Murder and Marinade: Witches of Keyhole Lake Mysteries Book 5

by Tegan Maher

  "Hey Angus, Trouble! How've you two been? Haven't seen ya in a while."

  "Yeah," he said, "we did a little travelin' to celebrate findin' each other again. Decided to do take a tour of the world and visit the most haunted places on Earth."

  Trouble, wearing her standard cutoffs and tie-dyed t-shirt, snorted, causing the daisy she had tucked behind her ear to wobble. "Three-quarters of the places weren't haunted at all, and most of the ones that were had downright snobs livin' there. All Victorian manners and stuffy airs. The castles were cool, though."

  "And we got to spend time catchin' up. It'd been fifty years, you know!" Angus said, giving her hand a squeeze.

  Trouble and Angus were proof positive that true love did indeed exist, at least for some people.

  "You headin' to Raeann's?" she asked. "We just came from there. That new girl she hired a few months ago—"

  "Levana?" I asked.

  "Yeah, her," she said. "She's kinda an odd duck, ain't she?"

  "Did you talk to her?" I asked. I hadn't realized the ghosts had decided to come out to her yet.

  "No, of course not," Angus said. "We don't know her from Adam. That's part of the problem. Nobody does."

  "She said she just got to town right before Christmas," I told them. And she's never been anything but nice, as far as I've seen. Rae says she busts her butt."

  "Yeah," Trouble said, unconvinced, "but somethin's just not right." She shook her head. "No, that's not necessarily the right word."

  Angus said, "I just feel like there's more to her than what she lets on."

  "Considering she's new and hasn't really made any friends yet, I'm sure there is," I said. "Give her a chance. I'm sure she'll settle right in. You'll see."

  "I reckon," Angus said as they floated on down the sidewalk. "Anyway, have a good one! It was great to see you!"

  "You too. Y'all pop out to the farm later this week. We're havin' a cookout, and Trouble, I'm gonna try to get together a girls' night tomorrow night."

  She scrunched her forehead. "I thought those were Mondays."

  "They are, but I was out of town ’til late in the afternoon, and everybody else was busy."

  "Oh, okay, well I'll pop in on one of you tomorrow and see. Will Cheri Lynn be there?"

  The two of them had been become kind of tight and I was glad to see it. Cheri'd had nobody when she'd been alive, and Trouble'd hadn't had any girl company since she'd died, so it was nice to see them bonding.

  "I'd lay money on it. She hasn't missed one yet."

  I was smiling as I pushed my way through the door into Brew.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  LEVANA WAS WIPING DOWN a table when I came in and smiled when she saw me. I didn't understand what the fuss was about; she had always been wonderful to me. She was a little quiet, and even I had to admit she acted sort of odd the day she was hired, but since then, she'd been open and kind. I'd watched her interact with the customers, and she always went out of her way to make things easy for them, especially the older ones.

  Coralee'd tried to get me to use my mental mojo, as she called it, to take a peek and learn more about her, but I'd refused. The poor woman had turned into an itch Coralee couldn't scratch, and I felt bad for her.

  "Hello Noelle! I understand you did well at the fair this weekend," she said. Her speech patterns were refined; she wasn't southern, but I couldn't place where, exactly, she was from. Sometimes, I almost caught a hint of Irish or maybe Scottish in her voice, but it was so faint that it wisped away before I could place it.

  "I did, thank you. I sold almost everything I took, and so did Anna Mae."

  "That's wonderful," she said, her smile fading. "It's a pity the time was marred with a murder, especially one in which Earl may be implicated."

  "It is," I said. "I just wish they'd hurry up and figure it out so that we can put it behind us."

  "Did you perchance read any of the suspects?"

  My head swiveled to her. "Pardon?"

  Her face flushed and she concentrated on scrubbing a sticky spot off the table. "I simply meant, did you meet anybody you suspected more than others. You know, intuition."

  I had a feeling that wasn't what she meant at all, but for the life of me, I couldn't pick up a hint of deception or ill will from her. "I did, but I didn't get the chance to talk to her myself. I only saw her from a distance. She was the one running the fair and made it to the body right after we did."

