Maybe next time you’ll take my advice on the warm cream, Miss Lilura.
“Could we please stop with the surname business?” I groaned, going against my better judgement. “Lou is fine, Pearl.”
The white feline curled one side of her mouth, allowing her perfectly aligned whiskers to lift in disdain.
I was taught to mind my manners, Miss Lilura. Turn of the century England had certain standards of behavior, you know. Lords and ladies were cultured back then.
I sighed in resignation before putting my hand against the vent below the console. The heat was most welcoming. Orwin had the engine running, which meant it had gotten quite cold in the middle of the night. We were currently parked on the other side of the street from Jamie Lehman’s house, but three people in a Prius were bound to draw attention from those about to leave for work. We’d have to make an operational plan very soon.
Please explain to me why we are here if Ms. Lehman was attacked at the mall. Your methods are somewhat confusing.
I struggled to sit up a little straighter, finally stretching my arms and neck so that I didn’t do any more damage than I already had by falling asleep against the window. I shouldn’t have allowed either Piper or Pearl to tag along, but I hadn’t wanted to waste time arguing when another woman’s life was on the line.
As I said earlier, we’ll help you and Mr. Cornelia due to Piper’s involvement at the café. Once this situation has resolved itself, you’ll leave town and won’t come back for a minimum of sixty years as we’ve agreed upon.
“We’re not letting Jamie Lehman out of our sight,” I finally said, my voice a bit hoarse with sleep. I cleared my throat and tried again while carefully surveying our surroundings, immediately noticing that Jamie’s next-door neighbor had turned on a light in their living room. As for Pearl’s commentary, it was pointless to argue with her when we were both in agreement. Having them along full-time definitely wasn’t an option. “The visions I have are usually accurate, but sometimes a few of the clues get mixed up. Orwin and I usually tag team on who watches the victim—if we get to him or her in time—and who looks into the possible motives for murder.”
I’ll admit that it sounds as if your methods are solid, but when does that leave you time to search for Ammeline?
Unfortunately, it didn’t leave us with tons of free time.
Ahhh, that Lich is a smart one, isn’t she?
“But we already know that Jamie’s connected to Cassie Grier’s murder,” Piper pointed out, turning in the passenger seat so that she could get a better look at me while we talked. She’d put her hair into a pony tail, somehow making her look even younger. “It stands to reason we should go back to those suspects at the café. Since Orwin is the one with the gift of telepathy, it also stands to reason that I should accompany him to have a talk with those patrons who were at the café last night. My presence will make it easier to encroach on their personal space without having the suspects become too suspicious.”
I didn’t miss the way Orwin’s eyebrow rose in admiration at Piper’s suggestion of how we should work this particular case. Honestly, it was exactly what I would have suggested had those druids not been involved.
Agreed.
“What are you agreeing to, Pearl?” Piper asked, frowning as she searched my face for whatever it was Pearl and I had settled on.
We wouldn’t want anyone to notice anything amiss, and your shift at the café starts at four o’clock this afternoon.
Pearl had definitely stretched the truth, which didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know—she would go to any lengths to protect her charge.
As for the café opening their doors this morning, I’m sure the place would be crowded with people hoping to find out something about Cassie Grier’s murder. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near that place today, but Orwin and I knew better than most that the killer sometimes returned to the scene of the crime.
Are you suggesting that I would lie to my sweet Piper, Miss Lilura? I would do no such thing, and I’m rather offended by your implication.
“I didn’t say you would lie, Pearl, just that you might stretch the truth.” I ran a hand over my face, wishing we’d thought to bring those thermoses we had in the Jeep. The amount of coffee they could hold was unbelievable, and I could certainly use a hit of caffeine. Of course, the RV would supply me with round the clock coffee. “Piper, I was just thinking to myself that your family wouldn’t appreciate me drawing you into a murder investigation, and Pearl agreed. It’s best if the two of you go about your normal day and allow Orwin and I to catch Cassie’s killer.”
