Chapter Three
Double, Double Toil and Trouble
Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble...
Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog
Wool of Bat and Tongue of Dog...
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Something Wicked this Way Comes...
- Macbeth - William Shakespeare -
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Guest packets placed in each guest's rooms... The Cover Letter Follows...
Candlestick, Gun, Wrench or Knife... there are so many ways to take a life!
Your Attendance is Requested
for an
All Hallows Murder Mystery Weekend
Please join the other guests at 5:00 P.M.
In the Lounge...
A Little Party Never Killed Anyone... Yet!
Please come and gather to meet the other guests
As well as staff, hosts and hostesses
But remember one very important thing...
There is a murderer amongst us!
Before this weekend ends, the murderer may choose you as one of his victims! Have you been good, or have you been bad? Have you done something to incur this kind of macabre attention? Or are you just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Only you and the murderer know for sure!
Watch your back as well as your front, because it could be anyone... a casual acquaintance recently met or quite possibly someone near and dear. Who knows who it could be? Don't let your guard down and don't miss any of the events, for doing so may be hazardous to your health! As well as lead the other guests to believe you are the murderer! But wait... are you? Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we...
Something to remember, if you dare, is no one is exempt from being the murderer's target... not staff, not owner nor guest. We all must face our past here this weekend... be ready because things long hidden in your closet may come tumbling out! Be watchful... Be attentive... But most of all Beware!
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Wednesday Morning 10 A.M. in Grafton, Vermont - October 26, 2011 - Eden Manor's Kitchen
"Gosh, Bella! These menus sound absolutely fantastic!" Kat gushed as she sat across from her friend reading over the menu plans Bella had presented to her after her arrival to Eden Manor. "Are we really going to be able to pull off this whole weekend and the food, especially these dinner menus?"
Bella smiled over the rim of her coffee cup. "Yep." She watched as Kat thumbed through the file Emma had made of everything they had planned for this weekend including all the meals Eliot had put together. She sighed as she realized she wasn't going to be able to keep Eliot or his team's participation secret much longer. The whole team was on their way right now, and she knew things would begin to really kick in when they arrived.
Kat looked up from the file to focus on her friend. She was so in tune with Bella, she knew in an instant something was bothering her. She had an idea what it might be, after reading through the file in front of her. "What is it, Bella? What's wrong, hon?" She asked reaching out to touch Bella's hand.
Bella instantly smiled and rushed to put Kat's mind at ease. "Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all, I promise!" She gripped Kat's hand between her own. "It's just that... well... there's something I need to tell you." At the quick look of worry that crossed Kat's face, Bella cursed herself for not speaking more clearly. "Kat, nothing is wrong. Really, I swear."
"Then why do I get the feeling you've been hiding something from me these past few weeks?" Kat stated, watching the surprise come over her friend's face. She smiled then as Bella quickly laughed when she realized she probably hadn't been keeping Kat quite in the dark as she thought.
"I can never seem to surprise you, can I?" She asked, her tone soft as she spoke.
Kat smiled as she answered, "No, not really." She pointed a finger at the file in front of her. "This whole file... these menus and the plans and all the room assignments... everything here is planned right down to the very last detail... everything here, it has a very distinctive signature written all over it." She looked Bella directly in the eye. "Your friend, the one who's been helping you put this together and hire the additional actors we need... I think I know exactly who she is... as well as the actors she's hired. And I know of only one person who takes such pride in getting all the details just right no matter how small."
Bella slowly watched Kat as she spoke. She tilted her head slightly as she took in the other woman's demeanor. "But you're not angry?"
"About you getting Emma's help? Or her getting Hardison to plan everything?" She paused before adding softly, "Or for bringing Eliot into this?" Kat watched the concern in Bella's eyes. "No, I'm not angry; not about getting the help we needed. Emma's a great person and her husband being military will know exactly what we're dealing with here, but..." she let the sentence trail off.
How could she put into words what she'd been going through these past weeks; about wanting so desperately to see Eliot again, yet dreading it as well. She longed to have a normal existence where she could be with a man, but she knew that her lifestyle, not to mention Eliot's, would never allow her to be sit back and just blend in with society. There were too many families out there that she had yet to help, and she couldn't... wouldn't allow another child or spouse to be beaten or abused if she had the strength and the will to help.
"But what, Kat?" Bella asked her friend as she watched the stream of emotions that played out in Kat's eyes. "Emma was very happy to help; and Matthew has all the transportation lined up. The two have been working right alongside both myself and Sam on the grounds and getting all the rooms ready. The two have been huge lifesavers; not to mention Hardison. Now that man is Heaven sent. He lives for this kind of thing."
Kat looked at Bella. She wanted to be angry with the woman, for going behind her back and involving Eliot and his family as well as his team, but the truth was she couldn't. Bella and Sam had been left with this project of hers without her help while she healed up after... well, just after. She just couldn't help feeling a little bit nervous and worried by what would happen when they arrived though.
