by Jinty James
***
Suzanne’s question kept Maddie awake most of the night. Surely they were missing something?
But perhaps it wasn’t anyone at the party. Maybe it was a random stranger – or a serial killer. Or … Vanessa’s ex-husband!
Maddie bolted upright. Trixie sent her an annoyed look before turning in a circle and snuggling on top of the blankets again.
They hadn’t found out that much about Vanessa, except she hadn’t seemed a nice person. And that she was divorced.
So … what if instead of a random person … it was her ex?
Maddie slowly sank back down, pulling the covers up to her chin. First thing tomorrow, she’d call Suzanne and discuss her theory. Now that she’d come up with a new angle to the investigation, she was able to drift off to sleep.
***
Buzz buzz buzz.
The harsh blare of the alarm woke Maddie. She blinked sleep out of her eyes and stretched.
Must call Suzanne.
“Mrrow.” Trixie jumped on Maddie’s chest and bunted her affectionately.
“Sorry if I kept you awake last night,” Maddie apologized.
Trixie touched her raspy tongue to Maddie’s cheek, as if saying, “That’s okay. I still had plenty of sleep.”
“We’ve got to call Suzanne.” Maddie stroked the Persian, then reached for her cell phone.
Suzanne answered on the second ring. Maddie quickly told her about the idea she’d come up with about Vanessa’s ex.
“Awesome!” Suzanne sounded excited. “We can talk about it as soon as we open for our morning customers.”
“Okay.” Maddie ended the call and got ready for work, her mind in a whirl. Surely Vanessa’s ex-husband was the logical suspect?
She wondered if Detective Edgewater had already pursued that line of inquiry. If he stopped by the truck today, she would definitely ask him.
Maddie and Trixie ate breakfast, then Trixie trotted by Maddie’s side as they left the house.
“We might be going to Redbud Glen today,” Maddie told the cat. “To do some more sleuthing.”
“Mrrow!” Trixie sounded as if she approved.
They jumped into the truck and in no time at all, arrived at the town square. Suzanne was already there, waving to them from her sporty red car.
“I think you’re right,” Suzanne hopped into the back of the truck and started getting the cash register ready. “It must be Vanessa’s ex. And as soon as the morning rush is over, we can go and find out who he is.”
Suzanne took out the apricot health balls she’d made yesterday and arranged them on the platter.
“We’ll definitely make some money today.” She grinned as she put them on the serving hatch.
Their first customer arrived a couple of minutes later. By the time the rush was over, only three health balls remained on the plate.
“We can sell these when we get back later,” Suzanne said, putting them back in the fridge. “Don’t forget, I saved some for us as well.” She pulled out a small white plate with four of the treats on it.
“Oh, good.” Maddie plucked one from the tray and bit into it – apricot and coconut tantalizing her taste buds. “Delicious.”
Suzanne smiled as she popped one in her mouth. “Since these sold so quickly, I’ll make some more this afternoon.”
“Good idea.”
“Mrrow?” Trixie looked from Suzanne to Maddie and back again.
“Yes, we’re going to take my car today, Trix,” Suzanne told the Persian.
Trixie picked up her harness that was lying on the next stool to her, and dangled it from her mouth.
“Yes, we’re going now.” Maddie laughed.
After fitting Trixie’s harness on her, they got into Suzanne’s little car, and set off.
“How are we going to find out who Vanessa’s ex is?” Maddie asked.
“Good question,” Suzanne said. “Would Bob know?”
“We didn’t see anyone obvious listed as an ex or current boyfriend on her social media profile,” Maddie remarked.
“So let’s ask Bob if he knows.”
“Maybe we should have called him instead,” Maddie pointed out.
“I know. But Trixie likes riding in my car, don’t you, Trix?” Suzanne turned around to look at the cat.
“Mrrow!”
“Keep your eyes on the road!” Maddie tapped her friend on the shoulder.
“Sorry.” Suzanne tsked at herself, and focused on her driving until they arrived at Redbud Glen.