  "Pity," she said. "It may have been helpful had you spoken with her."

  I'd thought the same thing myself, so I just nodded in agreement. "Is Raeann around?"

  "She's in her office, settling the till," she said. "Noelle?"

  "Yes?"

  "I know people are curious about my origins, and truly, there's nothing to hide. It's just, it's my story to tell, and it's somewhat convoluted and painful."

  My heart went out to her. "As long as you aren't out to cause harm to me or mine, and you're not wanted for some horrible crime somewhere, then your story is your business, sugar. You tell it when you want, or not."

  She gave me a small smile. "Thank you."

  I nodded and went behind the counter to make myself a latte, then poked my head to say hi to Rae. She looked up from her laptop and smiled.

  "Hey! I thought you'd be hard at work building more masterpieces."

  "Yeah, that didn't work out quite like I thought it would. I ended up getting a pedicure instead."

  She laughed. "Well there's nothin' wrong with that. I assume you got the third degree while you were there?"

  "Of course. But she's going to check around and see what she can find out. Buddy's sister lives over there."

  "That's good then. If she knows half as much about Coatesville as Coralee does about Keyhole, then the murder should be solved by dinner."

  "Ferreal. I'm grabbing a couple sandwiches and some pastries and heading over to have lunch with Hunter. Wanna put together a girls' night for tomorrow?"

  She nodded emphatically. "Yes! I could use some time out. Since you were gone all weekend, I worked. Except for Sunday. I spent the day with Mama."

  "Speaking of family time, we've gotta get together and figure out the whole time thing."

  "Maybe this evening?"

  "I'll let you know. I'm not sure what Shelby's got planned." I paused. "Let's invite Levana to go with us tomorrow night."

  She raised a shoulder. "Okay, that's fine with me. I think it would do her good to get out and meet some people."

  "Me too. Talk to you later."

  I grabbed the sandwiches and pastries, and waved to Levana, who was taking care of a young couple sitting at a high-top. As I headed back toward the courthouse, I sifted through everything I knew, and realized I still didn't know anything.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  MY BOOTS ECHOED OFF the marble floors as I made my way across the grand entryway of the courthouse. The sheriff's office headquarters was in the back of the building and I couldn't help but look around every time I went through it. Our founding fathers had built that puppy to last, and I had no doubt it'd still be standin' long after the rest of us were gone.

  Peggy Sue was sitting at her desk reviewing a stack of papers when I walked through the door to their offices. She glanced up at me over her readers, he blue eyes sparkling when she saw me.

  "Noelle, sweetie! How are you? How was the fair?" She quirked her mouth a little. "Besides another crooked official gettin' stuck like the pig he was?"

  Peggy Sue had worked under Hank for years because she had no choice. Keyhole was small and she needed the money, the pension, and the insurance. But the deplorable deeds that Hank ordered her to do on a regular basis had almost killed her. She'd been miserable, and that had translated as mean to the rest of the world.

  Once Hank kicked it, she did a complete turnaround and was now one of the most lovable people you could ever hope to meet. That didn't mean she didn't have an iron spine, though. She had no pity on anybody who twisted their pow
er and used it to harm good people.

  "Yeah," I said, pulling the door shut behind me, "besides that, it was good. I hated that Earl and Bobbie Sue lost the final competitions, but I think for the most part we had a good time. I feel bad for the sheriff over there, though. It's about on par with Hank's murder and if somethin' don't give, he's not gonna solve it."

  She cast me a sideways glance. "Whatcha got in the bag?"

  I held it in front of me and shook it a little. "Oh, you mean this? Just, you know, stuff."

  She flapped her hand at me. "You go on. I'll sic the sheriff on ya."

  "Lordy, don't do that," I said, handing her the bag. "I hear he's a bear when he wants to be."

  She gave a little snort as she looked at her haul. "You got that right, sugar. He's a sweetheart the other 95 percent of the time though, so I guess we'll keep him."

