“The cool thing about marketing is I also wouldn’t have to use too much magic,” I mused. “Photoshop does all the magic for me. That way I wouldn’t have to wait until I can cast spells as well as you do to get a job, since I think that would take years.”
“True,” Scarlett said. “But you don’t have to worry about that for now. As you said, you’re on holiday. We’ll take care of you for as long as you need.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling as we reached Scarlett’s house. We stepped inside to find my familiar, Pawdrey Hepburn, pacing around the front entrance.
“Finally,” she said. “Don’t you know you forgot to feed me breakfast before you went? I’m starving here. What kind of witch leaves her familiar trapped in a home by herself with nothing to eat?”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s funny because I distinctly remember leaving you a bowl full of kibble before I left.”
“You must have dreamt it,” Pawdrey said. “I haven’t eaten anything yet today, I swear. Don’t I look like I’m skin and bones? I’m so hungry I’ve barely got any energy.”
Pawdrey dropped onto the ground and rolled onto her back, exposing her belly. “See? I can’t even stand anymore.”
“Right,” I said, stepping over her and heading to the kitchen. “You’re definitely legitimately starving and not just doing your best to see what you can get away with.”
“Exactly,” Pawdrey said. “I know a good actress has to keep her figure, but starvation is real, Mina. I still need to keep my energy levels up.”
“Maybe you’d conserve energy better if you didn’t lie about not being fed.”
“So now you’re calling me a liar. How did I end up with such a neglectful witch?”
“How did you end up with one who won’t accept your manipulative crap, you mean?” I asked, raising a single eyebrow. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I’m just trying to get the lay of the land.”
“So you know you ate this morning. You were trying to see if you could get me to feed you a second time.”
I could have sworn Pawdrey shrugged. “A cat has to give it a shot.”
“Right. Well, for the record, it didn’t work.”
“Unfortunately.”
I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room.
“I only heard half that conversation, but it sounds like you and Pawdrey are getting along fine,” Scarlett said with a grin.
“Cats,” I replied, shaking my head. “I never had pets growing up, but I feel like it’s somehow harder when you can talk to them.”
Scarlett laughed. “I hope I get a familiar soon. I’m hoping for a dog. But we’ll see.”
“What about witches who are allergic?” I asked. “Is that a thing potions can fix?”
“Yeah,” Scarlett replied. “No problems there. But most allergic witches end up with familiars they aren’t allergic to. Owls, for example, who have feathers rather than fur.”
“Right,” I said, nodding. “That makes sense.”
The two of us settled in for an afternoon of relaxing. I grabbed a book by a paranormal author – it turned out no one here read human-world books – but I hadn’t even made it through two chapters before Scarlett’s phone pinged with a new text message.
“We have to go back into town,” Scarlett said as her eyes moved over the message.
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked.
She looked at me, her mouth a grim line. “Renee’s body was just found in town. She’s dead.”
My mouth dropped open. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was. Come on, let’s go.”
“Did someone say something about a body? Can I come? I’ve never seen a body,” Pawdrey said from her spot on the couch.
“It’s not like in the movies,” I said. “Someone actually died.”
“I know, but I still want to come.”
“Can you behave?”
“Please,” Pawdrey replied. “I’m the classiest of ladies. Of course I can behave myself.”
“Fine,” I said. “You can come, but you have to listen to me.”
“Yeah, it’s obvious you’ve never had a cat,” Scarlett said with a laugh. “She’s not going to listen to you.”
I covered Pawdrey’s ears as I flashed my cousin an exaggerated glare. “You can’t say that in front of her; she’s already barely listening to me.”
Scarlett laughed good-naturedly. “Fair enough. But you’re never going to get a cat to listen to you, so you might as well just give up now.”
I had a sneaking suspicion Scarlett was right.
“Where are we going?” I asked Scarlett as we walked back toward town.
“The alley behind The Wand and Toad,” Scarlett replied. “Johnny went to throw a bag of garbage in the dumpster and found the body.”
“Oh geez,” I said, shaking my head. Renee and I certainly hadn’t gotten off on the right foot, and I didn’t like the witch, but I didn’t think she deserved to die.
“That’s all according to my friend Seamus, anyway. He works next door to The Wand and Toad.”
“Ah.”
We walked in silence back to Aphrodite Way, where a crowd was building outside The Wand and Toad. A single shifter stood in front of the alley, a tall, stocky man who looked very leonine with his shoulder-length blond hair and hazel eyes.
“Is one shifter really enough to watch the whole crowd?” I asked Scarlett doubtfully.
“Sure, it’s plenty when there’s a magical force field set up to prevent anybody from passing into the alley that isn’t authorized,” she replied.
“Oh,” I said, feeling a bit foolish for not having thought of that myself. “Of course.”
“Does this mean we don’t get to see the body?” Pawdrey asked, obviously disappointed. “That’s the only reason I came.”
“You know, for someone who pretends to be a classy lady, you sure don’t hide the fact that you’re all about the gore here,” I said.
“I’m not here to see blood or anything of the sort,” Pawdrey replied, taking one paw and carefully licking it. “I would like to study the body to see what it looks like when someone is dead. If I ever have to pretend, I’d like it to be as realistic as possible.”
