The truth spell I’d cast lasted only an hour, so I wanted to be sure I got my questions asked in time. I stirred my straw around in my lemonade and cleared my throat. “So, what’s new in Eternal Springs?”
“Oh, dear,” Iona said, giving me a dismissive wave. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to listen to town gossip, did you?”
Actually, that’s exactly why I’d come, but I didn’t want to tell her that. So, why was it so hard for me to hold back those words? Surely my spell hadn’t backfired, as the trees had predicted. I’d been so careful preparing and casting it. No. I’d done everything right. No way had I contracted spell stink again. But I knew the spell took a while to sink in, so I forced myself to hold off on the important questions.
The waitress brought our salads and pie: blueberry for me, strawberry-rhubarb for Iona. We made small talk while shoveling in the salads. After a few minutes, Iona pushed her salad away and reached for her pie. I did the same, taking a bite and savoring the sweetness of the berries and the flaky salty crust. Finally, I felt safe enough to ask another question. “Do you like your plant?”
“Yes, dear, it’s lovely. Thank you so much!” Iona pulled the plant closer to her on the table, and I smiled, thinking that was good. The better the proximity, the stronger the spell. Time to get down to business.
“Have you, by chance, heard anything about a strip mall opening on the island?” I asked, as quietly as I could. I didn’t want anyone to overhear.
Iona halted midbite and blinked at me. “Funny you should ask, dear.” She glanced around then leaned into the table. “I think Buddy is working some hush-hush deal with that rich guy, Frank Pendleton. Don’t tell anyone, but I overheard them talking. Pendleton wants to throw around some money for a strip mall. Makes no sense, though, because that would ruin the whole appeal of our island. People come here to get away from the modern stresses of the world. Putting up a mall like that would only defeat the purpose.”
“Oh, isn’t that strange?” I asked, trying to act surprised. So, the rumor was true. But did that have anything to do with Amelia’s death? If her husband was working a deal with Buddy, how would her opposition matter? Surely Frank Pendleton would simply go ahead no matter what Amelia said. He certainly wouldn’t have to kill her over it.
“Hmm.” Iona nodded. “What’s even stranger is that you’re the second person who’s not on the council to ask me about that today.”
“Really?” I sipped my lemonade to hide my suspicion. “Who else asked?”
“Why that cutie-patootie Tommy Martinelli. That’s who.” Iona grinned, glancing down at my plate of blueberry pie. “He stopped by the town hall on his way over here earlier to drop off a pie for me. Blueberry, like yours. That’s why I ordered strawberry-rhubarb. Wasn’t that just so sweet?”
I put my fork down, my suspicions of Tommy blooming anew. “Really?”
“Yep.” Iona gulped her tea then pushed away her empty plate. “He’s so handsome, isn’t he? Not that he’d be interested in an old lady like me.” She winked. “But Tommy would be perfect for a young gal like you, dear. In fact, I heard you kissed him down at the tiki bar. I bet you’re dying to do that again.”
Words just gurgled up, tumbling out in an unstoppable rush. “You bet I am!”
Oh, Goddess! What in the world possessed me to say that to Iona of all people? She’d spread that news around town so fast it wasn’t even funny. I clapped a hand over my mouth and stared at her, wide-eyed.
“Are you now?” Iona sat forward, giving me her full attention. “That’s very bold of you, dear. Especially with your past as a nun. Then again, with the convent school gone and you excommunicated, it doesn’t matter so much, does it?”
“I wasn’t excommunicated,” I said, unable to stop myself. Oh, yeah. The spell had definitely backfired on me. I scrambled to cover my tracks. “I mean, there wasn’t really a point with the school gone and all.”
“Uh-huh.” Iona’s gaze narrowed, her blue eyes twinkling with interest. “And because you’re no longer a nun, there’s no reason for you to remain celibate either, is there, dear? Given your age and with that fine hunk of manhood Martinelli running around, it would almost be a shame.”