  Smiling, I said, "I guess we will. For a little while, anyway." I motioned down the hall behind her. "He's in his office?"

  "Oh, sure, sure," she said waving me through. "Go on back and make yourself at home, honey. You know the way." She held up a raspberry turnover she'd pulled from the bag. "And thank you."

  I held my hand up, walking backward toward Hunter's office while I talked. "Hey—I told you I owed you a lifetime supply of pastries. That's the deal. You better hope you go before me, though, because Rae don't have the skills I do, and I'm passin' all my debt to her."

  She laughed, and I turned just in time to see Hunter sitting at his desk scrolling through something on his laptop. I pecked on his doorframe and he glanced up, smiling.

  I held up the other bag I'd brought. I furrowed his brow. "There better be a bear claw in there. I heard you giving away the goodies out there."

  "Of course there's a bear claw in there, and a Waldorf sandwich, too."

  He pushed his arms over his head and leaned back in a stretch. "What say we take it outside and eat in in the park? I've been staring at paperwork too long."

  "That sounds awesome. What's so important you're goin' blind over it?"

  "My sanity, that's what," he said, pushing to his feet. "Ned Neely and Bart Skidmore are fighting over their property line."

  I shrugged a shoulder. "So? Shouldn't that be easy to figure just by having it surveyed?"

  "You'd think so," he sighed. "But two different surveyors said two different things, and of course Bart paid for one and Ned paid for the other."

  I scratched my head as he stacked the papers and shoved them back in a file. "How far off were they?"

  "Six inches."

  "You're kidding me, right?"

  "Oh, how I wish I were." He shook his head. It would seem that Mrs. Neely and Mrs. Skidmore had a problem in high school—namely Mr. Neely. Mrs. Skidmore was apparently his girlfriend—and Mrs. Neely's best friend—through most of their sophomore and junior years. Now it seems that nothing would make Mrs. Neely happier than if Mrs. Skidmore just keeled over dead."

  "But, they're like fifty," I said, waving goodbye to Peggy Sue as we passed her desk. "And if it was such a problem, why are they livin' next to each other?"

  "Aha!" he said, raising a finger in the air. "I knew there was something special that attracted me to you. You seem to be one of the few logical people I've talked to today."

  "Okay," I said. "This sounds like the lead-in to a horrible joke, but why does six inches matter?"

  "Because that particular six inches will determine whether or not the greenhouse where Mrs. Skidmore grows her prize roses is on her side of the property or not. And we both know what's going to happen if they're not."

  We skipped down the courthouse steps and made our way to the same little pavilion Angus used to call home. I pulled his sandwich out and handed it to him.

  "That takes ridiculous to a whole new level," I said. "Isn't there something you can do to settle it?"

  "Yeah," he said, "Request a redistrict of the county to trim a two-acre strip off the north side. Then all my problems would go away." He unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. "Or at least my most irritating ones, anyway."

  "Good luck with that." I peeled off a piece of my crust and tossed it to a little bird waiting for us to drop something.

  "How did your morning go? Did you get anything accomplished?"

  "I didn't hit a lick. Instead, I got a pedicure. I went to Coralee's looking for Erol, and ended up having to stay to relay the whole story."

  "And how did it go with the reporter?"

  "Well, he made the mistake of asking Coralee to tell him what she knew about Earl."

  He raised a brow at me. "And?"

  "And she opted to start from birth."

  He honest-to-goodness threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, if nothing else, she does know how to protect her own, and in a way that caused zero grounds to make him even more curious. That's some feat."

  I wouldn't argue with that. Coralee was no dummy—an inaccurate assumption people often made when dealing with her. Underneath that huge pile of 80s hair was a brain as sharp as a scalpel, and she wouldn't hesitate to cut you with it if you ended up on her bad side, either.

  "Did you hear anything from Sheriff Scottsdale?" I asked, tossing the bird another crumb.

  "Yeah, I did," he said. "The gun used to kill Cassidy was a 9 mil."

  "So that takes Earl out of the running then, right? He has a .45.

