Familiars and French Roast

by Jinty James

  “On the other side of Seattle,” Maddie replied.

  “Yes, but I wonder where,” Suzanne mused.

  “What about everyone else?” Maddie queried. “Autumn, for instance. Where does she live?”

  “Maybe in a hippy enclave.” Suzanne giggled, then sobered. “I like Autumn. I hope she’s not the killer.”

  “Me too,” Maddie replied. Was Trixie spending time with a murderer? Or just keeping a stressed woman company? Autumn seemed positive and tranquil on the outside, but Maddie couldn’t help wondering what was really going on with the group leader. Trixie seemed to give her a level of comfort that she needed. If everything was fine in Autumn’s life, would the group leader need solace from a cat – even if that cat was Trixie?

  “I’m putting Claudine on our suspect list.” Suzanne stabbed at her phone.

  “Do you really think she did it?” Maddie asked. Much as she didn’t like the curmudgeonly woman, she didn’t really think Claudine would have come back later that night to kill Hailey.

  “But what if they knew each other?” Suzanne pursed her lips.

  “How? Hailey was a soccer mom like Jenna. As far as we know, Claudine is single and doesn’t have kids.”

  Suzanne shrugged. “They could have met somewhere, had a fight, and Claudine recognized her yesterday when she was making that scene about Autumn not hiring her for the catering. She could have returned to the house last night and smothered her with the pillow!”

  “But why?” Maddie asked skeptically. “And would Claudine really have gone out into that storm? She could have been struck by lightning.”

  “There is that, I suppose,” Suzanne said reluctantly, just as another growl of thunder hit the kitchen. She shivered. “I wouldn’t want to be outside right now.”

  “Me either.” Maddie looked out the window. The rain hammered the roof and the windows. She just hoped another tree wouldn’t fall down and block access to the main road. Tomorrow (Sunday) was the last day of the retreat, and on Monday, she and Suzanne would be opening Brewed from the Bean at the town square in Estherville, just like usual. Unless the weather was as bad as it was right now.

  “Maybe we should join Autumn and everyone else.” Suzanne put her phone on the counter.

  “But …” Maddie hesitated. Should she say anything?

  “What?” Suzanne peered at her.

  “Ramon,” Maddie blurted out.

  “What about him?” Suzanne frowned.

  Maddie gestured to the phone. “Shouldn’t he be on our suspect list?” She waited for the explosion.

  “No,” Suzanne said defensively. “Why? We know he didn’t do it. He wasn’t even here!”

  “I’m sure he’s innocent,” Maddie attempted to soothe her friend, wishing now she hadn’t brought it up. “But you’ve put Claudine on the suspect list …” her voice trailed off.

  “Okay,” Suzanne grumbled, punching buttons on the phone. “I’ll put Ramon on our list. And then I’m going to cross him off immediately. I can’t imagine him doubling back to kill Hailey.”

  “But you can imagine Claudine doing that?” Maddie asked wryly. She didn’t like her ex-boss, but she really didn’t think her nemesis was guilty. But if Claudine wasn’t, who was? It seemed unfathomable that one of the women currently in the great room had smothered Hailey to death.

  “All right.” Suzanne’s shoulders sagged. “I get what you’re saying, Mads. I won’t cross him off the list. But I’m not going to question him either – not yet, anyway.”

  “Deal,” Maddie said, still feeling a little guilty she’d brought up the topic.

  “Anyway.” Suzanne brightened. “I’m sure Detective Edgewater will be able to prove Ramon didn’t do it.”

  “I hope so,” Maddie replied, wondering if the sexy Spanish masseur had known Hailey previously. But from the little interaction she’d seen between the two of them, it hadn’t seemed like it.

  “Girls.” Autumn’s voice floated down the hallway. “Could you make us some French Roast please?”

  Maddie hurried into the hallway. Autumn stood outside the great room.

  “Of course,” Maddie replied.

  “Thank you.” Autumn smiled. “And make sure you and Suzanne have a cup with us, too. The coffee will be a great help for this situation.”

  Maddie nodded and returned to the kitchen, finding Suzanne had already put the water on to heat.

  “We better hurry and give them the coffee.” Suzanne rummaged in the fridge. “And my health balls! I bet those will cheer them up.”

