Miz Scarlet and the Vanishing Visitor (A Scarlet Wilson Mystery) (15 page)

Too wired to sleep, I fired up my netbook and started
playing around with searches. Good time to compare the big search
engines. First I “Binged” and then I “Googled”. Once I had a list
of gift basket companies in New Jersey, I began to narrow down my
focus. Which companies offered organic products? I took notes. And
then, along about midnight, it suddenly occurred to me I was going
about this all wrong. Paolo had said the bar of purple soap was for
healing. Maybe I needed a gift basket company that concentrated on
products that were reputed to heal. And sure enough, there it was,
the listing I was looking for, the needle in the haystack. Aura
Cleanse, organic products made at the Jersey Shore with all natural
ingredients and recommended by Paolo Varelli, the healer and author
of the Organic Guides to Better Living. Paolo. Was this the same
man who had sent Jenny and Bobby off with the packages of soap to
deliver to Richie in Point Pleasant?

According to the website, every gift
basket sent out by Aura Cleanse contained a paperback copy of one
of Paolo’s books. The cheapest version started at $59.95 and came
with organic lotions, bath sea salts, two natural loofahs,
beeswax-based honey-flavored lip balms, and a copy of
Natural Sea Bathing
. The
mid-range basket contained organic herbal and traditional teas,
coffees, New Jersey honey, and handmade organic chocolates, which
sold for $79.95 and included a copy of
Healthy Indulgences
. But the grand
prize was the basket that offered
Jewels of
the Heavens
, Paolo’s guide to metaphysical
crystals. This was the Mother Lode of Natural Healing. Recipients
would find a variety of soaps to fit every mood, with Herkimer
diamonds embedded inside as a reward. Organic chocolate truffles
with edible gold leaf and spices that were guaranteed to delight
the senses. There were even a variety of bath sea salts with
special herb mixtures to cure whatever ailed your aura. It could be
yours for just $119.95.

So excited was I that I almost missed the clue.
Hopping off my bed, intending to show Kenny my treasure trove, I
startled Huck and January as they slept. In my effort to soothe the
dogs, I sat back down briefly, and when I did, I caught a name on
the celebrity endorsements. Lyric Hindenburg, better known as the
Aura Lady, who shared the secrets of the cosmos with her audience
on her subscription radio show, was happy to advise fans to buy
these products. “I love what Opal Richardson does for organic!
She’s the Queen of the Jersey Shore!”

Lyric Hindenburg, Opal Richardson, Paolo Varelli.
Crystals, organic products, auras. A quick search told me that
Opal’s company was based in Brick, but she lived in Point Pleasant.
Where was that house Bobby took Jenny, the first one? Could it have
been in Opal’s neighborhood?

I ran a check on Paolo Varelli. He was based in
Hampton, New Hampshire, but he traveled all over the country to
teach, and even had a “campus” planned on an estate in Jamaica for
those aspiring students who wished to combine vacation time with
spiritual enlightenment.

Something still bugged me, but it still hadn’t
filtered down to my conscious brain. What was I missing? I decided
to let it go, assuming it would eventually show itself. These
things usually do at the most inconvenient times.

I tiptoed down the stairs, netbook in hand, and made
my way to the library. There was no light creeping out under the
door, but I didn’t care. I gently tapped at the door anyway.

“Captain Peacock!” No response. I tried again. This
time I got a low groan. “Captain Peacock!”

“What?”

“Can I come in?”

“Can I stop you?” he moaned back.

“I doubt it,” I replied. I heard some fumbling around
and a moment later, the door popped open. A rather grouchy Kenny
stood in front of me.

“This better be good,” he growled.

“Believe me, it is,” I promised, waving my netbook in
the air.

Half an hour later, after much kissing and groping, I
padded back to my room triumphant. What’s more, Kenny put the final
touches on the solution. Hinson looked a lot like the combination
of Hindenburg and Richardson. The two ladies were dabbling in
construction speculation to build their respective financial
empires, all with the help of Paolo Varelli, aura expert.

“What a scam,” Bur decided the next morning, when
Kenny and I took the information to him in his office over the
carriage house. “Let me see what I can find out about their
financial ventures, and whether they’re offering public stock.”

