Bobby Sparks Witch Detective: Pet Shop Puzzle ( A Paranormal Cozy Mystery)

by Stacey Fields

  “I didn’t kill no one,” Reggi said gruffly.

  “I didn’t say you did.”

  “Then let me go.”

  “Oh, I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Bobby said, opening up the file in her hands. “You see, we believe that somehow the drugs she got from you are linked to her death.”

  “I didn’t…”

  Don stepped forward and rested his hand on the cold, silver table. He leaned forward and in a low, almost growl-like voice said, “are you listening? She already said that we know you didn’t kill her.”

  "Then what am I doing here?" Reggi asked, shifting his gaze to Don as if challenging him.

  Bobby cleared her throat. "I'm getting to that if you'd let me finish."

  Don stood up straight as Reggi looked at Bobby.

  “We just have a few questions we’d like to ask you about your dealings with this woman.”

  “Dealings?” Reggi said with a scoff. “I didn’t have ‘dealings’ with no one. I’m just in town visiting some friends.”

  “So, you’re not a black market dealer?” Bobby asked, leaning forward slightly.

  “No!” Reggi said a little too emphatically.

  “Let’s just pretend for a moment that that’s true,” Bobby said. “Regardless of your reasons for being here, we just need to know if you’ve seen this woman.”

  She reached into the file and pulled out a picture of Holly. Setting the picture down on the table, she slid it towards Reggi slowly. He didn’t even glance down.

  “Do you know this woman, Reggi?” Bobby asked again.

  Again, he refused to look at it.

  Don quickly reached down, grabbed the picture off the table, and held it up in front of the man's face, making it impossible for him not to see.

  “Do you know this woman?” Don yelled.

  When Reggi refused to answer again, Don slammed the picture down and reached across the table, grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt. Reggi’s expression softened, just slightly, from one of indignation to one of worry.

  “It’s a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’,” Don said, still clutching the man’s shirt.

  “Yes,” Reggi said softly.

  “Good,” Don said, releasing his shirt and pushing him back into the chair.

  “When was the last time you saw her?” Bobby asked, trying to keep her voice still, even she was shaken up and slightly impressed by her partner’s sudden aggressive side.

  “I don’t know, about a week ago?” Reggi guessed.

  “How about six days ago? Around 4:00am,” Bobby clarified.

  “Sounds right,” Reggi agreed.

  Bobby wanted to ask about what she was meeting with him about, but at the moment, that wasn’t her main concern. She reached into her file to pull out another picture. This one was of Laura Enchanting.

  “And, do you recognize this woman?” Bobby asked, sliding the picture towards him.

  This time, he looked at the photo immediately. Squinting his eyes, he tilted his head to the side as he thought. “Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I saw her a few times.”

  “Was she following this woman?” Bobby asked, pointing to the picture of Holly.

  “Yeah,” the man answered.

  “Did you ever speak to her?”

  “Just once. The last time I saw Holly.”

  “What did you speak about?”

  Reggi’s eyes went cold again as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m done answering questions for now. If you’re not going to charge me with anything, you have to release me.”

  "Well," Bobby said, collecting her pictures and placing them back in the file, "it's funny you should mention that because we are arresting you."

  “For what?” Reggi objected, angrily. “I cooperated. I answered your questions. What are you charging me for?”

  “For now, assault on a police officer,” Don said. “You didn’t think you could blast two of my men and not get in trouble for it, did you?”

  Chapter 26: Wake-Up Call

  The next day, Bobby had hoped to sleep in. Despite her nap, the day before, the excitement of the previous night left her feeling drained and in need of a good rest.

  Rest she obviously wouldn’t get when her phone rang at 8:30 in the morning.

  She rolled over and answered it groggily.

  “Did I wake you?” Don’s voice came over the line, chipper and energetic.

  “How are you so awake right now?” Bobby asked, lying back in bed and rubbing her eyes.

  “It’s an exciting day. Lot’s happening so far,” Don replied. “When can you be in?”

  “It’s not even 9:00, how can a lot be happening?”

  “When are you coming in?” Don repeated his question. “We got Holly’s lab results back, and Archer left thirty minutes ago to search Laura’s home and shop.”

  “What did the labs say?” Bobby asked, pushing herself up immediately.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Don replied, hanging up.

  Bobby jumped out of bed and dressed as quickly as possible. She was still tucking her shirt into her black dress pants as she rushed into the police station. Don was standing at his desk, his focus on the file in front of him.

  “What do they say?” Bobby asked, slightly out of breath from her rush to get there as quickly as possible.

  “You got here fast,” Don said, looking up at her with a smile.

  “The reports,” she said grabbing them off the desk and examining them.

  “It’s definitely a potion,” Don said, leaning in and looking at them over her shoulder.

  For some reason, she felt very aware of how close he was standing to her. She could sense his emotions. He was comfortable with her and happy. Analyzing her own feelings, she realized that she felt the same towards him.

  “At least, they think it’s potion,” Don added.

  She directed her attention back to the reports. “How can it definitely be something that they think it is?” she asked.

  “There is clearly the presence of foreign elements in her body, but none of them are lethal,” Don explained.

