Miraculous Mintwood Magic

by Addison Creek

  “Suit yourself.” I raced upstairs.

  When I came down nearly ten minutes later, having grabbed my wallet and put a bit of cream on my face, Tom was just polishing off a plate of eggs on toast with a side of bacon and hash browns. Hansen was sitting across from the young deputy smiling. Charlie’s bedroom was off the kitchen, and her door was open.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  Tom took a last sip of coffee and stood up. “Right this way.”

  “What if Lena calls and you don’t answer?” Greer asked.

  “She’ll be more impressed if I show up at Hayview,” said Charlie.

  “Are you sure you can’t tell us what’s going on?” I asked Tom.

  “I’m under strict orders from Detective Cutter,” he said. “They’re going to have to explain everything when you get there.”

  Who “they” were I had no idea, but it was Hayview, so my stomach did a little flip, whether from dismay or eagerness was hard to say.

  Paws was curled up on the porch. His shimmer was very faint in the daylight.

  “Finally someone has come to arrest Greer. Wait, Lemmi? It was you who stole the cat treats!” the cat yowled. “I thought we were friends! I thought we were family.”

  None of us could say anything back to him because Hansen and Tom were there, so I settled for just shaking my head. Leave it to Paws to be excited that there was extra chaos.

  Riding in Tom’s squad car felt strange, but I was comforted to know that my three friends were following behind us.

  Hayview was located near Mintwood Mountain. I had always thought it was a silly place for a shopping center. First of all, everything someone could ever need was right there in downtown Mintwood. Second of all, the mountain always looked so tempting that I was surprised people didn’t leave the mall and go for a nice nature walk. I knew for a fact there was a large ghost bear up there. If whatever Tom wanted led to an investigation, Paws was going to be unhappy. He hated that bear.

  “It’s been years since I last came to Hayview,” I said as we drove.

  “It was really the spot in the summer, though, wasn’t it?” said Tom. “My friends and I used to hang out there on Saturday afternoons.”

  “When did the mall close?” I asked.

  “A couple of years ago now, I think,” said Tom. “A few stores had pulled out, and it was limping along, and eventually it was put up for sale. It sat idle for a long time, waiting for a buyer.”

  I nodded. I remembered my grandmother telling me as much a couple of times when I’d spoken to her. She’d been curious to see what would happen to the stores. Now we knew.

  “Why did it take so long to sell?” I asked. If the lot had been put up for sale years ago and the Wolf Corporation had only just bought it, what had happened in the meantime?

  “I don’t know,” said Tom. “Can’t say I see any reason for someone wanting to buy the place, to be honest.”

  I bit my lip. Not to put too fine a point on it, I couldn’t either, and that made me all the more curious about what exactly was going on.

  As we neared Hayview, it was clear that some crime had been committed. There were police cars everywhere, plus fire trucks and a couple of ambulances. Many of them had their lights flashing.

  As we turned into the parking lot I saw a group of onlookers milling around, watching the events unfold. Many of them had pulled their cars over to the side of the road, reminding me of the time when the police had pulled a car out of the pond behind the Babbling Brook Barn. There had been a lot of onlookers that night as well.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “I can’t say that I know for sure. The detective is going to have to explain it to you,” said Tom. He kept a firm grip on the wheel and his eyes facing forward, not to be deterred from his mission.

  He had to call over to make it clear to the officer on guard that Charlie, Greer, and Hansen could follow us through the gate and onto the lot. The guard didn’t look happy about it, but he let them pass.

  Once we were onto the former mall grounds, Tom pulled over and parked. He stepped out of the car and walked quickly back to Charlie’s Volvo, no doubt hoping to wrangle her into not causing trouble . . . before she caused trouble.

  Given that I was the only one who’d been summoned to the crime scene by the detective, speaking with the detective was something I was going to have to do alone.

  For once Charlie didn’t argue with Tom. Maybe Greer and Hansen had convinced her on the drive over that she was already on thin ice coming to the crime scene to begin with, but for whatever reason, she was docile this time.

  Meanwhile, my head was spinning. There were a lot of people milling around who were clearly either involved with Hayview per se, or there because some either a crime had been committed, or some tragedy had occurred. They all looked serious and concerned.

  I could tell the ones who worked for the Wolf Corporation, many of whom were wearing black fleeces and sunglasses. A couple of them were acting as if the world had ended. One woman was yelling about margins into a cell phone. Another was frantically searching through boxes of paperwork. Whatever was going on at Hayview, I felt certain that the world was just fine.

  At least as fine as it had been before all of this happened.

  Whatever it was.

  In the distance I could see some vague shimmers that told me that a few ghosts were watching. They probably thought this was quite the hullabaloo in a once-deserted part of town. Hidden in the folds of my sleeve, my wand was a comforting weight against my forearm.

  “Ready?” Tom asked, reappearing at my side.

  “I guess so,” I said, pulling myself out of my reverie.

  “It’s probably best not to keep them waiting. I’m sure this won’t take long,” he said.

  “Who all is waiting for me?” I asked.

