After parting ways with Polly, I left Skili and Blueberry in the lobby. I gave Skili strict instructions to keep an eagle eye on our little charge. Then I hurried to the massage studio. I had booked massages from ten to two for both Margie and me.
Because the intention behind my center is to facilitate healing on a deep level, I offered massages to the guests. My internal guidance (and Skili) had instructed me again and again that one component of healing was body work. I learned that processing old traumas, through body work, could help beings become more magical.
My magical dreamcatcher necklace felt warm against my heart as I worked on kinks and knots in the guests who had signed up. Though I was in the midst of an investigation, I let all of that fall away and became consumed by the work right in front of me. All of my energy went towards flowing love and light into my guests.
Once the work was done, I emerged from the massage studio in a dreamlike state, thanks to all the energy that had moved through me. It took a little while to get grounded again, and as I did, details of the murder investigation started crowding my mind.
Polly doesn’t get along with The Miser, I thought. Who else has a grievance against him? Maybe his brother? It was time to talk to the next suspect on my list: King Midas.
A quick lap around the second floor informed me that King Midas and The Miser were in the middle of giving a lecture to guests.
I checked my phone and saw texts from Annie and Penny. Both were wondering how I was doing with the workshop and the investigation, and both offered to help.
Penny suggested an emergency meeting, and I agreed that it would be a good idea.
It was Annie’s idea to meet under the almost-full moon, that evening at nine. She said the moon would give us some support for magic-working, and Penny and I agreed that it would be best. Cora was out of town, so we all knew she wouldn’t make it. Penny also added that our other witch sister, Azure, would be unable to attend. She’d taken off for the Air Realm just that morning for a birthday party.
Over dinner, I did my best to engage King Midas in meaningful conversation about his feelings toward The Miser, but my attempts went nowhere. It seemed that King Midas wanted to talk about anything except his history with his brother—including my money troubles, which I didn’t want to talk about at all.
I didn’t even want to think about them.
At 8:30, I herded Skili and Blueberry to my van, loaded Blueberry up, and headed into town to pick up Annie. Skili flew next to the van. Annie hopped in with her lynx, Ralph, and then all of us cruised to Penny’s mansion. A column of smoke alerted us to the fact that she had a bonfire going in the backyard, and we circled around the house until we reached it.
Penny was dressed all in black, which I knew meant that she was in business mode. She was ready to work magic! She also had a bag of marshmallows in one hand, and she was pulling one free. Her cheeks were puffed out, like a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts. She chewed while she lifted the bag and waved it at us in greeting. Then she said, “Hi guys!” before popping another marshmallow in her mouth.
I saw her cast iron cauldron was resting on a grate over the fire. A little table nearby had some magic-crafting supplies, including a bag of hibiscus petals, a blood orange, a lute, and a jar of honey. I also spotted a box of graham crackers and a few chocolate bars.
“Is this an emergency meeting or a s’mores party?” Annie asked with a smile and a laugh as she walked up to Penny and gave her a hug.
“Can’t it be both?” Penny asked, patting Annie on the back. The two separated and Penny walked up to me and gave me a hug.
We held each other tight for a moment. Penny’s always been my best friend. She has a way of lightening my mood, no matter what is going on. I was smiling by the time we parted.
“I’ll totally take one,” I said.
“Great!” Penny said. “Here’s a stick. And one for you, Annie.” She passed them out.
“I hope you didn’t have to venture too far into the woods to get these, Penny dear,” Annie said as she spared the marshmallow that Penny handed her. “I heard the warning that the police put out on the radio. They suspect a wanted criminal is out in the forest around town somewhere, and they said everyone should be very careful.”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that!” Penny said. “Some felon escaped from prison out past Melrose and they think he hiked here to Hillcrest and shot Old Two-Cats.”
I shook my head. “Guys, I’m pretty sure they’re on the wrong track with their escaped convict theory. I don’t think that escapee has anything to do with Old Two-Cats' death.”