"I'm not mad about any of that, but I'd be lying if I said bringing Eliot into this didn't bother me."
"I know. But Eliot is going to be here; that's a fact. Put aside everything that happened between you two for now and just think about this weekend. We need his help and that of his team, and you know they have resources we don't, so they will be able to follow other avenues we couldn't get involved with. Like the two agents coming that are with WITSEC. Emma was able to get us that help, not to mention the help of other agencies who are all unaware of your background or the team's. There is a state policeman that Nate knows that is also coming to help and while he has some idea of what Nate and his team do, he also knows they get results and they put the bad guys away." Bella thought about all the things that she knew she could tell Kat that would help her out with the mystery weekend and putting all these bad guys behind bars, that was the easy part. But she knew she couldn't say anything that would help her friend get past the fact that Eliot would be there and Kat would be looking into the eyes of the man who's life she'd saved, knowing she could never truly be a part of his life.
Kat hadn't laid eyes on Eliot since that night in the warehouse when he had been gunned down. She'd kept up with her friends and learned he'd been touch and go those first few hours, but then he'd began to heal, to get better. She knew he'd probably been hating the healing part just as much as she did, because sitting back waiting to be able to physically work again at what they both did to help others was the worst part of getting back on one's feet. But as she sat there, she could still see in her mind Eliot's eyes as his life was slowly draining from him that night...
She mentally shook the image from her brain as she forced her attention back to the file in front of her. "So, all this food is Eliot's, right? And all the other stuff?" She said to change the course of the conversation as well as her thoughts.
"Hardison mostly; he just loves to embellish things, doesn't he?" Bella got up to cross the kitchen and grab the coffee pot. She brought it back to the table along with a plate of pastries she'd snatched from the breakfast bar and refilled their cups before sitting back down across from Kat. She knew her friend was moving things to a safer topic and she was okay with letting her do that. For now.
As Bella sat back in her chair and sipped from her cup, Kat grabbed up a croissant and relished the warm bread in her mouth. "Yummy." She said enjoying the taste of the freshly baked treat. "Well, you and Eliot should get along well, considering you both love food." Kat really hadn't experienced an Eliot meal, but she knew how much he loved food and the preparing of it for people he cared about. He'd talked about it so easily during their time at the cabin. Bella loved to bake, and she knew her, and Eliot would probably be enjoying some conversations over their favorite recipes.
"Look Kat, I know it'll be hard seeing Eliot, at first, but he can help. Both him and his team. You know we'll be able to pull this weekend off so much easier with them and their contacts. In fact, we not only have Eliot and his team, along with Emma and Matt, and the agents, but we have Vance and his wife and she's also military."
Kat heaved a deep sigh as she thought about all of this. "Okay. I'll let it go, for now, but the minute something goes wrong..."
"I know; you'll jump all over me about it." She patted Kat's hand and added, "Nothing's going to go wrong, I promise." And she hoped with all her heart and soul that she felt as hopeful as she sounded.
Snacking Menu for Thursday - Check-in Time Up to the 5:00 P.M. Cocktail Hour:
Pecans Diablo
Wicked Witch's Hairy Fingers
Spicy Skeleton Ribs
Fuzzy Caterpillars
Howlin' Cheesecake Moons
Mad Scientist Punch
Spiced Green Tea Witch's Brew
Swamp Water (drained and filtered)
Cocktails served throughout evening
Dinner Menu for Thursday Evening
To Be Served Promptly at exactly Half Past Six P.M.:
Dragon Claws with a Rich Blood Sauce
Harvest Moon Salad Greens with Yellow Tomatoes and Baby Carrots Featuring a Tangy Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ghost Town Butternut Squash Soup
El Diablo Chile Relleno Torta (Vegetarian Choice-for the Health-Conscious Zombies)
Rosemary's Baby Chicken Fillets Roasted with New Potatoes and Served with a Harvest Vegetable Medley
Goblin Rolls with Sweet Honey Butter
Bobbin' for Apple-Cranberry Crumble Served with Fresh Chantilly Cream
Each Course Served with a complimentary Wine Pairing
Coffee and Tea Also Available Upon Request
AN: Sorry so long in updating! Been doing other projects. Another two chapters to come as soon as I can proof them. Here's more bios for you to sink your teeth into! And thank you!
