“We think it’s the Christmas cake, Dominic. You ate some too, right?” I put on a worried expression.
“But you just said the cake—” Mom’s eyes darted back and forth between Aunt Amber and me.
Aunt Amber nodded. “Cen’s right, Dominic. You ate a lot of that cake. You can’t go outside alone until we have that cake tested. If you leave and get sick like Merlinda, there won’t be anyone there to help you.”
While we had pretty much ruled out the cake, Dominic didn’t know that. He had been out of the room when Earl confirmed that his rat poison ingredients were safe for humans.
He scoffed. “I’m not worried about it.”
“Why not, Dominic?” Aunt Pearl pointed a bony finger at him. “Is it because you killed Merlinda? You did it with that weird green powder you sprinkled on Merlinda’s potatoes.”
Tyler shook his head. “No. I found the jar. The green stuff is just a health food supplement.”
“Never asked you,” Aunt Pearl snapped.
“I would never hurt Merlinda,” Dominic protested. “I loved her.”
“Then why are you in such a hurry to leave your wife?” Aunt Amber asked.
Innocent husbands usually weren’t anxious to abandon their deceased wives like discarded luggage. His actions didn’t match his words.
Tyler stepped toward Dominic and blocked him. “Nobody goes anywhere until we figure this out. You included.”
“But—” Dominic raised his arm to object.
“It’s dangerous outside.” Tyler tipped his head toward the window. “I know this situation isn’t ideal. The fact is that we are all trapped here until the storm lets up. The earliest the Shady Creek medical examiner can get here is tomorrow morning because of the storm. Until she arrives, we all stay.”
“Tyler’s right, Dominic,” Mom waved toward the window. “Look outside. The snow is too deep to walk in, let alone drive.”
The wind had sculpted huge snowdrifts that made even driving out of the parking lot impossible. Dominic’s abandoned Escalade still sat in the middle of the driveway under a giant mound of snow. Maybe sheer laziness wasn’t the only reason he hadn’t driven the extra few feet to the parking lot. Maybe he had planned a getaway all along.
Tyler clamped a hand on Dominic’s shoulder and steered him to the sofa. “If I were you, I’d sit down and talk so we can solve this thing together. I want to know everything about Merlinda, including her family troubles back home. It’s in your own best interest to cooperate because things don’t look that good for you right now.”
“Am I a suspect?” Dominic didn’t sit down. He stood beside the sofa, arms crossed instead. “Or under arrest?”
Tyler rubbed his chin before answering Dominic. “Everybody’s a suspect until we have more answers. As her husband, you’re suspect number one until you prove otherwise. I will arrest you if you try to leave, Dominic, so don’t even bother.”
“I knew it,” Aunt Pearl muttered under her breath.
Tyler hadn’t actually said much of anything to anyone. He was even tight-lipped with me, someone he usually shared investigative details with. A hard lump formed in my throat as I realized that this time I was part of the case and quite possibly a suspect just like the rest of my family. Nobody was ruled out yet. Tyler couldn’t compare notes with me even if he wanted to.
Gail smiled sarcastically. “Tough break, Tyler. You really have your hands full. You’re waiting for the real police to get here?”
Dominic glared at Gail. “Uh—excuse me. Merlinda just died and you’re making jokes? What kind of a person are you?”
“Apparently, not a killer like you,” Gail’s tone was bitter. “I bet you took out a boatload of insurance on your wife before you killed her.”
Brayden covered his ears like a child. “Everybody stop it! You’re all giving me a migraine. Just do what Tyler says.” Brayden had run for mayor because he liked being in charge. Too bad he was horrible at it. He avoided conflict like the plague. That’s what he expected from Tyler as sheriff—to do all of the dirty work. Brayden always took the credit. But when things went haywire, Tyler got all the blame.
I wasn’t sure what surprised me more: Brayden’s outburst or his siding with Tyler.
Gail scowled at Brayden. “Don’t order me around, Brayden.”
Brayden let out a deep sigh. “I wasn’t ordering anyone—never mind. Just listen to the sheriff.”
“Sheriff, you’re an idiot.” Dominic pointed to Aunt Pearl. “It’s that weird tea of hers. What if that old biddy poisons someone else?”
“We’ll make sure no one else drinks the tea. Simple enough.” Tyler’s mouth set into a frown.
Aunt Pearl’s whole body shook as she cursed under her breath. Her anger was visible even by candlelight. “You’d all be dead by now if I had wanted to poison you.”
Brayden turned to Dominic. “You watch too many crime shows. Pearl’s not capable of something like that.”
Aunt Pearl shook her fist. “Don’t tell me what I’m capable of! I could kill you all without lifting a finger.”
“Pearl!” Mom gasped. “Don’t talk like that.”
It occurred to me that poison was the weapon of choice for little old ladies. I kept that thought to myself.