They hopped out of the car and entered Bob’s café. More customers than last time were in there, and business seemed to be brisk.
“Hi, girls.” Bob looked up from the espresso machine. “Got an update?”
“Not really.”
“Sort of.”
“Mrrow!”
All three of them spoke at once.
“Do you know anything about Vanessa’s ex-husband?” Suzanne asked.
Bob furrowed his brow. “No,” he finally said. “I can’t remember her ever mentioning him, apart from the fact that she was divorced and she was glad about it.”
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged a glance.
“Do you know anyone who might know who he is?” Maddie asked.
The machine hissed as steam rose from the wand.
“Maybe Kevin knows,” Bob said thoughtfully. “Vanessa asked a while ago if I could suggest anyone to do her taxes, and of course I recommended Kevin.”
“And Kevin never said anything to you about Vanessa’s ex?” Suzanne queried.
“No.” Bob shook his head. “I didn’t expect him to. Your accountant is like your lawyer, you know? You don’t expect him to blab about you or your finances to his friends – it might even be against the CPA rules.”
They thanked him and returned to the car, refusing the offer of an espresso.
“Now that we’re on this track, I just want to stay focused until we find out who her ex is,” Suzanne said as they buckled their seatbelts.
“I know what you mean,” Maddie said, checking Trixie was safely ensconced in the back seat. “What about you, Trix?”
“Mrrow!”
“Do you think we should walk?” Maddie asked, peering at the road ahead. “It’s not that far to Kevin’s office, is it?”
“No.” Suzanne shook her head. “But Trixie mightn’t want to walk that far.”
“What do you think, Trix?” Maddie twisted around in her seat.
“Mrrow.” Trixie turned her head to the left, her version of shaking her head no.
Maddie suspected the feline would rather ride in Suzanne’s car than walk a short distance.
“Okay.” Maddie gave in. “Let’s go!”
Suzanne drove down the street until they reached Kevin’s office.
“Oh, pooh.” Suzanne made a face as she drove past his office. “There isn’t any parking!”
“You could drop me and Trixie off,” Maddie suggested. “We can go in and ask him about Vanessa’s ex and then you can pick us up.”
“Good idea.” Suzanne turned into a driveway, backed out, and double-parked outside the accountant’s storefront. “I’ll keep driving around and see if I can find a space somewhere. I can’t believe this – it didn’t seem so busy back up the road at Bob’s.”
“I know,” Maddie said, hopping out of the car and then reaching in for Trixie.
“See you soon!” Suzanne waved to them and drove slowly down the road.
“Let’s ask Kevin about Vanessa’s ex,” Maddie told the cat as they walked into his office.
Just like last time, the receptionist’s desk was bare, and there wasn’t anyone else in the waiting room. Maddie wondered if there was a bell she could ring so Kevin would know someone was there.
She sat down on a chair, Trixie sitting next to her feet.
“If he doesn’t come out in a minute, I’ll call out,” she murmured.
Trixie tilted her head to look around the waiting room, then settled, her eye
s half-closed.
Maddie couldn’t hear any voices coming from the inner office like she had when Grandma Pat had been there last time.
Any minute now, she expected Suzanne to burst into the waiting room, announcing she’d found somewhere to park, but the office remained quiet.
“Hello?” Maddie cleared her throat. Surely Kevin was in his office?
After a few seconds, she heard the inner door creak open, and Kevin appeared.
“Maddie, right?” He looked surprised to see her.
“That’s right.” She and Trixie rose.
“What can I do for you?” He ushered her into his office. “Ready to let me do your books for you?”
“We’re still thinking about it,” she said politely. “But what I wanted to ask you was, do you know who Vanessa’s ex-husband was? Or,” she added as the thought suddenly occurred to her, “was she married more than once?”
“Why do you want to know?” He frowned. “And why are you asking me?”
“Bob thought you might know,” Maddie answered. “We … we wanted to offer our condolences to her ex-husband,” she finished in a rush. Would he believe her? Why hadn’t she and Suzanne thought of what to say to Kevin?
