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Moggies, Magic and Murder

Page 42

by Pearl Goodfellow


  I heaved in a deep breath to steady my heart rhythm.

  I didn’t want to act overly dramatic with my bandaged friend, but the work she was doing was crucial. We needed to find out what that hidden artifact was.

  Remember Morag Devlin? The hot shot lawyer killed by her coworker, Barnabus Kramp? Yeah, well, before she had died, Morag had hidden something. A document maybe, we didn’t know for sure. Morag’s hiding place? The bell she had recently donated to Gless Inlet’s presiding location of worship: Saint Pendragon’s church. The trouble was, Morag had inlaid that artifact so deep within the bell’s gilded surface, and it was protected by such an impressive array of security charms, that it wasn’t proving easy to unearth. My other good friend, and sometimes lab partner, Artemus Caves, had been Carpathia’s assistant during this time-gobbling, slow-going process. Carpathia leveled me with her glittering orbs. “I do not for a second believe I indicated that we were beaten in any way in this venture,” she complained, her tone haughty. “I merely meant the task is pure, perverse drudgery.”

  I nodded, showing I understood her toil. My friend continued to share the obstacles she had had to contend with to get to this covered artifact. “I mean, as if it’s not enough that it’s buried under layers of gilt?” She raged. “We’ve lifted no fewer than eight security charms already, and still the target is thick with added layers of protection. This isn’t some amateur magic we’re dealing with here. This is Warlock magic. And it’s as robust as a vintage châteauneuf du pape!” Carpathia concluded, clapping her bandaged hands together.

  Millie and I waved our heads in agreement, smiling politely at the vampire’s outburst.

  “Well, on it goes, I suppose,” Carpathia said. “And, therefore, on I must go. To the bell, if we’re to uncover anything of use!” She straightened an arm out and pointed in the general direction of Saint Pendragon’s mount, in an effort of good-sport humor.

  “Please do keep us abreast of events as and when you hear about them from our dear CPI Trew, won’t you?”

  “You’d better believe it,” I promised my vampire friend.

  As soon as The Angel’s tinkling bell announced Carpathia’s departure, Millie and I let out a joint sigh of relief. My assistant grabbed hold of my arm. “Hattie, you look exhausted. How are you really doing?”

  “I’m fine, Millie,” I lied. “But, yeah, I’m super tired, I’ll admit.” I ran my finger through her rainbow hair. “But, tell me, unicorn, how’s the shop been today? Jet been pulling his weight?” I craned my neck, scanning the shop for my catnip addicted kitty. Jet was an agoraphobe. He didn’t dig the outdoors so much as he did frolicking safely within the confines of the apothecary and my humble pied-a-terre upstairs. It was his comfortable kingdom. Although, my agoraphobic cat had ventured into the great outdoors quite a bit just lately … to offer his assistance with all the murder cases.

  “Jet’s been great, actually,” Millie laughed. “Only one attempted break-in on the catnip jar, so I’d say a winning day for him.” A streak of black fur whooshed from the kitchen out back, and came to an abrupt stop on the countertop, between the till and where I was standing. Jet headbutted my arm, rubbing his head as hard as he could manage against my wrist.

  “Hi again, buddy,” I said, with a feeling of genuine love. “Heard you’ve made only one heist attempt today?”

  “Yep, yep, yep,” Jet jabbered. “Trying to make a new start, you know, boss? Just, like, get a bit cleaner, if you understand me? Yep, yep.” He sniffed. “So, yep, that’s some big kind of insanity, huh? Ol’ Krampus getting two years at Steeltrap? Like, what gives? Wow.”

  “Buddy, your guess is as good as mine. David thinks the judge is in Gideon Shields’ pocket. But we have no proof of that yet.” I shrugged at the zippiest of my cats and gave Midnight a nod. Middie would find out -- later tonight, hopefully -- if the judge had dirty hands or not.

  “Damn that Shields!” Millie’s eyes narrowed to hostile slits. “When is that snake going to be discovered for what he is?” My assistant slammed her hand down on the counter, rousing an irritable Carbon from his beloved place by the fire.

  “I’m trying to sleep,” he grumbled, taking the opportunity of the interruption to stretch his weary muscles. He looked like an inky black elastic band, as he bent his head backward to look at us from an upside down perspective. He offered us an impatient blink.

