Braxton Campus Mysteries Collection - Books 1-4

Chapter 5-1

“Maybe your old man snapped his lid and killed that mischievous woman?” Nana D said as I scooped a forkful of cherry pie between my drooling lips. Given the cops had kept me on campus until two in the morning, I"d gotten minimal sleep. I was surprised to make it to Danby Landing on time.

“My father, Braxton"s presidential killer! Wharton County News at eleven,” I spat out between bites with a boisterous chuckle. Nana D"s had it in for my father for as long as I can remember, but she"s equally free with the barbs against my mother, her own daughter. “You"re not supposed to know it was murder. I don"t think Sheriff Montague wants that released.”

“Listen here! I"ve got my finger on the pulse of this town. I knew before you it was murder,” taunted my five-foot-tall nana while dropping another piece of pie on my plate. “Eat up.”

you“How"s that possible?” Was she about to tell me she was psychic like Eleanor? All we needed was two of them in the family. Maybe they could get their own show like the Long Island Medium.

Long Island Medium“I"ve got my ways. All part of my master plan. Keep up on the news, stay connected to hear all the gossip, and find out what"s happening around town.” Nana D slurped her coffee while fastening her nearly three-foot-long braid to the top of her head. She waffled between wearing her red tresses loose and tying them in a braid around the crown of her noggin—as she called it—depending on her activities for the day. It had to be dyed, but Eleanor"s best guess was a henna rinse.

“Why did you call her a mischievous woman?” I recalled the conversation I"d overheard about a student"s grades when Abby had been inches away from me the previous night.

mischievous woman“I never much cared for that tart. Sneaky type. Hassled with me over the price of a bushel of apples. I"m certain she filled her pockets with three extra grannies at the farmer"s market last weekend.”

“What else can you tell me about her?” I asked after updating Nana D on my reasons for trying to meet the late professor. “Anything bad enough for someone to want to murder her?”

Nana D loved her gossip and gave as good as she got when unearthing everyone"s secrets. I didn"t know how she did it or whom she bribed, but if there were information to be found, Nana D was the first in line. She"s like the Mata Hari of the Americas, and I was even certain she knew the dance. Nana D had pushed her boundaries ever since my mother pressured her into semi-retirement from running Danby Landing on her own. In its heyday, the farm was the most productive, income-generating business in the entire county, but as the industry changed and the maintenance costs doubled, she sold off parts to a real estate company who built Willow Trees, a senior citizen"s residential complex. With the new freedom, she"d taken on the role of community watchdog, ensuring she kept everyone in line. I swear she carried a stun g*n just to watch people dance for her own pleasure sometimes.

“Murder"s a funny thing, Kellan. Sometimes it"s premeditated, but there"s also the spur-of-the-moment killing when you can"t control your emotions. I thought about murdering Grandpop a few times. Run him down with the tractor or stab him with the pitchfork while baling hay. Always too much of a mess to clean up, so I let him live.” She snatched a piece of crust off the pie and dipped it into the cherry filling. “Mmm, I"ve surpassed myself again.”

She"d never really thought about killing Grandpop. They"d been sweethearts since they"d fallen in love at thirteen at a drive-in movie theater. “That was kind of you not to kill him. I"d have missed spending all those summers with Grandpop if you offed him before he died of that heart attack.”

“I miss that delicious man every day. The things he could do to my body just by winking at me. Did I ever tell you about the time he—”

“Stop, Nana D. I don"t want to hear about it.” I dropped my fork and covered my ears before they bled uncontrollably. “What about Abby?”

“That"s what"s wrong with you kids today… always so politically correct and sensitive about making love. Lost your emotions.” Nana D washed our plates in the corner sink of her quaint kitchen.

“Focus, Nana D. I"m curious what you know about Abby or who might want her dead.”

Nana D wrinkled her nose and squinted her eyes. “She was the type to piss off the dangerous people in this world by asking too many questions. Someone pushed her down the stairs to shut her up.”

“I don"t know how you know these things, but I trust your instincts,” I consented, then grabbed a dish towel and began drying.

I filled her in on the events at the party before stumbling across Abby Monroe in the stairwell. Nana D planned to start a petition to have the councilman removed from office because of his sweaty hands. She"d try anything to get Marcus Stanton out of office ever since he"d served her with a summons for improper waste removal at the farm. Nana D might have dumped a bucket filled with manure from her tractor"s front-loader over the fence into his backyard last year, claiming the machine had malfunctioned. Unfortunately, it occurred during his family"s Labor Day barbecue, and they"d been standing on the other side of the fence when it happened. I"m still unsure how or why their war ever started. “I"ve got to head downtown to the Wharton County Sheriff"s Office to sign some statements. What are your plans today, Nana D? Harassing Councilman Stanton? Prank calling Ms. Paddington again?”

