“I got some good news about my aunt.” Tommy’s words pulled me out of my reverie.
“Really?”
“Buddy said they wouldn’t be able to move her to the mainland for a couple of days. I guess there was some kind of mix-up.”
“Oh that’s great.” So the coven had come through after all.
“That buys us a few days before she’s transferred off the island. But quite honestly, I don’t really know where to start other than trying to figure out who had an alibi and who didn’t.”
“It’s not the husband, and other than some purses and shoes, her friend Franny didn’t have much to gain. Though she is kind of acting weird. But her daughter, Corinne, got all the money.”
Tommy waited to speak as the waitress slapped the food down in front of us.
“There’s been a big change in the daughter since Amelia was found dead.” He offered me the syrup first, and I drowned my pancakes as he continued talking. “She was sort of a shadow of her mother before that. She never really spent any money. I think Amelia held the purse strings in that family. But now Corinne has been ordering room service, having spa treatments, and buying new clothes.”
I forked up some pancake. “I hate to think of anyone killing their mother for money.”
“Better that than my Aunt Lilly going to jail for murder.”
“What about Franny? Have you heard any scuttlebutt around the hotel about her?”
Tommy blew out a breath. “She’s another weird one. Always hanging around Amelia. I got the impression she was one of those clingers. You know the kind that gets possessive? I don’t think someone like that would kill the person they were possessive of, would they?”
“Maybe if they were jealous.” I cut a few more pieces of pancake and poured more syrup so it could really soak in. “She did seem quite upset the morning I found the body in the lobby.”
“And Corinne didn’t seem upset at all.”
Speaking of the lobby made me think of the gnome’s parting words. “Did you happen to see a little man in the lobby that morning?” Jeepers, I’d almost blurted out the word gnome.
“A little man? Well there’s Mr. Spellman, the guy who delivers the paper goods. He’s like five and a half feet tall.”
“No, I mean a lot shorter.”
Tommy looked at me funny. “Now that you mention it, I remember one of the people in the lobby saying she saw a little man throwing salt. I just figured she was drunk.”
“Yeah.” I laughed as if a little man throwing salt was totally ridiculous. “Who would go around throwing salt? Did you happen to see a bunny?” Oops, the word just slipped out.
“A bunny? No, but I heard there was a skunk at the mud pit baths yesterday.”
“No, not a skunk.” Definitely not a skunk.
“Umm, I don’t know anything about a bunny. To be honest, I think Aunt Lilly isn’t telling us everything. I mean, she made it sound as if she barely knew Amelia at first then later confessed that she’d had dinner with her.”
“I know. I hope she’s not getting dementia or something. Do you think she’s hiding something?” I put down my fork and wiped my sticky fingers on the napkin.
“I don’t know. She usually tells me everything.”
“What about that box of chocolates she gave you to give to Amelia? That’s kind of unusual, isn’t it? Does she usually deliver little boxes of chocolates to people?”
Tommy shoveled in the last of his pancakes. “First I’ve heard of it. Maybe she has someone else deliver them.” He chewed, his brow creasing into a frown. “You know, Amelia acted awfully weird about those chocolates when I gave them to her. You’d think I was giving her gold or something.”
“Weird. Maybe what we need to do is retrace Amelia Pendleton’s steps. We know she had dinner with your aunt earlier that night, and we know she was in the tiki bar, but where did she go after?”
“Good idea. Bonnie said she was going to the Fountain of Youth. Maybe if we figure out how long it took her to get from one place to the other, we can figure out where she ran into the killer. Then if we get the times people left their rooms from the keycards, we can figure out who it is.”
“That sounds like a great plan.”
He put his hand on mine and squeezed. “Thanks, Zola. It means a lot to have someone else to work with and know that you believe in my aunt too. It makes me feel like I’m not all alone.”
Twenty-Three
I was still feeling warm from Tommy’s words when I got back to Cackleberries. At least until Clover met me at the door with a scowl on her face.