I bit my lips hard to keep from speaking again, but the truth came out as a vigorous nod. Yep. It would be a complete shame.
Iona chuckled, her voice dropping to a low whisper. “I mean, aren’t you just dying to find out what’s under the crust … if you get my drift?”
“Yes!” I blurted out. Several people at nearby tables turned to stare at us, confirming that it had been loud enough for the whole diner to hear. Magnificent. I gripped the edge of the booth seat tight and did my best to zip my lips shut.
Stupid plant. I glared at the thing still perched innocently on the table. I needed to get out of here and fast. Otherwise I’d spill all my secrets to busybody Iona. I dug out two twenties and plopped them down on the table, ready to make a quick getaway.
Crap! I needed the lapis stone. If I didn’t cleanse it in sun-soaked earth, I didn’t know what might happen. I grabbed the plant.
“Looks like this guy needs some water. Wouldn’t want to give you a wilted plant, no-siree.” I grabbed the glass of plain water the waitress had delivered earlier and poured some in, making a show of inspecting the dirt while I covertly pulled out the lapis stone and shoved it in my pocket. I set the plant back on the table. “There. Good to go.” I slid out of the booth and hopped to my feet, eager to get the heck out of there before I blurted out anything else.
Iona looked up at me confused. “Dear, I …”
“Well, this was a really great lunch, Iona. Thanks so much for meeting with me. Enjoy your plant.”
She frowned up at me. “Do you have to go so soon?”
“Afraid so. Lots going on. See you later.” I hurried out the door before she could stop me and didn’t slow my steps until I was around the corner of the building and halfway to my scooter. Oh, this was bad. Very, very bad!
I leaned against the side of the building housing a hairdresser shop and took a deep breath. A check of my watch showed I still had a good half hour before the spell would be over. At least I hoped it would be over by then. I needed to get back to my store and lock myself in the back room alone until I returned to normal.
Bells jangled, and a woman I didn’t recognize walked out of the hairdresser shop. Must be a tourist. She had dark hair that stood up all around her head, like the spikes of a hedgehog. Not exactly the most flattering of styles, I thought. Or said, if the way she whipped around to look at me was any indication.
Crap, crap, crap!
I opened my mouth again to apologize, but she held up a hand to stop me.
“I know it’s hideous.” The woman shook her head. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“When I went to bed last night, everything was fine. Then I had the weirdest dream. A little white-haired man with horrid breath was leaning over me. When I woke, my hair was filled with this sticky brown goo that wouldn’t come out. I had no choice but to cut it all off.”
Not good. Not at all. Little man. White hair. Bad breath. Sticky goo. There was only one creature I knew of that fit the bill, and it was one of the most horrible creatures to crawl out of the whole menagerie—a gnome.
I rushed to my scooter and jammed on my helmet. I had to get back to the store, diffuse the lapis in sun-drenched earth, figure out how this information about the strip mall could clear Lilly, and devise a way to capture the chocolate-eating gnome. Looked as if it was going to be a late one.
On my way back, I slowed when I saw a cluster of tourists huddled over a small black-and-white blob on the ground.
Clover?
Normally one would be upset to find their familiar lying on the street, but Clover had pulled this before. She had a secret exit somewhere in the plant shop and liked to flop down on the side of the road and pretend to be nearly dead so that people w
ould try to revive her with treats. She also liked to break into Skye’s place and mess with her things, but I didn’t mind that so much. The roadkill act, on the other hand, I did mind. It was downright dangerous!
I pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Sure enough, there was Clover looking up at the unsuspecting tourists with her most beseeching stare, her whiskers twitching adorably, tiny legs sticking up in the air.
“Oh, look. She’s recovering! I told you that skunks liked Mars Bars,” one of the women who had gathered said.
Clover chortled and wiggled one leg.
“See, her legs are working!” another woman exclaimed.
Clover swished her tail.
“She’s recovering! Feed her more!” a little boy chimed in.
