by Ani Gonzalez
Fiona grabbed the yearbook Flora had just reviewed. It featured Patricia's and Gemma's freshman high school class. She took her notebook out of her handbag and started a list.
Patricia said that Gemma had contacted everyone in the class, trying to sell them Hexalife products, so Fiona drew a little star next to the people she knew. She'd start with those, then discuss the others with Patricia.
Two of the students in the sophomore class were now in PRoVE, which wasn't surprising. This was, after all, Banshee Creek. Holly the librarian had been in the junior class, and so had Zach Franco, the pizzeria owner and Patricia's boyfriend. Holly apparently had a torrid musical theater past that included cat costumes and a Most Improved Hissing Award.
Fiona kept flipping the pages and making notes. Sandy from the hardware store had been a junior, and Gus, the guy in charge of the PRoVE van, had also been a senior. There, she had a real connection at last.
She glanced at her lists, trying to come up with suspects. Leslie worked for Caine and could have easily taken the PRoVE van. Gemma knew Gus and could have gotten access to the van. Who else would—?
A burst of music derailed her train of thought. Holly glared at them from a nearby stack. Flora fumbled with her coat, extracted her phone and hurriedly put it on mute. She peered at the screen, and her eyes widened.
"I gotta go," she said, closing the book she had been looking at with a loud thud. "Emergency meeting. They're picking me up."
"Who—" Fiona started to ask.
But her cousin didn't answer. She just put the book back on the pile and left, leaving Fiona feeling put out.
Here she was, going out of her way to help her cousin—she'd even arranged to have Luanne take over the store for a while,which was rather risky since the fortune-teller was easily distracted—and Flora just left without explanation.
Well, the store wouldn't run itself, so she probably should leave as well. Why was she sacrificing her business if Flora wasn't interested in finding out who was behind all this turmoil?
Fiona slammed her yearbook shut and started to pile up the books.
"Are you done?" Holly appeared next to the table, as if summoned. "I can put those away for you if you'd like."
Always efficient, the librarian didn't wait for an answer. She simply took over, grabbing two books.
Fiona felt a stab of guilt. They had made quite a mess, and she didn't want to leave Holly to take care of it.
"I don't want to make you do extra work. I can do it," Fiona said.
Holly gave her a sheepish grin. "No worries. I prefer doing the shelving personally. That way, I know the books end up in their proper place."
Fiona laughed. She felt the same way about her candles.
"You can go take a selfie with the Leprechaun Tales book," Holly suggested. "That seems to be popular right now. Your cousin's friend just took one."
"Flora's friend?" Fiona asked.
"Handsome guy?" Holly asked as she put a book back on a shelve. "Looks like a movie star? I had to do some fast talking to convince him to take the picture, but he's the eye candy in my bulletin board now."
Fiona took her notebook and headed for the exit. She paused in front of the bulletin board. Sure enough, there was a new selfie there.
Stella had been talking to Tristan.
CHAPTER TWENTY
"YOU'RE DOING what?" Gavin asked, scanning the cluttered corridors.
He'd given up trying to count the boxes. He didn't know what PRoVE was doing with these items, but whatever it was, they were being uncharacteristically thorough about it.
Thomas scratched his nape, wincing. "Er, product reviews?"
Gavin glanced back at the seemingly endless pile of boxes. "How many?"
"All of them," Thomas muttered.
"The fire exit needs to be clear," Gavin noted in a sharp tone. "How soon is that going to happen?"
Thomas' eyes widened in dismay. "Oh, boy, that's..." His voice trailed off as he scanned the basement. "It will take a while."
Gavin smiled. "Then you guys will accumulate some fines."
Thomas groaned and took a step back, hands in front of him as if warding off a demon. "Let me talk to Caine. I'm sure we can work something out."
"You do that," Gavin said, watching Thomas stomp up the stairs.
He was now alone in the basement. Just him and the open box of Hexalife materials. He really had no official authority to examine the box, but it was open. He could sneak a peek, if only to make sure there was nothing flammable inside. After all, this was an inspection.
