In the morning, after a delicious and huge breakfast, Jessica and I went to town.  Amazingly Muffin wanted to stay behind and look around some more.  I told her to stay in the hotel and I opened all the doors for her and put her slingshot on her nice and snug.  Then I gave her some instructions and we were off to town.  Muffin doesn’t really enjoy shopping and she did hear a mouse during the night.  She loses all fear when there is a mouse around.  The town, if it can be called that, is only about half an hour away.  There is one old style general store, with gas pumps out front and a nice little coffee shop to one side.  There is a small police station, another small hotel which also has a restaurant inside.  Plus a few houses and vacant buildings.  Seems like the town was a bit larger in the past.

The interesting part was the fact of another hotel in town.  After our shopping we sat and had some coffee in the little coffee shop.  They also had good muffins in that place, so I bought a couple extra to bring back for Muffin.  She loves anything maple flavored!  I asked Jessica about the other hotel.  She said it had been closed for several years but it opened again just 2 months before her and Bill bought their hotel.  Apparently a single woman bought the place.  She was young, very pretty, a little taller than Jessica and had short dark hair.  Her name is Patricia Williams, said Jessica, but everyone calls her Trish. Has she ever been out to your place?  Only once when we first bought the hotel, she came out to invite us for dinner at her new restaurant, so naturally we went, said Jessica, in a town this size it’s only natural, everyone is so nice and friendly here.

Everyone except the one who killed your husband, I reminded her.  We can’t trust anyone, so no talking to people about me.  That’s okay, said Jessica, I haven’t told anyone at all.  Good, if someone asks, I’m just a new handyman staying out there to help you for a while.  Sounds good, said Jessica, does that mean you’ll be doing some handyman work for me too?  Sure will, have to make this look real.  On the way back to the hotel, Jessica asked if I thought that Trish had something to do with this.  Everyone is treated as a suspect at the beginning, I said.  Bill did go over there a lot to help her with different things, commented Jessica, but why would she kill him then?  Lots of reasons.  Perhaps she fell in love with him but he wasn’t willing to reciprocate.  Jealousy can do strange things to people.  However, don’t think that way, she is probably innocent.

Do you suspect me too?, asked Jessica.  Like I said, everyone is a suspect at first, but don’t worry about that, for some reason I don’t think you had anything to do with Bill’s death.  Jessica just looked at me.  We get back to the hotel after about 2 hours and the front door is wide open again.  This isn’t good and we both go running inside, Jessica right behind me.  I call for Muffin, but no answer.  I call again and Muffin comes jumping down from inside the fireplace.  How odd.  Muffin, are you okay?  Meow, meow!=We need private talk, lots to tell.  Is anything wrong?, asked Jessica.  Meow, meow.=I saw ghosts.  She’s quieter this time.  Muffin and I are going to look around outside for a while.  Okay, lunch in half an hour, Jessica called out from the kitchen.

Once we got outside Muffin started to tell me what she saw.  Meow, meow!=2 ghosts come in front door, look all around and close all doors.  Muffin, there are no ghosts.  How often do I need to tell you that?  Meow, meow!=There is ghosts, Jessica’s husband and a woman!  What?!  I pull out a picture of Bill and show Muffin.  Meow, meow!=That’s him, the ghost!  But Muffin, Bill is dead and buried.  Meow, meow!=Exactly, now he is ghost and woman must be too!  Hmm, this is getting interesting.  What did the woman look like Muffin?  Meow, meow.=Young, pretty, taller than Jessica and short dark hair.  That sounds like Trish, the woman who owns the other hotel.  Now we’re getting somewhere.

To be continued.

Steve and Muffin.

© 2020 Steve McLeod.