“No, I don’t know.” He chuckled. “And even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t gossip about stuff like that.”
“Oh.” Maddie racked her brains for something else to say. Her gaze landed on his desk. A fancy silver pen without the cap lay on the surface.
“Have you lost the cap to your pen?” She frowned as images clicked in her mind. Kevin brandishing his silver pen at the party, taking off the cap as he wrote his cell number on a business card. The strong breeze when she and Suzanne found Vanessa – dead. The silver cap she’d noticed in the gutter when they’d visited Jill to give her an update.
Why would Kevin lose the cap to his pen? If he had killed Vanessa, there had been a struggle, the cap had come off his pen and the wind had picked it up …
Her eyes widened as realization struck her. She looked down at Trixie, who tugged on the lead in the direction of the door. Did Trixie know – or sense – that Kevin was the killer?
“Well, we better get going,” Maddie turned toward the open door, desperate to get out into the waiting room. “Sorry to disturb you.” She had to leave and call Detective Edgewater!
“Not so fast.” Kevin stepped in front of her.
“Excuse me?” She drew herself up to her full height of five foot five, attempting to make herself look more imposing than she was. She just hoped he couldn’t hear her heart hammering.
“You shouldn’t have come nosing around.” Kevin’s voice hardened. “When you and your pal visited me the first time, I thought you might be genuine, and you were actually looking for an accountant. But when I found you here just now by yourself, I wondered if you were snooping where you shouldn’t be. And I was right!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Maddie tried to impersonate Suzanne at her haughtiest, but wasn’t sure if she’d pulled it off.
She hadn’t.
“I can’t believe the sheriff’s department hasn’t arrested your annoying friend,” he continued, as if Maddie hadn’t spoken.
“That’s because she’s innocent.” If Maddie could keep him talking, surely Suzanne would arrive and between the two of them – and Trixie – be able to call for help?
He snorted. “Not with the way I kept accusing her. Didn’t you think it was strange that I kept insisting she was the murderer?”
“Yes,” Maddie admitted.
“That’s because I wanted her to get arrested. But my real goal was seeing Jill behind bars. That’s why I used her knife.”
“What?” Maddie stared at him. Was he for real?
“Ever since Bob hooked up with her, it’s Jill this and Jill that,” he said in a nasty tone. “Bob’s my friend – he should be hanging out with me. He didn’t even tell me he was thinking of going into business with her until it was a done deal – and I’m his accountant as well as his best friend!
“He could have gone into business with me,” he continued. “Do you know what a combination that would have been? With my accounting skills, and his barista abilities, we could have opened a chain of coffee shops all over the country! But no.” He glared menacingly at Maddie. “He has to meet perfect Jill and fall in love with her, and turn their individual coffee shops into a local chain.”
Maddie stared at him. Bob was in love with Jill? She was sure the older woman would be pleased to hear that – if Maddie and Trixie were able to get out of here!
“I’m sure Bob’s still your friend,” Maddie said gently, using her peripheral vision to check the distance to the waiting room, and from there the entrance door. Why hadn’t Suzanne arrived yet?
“Some friend! He’s cancelled our plans four times since he met Jill. Now he doesn’t have time to go grab a beer with me because he has to refurbish his café, and then help Jill fix hers up.” He shook his head in disgust.
Maddie suddenly wondered if Kevin and Genevieve would be a good match romantically – and then realized that Kevin would be in jail for a long time – that was, if she and Trixie could get away!
“Vanessa was a real harpy.” He shrugged. “It was no big deal getting rid of her. You should have heard her complain about my fees! She barely acknowledged me at the party. But the real reason I killed her was so that Bob and Jill’s business venture would fail before it even started properly.”
“How … how did you—”
“It was easy,” he scoffed. “The party was in full swing. I just told Bob I had to go to the bathroom. Vanessa was already outside, and earlier I’d sneaked into the kitchen and stole a knife. When everyone was enjoying their coffee and those stupid health balls, I sneaked outside and stabbed her. She didn’t even have time to scream,” he said in satisfaction.
