“You’re about to go tell your friends that their wedding reception is canceled because the chef is dead in the kitchen. You should be with them right now. Officers Cornwall and Mayfair will assist me in here. If you really want to help, you could ensure that today’s kitchen staff hang around. Ask Brynhildr if there is somewhere they can wait.” Alex stated.
“Will do, Chief.”
Belladonna wasn’t looking forward to telling her best friend that the reception was over. Ben insisted that he was there when Bella broke the news to Luke and Murielle, but Belladonna said he should round up the kitchen staff and talk to Brynhildr.
“I’ve got this, Sweetie,” Belladonna said and kissed him reassuringly on the cheek.
Muri, Luke, Aunt Sumac, and Granny Pepper were all seated at the head table looking stricken. Bella assumed some rumors of what had happened had already reached them. Too many people had filed through the ballroom on their way out for there to have been no mention of the body in the kitchen.
“Murielle, I don’t want you to freak out. I will understand completely if you do, though.” Belladonna said and bit her bottom lip nervously.
“Is it true? Is there a body in the kitchen?” Luke cut in.
“It is. Brynhildr’s chef was found in the pantry. We have to end the reception. Ben is rounding up the kitchen staff since they’re the only ones who had contact with him.” Belladonna said.
“Except Brynhidlr. She had contact with him.” Aunt Sumac said.
“Yeah, Aunt Sumac, she did. But, she’s been out here with the wedding guests the whole evening.” Belladonna responded.
“Oh right. I mean. I wasn’t implying that she had anything to do with it. I was just thinking aloud. I’m going to take Murielle and Luke home. Come on Granny.” Aunt Sumac said and stood up.
“I wonder if we can turn that carriage into something a little more practical.” Granny Pepper mused as she lit her pipe.
“I have my car,” Luke said.
“Right, well then we can turn the carriage into a ham sandwich. Can you give us a ride to Belladonna’s house?” Granny asked.
“Come on Granny. Of course, we can give you a ride.” Murielle murmured.
“We need to swing by Old Man Jenkin’s house on the way.” Aunt Sumac said.
“It’s not really on the way, but sure,” Murielle said.
The smile returned to her face, and Belladonna took a deep breath. If nothing else, Nightshade witches were the strongest, most resilient women she’d ever known. Even the honorary ones.
“What do you need from Old Man Jenkins?” Luke asked as the group headed for the door.
Aunt Sumac was thrilled to find out that when Luke said he had his car, he meant he had his patrol car. Granny Pepper rolled her eyes at Sumac’s unadulterated joy, but in reality, riding in the police car sounded like fun to her too.
“Can we turn on the lights and siren?” Aunt Sumac said as she bounced up and down on the back seat like a kid on Christmas day.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, but please don’t turn me into a goat for saying no.” Luke pleaded.
“Oh come on. How about just the lights?” Aunt Sumac said, but she was starting to get that goat-turning look on her face.
Before Luke could answer, Murielle leaned over and flipped on the lights and sirens.
“Hey.” Luke protested.
“Do you want to be a goat?” Muri teased.
“No, honey. But, just for a minute. I don’t want Chief Frost getting complaints.”
“Good girl.” Granny Pepper said and lit her pipe.
“You can’t smoke in here.” Luke tried to sound commanding.
“Oh, he doesn’t want to be a goat. He wants to be a snail.” Granny Pepper said and started to chant something under her breath.
“Hey, okay. All right. I guess it’s not real smoke anyway.” Luke stuttered. “So, why are we going over to Old Man Jenkin’s house?”
“Luke, my dear, you’re a gorgeous stack of mancakes for sure, but you really need to learn your place. Men don’t ask Nightshade women questions. If you need to know why we’re going over there, we’ll tell you.” Granny Pepper said.
“Sorry, Granny Pepper.” He said and winked at her.
Fortunately for him, she winked back.
