by Rose Pressey
“I mean there were a bunch of customers just a few minutes ago and now there’s hardly anyone out there,” I said.
“Everyone already ate and left. It was a busy crowd, but we managed to get through it.”
I guessed I’d worked on the magic cake so much that I hadn’t noticed. “I guess I was in a zone,” I said.
“Apparently,” Mary Jane said.
“Well, I guess I’m ready then,” I said into the phone.
“I thought you might be,” Tom said.
He was making me suspicious. I got off the phone and placed the cake into the carrier.
“I suppose I’ll be headed to the other detectives now,” I said.
“Have you talked with Rory?”
“No. I left a message and sent a text but he’s not answering me,” I said as we stepped out into the dining area.
“That’s not very fair. He needs to let you explain,” she said.
“I’m hoping he will once he calms down a little bit.”
The bell on the door jingled and we turned our attention to see that Tom had walked in. I supposed the discussion of Rory was over for the time being.
“Are you all set?” Tom asked with a smile.
I picked up the container from the counter. “I have the cake. I hope it’s enough.”
“Well, as good as your cake is, I’m sure we’ll want to eat more than one slice, but we’ll just have to limit ourselves.”
“This is a crazy investigation,” Mary Jane said. “Eating cake to help find someone who’s disappeared.”
“It does sound strange now that you say it that way,” I said.
“Well, we have to eat Elly’s magic cake to open our minds to the clues that might solve the case,” Tom said.
I was glad that he had confidence in me, but it also made me nervous at the same time. He’d seen me when I was at my worst and yet he still thought I could handle this. Maybe he was delusional.
“Okay, call me if you need anything, Mary Jane,” I said.
“Just be careful. This makes me nervous,” Mary Jane said.
“If there’s any sign of Kris Kringle, then don’t let him back in and lock the door.” Tom warned.
Laura frowned. “Santa?”
“The strange man who was in the café. His name is Kris Kringle.”
Laura rolled her eyes. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. He couldn’t come up with anything better than that?”
“Yes, I assume he made up the name,” I said.
It had never even occurred to me that the mystery man might come back to the café. I guessed I’d assumed that since he had Mildred he would be out of town with her. What if he hurt her? I didn’t even want to think about that. What reason did he have for kidnapping her? Was there more to the story? I couldn’t wait for Tom to tell me everything.
“Maybe we should just close the café for now. I mean, lunchtime is over and maybe by the time dinner is here we will have found Mildred,” I said.
Maybe that was wishful thinking or just positive thinking, I didn’t know.
“You know, that might not be a bad idea,” Tom said.
“I guess Laura and I could go to my place or maybe go hang out somewhere for a while and wait until you call us to tell us what’s going on,” Mary Jane said.
“Whatever you do, just be safe,” I said.
We all walked out of the cafe and I locked the door behind us. I turned around to face Mary Jane and Laura. It was time for us to go our separate ways and that made me nervous.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I said.
“Don’t worry about us. We have to worry about you. You’re the one who’s going off with the detective to search for a missing woman.”
“And Kris Kringle could be after you,” Laura said.
I nodded. “I’ll be careful.”
“We need to hurry, Elly,” Tom said, motioning for me to join him at the car.
I hugged Mary Jane and Laura before heading off for Tom’s car. As I sat in the passenger seat I held the cake on my lap.
“I hope this works,” I said.
“You should have more faith in your spells,” he said as he pulled out onto the road.
“It’s just that this is a big undertaking,” I said.
“You’ve been a great asset to the National Organization of Magic for quite some time now.” Tom stopped at a red light.
“I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Just don’t do anything to change that,” Tom said.
“Oh, great. No pressure.” I blew the hair out of my eyes.
“What kind of spell did you go with?” Tom asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said, staring out the window to avoid his reaction.
“What do you mean, Elly?” A bit of apprehension sounded in his voice.
After a few seconds I knew I couldn’t avoid his scrutiny.
“Oh, it was just something I found in the book,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“How can you not know what kind of spell you’re giving us?”
Now he was panicking. It sounded as if he’d quickly lost trust in my magic skills.
“Well, I wasn’t sure what spell to use. Then the book just magically flipped to a page and it was like the book was telling me to use that spell. So I did. Was that a bad idea?”
Tom stared out at the street in front of us. Why wasn’t he saying anything?
“Are you mad at me?” I asked.
A chuckle escaped Tom’s lips. Next laughter filled the car.
I scowled. “What’s so funny?”
“Why shouldn’t I be surprised that you’re giving us an unknown spell? That’s what makes you Elly. Quirky and loveable Elly.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Loveable?”
“Yes, loveable,” Tom said in a serious tone.
I hadn’t expected for him to use the l word. Had Tom ever loved anyone before? Sure, he’d loved someone. His mother. What about friends? What about a girlfriend?
“Are you going to eat the cake?” I asked.
“If you eat it, I’ll eat it,” Tom said.
