Murder at Blackwater Manor Read online

  Main Street was bathed in the warm yellow lights of the street lamps, combined with the colorful glow of all the small storefronts. People were already closing up their shops and the sound of shutters being pulled down could be heard in the distance. Rosecliff residents were hurrying past Sage, clutching bags of groceries, eager to get to the comfort and warmth of their homes.

  Sage thought that there wouldn’t be much for dinner again, but then she remembered her date. She’d be having dinner in a restaurant and she had less than an hour to get ready. After she’d woken up so late in the morning, it seemed like the day had passed by in the blink of an eye and yet, so much had happened already, she could hardly place it together in her head.

  Prim came out with a small tray. She set down two cups of herbal tea and a paper plate of cookies.

  “Secret leftovers from this morning,” she explained in response to Sage’s questioning look.

  The two of them were so hungry, they immediately got started on the little feast that lay before them.

  “So? What did you learn?” Sage asked in between bites of a white chocolate and macadamia cookie.

  “So, you know how Cathy and I always work together for funerals around here?”

  Sage nodded, chewing enthusiastically.

  “It wasn’t a surprise that Thea asked me to do the funeral decorations. Cathy came over this afternoon to discuss the details, because I need to run things by her as well, and she told me a very interesting story about Mr. Bluebird and Mr. Blackwater.”

  “It turns out,” Prim went on, “That the two men grew up together and were really close as children. They were in the same class all through school and even went to the same college before they came back to settle down in Rosewood. The thing is, Philip was quite the charmer in his time and there had always been an unspoken rivalry between the two of them when it came to girls. It seemed that they were always falling for the same girls and Philip, with his attractive looks and as the heir of a small fortune, was always the winner.”

  “How does Cathy know all that?”

  “She was their third closest friend. Believe it or not, these three are all the same age and went to school and college together. Cathy had always had a secret crush on Mr. Bluebird, Alex, but she never let him know how she felt. I guess that’s why she is not particularly fond of the young Mrs. Bluebird and has even stopped going to the library ever since she became the head librarian.”

  “Anyway,” Prim said, “Things were never too serious for the close friends to get in a real fight until Thea came along. She used to be a beauty back then. Everyone was after her and it wasn’t just for her money, which she had plenty of. Philip and Alex were once again attracted to the same woman and after almost a year of relentless flirting, she finally fell for Philip Blackwater. They were engaged as soon as they graduated and were married in an extremely grand ceremony.”

  “The only black cloud above their happiness was Alex, who couldn’t forgive his friend this time for stealing the woman of his dreams. The two men fell out for years until Alex managed to marry Anabelle. With time, the old friends resumed their relationship and were now even closer than before.”

  When Prim finished her story, Sage felt as if she was waking up from a dream. She’d sat with her hands cupping her face, engrossed in Prim’s words as if she’d been transported back to a long-forgotten past.

  “Do you think he ever forgave him?” Sage asked.

  “Who? Alex?”

  “Yeah. Even after so many years and a seemingly successful marriage, do you think he might have still held a grudge against his best friend?”

  “I don’t know. I guess we can’t just ask something like that. But even if he didn’t forgive him, why kill Philip last night out of all nights? He must have had plenty of better opportunities through the years.”

  “You’re right. It doesn’t sound too plausible, but it is a motive.”

  “Sage!” Prim suddenly said, sitting up.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Are you keeping track of the time? It’s almost eight! You need to get ready for the date.”

  “Stop calling it a date!” Sage protested, “It’s just a dinner with a friend. Don’t you need any help with closing up?”

  “No, you go,” Prim said with a tired smile, “I’ll be fine. You can go through my closet and see if you like something of mine.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And Sage?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Promise me you’ll give Dan a chance.”

  “How can I promise that? I’ll do my best though.”

  She gave Prim a light kiss on the cheek and hurried off down Main Street.

  Sage was just turning onto Seaview Street, where their house was located, when a cold gust of wind blew in her face and made her shiver all over. She pulled up the hood of her hoodie and stuck her hands in the front pocket. Her cold fingers locked around something. A piece of paper.

  She remembered it was the small piece of garbage she’d found at the door when she’d bumped into Mrs. Blackwater at Prim’s shop earlier today. She took it out and toyed with it, while looking for a garbage can to dispose of it. Without thinking, she flattened out the scrunched paper and looked at it.

  It was a note.

  It’s time. Meet me in the garden at 11 pm.

  Sage stopped in her tracks. What was this? Was it possible that the small note had fallen out of Thea’s bag? It looked too fitting not to be related to the case. But even if it was, who’d written the note? Who’d sent it to Thea? What was it time for and why hadn’t Thea followed the instructions in the note?

  From all the jumbled details that swam in Sage’s head, the only person she could remember going outside after 11 pm was Anabelle. But what business could she possibly have inviting Thea there? Was it possible that the two women had conspired to kill Thea’s husband?

  That didn’t make any sense.

  Perhaps the note wasn’t related to anything at all or was written on another day, concerning other people, gardens and secret meetings.

