A Dastardly Death in Hillbilly Hollow (Ozark Ghost Hunter Mysteries Book 3) Read online

  I sat for a moment with my palm on the cover of the book. It was a huge invasion of privacy to read someone else’s private thoughts. I wasn’t sure I should even have the book, let alone be reading it. Prudence was still alive, after all, if hanging on by just a thread. She had asked for my help, though, and if there was something in the journal that would help me figure out what had happened to her, I had to do whatever I could to find it.

  I took a deep breath and opened the book. Inside the cover was written Prudence Marianne Huffler with her phone number. Her middle name is Marianne, and she goes by Prudence? I had always seen Prudence as something of an enigma. She dressed very conservatively – more so than her mother, even. She seemed in one moment to be a little old lady trapped in a young woman’s body. Then sometimes she did things, like writing her name and phone number in her diary that reminded me of a teenage girl.

  I flipped through the first section, which I realized was a two-year, monthly calendar. There were dates highlighted for the Flower Festival, church pageants, choir practice, and other major local events. In June, there was a note on the day Preacher Jacob had died, bearing his dates of birth and death, which was circled. As I moved forward into early September, I realized that a weekly appointment became crossed out. I flipped back to the beginning. On Friday morning, about four weeks apart every month for the entire calendar was the word hair, written in pen as if it had been a long-term standing appointment. That would not have been unusual, except for the fact that, starting in August, every hair appointment was struck through in red, continuing through January. Falling out with the hairdresser, maybe? I wondered what could be so bad that a creature of habit like Prudence who hadn’t changed her hairstyle since high school would fire her hairdresser.

  On the first Saturday in September, the letters P.S. were written in blue ink, but then in the bottom-right corner was the tiniest little heart drawn in red ink. I had no idea what the p.s. stood for. P.S., I love you? But who was it that Prudence had fallen in love with? I went through and found a note from Tuesday that read Adeline’s 5pm. So, maybe it was Prudence whose cake tray Alice’s assistant had tried to give me and Suzy that day after all. In early November, a Saturday was circled in red, with no words included in the box. This was clearly something so important that she couldn’t have forgotten what the appointment was, but something that she was excited for and counting down to. Her wedding day! It was all starting to make sense.

  I flipped past the calendar and began leafing through the journal part of the diary. I paged through the entries for the prior year, but there didn’t seem to be anything that related to present-day events, and I didn’t want to disturb Prudence’s privacy more than was absolutely necessary. As I went through the current year, paying particular attention to recent months, there was no mention of a fiancé or even a boyfriend. Instead, the pages were filled with speculative gossip about some of the townsfolk, and notes about things related to the church.

  I finally came across something of interest, though, in the pages dated for last week.

  Monday – Pastor Danny announced Music Director job. Can’t wait!

  Note: Start outline of music program plan, put together songbook for auditions, write up resume.

  Tuesday – cannot believe they are letting Ambrose Snodgrass apply for Music Dir! 2-bit hack that has everyone fooled but I see right through him. When I get job will fire him and make sure I never have to see his smug face again.

  Thursday – Unbelievable! Had all my music set out on the organ to practice for audition with Board of Elders. Ambrose came in to work on the organ, and suddenly my sheets were all missing. I went straight over to his house and confronted him but he said he had no idea what I was talking about. That a man employed by the church could tell such a bold faced lie just makes me sick.

  Went back to church to practice some more and found all my sheet music in the garbage in the church kitchen, with a full bottle of soda poured in on top of them. Know it was Ambrose!

  Monday – He doesn’t know it, but I found a piece of sheet music on the floor after Ambrose was at church today. It was in braille, so I know it was his and is probably what he plans for audition. Moonlight Sonata for Piano No. 14. If that’s the best he’s got, I’m a shoe-in! Practicing a Chopin piece at home so he won’t be able to hear what I’m working on.

  So happy that everything is finally coming together for me! Music Director is in the bag, and with EVERYTHING else coming up soon, am happier than I have ever been. SO BLESSED!!!

