“I agree, Ted.” I snatched up the grimoire and sat down on the couch, completely ignoring Leo. I was also careful not to spill my wine. It was time to dig into the volume of spells and find one that could guarantee my date tomorrow night would be a success. “Are you staying for a while? It’s nice to have the pleasant company.”
“I have dinner plans.”
Well, Ted’s announcement certainly had the crickets chirping around the room.
Don’t ask.
I wouldn’t ask.
Mindy’s boutique was closed, which meant Ted wasn’t having dinner with the mannequin he fancied in town. It was best to leave well enough alone.
“Have a good night, Ted,” I called out tentatively, taking a healthy sip of my wine after he’d shut the door behind him. “Leo, I hope we don’t end up with another emergency on our hands.”
He’s a walking, talking crayon. What harm could he get into?
I stifled a groan at Leo’s ability to dare Karma to do her best and took another sip of my delicious wine.
“Ted has a point about a list of suspects,” I pointed out, opening the leather-bound grimoire. I began to leaf through the pages one by one, hoping a divination spell would catch my eye where I’d be able to use the ash I’d collected from the garbage can out back of the tea shop. There had to be some spell that would point us in the right direction of a suspect. “Billy and Gertie have been discounted, so that still leaves Pete, maybe Sam, and Bree…although her involvement is based on nothing but rumors. You know that I don’t put any stock into that type of human-spun gossip.”
Did you ever think there’s some truth behind those rumors? You—not me—are assuming that someone is lighting fires to get a thrill of watching things burn. What if there’s a deeper motive behind the crimes?
Leo might very well be onto something there. Why were the fires being set if the blazes turned out to have nothing to do with my blunder? Did someone have a personal vendetta against the shop owners of Paramour Bay?
More importantly, who would benefit?
You know what, Raven? I think that premium organic catnip that Beetle has been giving me is making me smarter. I might very well be turning into a next level genius! You know, like that movie with John Travolta…only without the brain tumor!
Chapter Thirteen
“YOU’VE STIRRED UP quite a ruckus, my dear Raven,” Beetle exclaimed as he breezed through the front entrance of the tea shop. “Quite a ruckus!”
It was a good thing I’d loaded up my travel mug with coffee, because Beetle’s enthusiasm was more than my caffeine deprived brain cells could take this morning. I’d stayed up late looking through the family grimoire for any type of spell that could use ash left behind by the guilty party…and came up with less than zero.
Don’t get me wrong.
I’m sure there’s a divination in those pages somewhere, but there were literally thousands of spells to comb through. I wouldn’t give up my search, but it was postponed until tomorrow when I could pick up where I’d left off.
Today was Valentine’s Day.
And tonight was reserved for me and Liam.
At least, I still believed my special dinner with Liam was still on the schedule for tonight.
That reminds me that I’ll need to find another place to smoke my pipe later this evening. Your plans are interfering with my personal reflection time, Raven. We really need to do something about this newfound relationship with the good ol’ sheriff.
“I thought you weren’t coming into work for a while, Beetle.” I’d clearly heard that fact somewhere in the last few days. “And I’m not sure how I could cause a ruckus when I just flipped over the open sign.”
My evening is ruined due to your need to rut around with Liam, and now you’re trying to throw a wrench into my breakfast? Stop chasing the poor man off.
Catnip wasn’t breakfast, but I was pretty sure that Leo would disagree with me on the subtleties of my point right now.
“Bree Stonehedge is quite upset that you’re going to be selling gourmet coffee blends here at the tea shop. Quite upset,” Beetle shared, busy trying to pull something from the pocket of his winter coat. “I’ll have you know that we’ve gotten quite close over the past two days, ever since she allowed me to occupy a couple of her tables as a workspace to discuss my client’s returns with them. My office still hasn’t been cleared of the debris, and I simply cannot work from home. No, siree, Bob!”
If he keeps rambling on like this, I’m going to need double my usual fix this morning. Could you please relay that message to him, Raven?
I wasn’t going to do any such thing, but I was quite concerned that Bree was upset about my new idea to incorporate coffee into my shop’s inventory. This small bit of insider information was going to take some time to ponder, so I took a seat on the stool behind the cash register to think it over.
“I guess I hadn’t thought of what my new business concept would do to the other shops in town who carried the same fare.” I frowned when I mentally put myself in her shoes. “The diner is where most people grab their coffee while having breakfast, and the bakery is where the residents sit down to enjoy a quick cup of joe with a pastry.”
“Precisely,” Beetle stated, holding up a finger while the other hand victoriously held up a sealed bag of Leo’s catnip. “I advised Bree to come talk to you sometime today to assure her that your intent was not to cut into her pre-established revenue stream.”
It hadn’t been my intention to cut into anyone’s anything, but businesses expanded and evolved all the time. I’d already placed the order for my new inventory items, and they were scheduled to be delivered early next week. It was common knowledge that a business owner had to be cutthroat from time to time, but that just wasn’t in my nature.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the gourmet coffee niche was her bailiwick. She served a classic Columbian roasted coffee with her baked goods. My selections covered that type of roast, but I hadn’t restricted myself to that blend alone. When all was said and done, we’d offer over twenty blends, and they would span a much larger spectrum of mild to rich flavors.
