Strangetown Girl (Welcome To Witch County Book 1)

by C. M. Cevis

  “Not at all,” Graham said, although it had been well over ten minutes. Good thing he hadn’t been bleeding out and looking for help. “I was asked by the sheriff to come down. I’m Graham Lloyd, the FBI agent that arrived in town to help with Luna’s case.”

  The woman’s face lit up with recognition. “Right, I remember. I think Sheriff Jay is in his office but let me make sure.”

  “I appreciate your time,” Graham said, settling back down into the chair. It probably wasn’t healthy to wonder if the officer was going to warn the sheriff so that he could set up some sort of ambush for Graham, but that’s exactly what he was wondering. He was beginning to see why the sheriff was the only thing Luna didn’t like about Calidity.

  “I was right, he is back there,” the officer said, returning at a trot. “A word to the wise, he doesn’t look happy.”

  “That might be my fault,” Graham said, standing. “I don’t think any of our interactions have been happy ones.”

  Graham and the officer shared a chuckle, and she motioned for him to follow her. Down a few hallways and around a few corners, they came to an office with large double doors. She knocked and pushed one open.

  “Here you go, Sheriff,” she said as Graham followed her through the entrance. He slapped a smile on his face to counter the grimace on Wesley’s.

  “Pleasure to see you again, Sheriff,” Graham said.

  Wesley didn’t even attempt to return the sentiment. “Have a seat, please.”

  Graham did as he was asked—for the moment.

  “I’d hoped that you’d show up earlier in the day, like I’d asked, so, this is going to be shorter than I would have liked.” Wesley’s gaze focused on the papers on his desk, then his watch, and Graham realized he was struggling to make eye contact. Interesting.

  “I came as soon as I could,” Graham lied, the smile securely locked on his face.

  “Yes, well. The short version is that your presence here, and your relationship with the primary suspect in the murder that took place at the L & L, are impeding our investigation into the crime. Because of that, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” His glance flicked to Graham’s at the last word before skittering to his watch again.

  Graham didn’t flinch. “You are well within your rights to do so.” He frowned thoughtfully. “Though it’d seem to me that having the place professionally cleaned less than a day after the murder would impede your investigation more than me.”

  “Pardon me?” Wesley said, eyes meeting Graham’s in surprise that morphed to outrage as he stood.

  Graham stood as well. “It was wonderful seeing you again, Sheriff. I’ll make sure I’m out of your hair as soon as I take care of my business with Luna.”

  “What business would that be?”

  Graham blinked at Wesley. “Have a wonderful afternoon, Sheriff,” he replied before walking out the door.

  17

  LUNA WASN’T SURE HOW TO take the news that Graham was leaving in a few days. She hadn’t realized how much she wanted him there until he was leaving.

  “What happens if you just refuse to leave?” Luna asked.

  “This is his jurisdiction. I can get the clearance to be here without his approval, but I still have to leave for now.”

  Luna sighed. “I didn’t kill my father.”

  “I don’t think that you did.”

  “Then what do I do?”

  Graham sighed loudly on the other end of the call. “Everything odd about this case points back to the police in some way. If we can prove that they have something to do with this, it’ll at least slow things down enough for us to keep you safe while someone who isn’t Wesley investigates.”

  “Can we get that done before you leave?”

  “Probably not.”

  Luna hissed a curse. “I can’t just lay down and die on this, Graham.”

  “I know, Luna. I know. Give me a bit to think about it, okay? I’ll call you back later tonight. I’ve bought myself two days by telling him that I had some business to clear up with you. We’ll come up with something.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Luna and Graham said their goodbyes.

  “That didn’t sound good,” Asher said, stepping onto the front porch where Luna had taken the call.

  “It wasn’t. Wesley is kicking Graham out. He has two days.”

  “Can he do that?”

  Luna shrugged. “Apparently.”

  “What do we do now?”

