Kat glanced around the bedroom sighing as she pulled aside one of the draped sheets that hung over the mirror. Neon pink wasn’t the typical colour used to cover mirrors after a death, but it served just the same. Aunt Penny had wanted to honour the Irish tradition of covering mirrors until after the funeral.
Which in itself was a bit strange since neither Uncle Carl nor Aunt Penny were Irish. Kat stood back and noticed other anomalies in the room: the far dresser was also covered in a sheet, and the handmade quilted bedspread was concealed by several large towels. Neon pink again. Even in the midst of despair, Aunt Penny had an eye for colour matching.
Kat turned back to her task and removed the sheet from the mirror and gasped. The glass was covered in red lipstick, stark words on the reflective surface. “Pay now, or else!”.
Shocked, Kat turned to bed and removed the towels. The same lipstick had grossly marred the beautiful hand stitching of the quilt: “Pay or Die!” Kat turned to the highboy dresser and yanked the sheet. Again, blood-red lipstick: “NOW!”
“What are you doing?” Kat whirled towards Penny, who now stood, chest heaving and gulping air, in the open doorway. “I told you to stay out of the bedroom!”
“Who is threatening you, Penny? Who did this?” Kat walked towards the older woman, and gently led her towards the living room chesterfield. Penny collapsed on the couch and grabbed a pillow, sobbing as she rocked back and forth.
“Oh no, oh no, they’re going to go after you now too. They’ll want to hurt you Katherine, just like they’ve taken poor Carl from me.”
The older woman grabbed one of Kat’s hands. “You’ve got to leave Kat. Get out of here right away. I’ve got money. I can pay for a flight.”
Kat pulled Penny’s face up and squeezed her hand. “I’m not going anywhere Penny. Tell me what’s going on.”
“It was almost 5 years ago; you remember when all the stores on Main St went in together for the new façade? And the town got the fancy new fountain at City Hall?” Kat nodded. The new fountain was particularly interesting because it used advanced cooling machineries to freeze water into a multifaceted giant icicle over the winter months. The town had also bought technology to project coloured lights over the icicle, creating a unique Christmas tree. After the festive season, the coloured projection was replaced with clear lights that shone on the ice sculpture, making the frozen waterfall a highlight of the downtown core. Middle Cove had always been a popular summer tourist destination and the revitalization of the downtown core had started to draw a winter group of visitors.
“Well, where do you think we got the money for all that fancy upgrading?” Aunt Penny was starting to calm down, and her usual acerbic tone was creeping back into her voice.
“It seemed simple enough to those old fools. Ben Carlisle, remember him?” asked Penny. Kat nodded, remembering the salesman who had explained the ice fountain technology to the council members. “He met individually with each of the stores on the main street before that town hall meeting where he described the ice sculpture fountain. He told us that he could add cooling technologies to our front window frames, and allow each of us to program our own Christmas light shows. He said not to worry about the cost, that our support of his idea was all that he wanted.”
Kat stilled, brow furrowed in thought. Wasn’t that akin to taking a bribe in exchange for a favourable vote? She remembered the night the motion was passed on the unanimous recommendation of the Business Improvement Committee.
Harper had been sleeping by the fireplace but she sensed Kat’s unease and woke up. “Woof!” Harper nudged Kat’s knee “Candy Lady smells afraid, what’s going on?” Kat rubbed her puppy’s head while nodding to Penny to continue.
“We all thought it was a great idea: we could coordinate decoration themes and really draw the tourists to town. And we did! The town of Middle Cove became popular because of that fountain and our spectacular windows! We helped the whole town Kat, we did it because we cared!”
Penny stopped fussing with the fringe on the pillow she held on her lap and glared at Kat. “This town made it on the map because of us!” Kat watched Penny’s defensive posture slump as she sighed and kept talking. “Almost a year ago Ben came back and met with all the downtown store owners. He told us what we’d done back then was illegal. That he was going to out us to the council. Well, Carl stood up to him! Said he’d never bow down to blackmail and he was going to go right over to the council himself and fess up to what had happened.”
Penny’s shoulders shook as she gulped back tears. Harper whined and pressed herself against Penny’s legs. “Sad Candy Lady, I helps with hugs!” Harper jumped up on the couch and curled into a ball, resting her head on Penny’s pillow. Kat bit back a smile as Penny, usually so grouchy with any animal, bent down and snuggled the puppy closer to herself.
Kat opened her mouth to speak just as Penny looked up. “Wait. Before you say anything, you need to hear it all.”
“You remember the flood that happened at Candy and Comfort almost a year ago?” Kat nodded. A water main had broken and the store’s floor was flooded. Uncle Carl had salvaged the tea and candy by sloshing through the mess and pulling all the canisters to the safety of the high shelves in the back storage room. The store had been closed for 2 weeks, while the floors dried out and the walls had been repainted.
“That was Ben’s doing! Bad Ben. That’s when we came up with the nickname. There was no broken pipe! Carl was always good about keeping up with maintenance and repairs. Nothing like that could have happened under his watch!”
Penny was getting agitated now, and Harper jumped off the couch and returned to the carpet by the fireplace. Spittle sprayed as Penny almost howled the next words: “Ben used his fancy cooling technology to flood our store!” Tears ran down her face. “Then he said Carl needed extra punishment and ordered him to put this poison in his coffee once a day, every morning, for 6 months. He said Carl needed to feel real remorse by feeling sick for half a year! If Carl didn’t do it, all the other stores would get flooded too. And Ben said it wouldn’t be a small stream like what he let loose at Candy and Comfort. He said he’d drown the places!”
Penny leapt to her feet, and rushed Kat. “You’ve got to help us Katherine. I have no idea how, but you’ve got to stop Bad Ben!”
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