Chapter 15
Thea exited the library in a satisfied mood, mind still wondering about all the information she managed to find. Things were developing in a way she didn’t anticipate. With each clue, she was beginning to wonder if Eric really was the killer. She suddenly thought about all of the interactions she had with him since Rebecca’s murder. Her blood ran cold at the possibility that she had crossed paths with a murderer more than once.
As she made her way back to A Stitch in Time, she passed by the park. Her eyes immediately drifted towards the gazebo, cleared of the police tape that was there earlier when the officers and detectives were combing the area for clues. Lost in her thoughts, Thea didn’t notice the person she inadvertently bumped into.
She didn’t expect that same person to be a familiar face, either.
“Miranda?” she asked, letting out a small noise of surprise. “I didn’t expect you to be around here.”
“Hello again, Thea,” Miranda said with a hint of a smile on her face. “I decided to take a stroll through Ardensville today. I wanted to take my mind off things.”
“You too, huh?” Thea mumbled as the two of them turned to look at the gazebo in the distance.
Although it wasn’t much, the people of the town did their best to clean up the area somewhat and create a small memorial for Rebecca. Candles were lit and plush animals were left near the gazebo, as well as picture frames of the girl. Thea also spotted a few bouquets of flowers resting near the site.
“It’s tragic, isn’t it? No one deserves a fate like that,” Thea remarked softly, watching Miranda out of the corner of her eye to see her reaction. Her indifferent behavior and rigid demeanor towards any mention of Rebecca was still fresh on her mind.
The woman swallowed thickly, meeting Thea’s gaze. “I didn’t expect her to end up like this, that’s for sure.”
Narrowing her eyes, Thea couldn’t help but ask the question outright. “What happened between you two? It’s obvious that you didn’t like her that much.”
“I-I don’t think this is the correct time or place to talk about that–”
“I heard that she got you fired,” she interjected. Miranda froze up, eyes widening at the comment. “Is that true? Is that why your mood changes whenever Rebecca is brought up in a conversation?”
“Thea, I’d appreciate it if we didn’t talk about this right now,” Miranda said earnestly, turning away to leave.
“It’s important to the investigation, you know. Some people still think that you’re the killer.”
The woman clenched her jaw. Although she was aware of the rumors circulating throughout the town about who the killer could be, Miranda didn’t want to fall under even more scrutiny than she already was. Her dark past with Rebecca was unpleasant enough.
“Fine. If you want to know this so badly, I’ll tell you,” Miranda said, crossing her arms across her chest. “Yes, she did get me fired. And yes, I don’t have the best things to say about her because of that. It’s a shame that she got killed, but that doesn’t change my opinion of her.”
Thea raised her eyebrows. “You can’t say anything nice about her? Not even now? We’re right by the place where she was killed.”
“She’s a liar and a cheat,” Miranda deadpanned, unfazed by Thea’s bewildered reaction. “I don’t have sympathy for people who act dishonestly. And I cannot feel bad for someone who does everything in their power to ruin another person’s life all out of spite.”
“What are you talking about?” Thea asked, still confused. “What did she do to you?”
With a deep breath, the woman began to explain. “Rebecca was once an art student of mine. She was an average student, to say the least. Near the end of the semester, I usually assign a few projects that determine a student’s final grade. To make things short, Rebecca didn’t do so well on these assignments and this resulted in a bad grade to end the semester.”
Miranda cracked a few of her knuckles before continuing. Simply thinking about what happened was enough to make her blood boil.
“Imagine my surprise when I received a notification from the dean that I was being fired. As it turned out, Rebecca wrote inappropriate comments on her own artwork but attributed them to me. She showed these remarks to the dean, acting as if I was the one who berated her so viciously. She seemed to have been a better actress than painter,” Miranda mumbled the last sentence out bitterly.
“And so you lost your job,” Thea concluded.
“Of course,” Miranda responded, forcing a fake smile. “As you can see, I don’t feel too bad about her circumstances. They’re tragic, of course, but it doesn’t make my heart grow fonder for the little witch.”
Miranda turned towards the gazebo again, letting out a dry laugh as she observed the various roses left behind in her memory.
“It’s amazing how people cared enough to leave that girl flowers. She didn’t deserve those at all. She had an evil soul.”
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Thea didn’t know what else to say to Miranda. Although she expected some sort of bad blood between Rebecca and her former teacher, she didn’t expect... this.
“I, uh...” Thea managed out eventually, checking her watch for the time. “I have to get going now. I left my shop unattended for too long. Have a nice day, Miranda.”
In return, she received a short nod from the woman as she departed in the opposite direction. Thea got out of there as quick as she could, still trying to make sense of everything she just heard.
Even though she was originally convinced that Eric was the prime suspect of the case, her attention was now shifted towards Miranda. That woman held too much spite within her heart towards Rebecca to disregard. In light of her murder, Miranda was still uninterested in Rebecca and had nothing but bad things to say.
Thea felt sympathetic towards Jesse because she knew that his intentions were in the right place in believing in Miranda’s innocence. However, she was beginning to feel suspicious towards the former art teacher. It was too much to just sweep under the rug.
