A Wicked Whack: Mad River Series (Prequel) Read online

  I turned my attention back to the dirt. After prying around, I found part two of what we were looking for. The preserve jar had some scraps still left in it. Some tiny worms were already feeding upon the remains. I looked at it in awe. I couldn't believe I did it. There it was, the preserve jar we needed all along. I held the key to solving Jenny's murder in my hands. I couldn't wait to tell her the good news when she found me again. I carefully put it next to the spoon.

  "How...how did you know?"

  "It was a good hunch I suppose," I told him.

  "Almost too good really."

  "We should get motoring. You need to get this pot to the station stat," I said.

  We made sure we left nothing behind but foot prints. The board, though loose, was an easy fix. We dashed out of there like ghosts, hoping to be unseen ourselves.

  Nick and I stood on the path in front of the smithy a brief moment before parting ways.

  "You're about to solve one of the biggest murder cases in Mad River. I imagine you'll get the promotion you hope for with this. "

  "I won't get ahead of myself, but we do have all the fingerprints on files just in case. If this turns out to be exactly what we needed, I won't be able to thank you enough."

  "No 'thank yous' required. Justice will be served. That's what matters."

  With a hopeful exchange of smiles, we said goodbye. I watched him walk down the path. It was relieving to know this would be over soon. We made a good team him and me.

  "If you take a picture it'll last longer."

  I turned to see Jenny behind me. I could have burst I was so excited. She eyed me gleefully. I could tell she wanted to tease me for watching Nick take off. There were more important things to discuss besides boys.

  "Jenny! Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to see you!"

  "Careful there. You'll look real crazy if someone thinks I can actually hear you."

  For a moment, I didn't care who saw or heard me talking to the air at this point. It was hard to contain myself. It was an unrealistic thought though, so I pulled myself together. I stood tall and breathed out my anxiousness. I could feel a smile spread across my face, which calmed me down.

  "Jenny, we found the jar. It's off to the lab for a fingerprint dusting."

  Jenny leaned in closer to me. Her eyes went wide with interest.

  "I hope you aren't pulling my leg, Shelby."

  "You're dead, Jenny. I technically can't do that."

  Jenny was speechless. She kept trying to find her words, but no coherent thought came out. She stopped in place for a moment. I could see the realization of what I was saying come to her. She placed her hands on her face, letting out a jolly laugh that didn't stop for minutes.

  "Oh my goodness! We're finally going to know who did this dastardly deed! I can't wait to let loose some good ole ghost whoopass on them."

  "Hopefully we'll be able to confirm something tomorrow," I told her.

  "I'm so happy I could hug you! I mean...I wish I could hug you. You know if I were still alive, I'd hug you. But then if I were still alive we wouldn't have a reason to hug. Oh who cares there's always a reason!"

  Jenny couldn't stop laughing and shrieking in relief. It was nice to see her so happy after all that had happened. Her body bounced around effortlessly as if it were fully alive with that emotion. Tomorrow we would get our wish. Jenny would be set free.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Old Town remained closed to the public Sunday morning for Jenny's memorial service. She attracted the same number of people that would come during peak business hours. Cars of family and friends piled into the parking lot to say goodbye. I wasn't shocked about the great send off she was getting.

  I entered the main building for the pre-reception. Jenny's service was in the chapel upstairs. I scanned the gaggle of people milling about in the foyer. There was no sign of Nick. I hadn't heard from him all morning even after bugging him with a few text messages. I grew concerned for what he may or may not have found. It was hard to keep my anxiousness in check.

  In the foyer were tables of food lined with breads, fruit, and cheeses. People crowded around them in a gregarious manner. It was definitely what Jenny would want; food and people remembering the good times.

  Near the stairs was a table of photographs and a guest book likely for her sister. There was Jenny, age five riding a bike without training wheels. Another one of her and sister Patricia on Christmas morning as teenagers. There was definitely a family resemblance with their blonde curls and bright smiles. One in front of a shop caught my attention. It was a cozy bakery that Jenny stood in front of as she showed off a key.

  "Look at me. I'm so thin and beautiful!"

  Jenny was standing behind me admiring the table as well, chuckling at her past.

  "It's okay. You don't have to speak. It's rather crowded here," she said. "Look at that one picture of me though. That business was the best thing I could've done for myself."

  I huddled over the table. Jenny sparked my curiosity with her commiserating over the shop.

  "I didn't know you were part of a business," I murmured.

  "Ran it through most of my twenties and into my thirties. My parents always asked me when I was going to settle down and get my act together, but to me that shop was it. It taught me so much, but the best thing I got from it was true happiness."

  Jenny appeared on the opposite side of the table. Part of her body intersected with it. I could tell with her urgent expression she wanted to get my attention.