  Once the coffee was ready, they carried everything in to the great room.

  Maddie scanned the room, looking for Trixie. Her familiar jumped up from the sofa where she’d been sitting with Autumn, and trotted to her.

  “Mrrow!” She seemed pleased to see Maddie.

  Maddie smiled at her and set the tray down. While Autumn busied herself serving everyone, Trixie patted Maddie’s knee. That was one of her signals that she wanted Maddie to pick her up.

  “Mrrow,” the Persian said contentedly as she nestled in Maddie’s arms.

  The faint niggle of worry in her mind dissolved at the feel of Trixie in her arms. Her soft white fur and small raspy purr was all Maddie needed to be happy right now.

  Maddie sat down in an armchair, gently stroking the Persian.

  “You two are made for each other.” Autumn gave Maddie and Trixie a warm smile.

  Maddie smiled back, relief sweeping through her. Perhaps she’d been a little paranoid before, thinking Trixie might be leaving her for Autumn.

  “Ladies, if everyone raises their cup.” Autumn waited expectantly for everyone to do so. Maddie didn’t want to let go of Trixie, who had settled in her arms, so she hoped the group leader would understand and excuse her.

  “It is time to banish the darkness!” Autumn stood tall. “Time to banish the negativity!”

  Maddie looked around the room. Everyone was there apart from Jenna. She wondered if perhaps taking part in this coffee ceremony would be good for the soccer mom. Or would it make her feel worse?

  Linda nodded, her gaze fixed on Autumn.

  “Yes!” Brenda said, her expression militant. “No more negativity!”

  Edith nodded, but didn’t say anything. She looked like she wanted to take a sip of coffee but was worried it wasn’t the right moment to do so.

  “If Hailey’s death has taught us anything, it’s to be positive as much as we can! Enjoy every moment of our lives!” Autumn’s countenance looked downcast for a second. “For we never know when it will be time to journey to the next plane of existence.”

  Suzanne and Brenda appeared a little startled at the words.

  “And now, we shall drink! Drink to banish negativity! And drink to send out positive vibrations to Hailey, and to wish her well.”

  Autumn lifted the cup to her lips and sipped. The other women followed suit – even Suzanne.

  Autumn rummaged in the jute bag next to her. “We shall do even more to fill this room with positivity!” She waved a bundle of leaves in the air. “This is a smudge stick.”

  Autumn lit the stick and walked around the room, smoke billowing from the stick. Everyone watched, their eyes wide.

  “There!” Autumn seemed satisfied as she returned to the attendees. “Breathe in the scent of the sage. The smoke will clear the negativity and encourage positivity once more.”

  “Mrrow?” Trixie lifted her head and wrinkled her nose, as if she didn’t care for the smell of the burned sage.

  A crack of thunder followed Trixie’s query.

  Edith gasped.

  “Don’t be scared.” Autumn smiled at the girl. “I’m sure this is nature’s way of cleansing the air. Tomorrow will probably be a beautiful day.”

  “Didn’t she say that last night?” Suzanne whispered to Maddie.

  After Autumn encouraged everyone to have a few more sips of coffee, she sank down onto the sofa.

  “After a few minutes, we can have a spe
cial music therapy session.” She pulled out silver triangles from her bag.

  “Oh!” Suzanne said. “We used to play them in music class in middle school.”

  “I remember.” Maddie smiled. She’d always enjoyed the tinkling sound of the triangle.

  Autumn handed everyone a silver instrument as well as a little beater for striking it.

  “Make whatever sort of music you like,” the group leader encouraged. “Let your imagination and positivity shine!”

  Trixie was still snuggled in Maddie’s arms, but her head turned to see what everyone was doing. She watched Suzanne strike her triangle, a ping! sounding in the room.

  “Excellent, Suzanne.” Autumn beamed.

  “Mrrow!” Trixie jumped out of Maddie’s lap and ran over to Suzanne, her gaze never leaving the instrument.

  “Do you want to try, Trix?” Suzanne bent down and showed the Persian the percussion instrument. “Like this.” As she made to strike the beater on the edge of the silver triangle, Trixie put her paw on top of Suzanne’s hand, so they struck the silver metal together.