  Luna stifled a sigh. “Graham said he’ll think about it and call me back tonight. Hopefully, we can come up with something then.”

  “Hopefully,” Asher echoed softly. “Why don’t we go downtown? Walk around some shops, get some ice cream.”

  Luna looked at her best friend like she’d lost her mind. “What?”

  “You need some peace, so let’s go do something that doesn’t have to do with the last few days for a bit,” Asher said, grabbing Luna’s arm and hefting her out of her seat.

  “Not going to take no for an answer, hm?” Luna laughed.

  “I’ve already got the keys, get in the car,” Asher replied, pushing Luna towards the steps.

  Downtown was really just a few blocks’ worth of well-kept older buildings surrounded by the newer essentials that had sprouted up. The shops were small and inviting, and almost all locally owned. That included the ice cream shop, which had been in the same family for generations. They served handmade ice cream in odd but delicious flavors.

  “Good to see you ladies,” Valerie said as she looked up and noted who had just entered. She was the fourth generation.

  Luna frowned, noting that Valarie’s eyes were red, and that she had accumulated a small pile of tissues as she dabbed at them.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, waiting as Valerie washed her hands.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. There was smoke in my house a few nights ago for a while, and it’s wreaking havoc on my allergies.”

  “Smoke?” Asher said, concern naked on her face.

  “One of my neighbors, the Jays I think, were burning leaves and must have got some plastic or clothes or something in there too. And such a still day, no breeze to blow the smoke away.”

  Luna frowned and crossed her arms. “That’s awful, Valerie. At least leaves burn up pretty quick.”

  Valerie shrugged. “Oh no, this went on for a while. I think they had a lot of leaves. Whatever it was smelled terrible and I was barely able to breathe. But who do you call when the sheriff is the one doing the damage?” She smiled weakly.

  Luna and Asher shared a questioning look.

  “Who indeed,” Luna said softly as Valerie finished getting the two ice cream cones. “I still have some of that eye serum that I gave you last year. Do you want me to bring some of that over later?”

  Valerie had been miserable from the pollen the previous summer, her eyes so irritated that they were almost swollen shut. Luna had made something simple to ward off the pollen, explaining it as something her grandmother had taught her instead of it being a tiny little ward for her eyes.

  “What serum?” Valerie asked.

  Luna frowned. “Don’t you remember? Last summer, you could barely set foot outside of your house.”

  Valerie blinked at her. “I don’t remember that,” she replied, her face an odd version of blank.

  Luna hesitated. “Okay, forget I brought it up then.” She paused, then added, “Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.” She wasn’t, but she wasn’t going to push Valerie if she didn’t remember.

  Valorie grinned and nodded. “I hope everything works out for you, Luna. I heard about what happened at your home. For what it’s worth, no one thinks it was you who did it.”

  Luna smiled and took her cone, handing Valerie her credit card to pay. “Thanks, Val. That means a lot.”

  Once they had paid and tipped handsomely, like they always did, Asher and Luna walked back outside and began a slow stroll as they ate.

  “Am I the only one that thinks it’s odd that Wesley w
as burning something in his backyard?” Asher asked.

  Luna shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “What do you think it was?”

  “Well, if you had something incriminating on your clothes, what would you say would be the most efficient way to dispose of said evidence?” Luna asked.

  Asher stopped. “Oh.”

  Luna stopped walking. “Do you remember how much trouble Valerie had last summer?”

  “Hm?” Asher responded absently.

  Luna sighed and shook her head. “Never mind.”

  If she was losing her mind, she wasn’t ready to let go of the illusion yet. Plus, she had an idea forming. One that she didn’t want Asher to know about. Plausible deniability and all that.

  All she needed was for Graham to call her back. Well, that and for him to agree to help her. After she did some research.

  18

  “YOU WANT TO DO WHAT now?”

  They were sitting at Luna’s kitchen table, cups of tea steaming in front of them. Luna made a face. Graham had heard her. It was probably an idea he agreed with too.

