Millie Samson wasn’t just a docent at the Frederickport Museum, the elderly woman had been a member of the Frederickport Historical Society’s board of directors since its inception. While she didn’t docent at the museum on Wednesdays this month, she came in to restock the museum gift shop. Next week, the local schools were off for spring break, which often meant more museum visitors.
The docent scheduled for Wednesday morning was one of the newer docents, Trish Bean. Trish and Millie attended church together, and Millie had been trying to get Trish to docent since her husband had passed away several years earlier. Not only was Trish well versed in Frederickport history, she loved talking to people. Albeit, Trish could be a gossip.
While Trish talked to visitors in the main section of the museum, Millie busily attended to the museum store, sorting through boxes behind the counter. She looked up when someone walked into the gift shop. Millie immediately recognized him—Clay Bowman. She had known his brother-in-law, Fred, and his wife for years. She remembered when Fred had helped Clay get a job at the local police department. It had surprised her when Clay took a job in another state, moving his young wife far away from her sister, considering how close the two had always been. Then someone had told Millie she was expecting twins. Millie always thought it a pity that Debbie no longer lived close to her sister, which could have been a tremendous help when dealing with twins. While she had never seen Clay since he left town, she had seen Debbie a few times when she had visited her sister and brought her sons into the museum. But it had been a few years since she had seen Debbie or her boys.
“Well, Clay Bowman. Welcome back to Frederickport. I understand you’re acting chief while Chief MacDonald has his knee surgery and recovers,” Millie greeted.
“Thank you. Nice to see you again, Mrs. Samson.” Clay smiled.
“I suppose I should call you Chief Bowman now.” Millie grinned. “So what brings you into the museum?”
“I’m just trying to get around to all the businesses in town. Introduce myself—or in your case, reintroduce myself.” Clay glanced around the museum store.
“Your wife must be thrilled to be living close to her sister again. Someone mentioned you’re staying in Fred’s garage apartment. I imagine it must be a little crowded for all four of you.”
“It’s only temporary.”
“I understand you may stay on at the department after Chief MacDonald returns.”
“That’s the plan.”
“You and your wife aren’t the only former Frederickport residents who’ve recently moved back to town. Camilla Henderson also returned. I believe she left Frederickport about the same time that you moved. You must know her. She used to be married to Brian Henderson.”
“I remember her.”
“Oh, it’s our new police chief!” Trish Bean said as she walked into the gift store.
“Mrs. Bean, hello. Nice to see you again,” Clay greeted.
“Thank you. You two were talking about Camilla. Oh my, it was quite the scandal at poor Homer Carter’s funeral. What a homecoming for that poor girl.” Trish shook her head and gave several tsk-tsks.
“What happened?” Clay asked.
“Oh, Trish, I wouldn’t call it a scandal,” Millie said.
Ignoring Millie, Trish looked at Clay. “Camilla’s ex-husband showed up at Camilla’s uncle’s funeral, and he had the audacity to bring his girlfriend along. His much younger girlfriend, who then attacks Camilla. Physically attacks her!”
“Oh, Trish, that’s not true. No one saw Heather hit Camilla.”
“Just because no one saw Heather hit her doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Trish said. “And why else would Camilla slap her like that in front of everyone?”
“Brian’s girlfriend physically attacked Camilla?” Bowman asked.
Trish said, “Yes,” at the same time Millie said, “No.”
The museum phone rang, interrupting the debate. Millie answered the phone call and, a moment later, hung up and said, “I have to go back to the office and do something.” Millie looked at Clay and said, “And no, I don’t believe Heather hit Camilla. It was some sort of misunderstanding.” Millie flashed Trish a reprimanding glance before telling Clay it was nice seeing him again, and then she left the gift shop and headed for the office in the back of the museum.
“Frederickport seems to have changed since I lived here,” Bowman said. “Women brawling at funerals.”
“I think Millie has a soft spot for that Heather Donovan. Not sure why. Although, one of the other docents said Millie was relieved when Heather stopped volunteering. She was a docent for a while. They say Millie was nervous Heather might slap one of our visitors.”
“Why would she do that?”
Trish shrugged. “She would get irritated if anyone touched a display. Which I can understand, but we can’t go around slapping hands. Heather’s a little volatile. Some people say she practices witchcraft. Which might explain how someone like Brian Henderson got hooked up with her. She cast a spell on him!”
“I understand she lives near Marlow House,” Bowman said.
“Yes. They’re friends too. She and Danielle Marlow.”
“What is Danielle Marlow like?” Bowman asked. “She moved here after I left, and I understand there have been several murders in and around Marlow House since that time.”
Trish nodded. “I know, right? Very odd, if you ask me. I don’t really know her. She used to be involved with the museum but stepped back for some reason. I think there was a disagreement between her and the board members. Jolene Carmichael, in particular. Do you remember her?”
Clay nodded. “Wasn’t she murdered?”
Trish grinned. “Yes. And you know who found the body? Heather Donovan.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Oh, another thing about Danielle Marlow, her husband. That is the oddest thing. He’s not from here. But he’s related to Frederick Marlow. And he has this uncanny likeness to Frederick Marlow’s grandson, who he apparently was named after. From what I heard, he and his fiancée—not his wife now—stayed at Marlow House. It’s a B and B, you know. And after they left, they were in a car accident. She was killed in the accident, and he came back to Marlow House after he got out of the hospital. And he ended up marrying Danielle Marlow. Of course, she was Danielle Boatman then.”
