A Heap of Truffles

by Wendy Meadows

  “I have some leftover meatloaf. Would you like some sandwiches? We could sit on the beach and eat them.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” said Margaret.

  David made up the picnic dinner and they went to the beach. They sat on a blanket and watched the sun set. What a lovely night, thought Margaret.

  When they were done eating, and after the sun had gone down, they took the blanket back to David’s house.

  “That was a wonderful dinner,” said Margaret.

  “Just leftovers,” said David.

  “Yeah, but they were delicious leftovers,” said Margaret.

  “Thank you,” said David. He gave her a hug.

  “I should get home,” said Margaret. “I have to start working on my new case.”

  David laughed. “Drive safely,” he said. He walked Margaret to her car. She got in and he leaned over and kissed her goodnight. There is that tingle again, thought Margaret happily. She started her car and drove home.

  6

  The next morning, Margaret went over some business details for the day with Zach, over breakfast. “I think I might leave the store for a bit today. Would you be able to stay a few hours after lunch?”

  “Sure,” said Zach. “What are you going to be doing?”

  “I thought I would go to check out the Santiago house and take a look around. I might try to meet with Michael and his mother, too.”

  “That sounds like a good plan,” said Zach. “Michael should be at his mother’s today. I don’t think the coach expects him to be in for practice after what happened.”

  “They have practice in the summer?” Margaret asked.

  “Yes. The coach wants them to be ready to go as soon as school starts,” said Zach.

  “Do they practice all day?” asked Margaret.

  “No, I think it’s a half day,” said Zach.

  “Oh, so when Michael found his father it was after practice,” Margaret said.

  “Probably,” said Zach. “That or tutoring.”

  “Tutoring? In the summer?” asked Margaret.

  “Yeah. Sometimes Michael sees Ms. Ness-Scott. She teaches art at the high school. She offered to work with him a couple of days a week. He’s a good artist and might want to do it professionally. She tutors other kids at the high school, too.”

  “Interesting,” said Margaret.

  “Do you have his cell phone number?” Zach asked.

  Margaret checked her phone. “Yes. He included it with his email. Poor kid. It’s horrible he had to find his father like that.”

  “Yeah, but Michael is tough. I think he’ll find a way to get through this. Especially if you find something out.”

  “Well, I’ll certainly do my best,” said Margaret.

  They finished their coffee and drove to the candy shop in separate cars. Margaret stopped at the grocery store and the hobby store on the way in. When she got to the shop, Zach had already opened the store. Patty was going to be in around ten, so Margaret took her shopping bags to the back. She got out a double boiler and started to melt the white chocolate. She poured some red food coloring into the chocolate. After it was melted, Margaret poured it into the molds she had bought from the hobby store. Once she had the chocolate poured she stuck the molds in the refrigerator.

  By then it was after ten and Patty was helping Zach in the front of the store. Margaret heard the bell ring, and Zach and Patty saying good morning to someone. Margaret stepped out from the back and saw David. She smiled at him, and he walked over and gave her a peck on the cheek.

  “Make sure no one sees us,” Margaret teased.

  David rolled his eyes. They had just started dating and David didn’t want anyone on the force knowing. He was concerned that people would see it as unprofessional since he and Margaret sometimes worked together. Margaret understood, but it could cause confusion sometimes. That was why they just met for lunch or coffee at the café. It wasn’t a date, just a friendly meeting. David was always looking over his shoulder to make sure no one from the department saw them holding hands or kissing. Margaret thought it was probably why he hadn’t invited her over until last night. Margaret smiled thinking about the impromptu picnic. She took David’s hand and pulled him to the back of the store. Then gave him a proper kiss and they sat down.

  “Have you heard anything back from the lab about the note?” asked Margaret.

  “Yes. Unfortunately, whoever did this must have used gloves. There were no fingerprints besides yours and Zach’s on the note.”

  “Darn it,” said Margaret. “I was hoping we would catch a break.”

  “I haven’t heard back about a preliminary cause of death for José Santiago yet. I’ll come by and let you know as soon as I hear anything.”

  “Well, I might be out. I’m going to try to meet with Michael today,” said Margaret. She left out the part about going to José Santiago’s house. She didn’t want David to worry.

  “Okay,” David said. “I’ll call you if I hear anything.”

  “Thanks,” said Margaret.

  “No problem. Well, I have to get back to work. What smells so good back here?”

  “A new candy I’m trying. I’ll bring some around to the department later.”

  “Great,” said David, with a mock frown. “I’ll have to share with everyone.”

  “Well, if you would just tell people we are dating you wouldn’t have to share,” teased Margaret. David started to protest but Margaret kissed him.

  “I understand why you don’t want people to know,” she reassured David.

  “Okay,” said David. “As long as you’re not hurt by it.”

  “Not at all,” said Margaret. “Besides, it’s kind of like being teenagers again and having to sneak around.”

  David laughed. He gave Margaret a hug and moved to the front of the store. Margaret followed and gave him a small bag of candy.