The arrived at Old Man Jenkins house a couple of minutes later. Well, calling it a house wouldn’t be exactly correct. It wasn’t really a shack either. The place was more like a cross between a house and a large, fancy shack. It was as if Old Man Jenkins had taken an old Victorian home and turned it into a clean, well-kept three-story shack.
Granny Pepper knew the truth about why they were there, but it wasn’t something she wanted to reveal. Granny liked Old Man Jenkins. She hadn’t liked anyone that way since Rory Holt in the seventh grade.
Old Man Jenkins had been at the wedding and the reception. As usual, he’d brought his own beer to the reception, and he was sharing it with the others seated at his table.
Granny Pepper had thought about going over and talking to him, but she couldn’t drink beer. So, she didn’t know how to start a conversation with him.
Granny did keep an eye on him, though, especially when the Widow Smith brought him a plate of tomatoes. Pepper was glad she hadn’t had to turn the old bat into an old bat.
It bothered Pepper when she saw him get a text message that appeared to upset him. She wasn’t even sure why a zombie had a cell phone, but that was beside the point.
Granny Pepper felt a bit silly wanting to check on him, so she’d decided to keep the true nature of the visit a secret under threat of goat transformation.
They all got out of the car. Aunt Sumac noticed that Old Man Jenkin’s front door was standing wide open. It was somewhat dark out already, and none of the lights in the house were on.
“Stay here guys,” Luke said.
He got into the trunk of his squad car and pulled out the holster with his service weapon. As he strapped it on over his tuxedo pants and white shirt, Murielle came around the back of the car.
“What are you doing with your gun, Luke?”
“I’m going to go in and check it out. Stay here, and I’ll let you know what I find.” He said and unsnapped his gun from the holster.
“I don’t think Granny Pepper is going to like that. The gun or being told to stay out here while a man goes in to check things out. We’re witches, Luke. You’re safer out here with us going in to secure the place.” She said and swept a lock of his hair off his forehead lovingly.
“Murielle, please. Please just let me follow procedure on this.” He was relieved when she nodded.
Luke knew he should probably call for backup too, but the rest of Winterfield’s police were back at the Mayor’s mansion. That would mean Luke would have to call in the County Sheriff for assistance. He wasn’t ready to expose Winterfield like that just yet. So far the town had evaded making the national news or making waves on social media, but Luke was convinced they couldn’t be that lucky forever.
One of these days, the rest of the world might pick up on the strangeness that was normal in the town, and that would leave a whole lot of folks that just wanted to live peacefully open to exposure. Their lives would be split open like an overripe tomato for public consumption.
Can you imagine if the world found out that witches, ghosts, zombies, and shifters were real?
Winterfield and the other little towns like it scattered around the country, and around the world, would become tourist attractions for oddity seekers. Their existence would become unbearable. The thought made Luke shiver.
“Granny Pepper, Aunt Sumac, you’re going to wait here. Please. I’m going to go in. I’ll come back out and tell you what’s going on.” The look on Pepper’s face made him shiver again.
“I’ll do no such thing. I’m going in.” Granny Pepper said.
“Granny, please. Luke has to follow his procedures. There’s already been another murder in town. Let’s try and keep
this by the book so that we don’t end up attracting unwanted attention. Okay? Old Man Jenkins is a zombie. Can you imagine what would happen if Luke has to call any of this into the County Sheriff.” Murielle pleaded.
It was like she could read his mind, and that made Luke smile. He took a deep breath and readied himself to walk into the house. Luke wasn’t sure what he’d be walking in on, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be good.
Six
Luke nudged Old Man Jenkin’s front door open a little wider with his toe and stepped inside. What he found made his heart skip a beat. The front room of the home was in perfect order, but on the sofa was a small, alien looking stuffed animal.
Luke remembered the toy from the picture Jessie showed everyone. His first thought was that it was a message. But, what kind of message would leaving behind a toy stuffy be?
