball appeared to be what killed her, it had to be murder and not some sort of accident. Lydia wanted to see an end to the hurtful predictions, but she didn’t want to see the woman’s life ended.

  After a few moments, Lydia felt like she was finally able to take action. However, she only took one step before the curtain opened again.

  “Miss Cassandra, I have what you wanted,” a young woman said. She had very dark eyeliner on behind her glasses and a shirt with a skull on it.

  She looked confused to see Lydia there, but then she saw Miss Cassandra on the ground and began screaming. She nearly fell backing up into the other room. Lydia followed her.

  “What did you do to her?” the young woman cried.

  “I just found her like this,” said Lydia. “We need to call the police.”

  The young woman fell into a chair. She started hyperventilating. “She’s dead? Miss Cassandra is really dead?”

  “What’s your name?” Lydia asked gently.

  “Mona Little. I work for – worked for Miss Cassandra.”

  “Mona, my name is Lydia. I’m going to call the police now, and they’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  Lydia took out her phone as the other woman caught her breath. She was dialing when she heard Mona mutter, “How could she not have foretold this?”

  4

  The Police Station

  Lydia sat across from Leo and his partner, Detective Grey, at the police station. She was answering their questions and preparing a witness statement about how she came across the body.

  However, Lydia couldn’t help being a bit distracted. She felt a little guilty that the woman she had been planning to tell off was now dead. She was also worried about Leo. She knew that he had been upset last night because of what the psychic had said about Uncle Edgar. However, she thought that he might be back to his normal self when he returned to work the next day. This didn’t seem to be the case.

  Lydia thought that her brother had always been an excellent detective – except for the one time that he let his hurt feelings about the inheritance get the better of him and he had temporarily believed Lydia to be the prime suspect in a murder. He followed the evidence and knew the right questions to ask. Though Lydia sometimes became involved in an investigation, it wasn’t because she had no faith in her brother’s abilities. If she started sleuthing it was because someone she cared about was somehow involved in the case and she thought she could help. She always thought Leo was good at his job.

  However, today he seemed completely unable to focus. When he arrived at the scene, he had seemed hesitant to enter the building. After stumbling across the body, Lydia knew what an unpleasant sight a crime scene could be. However, Leo had always felt it was his duty to quickly get to the center of things and assess the scene.

  She had heard him speak to Mona and ask why she was there to which Mona replied that she worked there and was just arriving for the day. Lydia wanted to hear some more follow up questions about the psychic’s daily routine and about whether any recent customers seemed like they had the potential to become violent. However, Leo had just told her that he was sorry for her loss. Detective Grey was the one who asked Mona to visit the police station and write up a witness statement.

  Because Lydia had been kept waiting at the station when she first arrived, she assumed that the detectives had opted to speak to Mona first. She didn’t mind talking to them second because it gave her a little time to collect her thoughts. She had chewed on a piece of cotton candy taffy that had been one of the emergency pieces that she carried around in her purse. She thought there were always times when a little bit of sugar was needed, and if the shock of finding a dead body wasn’t an emergency time, she didn’t know what was.

  Now that Lydia looked at Leo from across the table, she was getting even more worried. It looked like he hadn’t slept at all. She noticed that he was also repeating the same questions to her, and she didn’t think this was an interrogation technique.

  “There was no one else there when you arrived?” Leo asked again.

  “I don’t think so,” Lydia repeated. “I didn’t hear or see anyone else. I thought that Miss Cassandra was with a client because of the sign. And the lights were on and the door was unlocked, so I thought she was open. However, when I didn’t hear anyone talking for a while, I checked behind the curtain and saw Miss Cassandra was dead in the other room. I’m certain that if the murder was taking place while I was there, I would have heard it. Is it possible that someone was hiding and quietly left while I was there? Maybe. They couldn’t have left through the front door without me seeing them, but I’m not familiar with the building and don’t know where the other exits are.”

  Leo nodded but didn’t seem to process what she said. “So, you were alone when you got there?”

  “Yes. Until Mona arrived and knocked me out of my shock with her presence. Then, I called you to report the murder.”

  This time Detective Grey jumped in to ask a new question so they wouldn’t hear another variation of Leo asking the same thing. “And why were you visiting the victim this morning?”

  “It’s a little embarrassing,” Lydia admitted.

  “Lots of people around here like visiting these boardwalk psychics. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Leo mumbled. “Not that you can put much stock in what they say. It’s not like what they do is real. It’s all fake. You can’t believe it. I mean, I don’t believe any of it. No way.”

  “I didn’t go there for a reading,” said Lydia. “I was going to tell her that I didn’t like the way her supposed communing with the dead was affecting my friends and family. I thought it was cruel to pretend to be a murdered coworker or to lie about what a dead loved one would say.”

  Detective Grey looked over at Leo, who was tapping his pencil nervously.

  “I see,” said Detective Grey. “And you just wanted to speak to her?”

  “I was going to tell her that she should stop this line of reading. I might have gotten to the point where I would have raised my voice, but I would not have hurt her,” said Lydia. “You don’t think I’m a suspect again, do you?”

  Detective Grey shook his head. “The medical examiner’s preliminary findings are that the victim was killed last night sometime between seven and nine
p.m. The fact that you found her body this morning doesn’t make you a suspect.”

  “Trina was over last night until close to midnight,” said Lydia. “And Leo stopped by the house too. I think that was around seven-thirty.”

  “Lydia couldn’t have done this,” Leo agreed. He consulted his notebook as if to get back on track with the questions, but then asked the same question from before. “So, there was no one else at the psychic’s place when you arrived?”

  “Do you mind if I ask a question?” Lydia said instead of re-answering his. “I had never been to Miss Cassandra’s before, but the room behind the curtain looked in disarray. It didn’t normally look like that, did it?”

  Leo shook his head. “No, when I went there yesterday afternoon, it was tidy. Her crystal ball was in the center of her table.”