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11 & 12. Marion Wilson as Rosemary "Rosie" Looney and Albert Wilson as Whitson Ritzy – Rosie is the head cook at Eden Manor and Whitson is the stodgy butler. Mona has taken action to ensure both are taken care of. Both know all of Mona's secrets. Rosie's husband was not a good man. They had one child, a daughter who was thought to have committed suicide in her late teens. Then a few years later, her husband died. She came to Eden Manor through a family friend and has been here for almost 32 years. Whitson grew up with Mona's grandmother and he started working in the family's stables as a young boy alongside his father. He was trained to become their butler in England and returned to the manor where he has remained. The two are friendly and share a common sitting room off their private bedrooms, but they are strictly just friends as Whitson is gay. Rosie's secret * is she killed her husband when she found out her daughter did not commit suicide. Her husband had been molesting their daughter for years, then she became pregnant. He killed their daughter when she finally threatened to expose him if he did not pay for an abortion and set her up in a life she could live away from him,. Whitson's secret * is due to his homosexuality; he tends to seek out young male prostitiutes for trysts. Afterwards, he is torn between his sexuality and his deep catholic faith, and in so thinking he feels he is in violation of all things moral and so he takes his pain out on the prostitutes by beating them. He accidentally kills the last one and he becomes even more terrified of being found out. He has succeeded in hiding his crimes from everyone, except Rosie.
13 & 14. Clarissa "Rissa" (Adams) Stone as Parker (Merry) Hardiman and Jarrod "Jay" Stone as Alexander "Alex" Hardiman – They are married and are both agents with the U.S. Marshal's office in DC that Emma knows. They are recruited to help with the weekend, and it is a surprise to Aaron Adams and Kat as Rissa is a former friend that Kat helped save from an abusive ex-boyfriend and Rissa is also the sister of Aaron that helped Kat in The Saving Eliot Job first book. When she agrees to help Emma, she didn't know about Kat, but she's more than happy to help when she does find out. As their characters of Parker and Alex, they are married and Parker is the niece of Peter and Annie Merry and all are listed as being from Chicago, IL. They were stranded in the town while traveling through and were lucky to seek refuge during a severe storm at Eden Manor. Both are planted there and will be Kat's connection to secure some of the innocent guests access to the WitSec Program.
15 & 16. Brenda (Malone) Vance as Cecilia "CeeCee" Moore and Col. Michael Vance as Wyatt "Wy" Moore – They are acting the parts of guests at the manor to blend in and help Kat and the team with securing the bad guys. Brenda has retired from the U.S. Army, but spent most of her career in the Intelligence Division and she knows that her husband handles a lot of things she will never have the knowledge of, but being former military herself, she accepts that. They are playing mild mannered guests with CeeCee being a boring tax accountant and Wy being a overworked underpaid shoe salesman. They are listed as being from New Haven, CT. Their jobs are to just sit back and protect the innocent guests from the bad ones and to offer help where Eliot may need it if things go sideways with that protection. They are looking forward to the event as it will take them away from Uncle Sam's needs for just a little while.
17 & 18. Elizabeth "Liz" (Bryant) Bonanno as Constance "Connie" (Welch) Wilburtson and Det. Capt. Patrick Bonanno as Wilbur "Willy" Wilburtson – They are also acting the parts of guests at the manor to blend in and help Kat and the team with securing the bad guys. Connie is a writer of children's books and "Willy" is a baker who owns his own bakery. They are listed as being from Boston, MA. Their jobs are to just sit back and to help with the arrests of the bad guys at the end and making sure that sufficient evidence is acquired legally that will secure their convictions. They are also looking forward to the weekend. But Willy has a deep dark secret * that is all about being a serial killer. He tends to pick up different types of victims that do not give the police an MO. He's all over in his killing. It will be discovered later that he was actually killing people who deserved to die really (Think like Dexter).
19. Margaret "Maggie" Collins (Ford) as Wilhemena "Willa" (Wilburtson) Ford – Maggie is recruited by Emma for Sophie unbeknownst to Nate. Her character is found to be the sister of Willy Wilburtson. She knows of her brother's dark secret. She is also the mayor of Collinsworth's secretary and personal assistant. Her secret is * that he is formerly from Boston, MA where she worked for a local judge as his assistant and court reporter; and she helped find victims for her brother when she worked there. She thought she'd ended her relationship with her brother, until she sees him as a guest at the manor. She is terrified of her brother knowing what he is capable of.
20. Travis "Quinn" Quinn as Thomas "Tommy" Gunn – Tommy is the town of Collinsworth's mayor and he is also Charlie Gunn's older brother. He also wishes to bed his secretary who keeps him at arm's length. He's a great mayor and he once dated Mona, but they are currently just friends. He knows Mona is running a brothel of sorts out of her home as he tends to use her girls from time to time. His secret * is that along with his brother Charlie and the manor's gardenery, Morey, they are hired killers and have become fairly wealthy from this. Charlie is the one who handles the more intense killings, while Tommy tends to handle the transactions, but he has pulled a trigger or two in his time. He comes off as being very approachable and he is great at putting people at ease. He is originally from Little Rock, AR, but he and Charlie were raised in Texas for most of their childhoods. Tommy tends to hang onto his soft southern drawl more than Charlie, but sometimes he tends to enhance it.
