Parents and Poisonings: Supernatural Witch Cozy Mystery (Lainswich Witches Book 6)

by Raven Snow

  “Have you talked to her since they took her in?” asked Rowen.

  “No,” said Caitlin, sounding like she felt a bit guilty about it. She looked at her feet.

  Rowen got to the heart of why she had tracked down Caitlin. “I hear you were the first one to the scene,” she said, speaking carefully. She had heard that from Julia Martinez’s coverage of the crime. “Your mother called you after she called Ben?”

  Caitlin shook her head. “No,” she said. “Mom called Ben and it was Ben who called me. I live really close by. He wanted one of us there fast to make sure she was okay.”

  “Can I ask what happened?” Rowen knew this was a delicate series of events. She hated to pry so soon after it had happened, but it seemed necessary.

  Caitlin looked up from her shoes and studied both Rowen and Eric carefully. “You’re sure this isn’t going in that paper of yours?”

  “I swear on my Grammy,” said Rowen, raising her right hand. “If we do an article, I’ll interview you properly and only use what you tell me there.”

  Caitlin nodded. She had no reason to distrust Rowen. If anything, she seemed like she needed to talk to someone right now. “When I got there, the house was a wreck,” said Caitlin. “Well, I mean, not a wreck wreck, but a wreck for Mom’s house. You’ve seen the place. It’s spotless. It looked like there had been a fight. Mom was trying to clean it all up. She didn’t even hear me come in.”

  Rowen didn’t like the sound of that. She knew Mrs. Williamson had destroyed evidence before. “What did she do when she realized you were there?” asked Rowen.

  “She dropped what she was doing all of a sudden, like…like she was ashamed or something.” Caitlin took a deep breath. “The body was in the entryway to the dining room. I didn’t really get a good look at it. I made Mom come with me out onto the lawn. She didn’t want to, but I insisted.”

  “I would have too,” said Rowen, though it was difficult for her to imagine herself in that sort of situation. She felt a sudden swell of pity for Caitlin.

  “Sorry to butt in,” Eric said, stepping in when Rowen didn’t have any immediate questions. “And sorry if this comes off as insensitive. I don’t mean it to be, but…the body. It was hanging, right?”

  Caitlin cringed but nodded. “There’s this, like, load-bearing beam near the dining room. Like I said, though, I didn’t get a really good look at it. I didn’t want to.”

  “That’s understandable,” said Eric. “I was wondering, though. I mean, I don’t know exactly what the working theory is, but if they think your mother murdered Ms. Lydell, what exactly do they think happened? Do they think the two fought? Is your mother supposed to have knocked her out then set it up to look like she hanged herself?”

  “I guess so,” Caitlin said with a small shrug.

  “And is she capable of something like that?” asked Eric. “I mean, she’s an older lady. Would she be able to set something like that up?”

  That was a good question. It had occurred to Rowen as well. As it turned out, it was something Caitlin had considered, too. “She’s stronger than she looks,” said Caitlin. “I mean, she goes on jogs every night. She still goes to the gym. She might not look it, but…yeah. I hate to say it, but I think she could have.”

  That was telling. Rowen wasn’t sure what to do with this information. From the look of it, Caitlin wasn’t wholly convinced her mother wasn’t the murderer. “Do you think she did it?” Rowen asked quietly.

  Caitlin didn’t say anything. She averted her eyes and gave a sad sort of shrug. For several long seconds, everyone was silent. “I’d like to get back to my run now,” Caitlin said suddenly. “Unless you have anything else to say.”

  Rowen shook her head and took a step back. “No,” she said. “Thanks for your time. Watch out, though. I’m not sure if Ben told you, but we wrote an article that—”

  “Ben told me,” Caitlin interrupted before popping her headphones back in and returning to jogging.

  Eric and Rowen both watched her go. “Well, that didn’t really help with any of our theories,” Eric said with a sigh.

  “What theories?” Rowen grumbled, feeling more frustrated than ever as she made her way back to the car. “I guess I’m going to try and call Ben again.” She hated to keep bugging him. She was sure he must be busy. Talking to him seemed important though—especially given the news they were putting out today. She wanted to see how he was holding up. She dialed his number. She had tried calling him before they went to meet with Caitlin, but he hadn’t answered. No surprise there. He had to be busy.

  Surprisingly, Ben answered on the second ring. “Rowen?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Hey.”

  “Good timing,” said Ben. “I was about to call you, actually.”

  Rowen hadn’t expected to hear that. “What about?”

  “My mother,” said Ben, his voice growing a bit grave at the mere mention of the woman. “She wanted to talk to you,” he said. “And Rose.”

  “Rose, too?” Rowen couldn’t help but wonder why. She was certainly curious. “Did she say—”

  “She won’t tell me anything,” Ben interrupted. “Just that she needed to talk with the two of you…Well, ‘a Greensmith’ is what she said. Then she changed it to Rose. So I guess Rose is the only one she feels like she needs to talk to. I didn’t like the idea of Rose going in and talking to her alone though. I was sure that would make her uncomfortable.” He sighed. “Of course, going to talk to her at all is probably going to make her uncomfortable. I really do need to start listening to her more.”