Nana D stuck out her tongue and made childish noises. “Didn"t I tell you I started teaching music lessons again? Gotta fetch my old clarinet before she gets here.” Nana D wrapped foil around the pie and placed it on the shelf in the refrigerator. “Keeps me young spending time with the college kids.”

“Really? No, you hadn"t mentioned it. I was thinking about teaching Emma to play the clarinet. She loves music and seems agile with her fingers. Maybe she"ll follow in your footsteps.”

“Well, you never could play worth a darn, could ya?” Nana D slapped my cheek until it hurt. “Talent might have skipped a few generations, but you sure got Grandpop"s good looks. You probably drive all the girls crazy too.” Nana D and Grandpop used to hold concerts at Danby Landing, entertaining the visitors and employees each weekend. Grandpop played the piano and guitar while Nana D sang and played the clarinet. She"d given it all up when he died, informing everyone it was their thing to do together and all good things end, eventually.

their thing to do togetherall good things end, eventually“Maybe so,” I replied as the doorbell rang. “Want me to get that?”

“Yes, please, that would be Bridget. Go introduce yourself while I get the clarinet and make a call about a meeting I have later today,” Nana D replied, winking and smirking.

“What are you up to now?” I narrowed my eyes and leaned my head in her direction. “More trouble?” I pictured news reporters showing up at my father"s door and asking why he killed one of his professors, or a fake college student calling my mother to tell her he"d fallen in love with her and would do anything to attend Braxton. Nana D played way too many jokes on them in the past.

anything“Go get the door. Make yourself useful and quit being a party-pooper, love.” Nana D disappeared down the hallway while I scurried through the living room and opened the front door.

Standing on the porch was a girl harboring an odd expression on her face—a cross between dumbstruck confusion and a pouty, angry elf. Not that I"d ever seen a real-life elf, but her ears were pointy, and she had these big, bright eyes that seemed to glow. I was afraid she might change shapes in front of me. “Hello,” I said curtly and cautiously.

“You"re not Seraphina,” questioned the elf. “Am I too early again?”

I shrugged as I didn"t know what time she was supposed to be here. She wore striped red and white leggings and an oversized green parka. Granted, it was freezing outside, but the outfit truly reminded me of the Elf-on-a-Shelf appearing every Christmas in the Castigliano mansion for my daughter, Emma. I wanted to ask why the elf couldn"t use magic to answer her own question, but since I didn"t know her, it might sound a tad obnoxious of me. Was she a good or a bad elf? I had enough crazy juju already and didn"t need the vengeance of a nasty imp. Given Nana D expected someone for music lessons, there was a decent chance she was Bridget. “Not that I know. Come on in.”

The elf stepped through the entryway and waited for me to say something else. “Ummm… so…?”

“Are you here for the Vespa driving lessons?” Perhaps I"d inherited too much of Nana D"s wit. “We"re bandaging up the last student, but don"t worry… we put the bobcat back in its cage.”

“If that"s humor, I feel bad for you.” The elf removed her coat. “I"m Bridget. Who are you?”

Bridget was a petite girl who seemed capable of holding her own. Besides her elf outfit, she had chestnut brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, emerald green eyes, and minimal makeup. It dawned on me this might be another romantic setup. Nana D had tried to match me up with a traveling horse groomer over the Christmas break until we learned not only had the woman already been married, but she was wanted in two other states for bigamy.

“Are you for real or is this part of Nana D"s hoax?” I had to know if I was about to be played by my clever grandmother. It might"ve been early enough to convince Bridget, the elf, to join my team.

Bridget hung her coat on the rack, pushed past me into the living room, and dropped her backpack on the coffee table. “You"re weird. You must be Kellan. Seraphina told me about you at last week"s lesson.”

So, the elf was smarter than she dressed. “Yes, I guess you must be normal if she"s told you about me. How long have you been playing the clarinet?”

“I"m twenty-one. Started when I was nine. I"m sure you"re capable of doing the math.” As she sat on the couch across from me, she pulled out a couple of reeds and several sheets of music. “Are you gonna listen in and harass me today? Cause I didn"t sign up for a super judgy audience.”

I shook my head. I had places to be and needed to update Derek about Abby. With the retirement party over and no more source for season two, I could head back to Los Angeles early. Although the crime buff inside me wanted to do my own investigation into Abby"s murder, it was secondary to escaping my parents. “Nope. Just visiting my nana. I"m leaving soon.”