Spells and Spiced Latte – a Coffee Witch Cozy Mystery

by Jinty James

  “I know,” Maddie agreed. “But let the sheriff’s department handle it.”

  “Too late,” Brian jeered, reaching under the desk and drawing out a gun. “You two are the only ones who know I murdered Joan. Once I take care of you, I’ll have plenty of time to make my getaway.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it.” Suzanne appeared in the library entrance, glaring at Brian.

  “Me either.” Detective Edgewater flanked Suzanne, holding his own gun in his right hand. “Drop it right now. Backup is on its way.”

  Brian glowered at the detective and Suzanne, before turning his attention back to Maddie and Phoebe. The gun wavered in his hand, as if he couldn’t make up his mind what to do. Then, with a loud groan, he slowly lowered his arm, the gun dangling in his hand.

  “Place it on the ground now.” The detective barked. “And step away.”

  Brian obeyed.

  “Placed your hands on your head.”

  Scowling, Brian followed the order.

  “Maddie and Phoebe, come over here,” Detective Edgewater directed.

  Maddie and Phoebe did so, the library assistant sobbing as if her heart had broken.

  Once the detective had cuffed Brian and called the station, he frowned at Maddie and Suzanne.

  “Didn’t I tell you girls to stop interfering?”

  “I wasn’t,” Maddie protested. “Not since I handed in the note to you at the station. I was looking for healthy cook books and I saw Brian with a beginner’s cook book and everything just fell into place.”

  “We had Brian on our radar,” the detective growled. “If it hadn’t been for you calling your friend and leaving the line open, we wouldn’t have known you were in trouble. I was going to visit Brian later today, but by then it would have been too late – for both of you.”

  “Are you okay?” Suzanne hugged Maddie.

  “I guess.” She returned the hug, relieved that it was all over. But why were her knees suddenly wobbly now she wasn’t in danger?

  “Let’s go back to the truck.” Suzanne put an arm around Maddie’s shoulders. “I think you definitely need a coffee.”

  “Yes,” Maddie agreed. “Definitely.”

  WHEN THEY RETURNED to the truck, Suzanne fussed over Maddie, ordering her to sit down while she made the coffee for a change.

  After Maddie’s first sip of a cappuccino, her knees stopped shaking.

  “Ah, that’s better.” She smiled at Suzanne.

  “You need a health ball.” Suzanne pressed one into her friend’s hand.

  Maddie nodded, chewing on the soft chocolatey tasting treat.

  “You gave me one for old people?”

  Suzanne grinned. “I figured that was all you could handle right now.”

  “I think you’re right.” Maddie sipped her coffee. “Thank goodness you heard what was going on over my cell phone. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to hear Brian talking since the phone was in my purse. But I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “I was just about to head over to the library to see what was keeping you,” Suzanne said, flopping onto the second stool and taking a swallow of her own coffee. “Then I got your call, and at the same time, Detective Edgewater arrived for—” she smiled briefly “—a vanilla cappuccino and a health ball.”

  “Lucky,” Maddie said wholeheartedly.

  “Yeah.” Suzanne nodded. “He warned me to stay here, but I wasn’t going to let you face a murderer on your own.” She touched Maddie’s arm. “We’re a team.”

  “The three of us.” Maddie got out her cell phone and pressed a button. “Look, Trixie is still guarding the spell book, but it’s open.” She stared at the image on her phone. “The book was definitely closed when I left this morning.”

  “Maybe she was helping in some way?” Suzanne offered. “Maybe she was looking up a spell to assist you?”

  Maddie stared at her friend.

  “Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Suzanne protested. “I don’t think it’s that crazy of an idea.”

  “Not crazy at all,” Maddie said slowly. “You hadn’t arrived yet, but Phoebe tried to attack Brian when she found out he wasn’t in love with her, and somehow, my voice sounded totally confident when I yelled at them to stop it and I vaulted over the desk and pulled her off him.”

  “I didn’t know you were that athletic.” Suzanne looked at her admiringly.

  “I’m not. That’s the point. It sort of felt like when I cast the coffee vision spell. And now—” Maddie pointed to her phone, Trixie still hunched over the open spell book, “—the book is open. What if Trixie was able to somehow help me?”

  “Giving you a dose of witchy power?” Suzanne asked.

  “Exactly.”

  “She is so totally your familiar.” Suzanne smiled.

  “Totally.” Maddie grinned.

  JUST AS MADDIE AND Suzanne were packing up for the day, Detective Edgewater knocked on the truck window.

  “Hi, sir,” Maddie greeted him, wondering if he was going to chastise her once more.

  “Miss Goodwell.” He nodded. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too,” Maddie replied with feeling.

  “I just wanted to give you an update. Brian has confessed in a formal statement. Apparently he killed his wife because she was threatening to divorce him, and that would mean he couldn’t take early retirement.” He tsked. “He says he just lost it. And he was the person who sent you the threatening note.”

  “Yes, he told me that at the library.”

  “We were sure it was Phoebe, the library assistant.” Suzanne joined Maddie at the open serving window.

  “So were we – for a time,” the detective admitted. “Until our investigation took a new turn in Brian’s direction.” He wagged a finger at them. “Let the professionals handle it from now on, okay?”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddie replied, thinking she was speaking the truth.

  For now.

  The End

  I hope you enjoyed reading this mystery. To discover when the next Maddie Goodwell mystery will be released, please sign up to my newsletter at: www.JintyJames.com

  Jinty James grew up reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven mysteries, as well as all the Nancy Drew books. Later on, she graduated to mysteries written by Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, and many other authors. It was her dream to one day write her own cozy mystery, and now she has, with plans for many more.

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