To make a path, I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I’m from the Eternal Springs roadkill crew, and I’m here for emergency clean up.” Clover’s happy chortling stopped abruptly when she heard my voice. I scooped the naughty critter up in my arms. The dirt on her back looked almost like a tire track, and my heart jolted for a second, thinking she’d actually been run over—until I saw the mischievous gleam in her eye. A cursory check proved she was, indeed, fine, so I gave her my sternest warning look and carried her away.
“She just jumped out of nowhere,” one of the tourists called from behind me. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. She’s fine. No harm done.” I glared down at Clover. “How many times have I told you not to do that?”
Sorry, it must be that cat. He’s got me acting a little crazy. I’m not myself. We need to get rid of him right away.
I didn’t disagree, but right now Clover’s dislike of Penuche was the least of my worries.
Twelve
Back in my shop, I got rid of the lapis as quickly as I could, burying it in some soil I had sitting in a pot in the sunny window and then placing that pot under another overturned pot. Clover’s little foray to the road must have exhausted her because she fell into a Mars Bar-induced sleep after I wiped the dirt off her back.
The spell had worn off, thank goodness, and I felt much more relaxed, if tired. My thoughts about what I’d discovered from Iona were still whirling. Frank Pendleton was in negotiations to build a strip mall. Amelia Pendleton opposed that. Amelia ended up dead in the fountain. Coincidence? I didn’t think so, but something didn’t add up. I didn’t see how she could be much of a threat to the project. Had she threatened to make some kind of a stink? Maybe she had something on Frank and was going to expose it. Or maybe Frank was having second thoughts about funding the project because Amelia was against it, and the killer was someone else who had a vested interest.
Either way, the creature situation was coming to a head. It was not a good sign that it had started visiting sleeping tourists. Goddess only knew what he would do to them in their sleep. Caramel in their hair was the least of it.
I closed up my shop and headed to Lilly’s. If my suspicions were correct, there had to be a secret entrance into Lilly’s shop. I opened Lilly’s for business, let Penuche out of the back room, and headed to the small kitchen.
Penuche wound around my ankles as I knelt down and began pushing candy-making ingredients out of the way so I could scan the baseboards.
“What’s up?” Penuche asked.
He was behaving rather nicely, which made me suspicious. “You know those noises you said you heard?”
“Yeah.”
“I think something is getting into the shop and eating the chocolate-covered sea-salted caramels. There must be a little hole.”
Penuche sniffed around the perimeter. “Like this?” He pushed aside some buckets of cocoa to reveal a small hole, rounded at the top like a cartoon mouse hole but a little bigger.
Ugh. I sighed and sat back on my heels. Just as I’d suspected.
The new creature we were dealing with was a gnome. Gnomes are notoriously fond of chocolate. And there’s nothing worse than a gnome – especially the garden variety—drunk on chocolate. They go around trying to ride the yard flamingos and bowl with the gazing balls. And they are notoriously difficult to catch.
I needed a plan.
The bells over the door jangled.
“You stay back here,” I said to Penuche as I headed to the front, where I found Corinne Pendleton, Amelia’s daughter, and the woman I’d seen comforting Franny that day near the chocolate fountain. They were looking over the display of chocolate bark.
Corrine looked to be about my age and was dressed similarly to the way her mother had been—expensively. From the tips of her cute leather flats and white Capri pants to her perfectly tailored top and big designer leather handbag, the girl screamed money. Even her long blond hair was styled in the same fashion as her mother’s. She gave me a hesitant smile.
“Oh! Miss Meadows,” Corinne seemed surprised to see me. “I didn’t know you ran this shop.”
“Actually I run the shop next door. I’m just helping a friend.” If Corinne knew that Lilly had been arrested for her mother’s murder, she didn’t mention it, and I didn’t see much sense in bringing up the subject.
“Oh. Well, I came here because I found a couple of boxes of chocolates in my mother’s things when Franny and I went there to clean up this morning. I tried a couple and found them so addictive I had to have some for myself.”