For a moment he pondered it. The alleged aliens were humanoid so they might have similar symbology to earthlings. Then, it hit him. Luke remembered the incident at the county fair when he was eight years old.
His mother told him he should invite a classmate to go with the family to the fair. He’d chosen his best friend, Loni. The two boys had been inseparable since preschool. The only friend Loni loved more than Luke was his stuffed giraffe, Pendleton.
Loni’s mom made him take a backpack that day, and Pendleton was tucked inside. She didn’t want him to lose his favorite stuffed animal because it had been a gift his father brought back from a business trip to Africa. Pendleton was irreplaceable.
At some point during the day at the fair, Loni’s backpack worked its way open, and Pendleton had fallen out. What happened next was five hours of Luke, his mom, his dad, Loni, and anyone else they could recruit scouring the County Fairgrounds for Pendleton.
The finally found the stuffie behind a trash can next to the cotton candy stand, and Luke thought Loni was literally going to melt into a puddle of relief.
“Kids drop their stuffies,” Luke whispered to himself.
“What are you going on about?”
Luke whirled around and found himself face to face with Granny Pepper. She’d snuck into the house behind him while he’d been lost in thought over Loni and stuffed animals.
“Over there,” Luke said and pointed at the alien plush. “That’s the same stuffed animal as the one in the picture of the little kid alien that Jessie took.”
“Jenkins! You in here?” Granny Pepper called out.
She disappeared through the living room wall into the kitchen. Luke watched her float through the house calling out for Old Man Jenkins. He never heard a response.
“He’s not here.” She said when she finally drifted back to where Luke was waiting. “I think he was abducted.”
“I’ll call Ben,” Luke said as he got his phone out of his pocket and holstered his gun.
Mayor’s Mansion
Belladonna and Ben had Brynhildr, Jessie, Carly, Linda, and Nick the cook seated around Brynhildr’s massive oak dining table. The maid and butler who’d been working at the wedding reception were allowed to leave because they’d been in the ballroom the entire time.
Ben was looking at his suspects, and a knot started to form in his stomach. There was no way that he would be okay with any of these people being the culprit.
“I have to go,” Belladonna said and stood up quickly. “There is something I need to check on at the salon. Call me later.”
She left the room without saying another word, and Bella didn’t give Ben the chance to speak either. Belladonna suddenly remembered that she’d left Francine locked in her salon. It wasn’t like her to forget something like that, and it made her incredibly nervous that she had.
Ben turned his attention back to his suspects once he heard the front door slam shut. He’d have to ask Belladonna about it later because right now he had a serious job to do.
Linda looked like she was about to break down into tears. It broke Ben’s heart to see her so upset, and he didn’t believe for a second that she’d done anything wrong. Ben didn’t think any of them could have murdered someone, but even though he’d wracked his brain trying to figure it out, the detective couldn’t put his finger on what he was missing.
Jessie, Carly, and Nick, he didn’t know as well. Carly had been the one to discover the body, so she was the natural place to start. Ben mulled it over in his head whether he should interview her alone or in front of the others.
She was more likely to open up to him if Ben talked to her by herself, but if he interviewed her with the other suspects present, he could watch their reactions to their conversation.
By the time Ben decided what he was going to do, it was too late. Brynhildr’s smoke alarms started going off. All of them jumped up and ran out of the house and to the front lawn of the mansion.
It was dark out, and the temporary police headquarters in the square was practically on the other side of town. Ben was going to be thrilled when the new permanent police station was finished. The temporary one had been fine at first, but now he dreaded going in there every day. The only good thing about the temporary police station was it being so close to Belladonna.
Ben decided to let everyone go home. He wasn’t going to be making any arrests that night anyway since he was thoroughly convinced that none of these people were the murderer.
“Can you all come by the station tomorrow and talk to me?”
They all agreed to come talk to Ben the next day and set up times for appointments. A fire truck showed up a couple of minutes later and determined that the smoke alarms going off was a false alarm.