  It was clear from her recent entries that Prudence was happy and positive, and definitely not in a mindset to end it all. I continued to read through the details of recent days, most of which were notes about music and activities – things she must have been thinking through or wanted to remember. I was about to put the book down and call it a night, when a note scrawled in the margin beside an entry for Tuesday caught my eye.

  P.S. – check state records. history? license? CANNOT BE TRUE!

  The last line was underlined twice. I still wasn’t sure what the p.s. notation meant unless it was her own shorthand for something. She was clearly planning to research something she was worried about, but I had no idea what it could be.

  Chapter 11

  I was thankful to wake the next morning without any visits from Prudence. The realization that she had only been able to visit me when her tenuous grasp on life was beginning to slip made my blood run cold. I wasn’t sure what the mysterious notes in her diary had meant, but I knew I had to dig a little deeper, and I was afraid, with the wedding the following day and Prudence showing no sign of improvement, my time was running out.

  I was excited to find that Grandma had made breakfast casserole. It was one of my favorite things, and she typically only made it around the holidays, or other busy times of the year. Knowing how much was going on with it being just one day before the wedding, she had made it just for me. The smell of ham, cheese and potatoes filled the air as I walked into the kitchen.

  “Grandma! Thank you for making one of my favorites!” I kissed her cheek as I did every morning.

  “Good morning, Emma, dear! Sleep well?” she asked, her face beaming with happiness as it usually was.

  “I did, thanks! Busy days ahead today and tomorrow. We’re down to the wire for Suzy’s wedding!” I replied, scooping a couple of spoons full of casserole onto my plate from the dish on the stove.

  “Yes, it’s all very exciting. She’ll make a lovely bride,” she said, then walked over and patted my shoulder. “But not half as lovely as you, dear. One of these days, perhaps. Whenever you decide you’re ready.”

  I could always count on Grandma to love me and have my best interests at heart. She truly was one of the best people I knew. While everyone else was trying to marry me off, she was just worried about what was best for me. She sat with me while I ate breakfast, and we chatted about my dress, and Brian’s honeymoon surprise destination for Suzy.

  After we finished eating, I went to meet Grandpa in the back pasture so I could help him move the cattle to the smaller, enclosed pasture that was closer to the house than the summer grazing pasture. Rotating the fields from which the cattle grazed kept the grass from becoming too depleted in any one area. The other benefit of moving the cattle in the fall was the ability to move them to a grazing area that was surrounded by stands of trees, cutting down on some of the wind that could blow across the lower pasture in the coldest part of winter. I had a few more chores to take care of around the farm, then got cleaned up and headed to town.

  Suzy had decided to forgo a traditional veil, and instead ordered a jeweled headband to wear with her dress. She had gotten combs for her cousin, Penelope, and me that were a similar style to her headband. I stopped by her house and picked them up.

  “How’s the honeymoon packing going?” I asked when she answered the door.

  “Well,” she said, breathing a heavy sigh, “It’s pretty hard to pack for a trip when you don’t know where
you’re going!” She laughed. “But, Brian told me to put everything aside that I was thinking of taking, and he would swing by and tell me if there was anything I didn’t need when he gets back.” For Suzy to be letting someone else completely take over and make plans on her behalf it had to be true love.

  “So, where is the groom today?” I asked.

  “He went to Springfield to pick up the rings. Billy and Brad went with him. They were going to go out for an early dinner at some steakhouse he wanted to try before they come back.”

  I followed her into the dining room to pick up the hair accessories.

  “It still seems crazy to me, ya know?” she continued. “I mean, in just two days I’ll be Suzy Bailey.” She shook her head.

  “I know – it is really something! It’s all coming together, though. It’s going to be a beautiful day, Suzy. I couldn’t be happier for anyone.” I hugged her neck.

  “Here you go,” she said, handing me the box with the items to take to the salon.