  "That's what matters, Shelby. Find what makes you happy and stick to it. Cause if you don't, one day you're going to wake up with an axe in the back of your head and it's all gone before your eyes. Poof!"

  She chuckled as she created an imaginary explosion gesture with her hands. I laughed about it with her.

  "Being at your own memorial is like an out of body experience."

  I raised an eyebrow in Jenny's direction. She giggled at her own misuse of words.

  "It's just...bizarre. Everyone's honest about his or her feelings for you. You hear things you wouldn’t normally hear while alive. We really are the strangest creatures. Death is the one thing that moves us to be more open. We don't tell people we love them when they're alive, but we can't stop saying it when they're gone."

  Jenny had become a more profound spirit. Having spoken with many over their years, I understood what life really meant to them. Jenny's death moved me this weekend, but not in the usual way it does. Grief provoked me into action. It guided me towards using skills I didn't realize I had.

  "Looks like you better get going though. People are starting to head for the chapel."

  Jenny was right. I made my way upstairs with the crowd. Still no sign of Nick. I checked my phone again, but there was nothing. The one time I really could've used a man's help and he wasn't around to do so.

  I took a seat at the back of the chapel in hopes that Nick would find me here once he arrived. At the front was a large photo of Jenny dressed in her Civil War costume surrounded by flowers and candles. The volunteer soldiers entered in their costumes. It was a nice touch to the mood. Nancy and Jimmy took a seat together in one of the middle pews. Mark and Annabelle purposefully made sure they were not near each other at all. Everyone still seemed in good spirits despite the reasons for being here.

  As the crowd sat, Jenny walked up and down the aisles inspecting things. I knew spirits attended their own funerals, though I hadn't been privy to it before. I imagined Jenny was right. The experience of attending it was to fulfill a personal curiosity. At the same time, it was also bizarre.

  The crowd grew hushed as Calinda and Eliana took to the front. They opened things with a song. Calinda strummed the chords to James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" on the guitar while Eliana sung along. I knew Calinda liked music, but I had no idea how well she could play. Eliana's singing was further proof that she really could be a performer if she tried. It was a nice way to set the mood for the rest of the morning.

  When t
hey finished, Eliana took a seat in a pew up front. Calinda took to the microphone behind the pulpit.

  "Matthew and I never used this chapel much. We've held the odd wedding here, but we never expected this..."

  "Well to tell you the truth Calinda, neither did I," Jenny exclaimed.

  Only I could hear Jenny's quip from the aisle, and very well at that. I couldn't help but snicker. It drew some unwanted attention from those surrounding me in the nearby pews. Jenny needed to stop being so amusing. I was going to get in more trouble.

  "Jenny was well-loved here. The summer program campers couldn't get enough of her snacks. We all couldn't. We were always sneaking bites when she wasn't looking."

  "It's about time people properly admitted to that."

  "She would get so mad. I wish she knew that we only did it because we appreciated her talent in the kitchen so much..."

  Calinda's words faded off into the background as I watched Matthias enter the room and stand by Jenny's side. It was nice she had found some friends here even in death. I wanted so much to focus on what everyone was going to say about her, but I couldn't stop thinking about Nick. I checked my watch. He was running on fifteen minutes late and without a word regarding why.

  It was eventually Annabelle's turn to speak. I needed to focus up this time. Annabelle faced the most scrutiny this weekend and deserved everyone's undivided attention. Her hands quivered as she placed a paper of words down on the pulpit. Annabelle was always such a confident speaker that it was odd to see her so nervous.

  "Jenny was a close personal friend of mine. We worked together for three years here. Many people see me as a woman of power given my usual job, but I'll be first to admit I'm not the best at everything. When it came to working in the cookery, Jenny took the lead. I knew nothing about cooking when I came here. She taught me to love the food we made. Work easily consumes me, but she taught me how to have fun. That was the secret to why she was such a good cook. We have to love everything that makes us happy...with every ounce of our souls. Jenny did that."

  Jenny stopped speaking and just listened this time. A smile spread across her face. It was easy to be caught up in our days not expressing gratitude for those we care about. The more the memorial service went on, the more I realized how right Jenny was. Death makes us honest. If only people understood what more there was to life, perhaps we'd be honest in life too.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once again, I drew unwanted attention to myself. I didn't think to check if I left it on vibrate. I quelled the sound before checking the message.

  Meet me outside the chapel door.

  It was Nick. Fantastic. I didn't want to leave during the speeches, but I was waiting for this all weekend. I tiptoed out of the pew, keeping my eyes fixed on the front. The chapel door creaked when I pushed it open. The Old Town really needed to start using more WD40. My track record of trying to be respectful at a memorial was no good today.

  Once I found Nick standing on the staircase, I had free reign with my noise levels. He held out a Ziploc bag with the jar and spoon inside. In his other hand was a folded up piece of paper. He gave it to me.

