Mr Wilmott Gets Old School Page 18

  “I wouldn’t worry, love,” Michael called from the window. “You think the gossip in a small town is bad, you don’t want to see what they get up to in here.” He rolled his eyes. “The rumours I’ve heard!”

  Thinking there was no time like the present, Emily escaped the room, Maude’s sad and hungry eyes following her. She walked through the centre of the retirement complex and past the nurse’s station where two women she’d never seen before were on duty.

  Gladys stood by the window and gestured for Emily to come and join her. When she gazed out through the glass, the lingering mist of light from Mr Wilmott’s exit was still floating near the side of the building.

  “I always said he’d meet up with her again, one day,” she said to Emily, taking her hand and squeezing it between both of hers. “He always shook his head, thinking he’d lost his chance, but I knew I was right.”

  “You were.” Emily stared across the grounds towards the oak tree. “I wonder if they’ll take that thing down, now.”

  “I dare say it’s already had its full of schoolboys,” Gladys said in a voice losing its tenuous hold on the present. “Grab the axe and chop it down. The headmaster should’ve kept going when he had the chance.”

  “If you’re a visitor, I hope you’ve signed in at reception,” a stern voice said from behind them.

  Emily jumped and turned, a thousand excuses ready on her lips. Then she saw who it was and relaxed. “Rebecca. I didn’t think I’d see you in here again.”

  “I’m not here in my official capacity,” the woman said, pulling up her trouser leg to reveal a monitoring bracelet with a steady red light. “But my community service overseer was kind enough to let this be one of the places I serve out my sentence.”

  Emily was taken aback. “I didn’t realise you’d already gone through the court system.”

  Rebecca laughed at her surprise. “Everything’s quicker when you plead guilty and agree to give evidence against those who don’t have the good sense to. I was held inside for a couple of nights, then fitted with this wee fella”—she flashed her ankle again—“and given a list of places I could serve my time.”

  “What good luck.” Emily shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “For you and for the residents here.”

  “It’s nice to be back here,” she agreed. “Except I keep getting asked for medication.”

  “I’ve got something for the people on this ward,” Emily said, opening up her bulging handbag and pulling out a stack of games. “These belonged to my parents and they just about played them ragged when I was younger. I hoped the residents here might find some use for them.”

  Rebecca took the boxes, sorting through the different titles with an occasional nostalgic sigh. “I’m sure they’ll love them. I’ll set a few of them up in the common room and see who takes a fancy.”

  Gladys followed Rebecca through into the room, clapping her hands in time to her steps. As Emily wound her way back through the corridors, she felt more confident about the thought of coming here in the future.

  Stoneybrook Acres would do her well enough.

  As she walked out through reception, Emily nodded goodbye to the young woman on duty, who looked flustered enough for it to be her first day.

  Halfway to the car, Michael caught up with her. “I didn’t want you to go without properly thanking you,” he said, rubbing a hand up the back of his neck. “That day up the tree, I was half-crazy. If you hadn’t talked me down…”

  “I hope you would’ve seen sense either way.” Emily folded her arms across her chest, feeling as though she was made of elbows and knees. “There’s a lot of people around here would’ve missed you.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” He paused for a second, then beamed his usual broad smile. “I’m glad to be sorted, with everyone calling me by my proper name. Another few months of that, and I swear I’d have forgotten who I was for real.”

  “I’m glad they’re not pressing charges.”

  “Oh, they still might.” Michael scrunched up his nose and scratched behind his ear. “I’m not sure what, exactly, but Sergeant Winchester warned me not to leave town.”

  “You mean, my boyfriend?”

  He burst into laughter and gave her a slap on the back. “Well, I hope not. Either way, come back soon, yeah? There’re not many folks in here who can keep up with me if you know what I mean.”

  Emily didn’t, but she was also too shy to ask. As she waved goodbye, her gaze travelled over the rough patches on the lawn, small green shoots beginning to sprout up already.

  Life kept trucking on, no matter what got thrown at it.

  “Get a move on,” she warned herself, turning the key and putting the car in reverse. “You’ll be here for good soon enough. Time to get out and live it up while you can.”

  THANKS FOR READING!

  If you’d like to join Emily Curtis and Peanut the ghost cat for another mystery adventure, then please check out the next book in the Charity Shop Haunted Mystery series – Miss Hawthorne Sits for a Spell

  The ghost of a witch meets a witch of a ghost!

  While attending a charity auction, ghost-seer Emily Curtis can't resist purchasing an old puzzle box. She gets more than she bargained for when she finds the ghost of a witch attached.

  Miss Hawthorne died in a sudden accident a year ago, so there's no murderer to catch. Instead, her sister's spirit must be released from the puzzle box, which the ghost caught her inside before her death. If she remains trapped at the one-year mark, she'll die.

  If only a burglar hadn't stolen the book containing the release spell, the task would be easy. But with a petty crime that old, it will take all of their wits to find the culprit and retrieve the magic spell before time runs out.

  Also by Katherine Hayton

  Miss Hawthorne Sits for a Spell (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  Mr Wilmott Gets Old School (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  Mrs Pettigrew Sees a Ghost (Charity Shop Haunted Mystery)

  A Guest Who Checked Out (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  A Bed for Suite Dreams (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  A Stay With Reservations (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  A Job of Inn Dependence (A Hotel Inspector Cozy Mystery)

  The Double Dip (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  The Honey Trap (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  The Buzz Kill (Honeybee Cozy Mystery)

  Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries – Books 1-6

  Hibiscus Homicide (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Keeping Mums (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Orange Juiced (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Deathbed of Roses (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Berry Murderous (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  Pushing Up Daisies (Tea Shop Cozy Mystery)

  The Sweet Baked Mysteries - Books 1-6

  Cinnamon and Sinfulness (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Raspberries and Retaliation (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Pumpkin Spice & Poisoning (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Blueberries and Bereavement (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Strawberries and Suffering (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Cupcakes and Conspiracies (Sweet Baked Mystery)

  Food Bowl Mysteries Books 1-3

  You’re Kitten Me (Food Bowl Mystery)

  Cat Red-Handed (Food Bowl Mystery)

  An Impawsible Situation (Food Bowl Mystery)

  The Only Secret Left to Keep (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  The Second Stage of Grief (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton (Detective Ngaire Blakes)

  Christchurch Crime Thriller Boxset

  Breathe and Release (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  Skeletal (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  Found, Near Water (A Christchurch Crime Thriller)

  About the Author

  Katherine Hayton is a middle-aged woman who works in insurance, doesn't have children or pets, can't drive, has lived in Christchurch her entire life
, and currently resides a two-minute walk from where she was born.

  For some reason, she's developed a rich fantasy life.

  www.katherinehayton.com