I suppose I could join you after seeing that Piper is settled in at the café this afternoon.
I understood Pearl’s offer, because familiars had the ability to appear and disappear at will. She’d be able to sneak into places we couldn’t, supplying us with pertinent information vital to the case.
“You weren’t worried about my family when you first tried to talk me into joining you and Orwin,” Piper pointed out, fishing out another tissue without being prompted to when Orwin sneezed. “I’m not saying that Pearl and I would ever leave our home, but we can be of help to you while you’re in town. Let me go with Orwin.”
I can agree with that compromise if you can, Miss Lilura, provided that Piper stays within sight of Mr. Cornelia.
“We might need to take them up on their offer, Lou.” The slight edge to Orwin’s tone told me that he’d noticed something amiss. “Jamie’s bedroom light just came on, which tells me that she’s going somewhere. Piper already told me that Jamie doesn’t work today. We’re most likely running out of time.”
Oh, dear!
Orwin was basing his assumption of time on the fact that the murders usually happened within twenty-four hours from the time I had a vision. An attempt on Jamie’s life would be most likely happen sometime today.
Then we have not a single minute to spare. There’s the door, Miss Lilura. Go on, now. We have places to be and people to see.
“I hate to break this to you, Pearl, but it is you who has to get out of the vehicle.”
Oh, no, no, no, Miss Lilura. You have that wrong.
I’d run through our options, and there was only one way we could catch the murderer in the timespan provided.
There are any number of ways this can be done, oh mighty hexed one.
I inhaled deeply and counted to ten, reminding myself that it was best I not be dragged into a spitting match before I’d had my coffee.
“Pearl, you’re going to go inside Jamie’s residence and keep an eye on her. The moment she decides to leave the house, you come to me—not Orwin and not Piper, but me,” I clarified, wanting to make sure that Pearl understood the importance of the duties assigned to her. I’m sure she would agree with me that we needed to keep Piper’s involvement down to a minimum. “In the meantime, Orwin and Piper will drive me back to the motel so that I can pick up my Jeep. The two of you will go speak to the list of suspects while I go and have a talk with Jack and Marna. No one can tell me that two druids didn’t notice something amiss last night. My bet? Those two know exactly who the killer is.”
I want it on record that I do not agree with this most recent turn of events.
“Duly noted,” I reassured her, waving my hand in the direction of Jamie Lehman’s residence. “But this is the best chance we have at solving this mystery, thus allowing Orwin and I to be on our way.”
Fair enough, Miss Lilura. Before I go, I’d like to clarify something with Mr. Cornelia.
“Oh, joy,” Orwin exclaimed, still monitoring Jamie Lehman’s house for anything amiss. “I promise that I won’t let anything happen to Piper while we’re gallivanting around town interviewing the witnesses.”
I’m sure that Pearl had a lot of rules and regulations for Orwin now that he had Piper in tow for the remainder of the day. Surprisingly enough, the white feline had a dry sense of humor.
I just thought I should warn a conspiracy theorist suc
h as yourself that the town of Kecksburg is but an hour from here—where the supposed unidentified flying object crash landed in 1965. If I were you, I’d be on the lookout for little green men, Mr. Cornelia. They can be sneaky little buggers.
Chapter Nine
“Pearl was just having a bit of fun,” Piper said in defense of the antagonizing familiar, even smiling to try and lessen the sting of being baited by a cat. “You should be honored that she feels I’m safe enough to leave me with you for the day.”
Orwin remained silent, probably stewing over the fact that the town of Kecksburg was only an hour away. I’m sure it had crossed his mind, but Pearl just had to pull the conspiracy lever. With my luck, he’d want to check out the so-called UFO crash site after this case was over.
“You know I can hear you, right?” Orwin asked, lifting that straight and narrow black eyebrow above his glasses on the right side as he made eye contact with me in the rearview mirror. I was still in the backseat, but we were less than three minutes from the motel. “It’s been three months.”