  “You’ll know soon enough,” said Tom dryly. “I informed Charlie and Hansen that they had to stay exactly where they are. I further informed them that they are not to talk to anyone while they wait for you. I have complete confidence that they will only comply with one of those recommendations. I am hoping that the guilt they will feel at not listening to my order about talking to other people will keep them from wandering off. And Charlie thinks I’m an idiot,” he added, with a slight smile.

  I looked at him and nearly laughed, but caught myself just in time. This was clearly the scene of a crime. It was no laughing matter.

  “There you are,” said Detective Cutter, bustling up to us. He was round and kind of pompous-looking. At the moment his mouth was pressed into a thin line.

  “Here I am. What can I do for you?” I said.

  He looked about as happy to see me as he’d be if he had found sludge on his shoe.

  He stuck his thumbs into his black belt loops and said, “Personally, I have no idea. It was an order that I ask for you.” He used his chin to point over his shoulder. I focused on what was behind him and my heart started hammering in my chest.

  Just a few yards away, Jasper Wolf was talking to a group of well-dressed men. Yes, they were all men. Of course they were. His grandfather was there. Tyler Spin was there. I didn’t recognize the others, but they looked like the sort who were important and knew it.

  When Jasper saw me looking at him he left his conversation started toward me. The others followed at a slower pace.

  “Thank you for getting her. I thought she might be helpful in this case,” said Jasper to Detective Cutter with a nod.

  “Just because she likes to butt in on investigations doesn’t mean she’s going to be helpful on this case,” scoffed the detective.

  “We really have to find out what happened here. It’s all hands on deck at the moment. I appreciate that you’re willing to cooperate in this matter,” said Jasper sternly.

  His whole demeanor changed when he spoke to the detective. He sounded more authoritative and confident than I’d ever seen him before.

  I liked it. I also liked that he had put the de
tective in his place. Actually, I just liked that he had put me in a place near the detective. To investigate.

  “I’m mystified as to why you wanted this young lady here,” said one of the men I didn’t recognize.

  “Thanks for that input, Paul. I said she would help. I know what I’m talking about. I hope you aren’t questioning my judgment already,” said Jasper.

  “The handling of this case is very sensitive. I just want to make sure it’s done properly,” said the man, eyeing me as if he thought I had already made a mistake on an investigation I didn’t even know the reason for yet.

  “It would really help me if I knew exactly was going on,” I said.

  It took rather a lot of effort for me to say that. Wolf Senior was staring me down. I was making a point of ignoring him and not making eye contact.

  If I didn’t look at him, he wasn’t real.

  “I’ll explain everything as much as I can,” said Detective Cutter. “We can go look at the crime scene. I just don’t want you touching anything and contaminating the evidence by making a rookie mistake. Like I just said, I’m not entirely certain how you’re going to be of help here. This is most unusual.”

  “The good news is that there’s an awful lot of unusual in Mintwood. As it happens, we’ve all chosen to live here,” said one of the old men, who seemed to be coming to my defense.

  Him, I liked.

  “You always see the upside of everything, Pencil,” groaned Paul.

  I made a mental note to tell my reporter friends the names of these two individuals. Hopefully they’d be able to give me some background on them as soon as I got back to the Volvo. It was clear to me that I liked Pencil and did not like Paul.

  To bear out my negative impression, Paul rolled his eyes at me.

  “Let’s get the show on the road so the real detective work can begin,” said Detective Cutter, turning to lead the way toward the empty mall.

  All the other men stayed stationary. For a split second I merely stared at them, then I realized that I was supposed to move first. With a start I hurried after the detective, but I could hear the men now following after me.

  If this was chivalry, I wanted an upgrade.

  Memories came flooding back as we walked toward the now closed mall, which was one long building with several stores in it. I remembered each store from my high school days; this was a place where we had come to shop, maybe not frequently, but often enough so that the memories were vivid.

  Now everything was closed and gone. The structure was dilapidated and the once pristine parking lot was overgrown. Parts of the concrete were broken up and tufts of grass poked through.

  I stepped carefully, scattered junk and chunks of concrete littering my path. There was also a lot of graffiti everywhere. Tom had driven us through gates that were open now, but usually closed. The owners at least tried to keep people out, but teenagers were determined. It looked like kids must sneak onto the lot frequently.

  Detective Cutter made his way toward the main entrance of the broken down mall. The doors were already open and police officers were walking in and out at a fast clip.

  Part of me wanted to glance over my shoulder to see if I could see my friends waiting for me. Another part knew that if I did that, what was really happening was that I was looking at Jasper. I refrained.

  The low voices behind me told me that the men hadn’t stopped planning and plotting, just as they had surely been doing before I arrived. I tried to ignore them, intensely curious about what I was about to see.

  “This way,” said the detective, leading us through the main entrance of the mall.

  We passed several former storefronts where everything appeared dark and sad-looking, as though someone had made an announcement that the mall was closing and people had turned and run without properly closing everything down. There were still some clothes in the stores, though most of it looked like it had been picked over or vandalized. Parts of one wall had fallen off.

