A Twist In The Tail

Seth frowned, but his eyes regarded Millie softly. He came closer, then looked up at the window. ‘This is the window that goes to the room the victim was in, isn’t it?’

‘Yes.’ Millie gestured toward the footprint. ‘And we found a footprint right here underneath the window. Now it seems to me the killer could’ve opened the window, climbed out and then shut it again. No one can see back here and he could have made the perfect escape into the woods.’

Seth inspected the print.

‘Uh-huh… Hmmm… Oh...’ He looked up at us. ‘This looks like a print from a chef’s clog. Are you sure you were discovering this clue and not hiding it?’

Mom fisted her hands on her hips. ‘Now Seth Chamberlain, are you accusing us of obstructing justice?’

‘Why on earth would we do that?’ Millie asked.

Seth’s eyes were glued to my shoes. ‘Well this here is a chef’s clog print and Josie there is wearing chef’s clogs.’

It figured that the only good thing I’d gotten from my ex-husband besides our daughter was chef’s clogs. He’d always worn them and had talked me into trying a pair years ago. They were comfortable and I had taken to wearing them. It was only fitting that now, when I’d just started to get over our divorce and get my life on track, the clogs would be the thing that got me arrested for murder.

‘Not exactly.’ I pointed to the impression I’d made in the mulch. ‘See my footprint from my clogs is shaped differently than that footprint there.’

Seth squinted at the print and made a face. ‘Yeah I see, yours is fresher. The other one has been there a few days. The edges are not as sharp.’

‘You can’t be serious,’ Millie said. ‘Why would Josie climb out the window? She lives inside the guesthouse, so if she killed Charles Prescott, she would simply go back to her room inside the house.’

‘That’s right,’ I nodded. ‘I mean, if I did kill him in that room. Which I didn’t.’

Seth looked dubious.

Millie put her arm through Seth’s. ‘Now I know you do a thorough job, and don’t jump to conclusions. Surely there are several other chefs who wear clogs and had a much better reason than Josie to kill Prescott.’

‘Yeah like maybe the one he was writing that bad review about,’ Mom added.

Seth nodded, but still looked at me suspiciously. ‘Seems to me the bad review might have been about the Oyster Cove Guesthouse. I mean he was staying here.’

‘Yes, well you’re much smarter than we are at this sort of thing,’ Millie said, patting his arm. ‘I know you’ll want to check out all the clues and suspects thoroughly before homing in on one particular suspect. You wouldn’t want to arrest the wrong person, that wouldn’t look good on your record.’

‘Of course not,’ Seth said, glancing my way again. ‘I also don’t want to let the killer get away.’

‘Now Seth, you can’t seriously suspect Josie. And besides, where would she go? Josie owns the guesthouse. She’s tied to the area. It’s not like she’s going to run off somewhere.’

I nodded vigorously in agreement.

‘What are you doing here anyway?’ Millie changed the subject.

‘Huh? Oh, I was coming to release the crime scene. We’ve got everything we need and I’m coming to take off the yellow tape. Personal belongings in there can be sent to the next of kin.’

Millie’s brows shot up. ‘Oh? And have you gotten any clues? Have you a list of suspects?’

Seth gave me another wary glance. ‘We’re working on some angles, but I can’t specifically say. Police business you know.’

‘Indeed.’ Millie nodded. ‘And did you find a clue in Charles Prescott’s cookbook?’

‘Cookbook? We don’t have any cookbook.’

‘You mean you don’t have his notes for his new book that he was writing?’ I asked.

‘New book? We didn’t hear anything about any new cookbook. Besides, what would that have to do with his murder? Seems to me that bad review likely ripped out of his hand is the thing that got him killed.’

‘Well now, I wouldn’t be too sure.’ Millie pointed at the footprint. ‘Is it any coincidence that there is a chef’s clog footprint right under the window of the room Charles Prescott was killed in and the man’s notes on his new cookbook are missing?’

Flora’s cleaning duties were limited, so after we got rid of Seth Chamberlain, I got to work, dusting, vacuuming and toilet cleaning. You’d think that would’ve been the cue for Millie and my mom to leave, but it must have been a dull day down at the senior center because they stayed on.

For someone who wanted to be free to engage in retirement activities and not have to worry about the guesthouse, Millie sure still spent a lot of time here. But since she’d volunteered to cook breakfast, I didn’t complain, because that meant less work for me in the morning.

She was probably worried my lack of cooking skills were going to ruin the guesthouse’s reputation for fine breakfasts. If a murder didn’t ruin it though, I hardly thought my cooking would.

It was late afternoon when I stumbled into the front parlor exhausted. It had been a long day, especially considering I’d discovered the body of one of my guests just that morning.