A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford Read Free Book Online Page B

first, she didn’t notice anyone there, and then she saw a small, kid-sized figure dressed in beige. It wasn’t until she gotcloser that she realized that the figure must be Felicity Huffer. If she were taller than four feet eight, Bernie would have been surprised.
    Felicity turned as she heard Bernie approaching and smiled. “You’re Rose’s daughter, aren’t you?” she asked in a voice that seemed way too loud for the body it was coming out of.
    Bernie allowed as how she was.
    Felicity patted the space next to her. “Sit,” she said.
    Bernie sat.
    “Your mother was a dear woman. Very refined. And an excellent cook. I understand you and your sister have inherited her ability,” said Felicity.
    “I hope so,” Bernie said.
    Felicity pointed to the box of cookies Bernie was holding. “Are those for me?”
    “Yes. Of course. They’re pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from our shop, A—”
    Felicity cut her off. “I know the name. Even though I’m ninety, I haven’t lost my mind. Though there are those that would like to think so,” she finished darkly. “I’m sure the staff will like them. I can’t digest anymore,” she explained. “I exist on a diet of rice, bananas, and bread.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” Bernie told her.
    Felicity waved her words of sympathy away. “It doesn’t really matter. At my age, everything tastes the same to me, anyway. So my daughter tells me you want to hear about the Peabody School.”
    Bernie nodded. She didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone this thin before. It was as if she was looking at an anatomy illustration. For the first time, she actually understood what the term skeletal-looking meant.
    “Your mother was heartbroken about what happened to Bessie, you know,” Felicity said.
    “She never talked about it to me.”
    “I’m not surprised. She was a woman who liked to keep unpleasant things to herself. It was a big tragedy,” Felicity said. “Bessie was a good girl. Studious too. She could have done something with herself. Not like some other people I could name.” Felicity frowned.
    “So what happened?” Bernie asked.
    “She went out the window. I was the one that found her.” Felicity’s voice trembled slightly. “Terrible. Truly terrible. The windows were very low. Almost French windows. All you’d have to do is lean out of them to fall. One push and there you’d go. It wouldn’t even take much. Of course, some people say she jumped. Others say she fell, that what happened was an accident. But I don’t believe that for a moment. I didn’t then, and I don’t now. I think she was killed. I think she was killed out of spite and jealousy.”
    As Bernie leaned forward to better hear what Felicity was saying, she caught Felicity’s musty scent: dry, brittle paper mixed with the aroma of lavender water.
    “So you know who killed her?” she asked.
    Felicity put her hand up and coughed into it. “I know, but I never told anyone.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because,” she said when she was done coughing, “I could have lost my job.”
    “How so?” Bernie asked.
    “Well, I didn’t have any proof, you see. And the girl’s family was very rich, very powerful.” Felicity paused for a moment. “I needed that job. If I had lost it, I don’t think I could have gotten another one. Some people think that Zinnia was the one, but even if she was, it was Amethyst that put her up to it. She was a bad seed. I know it’s not fashionable to use that expression anymore, but it’s true. That’s why she was there,you know. Because her parents were afraid of her. Her mother told me that in one of her visits. Sweet woman, too. Imagine being afraid of your own child. But things happened when Amethyst was around. Bad things.”
    “Well, this time something bad happened to Amethyst.”
    “So my daughter told me. Which, of course, is why you’re here. You want to know if I can shed any light on the situation.”
    “Exactly,” Bernie said.
    Felicity