  Bobby read through the list of things found in Holly's blood stream. She recognized some of the items as the ones she saw in Holly's laboratory. More specifically, she recognized them as the items that were clustered together in the far corner of the room, the ones she couldn't determine the use of.

  “Something’s missing,” Bobby said, reading the list again.

  “Nothing else came up. They ran the test three times.”

  “But there was something missing from the shop,” Bobby said, more to herself than to Don.

  “I thought there were a lot of things missing from the shop.”

  “Yes, but in the area where these items were, something was missing.”

  “So, you think whatever wasn’t there was mixed with these things to make whatever killed her?”

  “Do you have a better idea?” she asked, turning to look up at him.

  His face was only inches away from hers. He continued to lean forward, keeping his focus on the papers in her hands, although she could sense that that wasn’t really where his mind was at the moment. His emotions seemed to rollercoaster as she looked up at him. That made her own feelings go careening out of control.

  Maybe it wasn’t a good thing she was getting her powers back.

  She turned her attention back to the forms as Don noted, "but if it were used to make the potion that killed her, wouldn't it show up here?"

  “I suppose it depends on what it is,” Bobby replied.

  Don reached his arm around her, taking hold of the papers in her hands and brushing his fingers against hers just slightly as he did so. Her heart skipped a beat, which made her cheeks flush red. She could sense that he was feeling attracted to her. The proximity with which they were standing, and his fingers resting delicately on hers made her stomach flip-flop wildly.

  She was feeling attracted to him, too. She tried to focus on the report in her hands again, b
ut couldn’t. Even though, deep down she didn’t want to, she stepped forward quickly, turning around as she handed the papers to him.

  Their eyes met, and an awkward tension fell around them. They held each other's gaze, both searching for words when the phone on Don's desk started to ring. Bobby jumped at the sound, brought violently back to reality. Don shook his head as he picked up the receiver quickly. He walked around his desk, putting distance between them and sitting in his chair as he spoke.

  "And you're sure?" he asked into the speaker. After a long pause, he added with a slow nod, "good. That's very good." Another pause. "Yeah, go ahead and bring her in. I'll start writing up an arrest warrant." He hung up the phone and looked up at Bobby. "Time to put your ‘good-cop' face on again. We're about to have company."

  “Laura?” Bobby asked.

  “Yup,” Don replied. “They found the stolen items and they’re bringing her in right now.”

  “Are they sure they’re the stolen items?”

  “The bottles match the ones Holly had in the shop.”

  “And we’re sure that it’s not just a coincidence? Maybe Laura uses the same ones.”

  “The majority of the bottles among Laura’s things had rubber tops. Holly’s were made of cork. They found 11 bottles with cork tops hidden away from the others.”

  “So, it looks like it was Laura that broke into the shop after all,” Bobby said softly.

  “You sound disappointed about that,” Don noted.

  Bobby shook her head slowly, biting her lower lip as she thought. “Not disappointed, just confused.”

  “Confused about what?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “Sounds like you’re confused about two things, then.”

  The lighthearted tone was back in his voice, although his emotions were still buzzing around nervously.

  “Well, hopefully talking to her will clear some things up. When will she be here?”

  “In about ten minutes. They’re on their way now.”

  “Good,” Bobby said, nodding her head firmly, pushing all memories of their awkward, tense moment from her mind.

  Chapter 27: The Missing Piece of the Puzzle

  “This is ridiculous!” Laura yelled. Even though they hadn’t entered the room yet, Bobby could hear her voice from the other side of the door. “I didn’t steal anything from Holly! I don’t want any of her illegal ingredients!”

  “She sounds adamant,” Don noted.

  They waited a few more minutes until the officer who was administering the stabilizer opened the door. “She’s all ready for you,” he said, clearly annoyed by the scene the woman was still creating behind him.

  Laura continued to yell her innocence as Don and Bobby entered the room. The items they had found at her place were lined up on the table in front of her and her right hand was cuffed to the arm of the metal chair she sat in.

  “I didn’t steal anything,” Laura said, her voice laced with desperation.

  Bobby took the seat across from her, as Don remained standing by the two-way mirror.

  “Then why were these things found in your home?” Bobby asked, lifting up a few of the bottles and inspecting them.

  “I have no idea!” Laura exclaimed. “And, they weren’t in my home; they were in my new shop.”

  “My mistake,” Bobby said, setting down the bottles in her hand and lifting up two others.

  “I would never steal from Holly,” Laura said. “Especially not these things.” She eyed the bottle in Bobby’s hand. “That, for example. What you’re holding. Do you know what that is?”

  Bobby looked at her, arching her right eyebrow. “It’s moonstone powder.”

  “And do you know what she did with that?”

  “Its uses range from anything including from love spells to mind control, depending on what it’s mixed with.”

  “Well, she used it for mind control. She used it on the animals! That’s how she got them to behave so well.”

  “It’s extremely addictive,” Bobby said, setting the bottle down.

  "That's why she insisted that anyone that buys a pet from her only use her food. She claimed it was because her special recipe increased their lifespan, which it did, but that's not all."

