Murder in the Moonlight (A Murder Posse Mystery Book 1) Read online

  MURDER IN THE MOONLIGHT

  A MURDER POSSE MYSTERY NOVELLA

  J. A. WHITING

  Copyright 2022 J.A. Whiting Books and Whitemark Publishing

  Cover copyright 2021 San Coils: www.coverkicks.com

  Formatting by Signifer Book Design

  Proofreading by Donna Rich: [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.

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  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Thank you for reading!

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  1

  Jennifer Meadows, Peggy Hunter, and Nadine Powers left the restaurant after having dinner together and headed down the brick sidewalks along Main Street in the pretty New Hampshire seacoast town.

  “Look at the moon.” Nadine stared up at the sky. “It’s so bright tonight.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Peggy agreed. “It will be a full moon on Halloween.”

  “I wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.” Jennifer grinned, pulling her light jacket around herself. The cool breeze off the ocean made it feel colder than it actually was.

  Peggy pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket and slipped them on. “My hands are freezing.”

  The three women had been close friends for the past five years since meeting at the mystery book club at the town library. Quite a lot had happened in those five years and the women had been grateful for the support they’d been able to give one another as they each managed unfortunate life events.

  Peggy’s husband had passed away from a sudden heart attack, Jennifer’s husband took off with a younger woman, and Nadine and her husband went through a divorce. It was amicable, but still. All three were professional women with grown children who were on their own. None of them had been used to living in their homes alone, but they’d managed and adjusted.

  Heading down to the big field near the harbor to help build and set-up the booths for the town Halloween celebration, the friends chattered away about their days. The annual Halloween festivities were a huge deal and the town did it up big with games, food trucks, hayrides, a haunted house, a band playing on the bandstand, craft vendors selling their wares, and fireworks to finish off the night.

  In addition to being mystery lovers, the women also spent time on amateur sleuthing websites doing research and contributing to the investigations into cold cases. They’d been able to uncover information that led to the solving of at least two of those cases. The middle-aged women had even helped the head librarian one night when she was attacked by a killer in the town library and their dramatic rescue of the young woman had earned them the name, The Murder Posse … which they whole-heartedly embraced.

  A real estate agent, Jennifer was fifty-four-years old, short and stocky, and had chin-length dark blond hair. She loved weight training and working out and had even run the Boston Marathon once, and right after crossing the finish line, she told her friends never to allow her to do such a thing again. She had three kids, one a doctor, one a teacher, and one a lawyer.

  “I hope the chairperson is organized this year,” Jen said. “Remember how last year we spent most of the first night at the bandstand standing around doing nothing? That drives me crazy.”

  “Ben Holden is chairing the event this year,” Peggy told them. “I don’t know him well, but I’ve heard he’s very organized and has things under control.” Sixty years old, Peggy was slim from having taken up running after her husband passed away. She said the exercise had prevented her from losing her mind and she’d kept it up. She’d been an educational consultant for thirty years, but retired from the job after her husband died and fulfilled a life-long dream of buying and running a bakery. Peggy had light brown hair that was cut shorter and stylishly around her face. She had two daughters, one a dentist and one who owned a business.

  “I know who Ben Holden is,” Nadine said. “He can be a pain in the butt.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He owns a financial firm and he has a hard time delegating. He’s on a bunch of town committees and always seems overwhelmed and cranky.”

  “Great,” Peggy kidded. “This will be fun.”

  Forty-eight-year-old Nadine shook her head. “If he can’t handle the volunteer committee, then we’ll take matters into our own hands.” Of Indian, African, and Irish descent, Nadine was a beauty. She had a medium build, perfect caramel-colored skin, and long dark brown hair. Smart as a whip, she had earned a degree from MIT and ran her own cybersecurity company. She was the mother of twins … a boy and a girl who were away at college in Boston for their freshman year.

  As they approached the field, they saw the volunteers milling about the bandstand and walked over to join the large group.

  “I don’t know why, but I feel a little uneasy tonight,” Nadine shared with her friends.

  “What’s the matter?” Peggy asked. “Is everything okay with the kids?”

  “Yeah, the kids are fine. I’m just feeling a little anxious.”

  Jen eyed Nadine. “Can you be more specific?”

  With a shrug, Nadine said, “No, I can’t. It’s a vague feeling of worry. I’m really busy at work and I have a lot of deadlines so maybe it’s just the work stress.”

  The lights on the bandstand were lit up and they spread a golden glow over the people assembled there.