“You would do that to your friend?” Maddie stared at him, appalled at his cold-bloodedness.
“It would make him see that if he wanted to expand, he should do it with me, not some woman he only met two months ago.” Kevin squared his shoulders. “But now I’ll have to get rid of you, too. If I let you leave here, you’ll go straight to the sheriff.”
He advanced toward her, his hands outstretched. He was going to strangle her! She racked her brains for the words to the Escape your Enemy spell, one she had used before, but her mind was blank.
Just as she was going to grab Trixie and try to reach the entrance door, Kevin’s face contorted.
“I can’t move!” he screamed.
Maddie’s eyes widened as she looked at him. He seemed glued in place mid-stride, his hands outstretched but motionless. Only his face – and voice box – seemed capable of movement.
Maddie glanced down at Trixie. Her familiar glared fiercely at Kevin. Was Trixie the reason Kevin was immobile?
“Let’s go, Trix!” She scooped up the Persian, racing to the waiting room, and the entrance door.
Maddie stumbled outside, aware of Trixie still scowling ferociously. Was that how the cat was able to keep him frozen?
“Mads, what’s wrong?” Suzanne rushed up to them on the sidewalk.
“We’ve got to get out of here. Kevin’s the killer!” Maddie ran down the street, aware of Suzanne by her side.
“I parked across the road.” Suzanne jerked her head to her car several feet away.
They jumped into the car. Suzanne gunned the engine, locked the doors, and took off down the road.
“I’m calling 911.” Maddie’s hands shook as she dragged her phone out of her purse. Trixie sat in her lap, the fierce scowl on her face slowly fading.
How long would Kevin be frozen for? How had Trixie done that?
Shaking her head in wonder, she called for help.
She quickly told the emergency operator that Kevin Alton had just admitted he’d killed Vanessa and had been about to attack her when she’d managed to get away.
“Drive to the nearest sherif
f’s department,” she told Suzanne as she ended the call. “They’re sending someone to Kevin’s office right now.”
“Okay.” Suzanne peeked at Maddie while she drove. “What happened? Are you okay, Mads? And you, Trix?”
“Mrrow,” Trixie murmured, the first thing she’d uttered in a while. She snuggled into Maddie’s lap as if she was suddenly tired.
Maddie quickly filled Suzanne in on what had happened at the office.
“I don’t know how Trixie did it,” Maddie finished, astonishment in her tone. “I was racking my brains for the correct words to the Escape your Enemy spell, and Trixie glared at him and somehow he was frozen – apart from being able to talk.”
“That’s amazing.” Suzanne cast a glance at them before focusing on the road. “I don’t know where the sheriff’s department is around here, so we’re going to Estherville.” She glanced in the rear vision mirror. “Kevin’s not following us, anyway.”
“Good.” Maddie sank back in her car seat. That was one thing she’d been worried about – how long would Trixie’s magic last?
“When we get back to your house, we’ll have to look at Wytchcraft for the Chosen and see if the spell Trixie cast is mentioned. Ooh!” Suzanne looked like she wanted to jump up and down in her seat as she gripped the steering wheel. “What if there’s a spell book for familiars? Maybe Trixie has access to that somehow!”
Maddie stared at her friend and giggled. After a second, Suzanne burst out laughing. Trixie was the only who didn’t seem to find it funny. She burrowed into Maddie’s lap, as if trying to shut out their laughter.
“Sorry, Trix.” Suzanne apologized.
“I think she’s tired,” Maddie said. “It might have taken a lot of energy for her to save us like that.” She gently stroked the Persian’s white fur as a way of apologizing as well.
“But you never know, maybe there is a book for familiars,” Suzanne persisted. “How was Trixie able to freeze him like that? She hasn’t done anything like that before, has she?”
“Not exactly,” Maddie said slowly. “Although we did communicate telepathically last month.”
“That’s right!” Suzanne snapped her fingers and then clamped them around the steering wheel again. “Maybe this book is in cat hieroglyphics or something – like the ancient Egyptians – ooh, what if the cats back then were familiars and could do spells?”