  “Literally everything is pointing us to the police, Graham, you said it yourself.”

  He nodded. “Sure, but I don’t see how we went from that to breaking into the sheriff’s--” Graham stopped abruptly and shook his head. “I am not having this highly illegal conversation with you.

  “You didn’t see the body. Whoever did it had to have had some blood on them. Enough for it to be a concern if they were in public,” Luna pushed.

  “Stop talking to me, Luna.”

  “And the sheriff was burning something that wasn’t leaves in his backyard a few nights ago. Something that gave off enough fumes for it to bother the neighbors. Fire gets rid of a lot of incriminating things.”

  Graham grunted. “Look, I know Wesley is a jerk, but I’m not quite sure he’s a murderer.”

  Luna shrugged. “Okay, then. Let’s prove it, hm? What do we have to lose, other than me having to go down for the murder of my father that we both know I didn’t commit?”

  Graham sighed and closed his eyes. “I can’t condone you doing something illegal, such as breaking and entering. I am a federal agent, Luna.”

  Luna’s delayed lightbulb came on. “Alright. Do you happen to have any ideas about how we could investigate this further, without breaking any laws?”

  Graham glanced up at her, “No.”

  “I was thinking about inviting Wesley and his wife out to dinner before I go.”

  Luna snorted a laugh. “Why?”

  Graham shot her a look. Good gravy, she was dumb today.

  “That sounds like an overly nice idea, considering.”

  “It does,” Graham said softly. “I’ll probably try for the night before I leave.”

  Luna nodded. “Okay. Is there any other way that you can… help?”

  “Not without committing some sort of a crime.”

  Luna sat up a bit.

  “I am not committing some sort of crime,” Graham added.

  “Yeah, probably not the best idea,” she mumbled. “Thank you, Graham.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I might have just agreed to insanity,” he said, getting up to leave.

  19

  SUNLIGHT DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE to bring Luna into the new day. She’d woken up at 4 am, before the sun was even thinking about it, and hadn’t been able to sleep since. So, she’d started doing some research on crime scenes and how they were processed. There was a shocking amount of information on the process.

  “Luminol…” Luna whispered absently as she typed. Her eyes skimmed over the information about the chemical, what it was comprised of, and how to use it. She’d thought she’d seen on TV that need a black light to get it to work, though she should have known better than to trust that. They always got the real world wrong. Instead, what she was going to need was thirty seconds in a darkened room and a good camera.

  She didn’t have a good camera. But they needed good cameras for crime scene photos, didn’t they? There wasn’t a lot of crime in Calidity, but that didn’t mean that the police didn’t need to be prepared for the little there was.

  “Guess I’m swiping several things,” she sighed to herself.

  “Hm?” Asher asked, coming to sit beside her.

  Luna closed her laptop and grinned. “Nothing. I’ve got to run out today, didn’t you say you had something you needed to do?”

  Asher nodded as she took a sip of her coffee. “Laundry. And probably a wardrobe switch.” She chuckled. “Do you need any help today?”

  Luna shook her head. “I didn’t think I’d be saying this, but thankfully, no rooms are reserved for a couple of weeks. If this still isn’t resolved by then, I’ll have to inform the guests and refund them. It seems like a bad idea to have people coming to stay when I’m a suspect in a murder case. For now, I put up a notice on the website that we’re temporarily closed.”

  “Murderous hosts would probably put some people off, yes.”

  “It’s a good thing I’m frugal, or this would decimate my finances,” Luna mumbled, more to herself than to Asher. When things settled, she was going to have to look into another way to make money. One that wasn’t so seasonal.

  “Alright, I’ll head out, then,” Asher said, leaning over and giving Luna a tight hug. “Call me if you need me.”

  “Ditto,” Luna said.

  Once she was reasonably sure that Asher was well on her way, Luna ran upstairs to get dressed for the day. She wasn’t planning on creating a scene, but mildly distracting seemed like a good idea. She could do mildly distracting with her eyes closed.