  Ben Holden stood on the bandstand giving instructions. He asked everyone to join their preferred group and directed them to different sections of the lawn. “Those who want to help plan the layout of the booths, etc. should congregate behind the bandstand with Joan Walters. Whoever wants to build the booths, head over to the left with Jonas Long, and people who want to organize the volunteers for Halloween night, please join Darlene Waters on the right side of the field.”

  The three friends walked over to join the builders. They’d helped put together the booths for the past four years and knew the ins and outs of the construction process.

  Soon they were swinging hammers as they worked on the first booth together. Temporary light poles had been set up around the work area to help them see what they were doing in the darkness. The women chatted with the teams on either side of them, helping one another when something didn’t go right. Energetic music blared from the bandstand’s speakers giving the evening a festive air.

  Two people came around with coffee and donuts and everyone was happy to get a hot beverage to warm them up from the chilly air.

  Suddenly, a high-pitched scream came from the small lot where some of the volunteers had parked their cars and everyone stopped what they were doing and stood stock still.

  Peggy stared toward the lot f
or a moment, then she shook herself and made eye contact with her friends. “Let’s go.”

  The three women took off running.

  Most of the volunteers stayed where they were either from surprise or being unsure of what to do, but a few people hurried in the direction of the lot.

  The cool breeze carried a woman’s loud wailing on the air.

  Jen reached the parking area before her friends and saw the woman standing beside a car crying and carrying on, her hand pressed tightly against her chest.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Jen approached slowly so as not to further frighten the woman.

  With wild eyes, Darlene Waters turned to Jen, then pointed to the ground between two parked vehicles. She groaned and covered her face with her hand. “He’s … he’s—” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

  Jen stepped closer and her breath caught in her throat.

  Ben Holden lay on his back in the gravel lot. Blood covered his neck and jacket.

  Before Jen could make a move, Peggy and Nadine arrived, hurrying over to where Jen and Darlene were standing.

  “Oh, no.” Nadine rushed to the man on the ground and felt for a pulse. She left her fingers on the man’s wrist and looked up. “I don’t feel anything. I think he’s dead.”

  While Peggy pulled out her phone and made the emergency call, Jen knelt and pushed away the sides of Ben Holden’s jacket to look for the injury. “It looks like stab wounds.” She took off her fleece jacket, balled it up, and pressed it against the wounds as best she could.

  Other people huddled close. Some asked questions while others took one look, gasped, and turned away.

  A man named Jim Lantern questioned the crying woman. “Did you see anyone? Did you notice anyone running away?”

  Darlene shook her head, tears still streaming down her face. She didn’t seem to be able to move her eyes from the body on the ground.

  “Did you just get here?” someone else asked the woman. “Did you get out of your car and find him?”

  “What? No,” Darlene replied. “I was in the field. I was….” She waved her hand in the direction of the bandstand. “I came to my car to get something. And … and I found him. Like this.” Another wave of sobbing began.

  Jen kept her jacket pressed against Ben’s chest just in case he was still alive. It seemed like an eternity before the police car tore into the lot, and with a jerk, came to a halt.

  Two officers ran to the injured man just as an ambulance roared into the parking area.

  In a few moments, Nadine and Jen stood and stepped back from the body so the emergency personnel could handle the situation. The police asked everyone standing around to meet at the bandstand for questioning.

  One of the officers said in a loud voice, “No one is to leave. We’ll need statements from all of you.”

  Before stepping over to speak to the officer, Jen looked at her friends, held out her arm, and opened her hand to show them what she was holding.

  “A ring?” Nadine’s eyes widened.

  Peggy leaned forward to get a better look at the piece of jewelry. “An expensive one from the looks of it.”

  “It was in Ben’s hand.” An expression of worry showed on Jen’s face.

  “I knew something bad was going to happen tonight.” Nadine glanced up at the almost full moon. “I had a very bad feeling when we were on our way here.”

  Peggy said quietly, “After we’re done with the police, let’s all go back to my house. We need to talk.”

  2

  When they’d finished with the police, the friends went to Peggy’s house where it was set on a side lane off of the main street. The house was a white Cape with a white picket fence around the front yard. Yellow and orange mums bloomed in the flower beds and pumpkins and potted chrysanthemums lined the front steps.

  When they went inside, Peggy’s black cats, Cupcake and Cookie, darted into the foyer to greet the women. Peggy put the coffee on and quickly pulled together some nachos that she placed on the coffee table after removing them from the oven. The cheese bubbled. They looked delicious. She made a fire in the fireplace and the living room grew warm and cozy.