  The detective stopped in front of one store in particular, the front of which was darker and thinner than the others. I would have had trouble seeing the interior, except that someone had set up a lot of lights.

  Several people were already working inside the small space, but they stopped when they saw the detective arrive with an entourage. Detective Cutter marched straight past them to a counter in the back.

  “We found this hidden beneath the floor. Jasper here tells me that you aren’t squeamish. I hope he knows what he’s talking about,” said the detective. He walked around the end of the counter and stopped. I peered over the counter alongside where he was looking. Under several layers of sheets was part of a skeletal body.

  I had been right. Someone had been murdered at Hayview, and the body had only been discovered now. If my quick glance was enough, it looked as if the body had been hidden under the floor of this shop. Whoever had done the inspection of Hayview hadn’t inspected too hard.

  They had missed a dead body.

  Chapter Five

  My eyes immediately went to Jasper, who looked grim. In the moment I spent glancing at him, I also realized that his grandfather had disappeared.

  I had mixed feelings about that.

  As Paws would say, “Keep your enemies visible. If you can’t see them, you don’t know what they’re up to. If you know what they’re up to, they might lead you to mice.”

  I was relieved that Mr. Wolf had disappeared and was no longer there to make me uncomfortable. But I also couldn’t help but wonder where he had gotten to.

  “Now that you’ve seen it, I think it’s best that you go back outside. I don’t want to upset you. Given that you aren’t on the police force, I can see how you might have a delicate constitution,” said the detective.

  “I don’t have a delicate anything,” I said before I could stop myself.

  The detective might have muttered something about the porch, but before I could respond, something else distracted me.

  Pencil had chuckled. He looked like Santa Claus, with a white, bushy beard, thick white eyebrows, and a twinkle in his eye. Not to mention a pot belly. “She has spunk. I can see why you wanted her here.” He turned to Jasper and nodded.

  My kind-of-sometimes-but-confusing-right-now boyfriend said, “I have every faith in her. I also know better than to talk about a woman’s constitution.”

  He winked at me.

  Then all the men in the entourage turned around and walked out of the former store. I followed them and the detective came out after me, but the moment he left the space I darted back in. “I just want to check one thing. Don’t mind me. I won’t touch anything,” I assured him.

  I hustled back inside as quickly as I could, because I knew Detective Cutter wouldn’t be far behind. He was already calling after me when I reached the counter and peered over it again. The area on the body that the detective had uncovered had been a foot, but that wasn’t the only part that was visible. There was also a hand and a wrist.

  On the hand was a large gold ring. It looked like the sort of ring a private high school or college would give out to graduates. I made a mental note of it, and also remarked to myself that the victim been interred under the floor—a remarkable accomplishment for whoever had murdered him.

  All of this information I would tell Charlie, Greer, and Hansen, who, I assumed, were still waiting outside to take me home. I figured Tom wouldn’t make them leave, because then he’d have to give me a ride and miss out on even more of the action here. I hoped my friends had gotten a lot of interviews. I expected nothing less of them.

  “Now see here. I didn’t say you could come in here by yourself,” said Detective Cutter, slipping up behind me. “This is the way you always make yourself so difficult.”

  He was now standing at my elbow and glaring at me.

  “Sorry. Just wanted to make sure he was really dead,” I said.

  “He’s a husk,” said the detective. “It doesn’t take a detective to know he’s dead.”


  “Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t,” I said.

  The detective was shaking his head at me, and I couldn’t really blame him. You would think that by now he would have accepted me as an investigative force in this town, but if he refused to do that he would just have to put up with my acting strange sometimes. Really, someone should have told him that there were worse things, like cats that accidentally fell into water or evil dark ghosts that attacked your friends.

  Detective Cutter walked at a much faster clip out of the abandoned and dilapidated mall than he’d managed when he walked into it at. The men in suits had spread out and were still speaking quietly to each other. Jasper appeared occupied. I wasted no time before walking away.

  As I was almost back to my friends’ car, I heard Jasper call out to me.

  Relief flooded me and my knees felt a little weak as I turned back to him.

  “Thanks for coming. Sorry everything is so busy right now,” he apologized.

  “What’s going on, anyhow? Why did you want me here?” I asked.

  He glanced around and shrugged.

  “You know why . . .” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows. There was no one within fifty feet of us, but he was still worried that someone would hear that I was a witch.

  That was cute.

  “Okay, so you know why you want me and I know why I should be here. But it’s a big risk for you,” I said. “Especially given . . .”

  He took a step forward. “It’s the right decision. You should be involved in every investigation around here. This lot is the future of the Wolf Corporation. For all we know someone planted that skeleton here to discredit this deal,” he said.

  I thought that sounded crazy, and he must have read my reaction in my face because he shrugged. “Stranger things have happened. I hear tell there’s actually someone in this county who can talk to ghosts. . .”

  “Several someones, actually,” I said.

  “I see.” He did not look thrilled.

  “I’m going to investigate this case just like all the others. Our personal relationship is not going to get in the way of my getting to the truth,” I warned him.