Scraps of Paper (Spookie Town Murder Mystery, #1)

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

She was in search of a new life because the past was unchangeable, but the future wasn’t.

nostalgic stock and food stuff like there might have been in the last century, rows of glass jars filled with the kind of penny candy Abigail remembered fondly from her childhood;

“Her name was Emily Summers and her ten year old twins were Christopher and Jenny.”

add a few drops of vanilla extract to the paint. It’ll help get rid of the paint smell,”

“Life is never like you think it’s going to be. We ought to be allowed to stop our lives at any point and relive over what we didn’t like. Change it if we want. Maybe, then, we’d have a fighting chance to do it right.”

for any reason, in all those years. Living in Chicago, I’d never known that. No one here

Animals live in another reality than ours, you know. There’s a network where they tell each other which humans can be trusted to care for, love, and feed them. That’s how a cat, or dog, knows which house to go to for shelter.”

The following morning, Abigail awoke and finished straightening the house, then she covered herself in old clothes and gloves, for protection. She grabbed a broom, and trash bags, and descended into the basement. Aside from looking for more messages, or the diary, the dungeon had to be cleaned because it was time.

that’s why we have kids…to send them off into the world to live their own lives.

“It’s funny, how a person’s death is only as important as that person was in life,”

“I can’t promise how quickly we can get the results. Could take weeks. It won’t be a top

take long. The entries began on June 18, and ended, months later, on August 13, 1970. It was

intentionally hurting her and the kids, or I would have stopped it. I never saw any of it, though, so what kind of cop was I?”

the creeps. I never went back there and avoided Jenny afterwards. It was a short time after that they left. Or so we believed. Sad to think they’ve been dead all these years, not away.” She shook her head. “Sorry Abigail, I know it’s your house

“She spoke about her old life with John Mason. Those newspaper articles, she claimed, had revived unpleasant memories about Emily

“She never knew how badly until she learned you’d found Emily and the children’s, graves…and the pieces fell into place for her. She’d always believed, like everyone else, they’d just moved away. She figured out, she thought, what might have happened. The guilt was eating

Making the sign of the cross, Lorna held back from the stairs. “I can’t bear to look at where poor Norma died. It makes me so sad. She’d turned her life around the last few

Well, well. Norma thought Mason had killed Emily. But, in Abigail’s mind, there were also a fistful of other possible candidates.

“Abigail, did you know Frank used to shoot in competitions? He actually won trophies. He can also hunt with a bow like an expert; play the best game of chess I’ve ever seen.”

“So, Mr. Weatherman,” Abigail confronted him as they hunkered down on the concrete, eyeing the downpour. “It wasn’t supposed

Ah, so the box was from Samantha. It was full of letters. Oh boy.

“Please, sit down, Abigail, have some tea and civilized conversation.” Claudia lowered herself onto a plush chair. “I think we have a lot to talk about, you and I.”

not Norma, nothing. But here’s the irony, Emily didn’t love him. She dated him briefly and then dropped him just like that.” She snapped

designs on him, I was over him, but only because I felt sorry for him. He was rude to me, ordered me to leave, and told me never to bother him again. I left. That was the last time I talked to John for a long while.

had a chance, of course, she wasn’t near pretty, rich, ambitious, or smart enough for him. But how she tried. I think she hated her sister, besides for the inheritance problems, even more for her having captured John’s heart.”

Frank conceded. “Abby, you have more information, so what are you going to do with it? Take some people’s advice, drop the whole thing, or print what you’ve discovered and keep digging?”

When Samantha had everything she needed for the next article, Frank walked Abigail home.

She hadn’t thought of it that way. It took her off guard. “Nah.” She dismissed the warning. “Sheriff’s here for the free coffee and any gossip he can glean. That’s all.”

“You’re brooding about Emily and her kids, again, aren’t you?” he scolded.

You talk about the innocence of nature, yet it’s the absence of man which makes nature so beautifully pure.

are dead. And I don’t want to end up that way. Their lives and deaths are in the past. Like Joel.

protectiveness until she had shoved him out yesterday. She’d told him she appreciated his concern, but she needed her privacy back. She

would tumble out of her lips. Then Abigail remembered Frank had told her most of Myrtle’s senility was an act. Hmm. The old lady was a lot smarter than most people thought.

“Myrtle doesn’t believe in long goodbyes,” Abigail remarked, “does she?” “No, she doesn’t much care for me, is

One of life’s cruel jokes: it uncovers what you love and need the most and then takes it away from you.”

was truly dead. She’d known it for months but for some reason it hurt more at that moment, for the truth of his death had, finally and forever, come home to her.

It was Frank, a box of donuts in his hands. “I knew you were awake. I heard the screaming. Nightmares again, huh?”

But listening to Abigail in the kitchen, he had the feeling, as he had for days, she was in danger. He had to watch over her for a little while longer. Call it his cop’s instinct…and his instincts were rarely wrong.

“I’d ride with your dad any time. It wasn’t his fault. But let’s not talk about that. It makes my arm throb.” Her face frowned and Kyle let

pretty well pointed a finger at me. Anyone who lived here in those days can make the connection…make assumptions. What was printed

she was packing her car. The children were upstairs…they hadn’t been feeling well for a long time…I

gave her money every month. If you’d go along with her story that Emily and the kids had left town? But she poisoned them, didn’t she?” Abigail pressed gently. “She got the house, the

her.” A sour laugh emerged from his throat. He was behaving more like a mad person every second.

of time before they track him down. He’s not thinking clearly. He’ll make a mistake, then we’ll get him.”

these last few months, remembering Emily and that time, then learning she and her children have been dead all these years, murdered. That she’d actually loved me. It’s all been so hard.”

“Emily told him to confess, I heard he told his lawyer that from his jail cell. Yep, he’s nutty as a peanut.” Frank shook his head. “At least it’s over. I pray now Emily, and her two children, can rest in peace.

life was short, precious, and a person had to live it every moment. Every moment they had.