I had planned to offer one or two sample blends prepared fresh every morning, but I had intended to rotate through the entirety of my available selections to improve sales of the different blends. People looking for baked goods would still drink her coffee on the go, and they would stock up their favorite home grounds from what I offered here at the shop.
Would you stop distracting the man? I can smell that delicious, mouthwatering plant from here. Have we discussed a raise yet? Those extra dollars would certainly go a long way toward reimbursing this fine man for some of his premium stock.
“What I currently have planned won’t hurt Bree’s profit line at the bakery.” After thinking my business plan through a little more, I was confident that I could continue as planned. “I’m not a café…yet. My expansion into coffee is with gourmet blends and the devices and machines that can create the perfect cup. Yes, I’ll have two samples blends available for my customers to try, but they’d have to go to either the diner or the bakery to buy a regular cup of coffee.”
That’s right, Mister Supplier. Come closer. Just a little bit closer.
“My, oh my,” Beetle crooned as he opened the bag of catnip and began to dispense the green leafy substance onto Leo’s bed in the display window. “Aren’t you affectionate this morning, my good ol’ buddy?”
I am your buddy, Beetle. Your very best buddy ever.
I could literally hear Leo purr from all the way to where I was sitting behind the cash register. The only other person who had ever been able to make him purr was Heidi, but that was because Leo fancied himself to be love with my best friend.
While Beetle fawned all over Leo, I gave more thought to how Bree heard I was expanding the tea shop into more of a specialty tea and coffee shop. I shouldn’t be surprised that my conversation with Trixie yesterday had already made the rounds. Bob Abbott was known for his
love of Bree’s chocolate frosted Bavarian cream filled donuts, and Alice probably hadn’t wasted any time filling her husband in on the fact that I was going to include coffee beans and various grounds to my inventory.
“Bree was told that you’re closing the tea shop in its entirety and opening a café like the ones seen in movies with the quaint outdoor cloth-covered tables from the French stylings of the 1920s,” Beetle said after leaving Leo in peace to enjoy his morning treat. My part-time employee was repeatedly snapping his fingers to try and jog his memory. “What was that comedy show from back in the day? The one with all the friends?”
“Friends,” I replied, technically not surprised that the rumor had been twisted around until the truth had all but been buried alive.
“Yes, the one about friends.”
“Friends,” I replied once more, putting a little more emphasis on the title.
Beetle cocked his head to the side, his white hair somehow remaining straight upward.
Be nice to the man, Raven. I’m not sure I could live without his daily visits.
“The television show was called Friends,” I reiterated with a bit more information. Beetle’s blue eyes finally lit up with understanding. “And I wouldn’t want to own a café, per se, due to all the complexities it entails. But to-go cups of a rotating selection of coffee flavors wouldn’t interfere with any other business in town. Besides, I can supply her with any grounds she prefers at a reasonable price.”
Maybe we should consider adding a few feline pet selections…
“Good to know, my dear Raven. Good to know.” Beetle stretched out his arm, inadvertently pulling back his coat sleeve so that he could see his watch. There was a huge clock behind me hanging on the wall, but he never looked at it. It made me think that no one else could see it, either. I made a mental note to check the timepiece for magical components. “Now, I must go back to work. You really need to try Bree’s coffee cake. Delicious, just simply delicious!”
Beetle left just as quickly as he came, my hand still up in the air to wave goodbye as the door swung closed behind him.
The poor man is reduced to working across a few tables in a bakery. You really should have offered to clear the back storage area for him. He could have monitored my supply of catnip more closely from there, you know.
I pondered over Beetle’s predicament, wondering what else he’d heard while working at the bakery. That place had to have been just as good as the diner for the day’s fodder. Could he have possibly overheard something that would point Liam in the direction of his elusive culprit?
Isn’t it odd that there was a fire here during Beetle’s part-time hours, at his home, at his office, and now at the bakery…where he has temporarily set up an office? Poor man. The devastation seems to be following him around town.
Leo continued to consume the small mound of catnip that Beetle had poured out onto his bed while I sat back on the stool in disbelief. I’d been so caught up in believing that I may have been responsible for the fires, that I had completely missed Beetle’s connection to the crimes.
I was still staring at Leo with incredulity when he sat back on his haunches and ogled down at the catnip as if it had come from the supply of “holistic” remedies I had in the storage room for some of the townsfolk who still hadn’t stopped in for their orders. His left eye practically bulged out in astonishment.
This stuff does, in fact, make me a genius!
“I wouldn’t get so carried away there, Einstein,” I countered back, though I did give him credit for coming up with a theory of how the fires were linked. “How do you explain the small blaze behind Monty’s hardware store? Beetle was still here when that occurred.”
Hold on. Let me munch on this grand treat some more. I’m sure the answer will come to me. Talk about a secret weapon. I wonder what the afterlife is saying about my powers of observation now.
“Then there was that false alarm over at the pub,” I shared, wondering if that particular 911 call had any substance. “Maybe it’s a stretch to assume it’s all about Beetle.”