  “This is for your desk. Your own private stash,” she said with a wink. David laughed and thanked her. After he left, Margaret returned to the back of the store. She dialed Michael’s number but there was no answer. She left a message asking him to call her to set up a meeting. Margaret walked out to the front of the store, where Patty was helping a customer. Zach was rearranging the candy on one of the shelves.

  “I think I’ll go and take a look around now,” Margaret told Zach.

  “Okay,” said Zach. “Be careful, Mom.”

  “I will,” Margaret promised.

  Back in her car, she turned on the radio and drove over to José Santiago’s house. The front door had police tape across it but it was unlocked. Margaret took a furtive look behind her, ducked under the tape, and walked inside. She walked down the hall and looked in the kitchen. There was nothing to see but a pile of unopened presents on the table. She went into the living room and saw all the candles and the markings on the floor. The burnt paper was not there. Must be at the lab, she thought. Margaret walked around and let out a low whistle. The candles were everywhere. Margaret took some pictures of the crime scene and went back outside. Her phone rang. It was Michael. They agreed to meet in a couple of hours at the café. Margaret drove back to the candy shop and called David. She informed him of her meeting later that day with Michael.

  “I’ll stop by at closing and you can tell me about the meeting while I walk you to your car,” David said.

  “You had better watch out. People might start to talk,” teased Margaret.

  Margaret checked the candy in the refrigerator. It was almost ready to have the filling piped in. Margaret got some strawberries out of the refrigerator. She removed the tops and cut them up with sugar. She set a pot on medium and started cooking the fruit. While the strawberries were cooking Margaret thought about the crime scene. She was convinced something was not quite right. Her town was quaint and quiet. It was a small town not prone to anything exciting like a devil-worshiping cult. Pulling out her phone, Margaret looked at the pictures again. She had an idea.

  “Zach,” she called t
o the front of the store. “Where’s your laptop?”

  “It’s here by the register,” Zach said. Margaret walked out and asked if she could borrow it.

  “Sure,” said Zach. “Let me unlock it first.”

  Margaret took the unlocked laptop into the back room and set it on the table. She pulled out her phone and transferred the pictures to the laptop. While they were transferring she stirred the strawberries and turned down the heat. Once the photographs were finished Margaret uploaded them and did a Google image search. Nothing came up for the first couple but there was a hit on the third picture. The third picture had the candles, sofa, and markings in it.

  Margaret gasped when she saw the image the computer had picked up. It was almost a direct match to the crime scene. Margaret looked at the website of the matching picture and saw it was a scene from a movie that had come out the previous year. Margaret sent the image to her phone. She walked over to the stove and turned off the homemade filling. Margaret heard a noise behind her.

  “That movie gave witches a bad name,” said Patty, looking at Zach’s computer screen.

  “What do you mean?” asked Margaret, a bit shocked. She didn’t think Patty would have been interested, let alone seen a movie about a devil-worshiping cult.

  “I just mean that most witches are good witches,” she said.

  “You do know there are no such things as witches,” said Margaret.

  “Absolutely untrue,” said Patty.

  “What do you mean?” asked Margaret.

  “Well, I know quite a few in this area and we only promote good spells,” said Patty smiling.

  Margaret stared at her. “We?”

  “Yes. I’m a witch,” said Patty.

  Margaret gasped and sat down in a chair by the table.

  “Is everything okay, dear?” asked Patty. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m okay,” said Margaret. “I’m just having a little trouble processing what you just said. Did Zach fill you in on what’s been happening here and around town?”

  “No. What’s been going on?” asked Patty.

  Margaret filled her in on both the note and the crime scene.

  Patty gasped. “Oh no. That is black magic. We don’t do anything like that,” she said. “Black magic is evil. We only try to help people.”

  “Okay,” said Margaret, still trying to wrap her head around Patty being a witch.

  “We’re having a meeting tomorrow night. You should join us. Then you can see just what it is we do,” said Patty.

  Margaret thought about it. Since there were local witches it might be a good idea to see who they were. She agreed.

  “We’re meeting at my house tomorrow night at eight,” said Patty. “I hope you’ll be there.”

  “I will,” said Margaret.

  Patty walked over to the stove and tasted the filling. “This tastes delicious. Would you like me to pull it off the heat?”

  “Sure,” said Margaret. Patty pulled the pan off the burner.

  “I’m going to lunch. Do you want me to bring anything back for you?” Patty asked.“No thanks, I’ll be running out in a bit myself,” said Margaret.

  “Okay,” said Patty. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Margaret laughed to herself. It’s amazing how many new things you can learn from someone you thought you knew, she thought as she got up to check the filling. It would have to cool completely before she could pipe it into the chocolates. While she waited, Margaret decided to pay David a visit. She walked to the front of the store where there were a few customers so she helped Zach wait on them. After the small rush died down Margaret told Zach she would be back in a few minutes.

  “Okay,” said Zach. “Could you pick me up something to eat?”

  “Sure,” said Margaret. She walked to her car and drove to the police station. Margaret walked in and said hello to Cindy.

  “He’s right in his office. I think the door is open. You can just go on back if you like,” Cindy said.