  Sage sighed and shoved the note back into her front pocket, glad she hadn’t simply tossed it in with the garbage. There was no time now. She’d have to think about it later. The more pressing matter right now was what she was going to wear in this cold weather, so she could at least look cute and compensate her terrible new hairstyle.

  Unfortunately, by the time she reached the house, Dan’s truck was already parked out front.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Night Shivers and Surprises

  “Wow, look at you!” Dan said and whistled approvingly. He was leaning against the hood of his truck, staring at his approaching date with a half-smile and a raised eyebrow, his usual expression.

  “Please, Dan,” Sage said, “Not a word about the hair. It’s not what I had in mind…”

  “Are you kidding me? It’s like I’m on a date with Audrey Hepburn.”

  “Yeah, because out on a date with Sage Fields is so much less glamorous,” Sage said and immediately regretted her self-deprecating talk. Both her mom and Prim, seemingly full-fledged ladies from the minute they were born, had always told her to always accept compliments instead of fighting them off with witty comments. “I mean, thanks. Happy you like it,” she hurried to add.

  As she got closer, Sage finally got a good look at her date in the evening gloom. The light from the street lamp in front of the house fell just behind him and she couldn’t really see him well before that. She was a bit surprised to see that he hadn’t changed his clothes from when she last saw him in the cafe and she couldn’t decide if that made her feel disappointed or grateful.

  If he hadn’t bothered to change, that could mean that either he didn’t think she was worth the trouble, that he hadn’t had the time, or that this wasn’t a date date at all. What if she’d completely misunderstood him and it really was just a dinner with a friend?

  “Sorry I’m late. I didn’t realize it’s already eight. Can
you just give me a minute? I’ll be super quick,” Sage said and walked right past him and into the front yard. She was still feeling too uneasy to look him in the eyes. Why did this suddenly feel like she was a teenager again? Awkward and full of doubt, that’s how she felt.

  “No need,” Dan called after her and walked over to the passenger’s seat, pulling the door open. “You look perfectly fine for where we are going. Jump right in.”

  As she walked back reluctantly, Sage felt even more confused. What kind of restaurant was he taking her to? A truckers’ joint? A sports bar? She wasn’t about to ask, so she climbed into the seat obediently.

  Fine, she thought, if he isn’t going to put in any effort, I’m not going to either. It might even be better this way. Low expectations.

  The only problem with the change of plans was that even though she’d had a couple of cookies, her stomach was still rumbling and she shuffled uncomfortably in her seat to muffle the sound.

  Dan jumped into the driver’s seat and started the truck, which came alive amid loud creaks and screeches.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, looking at her sideways.

  “Yes!” she said, a bit too excitedly.

  “Good. I’ve got a real treat for you.”

  The old truck finally came to a stop at the edge of the village green, almost right across from Prim’s flower shop. Sage fought the urge to duck down and hide and she was relieved to see that the shop’s windows were dark and the buckets of flowers had been taken inside. They must have just missed Prim.

  “Is this where we are stopping?”

  “Not yet,” Dan said cryptically and got out of the car, circling it to open Sage’s door. He stretched out his hand to help her get off and it felt a bit absurd that he was behaving so gentlemanly when both of them looked more like construction workers than a couple on a date.

  They walked through the large grassy square and soon the lights and noise coming from Main Street were far behind their backs, the darkness getting thicker and thicker before them. Dan took out a flashlight from his duffel bag and switched it on. Now it seemed as if the two of them were walking through a tunnel of eerie light.

  “Are you sure there’s food anywhere over there?” Sage said and waved her hand to indicate the ocean that stretched beyond the stone railing that marked the end of the headland.

  “Let me remind you that that’s where half the food in this town is coming from,” Dan said with a smile.

  “Perfect,” Sage said, trying to hide her growing anxiety, “We’ll just need to catch and kill it first, right?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I ask you out to something as trivial as that?”

  “Oh, believe me, I don’t find anything trivial about it,” Sage said and hurried to catch up with him. She didn’t want to have to walk in the darkness beyond the small pool of light coming from the flashlight.

  Soon they reached the old narrow staircase, just off the stone terrace at the end of the square, which led to the small beach and dock tucked among the rocks underneath. Sage remembered another time, a few months ago, when she’d walked down these stairs to go and meet Dan at the dock. They’d taken a boat ride together and if you’d asked her then, she’d never imagine she’d be coming back to the beach with this same man, but this time on a date. Or something that seemed like a date. She couldn’t tell yet.

  The quaint beach was not the friendly little paradise it used to be in the summer and it looked even more hostile in the dark. The wind was stronger down here and the waves crashed against the shore with impressive force. Sage hadn’t lived close to the beach her entire life and the atmosphere felt menacing to her. Dan, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at home here.

  He handed her the flashlight and told her to wait, while he jumped onto the dock and hopped into his small fishing boat that was tied to it. He rummaged in the dark and Sage tried to direct the flashlight as helpfully as she could to light his way. The truth was, she was freezing, the wind whistled past her ears and bit them, and the salty ocean spray stung her face. She could have been sitting in Prim’s cozy kitchen, now sparkling clean thanks to her, and sip hot cocoa while waiting for a home-cooked dinner.