Looked like the gnome wasn’t the only one addicted to Lilly’s chocolates. “Lilly makes the best candy on the eastern seaboard. She’ll be happy to hear that you enjoy them.”
“Yes. Well, I wasn’t the only one who liked them.” Corinne’s tone turned frosty as she studied her manicured nails. “Franny sure seemed to enjoy them too. In fact, when I went into my mother’s room, Franny was standing there eyeballing them like they were a million dollars or something. You’d think getting all my mother’s shoes and handbags would’ve been enough for her, but no. I mean the will hasn’t even been formally read yet.”
At those last words, Corinne’s voice caught, betraying the sadness beneath her polished surface. My heart went out to her.
“I’m so sorry about your mother.” Still, I didn’t want to let this information-gathering opportunity pass. I pressed a bit harder. “Your father must be devastated too.”
“Hardly.” Corinne snorted. “He could not care less. Their marriage was over a long time ago.”
I winced. “Oh. Well, Franny seemed genuinely upset at the fountain yesterday.”
“The only thing that woman’s upset about is not being able to take advantage of the two-for-one Botox specials at the resort anymore. Guess she’ll have to find a new injection partner now.” She sniffled. “They’d just had a fight anyway.”
“A fight? About what?”
“Mom had some meeting scheduled that night, and Franny was angry because she hadn’t been invited to attend.” Corinne shook her head, her smile bitter. “Like she just had to be a part of everything.”
A meeting? The wheels in my head started turning again. “Did the meeting involve your father?”
“No idea.” Corinne checked her watch. “Mom didn’t tell me.” She sniffled, seemingly on the verge of tears, so I rang up her purchase, gave my condolences again, and sent her on her way.
Interesting. It sounded as though Franny was jealous, and she’d just fought with Amelia. Corinne sounded none too pleased that Franny was getting the purses and shoes, and by the look of things, Corinne had her own closetful. Perhaps most interesting of all was that Frank Pendleton wasn’t that upset about Amelia’s death. What if her death had nothing to do with the strip mall and everything to do with Frank Pendleton getting her out of the way?
Thirteen
I collected Penuche from the stockroom and headed back to my shop.
Penuche! How lovely to see you, Clover said.
I exchanged a glance with Penuche. Those Mars Bars must have gone to Clover’s head.
“Yeah, you too. I think.” Penuche gave Clover a wide berth as he trotted past her into the
store.
No really. I think we can work something out here.
Penuche turned to look at Clover. “Work something out?”
Yeah, I mean. Look, we’re causing a lot of stress for Zola with our animosity, and well … since my near-death experience earlier today, I’ve been thinking maybe we should try to be friends.
“Um … okay.”
Come on. I’ve got something to show you.
My mood was skeptical as I watched them go off together, but anything was better than the constant barbs and smashed plant pots. Besides, I had work to do. I needed to work on a spell to trap the gnome.
I also wanted to visit Lilly in jail later. With any luck, Buddy would be there, and I could bring up the fact that Amelia’s husband might have had more than one reason to want her dead. Tonight was the weekly karaoke night at Coconuts, so with all that on my plate, I didn’t have time to referee Clover and Penuche. Hopefully, my little skunk really was softening.
We didn’t have much crime in Eternal Springs, at least not until recently, so the police station was located in a small section of the town offices. Heck, it didn’t even have proper jail cells, which made me wonder where they were holding Lilly. I was sure they hadn’t shipped her off to the mainland yet. Wherever she was, I hoped her accommodations were comfortable.
Kenna’s pristine, shiny white scooter was parked in the lot. Figures she’d be here. She’d probably worked herself into a tizzy, trying to prevent tourists from hearing about the murder. Hopefully she hadn’t caught onto the fact that a rampaging gnome was on the loose. She’d give me an earful if she had. The gnome was, after all, my responsibility.
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