Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Promptly at six, Jasper rang the bell. I had on a surgical mask and a white doctor’s coat, which I seldom wore in the office.
I’d learned when I first arrived, most things were more casual in Sea Isle and the coat tended to make people nervous.
This one wasn’t covered in blood like the ones Abigail and I wore in the haunted house.
When I opened the door, I laughed.
Jasper wore a chef’s cap and coat with checkered pants.
We both nearly fell over giggling.
“I guess we’re both a bit on the nose tonight,” I said.
“I’m saving my good costume for tomorrow night’s party.”
“Same,” I said. There was a big dance party in the streets of town. That is, if the weather held out. If not, it would be in the church on the corner of Main Street. Then there was a masquerade ball at Ewan’s toward the end of the week. Sea Isle took All Hallow’s Eve very seriously.
“Do you mind if we run by the B&B on the way up?” I asked.
“Are you checking on the widow and her little girl?”
“I am. I also thought I’d see if maybe they wanted to go tonight. I’m told it’s a fun evening, and maybe they could use a laugh.”
“We can ask, right? They came down to the shop today. I was surprised to see them.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, the little one, Elsie, right? She has such a sophisticated palate. She insisted on the rosemary, cherry, and pistachio dacquoise. Her mother tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted, and then she ate every bite.”
“Everything you make is delicious,” I said.
“That is why we are besties. You flatter me!”
I laughed. “It’s the truth.”
“But they’ll need costumes.”
I opened up the big bag I carried around everywhere. I never knew when I might need some medical supplies. It also held other essentials. I pulled out two tiaras and two of the feathered eye masks I’d bought. I couldn’t decide which color, so I’d bought a bunch of them.
“You’re a right Mary Poppins with that thing.” He joked.
Fifteen minutes, and one shuttle ride later, Mara’s grandad deposited us in the middle of Main Street. The rain came down steadily and everyone was headed into the church. We went the opposite way.
It was only a block down, and we had the proper gear for the rain. I’d learned all about layering here in Scotland. It was just as rainy in Seattle, so I was used to it. But the cold still chilled my bones.
Mrs. Beatty answered the door. “Oh, doctor, I wasn’t expecting you tonight. And Jasper, this is a treat. Come in. Come in.”
Akif had been in the front parlor but came to the door. He smiled at us.
“We came by to see if Flora and Elsie might want to go to the costume contest at the church,” I said.
“Can we, Ma?” Elsie ran into the front room. “Please?”
Her mother blew out a breath. “I don’t know if it’s—appropriate, love. We’re grieving.”
Elsie’s face fell. “Grieving is very hard.” The truth came out of the mouths of babes. She was so adorable. “But Da would love to make us laugh.” She stared up at her mom.
She nodded. “OK, maybe for a little while. It was good to get out of the house earlier today. Would it be OK? Will we be safe?” She turned to Akif.
“I’ll come with you,” he said.
I wasn’t happy that she was scared. They were grieving, and it wasn’t fair to add that to everything else. But until we found who killed the Duncans, they were right to be frightened.
“And we’ll be with you as well. We can pick a place to sit that feels right.”
Akif held up his phone. “I checked with the Constable. We’ll have an escort there and back,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t like that everyone is going to so much trouble,” Flora said.
“We want to do it. I even brought costumes, well, sort of for you.” I pulled out the tiaras and eye masks.
“Ohhhh,” Elsie said. “I can be a princess of the Highlands.”
Her mother sighed. “OK. Come on you. Let’s go get your coat and gloves.”
In a few minutes, we were all headed over. Akif had borrowed a plain black mask. Henry arrived in his policeman’s official-looking uniform, complete with hat. “The Constable will meet us there,” he said. “They’re saving us seats in the back.”
The inside of the church had been decorated with pumpkins and scarecrows. We were in the area they called the Family Life Center, which was huge. Many events were held in this space, especially when the weather wasn’t playing nice.
“No scary monsters here,” Jasper said.
“Unless you’re afraid of scarecrows,” I whispered. They’d always bothered me. I had no idea why. Something about straw people coming to life, which had been an old tale my grandmother had told me to make me behave when I was little.
He laughed.
As promised, Mara and Ewan were stationed at the back row of the tables that had been set up.
“Oh, Em, I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “We need your help.”
“Sure. With what?”
“The rowing coach was supposed to be one of our judges tonight, but she’s sick, along with most of her crew.”
I was well aware of that, as I had treated them. “Right?”
“So you’re a prominent person in Sea Isle, and we need you to judge tonight.”
I scrunched up my face.
“I know. I know,” she said. “You don’t like choosing favorites, but we have lots of categories and everyone wins a little something.”
Mara pulled on Jasper’s hand. “I need you, too. It seems the headmaster has strep as well.”
“We don’t really have a choice, do we?” Jasper was brave enough to ask.
“No,” she said bluntly.
She was our friend, so we followed her to the front where a table had been set up.
“Who is the other judge?” I asked as there were three places.
“Me,” Ewan said. He wore his regular jeans and sweater, but like Akif, he had a black eye mask on.
“Will Elsie and Flora be OK?”
“Yes. I have four of my team stationed with them. Baird and Isobel are with them, too, so they have plenty of company.”
I glanced back and saw little Elsie standing on a chair in the back, waving at me. I waved back. Isobel was talking with Flora.
“OK, so these are your notebooks and pen,” Mara handed out one to each of us. “The categories will be announced by me. You pick first, second, and third, and then everyone gets an honorary ribbon for participating. You’re looking for originality and theme. Got it?”
I almost saluted her. She was in drill sergeant form, but I nodded with the rest of them.