  “Well, she’s not with me right now,” said Rowen, “but I can head down there and see if she’ll come too.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” said Ben. He sounded incredibly tired.

  “Is it all right?” asked Rowen. “Us coming down there to talk with her?”

  “She’s still in holding,” said Ben. “This whole thing is a mess. No one seems to know what to do about any of this.”

  “I’ll see you in a few,” she assured him.

  “Thanks.”.

  “We going where I think we’re going?” asked Eric.

  Rowen nodded. “This should be interesting.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rowen arrived well ahead of Rose. She had called Rose right after getting off the phone with Ben. Rose was already at the office, of course. She had even managed to wake Willow and Peony up and drag them along as well. It was a big day for the Lainswich Inquirer.

  The article was already up. The attention it was getting was still on the small side but was quickly snowballing. Apparently, Julia Martinez had already given them a call. For the most part, though, Rose was staying silent. She insisted she could come down if Ben needed her. Surely, Willow and Peony could handle things at the office for a while.

  Rowen had her doubts. She wasn’t totally convinced that they wouldn’t all come back to find the office in flames. Still, she wasn’t going to tell Rose she couldn’t come. Helping Ben clearly took precedence.

  First, Rose had to prepare Willow and Peony for the attention they were going to be getting from the community today. Keeping the comment section on the blog free of insulting comments was the least of their troubles.

  Knowing Rose was on her way, Rowen went inside the police station with Eric to find Ben. He wasn’t difficult to find. Some officers directed her right to him. He was outside of the hall leading to the holding cells. He looked a bit disheveled, his hair unkempt and his shirt untucked. He paced while he stared down at his phone.

  “Ben,” Rowen called, offering up a smile before he had even looked up. Ben looked up when he heard her but immediately looked past Rowen. Rowen could see the disappointment on his face when he only saw Eric. “She’s coming,” Rowen assured him. “She just had some loose ends she needed to tie up at the office. She should be here any minute.”

  Ben nodded, relaxing a bit. “Thanks for getting here so fast.”

  “How are you holding up, man?” aske
d Eric, his attempt at a friendly tone coming off as a bit stiff.

  “Not great,” Ben replied. “That article of yours hasn’t completely blown up in my face yet. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that, honestly. It’s nothing my coworkers didn’t already know. I’m more worried about what the town will think of me.” Ben looked back at his phone. “Besides, I have bigger concerns right now, honestly.”

  “Your mom?” asked Rowen. She wasn’t sure why she even asked. Obviously, his biggest concern right now was his mother.

  Ben nodded. “They searched Aunt Trish’s home in Terricville. It seems she kept a journal.”

  “Oh?” Eric perked up a bit at that. “Where was it?”

  “On her computer at home,” said Ben. “I’ve got the pages here.” He held up his phone. “I haven’t finished reading it all, but they showed me the highlights. I’m not gonna lie—it’s some pretty damning stuff.”

  Eric took a step closer. “Mind if I take a look?” he asked, sounding hesitant.

  “I’m not going to send it over to you or anything.” Ben offered his phone to Eric. “But I guess I don’t care if you look while I’m here. I’m sick of looking at it. I trust you two are just doing that detective bit of yours and none of this is going to end up in the paper.”

  “Of course,” said Rowen, glancing over Eric’s shoulder at the screen of the phone he was holding. “What does it say?”

  “That they had an ongoing feud,” said Ben, sounding weary of the subject already. “They were fighting over real estate. She was convinced Anita poisoned Willard. She was afraid she was going to meet a similar fate.” Ben shook his head. “I know she didn’t do it, but this isn’t going to look good to a jury.”

  Rowen just nodded. She didn’t have the heart to tell him what Trish’s ghost had said and what his own sister suspected. Fortunately, Rose picked that moment to come hurrying up. “I came as fast as I could,” she said, going right to Ben.

  Ben actually smiled when he saw Rose. They might have been on a break, but he hugged her anyway. “Thanks for coming,” he said into her hair as he squeezed her tight.

  Rowen couldn’t help but smile. She hoped this worked out. Those two really were right for each other. She didn’t doubt for a moment that they could work out their problems. It seemed like Ben was recognizing his shortcomings already. That was a good first step.

  “You should get in there before she’s taken off for more interrogations,” said Ben, pushing Rose back at arm’s length. “You really don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” he added, when Rose looked uncertain.

  Rose shook her head immediately. “It’s fine,” she assured him, putting on a brave face though Rowen could tell that she was nervous.

  Ben took a ring of keys from his belt and headed into the hall that housed the holding cells. He held out a hand when Eric began to follow them. “Wait there, if you don’t mind,” he said, implying in no uncertain terms that Eric couldn’t come along. Eric frowned but went back to looking through the journal on Ben’s phone.

  Rowen and Rose were led to a small room with a table and some chairs, and Ben left them there. In a minute or so, an officer Rowen didn’t recognize arrived with Mrs. Williamson. Her hands were in handcuffs, something she seemed more than a little miffed about.