I tapped my fingers against the leather seat. “I’ll eat the cake. I’m not afraid.”
“I would never think you were afraid, Elly.” Tom stopped at another red light.
He was full of compliments today. Were they genuine or was he mocking me? The cottages came into view. Maybe I was a little afraid to eat the cake.
Chapter 10
Tom turned into the cottages. It wasn’t until that moment until I realized the full extent of how many detectives would show up. There must’ve been ten cars there.
“Do you think I made enough cake?” I asked.
“It’ll be enough. We’ll just eat a small piece. All it takes is a little,” he said.
I hoped he was right about that. After having him question my spellcasting, I worried now that I had made the wrong decision. And I really wanted the magic to work, but I had no clue what it was for. Was I confident enough to eat it? I supposed I was about to find out.
Tom parked the car and we got out, heading over to the cottage where a few detectives stood in front of the open door. Other detectives were busy talking to each other, searching the area, or talking on their phones. I felt kind of awkward walking up to strangers with this spicy double chocolate cake in my hands. I hoped they knew that magic was in the food.
They eyed me up and down as I approached. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. I was more nervous than ever, worried about what would happen when they took a bite of the cake. I hoped Tom knew what he was doing, not to mention me.
Two men with short dark hair wore dark suits just like Tom and the other guy had blond hair. The men were all probably in their late thirties.
“Lenny, Edward, and Conrad, I’d like for you to meet Elly.” Tom gestured.
The looks on their faces let me know that Tom had talked about me in the past. What exactly had he told them? I bet they had heard all the stories about my fa
iled magic. Which would make them even more reluctant to take a bite of the cake.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I said.
“Pleasure to meet you too,” they said in unison.
“I brought cake,” I said, holding up the container to show off my work.
How awkward was this scene? It was as if we were celebrating Mildred’s disappearance by eating cake. But what other food option could I have made? Maybe muffins would’ve been better. Oh, well. It was too late to worry about that now. At least I had remembered to bring disposable forks and napkins. And a plastic knife to cut the thing with. Otherwise we would’ve just been digging in with our hands. What a mess that would’ve been.
I was unorganized and unprepared a lot of times but when it came to food, I kind of had a handle on things. Although that definitely hadn’t been the case when I’d first arrived at the café. I’d always thought I’d taken after my mother because she wasn’t good in the kitchen. But my grandmother was fantastic. Now I realized maybe I had a little bit more of her abilities than I had thought.
“So that cake has magic for us?” Lenny asked.
“And what will the magic do?” Conrad asked.
Oh, no, again someone asking about the magic. Just eat the cake and trust me, was what I felt like saying. But that would’ve been kind of rude, so I bit my tongue. “It will help us hopefully find Mildred.” All of a sudden it popped in my head, as if I knew exactly what the spell was for. “It will allow us to see the things that she did right before she went missing.”
“That sounds pretty good to me,” Edward said.
I pulled out the napkins and started handing them out while Tom held the cake. Next came the forks. No more putting this off. Now I had the knife that would cut this delicious dessert. I sliced into the moist chocolate cake.
“That looks delicious.” Tom took his finger and scooped up some of the icing that had dripped over the edge of the plate. He licked his finger.
“I don’t care what kind of spell is in it, I have to have that cake,” Conrad said.
I laughed. “I hope everything works out okay.”
“Did I miss something?” Edward asked. “Are you sure that spell is okay?”
“It’s perfect,” I said. “I mean, I’m fantastic with magic.”
I almost laughed when I said it because he knew the truth. He would know I was being a bit facetious. If Tom had mentioned my bad start to the spellcasting, then he would be perfectly fine with what I’d said.
I sliced up slivers of the cake so that we would all have enough. But then I thought would that be enough of the spell to help with anything? We were about to find out. I handed out the pieces of cake. After putting the container back in the car, I had my own slice of cake. Was Tom waiting for me to take the first bite? I had a pretty good amount of cake and I couldn’t say I was all that eager to get a bigger slice.
They stood staring at me. Were they seriously waiting for me to take the first bite? I supposed they were waiting for me.
“Okay, here goes,” I said, taking a bite of the moist dessert.
They watched with wide eyes. I swallowed and then said, “That was delicious. See, I’m fine.”
Tom couldn’t wait any longer. He ate his in two bites. And then the other detectives followed.
“How long will it take before this spell works?” Lenny asked.
“I hope it’s right away,” I said. “But I’m not an expert on that.”
“We should sense something within ten minutes,” Tom said.
“What do we do in the meantime?” I asked.
I hoped that this wasn’t all Tom wanted me to do. I wanted to help. More than baking the cake.
“We’ve searched, but all we’ve found is her fingerprints. Any other things we’ve found don’t seem to be related to Mildred’s disappearance.”
“She didn’t know anyone else in town,” I said. “Did you talk to anyone? Meet anyone?”
“Nothing that we can find. We checked her phone but there’s nothing that would help identify where she went, not even a call,” Tom said.
