Brooms and Brains (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 5)

by Constance Barker

  “Well, we felt we should support Jody for lunch,” Tamara confessed, “because we’re going to the party at Jardín Rico’s tonight.”

  “Party? What party?”

  “You haven’t heard?” Dakota asked, midway through a huge bite into his BLT. Celestial shook her head. He chewed rapidly, swallowed too quickly, then said, “There was an invitation in the papers and everything. Everyone’s going to be there.”

  “I still don’t understand what the party is for.” Celestial looked to Tamara.

  “She’s celebrating her restaurant’s great success,” Tamara explained, poking around with a plastic fork in a mound of what looked like egg salad. “And their celebrated new cook. Anyway, we thought it might be an opportunity to get a little more intel on the place, and on Elaina herself. You know how people get at parties--they tend to be so talkative.”

  “This sounds dangerous,” Celestial remarked. “Elaina is not a trustworthy person. What if she recognizes you two from the other night, when you vouched for me when she was trying to kick me out?”

  “What, you think she’s going to try to hurt us or something?” Dakota asked, dismissive.

  “I wouldn’t put it past her.” Celestial explained to them about what had happened last night at Elaina’s house, and their confrontation that morning. Her two friends listened patiently, but when she had finished they only shrugged.

  “All the more reason to look into her more closely,” Dakota said. “Which means checking this party out.”

  “Besides, the place will be packed,” Tamara added. “She’s going to be rushing around the whole time. It’s not like she’ll be able to take time out to drop cyanide in our chips and guacamole. Not in front of all those other people.”

  “And especially not when it might discredit her own restaurant,” Dakota agreed.

  Still, Celestial tried to convince them of the dangers of going, but the two were stubbornly set on going. “Just let us help you this once,” Tamara said before they left. “We’ll report back afterwards. And I promise if anything tastes funny, we won’t keep eating it.”

  At first, Celestial thought she should accept her friends’ help, relinquish control just this once. She did her best throughout the afternoon to keep her mind on other things. There was plenty of work around the shop that she should be doing, anyway. Business had been great, and she was relatively low on stock, which meant she would need to take some time out someday soon to make a new batch of her bestselling lotions and soaps. She double-checked her stock sheet and started to write out a list of supplies she would need to gather from her garden at home for the new products.

  Still, her mind kept drifting stubbornly back to her friends. Tamara and Dakota meant well, and it wasn’t that she didn’t have faith in them, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that they might be in trouble if they went to Elaina’s party that night. Even worse than the thought of something bad happening to them was the knowledge that, if they did get hurt, it would be solely because of their connection to her, and her very visible role in helping to investigate this case. She would never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to her friends when she might have been there to stop it.

  So, even though she knew it was likely a mistake, when Celestial closed up Herbal Heaven that afternoon and she went straight home and got dressed for a party.

  * * *

  “We were not expecting to see you,” Tamara said, waving Celestial over to where they stood in the long line outside the restaurant. “What happened to ‘it’s too dangerous, you shouldn’t go’?”

  “That’s why I’m here,” Celestial muttered. “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you two.”

  “You look amazing,” Dakota said. Smiling self-consciously, Celestial held her arms out and gave a little twirl. Her favorite purple dress flared out as she gave her friends a 360-degree view of her ensemble.

  “Well, I didn’t want to get thrown out for not looking classy enough. You two clean up nice, too.” She nodded at both of them. Tamara was wearing a crisp white shirt and a sensible pair of slacks; Dakota had managed a tie and, unless Celestial was very much mistaken, had even gotten his hands on a proper comb.

  The restaurant door swung open, spilling out noise from inside the restaurant. “Wells, table for two!” a voice called out into the night air. The others waiting in the line let out an audible groan, but Dakota perked up.

  “That’s us! Come on, ladies.” Leading Tamara on one arm and Celestial on the other, he headed up to the door and pushed through to the hostess’s stand. “We’re Wells. Is it possible to make that a table for three? We don’t mind being a little crowded if that’s necessary.”