“Right,” I replied. “Do you plan on being the body in the cat version of Law and Order: SVU?”
“I don’t know what that is,” Pawdrey sniffed, “but it sounds like a rather crude show.”
“Yes, but when you’re just starting out, you can’t be picky.”
“My namesake was picky, and she has gone down in history as one of the greatest, classiest, and most beautiful actresses of all time.”
“Ok, you have a point there.”
“I’ll be back in a little bit; I’d like to see if I can get past the barrier,” Pawdrey said, and before I had a chance to say anything else, she had run off through the crowd, darting lithely between the legs of the other onlookers. I didn’t have a chance of catching her even if I wanted to.
“See? I told you she wouldn’t listen to you,” Scarlett said with a knowing smile.
“You were right,” I admitted. “Well, hopefully she comes back soon.”
“Come on, over here,” Scarlett said, motioning for me to follow her. A moment later I realized where she was taking me. Johnny, the young wizard who had been manning the bar, had just left The Wand and Toad and was now slinking away from the crowd, doing his best not to be noticed.
We caught up to him about a block away.
“Hey, Johnny,” Scarlett said, and he turned to face us.
“Oh, Scarlett,” he said quietly. “What’s up?”
“We heard you found the body. How are you holding up?”
“Well, you know, I’ve never had anything like this happen. First Paula gets attacked and I have to take over the bar when I have no idea how to make drinks, and now this.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
“Oh man. Yeah, I can. I just fin
ished telling Chief Enforcer Tyson, too. It’s crazy. I can’t believe it. I knew her. I mean, I didn’t like Renee, and we weren’t friends, but I knew her. I’ve never had anyone I know die before. I’ve never even seen a body.”
“Hey, deep breaths,” Scarlett said, putting a hand on Johnny’s shoulder, and he nodded, inhaling air deep into his lungs and letting it out again slowly a few moments later.
“Ugh. It’s been one heck of a day. So yeah, I was working the counter, and the trash bag filled up. When I got a second without any orders, I grabbed it and took it out the back to toss it in the dumpster. But as soon as I opened the back door, I saw her lying there.”
“She was already dead?” Scarlett asked, and Johnny nodded, his face turning white.
“Oh yeah, no question. Someone had stabbed her.”
The blood left my face. “Stabbed her. So she was murdered, for sure?”
“One hundred percent,” Johnny said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
“Wait, but who could have done it?” I asked, and Johnny shrugged.
“I don’t know. I figure it can’t have been too long after she left here.”
Scarlett and I shared a look. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was: if Renee was killed by someone shortly after leaving the restaurant, there was a good chance Scarlett was one of the main suspects.
CHAPTER 7
“What was she stabbed with?” I asked. “Could you see the weapon?”
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “It stuck out of her. I’ll never forget it. Just a plain-looking knife, the kind you’d buy at any hardware store. It was stuck in her chest. Blood everywhere. All over her shirt. I’ll never forget it.”
“Do you have someone at home who can take care of you for a bit?” Scarlett asked, and Johnny nodded.
“Yeah, I called my mom, and she’s going to come over. Thanks for asking. I figured I’m going to need a bit of time to decompress.”
“Probably not a bad night to take a sleeping potion, either,” Scarlett said. “Make sure you don’t dream.”
“Good call,” Johnny said. “Thanks.”
Scarlett nodded, and the two of us said goodbye to Johnny and sent him on his way.
“I didn’t know you knew him so well.”
“Oh yeah, we were co-workers a few years ago at a local shop. He’s a good guy. He suffers from a bit of anxiety, and he’s prone to be a little bit overly dramatic sometimes, but he’s really nice. I like Johnny.”
“So hey, you know what this means, right?”
Scarlett nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to get a visit from Chief Enforcer Tyson. I’ve got to be one of the main suspects, especially when she finds out I got into a fight with the victim probably less than an hour before she died.”
I blew out a puff of air from my cheeks. “Geez, you’re handling it a lot better than I would have. I was a wreck when I was just barely a suspect in Thomas’s death last week.”
“Hey, it happens, sometimes you’re a murder suspect. I didn’t do it, so I have nothing to worry about, right?”
“That’s true,” I replied, when right out of the corner of my eye I spotted Chief Enforcer Tyson walking toward us.
Tall and thin with long black hair tied back in a ponytail that cascaded down her back, the dragon shifter approaching us carried herself with authority, a notebook in her hand.
“Witches,” she called out to us, and we stopped to wait for her. “I was wondering if I might have a word with the two of you in private.”
“Sure,” I replied.
Chief Enforcer Tyson led us away from the crowd – many of whose prying eyes were now focused on us – and down a side street where we’d have a bit more privacy.
“I heard there was an altercation between you two and Renee at The Wand and Toad this morning.”
“Yes,” Scarlett said. “She took offense to the fact that we had come to eat at her restaurant where she always went for lunch.”
“Is that true?” Chief Enforcer Tyson asked.
“Which part?”
“Did you go to the restaurant where she always ate lunch?”