Have you ever heard of a criminal throwing off the authorities by diverting their attention? It happens on occasion, you know.
“Are you saying that Beetle himself is the one responsible for setting the fires?” Leo stopped eating long enough to look my way, our gazes meeting in heavy doubt. “You realize that I’m going to have to mention this to Liam, right?”
No, no, no, no, no. We will do no such thing, Raven. Remember, Beetle supplies the inspiration for my genius intellect. We’re just going to have to figure out a way to throw the good ol’ sheriff off of Beetle’s trail. It’s what any good friend and employer would do, right?
Chapter Fourteen
CAN’T WE HAVE just one chapter start where I’m not telling you that your plan is a bad idea?
“We have already had some of those,” I argued, having waited all morning to close the tea shop for lunch and walk over to the bakery. Beetle had said that he’d suggested Bree come talk to me, but why wait when I could give her some peace of mind…especially if she was worried about the bakery’s revenue. “Besides, I’m not doing anything that could stir up any more trouble. I’m simply walking over to the bakery—devoid of any malice, I might add—to speak with Bree and maybe join Beetle for some of that coffee cake.”
I thought we were in agreement that Beetle wasn’t responsible for the fires, but that the fires might be related to Beetle in some way.
We’d spent the morning debating on whether Beetle could actually be responsible for the arson problem, but it just wasn’t that likely when we knew who we were dealing with. Beetle hadn’t left the tea shop the entire time he’d been working that particular day. Trust me, I’d given him numerous times to bail on the part-time gig, but he hadn’t gone for it. Moreover, even if we believed he was the culprit, it would have been impossible for him to be in two places at once.
Unless Beetle had access to the same astroplane evocation you used to bust in on that council meeting of the coven.
“Stop being ridiculous,” I mumbled, believing it might be best to leave Leo behind at the shop. I grabbed my purse from beneath the counter, noticing the glaringly obvious hole in the cubby where I’d been keeping the heart-shaped glass container. Dee hadn’t had time to stop into the tea shop yesterday, but she’d quickly breezed in and out this morning. “Why don’t you go take a walk around town and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.”
You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well, neither one of us is going anywhere. It seems my catnip might have taken on some unique properties…such as the ability for conjuration and summoning.
Sure enough, a quick look out the display window showed me that Beetle was headed this way. I was concerned with the way Leo announced his presence.
“Leo, you do know that your catnip is just a dried weed and not a spell component, right?”
That’s what you’d like me to think, isn’t it? Good luck trying to pull one over on me.
“My dear Raven,” Beetle called out as he walked through the door with one hand in the air. “I didn’t want you to worry about our conversation this morning. I had a heart to heart talk with Bree, and she’s ecstatic that you’re not going to open up a café. Even better, Bree might decide to expand into that arena and was hoping that you’d be the one to sell her the gourmet coffee you’ll be carrying here in the shop and the various items she’d needed to get started. Seeing as I do the taxes for the bakery, I’m very familiar with the finances of such an adventure. I’ve run the numbers, of course, and you’d both make a nice profit. A very nice profit, indeed! Why, Leo would have a lifetime supply of catnip if this pans out.”
I didn’t think I could love this man any more than I already do. The church should offer him up for sainthood.
“Take your time looking over these,” Beetle suggested, handing me a manila folder. He turned right on his heel and made a beeline for the door. “I’m off to see Cora about those receipts
I never received. No time to waste!”
Catastrophe! I don’t get my noontime snack? Raven, call him back this instant!
“Beetle, wait,” I called out, hoping to slow him down. As an employee, I didn’t fault him for wanting to expand my business, but this was a big step. I needed time to look over the numbers, just as he’d suggested, but there was also the issue of his involvement in the fires. “I wanted to run something by you.”
And me! Ask him if he has any more catnip in his pockets.
Beetle clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he glanced toward the ceiling, clearly calculating how much time he could give me. I made sure he’d want to stay and hear me out by stating the truth.
“Beetle, I think you might be the cause of the fires.”
Be still my racing heart. Did you just accuse the man of arson? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?
“You believe that I—” Beetle covered his mouth in horror. Both of them had taken my statement out of context. “I’m horrified, Raven. Just horrified.”
I just thought of something more horrifying. What if someone actually wants Beetle dead?
“Beetle, of course I don’t believe you started the fires,” I clarified, setting down the manila folder on the counter before making my way around the cash register. “I’m saying that the fires are connected to you. Think about it. You lost your office, you almost lost your home, and then there’s what happened in the alleyway.”
Gasp! They were attempts on his life by some antiliberty movement bent on destroying the free use and distribution of catnip! Raven, I’m in total agreement now. We must stop this travesty of justice!
Beetle’s white bushy eyebrow rose, causing some of the loose strands of hair on his head to do the same. It was clear he hadn’t previously entertained the idea that he might be related to the offences occurring around town, not that I blamed him.
If this were a television show, they would suspect the spouse. As much as I love the man, no one in their right mind would marry him. He does have more than a few screws loose. That leaves his work. He must have unearthed proof someone is embezzling, and they want him dead!
Charming Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 5) Page 11