He bent and peered inside the box. Bingo, candles galore, which justified a deeper search. He extracted the glass cylinders from the box. Fiona had explained to him that these wax-filled vases were special candles called velones. She carried several kinds in her store and the Hexalife samples looked very similar. They came in a rainbow of colors, but PRoVE had collected mostly green ones and white ones with green ribbons.
Gavin straightened and looked at the other open boxes. They were also mostly full of green items. How curious. What did Caine have against the color green?
Whatever prejudice Caine may have, it seemed unwarranted in this case. According to their labels, the green candles were aromatic sumac candles that helped soothe nasty colds and the white ones seemed to be oleander mixes that eased menstrual cramps. The candles came with books explaining how to use them, authored by Flora Hart. Interesting because Fiona had told him Flora focused on food recipes, not candles.
He picked up one of the books and leafed through it. It included instructions on how to make your own candles and made reference to a kit. He reached into the box and extracted a cylindrical container. Sure enough, it was a Hexalife candle-making kit.
He set it aside and kept searching. The box contained Flora's cookbooks, as well as various kinds of merchandise. Hexalife produced t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, thermoses, bags—you named it, they had it. And Caine had, for some reason, collected them all.
Gavin dug through the box, finding calendars, engagement books, inspirational posters, even pajamas. PRoVE had gathered quite a collection.
However, there were some very specific omissions. But he kept searching. Surely it would be here somewhere—
"Found anything interesting?"
The voice behind him made Gavin jump. He turned and faced the sheriff, who was descending the staircase.
"Flammable material," Gavin said, pointing toward the candles.
"Lucky you," Sean muttered, scanning the corridors. "What is this, Christmas shopping with PRoVE?"
"Close," Gavin replied. "Caine seems to have gone on a Hexalife shopping spree."
Sean nodded. "He told me. He's trying to figure out where to store it now. You threw quite a wrench into his plans with this inspection."
Gavin smiled. "We aim to please. Although I hope it didn't affect your interview."
Sean shook his head. "Nothing to affect. Gus has no idea who took the van. They leave the keys in the van, which is parked in the garage, which is left open with people coming through all the time. They keep the ghost tour lanterns and other supplies in there and they use those every evening. Anyone could have taken and returned the van."
"Surely not 'anyone.' They must have a list of likely persons."
"Gus will provide a list, but it's probably going to be too long to be useful." Sean walked up to the box. "They're looking up the names of the people leading and attending the ghost tours." He bent to examine the contents. "Thomas is one of them."
Gavin remembered the absent-minded staffer. "That's...unhelpful."
"Yep." Sean picked up a cookbook and ran his finger down the side. "Some of the recipes are marked." He opened the book and read.
"Do I need to ask for a warrant, Sheriff?" Caine asked, descending the staircase, followed by Thomas.
"For shellfish recipes?" Sean asked, not taking his eyes off the book. "Are you a Pisces, Caine? Are you protecting your secret source of power?" He squinted at the
page. "A squid dish designed specifically for your star sign?"
"It's just calamari rings with a kiwifruit dip," Caine said with a weary sigh. "What are you looking for, exactly?"
Sean patted the box next to him. "We're wondering why you ordered so many Hexalife products." He tapped the cover of the cookbook in his hands. "And what you found out from them."
Caine spread his arms out, gesturing toward their cluttered surroundings. "Look at this place. Does that answer your first question?"
Gavin and Sean exchanged a glance, equally confused.
"We ordered from many vendors, not just Hexalife," Caine exclaimed, his booming baritone echoing through the basement. "We're doing a survey of paranormal products." He glared at the boxes. "And it has been an enormous time suck."
Sean's brow furrowed. "How many sellers did you order from?"
"Dozens," Caine said.
"Hundreds, actually," Thomas corrected. "And that just takes us through the first half of the alphabet."
Caine groaned. "Are you serious? We are not even half done?"