“Yes, but it’s not as if we did it on purpose. We came to The Wand and Toad because they have good food and nice drinks, and we were celebrating the success of Mina’s first potions lesson. How on earth was I supposed to know that was where Renee came to eat every day?”
“Why was she angry that you were here?” Chief Enforcer Tyson asked. “That seems rather strange if you didn’t know her well.”
Scarlett recounted the morning’s story as Chief Enforcer Tyson jotted it all down in her notebook, the pencil scratching the page as she tried to keep up.
“Is that what happened?” Chief Enforcer Tyson asked me, and I nodded.
“Yeah. I didn’t mean to knock the bottle into her potion. I felt really badly about it, but she just started yelling at me. And then when she came into the bar, she just exploded on us. Scarlett had no choice but to defend us since I don’t really know any spells.”
Chief Enforcer Tyson nodded, her mouth a grim line. “What happened afterward, when Renee left?”
Scarlett shrugged. “We sat back down, finished our meal, and then went home.”
“How long did you stay after she left?”
“I don’t know, maybe half an hour?” Scarlett suggested, looking at me, and I nodded.
“Yeah, something like that. It wasn’t too long.”
“Ok, so right around the time she was killed,” Chief Enforcer Tyson muttered under her breath, and Scarlett and I shared a concerned look.
“Did you see anybody around when you left the bar?”
I bit my lip as I tried to think back but shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. You?” I asked, looking over at Scarlett, whose head shook slowly from side to side as well.
“No, not that I remember. There might have been someone at the far end of the street, but they were a few blocks away, and I barely noticed them. I wouldn’t even be able to give you a species or gender.”
“Alright,” Chief Enforcer Tyson said. “Do you know anyone else who might have had a problem with Renee? Maybe would have had a reason to kill her?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t know her at all until this morning, and we didn’t exactly hit it off on the right foot.”
“I don’t know either,” Scarlett replied. “Maybe Grandma Eva would know. She worked for her, after all. Or the other witches and wizards who make potions at The Love Shack.”
“Alright, thanks,” Chief Enforcer Tyson said. “By the way, do either one of you own a knife?”
“What kind of knife?” Scarlett asked. “There are about fifteen of them in my house, mainly butter and steak knives, but we didn’t stab Renee.”
“A hunting knife,” Chief Enforcer Tyson replied. “Something a bit sturdier than the kind you’d find in your kitchen.”
“No,” Scarlett said, shaking her head. “I don’t have anything like that.”
“Me neither,” I replied.
“Alright, thanks.” Chief Enforcer Tyson walked back toward the crowd.
“Yeah, we’re definitely suspects,” I said. “You especially.”
“Well, as I said before, I don’t have anything to worry about since I didn’t do it,” Scarlett declared, but her air of bravado seemed far less confident than before.
I shot her a worried look. “Chief Enforcer Tyson is a good police chief, right?”
“She is,” Scarlett said, nodding. “But of course, like with anyone else, she can make mistakes.”
“We should look into this ourselves,” I said, the words coming out of me before I’d thought them through. This wasn’t like me at all. I’d spent my whole life putting up barriers to avoid strong relationships with people since my mother had taught me relationships never ended well. And here I was, offering to investigate a murder with my cousin so she wouldn’t find herself wrongly accused.
Scarlett looked at me curiously. “Are you sure? Would you be up for
that?”
I nodded. “Of course. I mean, you helped me find Thomas’s killer so I could go back to New York. The very least I can do to thank you is help make sure you don’t end up in jail.”
Scarlett reached forward and took me in a huge hug. “You’re the best cousin anyone could ever ask for, you know? I know this has to be a lot for you, and I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” I said with a chuckle as I pulled away from the hug. “Come on, let’s go back to The Love Shack. That’s where we should start to find out what we can about Renee.”
“Agreed.”
CHAPTER 8
Before we could go see Grandma Eva, however, we had to find Pawdrey. My eyes scanned the crowd looking for my familiar, but luckily she appeared at my feet a few moments later.
“Boy do I ever have some gossip to share,” Pawdrey said as we walked away. “You paranormals, you really don’t mind sharing everything you know with one another. Us cats, we’re far more secretive. We understand the value of information and only share when we have to.”
“Well, that seems vaguely threatening,” I replied. “Can you share your gossip with us, at least? We’re trying to find the killer.”
Pawdrey hummed and hawed for a moment then saw the look I was giving her.
“Fine, I suppose,” she huffed. “The victim was a witch named Renee.”
“Yeah, I met her earlier today,” I said.
“Ok, so you know that. Did you know she recently broke up with her boyfriend?”
My eyebrows rose. “No, that’s a new one to me.”
“From what I heard, as she packed up her things, he swore she was never going to find someone else and he would make sure of it.”
My eyebrows rose. “That certainly sounds like a threat to me.”
“That’s what I thought,” Pawdrey replied. “So if we find a wizard named Oliver Farwood, let me know so I can accidentally scratch him.”
“Oliver Farwood, hey?” I said, turning to Scarlett.
Hex Over Heels: A Witch Cozy Mystery (Fairy Falls Mystery Book 2) Page 4