Chapter 16
Even as the sun went down and nightfall drifted over the town, Thea found herself pacing throughout her house. She couldn’t keep her mind off the case, no matter how hard she tried. After everything she managed to find out, she knew that anyone else in her position would be doing the same thing.
There was a sliver of guilt within her, knowing that she shouldn’t be fixated on the investigation especially after the promise she made to Blaine. If it was up to her, she would stay out of it.
However, Thea acknowledged that she had some skills that Blaine didn’t. Thea knew that she could be a helpful asset to the case if only he’d ask. He wasn’t going to, that was for sure, so she had to take matters into her own hands.
“Sybil!” Thea called out eventually, picking at some dry patches of paint that she hadn’t cleaned off her hands yet. “I need to talk to you...like right now!”
A few moments later, she heard the soft patter of tiny steps headed towards her direction.
“What’s going on with you?” Sybil asked as she strolled into the room. “How long have you been walking around in circles for? You’re gonna tear a hole in the floor.”
“I had an idea for something and I kinda need your help,” Thea explained, finally stopping her movements. It was making her feel more antsy. “Do you think you can scry on the murder weapon related to Rebecca’s case?”
Sybil’s tail batted around as a heavy air of reluctance teemed off the familiar. Thea was somewhat expecting that reaction.
“I know, it’s a little crazy, but I think you can do it. Based on the wound, it’s definitely a small knife. Maybe even a scalpel.”
“I’m not sure about all of this, Thea...” Sybil began reluctantly. After thinking about it for a few more seconds, the kitten eventually shook off her nerves and stood to attention. “But I’ll try to help you out.”
When the kitten saw Thea respond with a bright grin, she was quick to
cut into that excitement.
“Hey, but don’t get your hopes up too high. I might end up in the wrong place. I’m working with breadcrumbs here,” she replied dryly, to which Thea smiled.
“Oh, c’mon, Sybil. Don’t act like that.”
The familiar hopped onto the table at the edge of the room. Meanwhile, Thea made her way towards one of the cabinets. With a careful touch, she pulled out the mirror used for scrying and brought it over to Sybil. Taking a few books from that same cabinet, she managed to prop up the reflective surface for the kitten’s convenience.
“Here goes nothing,” Sybil mumbled, before reciting a few words and watching as the mirror began to illuminate a location.
Thea backed away a few steps, wanting to give her some space to focus. She understood that scrying was a more complex form of magic, one that Thea wasn’t able to do herself. Considering the sensitivity of the case, she wanted to make sure that the result was as accurate as possible.
After a few tense moments of silence, Thea contemplated whether she should speak out and ask Sybil of her progress. The nervous energy in the room was getting to her, and she definitely planned on asking to break the tension, but the kitten beat her to the punch.
The familiar was quick to pounce off the table and wander out of the room. Thea hurried after her, confused at the sudden departure with no warning. Did she see something? Did she manage to find the murder weapon?
“Sybil, did you find–”
“Shush,” the familiar responded, walking outside of the house and turning left on the sidewalk. “I need to focus.”
“Sheesh, okay,” Thea mumbled, pursuing the kitten as the two of them made their way through the dark streets.
Their only source of light were the street lamps, positioned sporadically throughout the area. She had to be careful not to lose sight of Sybil. If she looked away for too long, she risked losing the little thing completely.
After trailing the familiar for almost twenty minutes, Sybil squeezed underneath a metal fence and passed through. Thea let out a huff, realizing that she was going to have to hop over it instead.
“Where are we, Sybil?” she eventually asked, landing on her two feet on the other side of the fence. Taking a quick look around, she didn’t recognize the area. “I hope we didn’t go too far from home.”
“You wanted me to find the murder weapon, didn’t you?” Sybil asked, her eyes set on something in the distance. “I’m doing my best to find it.”
“You’re right, you’re right,” Thea conceded, keeping a close eye on the familiar. “Is it anywhere nearby?”
Before she knew it, Sybil’s eyes suddenly flashed brightly as she caught sight of an object glistening in the moonlight. Following her line of vision, Thea saw what she was staring at. In the darkness, it was difficult to see. Fortunately for them, the metal was polished enough to reflect light.
“That’s it, Sybil!” she gasped out, making her way towards the weapon.
She squatted down, observing it carefully. When she picked it up by the handle, she twisted it around in her hand a few times, trying to study it from all angles. It was a hobby knife, small and sharp. Even though it was cleaned of any blood, it fit the description of the weapon that Blaine described at the police station.
“You’re good at what you do,” Thea whispered out as Sybil rubbed herself on her legs.
“What can I say? I’m a natural at these things,” the kitten boasted, raising her chin a little higher. Then suddenly lifting her leg above her head to do some apparently necessary grooming.
Just as Thea was about to respond, a sudden beam of light directed towards her eyes blindsided her momentarily. She stumbled backwards, falling on her hiney. From somewhere beside her, she heard Sybil let out a small hiss. Her tail puffed out and she managed to slip away, leaving Thea to fend for herself. Thanks friend.
“Don’t move,” the voice ordered her brusquely.
