A Room For Murder (A Cozy Mystery)

Chapter 1

“Excuse me … do you know where I might find books on local ghost stories?”

I looked up from the murder mystery I was contemplating buying to discover a Robert Redford lookalike smiling at me. In fact, he looked so much like Redford, I had to blink several times to make sure the famous actor himself didn’t just happen to stroll into a random bookstore in Redemption, Wisconsin.

“Um, the books by local authors are over there,” I said, pointed in the general direction. “Although I don’t actually work here.”

His smile became sheepish, which made him even more appealing. “Yeah, I figured you didn’t. But I can’t seem to find anyone who DOES work here, and you seemed like you might know your way around the store, so …” he tilted his head and shrugged.

He had a point. The employees at Quoth the Raven, the new and used bookstore we were currently shopping in, weren’t around a lot. I suspected it was because they hired a lot of high school students who seemed to wander away from their posts more often than not. It didn’t matter so much for me, unless I wanted to pay for something, but I could see how frustrating it would be to visitors or tourists, which this man appeared to be.

I tucked the book under my arm and smiled at him. “Come on. I can show you the section.”

His expression was relieved. “Oh, thank you. I appreciate the help, although I didn’t mean to disturb your shopping.”

“No problem. I was pretty much done anyway,” I said as I led him down one of the aisles.

“I’m Julian, by the way,” he volunteered.

So, definitely not Robert, unless Julian was his incognito name. “Charlie,” I said. “Local ghost stories, huh? Any particular one you’re interested in?”

I was expecting him to mention my house, as it was supposedly the most haunted house in Redemption. And that’s saying something, as Redemption was known as a haunted town. But the man surprised me. “Yes. The ghost at the Redemption Inn.”

I looked at him in surprise. “The Redemption Inn?” I had stayed at the Redemption Inn for a couple of months when I first moved to town, and I didn’t remember anything about a ghost.

“Yeah, her name is … Deborah? Diane?” He furrowed his brow. “I can’t remember. It’s not a real common name.”

“Have you seen this ghost?” I asked, half-jokingly, but his expression was serious.

“I’ve had a few…encounters.” He seemed hesitant to say more, and instead shot me that sheepish smile again. “I guess she only reveals herself to men.”

“Really?” A ghost that only showed itself to men. Maybe that was why I hadn’t seen her when I was living there. “Why is that?”

“I’m not sure. That’s why I was hoping to find a book about her.”

“What did Nancy say?” Nancy, the owner of the Redemption Inn, was also a friend of mine.

“Just that she liked men.” He let out a laugh. “Now, granted, she was in the middle of getting breakfast out, but I thought rather than bug her further, I would see if I could do my own research.”

“So, you’ve actually seen this ghost?” I asked again.

“Let’s just say I’ve seen something,” he said with a smile, though I sensed the conversation was making him uncomfortable. “Something strange is going on in that hotel.”

As much as I wanted to ask more questions, it was clear he didn’t want to talk about it. “Well, here’s the section,” I said lightly, gesturing to a shelf of books. “As you can see, there are a lot of books about all the various Redemption ghosts. I’m not sure if there are any specifically about the Redemption Inn ghost, though.”

He examined the titles, pulling one out. “That’s okay. It might be kind of fun to learn about all the ghosts living here.” He winked at me. “Maybe I’ll even go for a ghost walk. Or tour.”

Was he flirting with me? I couldn’t be sure, although it didn’t matter anyway. I had sworn off men. Two failed relationships were more than enough for me.

“Julian! There you are.” A woman who was once pretty but not aging well came around the corner. Her chestnut-brown hair curled around her face, looking suspiciously like the results of a perm, and her dark-brown eyes were heavily made up. She stopped dead when she saw me, her eyes shifting between Julian and me. “I didn’t realize you found a friend.”

“Nina, this is Charlie,” Julian said, holding up the book. He seemed nonplussed at Nina’s reaction. “She helped me find a book on local ghost legends.”

She came closer to peer at the cover, a sour look on her face that she tried to hide with a forced smile. “Oh, so we’re finally going to learn Darla’s story.”

Julian snapped his fingers. “Darla. That’s her name.” He grinned at me. “I told you it was uncommon.”

“You did,” I said, feeling a little uncomfortable as I took a step back. Nina’s eyes seemed to be boring into the back of my head, and the adage, “If looks could kill” kept drifting through my head. “I should probably get going,” I said, holding up my book. “I hope you get your answers.”

“So do we,” Nina said. She had moved closer to Julian and put one hand on his arm.

“You have no idea,” Julian said. “Nancy keeps insisting that Darla is harmless, and maybe she is, but boy is it irritating. If nothing else, I need a decent night’s sleep.”

“Wow, I had no idea.” Again, I wondered how I had heard nothing about Darla. I was going to have to ask Nancy about her, for sure.

“Yeah, Darla is quite the mischievous ghost,” Nina said, patting Julian’s arm. “And she has excellent taste.”

Julian flashed her a quick smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he took a few steps away from her. “You might not say that if she was haunting you,” he said lightly.

There was a strange tension in the air as Nina stared at him, her expression frozen. I hadn’t quite figured out if they were dating or married, but either way, something seemed off with them.

“I better go,” I said, walking away quickly. “Enjoy your stay in Redemption.”

I barely heard their answer as I strode toward the cashier. At least I had one thing to be grateful for—since they were tourists, it was highly unlikely I would see them again.