  Instead, she was here. On a semi-date.

  Dan was back soon with a huge grin on his face. He was dragging a net full of something dark that was not fish by the looks of it. Fish would shimmer in the light and what he had in the net was dull, dark and mysterious. It clinked lightly as he moved.

  Please, don’t make me eat sea urchins or some such, Sage thought and followed him to the foot of the rock at the end of the beach, where he suddenly disappeared.

  She started moving the flashlight frantically across the rock’s face until his head and shoulders popped out from what looked like a crevice in the rock. Sage approached, carefully watching her step.

  This was so odd. She’d spent years traveling to different islands in the Indian Ocean for her research, diving and snorkeling for hours on end. Even if she’d spent far less time out on the water than Dan, she wasn’t afraid of the sea. It used to be her friend, her workplace. Perhaps it was the darkness and the uncertainty that made her so queasy now.

  Sage followed Dan’s lead and found herself in a small cave, huddled among the rocks, where the wind didn’t reach. There was a stone hearth in the middle and a crate of dry wood stored in a corner. Dan had already set up the fire and soon it was booming, bringing light and warmth into the small enclosure. Sage sat down on an oval stone that seemed to have been placed there as a chair.

  “Wow!” Sage exclaimed, unable to hold in her surprise, “Just look at this place! It’s like we’ve stepped into another world. You can barely hear the waves from here.

  “Glad you like it,” Dan said and started removing items from his duffel bag.

  “I love it! Unless you’ve brought me here to kill me… It looks like the perfect spot for that.”

  Dan smiled. He was untangling the net and Sage saw that it was full of black mussels.

  “I’m not killing you tonight. My plan was to treat you to the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted.”

  “Did you catch these yourself?”

  “Yeah. It wasn’t that difficult. The bay is full of them.”

  He started lining them on a thick sheet of tin, which he placed over the fire on a makeshift tripod. Then he took out a packet of butter and a small metal dish and put them over the fire as well, sprinkling some salt and herbs inside. Soon the smell of freshly roasted mussels and melted butter permeated the cave.

  “You’re right, it does smell delicious,” Sage said taking one of the ready mussels in her hand. Dan handed her a plastic plate, a spoon and a fork and showed her how to pour melted butter inside the shell until the meat was soaked and then remove it with her fork.

  “I only do this for my closest friends,” he confessed.

  “Oh,” Sage said, a little taken aback. So, that’s what they were? Close friends? She felt stupid and uncomfortable for assuming it was a date. “Are we?” she asked in a while after licking the rich flavor off her fingers, “Close friends, I mean.”

  “Well, not yet,” Dan said.

  The way the light from the fire danced across his face and reflected off his eyes, Sage wished they were anything but friends right now.

  “Not yet?” she said after clearing her throat. It had become difficult to speak all of a sudden.

  “I’ve been making you coffee for a few months now and you haven’t told me a single thing about you.”

  “I… There isn’t much to say,” she said quietly, staring into the fire. “Do you know things about all of your customers?”

  “Pretty much,” Dan said, slipping another mussel into his mouth.

  “What do you want to know then?”

  “Well, what was so bad that happened to you?”

  Sage flinched. The tiny space had suddenly started to feel too intimate. She was feeling hot, despite the cold chills she’d been getting out on the beach
just moments ago.

  “How do you know anything bad happened to me?”

  “It’s a guess,” Dan said with his infuriating half-smile. “No one just gets up and moves to Rosecliff. Unless they are running away from something…”

  “How about people who want to visit their sisters?”

  “A visit takes a few days, maybe weeks. You’ve been here for months.”

  Sage felt as if she was under attack. The space now felt too small, too closed in. She needed to get out. She’d been right to think this whole date, which wasn’t even a date, had been a bad idea.

  “I think I need to go now,” she said and rose to her feet, “Thanks for dinner.”

  Dan’s hand reached for her and his long fingers locked around her thin wrist. He pulled her back down gently and her leg twisted, so she lost her balance and landed in his lap. As soon as she realized what had just happened, she struggled to get out of his grip. Dan’s strong hands only wrapped her more tightly and he pulled her towards his chest.

  Their eyes locked and the fear in Sage’s eyes was almost palpable.

  “Let me go.”

  He didn’t listen. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her. It took a moment for her to stop struggling and relax into his arms. She gave in to the kiss.

  “So, this was a date then?” Sage said quietly when their lips finally parted. She was still snuggled against him and her heart thumped against his chest like that of a scared bird.

  “What did you think it was?” Dan said and stroked her hair, looking straight into her eyes.

  “Just… I don’t know.”

  “Sage, you don’t have to tell me anything, okay? Not if you don’t want to.”

  “Good, because I really don’t feel like talking now,” Sage said with a smile and reached up for his lips again.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Late Night Musings and New Clues

  When she shut the door to Dan’s truck and watched him drive off down Seaview Street, Sage noticed there was only one lit window in the house. It was the kitchen.