“Ah yes,” Annie said. “Penny was telling me about your theory. You think Two-Cats was killed by mistake, and the victim was supposed to be your guest?”
We all stuck our marshmallows over the flames. “Yeah,” I said. “Which kind of stinks, because it means we can’t fill the cops in on what we know. They just won’t get it, since it has to do with magic.”
“You said in your text that you were going to question Polly,” Penny said. “How did it go?”
I sighed. “I don’t know how to judge these things. It went well enough, but it’s not like I had a sudden revelation about who the killer is or anything.”
Annie pulled her marshmallow out, checked it up close, and then stuck it back over the fire. “Do you think it could be Polly?” she asked me.
“I guess,” I said. “She does have a motive for wanting The Miser dead. It turns out that even though King Midas can technically touch items and make them into gold, the authorities in his realm put a cap on what he can make that way. So The Miser helps him invest his money. They have some kind of peanut operation going on.”
“Yum! Peanuts!” Penny said happily. Her marshmallow burst into flames, and she muttered, “Crap,” under her breath before pulling it out and blowing it out.
I continued. “The Miser is like, some kind of financial advisor for King Midas. He keeps a very tight eye on the budget, and only allows Polly to spend a very limited amount. I think that could be enough motive for her to want him dead. Maybe she’s tired of living under such a strict budget. Maybe she figures with The Miser out of the picture, she’ll have more access to King Midas' money.”
“How very sad,” Annie said. “To think a person would allow money to cloud their judgement like that, and get in the way of love in such a way. Tsk, tsk.” She shook her head while slowly rotating her marshmallow high above the flames.
Penny nodded in agreement. “Greed can be a powerful motivator,” she said with a nod. “Nice work, Marley. I think you’re onto something. And if we believe that the killer is someone who is close to The Miser, that means we have two more suspects to question.”
“Two more?” Annie said.
Penny nodded, and held up three fingers. “There are three beings at the retreat center that are close to The Miser. Polly, King Midas, and June. Marley talked to the wife, Polly. That means we’ve got two more suspects to question. Maybe we should divide and conquest. You know—like, one of us—”
“Divide and conquer, dear,” Annie interjected. Since Cora and Azure weren’t around, I guess she felt that she had to fill in.
I chimed in. “But wait a sec—Penny, what do you mean if we believe the killer is someone close to The Miser. Didn’t you say that was certain? So why did you say ‘if?’” My marshmallow was perfectly golden, so I extracted it and then went about gathering graham crackers and chocolate.
“Well, nothing’s ever certain when it comes to crimes,” Penny said. “Investigations don’t just march along in a steady straight line. Sometimes there are twists and turns. Unexpected things come up. And sometimes clues can even be misleading. I mean, Marley, think about all the Sherlock Holmes shows we’ve watched together! There’s always, like, this one clue that kind of throws the whole investigation off. I think it’s called a Red Earring.”
Turkey, who was perched on the table of magical supplies, gave a loud meow.
Penny
looked over at him. “Red herring,” she said. “Whatever. You see my point.”
“I do...” I said thoughtfully. “And that reminds me... There’s this guy that I met last night... He was the last one in the lobby, and he was playing this really beautiful song on the piano.” I took the first glorious bite of my s’more. It was sugary, gooey, and perfect. I licked my lips with pleasure and recalled the sweet sound of Hal’s piano music.
“Oooh!” Penny said, wiggling her eyebrows in my direction.
I couldn’t help but blush a little bit as I took another bite.
“Now, now,” Annie said. “Penny, just because Marley liked this fellow’s piano music, doesn’t mean she’s attracted to him.”
“Well, actually...” I said. “I am. He’s really handsome.”
Annie eyed me. “I thought you were going to wait for Justin’s return? He’s such a nice young man, Marley, and he loves you.”