Where have you been? I thought the evil creature got you. That’s it, isn’t it? You couldn’t banish him. Oh woe, life as we know it is over! Apparently now that Clover wasn’t focusing on her roadkill routine, she’d gone back to her doom and gloom outlook.
“Life is not over,” I said. “And I’ll have you know that I did banish the gnome. Everything went off without a hitch.” Except maybe for the disenchantment.
“Yeah but what about my human, Lilly? What are you doing to help her?” Penuche asked.
“I was just meeting with her nephew, Tommy, to figure that out.”
Penuche looked at me skeptically. “Meeting? Or mating?”
“What?”
“Seems like the two of you have a bit more than detecting on your minds,” Penuche said.
“How would you know that?”
“It’s practically written all over your face.”
“Well, I actually did, but … oh crap!” I’d blurted that by mistake. Good thing it was only to the cat. But it proved one thing: the disenchantment hadn’t worked. As I’d suspected, I had forgotten an ingredient. Now what was it …
Ribbit!
Of course! I did a mental forehead slap. The toenail of a toad! How could I have forgotten the most important part of the spell? Great, now I’d have to run back to Blathering Brook and slip a toenail in the exact spot I’d dropped the lapis. That was going to really squeeze my schedule because I had several plant orders to get ready and I absolutely had to clean Lilly’s shop. The gnome trap had left an awful mess. And, of course, I didn’t want to be late for my date, er, my meeting with Tommy.
But first I had to capture one of the many toads in the back of my greenhouse and get one of their nails. I headed to the back, circling around the tall ficus trees to the fairy-garden section. That’s where the toads liked to hang out.
“Okay, guys, who wants to give me a nail?”
Several toads hopped away to hide under rocks. One fat monster eyed me cautiously from his spot near a mossy log.
Fine. It’s my turn. Ribbit. He held his claw out and looked away.
“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit.”
I muttered an anesthesia spell and extracted the toenail as quickly as I could. I kissed the poor little toad who’d graciously agreed to give up one of his nails for my cleansing then patted his tiny bandaged foot. The claw would grow back in a month or so. Until then I’d supply him with a few giant juicy grubs as a reward. I remanded him to the care of Clover, who snuggled him into her cat bed.
Okay, no time to lose. With the precious nail cargo in hand, I raced back to Blathering Brook to toss it in.
“You again?” Agatha taunted.
“Bet she forgot something,” Myra jeered.
“It’s nice to see you,” Earl said.
I ignored them and went straight to the spot in the brook where I’d dropped the lapis stone. Kneeling, I said an addition incantation and dropped in the nail.
At last, a sense of peace and clarity came over me. I hadn’t felt this clear since I’d talked to Iona, and now I knew why. The whole time I’d been struggling not to blurt out the truth. The lapis stone had still carried some of the spell stink even after I’d cleansed it in the mud because I’d omitted the last ingredient. Adding that final ingredient, even hours later, had done the trick.
Now to clean out Lilly’s kitchen and then meet Tommy. At
least I wouldn’t be blurting out any truths this time. Not any that I didn’t want to blurt, anyway. But I had to wonder if the lapis still had spell stink on it. And the gnome had handled it. Maybe there actually had been a ring of truth to his parting words.
It was midafternoon by the time I headed next door to Lilly’s candy store with Clover and Penuche to clean up the mess made in the kitchen by the gnome capture. The floor was covered with scuff marks and slimy goo.
“What is that?” Penuche’s whiskers twitched as he sniffed the slimy spots on the floor.
“Slug slime and gnome drool.”
“Gross! You’d better clean that up. I don’t want this place to smell like this when Lilly comes back and I take up my usual residence in the back room.” Penuche sat on his haunches far from the drool and licked his paws.
At least it doesn’t smell like dead people like the spa does, Clover said.
I was saved from having to listen to Clover ramble on about the disturbing amount of murder on the island by the jangle of the bells attached to the front door. I’d opened the shop, figuring I could at least make a few sales for Lilly while I cleaned. I looked up to see Franny in the shop looking over the goods.