  “Sorry, Carbs,” Millie said. “But, honestly, I can’t wait until the day I see Shields toppled. I’m positive he’s behind a lot more than we know. I just … feel it, you know?” She shook her head. “And now this explosion. Or, bomb, as Carpathia suggested.” My assistant flicked her unicorn hair in undisguised indignation. “Well, I just hope it’s the Custodians who are the ones to bring this sleaze-ball down,” she finished.

  “Preach,” Shade said.

  “Yep, yep, we’re gonna bring him down alright, sure, sure. Shields is dirtier than a Mississippi mud bank in spring, yep. Hey, Millie, are you going to tell the boss lady about the visitors, yep, yep?”

  “What visitors?” I said, my head swiveling to Jet.

  “Okay, Jet, calm down, I was getting to that,” Millie said elbowing my kitty to the side. “Okay, so before the explosion, Hinrika and Verdantia swung by. They were on their way to the Glimmer Mountains. Or rather, uh, Burning Peak, specifically. You know, to find a way in … to see if that…. Tia .. tia--”

  My impatience broke loose. “Tiamat stone,” I said. Millie nodded.

  “Yeah, that thing. They’re trying to get into Burning Peak to locate the stone, is what they said.”

  My turn to nod. “Good. I guess we’ll be ready and waiting when the poor sucker who holds the Elder Code tries to get his ‘dragon on’ then,” I quipped.

  Millie twirled a lock of her prismed hair, her eyes glassy and distant. “It’s so insane, huh, Hat? I mean, who’d have thought that an actual, live dragon would be a real threat to these isles?” She chewed on her bottom lip, and whispered, “But, it’s real. The Wyrmrig is about to be reborn. It’s just such a … Medieval fairy tale!” Millie flipped her multi-colored mane in a theatrical swoosh.

  “Tell me about it. Who’d have thought the old wives’ tales would wind up as fact?” I shrugged, but I didn’t feel my inferred indifference. Not even close.

  This Wyrmrig character; this mighty, fire breathing dragon, was real. Or, at least he would be real. He was about to be reborn, and we needed to be there, at the source of his birth: aka the Tiamat Stone. Burning Peak was where the stone lay, and this was the location the Elder Code carrier would be drawn to. To fulfill his destiny to become what he was born to become. Wyrmrig.

  We needed to get into the heart of the Glimmer Mountains to find that dragon-activating stone, so we’d stand a chance of influencing the beast’s fiery reign right from the point of his birth. If a weapon such as this got into the wrong hands, then who could even imagine the potentially terrifying consequences that would unfold?

  But we had a problem. We didn’t yet know who carried the Elder Code. In all likelihood, the carrier probably didn’t know of his fiendish inheritance either. Which presented a quandary. How could we tail the carrier of this dragon-gene to the Tiamat Stone when the holder didn’t even know (right now, anyway) that they were going to make the trip themselves? The owner of the Elder Code’s fate would bloom at the exact time it was due. But as you can probably guess, nobody knew when that blooming would occur.

  We had only one option. To go to the Tiamat Stone directly. And wait. That’s why my two beautiful faery friends, Hinrika and Verdantia, were on their way there today. To locate the T-Stone, so, when the time was right, we could hole-up there and wait for the dragon-gene holder to show up.

  The elven beauties were given this worthy task by the members of their secret guild; the Custodians. A newly formed group of misfits who were largely responsible for the protection of the isles during these crazy, dark times. David was a brother in the Custodians. Goddess, even my kitties wer
e all in this alliance!

  I was never invited into this covert brotherhood, though. Apparently, I didn’t ‘embrace’ my inner power enough, or whatever. I don’t want to talk about it. When I think about it, I get like a sullen child. Not pretty.

  To counteract my childlike bitterness, I gave Hinrika and Verdantia a prayer of silent well-wishes for their undertaking.

  “We missed Hinrika?” Eclipse said, not quite up to date with the conversation. He loved Hinrika Jonsdottir. All my cats did; as evidenced by their collective sigh of disappointment now. The Queen of the Fae had come all the way from the Faroe Islands to serve alongside Portia Fearwyn in the Custodians. We needed her in our favor in case any meaningful talks with the Unseelies needed to happen. That’s if the Unseelies are the suspects we should be looking at. Shields and his Warlock cronies seemed to be creeping malevolently into the picture these days.