  “Wonderful!” Autumn clapped her hands in delight. “Watch, everybody!”

  The attendees turned their gaze to Trixie and Suzanne, who repeated the motion.

  “I’m so getting a cat,” Brenda said.

  For the next half hour, tinkly sounds emitted from the great room. Suzanne had lent Maddie the triangle, so Maddie and Trixie had enjoyed striking it together as well. She barely noticed when Edith and Brenda left the room at various times – thinking she might need to visit the bathroom soon as well.

  When Maddie thought her ears might continue to hear the chaotic melodies long after the session had finished, she got up to clear the coffee cups.

  “I’ll help.” Suzanne appeared by her side.

  “I’m going to detour to the bathroom,” Maddie warned her.

  “Mind reader.” Suzanne giggled.

  Trixie followed them out of the room. They deposited the tray and almost empty plates of health balls in the kitchen. Suzanne looked undecided as she stood at the counter.

  “Maybe I should call Ramon. Let him know what happened this morning – with Hailey.”

  “I’m sure Detective Edgewater has already told him,” Maddie pointed out gently.

  “Yes, but …” Suzanne’s voice faltered as she scanned the counter. She gave Maddie a wide-eyed gaze. “Have you seen my phone?”

  Maddie furrowed her brow. “We were here.” She tapped the kitchen counter. “Making the suspect list.”

  “Yeah.” Suzanne’s ponytail swished. “I definitely had it then.”

  “Then Autumn called out, remember?” Maddie gestured to the French press. “We made the coffee.”

  “I bet it’s in my pocket.” Suzanne dug her hands into her pants pocket. A look of panic swept over her face. “It’s not there.”

  “Got any other pockets somewhere?” Maddie knew that sometimes her friend liked wearing pants with hidden compartments.

  “No.” Suzanne patted her hips and thighs, as if she was giving herself a security search. “I don’t have my phone on me.”

  “There must be a simple explanation,” Maddie said, trying to be positive. Maybe there was something to Autumn’s sessions.

  “Yeah. Someone stole my phone!”

  CHAPTER 5

  Suzanne sank onto a kitchen stool. “My suspect list was on my phone.” She paled. “What if someone – the murderer – reads it? They’ll know we suspect them!”

  “But right now we suspect everyone,” Maddie replied. “Everybody’s name is on the list.”

  “True.” Suzanne cheered up a little. “It’s not as if I wrote Autumn is the killer. Or Brenda is the killer.”

  “I think we should search for it,” Maddie said.

  “Mrrow!” Trixie seemed to agree.

  “I’ll have to go the bathroom first.” Suzanne rose.

  “I’ll go, too.”

  Each of them searched the downstairs bathroom, but Suzanne’s phone wasn’t there.

  “Maybe it’s in the great room,” Maddie suggested.

  “It’s possible.” Suzanne shrugged. “I was having so much fun striking that triangle and making musical sounds that I didn’t pay attention to much else.”

  “I noticed.” Maddie giggled.

  “Mrrow!”

  They trooped into the great room. Autumn was packing up the silver triangles and Edith, Brenda, and Linda were chatting amongst themselves.

  “I’d suggest a walk now, ladies.” Autumn looked out of the window. It was still raining. “But I think it might be too dangerous.”

  “I hope it’s not raining tomorrow,” Edith murmured. “I don’t want to have to drive all the way to Edmonds in weather like this.”

  “Me either,” Linda replied. Then she stared at Edith. “You don’t live in Edmonds do you?”

  “Yes.” Edith nodded. “Do you?”

  “No, in Mount Vernon. It’s fifty miles further on.”

  “I know where it is.” Edith’s expression sagged. “That’s where my grandmother came from.”

  “What was her name?” Linda asked.

  “Edith – like mine,” the girl replied.

  The sixty-something woman stared at her. “Edith. Not Edith Lilly?”

  “Yes. That was her maiden name.” Edith looked puzzled at the query. “Why?”

  “Nothing.” Linda shook her head and turned away abruptly.

  Maddie and Suzanne exchanged a look. What was that all about?

  “Has anyone seen Suzanne’s phone?” Maddie remembered why they’d returned to the great room.