  Nadine asked for some wine and Peggy brought a glass over to her. When they were settled on the sofas, the cats took turns snuggling with the women.

  Peggy asked Nadine, “You felt anxious when we were approaching the field. Did you have any other feelings about what was going to happen?”

  Nadine shook her head. “Only the anxiety. I wanted to attribute it to work stress, but deep down, I knew it was something else.”

  During the time when the women had each suffered a life-changing event, they leaned on one another for support and their friendship became stronger, and then they noticed something else that seemed to be developing.

  Not only did their intuition seem to be sharper, but other strange things began to happen.

  Sometimes, one would know that one of the others was upset or had a flat tire or missed a dental appointment. Then they began to get flashes of insight into one of the cold cases they were assisting with online. They knew the town librarian was in jeopardy even though no one had suggested such a thing … they just knew deep down in their bones that the young woman was in mortal danger and that she would die if they didn’t rush to her aid. And when they arrived there, the women were so full of fury that the man was planning to murder the librarian that using only the power of their minds, they sent books flying off the shelves to pummel the attacker.

  The three friends were baffled by their increasing abilities, but they kept the new skills to themselves and didn’t mention what was going on with them to anyone else.

  Peggy had speculated, “The experience of going through an emotional upheaval in our lives must have awakened our paranormal capabilities and brought them to the surface. Maybe being around each other as our skills emerged worked to heighten what we could do.”

  “If we told people what we’re experiencing,” Jen had said, “they’d probably lock us up.”

  “We’ll keep this between ourselves,” Nadine suggested when it had started. “At least for the time being.” The time being had turned into a year.

  They hadn’t known what to make of the surprising skills and were still coming to terms with their newfound prowess, but at least now, none of them thought they were losing their minds. Mostly.

  “So tonight went well.” Jen rolled her eyes and started the conversation while reaching for a plate and filling it with nachos.

  “Even though I felt anxious this evening, I sure didn’t expect to find a dead body.” Nadine licked some melted cheese from her fingertip.

  “What in the world happened?” Peggy asked. “Ben Holden was walking around the bandstand talking to the groups working on their assigned tasks. Did someone see him head to the lot? Why did he leave the bandstand and walk over to the parking area?”

  The cats sat up and listened to the women.

  “Here are a couple of other questions,” Jen said. “Was the attack random? And if it wasn’t random, how did the killer know Ben would even go into the parking section?”

  “What about the woman who found him?” Nadine lifted her wine glass to her mouth.

  “What about her?” Peggy asked as she stroked Cupcake’s soft fur.

  “Did she kill Ben? Or was it a coincidence that she was in the same part of the lot when the attacker struck?” Nadine questioned.

  “It could have been premeditated,” Jen suggested. “Who walks around with a knife? I think it had to be planned.”

  “And what was the motive?” Peggy sipped from her coffee mug.

  “And why did Ben have that ring in his hand?” Nadine added an additional question to the discussion.

  The ring had since been turned over to the police.

  “There’s quite a lot to consider.” Peggy leaned back against the sofa. “The woman who was in the lot sobbing ... what’s her name? I know Ben introduced her when he was organizing all of us around the
bandstand, but I don’t remember it.”

  Jen said, “She’s Darlene Waters. I’ve seen her around town.”

  “Did either of you sense anything foreboding when we were at the field?” Peggy took a bite of a nacho.

  “Not me,” Jen reported. “Everything happened so fast. When the woman screamed, my heart was beating like a drum. I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the man on the ground … and all the blood.”

  Cookie growled.

  “Like I said, I did feel anxious when we were on our way to the field.” Nadine looked tense recalling the incident. “When I heard the scream, adrenaline raced through my body. I was only focused on helping the man. My mind went into hyperdrive or something. Everything around me faded into the background.”

  “It was the same for me.” Peggy sighed. “I didn’t even think to glance around to see if someone was running away. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  “Do you think there’s any … energy left behind?” Jen asked her friends. “Maybe we should go back to the field and walk around. Go stand in the lot. See if we can feel something.”

  “You mean now?” Nadine looked horrified.

  Jen nodded.

  “The police are probably still there processing the scene,” Peggy guessed. “They’ll wonder why we came back and we won’t have a good answer for them.”

  “How about tomorrow morning?” Jen suggested. “We could go early, before work.”

  “What do you think we’re going to feel?” Nadine questioned, her left eyebrow raised.

  “Lately, I’ve been reading about psychics and paranormal stuff. I’m trying to understand what’s happening with us,” Jen explained. “I’d like to know what we might be able to do.”