Kenny finally concurred that this mystery was a
little too intriguing to just hand over to law enforcement,
especially if we could connect all the dots and hand them a road
map to the bad guys. By the time Colonel Grey Poupon called us back
to his office after lunch, he had gathered quite a bit of
information on the trio, including the fact that the radio shows
and pod casts that Lyric produced were growing her audience rather
slowly, so she had just started a new national marketing campaign.
Investors were backing her, throwing money at her efforts to
spiritually awaken the world. Kenny tossed in his own shocker.
Opal, formerly known as Sue Richardson, was shacking up with local
plumbing contractor Lars Weims.

“You think he’s involved in the scam, as contractor
on the Bay Head house?” I wondered.

“Might be.”

“Wow. Wouldn’t that be something?”

“Better still when the cops figure out who killed
Richie,” Kenny pointed out. “But at least this is a running start
in the right direction. It will take time to gather all the
evidence and suspects. You do realize that, as clever as you are,
you won’t be getting credit for figuring out the mystery, Miz
Scarlet.”

“What? How is that fair?”

“Babe, this isn’t a board game. Richie didn’t keel
over in your kitchen, a dagger in his back. This is real life. The
New Jersey State Police can’t have amateur sleuths solving their
cases. You and I will know, and so will Bur and the rest of the
family, but don’t expect folks to heap lots of glory on you. It
just doesn’t happen that way.”

“Well, can we at least share it with Larry?”

“Tell you what. I’m planning to send all this off to
Sarge in an email. I’ll copy Larry. Will that make you happy?”

“Yes, yes it will. Not ecstatic, mind you, but
semi-content.”

“Thank heavens for small miracles,” Kenny grinned. He
gave me a long, deep, sweet kiss, his hands on my back.

“Hey, you two lovebirds, take it outside!” Bur
warned.

“Jealous?” I inquired of my brother.

“You wish!”

“Hardly,” I scoffed. “You coming to dinner tonight?
We’re having a garden cookout in honor of the Jenny Project.”

“For the squirt? Absolutely. I’ll probably bring a
date.”

“A date?” Typical. Heaven forbid that Bur should go
without a playmate on a Saturday night. “We’re eating at six. Don’t
be late.”

“But of course. Wouldn’t want to get on Miz Scarlet’s
bad side. Did I ever tell you about her bad temper, Captain
Peacock?”

“No need,” Kenny shot back. “I’ve seen it for
myself.”

“What?” I turned around to look at the man I had
kissed only moments before, and found him laughing at my reaction.
“How dare you!”

“Same way you dared to wake me out of a sound sleep
last night, Miz Scarlet. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, either.
Boy, your sister can be a royal pain in the....”

“If you two are finished discussing me, I shall take
my leave of you!”

“Go already!” was the last thing I heard Bur say as I
walked out the door with a big harrumph. Right on my heels, Kenny
was chuckling all the way down the steps.

Chapter Fifteen --

“Grandma wants to know if she can make dessert for
tonight,” Jenny confided, after I dumped Kenny in the library on my
way to the kitchen. “She’s going to teach me how to make peach
pie.”

“Oh, she shouldn’t have to cook on her special
weekend,” I told the teenager. “You three should be out having
fun!”

“Actually, I was hoping you would lend us your car,
Miz Scarlet, so we can go pick the peaches at Lueken’s Farm.”

“Tell you what, Jen. You take your grandparents out
for a couple of hours and I’ll get all my prep work done for dinner
tonight. And then, if you and your grandmother want to bake, the
kitchen will be all yours this afternoon.”

“Really?” Those eyes were gleaming with excitement.
Jenny not only had family, she had blood relatives. She had a
grandmother and an aunt who shared her winning smile. The orphan
belonged in this world. I was happy it was turning out this
way.

“Really.” Suddenly caught up in a tight squeeze by a
pair of overly enthusiastic arms that wrapped around me like an
octopus and wouldn’t let go, it took me a moment to extricate my
own arms and hug back. “Go. Go have fun with your
grandparents.”

Laurel scooted in from the butler’s pantry in her
motorized scooter in time to see Jenny skip out with the Ford Focus
key fob in hand.

“Well, I hate to say it but I think our little girl
is going off for good soon.”

“Probably,” I smiled, feeling a little ache in the
back of my throat. “I’m going to miss her.”