“I know,” I said. My wise old friend’s words made me feel guilty. Justin and I had technically broken up before he departed for his tour. He wanted to give me space, so that our relationship wouldn’t influence my decision about whether or not to move to the Spirit Realm. Sarin insisted that I would be happiest there, and she said that Justin was one of the reasons why I felt so tethered to the Earth Realm. She said that without him around, I’d be able to make a truer decision.
I was pretty sure that Sarin thought that in Justin’s absence, I might be more tempted to book a stay—maybe even permanently—at the Lazy S Inn. And so far, her tactic was working. Without Justin around to distract me and keep me company, my mind turned more often toward how relaxing and peaceful a stay at the Lazy S Inn would be.
Before Justin left, he’d made it clear to me that he would return to Hillcrest. Both of us knew that at that point, we could decide if we wanted to be together again. And if we did, it might be for life.
“I still love Justin,” I said. “I really do. But I miss him, and a year is a long time, and. I don’t know, there was just something about this guy...”
“Tell us!” Penny said excitedly. She finished up with her marshmallow and began creating her own messy s’more. When she bit in, she got a smear of chocolate on her cheek and she didn’t bother wiping it off.
“Well, there’s something mysterious about him,” I said. “Which could be a bad thing. I mean, maybe he’s involved in Old Two-Cats' death. I had the strange sense that he was hiding something from me when we spoke.”
“Maybe he’s a hired assassin!” Penny said with excitement.
“Or, maybe he’s just a nice young man who was nervous about talking to a beautiful, talented young woman with such a big heart,” Annie said, with a kind smile in my direction. “Marley, dear, perhaps what you picked up on was just the man’s nerves.”
“Yeah, that could be,” I said softly. I munched on a few more bites of my treat as I thought over the conversation I’d had with Hal. I remembered the awareness in his gaze, and the sense that his words didn’t align with his energy.
Why?
Was he acting sketchy because he was involved in the murder?
“My witch senses are tingling,” I told my friends.
“Or your hunky musician senses,” Penny said with a laugh. “Either way, something is tingling!”
I rolled my eyes.
“What’s this young man’s name?” Annie asked. “It sounds like we’d better take a closer look at him. Maybe we should add him to our suspect list.”
“I’m sure Marley wants to take a closer look at him,” Penny teased. She elbowed me, and I elbowed her back. Then I polished off the last of my s’more, licked my fingers appreciatively, and said, “Hal Holt. That’s his name.”
“I’m going to look him up,” Penny said. “I want to see a picture... see if he’s all that and a side of fries.”
I felt a giddy sensation in the pit of my stomach as Penny hurried over to her cauldron. I was actually excited to learn more about Hal, and most of all to see some pictures of him. I wondered if Penny and Annie would think he was as cute as I did.
We gathered around the cauldron, which was filled with water that we could use for the Love Spell later on in the evening—once the hard work of talking boys and eating melted marshmallows was done, of course.
Penny did the scrying for us. Ever since Skili taught me the art, all of my witch sisters and I do it quite often. It turns out, it’s very handy. I’d looked up everything from how to cast spells to details about the guest speakers I hoped to one day invite to my center.
At first, I just saw the reflected night sky in the water, complete with a wobbly white moon and a few pinpoint, twinkling stars. Then, Penny started trailing her finger over the surface of the water, which made the reflection give way to a shimmery white screen with text on it.
“Hal...” she said, and then, “how do you spell his last name?”
“H-O-L-T, I’m guessing,” I said.
“Hm...” Penny shook her head. “I’m not seeing that. Is there another way to spell it?”
We fumbled around for a while, searching for Hal Holt. We tried all kinds of alternate spellings, but nothing popped up, which left me feeling stumped and unsettled.
I bit my lip. The Record Keeper Reviews was supposed to have a record for every being, place, and event in the magical universe. It seemed impossible to me that the man I’d met the night before, who was at my retreat center at that very moment, wasn’t on the Record Keeper Reviews.
“This is really weird,” I murmured. “Did he give me a fake name or something? Why would he do that?”
Annie furrowed her brow. “Oh dear. Maybe he is involved in the murder,” she said.
