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The doorbell rang.
Soon, a man in his late thirties entered the room. He had blond hair and light-blue eyes. He didn’t appear as posh as the others, in his jeans and shirt.
“Ah, so it is a dinner party. The invite was very vague. I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m David.” His accent told me he was from Manchester.
This was my chance.
“No, it’s not a dinner party. You’ve been booked for murder,” I said dramatically.
Everyone was quiet, and the man just blinked at me.
“See, this was once a hotel.” I beamed at him. “No? Nothing? Okay, fine. It’s a—”
“Welcome,” Miles said, as he appeared in the open doorway. “To the murder mys—”
“Mystery weekend!” I quickly finished for him.
Alistair chuckled next to me but quickly transformed it into a cough.
Miles explained the weekend again and Warren handed David his card while he took the bottle of wine from him. When Miles headed back to the kitchen, I followed him.
“A murder mystery weekend without consulting me, huh?” I asked.
He turned around and flashed me a grin. “It’s way more fun when it’s a surprise.”
I folded my arms across my chest.
“Oh, is that why you had your little outburst? Because you wanted to be a part of this?”
“I—I did not have an outburst. I was just excited, that’s all. I’m a mystery author. Why did you not consult me? I could have helped.”
“Because I wanted you to experience it. Besides, I managed just fine without you.”
“I can plan it and experience it at the same time. I’m a great multi-tasker. Once, I knitted a scarf while taking a bath.”
The corners of his mouth pulled upwards. “Knitting naked. How daring of you.”
“Tell you what, I shower naked too.”
He gasped. “Oh, no. I must tell everyone.”
We grinned at each other.
“Okay, promise me I can help next year.”
“Whatever makes you happy, dear. Now, please return to your seat and promise me you’ll enjoy yourself this weekend.”
“I will. Thank you. This was a really cool idea.” I hugged him.
His breath tickled my ear as he let out a short laugh, and his perfume smelt enticing. “I knew you would love it. It’s about to get better, though.”
“I’m sure it will. And why didn’t you tell me you and Eddie were gaming buddies?” I asked.
“I thought you already knew.” He shrugged. “He made me buy a Playstation. Who knew those things were fun? And Eddie is surprisingly talented at killing people.”
“Something we have in common. I just use a pen, not a game controller.”
“Basically, we are all very dangerous. It’s a wonder we’re allowed outside.”
“With Eddie’s eating habits, it really is.” Not that I was one to talk. I could be equally bad. Of course, I wasn’t going to admit that to Mr Perfect. “Okay, I’ll see you back in there. I look forward to the murder.”
“I can see why you were a murder suspect the first time we met,” he said dryly.
I stuck out my tongue.
The others were all engaged in conversation. David was chatting with Alistair about his latest hike, while Eddie and the married couple were discussing vintage cars. Later, Alistair informed me that David’s character was a professor of archaeology named Dan. Over the course of the dinner, we managed to keep the conversation light and general. Miles had not joined us; he had been busy serving us the food together with Warren.
After we had finished a delicious chocolate dessert, he returned to conclude the evening.
“You are free to enjoy my home and do as you wish, but remember that tomorrow you are someone else and must react accordingly at all times,” he said. He had a glint in his eyes and was clearly enjoying his role.
We applauded—not sure why—and then everyone else went up to their rooms, including Eddie. He was hoping there would be a jacuzzi in his bathroom.
Miles returned to the kitchen, so that left Alistair and me.
“Finally, a non-lethal murder in this place. It was about time,” Alistair said. “Still, it’s weird to have this murder mystery weekend here, of all places.”
Detective Black smirked at me. “Don’t worry. When you get scared, you can snuggle up to Alistair.”
I ignored him.
“Yes, it’s almost like nearly dying is traumatic and our aversion to this place is natural,” I said.
His lips quivered. “Are you mocking me?
“Not at all. It’s just that thinking about nearly dying is making me sarcastic.”
“We could just leave, you know. We don’t have to stay here.” Alistair’s expression turned serious.
“No, we can’t do that to Miles. He put a lot of effort into this weekend. Besides, this is not the same place as it was back then. Miles has put his stamp on it, and this place is no longer filled with death traps. Also, this will be a good way to think of murder as something fun.” I frowned. “That came out wrong, but you know what I mean.”