  ~*~

  THE POLICE STATION DIDN’T SEEM to be very crowded, but then again Luna never thought the station was crowded. Today, that suited her purposes just fine.

  The man at the front desk looked familiar. It took her a moment to realize that he was the second officer in the car in front of Asher’s house. The one Asher hadn’t known.

  “Well hey there, stranger. No more watch parties at my friend’s house, hm?” Luna said, smiling as she adjusted her backpack and approached the desk.

  “Nah,” he said with a smirk. “Not that I’ve been told about anyway. I heard you got to go back home. Glad to hear it.”

  “It was good to get back to my own space and my own stuff. Odd how quickly it happened though. Is that normal?”

  He stopped, hesitating as if he didn’t want to answer. That was an answer in its own way, though. “Sometimes things move faster in smaller towns like Calidity. Less bureaucracy.”

  Luna shrugged. “Right, makes sense.”

  “Was there something that you needed?”

  She nodded. “There were a few things missing from my house and I wanted to see if they were here, or if I’d been robbed on top of everything else. I know that if they’re evidence, I can’t have them back yet, and that’s cool. I just wanted to make sure.”

  “Yeah, sure, I can go check for you. Might take me a few minutes—our evidence isn’t always organized in the most efficient way.”

  Luna chuckled. She’d overheard more than one officer complain about the state of their evidence at the station, and about how it made their job more difficult since it took so long to find things in there. She’d been banking on that still being the case. “That’s okay, I understand. I’m not in a rush,” she replied, handing him a list of six things.

  “I’ll be right back. If anyone else comes in, let them know I won’t be long.”

  Luna nodded and settled herself into a chair. “Of course.”

  Luna watched as the nice officer walked down the hall and turned a corner, out of sight. Then she counted to thirty.

  Her hand slipped into her pocket, and she pulled out the vial of grave dirt that she’d stuck into her pocket before coming inside. Dirt from graveyards always tracked souls the best, in her experience. Maybe it was because it needed to keep track of the souls and bodies that it held. Luna had never found a better way to wat
ch someone without watching them.

  “Follow the man, and let me know when he’s heading back this way,” she whispered, then sprinkled the dirt across the desk that the officer had just left.

  She didn’t wait to make sure the magic had followed him down the hallway. She knew that it had, and that as soon as he finished his search and began heading back to where he expected her to be, alarms would go off in her brain.

  The station wasn’t that big, and she didn’t intend on going far. Just two places, and both of them were in the same wing.

  Stop number one was the sheriff’s office. Then, the storage room.

  The officers in Calidity didn’t have a lot of space to keep the things that they needed when working a crime scene. Plus, most scenes that happened in Calidity were small and minor—things like small theft, or an occasional assault outside of one of the bars. Nothing at all like the murder scene that had happened at her house. But they had what they needed. And what she needed.

  She’d seen the storage room door the few times she’d come down to the station for mundane things. One time, it had been left open, and she’d snuck a peek inside out of curiosity. That peek was going to serve her well.

  She paused at the top of the hallway and held her breath, making sure that she was alone. Feeling mostly confident that she was safe if she stayed quiet, she took a few quick steps down the hall and tried the doorknob to Wesley’s office.

  It was unlocked, and she ducked inside. Most of the room was taken up by a messy desk, and judging by the coffee cup and half-eaten pastry, he could come back at any time.

  “If I were a storage room key, where would I be?” she whispered to herself.

  Her hand went to her own key ring tucked in her pocket, but she shook her head. She needed to think like Wesley, and he didn’t think things through the way that she did.

  She searched the messy surface of the desk and found what looked to be a key fob , probably to his personal car, but not the keys to the storage room. Those she found in one of the smaller drawers with several other things that didn’t seem to have a rhyme or reason as to why they were being stored together. It even had a nice tag that read Storage.