She shielded her eyes with one hand, while the other was still firmly gripping onto the murder weapon.
Chapter 17
“You can’t be serious...” Thea grumbled to herself.
She didn’t know what else to do but sit there and wait for the person to reveal their identity. As her gaze shot down towards the hobby knife she was holding, she realized that taking it was a bad idea. Now, her fingerprints were all over the murder weapon.
Great thinking, Thea, she thought miserably. How was she going to talk her way out of this one?
Blinking a few times to get her sight readjusted to the flashlight, she tried to recognize the person coming towards her. She could feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest. A million different scenarios were racing through her head, and unfortunately, none of them were good for her.
Eventually, the flashlight shifted downwards and Thea met eyes with the man carrying a deep frown on his face. There was a mix of disappointment and confusion in his expression, with a small tint of anger. She gulped.
“What are you doing here, Thea?” Blaine asked, coming closer to her. “Do you know how suspicious this looks? Why are you in this yard in the middle of the night?”
She let out a short, awkward laugh as she held out the small knife. Opening her palm, she beckoned him to take it from her. After realizing what she had done, Blaine let out a heavy sigh.
“Do you know what this means?” he asked her seriously, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pair of gloves. “You just contaminated the evidence with your fingerprints. I’m gonna have to take you to the police station now.”
“Wait, hold on a second, I don’t want to do all that! I just... I just stumbled upon this knife!” Thea fumbled out her explanation and she could tell that Blaine wasn’t buying it in the slightest.
He shot her a look as he silently adjusted the rubber gloves on his hands. Afterwards, he pulled out a small plastic bag from one of his pockets and took the knife from her. He placed the weapon into the bag and marked it appropriately with a black marker.
“Why did you have to touch it?” he muttered, sticking the evidence within one of the inner compartments of his jacket. “Didn’t you tell me that you were going to stay out of this case? Why did you have to do all this? It just complicated things even more.”
Hearing his evident dissatisfaction with her sent a pang to her heart. She didn’t mean for any of this to happen. She was only trying to help.
“I’m sorry, Blaine,” she said softly with her eyes downcast. “I’m not lying, though. I managed to find that knife right now. I think that’s the one you’ve been looking for.”
“Yeah? And how am I going to explain your fingerprints that show up when they analyze the weapon?” Blaine replied, shaking his head. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid, Thea.”
Sighing, she managed to pull herself up onto her feet again and brushed off the debris that clung onto her pants. While doing so, she looked up at the unamused Blaine again, who had crossed his arms over his chest as he observed her actions.
“What were you doing here anyway? I thought I’d be the only person up this late into the night,” Thea said.
“An anonymous tip called in this evening. They didn’t say much, but they did mention that they saw something suspicious in Miranda Hoff’s yard. Some officers wanted to wait until tomorrow to come check it out, but I volunteered to do it myself.”
He glanced at Thea up and down.
“I think we can agree that it’s a good thing that I was the one who found you and not some other detective,” Blaine pointed out.
With a small nod, she agreed. “I guess so.” After taking a few seconds to internalize his words, her head shot upwards as she met his gaze again. “Wait, hold on. We’re in Miranda Hoff’s yard right now?”
Taking a brief glance at her surroundings, Thea was surprised that Sybil managed to lead her to Miranda’s address. In that case... what was the murder weapon doing in her yard? Her mind was beginning to race as she realized what that meant.
; “Well... yeah. That’s what the records show. This is her home,” Blaine said, motioning towards the house they stood beside. “I was kinda surprised to hear that tip, to be honest with you. I heard all of these allegations against her, but there was nothing solid to substantiate anything.”
Thinking back to her short encounter with Miranda earlier in the day, Thea was feeling as if all of this was way too convenient. First, she was spotted near the gazebo where Rebecca was killed. Of course, it was circumstantial, but it still looked suspicious on her part. Next, she bad mouthed Rebecca and revealed the true reason as to why she felt no sympathy towards the girl. That left a bitter taste in Thea’s mouth, to put things frankly.
Now, the murder weapon was found in her yard? For Thea, she was sensing that this was a red herring. It all seemed too calculated, as if someone was planning for this.
“Blaine, do you think it’s possible that someone is framing Miranda?” Thea asked. When he sent her a narrow-eyed look, she elaborated. “I mean, come on! Think about it. Who would leave the murder weapon out in the open, in their own yard? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Listen, Thea, I don’t know about all that. I’m not really thinking about all of those conspiracy theories. The only thing I know for sure is that you have to come with me to the police station. Right now.”
“Now? Wait, what for? What did I do?” Thea asked, concerned by the way Blaine began to escort her away, placing one of his hands on her shoulder.
“You touched the murder weapon,” he reminded her. “Maybe you have a point. Maybe Miranda is getting framed by someone who wants to see her arrested. Or maybe we finally solved the case and she’s the killer after all. But right now, you’re the only one in trouble here.”
Even though she wanted to argue, she decided against it. She had gotten entangled in this mess by herself. Dejected, she allowed Blaine to lead her to his parked police car. A night at the police station soon awaited her.
Familiar Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Series Book 1) Page 6