  Bobby continued to examine the bottles slowly. Don paced back and forth behind her, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “So, you and Holly didn’t see eye-to-eye regarding your personal methods when dealing with the animals,” Don chimed in, giving Bobby time to finish looking through the items in front of her. “That doesn’t explain why you were stalking her.”

  “I was what?” Laura asked, leaning back in her chair.

  “We know you followed her to the diner, multiple times.”

  “Did that bitch tell you that?” Laura said, her words sharp.

  Bobby looked up, surprised. She only had two bottles left on the table in front of her and so far she hadn’t found what she was looking for.

  “Who are you referring to?” Bobby asked before Don had the chance to.

  “That waitress at the diner.”

  “Tammy?” Bobby guessed.

  “Sure, whatever her name is. She’s the redhead that always looks like she’s sucking on a lemon.”

  Don let out a soft, stifled laugh. Laura’s description of Tammy was spot on. She did have a very unpleasant expression apparently molded onto her face.

  “Why would you say she’s a…” Bobby let her voice trail off.

  “I don’t know,” Laura said with a shrug, “but I can tell you that Holly sure hated her. ‘Bitch’ was her word for her. She used it as if it were her name.”

  “But, you’ve never had any contact with her personally?” Don asked.

  "No, thankfully. She and Holly used to really get into it. I mean, that's what it seemed like, at least."

  “When?”

  “When Holly went to the diner.”

  Bobby looked over her shoulder at Don. It was clear they were both thinking the same thing, but neither of them said it out loud.

  “What did they argue about?”

  “I don’t know,” Laura said. “I couldn’t hear. Holly would storm back to the kitchen. She’d be there for a while, then she’d return to the dining area, looking all red in the face and angry—angrier than I’d ever seen her before. Then she would order a drink and sit at the table, giving the woman dirty looks whenever she walked by until…” she let her voice trail off.

  “Until she got a message from her supplier,” Don finished her statement for her. “We know about Reggi.”

  “Oh,” Laura replied, looking down at the bottles on the table again.

  Bobby also redirected her attention to the items in front of her and picked up the last two bottles to examine them.

  “We know that you spoke to Reggi a few nights before Holly passed away,” Don explained.

  Laura didn’t try to deny it, she simply asked, “how?”

  “He’s actually sitting in a cell just down the hall from here,” Don replied.

  “All I did was ask him what Holly had purchased from him,” Laura said.

  Bobby tried to contain her nerves. What she saw in the last bottle made her stomach turn. It was something she had never imagined seeing in her lifetime, and it was exactly what they were looking for.

  “Did he tell you?” Bobby asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

  The woman shifted her weight around in her chair. “No,” Laura said weakly.

  “You’re lying,” Bobby said, leaning forward slightly. “Did he tell you, Laura?”

  Laura looked at the bottle in Bobby’s hand. As she did, Bobby sensed her emotions shift from nervous to angry to frustrated to nervous again.

  “Do you know what this does, Laura?” Bobby asked, holding the bottle out to her.

  Laura shook her head, but her emotions went wild, a clear indicator that she was lying.

  “If you’ll excuse us for a moment,” Bobby said, standing to her feet and grabbin
g onto Don’s arm. She pulled him out to the hall, making sure the door closed behind them.

  “This is it,” she hissed, holding the bottle up for him to see.

  He took it from her hand and inspected the contents closely. “A tooth?”

  “A dragon’s tooth,” Bobby said sharply.

  “Dragon? Aren’t those things extinct?”

  “They’re believed to be extinct. But, that’s not the point. The point is that if even just a small amount of this is crushed, as I imagine it has been because there’s a small chip missing, and added to another potion, it’s lethal!”

  “Why didn’t it show up on the report?” Don asked, handing back the bottle to her quickly.

  “Because, dragon’s tooth has a masking ability. It can take on the physical properties of the ingredients it’s mixed with while retaining its own magical properties.”

  “So, this is it,” Don said softly. “This is what killed her?”

  “Yes,” Bobby said, nodding her head vigorously.

  “So, the question is, what was it doing in Laura’s shop?”

  “Why don’t we go figure that out,” Bobby said, grabbing the handle and leaning against the door, pushing it open forcefully.

  Laura jumped slightly at their sudden entrance. Bobby took her seat, waiting for Don to take on his role as “bad cop” which he did immediately. Banging his fist on the table he walked around to Laura’s side.

  “You know what Holly purchased from Reggi that night, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Laura said, her eyes filling slightly with tears.

  “Why didn’t you tell us about this before, Laura?” Bobby asked, keeping her voice low and soothing. “Why didn’t you mention anything about Holly’s illegal activities before?”

  “I didn’t think it was important,” she said, her voice cracking.

  “You didn’t think it was important?” Don asked, his voice booming and mocking. “You didn’t think it was important to mention that you were there the night your former employer purchased the very item that would later kill her?”

  “It killed her?” Laura stuttered.

  “Why was it in your shop?” Don demanded.

  “I don’t know!” Laura sobbed. The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, and Bobby could sense a feeling of true remorse mixed with dread filling her.