“We all will. Still, you took on quite a challenge,
dear. I’m very proud of you.”

“Are you, Mama?”

“Between saving the girl’s life and then the
dog....”

“Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that.” I
leaned down and kissed her cheek. Her hair smelled like raspberry
sorbet and I giggled. Jenny had taken her to the mall earlier in
the week for some shopping, and they had stopped at Macy’s for some
indulgences. In such a short time, Jenny had brought a lot of life
to the inn.

“Whatever will we do as an encore?” my mother
wondered.

I sat down with her to go over the plans for dinner,
since this would be family only. Already I thought of Tony and
Maria as long-lost distant relatives. How else could I let Jenny’s
grandmother use my kitchen?

We decided to dine on the enclosed porch off the
kitchen. That way, we could open all the windows and get a nice
breeze, but the screens would keep the mosquitoes out. They had
been brutal for most of the summer nights, arriving at dusk for a
little blood-sucking, and they came in swarms, thanks to some rainy
weather early in the season.

Kenny claimed the title of grill master, so I left
him to it. He set up Bur’s gas-powered cart just off the porch,
where there were patio chairs and tables for those who wanted to
sit outside while the sun was still out. He marinated his steaks
while I made twice-baked potatoes, sliced fresh tomatoes to scallop
with saltines and butter, and tossed a big salad. My mother
suggested shrimp cocktail as a starter, so I cooked and chilled the
seafood. Willow stopped by to check on Mozzie, so I asked her to
join us for dinner and to bring Myrtle.

“Mom’s off with her friends tonight. Bridge game. I,
on the other hand, am free. Love to join you. What would you like
me to bring?”

“What about an appetizer, something to nibble
on?”

“Will do. See you at six.”

Bur and Kenny set up the long tables on the porch
before Bur left to pick up his date. I threw on checkered cloths,
filled a couple of vases with a cheerful assortment of zinnias,
snapdragons, and bachelor buttons to set at either end, and then
added the place settings to the picture perfect scene. I wanted it
to be a worthy memory for Jenny, a “remember the time” kind of
moment. I would snap lots of photos for her memory box.

“Miz Scarlet,” said the man with the tongs, “do we
have time for a hike before the crowd shows up?”

Huck and January scampered along the trail as we made
our way up to the summit and down the east side of White Oak Hill.
We stopped at the pond where we used to swim when we were kids long
enough to dip our toes in the cool, clear water and take in all
that glorious tranquility.

“It’s still beautiful here,” he told me, holding my
hand.

“Mmm....” I replied dreamily. “This is a perfect
day.”

“I was talking to my bosses recently about opening a
branch office for Mercer Security.”

“Really?” It took a moment before that news made its
way into my conscious brain. I sat up straight and looked Kenny in
the eye. “Where? You’re not going to tell me you’re moving away,
are you?”

My heart was fluttering in my chest as those eyes,
dark with disappointment, stared at me. I must have given him the
wrong answer. He let out a long sigh before he said, “Are you
crackers? I’m trying to tell you I want to open an office in
Hartford.”

“Seriously?” “Oh, fan-freaking-tastic!” I whooped
with delight, and as I did, he tilted his head to one side and
wiggled his eyebrows.

“Of course it is!” He caught me as I threw myself at
him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him with the
enthusiasm of a lusty teenager. Who says love is only for the
young?

We changed from hiking clothes to more formal attire
when we got back to the inn. I threw on a cotton shift and sandals.
Kenny wore a plaid Madras shirt and a pair of Dockers shorts with
boat shoes. My mother was already out in the garden with Lacey and
Willow, the pitcher of ice tea on the table with their glasses
filled. The crowd began to gather as we neared the dinner hour.

Tony moved Mozzie’s crate to a quiet corner on the
porch, so the little dog could be with us for the celebration. By
the time we were almost ready to sit down, Bur had not yet
arrived.

“Typical Poup behavior,” I sniffed with great
disdain. “Leave it to him to be late.”

“Maybe his date was delayed,” my mother suggested.
Was that a twinkle in her eye?

“Speak of the devil. Looks like they just arrived,”
said Lacey, pointing to the driveway. Sure enough, there was Bur’s
car. And who was that emerging from the passenger side?