  "Yep. But Bobbie Sue don't."

  Ah crap. I'd forgotten about that.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  "SO NOW WHAT?" I ASKED, worried that somebody was on the way to cart them both off to the Coatesville iron-bar hotel.

  "So now I have to go collect her weapon and he's sending somebody over to get it so they can test it," he said.

  That wasn't so bad. Bobbie Sue wasn't unreasonable. "How long will that take?"

  "Two, maybe three days. Meanwhile, he's now asked me to keep them both in town." He tossed the last bit of his bread to the bird and reached into the bag for his bear claw. I waved him off when he offered me mine. For once in my life, I was sick of sweets and junk food. Instead, I pulled out an apple and took a big bite out of it.

  "When are you going to Bobbie Sue's?" I asked.

  "Does she carry it on her?"

  I shook my head. "Nope. She keeps it at home for target practice."

  He sighed. "This would have been so much easier had we known about this before they left the campground then," he said.

  "Why?"

  "Because they could have searched her and it wouldn't have been on her," he said, biting halfway through his pastry.

  "True. But maybe she would have. I don't know if she takes it with her when she travels or not. My first guess would be not, but you never know."

  "At any rate," he said, "I called Earl already and he said it's at the house. They're both working, but Bobbie Sue's gonna go get it in a bit, then I'm picking it up from her at the restaurant."

  My phone dinged with a text. It was Anna Mae asking if I'd brought her stuff with me. She had a wedding planner coming in later to look at the gowns.

  I fired a quick text back and told her I'd bring them right over.

  "I have to take Anna Mae's stuff over to her. You comin' over tonight? I'll cook Addy's spaghetti."

  "And the garlic bread?"

  I rolled my eyes. "Of course the garlic bread. You can't have one without the other. She'd come unglued. Plus, why would we?"

  He laughed and pulled me in for a quick kiss, then headed back to the courthouse. I cut across the square toward Reimagined, waving at Coralee and Belle as they stared out the window, probably plotting who was gonna win their stupid bet.

  The ladies kept some running side wagers on everything from when somebody was gonna die to when the tree in Old Man Whittaker's yard was finally gonna fall on his house because he was too cheap to have it cut down—that was the latest one I'd heard. They had one running on when Hunter and I would get hitched. From the hard hints I'd gotten from Addy and Belle, they were running on the assumptio
n it was just a matter of when, not if.

  I shook my head. They were gonna be waiting for a while yet.

  After I poked in and got the stink eye from Erol for cutting out again, I jumped in the truck and drove the couple blocks to Anna Mae's shop. She met me out front, swinging the back door open once I was stopped. Since she only had three bins of stuff left, She pulled out two of them and stacked them, leaving me to grab the last.

  When she moved, the sun slanted in and splashed across the floor mat and something glinted up at me. It was the pretty little purple heart necklace. I looped it over my hand, then grabbed the last box and followed her inside. After heaving the box up on the counter, I held the necklace out to her.

  She scrunched her forehead. "That's little thing's gettin' to be a pain in my butt," she said. I'm all the time droppin' it, or else it falls out of the case." Anna Mae wasn't particularly dingy, but she wasn't experienced with magic either. That was the third time the thing had shown itself to me, and I wanted to know why.

  "Where'd you get it from?" I asked, holding it up for a closer look.

  "I found it in a box of costume jewelry at an auction on the other side of town. They were liquidating a little junk store over there because the owner had died. I picked up quite a bit of inventory that day." She tilted her head, watching as the pendent caught and prismed the light filtering in through the window.

  Keyhole Lake—our entire region for that matter—had more than its share of natural magic, and some suspected we were on some kind of ley-line or something, but that wasn't it. We just happened to settle here in greater concentration than in some other places. There were pockets of magical areas everywhere in the world, and most people never had a clue.

  Still, I wasn't a huge believer in coincidence and had already gotten one magically-messed-with necklace from Anna Mae. "You mind if I take it to have Camille look at it?" I asked.

  Camille would be able to test it just to make sure everything was copacetic.