Aunt Pearl stormed over to Dominic and pounded on his chest. He was at least a foot taller than her so her punches landed somewhere between his stomach and chest. “Why did you have to come here in the first place?”
“You invited me, remember? Stop hitting me.” Dominic grabbed Aunt Pearl’s bony wrists and held her at arm’s-length.
“I only invited you in the first place because I knew you couldn’t make it. Merlinda planned to go home. I extended the invitation knowing you wouldn’t show up. Except you did.”
“She’s my wife, Pearl. I don’t need an invitation from you to visit her.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I happen to know that Melinda already told you she was flying home to Vanuatu. It’s a ten-hour flight so why did you expect to even find her here? You couldn’t possibly have known ahead of time that her flight was canceled.”
“Of course I knew. I checked the extended weather forecast. There was no chance the storm wouldn’t hit.” Dominic sounded unconvincing. “Science always trumps magic. It even got me a last-minute flight deal.”
Aunt Pearl snorted. “Liar. Nobody gets last-minute flight deals at Christmastime.”
“The storm forecast came out only hours before Merlinda’s departure,” Mom added. “How could you have known she’d be stranded here? There’s only one daily flight to Vanuatu, and it’s on the same plane you supposedly came in on.”
Aunt Amber nodded. “Something about your story doesn’t add up, Dominic. You must have arrived earlier than today.” She muttered something under her breath.
Dominic’s anger suddenly vanished. His face went slack and his eyelids drooped. He swayed unsteadily on his feet. He leaned against the wall for support momentarily before slumping down into a sitting position on the floor.
Aunt Amber smiled. “One down.”
Brayden jumped up from the sofa and hurried over to steady Dominic. “Dominic? What’s wrong?”
No answer.
“What’s going on?” Gail followed behind Brayden and leaned over Dominic. “Are you sick too?”
Dominic nodded once before his head drooped down onto his chest.
Aunt Amber repeated her spell, and within seconds Gail and Brayden were bewitched along with Dominic. The three of them slouched together against the wall with Gail in the middle of the two men. They collapsed in on one another in a heap.
“What the heck—” Tyler spun around.
“You’re as bad as Aunt Pearl,” I stared at our three unconscious guests.
“You can thank me later,” Aunt Amber said. “They’re too much of a distraction. We need to get to the real issue—Pearl’s tea.”
“Just stop it, Amber!” Aunt Pearl stomped her foot. “I will not be framed for a crim
e I didn’t commit!”
Tyler shook his head. “Okay, we need to have a frank discussion. You can’t just place spells on people willy-nilly, Amber. How will we know what’s real and what’s supernatural?”
“That’s precisely why I froze them,” Aunt Amber said. “Remove the variables so we can crack this case.”
Tyler shook his head. “I’ll worry about solving the case. In the meantime, you need to stop interfering.”
“It’s as much my business as it is yours, Tyler. We can’t expose all our witch secrets or risk the Shady Creek CSI unit going off on a tangent just because they find supernatural things they can’t explain. We have to eliminate magic from the equation.”
“I’ll handle all that,” Tyler said. “But in the meantime, hands off. Wake these people up right now.”
I shuddered at the thought of Brayden discovering that he had been knocked out by Aunt Amber’s spell. There would be hell to pay. He would no doubt find a way to blame Tyler for it too.
“You do realize that Merlinda’s supernatural talents could be the reason she was targeted in the first place,” Aunt Pearl said. “One of these interlopers is likely Merlinda’s killer, not one of us. Either you take action or I will, sheriff. Before someone else ends up dead.”
Aunt Pearl no longer seemed any worse for wear from the botched tea. Her bluish skin tone had vanished and she was steady on her feet.
“Relax, Pearl,” Mom said. “That goes for you too, Amber. Let the sheriff do his job.”
Dominic, Gail, and Brayden all snored peacefully, a cacophony of snorts and whistles.
We had all forgotten about Earl. He stood in the doorway, a puzzled expression on his face. He had changed out of his Santa suit into a flannel shirt and overalls. “Pearl, what the heck’s going on? You promised me none of that funny stuff tonight.”
Earl meant Aunt Pearl’s witchcraft.
“No…I just said I wouldn’t do it on you.” She noticed our puzzled looks. “Mind your own business!”
“You made it our business, Aunt Pearl.” I shook my head in dismay. Aunt Pearl’s business was the very reason we were in this mess in the first place. There was no getting around the fact that Merlinda would probably still be with us if it wasn’t for Aunt Pearl’s weird Christmas Eve dinner party.
19
Merlinda seemed all but forgotten. Tyler and Aunt Amber argued about the best investigative techniques while our three guests snored on the living room floor.
Tyler acquiesced to Aunt Amber with a little reverse psychology. “You’re right, Amber. We have to incapacitate our suspects while we solve the case.”
Aunt Amber smiled. “Let’s get to it then.”