  “Sure,” said Margaret, and waited for Cindy to buzz her in. Margaret walked down the hallway to David’s office.

  “Hello,” she said, sticking her head in his door.

  “Hey,” said David, smiling and getting up from behind his desk. “What brings you here?”

  “I discovered something about the case and I wanted to share it with you,” said Margaret.

  “Okay,” said David. “Let me shut the door and we can talk about it. Hold my calls please,” David called out to Cindy.

  “Will do,” she said.

  David shut the door and gave Margaret a hug. She giggled and they sat down.

  “So what did you want to show me?” asked David.

  “Well, I went to the crime scene this morning,” began Margaret.

  “You what?” asked David a bit loudly.

  “Shush. You know I needed to see the crime scene in person if I’m going to actually be any help to you with this investigation,” she said.

  “Okay, that is true,” he said. “But it’s still illegal. I wish you would have told me and I could have had an officer there to watch out for you. If you’d been caught in there otherwise you’d have been in serious trouble.”

  “It worked out fine,” said Margaret. “Anyway, that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I took some pictures and uploaded them on Zach’s computer. Look what I found.” She showed David the movie scene on her phone.

  David’s eyebrows rose.

  “Wow, that is interesting,” he said.

  “Yeah. Now we know someone set this up to make it look like a devil-worshiping cult,” said Margaret.

  “That is some great detective work,” said David. “By the way, the lab came back with cause of death.”

  “What was it?” asked Margaret.

  “José was poisoned. He consumed some deadly nightshade. Evidently he ate some of the berries. Remember those marks around his lips?”

  “Wow, that’s awful,” said Margaret.

  “Now that we know how this happened, we just need to find out who did it,” said David.

  “Well, there is one more thing you should know,” said Margaret. She was going to wait to tell David about the local coven of witches, but she figured he would get angry with her if he found out she had withheld more information from him.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Patty is a witch,” Margaret said with a straight face. David just stared at her. Margaret started to smile a little and then started laughing.

  “Oh good,” said David. “I knew you had to be joking. After the note, though, it’s not funny.”

  “Actually I’m not joking,” said Margaret, getting control of her laughter. “It was the look on your face I was laughing at. Anyway, Patty told me this morning. There is a group of women here who are good witches. They get together and do things to help people.”

  David stared at her again. “Are you nuts?”

  “I’m totally serious. Patty invited me to one of their meetings tomorrow night. I told her I would go,” said Margaret.

  “I’m going with you,” said David. “I don’t want you walking into something dangerous.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine. Besides, you would stick out like a sore thumb. If it makes you feel better I can call you after the meeting and let you know what happened,” said Margaret.

  “I think I’ll wait at your place until you get home if that is okay with you,” said David.

  Margaret sighed. “Okay, fine.”

  “I’ll even cook,” said David.

  “That’s better,” Margaret teased.

  “Okay. Will Zach be at the house?” asked David.

  “Probably,” said Margaret.

  “Good. I’ll make enough for everyone,” David said.

  “Sounds good,” said Margaret.

  “Speaking of food, would you like to go to the café with me?” asked David.

  “Like a real date?” Margaret spoke in a whisper.

  “We can
try,” David said.

  “Sure,” said Margaret. “I have to pick some lunch up for Zach anyway. They got up and walked out of David’s office.

  “I’m going to lunch,” David said to Cindy. “I’ll be at the café.”

  “Okay,” said Cindy. “I’ll forward any emergency calls to your cell.”

  “Thanks,” said David. He reached for Margaret’s hand, but stopped. She smirked.

  “Let’s get to work,” she said, as they left the precinct.

  They took separate cars to the café. Margaret arrived first and got them a corner booth in the back. David appeared and scooted in next to her. He looked around. There were not too many locals in the café. David put his arm around Margaret and hugged her. He was about to kiss her when he suddenly stopped and moved away.

  “What’s going on?” Margaret asked. David motioned to the door. The police chief was coming in.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake,” said Margaret. She sighed and sipped her coffee. David stood up as the chief approached.

  “Cindy told me I could find you two here. I was wondering what was happening with the case,” said the chief.

  “Why don’t you join us and we can discuss it,” said Margaret.

  David rolled his eyes and Margaret grinned over the chief’s head. David sighed as the chief joined them in the booth.

  7

  After lunch, Margaret returned to the candy shop. Patty and Zach were waiting on some customers, so Margaret took Zach’s lunch into the kitchen and put it on the table. Zach and Patty seemed to have everything under control in the front of the store, so Margaret checked her filling. It was perfect. She removed the molds from the refrigerator and prepared the filling for piping. Zach walked in and thanked her for the lunch.

  “Stacy gave you some extra fries. She said you’re a growing boy and need all the food you can get,” said Margaret.

  “She does know I’m not a teenager anymore, right?” asked Zach.

  “Yes, but she also knows you eat me out of house and home,” said Margaret.

  “True. Have you met with Michael yet?” he asked Margaret.

  “Not yet,” said Margaret. “I’m supposed to see him this afternoon. We’re meeting at the school.”