I shrugged, letting him know that sometimes my mind was running a million miles a minute. All of my thoughts were focused on Jamie Lehman, plus it was kind of a relief not to hear that English accented running commentary.
As for Jamie, the only reason an attempt on her life would be made was if she’d seen something last night…or at least the murderer thought the café manager had witnessed something that could put the culprit away for life.
“Maybe Pearl and I should have stayed back and had a talk with Ms. Lehman.” Orwin flicked on the turn signal of the Prius as he came to a stop sign on the edge of town. The colorful leaves were slowly falling from the tree branches onto the wet grass below. Pretty soon, the ground would be covered with snow and there would be no leaves to be found. “We can always head back that way after we drop you off at the motel.”
“I plan to head back to Jamie’s residence right after I’m finished speaking with Jack and Marna.” The motel was now in sight, and so was the Land Rover that belonged to one Knox Emeric—not that I had been searching for his vehicle. Quite the contrary. I wanted to make sure that it was gone. Why was Knox Emeric in town? “Take Piper and go speak with Cassie’s friends first. We know from experience that the murderer is usually someone the victim had a personal relationship with, and trust me when I say that they weren’t the kind of friends I’d want in my life.”
“Don’t worry about that guy,” Orwin advised, having picked up on the fact that I was worried about the stranger being in so many places we’d been over the last two days. “I was in his head, and all he thought about were gas prices and a good lightly grilled, peppercorn steak.”
I was reminded once again that Orwin’s gift was a blessing, and I didn’t doubt that we’d have Cassie Grier’s murderer delivered to Detective Jones by this evening.
“Keep in touch. If anything sticks out, let me know immediately.” I opened the back door to Piper’s Prius and climbed out, making sure I grabbed her attention. “Please listen to everything Orwin says today. Anyone who can kill in the manner that we saw last night won’t hesitate to do so again without much more of a motive.”
“Promise,” Piper replied with another one of her smiles. I found it a little too bright under the circumstances, but it was clear that she was just excited to be a part of something so important. I couldn’t blame her, but it was one of the reasons we’d made the wise decision to abandon the plan of bringing her along. “And don’t worry. I’ll try to convince him to let me take away his allergy issues.”
I closed the back door of the Prius, instantly catching Orwin’s pained expression. He didn’t have to say a word. Under no circumstances was Piper ever going to talk him into doing something so foolish as letting down his guard.
As we’d mentioned before, it had taken Orwin close to two months to collect all the ingredients and to perfect his intricate spell of warding. To do so again would mean he’d be exposed for at least that long if not longer, especially considering that some of the spell components could only be found on the west coast under the light of a full moon.
Orwin eventually pulled away while Piper pointed in which direction he should take as they finally exited the parking lot on their quest for answers.
“You were at the café last night.”
The Land Rover that was parked a couple slots from mine had done a good job of shadowing Knox Emeric. He must have been on the other side, though I don’t know why he’d waited so long to show himself. The statement he’d made confirmed that he knew exactly who I was, but that wasn’t what gave me pause.
“You’re from Washington.”
The license plate on the back of the Land Rover clearly displayed where the man was from, but I foolishly hadn’t taken the time to look. I knew better than to ignore the obvious.
“I am,” Knox agreed, transferring his keys to his left hand as he walked closer to me. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans with one of those thick plaid jackets that hadn’t been in style for quite some time, yet he pulled it off as if he were the face of a rodeo ad. “My name is Knox Emeric. I was on my way to New York when I decided to stop in town and search for a place that had free Wi-Fi. Considering what happened there, I guess I should have kept driving.”
It wouldn’t have been very friendly of me to blurt out that I didn’t believe in coincidences, so I did the only thing I could—I stuck out my hand when he’d offered his and held my breath when the warmth of his grip enveloped mine.