  “No, dear.” Autumn shook her head.

  “No,” Edith murmured.

  “Sorry,” Brenda said. “I hope you find it. I don’t know how I’d manage without mine.”

  “Exactly,” Suzanne said ruefully.

  Linda’s back was to everyone and she didn’t answer.

  Maddie and Suzanne raised their eyebrows at each other but didn’t try to engage the older woman.

  Autumn burrowed in her capacious jute bag and brought out some journals covered with wildflowers.

  “I thought writing our feelings down would be one of the best ways to extract any negativity we’re feeling right now.” She handed everyone a slim hardcovered book and a pink pen.

  Linda took the journal, sat down on the sofa, and started writing, her pen stabbing the pages as she wrote.

  “Maybe I should check on Jenna,” the group leader fretted. “She may want to talk to let her feelings out, or write them down.” Autumn’s gaze flickered over the journal in her lap.

  “Would you like us to go up to her?” Suzanne asked.

  “Thank you, Suzanne, but I think I should go.” Autumn smiled.

  Maddie sat on the sofa, Trixie hopping up beside her. She turned in a circle and then made herself comfortable, her fur touching Maddie’s thigh. She peered at the journal, as if expecting Maddie to open it.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Autumn told them as she left the room.

  Suzanne sat on the other side of Trixie. Maddie looked around the room.

  Edith looked worried, as if she thought she’d upset Linda in some way. Linda’s pen was still striking the page. And Brenda sat in an armchair, busily writing.

  Suzanne cracked open her book. Maddie did likewise.

  “I’m going to write how I feel about losing my phone,” Suzanne whispered to Maddie. “And that I hope I find it today.” She softly snapped her fingers. “Maybe it will be like a spell!”

  “Shh!” Maddie cast a worried glance at the attendees, but none of them seemed to have heard Suzanne.

  “Sorry,” Suzanne mouthed, then started writing.

  “Mrrow?” Trixie murmured.

  “We’re supposed to write down our feelings,” Maddie told her familiar. She supposed if she was to do this properly, she should write about her worry earlier today that Trixie would leave her for another woman – or witch.r />
  “Mrrow.” Trixie shook her head and tapped Maddie on the hand, as if chiding her for being silly. Had the Persian read her thoughts just now?

  “I hope I am being silly,” Maddie whispered to her.

  “Mrrow,” Trixie seemed to confirm, tapping Maddie’s hand again. Then she nestled against Maddie’s thigh, seeming to doze.

  Several minutes later, Autumn returned.

  “How’s Jenna?” Maddie asked, lifting her head from her journal.

  “Mrrow?” Trixie enquired.

  “Not very positive.” Autumn shook her head sadly. “She said she’d try to make an effort tonight and come down for dinner.”

  “That’s good.” Suzanne nodded as she lifted her pen from her diary.

  “We’ll just have to do the best we can with the remainder of the retreat,” Autumn told them in a murmur.

  “What’s next on the agenda?” Maddie asked.

  “A lot of nature walks were planned,” Autumn replied. “But with this weather …” She looked out of the window. Raindrops continued to splash against the glass panes.

  “Maybe you could talk to them about the benefits of vegan food,” Suzanne suggested.

  Maddie stared at her friend in surprise. She knew her friend enjoyed her meat dishes.

  “Great idea.” Autumn smiled at them. “Thank you, Suzanne. They’ve already had a taste of organic fruits and vegetables – maybe this weekend will inspire everyone to experiment with vegan foods when they return home.”

  “Are you planning something?” Maddie whispered as Autumn checked on the other ladies.

  “Uh-huh.” Suzanne’s ponytail swished. “I’m going to find my phone.”

  “I’ll help. I don’t think I’m ready to give up meat, although I have enjoyed the salads we’ve eaten here.”

  “I know what you mean. But last night I was already planning our next trip to that amazing burger place in Seattle.”

  “Something to look forward to.”

  After everyone had finished writing in their journal, Maddie, Trixie, and Suzanne excused themselves.

  “We’ve got to find my phone, Mads.” Suzanne led the way down the hall. “The kitchen was the last place I remember seeing it.”

  “Me too,” Maddie replied with a frown.