“Yes. This will be about the most fun thing about mysteries: solving them.”
“Exactly. Speaking of which, did you know the three others are all actors?” I grinned at him, proud of my deduction.
“What? What makes you think that?”
“Ha. He didn’t even realise. Go on, show off,” Detective Black said.
“David is from Woolfield,” I said.
Alistair narrowed his eyes for a moment. “Ha, that’s easy. You must have seen the pictures he showed of his hike.”
“Yep. But Brenda and Geoff are also from Woolfield.”
He tapped his finger against his lips as he contemplated how I could know that. Then he shook his head in defeat. “How do you know that?”
“Their suitcases in the hallway. They had mud on the wheels, and in the coat closet was a wet umbrella. It rained for a brief while about thirty minutes before the time I arrived, which means they had walked in the rain. That indicates they didn’t come by car, but by bus. The train station is too far, and Brenda wore high heels, so it has to be the bus.”
“That still doesn’t explain they came from Woolfield. It means they were on the bus about fifteen to twenty minutes, which means they could have only come from Greenfield or Woolfield.”
I held up my finger. “Yes, but I overheard Geoff mention roadworks, and those are currently taking place on the long road between the Castlefield Forest and Woolfield. Also, I saw a fallen bus ticket by the pink suitcase.”
He chuckled. “Okay, impressive. But, how do you make the leap to them all being actors?”
“Because they were all vague about where they were from, which means they didn’t want us to know. Also, if they all know Miles and are from the same village, it’s unlikely they’re strangers to each other, yet they act as if they are. The most logical conclusion is that they’re all actors. Warren too, probably.”
Alistair’s eyes darted across my face. “You’re really something,” he said softly.
I felt my cheeks get warm and looked away. “No, I’m not.”
He touched my chin and forced me to look back at him. “You are.”
“For crying out loud,” Detective Black said, “If you don’t kiss him, I will.”
My heart beat wildly against my chest. It was so tempting. Just as I was gathering my courage, Alistair cleared his throat and turned away.
“I’ll go check out my room and get settled. I’ll see you around.” He then rushed out of the room without so much as a final glance at me.
I felt my heart sink into my shoes. Why was he acting so weird? Thank goodness I hadn’t actually kissed him.
Miles told me to have fun, and that was exactly what I was going to do. I deserved to relax, not fret about a certain detective. I studied the card again. There were secrets on the back that I was supposed to spill over the course of the weekend, and there was a fight I was supposed to be having with Alistair about a supposed affair.
Miles had really done his best to make this as fun and realistic as possible.
Maybe he should try writing a novel.
“Miss?”
I jumped and whirled around.
Warren gave me an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“Would you like to go see your room?” he asked.
“Sure. It better have a jacuzzi,” I muttered.
––––––––
IT TURNED OUT THE BATH did, in fact, have jacuzzi jets. It had also been completely redone, though I doubted Miles had done that with every bathroom; it would have cost too much. Either way, I was grateful. Now it looked nothing like the bathroom I had found my first dead body in.
I was eager to dive in and try out the jacuzzi jets, but first I phoned Christina. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, you,” I said.
“Hey. You’re still alive. That’s a good sign.”
“Well, someone is about to die real soon,” I said.
“What?!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry, let me explain.” I informed her of everything that happened so far—except for the fact that I had wanted to kiss Alistair. She was still his ex, and the main reason I had planned on keeping my distance. It was my own fault. Just because he looked so kissable didn’t mean I should kiss him.
“A moment of weakness,” Detective Black said, having popped up again. “I have them all the time. Mostly when it comes to beer. I always get one pint too many and end up serenading the lamp post outside my house.”
I made a zipping motion across my lips while Christina responded to my recap.
“You’re a model, huh? And who is your boyfriend going to be?”
Right. Might as well tell the truth. “Err, Alistair.”
“Miles is playing cupid,” Detective Black said and made the shape of a heart with his hands.
She let out a giggle. “Alistair is Miles’s friend. That doesn’t surprise me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“What’s wrong? I told you to go for it.”