  It looked to Celestial like it would be necessary. The place was positively packed to the rafters. It had been lavishly decorated, and somewhere deeper in the restaurant she could hear a lively band playing.

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” said the hostess pleasantly. “I’m certain we can find an extra chair for you someplace.”

  Except that Elaina Chavez must have had some kind of Celestial-specific mental alarm, because she chose just that moment to swoop up to the hostess’s stand. “I’m afraid we don’t have a chair for you, Miss Meadow,” she said archly. Then, in a voice loud enough that the surrounding servers as well as a handful of nearby tables all paused their conversations and turned to look at her, Elaina said, “I’m afraid I can’t welcome someone into my restaurant when they’re such close friends with the woman who owns the diner that killed someone, you know. Especially one who’s going to such trouble to try to absolve Jody Stillwell of the murder she committed.” She gave a sneering smile. “Bad for business, you know.”

  Dakota looked like he was about to speak up on Celestial’s behalf, but she shot him a look that made him go quiet. If she couldn’t attend this party, there was no reason to take Dakota and Tamara out of the equation. She only prayed they would be careful and safe.

  Elaina looked overly pleased with herself as she showed Celestial out the door. Meanwhile, over Elaina’s shoulder, Celestial saw that the confused-looking hostess was leading Dakota and Tamara to their table.

  Chapter 23

  Back at home, Celestial didn’t bother taking off her party clothes. She kicked out of her shoes at the door and then took out the list she had made earlier in the day of supplies needed for making new stock. If she couldn’t calm her frustrated thoughts, she could at least redirect that energy into doing something productive.

  It was calming, too, to spend time out in her garden. The sun had set, so she only had the faint light from the bulb above her backdoor to go by, but she knew the garden well enough that she could have navigated it by smell alone. She was still barefooted, and the grass beneath her was pleasantly springy and wet with dew. She pinched off the freshest buds of lavender and honeysuckle, sage and mint, and collected them together into a small basket. The lovely smell they let out into the air acted as a sort of balm, and by the time she had gathered all the materials she needed she found she was feeling a little better.

  Still, nothing could calm Celestial’s mind like a fresh cup of tea. She took out the whistling kettle, filled it with water, and set it on a burner on high, then turned to the stack of boxes where she kept her tea. One of the boxes, where she kept her loose-leaf chamomile, was still set away from the stack from where she had made liberal use of it last night.

  “Some chamomile is just what I need,” she thought, and scooped it into a small grey teacup inattentively, still mentally thinking through the list of herbs she had just gathered. When the kettle whistled a few seconds later she poured the boiling water over the leaves, then left it to steep.

  She began setting out her supplies at the kitchen table. The first step was to infuse the herbs separately in the appropriate oils, so she gathered together four medium-sized pots and began melting beeswax into them. This was the best beeswax in town, because it was supplied directly by local beekeeper--and coven member--Sofia Jorgenson, who i
nsisted on giving the wax to Celestial for free ever since Celestial had helped her out of a particularly nasty pinch a while back.

  While the wax melted and the herbs started to emit their lovely scents into the kitchen air, Celestial turned back to her teacup. The water had turned a rich tea color, which meant that it had steeped enough. Good. Celestial was absolutely eager for it.

  However, just as she was reaching for it, she was startled when a small, furry shape leapt up past her and onto her counter. A loud thwap sounded, followed by a crash as the cup, full of steaming tea, went flying and crashed apart against the kitchen floor.

  “What in the–!” Celestial cried.

  Before she had an opportunity to process what had just happened, Athena buzzed into view. “Thanks, Jinxy,” Athena said, voice full of relief.

  Indeed, it was Jinxy who was currently sitting on Celestial’s kitchen counter. With a supercilious flick of the tail, Jinxy lifted one paw to its mouth and began licking fastidiously.

  “That was a close one,” Athena said.