  Goddess, this was all so confusing.

  I turned to ‘Clipsy. “We’ll be seeing Hinrika soon buddy, don’t worry.”

  “But, yep, yep. What about the other visitor. Are you going to tell Hattie about the other visitor?” Jet’s paw patted Millie on the arm in a series of rapid taps.

  “Oh, Ulrich Darkmore,” Millie began, scratching Jet behind the ears. “He came by not a minute after you left for the courthouse.” Millie reached behind her, pulling something from the ledge of the cash register. “Here,” she said thrusting a business card under my nose. A dull black card, with the words ‘Ulrich Darkmore - Shadow Supplies.’

  “Huh,” I grunted, fanning the card. “I nearly did business with Ulrich before,” I said. “But, in the end, I got all the stock I needed from Dilwyn Werelamb. Darkmore is Dilwyn’s supplier, as it happens.”

  “Yeah, Darkmore supplies anyone who is someone,” Millie quipped. “You don’t get to be a customer of his, unless you come highly recommended. From someone with clout.”

  “Hmm, I wonder if Verdantia had anything to do with this?” I ventured, thinking back to the time when Verdantia had been kind enough to be a ‘guarantor’ on my behalf so I could purchase a large quantity of baneful herbs. Sure, I stocked a whole cabinet full of the deadly stuff, but Ulrich’s gargantuan storerooms were legendary. I’d heard from someone on Nanker isle that his warehouse was actually an abandoned aircraft carrier. A herbalist needed to jump through hoops to get a contract set up with Ulrich Darkmore’s ‘Shadow Supplies.’

  “Maybe Portia Fearwyn?” Millie suggested.

  Sure, it would make sense that the commander-in-chief of the Custodians and a strong ally of mine would put my name forward to the Isles most prolific suppliers of botanical remedies and poisons.

  “He was spiffy, yep, yep,” Jet gushed. “Tall, and big like a big tree. But, a tidy tree, not a messy tree. Fine rags, yep, yep, just fine.”

  A prickling sense of familiarity crept at my temples.

  “Was he broad shouldered? Tweed flat cap, matching tweed jacket?” I asked on a hunch.

  Millie was about to answer, but Midnight interrupted, “Was gonna ask the same question, boss-lady,” Middie said. “The guy at the courthouse following the car.” My gossip cat tapped a paw to his chin in thought. And the man who had gotten Kramp’s wife to sign something just before the verdict was announced, I thought about adding.

  “Uh, yeah, sounds like him,” Millie said eyeing us both. “Something weird about that?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. Just odd that he would show up here right before the trial, offering his business. Out of the blue, no less. Unsolicited, is what I mean. And, then he’s seen lurking around Kramp’s hearing?” I also put my paw, er, hand, to my chin.

  “Hmm. Well, I’m sure there’s likely a reasonable explanation. Probably someone’s just put a good word in for you, Hattie. You’re in the big league now in the apothecary world.” Millie squeezed my arm and smiled.

  I returned my friend’s smile and looked at her. I was so grateful for her years of companionship. I loved Millie Midge like a sister.

  I was about to thank Millie when I noticed the balled up paper under Midnight’s paw. The piece of paper he had had in his mouth at the courthouse? “That anything important there, buddy?” I asked, eyeing the paper toy.

  “Oh, duh! Yeah, well, no. It’s just...interesting? Maybe?” He pawed the paper forward on the counter, where it came to a rest at Millie’s elbow. I unraveled it.

  A prescription. For a brand name drug under the umbrella of drugs known as Digitalin Two tablets twice a day. With food. Patient name Barnabus Kramp.

  “Digitalin,” I mumbled. I knew it, it was coming … it was coming--”

  “Digitalis! Or, Foxglove!” Millie exclaimed.

  “Foxglove,” I murmured at the same time Millie bellowed her decibels.

  “For heart disease?” My assistant ventured.

  “Yeah.” I pursed my lips. “Most likely, anyway.”

  “Hmmm,” said Onyx.

  “Well, interesting, but put it in the bin, buddy. There’s no need for us to snoop around in Kramp’s affairs of the heart.” We all let out a half-guilty snigger at my hastily made wisecrack.