He was hot.
Wait.
That didn’t come out the way I’d meant for it to.
Let me paraphrase—his body temperature was unusually hot. I couldn’t make hide nor hair of the fact that Orwin hadn’t picked up anything unusual from the man standing in front of me, but I was now convinced that something was definitely off with Knox Emeric—regardless of his thoughts.
I hadn’t realized that his eyes were a light brown. In truth, they were practically gold, with just a hint of iridescence. His short black hair held a bit of dampness on the ends, revealing that he’d just recently had a shower. He hadn’t bothered to shave off his five o’clock shadow, which told me either he liked it or he was just too lazy this morning to bother.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I replied with a forced smile, fully prepared to throw him thirty feet or more should he make any type of threatening move. “My name is Lou. It’s a terrible thing that happened yesterday. I hope the police catch whoever could do something so horrible.”
“I’m on my way to speak with Detective Jones right now.” Knox looked over his shoulder to where Piper’s Prius was no longer in sight. “Is that where your friends are going?”
Going from a psychology professor to what was basically a private investigator hadn’t been easy, but I had picked up a few things in the last three months. Knox was fishing for answers, similar to how I did when talking with suspects.
Was that it?
Did Knox Emeric actually believe that I murdered Cassie Grier?
“Actually, no,” I replied to his inquiry on Orwin and Piper’s destination. I forced the tension out of my shoulders. It wouldn’t do to have him realize that I was on to whatever game he was playing, but I could definitely roll the dice. “I’m just here visiting friends, and one of them has to work today. It sounds as if you hadn’t planned on spending the night in Bedford. I hope that you clear things up with Detective Jones, especially seeing as you were in the restroom prior to that poor woman being found.”
In my defense of how rude I’d just come across, I’d been trying to figure out if he’d seen or heard anything unusual while using the café’s restroom. I trusted Orwin when he said that Knox wasn’t guilty of murdering Cassie Grier, but at the same time I recognized that Knox Emeric was hiding something.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have Orwin here to help me figure out all the pieces of the puzzle.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized quickly, not wanting to make another ene
my. I currently had my fill of those, including the queen bee of them all—Ammeline Letty Romilda. “That came out wrong. I was just implying that you could be of help to Detective Jones had you noticed anything unusual while you were in the back hallway.”
“I understand,” Knox assured me with a crooked smile that would have been rather charming had I not been so suspicious of his motives. “I wish I had seen something that could aid Detective Jones in his investigation, but all I remember is tripping over a white cat and then bumping into you. Well, I don’t want to be late to my meeting with Detective Jones. Enjoy your day, Lou.”
Knox gave me a slight nod before turning on his brown boots that reminded me of the military. I’d had a few students in ROTC who liked to wear them, which explained the underlying air of authority he displayed when walking. He was a very confident man, and also one to keep a close watch on while I was here in town. Men like him rarely missed anything, always taking in their surroundings for security reasons. It was an occupational hazard, and he had to have seen something that would lead Detective Jones to Cassie Grier’s killer.
The Land Rover eventually followed the path of Piper’s Prius, leaving me to stand alone in the parking lot of the motel. The urge to follow Knox was overwhelming, but it was best I stick to the plan we’d laid out this morning. If someone with former military experience hadn’t noticed anything amiss last night, a druid certainly would…and there had been two.
Unfortunately, I had no doubt that the residence of druids would be completely enchanted with magic wards and runes. My own powers would be useless, but I had a little trick up my sleeve that Jack and Marna would never see coming.
Chapter Ten
The address Piper had given me for Jack and Marna was in one of the quaint neighborhoods on the edge of town, completely opposite of what I would have expected. Typically, druids remained within their own groups spread across the world. They weren’t much for neighborhood associations. For those who decided to break from their own kind, they usually preferred to be off the grid at the end of some far-off trailhead.
If the Curse Fits Page 7
