slipped away. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterflies. She thrust out her chest and brushed strands of auburn hair behind her ear. “Simon,” she cooed, extending her limp hand in greeting, “it is a pleasure to meet you.”
Simon cocked his head, his lips turning up in a half smile. He draped his arm around Addie’s shoulders, gave her a reassuring squeeze, and limply shook Kalea’s extended fingers in reply. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Addie has told me so much about you.”
“Oh, she has, has she? I see.” Kalea glanced at Simon’s arm still wrapped around Addie’s shoulder. Her porcelain complexion turned a rosy hue, and she averted her eyes. “What’s this little celebration all about, anyway?” Kalea glanced at the crowds gathering around the large logs set out as bonfire seating areas.
“I thought I told you on our way here?” Addie eyed her cousin warily. “It’s a welcome celebration for the first official docking of the cruise ship to Greyborne Harbor. We as a town thought they might enjoy a beach party of sorts and a fireworks display at the end of the eve—”
“Oh, right. Yeah, you did mention something about that.” Kalea waved off the explanation. “There’s Garrett over there talking to Robert.” And she was off.
Addie nudged Simon and pointed to her cousin as she sashayed up to her next victim. As if on cue, Kalea shifted her weight from one curvy hip to the other and leaned in toward Garrett, whispering something into his ear. A shy grin spread across his flushed face.
Simon’s husky laugh made Addie’s stomach flutter. “See what I mean about her?” Addie’s own laugh bubbled free, joining his.
“Good evening, Simon, Addie.”
“Marc. You’re here?” Addie spun around at the sound of his voice behind them.
Simon gave her a sidelong glance, confusion by her excitement to see her old flame clearly written across his face.
“I mean”—she glanced at Simon—“I didn’t expect to see you tonight. You know, with the whole Art thing and the investigation and all.” She wanted to kiss away the confusion from Simon’s face but settled with clasping his hand in hers.
“Yeah, it wrapped up faster than I thought it would. Between your and Vera’s statements, along with Maggie’s added information, Art finally gave a full confession.”
“Did he confess to murdering Charlotte, too?” Simon drew Addie closer to his side.
Marc’s jaw tightened. “He said he never intended her to die. He was just trying to scare her.”
“But I gave you a precedent case and medical—”
“I know,” Marc said, “and the DA agreed. Art did confess that he had been watching and listening for months and knew Charlotte was terrified to be alone in the house. She’d bought into all the local haunted rumors. He decided to play on that fear Wednesday night when she wouldn’t leave so he could get the books he was after, you know, the one you pointed out, A Study in Scarlet that had the birth certificate hidden inside it.” Addie nodded. “Art said he’d waited long enough to get his hands on it and when she wouldn’t leave that night, he knew he’d have to step up his game. He covered his face and hands with ashes from the hearth, in the hope of appearing more ghostly to scare her off. Which, as the DA said, showed intent to harm.”
“And it obviously worked even if death wasn’t his intention.” Simon rubbed his jaw.
“Yup, by everything else he said, I don’t think he really cared at that point. He just wanted to get his hands on what he felt was his and stop the auction to sell his property. That’s why he pulled off all the special effects he’d created over the past few months, hoping to scare everyone away from the house.”
“Yeah, I told you about the humidifiers I found. He must have used them to create the cold air from the vents, and I guess he also found a way to produce just enough mist to make it appear like an entity taking form.”
“He had done his research. He even manipulated Vera into helping him, all under the guise of creating a haunted experience for some fictional buyer, but his theatrics didn’t stop there.” Marc glanced at Addie. “He used his umbrella with the knife tip extended to be able to open the door just a crack and slid it up to push the doorbells away from the top of the frame, so he could enter your shop undetected. Then he used it extended again