  “What do you mean a close one?” Celestial asked. She looked down at where the teacup had broken into pieces on the floor, leaving a large puddle spreading over the tiles. She placed a hand on her chest and felt her leaping heartbeat, then took a few breaths to try to calm it. “Did you ask Jinxy to ruin my tea?”

  “Take another look in that box of chamomile,” Athena urged.

  Curious and befuddled, Celestial did as Athena directed. She lifted the lid on the box and looked down into the loose leaves of chamomile. It was true, there was something strange in there, but Celestial had to lean closer to figure out what, exactly, she was seeing.

  Mixed in with the dried chamomile tea, there was something else. Something that didn’t belong there.

  Something Celestial certainly hadn’t put in there herself.

  “It’s water hemlock,” said Athena gravely. “I couldn’t let you drink it. Any amount of it is dangerous. It doesn’t take much even to poison a full-grown adult.”

  “Did you see who put it in there?” Celestial asked.

  “No,” Athena said. “But whoever it was, it was probably the killer, wasn’t it?”

  “We can’t know that for sure,” Celestial said, though it was exactly what she had been thinking. To distract herself from her jittery nerves, she went to the pantry and dug out a can of tuna, which she opened and set in front of Jinxy. He eagerly bent over it and started eating with a vengeance, not even pausing when Celestial scratched appreciatively at his forehead. “That’s a good boy. You too, Athena. You and Jinxy saved my life.”

  “You’d better call Detective Brewer, don’t you think?” Athena prompted.

  This time, Celestial listened to Athena’s advice. Nikoli was surprised to get the call, but told her he’d be right over, and not to touch the container. When she met him at the door, he gave her a surprised look.

  “Hot date tonight?” he asked, a little terse.

  Only then did she remember that she was still wearing her fancy purple dress. “Oh, this,” she said with a small laugh. “Got kicked out of a party earlier.”

  “You’re just an all-around troublemaker, aren’t you,” he muttered, but he looked a little less tense.

  Celestial led him into the kitchen, where he put on a pair of gloves and carefully scooted the container of chamomile tea into a large evidence bag. “We’ll run this for prints against all the ones we’ve collected in this case so far,” he promised as she showed him out of the house again. “I promise I’ll let you know as soon as we get a match.”

  When he had gone she reflected with relief that at least Nikoli had seemed to think they would get a match. That meant he, too, believed that whoever was responsible for attempting to poison Celestial was likely the culprit behind Tammy’s death.

  Still, Celestial was angry. She went back to work with more determined energy than before. The case seemed all the more personal now, now that she knew the killer had been in her own home, and had so clearly made an attempt on her life.

  “I’m going to get to the bottom of this mystery if it’s the last thing I do,” she said aloud, to which Athena hummed nervously and Jinxy let out a loud, satiated meow.

  Chapter 24

  Now that Nikoli was gone with the water hemlock, Celestial began cleaning the kitchen. She started with the shattered porcelain and pool of poison on the tile floor. Jinxy had settled himself on the kitchen table to watch over his new friend. It had been at least an hour, though, since Jinxy’s last nap, and he was soon curled into a circle; he resembled a burnt croissant. Athena landed on top of him, relaxed by his soothing purrs.

  Celestial cleared the mess and put away her lotion materials, grateful to be a witch. What took her mere seconds would have taken at least thirty minutes without her magic. Just as Celestial finished her task, someone rapidly pounded at the front door. Jinxy jumped up, knocking Athena into the air. The three shared a disconcerted look: who could be out there at this late hour?

  “Coming!” Celestial shouted to the unknown guest. Jinxy was intent on protecting Celestial from whatever new threat awaited outside and trotted beside her as she rushed to the door. Celestial peeked through the peephole and saw, to her surprise, that Jody was standing outside.

  Jody reached her hand up to rap on the door once more, but she missed as Celestial opened it.

  “Jody, what are you --” Celestial started but stopped short, noticing Jody’s extreme distress. Her hair sat in a messy pile at the top of her head and mascara ran without abandon down her cheeks. Jody stood in the open doorway and continued sobbing, unable to hold back the floodgates.