I dried my hands and walked to the front of the shop, where Franny bent over, inspecting the candy in the display cases. Talk about someone being addicted to sugar. She was still clutching that big white Fendi bag she’d inherited from Amelia.
Franny looked up, and her smile quickly faded. “What are you doing here again?”
“Like I said before, I’m helping out Lilly.”
“Out back?” She craned her neck toward the back of the store. “Just what is going on back there?”
What did she think was going on back there? “I had some things to take care of in the back. Why?”
“What exactly do you think you’re up to, Miss Meadows?” Franny demanded. “Are you conspiring with Lilly against me?”
Guess we could add paranoia to her list of faults.
“Conspiring? About what?” What was she talking about? I knew Lilly was hiding something about her relationship with Amelia, but what did that have to do with Franny? Did Franny think Lilly and I had conspired to kill Amelia?
“You know darn well. You’re just after the money, like everyone else.” Franny spun around and bent to peer into another display case. “Now where are they?”
“Where are what?” The woman was unhinged. “And what do you mean about being after the money?”
She straightened and took a threatening step toward me. “Isn’t everyone? Sweet old lady Lilly certainly was. I’m sure.”
“Look I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you’re looking for chocolate-covered sea-salted caramels, I told you yesterday she’s all out. So until Lilly gets out of jail—”
“Really? I bet you have some out back.” Franny gestured toward the back, and the white Fendi slipped down her arm, knocking into a display of vanilla creams. She jerked the purse back, inspecting the bottom. “Oh no! I got chocolate on it!”
The woman had a serious problem. Maybe more than one. She certainly couldn’t stand dirt, apparently, especially when it came to handbags.
As she wiped the bottom of the purse, the white Angora sweater draped over her shoulders slid off and fell in a heap on the floor. Looking at it reminded me of a giant white bunny rabbit …
Wait a minute. She couldn’t stand dirty purses … or dirty sweaters, for that matter.
I snapped my fingers, my eyes going wide with realization. “The killer didn’t take something from Amelia’s pink Birkin bag. The killer just moved it so as not to get chocolate on it. That’s why it was set away from everything else!”
“Yeah, so,” Franny said, her eyes darting around the shop.
“And the Angora sweater.” I pointed to the white fluff on the floor. “That’s Amelia’s, isn’t it? Corinne mentioned a missing sweater, and now I know why she couldn’t find it in her mother’s closet. It was at the cleaners because it got dirty from the chocolate fountain. And you had the dry cleaning receipt in your purse!”
I remembered the dry cleaning receipt in the pile of items that had spilled from Franny’s purse that morning in the lobby. I hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but now I realized it could be a key piece of evidence in the murder of Amelia Pendleton.
Now it all made sense. The gnome really was telling the truth when he’d said he’d seen a white bunny rabbit. Except it wasn’t a rabbit, it was the Angora sweater. I cursed myself for not putting two and two together sooner. Bonnie had said Amelia had been wearing a sweater draped over her shoulders at the tiki bar, but no sweater was found with the body. Lilly had been knitting a white Angora sweater because she liked the one Amelia had. In fact, that’s what had gotten her jailed, because Abigail had found the Angora fiber on Amelia’s body.
Franny must have taken Amelia’s sweater that night, had it cleaned, and then kept it for herself.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” I jabbed my finger at her. “You killed Amelia.”
Franny froze. Her eyes took on a hard glint as she stared at me with contempt. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Amelia was my friend. Why would I kill her?”
“Because she had what you wanted.” I glanced from her face to the bag, then the sweater, then back again.
“You think I killed a woman for her purse and sweater?” she scoffed. “That’s absurd.”
Even I had to admit it was pretty far-fetched, no matter how expensive the handbag. I ran through my previous conversations about the case in my head. There had to be another reason, something I’d overlooked. “Wait a minute. This wasn’t about purses. She rejected your idea,” I said, remembering a passing remark Franny had made. “You had an idea for a business here on the island, but she wouldn’t listen. That’s why you killed her, isn’t it?”