“I read online that he has amnesia,” Bowman said.
“He supposedly got amnesia after the accident and never regained his memory. After that, he wrote a book that became a bestseller. And I heard, before the accident, he wasn’t even interested in writing. He was a real estate agent. And I’ve also heard, from someone I know who’s a friend of the woman who’s the housekeeper at Marlow House, that he dabbles in magic.”
Bowman arched his brows. “Magic?”
Trish nodded again, this time vigorously. “Yes. He can make things fly across the room.” Trish paused a moment, considering what she had just said before adding, “Which might explain why the Marlows are such good friends with Heather Donovan. Did I mention Heather is a witch?”
* * *
On Wednesday afternoon, Heather, Danielle, and Lily met up for lunch at Beach Taco. After placing their orders and getting their beverages, they found a table and sat down.
“Who’s watching Connor, Marie or his dad?” Heather asked Lily.
“With the construction going on, and John always around, Marie’s not doing that much babysitting,” Lily explained. “And I hate leaving him at home with Ian right now. Too much to get into with the construction going on. Not saying Ian doesn’t watch him, but…”
“Yeah, I get it,” Heather said.
“I was going to bring him, but his grandma wanted him to come over today, so I took her up on the offer. I’m going to take advantage of this personal time for as long as I can. Before I know it, I won’t have any time for myself,” Lily said.
“Amen to that.” Danielle glanced down to her own full belly.
Children’s voices caught their attention. They glanced to the front door and watched as two boys, about the age of Evan, ran into the restaurant, followed by a young woman.
“They look like twins.” Lily looked at Danielle and added, “That’s going to be you.”
“That’s the wife of the chief’s replacement,” Danielle said. “She’s the woman who was with him when he had that unfortunate accident with the coffee. Remember?”
Lily took another look at the woman. “Oh, it is.”
Heather studied Bowman’s wife and sons. “Those boys look like miniatures of their father. I hope that’s the only way they’re like him.”
They watched as Mrs. Bowman stood at the order counter, reading the menu posted on the wall over the counter, seemingly oblivious to her sons, who started wrestling behind her after one boy poked the other.
“Well-behaved children,” Heather snarked. “I understand they’re homeschooled.”
Lily, who had stopped looking at the Bowmans, glanced back over to the boys, who were now running around an empty table, with one chasing the other and shouting, the mother still ignoring their behavior. “Homeschooled? She’s clearly doing my fellow teachers a favor. If she can’t make her own children behave when she’s with them, then I doubt she’d be supportive of a teacher trying to make her boys behave in class.”
Heather chuckled. “I can see Walt now if your twins—when they are those boys’ age—started acting that way.”
Both Lily and Danielle looked at Heather. “What do you mean?” Danielle asked.
“He’d probably use his energy to sit their butts on the bench, and they’d be stuck there.” Heather snickered.
“Or he could promise to send them flying around the living room when they get home, if they behaved,” Lily suggested. “Evan sure enjoys flying around the living room.”
“So does Chris.” Danielle picked up her drink and took a sip.
“That’s because Chris hasn’t really grown up,” Heather snarked. They all laughed.
Someone behind the order counter called out their number.
“I’ll get it.” Heather stood up. “You don’t need one of those brats knocking you down.”
Fortunately for Heather, Mrs. Bowman had finished placing her order and had just turned around to her boys when Heather stood up. She ushered the twins to a table, and they all sat down. A few minutes later, Heather returned to her table with the food.
Just as Heather sat down, a man joined them, sitting in the empty chair. “I finally found you!” he told Heather.
Both Heather and Danielle turned to the new arrival, but Lily looked at Heather, waiting for her food.
“Homer Carter?” Heather blurted.
Lily frowned and looked at the empty chair, which had both Heather’s and Danielle’s attention. “Don’t tell me, there is a ghost sitting with us, right?”
“You don’t see him?” Danielle asked Lily.
Homer turned to Danielle. “Do you?”
“This is my friend Danielle Marlow. She can see spirits, too,” Heather explained.
Homer grinned at Danielle. “Marie told me about you. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Danielle said.
“Okay, guys, while you two have a nice conversation with your ghost, can I please have my food? I’m hungry. My baby’s hungry too,” Lily said.
“She can’t see me, right? But she knows about all this?” Homer asked.
Heather gave a nod as she handed out the food. A few minutes later, after Lily started eating her lunch, Homer told Heather, “I was hoping to find you. It’s time I move on. I was wondering if you could tell Brian goodbye for me, and let him know how much I’ve appreciated his friendship.”
“Certainly. I’m curious; where have you been spending all your time since your funeral?” Heather asked.
“I’ve been hanging around my house. Regretting even more how I wrote my will. So much contention. Ted and Lucy want to sell the house, and by some of the phone conversations I overheard them making to their spouses, I have a feeling both of them are having money issues. And then Flora is angry, claims Camilla offered her a pension after I died. Anyway, I don’t need all this drama. I’ve lived my life. Time to move on.”