  Cinderella’s Scissors was a couple of blocks off Main Street on Sycamore. The building had been an older, craftsman style house, and Cinderella “Cindy” Green, a few years behind us in school, had converted the place into a salon several years before. Not only was there a hair salon, but she rented out a couple of the back rooms to other beauty practitioners. A nail technician had one space, and an aesthetician who did facials and waxing had another.

  Although Cindy had to be making a pretty penny renting spaces out to other girls, she still did hair herself as well, perhaps just because she enjoyed it. Walking into the front room of the salon, the space was all pale pink with widely spaced black stripes on the walls. On the wall behind the front desk was a large, white oval framed in black with the Cinderella’s Scissors logo in a fancy script. The entire space had a very girly and French vibe to the décor.

  “Can I help you?” the very young receptionist behind the counter, who had blonde hair that faded into a bright blue color at the tips asked as I walked in.

  “Hi, my name is Emma Hooper. I think Cindy is expecting me,” I said.

  “Sure thing – just a sec,” the girl said, disappearing behind a pair of curtains that partially obscured the room beyond reception. She emerged a moment later. “She’s just finishing with a client, but you can come back and wait if you like,” the girl said, smiling.

  “Thanks,” I replied, walking through the curtains and taking a seat in a plush, cushioned chair that looked a little like a throne. Cindy, a pretty, auburn-haired woman of about twenty-seven, was across from me working on the hair of an older woman who looked a little familiar, but whose name I didn’t know.

  “So, what are you going to do about it?” the woman asked her as Cindy made her way around her, fussing at the tips of her hair with a pair of small scissors.

  “Well, there’s not much I can do,” Cindy replied. “I mean, he never actually proposed, so there isn’t much to do.” Cindy shrugged.

  “How long were you together?” the woman asked.

  “Two years! Can you believe that? Two years and he just dumps me for some little church mouse. Unbelievable!” Cindy was clearly agitated, though I was coming in on the tail end of the conversation and was unsure of the details of what appeared to be her tale of romantic troubles.

  “Well, honey, you can do much better,” a woman in the next chair, who was being worked on by a young, pretty brunette stylist replied.

  “I appreciate that, but I just can’t believe two years of my life are gone down the drain like that, ya know? And I mean, Peter has a great business, and we were going to have such a nice life together. Now here I am, starting my love life over from scratch, and having to fend for myself! And she had the nerve to keep comin’ in my shop after they started up together! I mean, of all the absolute gall! She steals my boyfriend and then keeps comin’ in for weeks like it was nothin’! Pete and I had only been broken up for a few days before they started seein’ each other, from what I hear.” She rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. “I mean, if I even believe that. For all I know, that low-down hussy was seeing him while we were still together!”

  “Well, to be fair, honey, he’s probably the first man who’s ever paid her any attention,” Cindy’s customer chimed in. “I mean, she was in love with that preacher and he wouldn’t give her the time of day.”

  My ears perked up. Preacher? They had to be talking about Preacher Jacob, which could only mean that Cindy was talking about Prudence Huffler! From the conversation I had been able to ascertain that Cindy had been dating someone named Peter who had thrown her over and soon started dating Prudence. They might be talking about Peter Snipes, the mortician who had sent Prudence flowers. P.S.! He might be the person in Prudence’s diary!

  “Okay, hon, I’m gonna let Sara rinse you out. Sara, can you do her wash?” Cindy motioned to a woman who was leaning against an empty hairdressing chair flipping through a hairstyle magazine.

  “Now, I’m so sorry,” Cindy said walking over to me. “I’m Cindy Green. How can I help you?”

  “Hi, Cindy. I’m Emma Hooper, Suzy Colton’s maid of honor. I made the reservation for us for Saturday.” I tucked the box with the hair accessories under my left arm and stuck out my right hand to shake hers.

  “Oh, Emma! So nice to meet you,” she said, shaking my hand with an enthusiastic smile. “I’m so pleased that Suzy chose me to do her hair for her special day!”