  "Sorry I took so long. I wanted to make sure everything was right. We definitely have our name."

  I unfolded it to find enlarged finger print scans. I briefed the paper over to find the name. There it was at the bottom right-hand corner.

  NANCY GORDON

  My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it. Suddenly it made sense why my blanket sample showed up at the crime scene. Was Nancy trying to pawn the crime off on me? Was I seeing Jimmy make the axe disappear? This was almost too much to take.

  "You want to do the honors? I have to arrest Nancy regardless, but you were the one to spearhead this mission. It's not going to be a quiet or pretty scene when I do, but we might as well ease people into it."

  "Did Jimmy have anything to do with the axe disappearing from the station then? Do you think he knew all along?" I asked.

  "We have to bring him in for questioning, but I can't prove that right now," he said. "Go on. I'll be right behind you."

  I entered the chapel again not conscious of whether I made any noise. I waited at the back just as Annabelle took a seat again. Matthew was at the pulpit and spotted me across the room. I wasn't trying to stand out, but I wasn't hiding from the crowd either. Matthew must have just assumed I stood because I wanted to say something.

  "Shelby? Shelby did you want to say a few words about Jenny?" he asked me.

  I had no plan on how to reveal that Nancy murdered Jenny. The five-second walk to the front wasn't a lot of time to think of said plan, but it seemed like the best chance to try. As I walked past Matthias and Jenny, I saw her note the preserves in my hand. She smiled confidently at me before turning to Matthias to share the good news. No one else around here knew what I was about to do. That in itself was kind of thrilling.

  I stood behind the pulpit and took in all the faces starring back at me. Public speaking always made me nervous. There were so many people just waiting on me, their expressions either sad or stony. I placed the jar down, the microphone picking up on the clanging of glass. The sound even startled me. I was a wreck today.

  "I haven't known Jenny as long as many of you here did. As Annabelle said, Jenny was good at teaching. My mother is no longer here with us. In a way, Jenny sort of helped fill the gap."

  "Oh Shelby, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," Jenny exclaimed. She wiped a tear from her face. Matthias placed a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Why am I crying at my own memorial? How silly. Who knew it was even possible to cry after you died! Why didn't you tell me Shelby?"

  I really needed a moment to scold Jenny for making me laugh so much today. I almost didn't want to see her go.

  "Sorry Shelby," she added with a chuckle.

  "She never made you feel less than because you didn't know something. If anything she believed that helping others was a way to lead them down a path of personal success."

  I took a deep breath and held up the preserve jar for the entire room to see. I could tell that no one knew where I was really going with this.

  "This weekend I achieved some personal success. With careful thought, I found a jar of preserves that went missing from the scene of her death..."

  Nick entered the back of the chapel. He watched me, as if to wait for a cue. Another officer came in behind him. Their entrance distracted a few faces that turned to look at them, but still no one knew what was going on.

  "No one knew what to do when the evidence came back with no prints. However, this jar did. The prints belong to the deputy mayor's wife, Nancy Gordon."

  The bomb dropped. The room exploded into a collective gasp. Matthew stood up in the front pew and evaluated the scene. I could tell he was contemplating how to calm everyone down, but he didn't know what to do.

  "You can't prove that!"

  Nancy stood up in her pew, all eyes focused on her. I unfolded the piece of paper with her fingerprints on it and showed it to the room. She couldn't deny it anymore. Jimmy looked up at her equally as shocked. Calinda stood by Matthew's side as he watched the room become consumed by confusion and anger.

  "The proof is in the prints, Nancy. Why would you do it?"

  "You stupid girl!" Nancy shrieked as she turned to the crowd. "I'm being framed by Shelby...it's her blanket that was found with the preserves."

  "How did you know there was a blanket found with the preserves?" I asked.

  Nancy's face turned red as she looked down, then up as if to find answers out of thin air. She was definitely losing it, right here in front of all of us.

  "Alright, I admit to it. I killed Jenny."

  The spite in her voice made me want to vomit. Nancy inched her way between the pews and the wall to escape the immediate physical threats Jenny's friends and family posed. Nick swiftly cut through the crowd and managed to get some handcuffs around her wrists. For a frail woman, Nancy struggled hard under Nick's grip.

  "Na
ncy Gordon, you are under arrest for the murder of Jenny Tuckerman. You have the right to remain sil-"

  "I will not be silent!" she shrieked at him.

  Nick's eyes went wide in surprise. Her shrillness caused the room to quiet down in seconds. Nobody could attack her now that she was in police custody, but the room would get the answers they were looking for. Why would anyone want to kill Jenny?

  "I did it, Shelby. Is that what you want to hear? You want me to tell this whole room why? She was going to take Jimmy away from me and his job!"