  “I’m sure his doctor will take care of his refills,” Millie said.

  A flurry of activity outside the window made me turn my head. The Gless Inlet Para Police division was out in the streets, requesting that shopkeepers close their doors for the day. I was happy to see that the GIPPD was taking the incident seriously.

  “Go home, Millie,” I said to my assistant. “I’ll lock up here.”

  I ushered my friend to the door. She turned to me. “Keep me updated as to what’s going on, deal? You know I’ll help out in any way I can. I’m not just good for cat-sitting Jet, you know?” Her eyes were earnest.

  “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I confessed. “Now, get home, snuggle under a duvet and watch a black and white movie.” My head angled to the dark, swirling October clouds overhead, convinced that I should take up my own offer and make some hot chocolate and cuddle with the kitties while Casablanca flashed across the forty-two-inch screen. I’d pretend to watch it of course, but, really, I’d just be wringing my hands and waiting for word from David.

  CHAPTER 3

  I dreamt I was cocooned in a layer of vibrating fur.

  No, wait, I was awake, and I had seven cats draped across every available inch of body part I owned. The vibration-explanation became immediately evident by the chorus of comfortable purrs, and the rise and fall of all the furry bellies lying on me.

  Early morning light crept rosy through the sheer curtains. I’d slept through the night? I looked at my smart TV, which had taken upon itself to fall into ‘sleep’ mode. Smart.

  Wow, I didn’t remember anything past the first ten minutes or so of the movie. I must have been exhausted because I was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

  Blech.

  The vibrating became more insistent. I giggled in spite of myself. “Guys, cut it out, it’s tickling.” I shifted in my seat, nearly toppling Eclipse from his personal eyrie on my head.

  “Uh, boss-lady,” Shade said, sitting up from his cinnamon swirl position on my lap. “It’s your phone that’s doing the purrin’,” he said, pawing at my illuminated device.

  I sat bolt upright, scattering a bunch of irritated felines in my wake. I grabbed the phone.

  “David?”

  The cats regained their feet quickly and jumped up so they could listen in on the conversation.

  “Hat? Look, sorry it took a while to get back to you. Wanted to make sure … well, it’s all safe now. Everyone’s gone home, and it’s all cleared up here. Want to join me down at the site? It’s right in front of Prettykins on Main. You know the dress boutique shop?”

  My head hadn’t quite caught up with my friend’s chatter.

  “What’s the time?”

  “Uh, well, I don’t have a watch on, but my guess is about six a.m.,” he said almost apologetically. Deathly-early morning calls were David’s thing
, in case you didn’t know.

  I had tons of questions battering against the back of my teeth, fighting for freedom, but I knew better not to ask until I was with him at the site.

  “Sure, give me ten minutes?”

  “You got it. Gabrielle’s just setting up, bringing in the baked goods, so I’ll pop across and nudge her for a coffee. Get you anything?”

  “Coffee. Definitely. And, if there’s an almond croissant on any of those goody-trays, grab me one of them too.”

  “If there’s no almond, I’ll ask for cherry danish.”

  My breath hitched. I was touched. David knew that cherry danish was my second favorite pastry. Hear that? The man I loved knew what my second favorite baked good was.

  “Thanks,” I squeaked, “See you soon.” I ended the call, leaped up and bounded for the bathroom.

  I was in there for no more than one minute, when a furry head popped around the door. Eclipse pushed his way in and stared at me.

  “‘Clipsy, can’t a lady pee in peace?” I managed from my place on the porcelain throne. My enigmatic cat ignored my question entirely, and instead rested his body against my rumpled up jeans around my ankle. He flopped on his rear end, stuck one of his back paws ramrod-straight into the air and began washing his privates.

  “Um, excuse me?” I challenged my cat.

  Eclipse’s head came up from his nether-regions. “I think I should go with you,” he said, his eyes unreadable. “Not many people on the streets right now. Would be good for you to have a chaperone.” His head bobbed downward to finish his ablutions.

  “Uh, well, okay, that’s fine. But, can you just let me finish my business in peace and wait for me outside?”

  “If you’d prefer.” He looked at me but didn’t move.

  “Yes. I. Would. Prefer.”

  Finally, my kitty got the message and sauntered out, not looking behind him.

 

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