  “I’ll be right outside, if you need me,” said the officer. He seated Mrs. Williamson in a chair before leaving the room. The door was closed behind him.

  Rowen and Rose both waited in silence. Mrs. Williamson had seen better days. She looked a bit odd without a full face of makeup. Her face was more stern. She looked like an angry school teacher, especially given the way she was frowning at the Greensmith girls. “I didn’t expect two of you,” she muttered.

  “Ben called us both,” said Rowen, not really sure how to respond to that. “He said you wanted to see us.”

  “I wanted to see one of you,” said Mrs. Williamson.

  Rowen wasn’t sure why it even mattered. “He said you wanted to see a Greensmith. Weren’t those, like, your exact words?”

  “I said I wanted to see a Greensmith, because that one’s name escaped me for a moment.” Mrs. Williamson pointed at Rose. She stared at her a bit blankly. “It’s escaped me again actually.”

  “Rose,” said Rose, her tone curt. “And you got two of us, so just say what you need to say please.”

  Mrs. Williamson sighed and looked down at her own cuffed wrists. “I’m not trying to be impolite,” she said. “This is just such a time of stress. A lot is slipping my mind right now.”

  Rowen looked over at Rose and saw that she had raised her eyebrows at that. Rowen felt much the same way. What Mrs. Williamson had just said had come awfully close to being an apology.

  “Given…recent events, I thought I should say something to you,” continued Mrs. Williamson. “I suppose both of you will do. Actually, it’s probably fitting that both of you are here.” She took a deep breath, like whatever came next was going to be difficult for her. “I may have been…unkind to you and your family in the past.”

  Rowen couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this what they (or just Rose) had been called over here for? An apology? If so, it was absolutely worth it. Rowen could not have seen this day coming.

  “I never trusted the Greensmiths,” said Mrs. Williamson, still speaking while looking down at her hands. “Ever since I was a girl, your family…I just have a moral objection to them, you understand.” When no one said anything, Mrs. Williamson went on. “I’ve never liked the lot of you and it occurs to me now that, perhaps, that was unfair…Rose, you’re a decent match for my Ben. As far as the women he’s dated go, you’re probably my favorite.”

  Rose sat up a little straighter. She stammered with a response for a moment. “T-thanks,” she said, finally. “Thank you for that.”

  Mrs. Williamson nodded. “He’s dated a lot of horrible women.” Mrs. Williamson seemed to remember present company then. She glanced at Rowen as if just now recalling she had also dated her son. Rowen thought an apology might be forthcoming. It was not. She looked at Rose instead. “I don’t disapprove of you, and I hope this…nastiness doesn’t drive a wedge between the two of you.”

  “Thanks,” Rose said again. “If you don’t mind me asking—what brought this on?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Mrs. Williamson raised an eyebrow at Rose, as if suddenly afraid she might be stupid. “It seems I’ll be tied up in legal trouble for quite some time.”

  “We’re trying to fix that,” Rowen assured her. “None of us believe you murdered someone.”

  “Oh, no,” said Mrs. Williamson. “I did.”

  The words hit Rowen like a punch. She leaned back in her chair, staring. “What?” she asked, not sure she had heard correctly.

  “I murdered them,” Mrs. Williamson said again. She had to pause to wipe at her eyes. “I haven’t come out and said anything official. You’re the first two I’ve told, actually. But I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and…yes. I’m comfortable with saying that now. I murdered them.”

  Rowen’s thoughts were a jumble. About a dozen questions were suddenly vying to be asked. “Why?” was the first one she managed to ask.

  “I’ve been just scraping by since my husband left me,” said Mrs. Williamson, candidly. “I hide it well. I’m not sure even my children know. I’ve lived in that house since I was born, and I got used to a certain way of living. I got used to things being…just so. Willard was always trying to take that away from me. He and Trish always blamed me for our parents’ deaths, you see. Maybe they were right to.”

  “That wasn’t your fault,” Rose said quickly.

  Mrs. Williamson just shook her head. “They lived horrible lives after that. Our uncle was terrible to them, then they couldn’t get on their feet after foster care. I should have helped more, but I didn’t like that they held a grudge and resented me for everything I had done with my life.”

  It sounded like Mrs. Williamson was still com
ing to terms and reasoning all of this out as she said it aloud. “When I tried to get on good terms with Willard again, it was only so I could keep the house. He changed his Will back to include me as next of kin when I showed him he was still on mine. He let me stay in the house and, that way, if he ever died, I would be able to keep it. Trish was never comfortable with that. She was going to talk him out of it. With Willard dead, I could keep the house. But Trish was going to contest the Will, so…”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” insisted Rose.

  “Well, it’s what happened,” grumbled Mrs. Williamson. “Write it in your paper, if you want. I don’t care.” She looked at the door. “Guard, I’m done in here,” she called.

  Rowen had plenty more questions, but she doubted Mrs. Williamson was going to answer them. “We’ll talk about this again,” she promised her instead as the guard entered and led Mrs. Williamson away.