“Yes, you did. I just—oh, there’s someone at my door. I gotta go. I’ll call you later.” Before she could say anything else, I hung up the phone.
“Coward,” Detective Black said.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You say you don’t want to be with Alistair because of Christina, but really you’re just scared.”
“I am not scared of anything. I laugh in the face of danger.”
There was a knock on my door.
I shrieked.
“You were saying?” Detective Black said.
“Just go back in my head.” I moved to answer the door.
“Good, you’re here,” Eddie said and darted in to plop himself onto my bed with a sigh.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m hanging out with you.” He was wearing jeans and a black shirt, like usual. He never wore anything else. Not even while I was wearing two layers under this dress.
I also had the sneaking suspicion he didn’t want to be alone. He’d spent a lot of time with me, and while I was editing, he’d apparently been gaming with Alistair and Miles. I liked that new development. Mainly because Eddie’s only other friend was Brian, and in my opinion he could branch out.
“Did you know Miles was planning this?” I asked.
“No. I’m not sure I would have come if I did.”
“Why not?” I sat down on the bed next to him.
“Murder mysteries are kind of your thing, Maggie.”
“Okay, but this will be fun. You’ll see.”
He sighed. “I guess.”
I don’t know what came over me, but all these months of sulking were not like Eddie, and something snapped.
I grabbed his ear.
“Ouch, what are you doing? This is what my granny did when I stole too many biscuits from the jar.”
“You need to stop wallowing. So what if the last girl you really liked turned out to have some issues? Stuff happens. You just get back in the saddle. You’ve been dating other women, right? It’s just a matter of time until you come across one you really like and who likes you.”
Eddie freed his ear from my grasp with a shake of his head. “That’s not it.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? You’ve not been yourself these past few months. You’ve been spending a lot of time with me, and you’ve been serial dating.”
Eddie gave me a look.
“Oh, oh,” Detective Black said. “He’s done something.”
“Eddie,” I said in a stern voice. “What have you done?”
He grabbed my hand. “I felt bad, not because I had been duped. Okay, not just because I had been duped. Mostly, it was because I got you into trouble. If I had realised what was going on, you wouldn’t have nearly died last summer.”
I gasped. “It wasn’t your fault. And I had no idea you felt this way.”
“And I haven’t been going on dates.”
My eyes widened. “What have you been doing then?”
“I’ve been taking self-defence classes. If you are ever in trouble again, I can protect you.”
Tears blurred my vision. “Oh, Eddie.” I hugged him.
When I pulled back again, he brushed away my tears.
“Is this why you installed those cameras in the bookshop and above the stairs to my flat?”
He nodded as a blush spread out across his freckled cheeks. “Yeah. Actually, Alistair advised me on what kind of camera to get. And I think I inspired Miles to pick up boxing.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“He said that in this homicidal village, he’d probably get to use those skills.”
We looked at each other.
“Pandora,” we said simultaneously and then laughed.
“Although, to be fair, I think Pandora would actually win any boxing match. She’s too good.”
“The other day she attacked a group of cyclists. One of them nearly rode his bike into Harold.”
“Yikes.” I made a face. In his wheelchair, the vicar wasn’t the quickest to get out the way. They were lucky an actual collision hadn’t occurred.
“Speaking of evil chickens, how is your dating life?” he asked. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the googly eyes at DS Ashworth.”
I chose to ignore that statement. “The last date I had was with the guy Harold had set me up with.”
“That was months ago!”
“Okay, calm down. I didn’t realise I had a quota to fulfil.”
“You do. At least four dates a month,” he said with a smirk.
I had actually joined a dating app, but didn’t want to mention it just yet. It was very likely it wouldn’t lead to anything.
“I’m going to check out the library,” I said.
“Oh, do you want me to—”
“No.” I held up my hand. “Look, I appreciate your concern over my near death experiences in the past year, but you’re not my guard. I can handle myself just fine, and the next murder that will occur will be fake, so...” I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Be free.”
He gave me a sceptical look. “I’m your best friend, I’ll always worry.”
“I get that, but you’re not responsible for my safety.”
“Fine. Just, no more murders. Okay?” He was practically begging with his eyes.
“Only fictional ones,” I said.