  “I brought the hair jewelry we talked about. The headband is for Suzy, and the other two pieces are for Penelope and me,” I said.

  “Oh,” Cindy said taking the box and opening it. “These are absolutely gorgeous! Turn around for me – let me see your hair.”

  I did as she asked and turned around, letting my dark curls drape down my back.

  “Here, come sit in this chair for a minute,” she said.

  I sat down, and Cindy played with my hair for a moment, scooping up handfuls and placing it at different angles. “I think I’ll do a half-updo for you. We can use the combs, and still get the effect of the curls cascading down the back. I’ve known Penelope for ages, and have done her hair before, so for her I’ll do a simple updo. Suzy’s will be back in the band, and down. You all are going to be gorgeous when I’m done with you.” She winked at me.

  “And the makeup artist will be here?” I confirmed.

  “Yes, I have her booked. You’re all set,” she replied.

  “That’s great. I’ll leave these with you, then.” I handed her the box and smiled. I wondered how I could broach the subject of Prudence and Peter, and knew I’d have to do so carefully. “Listen, I don’t mean to be nosy.” I gingerly touched my fingertips to the girl’s arm, mustering my most sympathetic face. “But I heard you talking about your man. I had something similar happen a few years ago. Did you know the other woman too?”

  It was completely fabricated, of course, but if I was going to get her to open up to me, I had to win her trust, and thought nothing would work faster than commiserating over a shared experience.

  “I’m sad to say I do!” She shook her head. “I was friends with her – for years! Then before I knew what even happened, Peter was breakin’ up with me, and datin’ her!” She pursed her lips and crossed her arms in front of her. “So a word of warnin’, hon, if you have a man you wanna keep, make sure he stays away from Prudence Huffler!”

  “Wow,” I said, feigning surprise. “I wouldn’t have thought she was capable of something like that.”

  “Well, she came in here to get her hair done for years – since I first opened my shop! Now, though? I wouldn’t spit on that cow if she were on fire!” Cindy said.

  I had to find out if she realized what had happened to Prudence. If she didn’t seem surprised, she might very well have been the person to hurt her. After all, there had been two dinner plates on the drying rack in Prudence’s kitchen when I was there. She had clearly had someone at her house that she knew well and was comfortable enough to sit and eat with right
before she became ill. That didn’t mean, though, I supposed, that the killer couldn’t have sabotaged her food or drink earlier in the evening.

  “That’s terrible, Cindy. I’m so sorry to hear it! But, you know she’s in the hospital, right? In a coma from what I hear. They aren’t even sure she’s going to make it,” I said, watching her reaction carefully.

  “Whatever it was that got her there, I’m sure she deserved it!” Cindy said. “Hateful shrew! Hmpf!” She certainly wasn’t surprised, but her expression wasn’t smug, either. If she had been the one to hurt Prudence, she was definitely keeping her cool.

  Chapter 12

  I left Cindy’s more confused than ever. When I had first talked to Pastor Danny, he had mentioned the professional feud that Prudence had with Ambrose Snodgrass, the piano tuner. They had both wanted the job of Music Director at the church. Ambrose seemed like a kindly, sweet man from what I could tell. Prudence’s notes about his ambition for the job were in stark contrast to his outward appearance. Still, if he had been eking out a meager living as a piano tuner, the idea of the prestige and steady pay that came with the Music Director role might motivate him to do anything to get the job, I supposed.

  After talking to Cindy, I had to wonder if she could have been angry enough to hurt Prudence. It sounded like Peter had a little money, based on her comments about him having a strong business. She had dated him for two years, so clearly, she felt something for him, and the idea of losing a man with a secure financial future may have compounded her pain. Could she have been angry enough to hurt Prudence, though? I wasn’t sure, but I had watched enough crime shows to know that poison was thought of as a female murderer’s weapon. It was clean, and could be administered with little intimate contact, after all.