A band played on the stage, and I recognized them as a group of folk performers who had sung at the pub a few times. They were some of my favorites. They played some creepy music, and then there was a shift in the room.
A parade of adults and children came down the center aisle and they danced their way onto the stage. The crowd was ebullient, and it was hard not to smile. Then they went out the side door, except for the clowns.
Jasper and I glanced at one another. Neither of us was a huge fan of clowns.
“I’m sure you’ll be professional,” Ewan whispered in my ear. “Given your dislike of any sort of clown.”
I smiled. “I seem to remember you saying the same thing. I think the word abomination came up.”
He grinned back at me. “Except for the ones who work to cheer children in hospitals, I have no use for them.” He winked.
I ignored the little flutter in my heart.
After the clowns, came vampires, and then the parade continued. Some of the costumes were quite ingenious. Lulu and her ladies’ group were all dressed as sixties aliens. They had green faces, huge hair, and the wildest clothes.
Everyone in the place was laughing, and it was more fun than I ever expected.
Right up until I felt a chill go down my spine. My spidey senses were on full alert. I glanced back, but I didn’t see anyone. Well, I saw a lot of people dressed in costumes, but no one who seemed to be focused on me.
“What is it?” Ewan whispered.
“Nothing,” I said. I glanced back again. This time he followed my gaze.
“Who?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I just have that feeling that someone is watching me.”
Another category was called, this one, for the best individual effort that didn’t fit into typical categories.
I shook my shoulders and did my best to ignore the sensation that someone was focused on me.
But I’d learned long ago to trust those instincts. Ewan typed something on his phone.
By the time we’d finished judging the contest, my face hurt from smiling so much, and the trouble from earlier was forgotten.
That is until we were leaving. “It’s him,” I said.
“Who?” Ewan’s head snapped from the right to the left.
“Dracula,” I pointed to the right corner. He was directly across from the families of the murder victims.
There were hordes of people between us and the back of the room, since everyone was headed to the exit.
“Henry, Dracula to your left,” Ewan said into his radio.
The Dracula was trying to make a quick exit by pushing through the crowd. “Akif and Sam, stay with the families. I’m going out the side door.”
“Be careful,” I warned, but it was to air. He’d already run away.
“Maybe we should stay here until it empties out,” Jasper suggested.
“Yes. Don’t worry, I’m not going to chase that guy,” I said.
“Was it the Dracula from the maze?” He seemed shocked the guy would have the nerve to show up here.
“Yes, at least it was the same kind of mask.”
“He was trying to get out fast, so you may be on to something. Who do you think it is?”
I shrugged. “I thought it might be one of Robert McClendon’s men, but now I don’t know. I can’t imagine any of them would be dumb enough to show up here with the police all over the place.”
“True.”
“Could be it’s just someone with the same mask.” But I didn’t think so. I trusted that feeling from earlier.
We waited and then met up with the families of the victims. They were all smiles. So evidently they had no idea Ewan and Henry were chasing the guy in the mask.
I knelt down in front of Elsie. “Did you enjoy it?”
“The fairies were my favorite,” she said. “They were beautiful. And the angels. Ma says Da is with the angels now. So we shouldn’t be scared for him.”
“Oh? Why would you be scared for him?”
She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “Da said he was bringing me a shiny,” she said. “But then he dista-ppeared. I was worried maybe bad people took him, but Ma says he’s in heaven with the angels. And he’s watchin’ us, so we’ll be safe.”
“Your mom is a very smart woman,” I said.
“He promised me a new rainbow doll.” She sighed heavily in only the way kids could when they worried something wasn’t going to happen.
“But it’s OK. He couldn’t help it. Ma said he got sick and didn’t have time.
Do you always die when you get sick when you are old people?
I’m worried because Ma gets sick all the time. ”
“No,” I said quickly. “Everyone gets sick sometimes. Most of the time, we get better. You don’t need to worry.”
She nodded.
There was a scream outside. Jasper helped me up. Akif looked at me and then the other officer.
“You stay here with the families,” I said. “We’ll be back.”
Akif frowned, but I didn’t want to leave these poor people unguarded.
Jasper and I headed out.
Henry had his knee on the back of the guy with the mask.
“You broke me arm,” the voice was familiar and British. But it sounded like the man who had come after me in the maze. Though it wasn’t as menacing or growling like it had been in the dark.
“You should have stopped when I called out,” Ewan said.
Henry started reading the man his rights, as Ewan reached down and pulled off the Dracula mask.
I may have gasped—I just know they all looked at me.
“He’s a teen,” I said surprised. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen, though he was tall. How had I not picked up on that earlier?
“My arm,” he groaned.
“Henry, I think you should forget the cuffs. We need to bring him down to my office.”
Ewan held out the mask. “Are you sure?”
“I am. He needs to be treated.”
“What’s your name?” Ewan asked.
“No comment,” the kid said hatefully. It appeared he’d been in this sort of predicament before or had learned it off television or gaming.
“Right. Henry?” Ewan asked.
Henry patted the kid down and pulled out his wallet.
“Asher Henderson,” Henry said. He helped the kid up. “Come on,” he said. “While the doc looks at your arm, I’ll call your parents.”
The kid’s eyes went big. He shook his head vehemently. “My dad will have me ar—” he glanced at me. “He’ll be mad.”
“As he should be,” Ewan said.
“OK, we can handle all that after I treat his arm. I need to see if it’s really broken or out of joint.”
Even in the dark, the kid’s pallor was noticeable.
“Put him in my car, I’ll take him down. You make sure the families get home safely.”
“On it, Constable.”
Now to find out why this kid had tried to scare the pants off me.