"No," Thomas said. "But we are making progress."
"What are you looking for?" Sean asked, glancing down at the cookbook. "Squid recipes?"
"Kind of," Thomas said.
Caine's mouth twitched. The twitch turned into a giggle.
Thomas muttered something that sounded like "tentacles", and Caine's giggles turned into full-flown laughter.
Sean's jaw tightened. "It's not a joke, guys. The Hexalife people noticed that you ordered a full selection of products. They concluded that you are investigating them."
Thomas started to nod, but Caine, his laughter now gone, quickly glared him into stillness.
"No, no. We are just doing product reviews for our YouTube channel," Caine said, his voice firm. "That's all." He gestured toward the other boxes. "As you can see, we did not single out Hexalife."
Sean nodded. "All right, but did you find anything interesting when you did the Hexalife 'product reviews'?"
Caine glanced at Thomas, who shrugged.
"I've only just finished the D's, boss," the staffer mumbled. "You said we had to be thorough, so I just checked to make sure we got everything and then started, er, reviewing in alphabetical order."
Caine gave a weary sigh. "This will take forever."
"How long has this been here?" Gavin asked, pointing at the Hexalife box.
Caine's eyes narrowed. "Is my answer going to affect our fine?"
Gavin shrugged. "Maybe not."
Caine winced. "A few days."
"Months," Thomas corrected.
Caine gave him another scathing glance. "We will have a chat about this, Thomas. Today."
Thomas' eyes widened in alarm.
"And you ordered a sample of every product from Hexalife?" Gavin asked.
Caine nodded at Thomas.
"Yes," Thomas said. "Like I said, we were told to be thorough."
"Including the food mixes?" Gavin continued. "Shakes, supplements, and such?"
"Yes," Thomas said. "It should all be in there."
"You ordered the green shake?" Sean asked. "The one they discontinued?"
And the one that Bella had drunk. The one that hadn't been in her suitcase.
"Yes," Thomas repeated. "We were looking for green stuff. It's, er..." He scratched his head.
"Our product review theme," Caine added quickly. "For St. Patrick's Day."
"Right." Thomas exhaled in relief. "St. Patrick's Day. That's a good one."
Gavin's lips tightened into a thin, harsh line. The PRoVE guys were being evasive about something, but they both agreed about having ordered every single Hexalife product available, including the drink mixes.
And Gavin believed them. Thomas seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't be able to tell you what day or month it was, but who could list every single paranormal product in the boxes in reverse alphabetical order.
Which meant they had a big problem.
"The mixes aren't there now," Gavin said. "They are gone."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"IS THIS the scavenger hunt item?" The dark-skinned girl with the Harley Quinn pigtails asked, examining the shop's one green candle with a skeptical eye. "It doesn't have a shamrock or anything," she glanced at the shelf, "and that pillow over there—"
"It's the candle," Fiona said, injecting as much cheer as she could into her voice. The last thing she wanted was that horrid pillow all over social media with her store's hashtag attached.
The girl smiled and took her selfie with the candle. She then put the candle back and left without purchasing anything.
This was the twentieth scavenger hunter that had come to the store today. Luanne had seen five in the morning and, so far, Fiona had greeted fifteen.
The hunt had only just started, and it was already a success, sort of. The store had a lot more foot traffic than usual in March, but hadn't sold many candles. The hunters were only interested in the green candle used for the pictures, but it was the only one she had so she had placed a big "Not For Sale" sign next to it.
Fiona sighed. She should have stocked up on green scavenger hunt candles.
The door chime rang and she leaned forward, wondering if any of the Hexalife members would come to the store. Tristan had taken a picture with the library's scavenger hunt item. Would he also come to the candle shop? If so, maybe she could find out what Stella meant when she said, "Violet had gone too far."
The door opened and Fiona's shoulders slumped in disappointment. It was Gavin, carrying a package.