“It looks like the last call was to Tom. Right before he picked her up and they went to the café,” Conrad said.
“We need to go back over to the hotel and see if the owner has any video for us yet,” I said.
Tom looked at his gold wristwatch. “Yes, we do need to get back over there. I need to give the rest of the detectives cake, and I want to check a couple things first.”
With so many detectives here, I’d probably never meet them all.
“I’ll hang around out here until you’re finished.” I gestured.
He smiled. “It won’t be long.”
I didn’t really want to wait in the car until he finished up. I supposed I could take a little stroll around the property. Maybe I would see something that they’d missed. Like what, I didn’t know, but nonetheless I’d try.
I walked back around the side of the cottage to the window where earlier I’d slipped into the cottage. It seemed like a long time ago now. I scanned the area wondering where Kris Kringle had stood. He had to have come here just like he’d been at my place. Had he sneaked up on her or come through the window? Had she really gone with him or met him at the hotel? I had a lot of questions and I needed answers.
I turned around to head back toward the car when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A piece of paper rested underneath a nearby holly bush. I reached out to pick up the folded paper. A bit of dirt smudged the front. I wasn’t sure how long it had been there. I unfolded the paper and read the words. Right away I knew what it was—a magic spell. I had no idea what the magic was for or who had written it, but it was definitely for magic.
I hurried back around to the front of the cottage so that I could show Tom. It was possibly something of significance because of the magic spell. Sure, someone else with magic could’ve been around here, but what were the odds that Mildred was staying here and a magic spell would be found? It had to have something to do with her disappearance. Some weird magical stuff was going on, I just knew it. But what? And did the strange man have anything to do with it? Why was he coming around? What did he have to do with the magic?
Once in front of the cottage, I scanned the area for Tom, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
“Where’s Tom?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Lenny said. “Hold on, I’ll get him.”
Again I paced around near the front of the cottage. A few seconds later Tom walked from the side of the cottage. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” I said. “Well, I’m not sure.”
I handed Tom the paper.
“What’s this?” Tom asked.
“I found it underneath the bush on the side of the cottage.”
Tom unfolded the paper. After reading it he looked at me. “A magic spell.”
“Do you know what it means?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ve never seen this spell before. Can you show me exactly where you found it?”
“It was right over there by the window.” I pointed.
Tom and I headed around the cottage and stopped in front of the holly bush. This was very near where the window was that I had crawled in.
“Do you think the man left it?”
“I don’t know but we’re going to check for fingerprints.”
“I have to know what that spell means.”
“I wouldn’t suggest actually using the spell. Not until you figure out what it is. It could be something bad,” Tom said.
“Yes, I suppose it could.”
I still wanted to know what it was for. How would I ever find out?
“We should get over to the hotel,” Tom said.
“Yeah, we should leave,” I said, giving the area one last scan.
I had hoped I’d find something else, but nothing else stood out to me. Everything seemed normal.
“The spell in the cake doesn’t seem to be working. Have you n
oticed anything?” Tom asked.
I sighed. “Yes, I noticed. I guess I don’t have such a great magical touch after all.”
“We all have our off moments,” Tom said.
“Some more than others.”
Embarrassment rushed through me. I’d messed up at one of the most critical times. In front of Tom and the other detectives too. Now he’d probably never ask for my help again.
Chapter 11
Tom and I got into the car to head over to the hotel. I held the paper in my hand as if somehow, I would figure it out by clutching it tightly. I even stared at it briefly. Maybe me finding this was part of the magic spell with the cake. I’d thought we’d see what Mildred saw, but maybe instead the spell allowed me to find this paper. Yes, that was probably it. Maybe my spell hadn’t been a failure after all. Then again, the detectives had found nothing. The spell hadn’t worked for them. I stared at the paper again, hoping more would come to me.
Tom pulled out onto the road. The silence was too much. I couldn’t allow him to think that my spell had failed miserably.
“Do you think the spell worked to help me find the paper?” I asked.
“Sure, I think we’ve been having bits and pieces come to us, so yes, that’s exactly what the spell was supposed to do, right?”
“Yes, but I feel like maybe everyone’s disappointed. You all expected me to have some spell that would magically make us find her within minutes.”
“What makes you think that?” Tom asked. “I would never think that. We all know that’s not the way that it works. I wish it was, but it’s just not.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I guess I was just having a bit of self-doubt for a moment.”
“Well, you have a lot of that and I think maybe you should stop,” Tom said.
“That’s easier said than done.”
“You should give it a try.” Tom grinned.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
Up ahead the hotel came into view. Automatically that brought back thoughts of Rory. And the fact that he hadn’t returned my calls or messages. How long would he be upset with me? Maybe this would be the end for us. Would he break up with me because of this? Surely he would give me a chance to explain before he did something that drastic. Tom pulled into the hotel parking lot by the front lobby door. We got out of the car. My phone rang after just a couple steps. Rory’s picture popped onto the screen.