Ben went to go get in his car and realized that Belladonna had taken it when she left. He shrugged his shoulders and figured the walk would do him good anyway.
The thing he didn’t expect to see on his walk was Carly and Nick the cook. They were a couple of blocks away from the mansion by the time he passed them. Nick and Carly were standing very close together having a hushed conversation that Ben tried not to overhear.
He overheard it anyway.
“Calm down, Carly. It’s going to be okay. No one is going to suspect you did it.” Nick said and put his hand gently on Carly’s shoulder.
“But, Nick I did do it,” Carly said and sniffled.
“I know, gorgeous. You did it for me, though. I’ll protect you. We’ll figure this out together. Just don’t panic and tell anyone what you’ve said to me. If people knew, they wouldn’t understand.” Nick said and leaned in to kiss Carly.
More than anything, Ben wanted to walk up to them and ask them what the heck they were talking about. Did he really just hear Carly confess and Nick admit that he’s an accomplice? Or, was there another explanation for their conversation?
Whatever was going on, Ben knew where he had to focus his investigation. If it turned out to be nothing, he would have them cleared of guilt first.
Ben took his phone out of his pocket and brought up his calendar. Carly would be in to see him tomorrow at noon, and Nick had scheduled himself for three p.m. after he got off work.
Belladonna wouldn’t be happy about Ben spending the entire day at work tomorrow, but she’d have to understand. Just as Ben was about to put his phone away and continue his walk to Bella’s salon, he got a call from Luke.
Just when Ben thought the night couldn’t get any worse, it did.
Seven
Belladonna got back to her salon and unlocked the door. She cast a spell on herself that allowed her to pass through the ward on the door without actually taking it down.
Francine was sitting on a stool she’d taken from the back room reading a magazine. She didn’t look up right away when Bella walked in, and Belladonna could swear she had a cat that ate the canary smile on her face.
The look evaporated from Francine’s face before Belladonna could be sure she’d actually seen it. The woman closed the magazine and pushed it away.
“Belladonna, hello. I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back.”
“I was
at my friend’s wedding. I hope you didn’t think I’d be rushing back to talk to you.” Bella said without acknowledging Francine’s attempt at banter. “I haven’t had much time to think about what you asked. Why don’t you fill me in on the rest of your story,” Belladonna said flatly.
Francine had come back to Winterfield to beg for forgiveness for her involvement in Lexi’s plot, and she wanted protection in exchange for information. The former dark witch had hoped that the Nightshade coven would protect her from Lexi and the rest of the dark witches. In return, Francine would tell them why Lexi wanted to unleash dark magic on the world and how she planned to use it once she’d harnessed the power of black magic.
Belladonna seriously considered it, but the idea bothered her. Francine had been a willing and enthusiastic participant in the dark rituals and murder. She was also willing to betray her coven. Even if her sisters were trying to practice black magic, treachery was not something witches condoned. Your sisters and your coven came first no matter what.
“She wanted control of your coven too,” Francine whispered.
“And now you’re here ready to make amends. You promise me that you’ll be loyal to us while betraying your sisters. I get that they were trying to unleash evil on the world, but you were more than happy to be a part of their plans when you thought they would be successful. Now that they’ve failed, you’re back here trying to align yourself with us.” Belladonna could barely conceal her contempt, but she wanted to be as open-minded as possible.
“Please, Belladonna. I was taken in by promises of wealth and an easy life, but I don’t think I was ever comfortable with any of it.” Francine was practically pleading.
“You’re going to need to take a blood oath in front of the coven leaders, and even then your presence here will be on a trial basis. You’ll be watched carefully, and if you do anything that seems even remotely suspicious, well, you’d better hope you can run far and fast.” Belladonna did her best to sound as dangerous and foreboding as possible.
Fairly Hexed: Cozy Witch Mystery (Witches of Winterfield Book 3) Page 4