“Are you accusing me?” Franny shifted the purse, sticking her hand inside just as Penuche trotted out from the kitchen. Franny stared. “Is that a cat? In a candy store?”
Sounds like trouble out here, Clover chortled from somewhere on the other side of the store. Good thing Franny hadn’t seen her. If she thought a cat was bad, imagine what she’d think of a skunk.
Judging by the murderous look in Franny’s eyes, I figured her reporting Lilly’s shop to the board of health was the least of my worries. I glanced nervously out at the street. Where was all the pedestrian traffic? I’d just accused Franny of murder and was a little nervous about what she was going to do. I figured if there were witnesses, she wouldn’t try anything drastic. Now that I was on a roll, I wanted the truth. A full confession.
Franny remained silent, so I continued needling her. “What was it? A handbag shop? Maybe a disinfecting service? How about a place where dowdy women could become queens for a day?”
Yeah, I’d hit below the belt on that one, but I needed her to start talking, and this was the only way I could think of to make that happen. With each word I spoke, Franny’s cheeks grew redder, and her gaze heated with fury. Finally, she broke.
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you? All you pretty girls do. Think you’re so special and untouchable and smart. Well, I’ll tell you something. You’re not smart at all!” She sniffed and raised her chin. “I was the one with the brilliant idea. Amelia should’ve listened to me. We would’ve been rich beyond her wildest dreams.”
I took a step toward her, and she pulled her hand out of the bag, revealing a small handgun. Things got worse when she aimed it at my chest.
Oh no, this isn’t good, Clover whimpered.
Franny walked toward the door, but Penuche was on the case. He scurried in front of her, causing her to trip.
“Get out of my way!” She pushed him with her foot, lurched for the door, and locked it, turning the sign to Closed. Darn. She turned around to face me. “Now we won’t be disturbed.”
“Sorry,” Penuche said. “I’ve got another idea. Hold her off.”
“
Easy for you to say.”
“What?” Franny looked at me funny. She only heard meowing when Penuche spoke.
“Nothing.”
“Get in the back room.” Franny gestured with the gun. “This isn’t how I wanted things to turn out, you know.”
“Really?” I said, my mind searching for a way to get out of this. “What exactly did you envision happening?”
Franny snorted. “I thought we’d be heralded as the next Bill Gates or something. My idea was incredible. Take that water from the Fountain of Youth and mix it into the cocktails at the resort. Imagine what a draw that would’ve been for Eternal Springs. Vacation here and stay young forever while drinking cocktails!”
“You’re not allowed to take the water,” I said earning a scowl from Franny.
“I’m sure once your greedy mayor found out how much money the town could make, he’d allow it. Amelia was hesitant, though,” Franny continued. “At first I couldn’t figure out why, but then it occurred to me. She’d already decided to go into business with somebody else. I followed her that night to find out who. That’s when I saw her at the Fountain of Youth with Lilly. Took me a while to figure out what they were up to, though.”
She glanced at the empty spot in the front window reserved for the sea-salted caramels, and suddenly it all made sense. Those caramels that Lilly had locked in the storage cabinet weren’t stale. They were laced with water from the Fountain of Youth. That explained why the gnome had lost his white beard along with a few decades. That also explained why Amelia had treated the box of chocolates Tommy had delivered like gold. They must have been samples made with the Fountain of Youth water. And that’s why Franny kept coming in here and looking for them.
“At first, I thought Amelia was sneaking around with that Tommy Martinelli.” Franny shook her head. “But then that didn’t make sense. I mean, why sneak? Her husband would hardly mind, seeing as how he was parading his own mistress around in front of everyone.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t until after that night we talked at the tiki bar that I realized that maybe her real reason for being so secretive around me was that she had another reason, a much better reason. A new business more lucrative than the one I’d proposed. You see, chocolates can be eaten any time, packed in luggage, shipped anywhere. Cocktails can’t.”
Spell on Earth Page 14