“Assassin!” Penny called out. “I knew it! This guy probably gave Mar a fake name so that he could get on with his super-secret assassin business! And now he’s down at the retreat center, probably trying to figure out how to get at The Miser, since his first attempt didn’t work.”
“But he’s so handsome, and seemed so nice,” I said, my shoulders sagging.
“Have another s’more,” Penny offered, swinging the marshmallow bag in my direction. “And forget about that guy. I will not allow you to have a crush on an assassin. It’s wrong.”
I shook my head at the marshmallows. I really was feeling disappointed about Hal. I wanted to see pictures of him, and learn some of his background. I didn’t expect his absence on the Record Keeper Reviews site, which really did suggest that he’d given me a fake name. Why? Could he really be involved in the murder case?
“He has really nice eyes,” I said softly, more to myself than to my friends.
“Eyes can be deceiving,” Penny said. “My mom used to vote for presidents according to how nice their eyes were. And then some of the guys she voted for did some really crazy things. We’re talking war. So I don’t know if we can really base judgements of character on eyes alone.”
“Let’s try to figure out something else about him,” Annie suggested.
“How?” I asked.
“I know!” Penny waved her hand with excitement. “Let’s cast a Location Spell, and see what he’s up to now!”
My eyes lit up. I had to admit, Penny’s suggestion sounded like fun.
But then I had second thoughts. “Isn’t that an invasion of privacy?” I said. “If Cora and Azure were here, I feel that one of them would give us some sort of lecture about... I don’t know the ethics of something or other. What if Hal’s in the shower or something?”
“But they’re not here,” Annie said with a twinkle in her eye.
Penny jumped in. “And we don’t even know if his name is really Hal. Seems like he lied to you about that, so what else did he lie about? What if he’s about to kill The Miser? “
She had a point. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do a Location Spell. I just seriously hope he’s not in the shower.”
“Yeah right,” Penny said with a laugh.
I blushed again. Penny drew a square in the air with her
pointer finger.
I stepped in next to her, so that I could see the square of air clearly. Annie huddled in on the other side. Even our familiars gathered in closer. They seemed to be curious, too. Skili felt heavy and reassuring on my shoulder.
I watched with anticipation as Penny spoke the magical word under her breath, and then the air started to shimmer. Faint, almost imperceptible swirling colors appeared. The colors morphed into blobs of form. I picked up on a figure. As the image became clearer, I felt a wave of relief. It was Hal—or whatever his name was—and he was lying in bed, on top of the covers, fully dressed, reading a book. He was wearing the same jeans and white button up that I’d spotted him in earlier that day. Yes, I’d had my eye out for him, even while trying to talk to King Midas. The book was a thick paperback.
“He is handsome!” Penny squealed.
“Looks like he’s in his room, not out assassinating anyone,” I said to Penny with a grin.
“Not right now,” Penny said. “But who knows what he’ll be up to later.”
Annie spoke up. “Girls, I suggest we get to work on our spell casting. We decided to cast the Love Spell tonight, isn’t that right?”
Penny and I nodded, and the image before us faded as we retracted our attention.
For the next hour, my witch sisters and I went about casting the Love Spell. We figured that strengthening the energy of love could help us solve the case. We weren’t sure it would, but it seemed like a good shot—of all the spells, the Love Spell seemed to be the one that was most helpful in general. We’d had great success with it in the past. As our magic working wrapped up, I felt hopeful. It was good to convene with my sisters and remind myself that I wasn’t up against a murderer on my own.
I thanked my witchy sisters for the reminder, and we did a lot of hugging. Then it was time for another round of s’mores under the starlight.
It was eleven by the time I dropped off Annie and Ralph. Back at the center, I noticed that the lights were off in the lobby. A few squares of golden yellow light glowed from the third story, indicating that some of the guests were still up. I gazed at them as I walked Blueberry around the lot for her potty break. I wondered who was up, and of course this meant that my mind turned to Hal.
King Midas' Magic Page 6