  “Oh, oh no. Jody,” Celestial calmly pulled Jody in for a hug and held her tight, gently rubbing her back and letting Jody cry it out.

  Eventually, Jody calmed down just enough to speak. Breaking away from Celestial’s grasp, she said “I’m so sorry, Celestial. I know I can’t keep barging in on you like this, I just had no idea where to go.” At these words, tears welled up once more in Jody’s eyes, and she buried her face in her hands.

  “Jody,” Celestial replied, “it’s absolutely fine. Please, come inside. Talk to me.” Jody wiped at her eyes, smudging the mascara even more, and followed Celestial inside. Celestial led Jody to the living room couch and sat down beside her.

  “Jody, what’s wrong?” Celestial asked as she passed Jody a box of tissues. “Why are you so upset?”

  “I’m spiraling, Celestial. I don’t know how much longer I can take this. Tommy’s gone, and even the few customers I had left aren’t coming to the diner anymore.” Jody choked back sobs as she tried to tell this to Celestial. Even though the words were rather garbled, Celestial could get the gist of Jody’s plight.

  “This will be over soon,” Celestial promised rather unconvincingly.

  “You don’t sound very confident about that,” Jody replied.

  “I am,” Celestial tried to reassure her, “I just need a little bit more time.”

  “I don’t have any more time, Celestial. That’s the problem,” Jody finally looked Celestial in the eyes. “I can’t keep the diner open anymore; it’s hemorrhaging money. The bank called today about my loan, but I can’t afford to pay it. Saving the diner at this point will take a miracle.”

  “Not a miracle, Jody, just …” Celestial trailed off, unsure what to say. Jody was in dire straits, and each new clue Celestial found lead in a different direction. Maybe this case did require a miracle after all. Celestial sat up straighter. If that’s what Jody needed, then Celestial would be that miracle for her. Celestial put on her most confident face, “I will solve this, and Jody’s Diner will reopen. I need you to trust me and stay positive, Jody. Will that positivity into existence, please, and know that nothing is going to stop me from figuring this out.”

  Jody looked tired: this much stress was beyond draining, and she’d nearly reached her breaking point. “I’ll try,” she responded resignedly, “but I don’t think I can hold out muc
h longer.”

  * * *

  Jody left soon after, not feeling any better than she had when she’d been pounding on Celestial’s door. Celestial couldn’t blame her; words of encouragement were just not as strong as concrete action. She needed to find the killer, fast.

  Celestial sat back on the couch and absent-mindedly scratched Jinxy behind the ears. His eyes closed in intense pleasure and his purrs reverberated throughout the room. Celestial was grateful for his calming presence; she felt almost as far from finding the killer now as she had when Tammy first died. She couldn’t let her doubt turn to apathy.

  Athena, who had quietly listened to Celestial and Jody’s conversation from the corner, flew over and landed on Jinxy’s head.

  “What are you thinking, Celestial?” Athena knew the situation weighed heavily on Celestial’s heart and wanted to help her work through it however she could.

  Celestial sighed and rested her forehead on her palm, “I don’t even know anymore, Athena. There’s so much going on with this case, and every bit of evidence contradicts all the others.”

  “But what do you feel, Celestial? What does your heart tell you that your head’s not?”

  “I feel like I’m going to let my friend down,” Celestial replied dejectedly. The two sat in silence for a moment before Celestial went on, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Jody is the prime suspect.”

  “You don’t really think that, do you, Celestial?’ Athena asked. “I mean, if Jody is the killer, wouldn’t that mean she was the one that tried to poison you? Besides, why would she risk her restaurant like that? It doesn’t add up.”

  Exasperated, Celestial responded “I don’t know, Athena. Maybe. I can’t ignore the history between Tammy and Jody.”

  “But a lot of people had issues with Tammy,” Athena retorted. “Is that really enough?”

  “I guess you’re right, but then that leaves Tommy and Elaina. If it’s one of them, which one?”