"Good to see you, too." Gavin said with a wry smile. "Seeing your face is the highlight of my day. That's no joke, by the way. I had a PRoVE inspection in the morning and now there's a scavenger hunt emergency at Poltergeist Pizza. Not a great day so far."
Fiona winced. "Sorry. I am glad to see you. It's just I was hoping for..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't want to say she'd been hoping for a visit from handsome Tristan. Gavin may misunderstand.
"Your cousin?" Gavin asked, placing the package on the counter. "More customers?"
"Both," Fiona blurted out. "Flora left for a meeting and hasn't called me, and I haven't made as many sales as I expected during the scavenger hunt. I should have gotten more green candles."
Gavin grinned and patted the box he'd brought in. "Well, then, have I got something for you. DeShawn is at the pizzeria, so I figured I had enough time to deliver this."
He opened the box and extracted six velones, three green and two white with a green spiral.
Fiona smiled broadly, thinking Gavin had found some holiday-friendly inventory for her, but her smile faded when the chief turned one of the white candles over, exposing the Hexalife logo on the bottom.
"I was excited there for a second."
"Sorry." Gavin took a pair of books out of the box. "These are just samples, but I thought they were interesting. Your cousin wrote the books."
Fiona peered at the author's name and frowned. "Candlemaking books? She didn't mention that."
"Maybe she didn't want you to think of her as competition." He opened the book. "But something about the candles bothered me. It took me a while, but it eventually came to me. Check this out."
He pointed at a paragraph about using candles to manage your female energy. Flora recommended wax mixed with red clover oil, chamomile, ginger, fennel, and—
Fiona gasped. "Oleander? But that's—"
"Poisonous when burnt, yes," Gavin said. "We had that case last year. Fortunately, the trace amounts in the candles would be too small to be harmful."
Fiona relaxed a little. "Good," she said as she laid the book on the table. "Ironic that Flora was anxious about her food recipes, when she should have been worried about her candle-making instructions." She took a white candle and examined it. "Where did you get these?"
The green spiral was beautifully done, and the wax had a pleasant scent resembling jasmine.
"The PRoVE basement," Gavin explained.
"Caine's team is doing product reviews, and they have a huge box full of Hexalife merchandize."
"That's unusual." Fiona tested the weight of the candle. It felt heavy and reassuring, and somehow familiar. "What did they think?"
Gavin frowned. "About what?"
Fiona gave an exasperated sigh. "What did they think about the products?"
"They haven't gotten to them yet. They agreed to let Sean's team inspect them, so he took the products to the station. They'll be looking through them tonight."
"Will they send the shake mixes to the lab?" Fiona asked.
Gavin shook his head. "That's the funny thing. Caine claims they bought a full assortment of Hexalife food supplements—and he has the receipts to prove it—but they are not in the box. The PRoVE guys have all the other merchandise they purchased, including t-shirts, candles, pedicure sets—"
Fiona's nose wrinkled. "Pedicure sets?"
"Astrologically correct ones," Gavin said. "PRoVE has one for each sign now. Caine's Tauran toenails will be perfect from now on."
Fiona couldn't help but giggle at the thought of the burly biker using a Hexalife pedicure set.
"They had everything, except the supplements." Gavin shrugged. "Caine suspects that someone took them out, and Sean is trying to figure out who had access to the basement. It's a shorter list than the one about who had access to the van in the garage, so that's a positive development."
Fiona winced as a thought struck her. "One name springs to mind."
Gavin nodded. "Yes, Leslie. She worked for Caine and everyone at PRoVE knew her. She tried to sell them Hexalife products and was a frequent visitor to the building. Sean is checking it out."
"Oh." Fiona didn't know what else to say. She hoped it wasn't Leslie—the thought of anyone from Banshee Creek being involved was horrible—but it sounded plausible.
Except for one thing.
"Why?" she asked. "What motive could Leslie have had? She loved Hexalife. She would have stuck it out and would not have left like Stella did today."
But Stella's words popped back into her head-Violet has gone too far. Had Leslie agreed with that conclusion?