“Wait a minute, sheriff,” Aunt Pearl said. “You can’t hold Dominic or any of us against our will. What kind of lawman are you? You haven’t charged us with anything. You’ve barely even questioned us.”
“The Shady Creek police will do that,” Tyler said. “I have to recuse myself because I was here when Merlinda died. I’m part of the case too.”
“Probably guilty as sin too,” Aunt Pearl muttered under her breath.
Aunt Amber rolled her eyes. “I think we already know who did this to Merlinda, Pearl. Accidents happen and the sooner you own up to—”
“Stop accusing me, Amber! I drank the same tea myself and there’s nothing wrong with me.” Aunt Pearl turned to Tyler. “As for you, sheriff, even if you wanted to take us into town and lock us all up, you can’t. The Westwick Corners jail is too small to hold more than two people. You didn’t think of that now, did you, sonny?”
Tyler ignored Aunt Pearl’s disrespectful tone and pointed to the snoring lumps propped up against the wall. “They aren’t going anywhere for the moment. Amber, how long—?”
“They’ll remain asleep as long as you want.” Aunt Amber said. “I’ll only wake them once you say the word.”
“What the heck is going on?” Earl’s forehead crinkled into a frown. “Did they drink Pearl’s tea too?”
Aunt Pearl stamped her foot. “How many times do I have to tell you people? It’s not my tea. I have no idea where that printed recipe came from or how it got into my pocket. Same goes for the copy that Amber found on the kitchen counter. Somebody’s trying to frame me. I didn’t screw up the ingredients no matter what Amber says.”
“The recipe is in your handwriting, Pearl. I would recognize it anywhere.” Aunt Amber waved the paper under Aunt Pearl’s nose. “Admit it. You made a mistake.”
“That’s a forgery, Amber. How dare you accuse me of—”
“Oh, just stop bickering, you two!” Mom stepped between her sisters and pushed them apart with her arms. “I’m glad there was nothing wrong with Pearl’s tea. That makes it even more important to get to the bottom of things. We have to find out what happened to poor Merlinda, and we won’t get anywhere arguing amongst ourselves.”
Aunt Pearl and Aunt Amber each took a few steps back and stared at Mom in shock.
I was proud to see Mom standing up to her two strong-willed sisters.
A loud snore shattered the silence.
More of a snort, really.
Dominic opened one eye momentarily before dropping off to sleep again.
Aunt Amber giggled at another loud snore. This time it came from Brayden.
I yawned, feeling sleepy all of a sudden. For the first time, I noticed that we were all lethargic, eyelids drooping and fighting the urge to stay awake. My thoughts wandered at a time that I should have been at rapt attention. Had I been bewitched too?
I rubbed my head and turned to Aunt Pearl. “We really need to figure this out before they wake up.”
“Then talk to your sheriff boyfriend over there. Why should we do his job for him?” Aunt Pearl asked.
I glanced at Tyler. He crouched down in the hallway and dropped something into a baggie with a gloved hand.
I turned back to Aunt Pearl. “We’re not doing his job for him. We’re simply helping him to eliminate useless leads. If we can at least do that, then he can hand over proof we’re not involved to the Shady Creek police. Let’s find evidence to rule each other out rather than pointing fingers at each other.”
“Cen’s right.” Aunt Amber nodded.
We all stared at the snoring bodies in front of us.
“One of them must be the killer,” Mom said.
“Nonsense.” Aunt Pearl sighed. “I wish it were true since I despise all of them. But the sad fact is that it’s your Christmas cake, Ruby.”
“Oh…so now it’s my cake?” Mom’s hand flew to her chest. “How can that be? You all ate some.”
Aunt Pearl shook her head. “No, Ruby. We only pretended to eat it. Just like we have every damn Christmas for the last twenty years.”
“What are you saying? That you don’t like my cake? That can’t be—you guys eat so much I can barely keep up with the baking.” Mom turned to me. “Cen, you love my Christmas cake.”
“Uh, well…I’m on a low-carb diet so…”
Realization dawned. “You didn’t eat any tonight, did you?”
I averted my eyes, ashamed.
Mom turned to Amber. “I suppose you’re in on the cake conspiracy too?”
Aunt Amber shrugged, palms out in surrender. “I have to watch my figure, Ruby. As a single gal…”
“I’m sorry, Mom. We know you go to a lot of trouble and…we wanted to spare your feelings.” I felt a pang of guilt. The jig was up, Mom’s feelings were crushed, all because none of us had the guts to reveal the truth about her inedible cake for years on end. I just couldn’t lie anymore.
“Speak for yourself, missy.” Aunt Pearl stomped toward the hall. “I’m going to solve this thing once and for all.”
“Wait—you can’t leave.” Tyler blocked her in the doorway. ”No one goes anywhere.”
“Sheriff or not, you can’t hold me here against my will.” Aunt Pearl scowled. “Maybe you can corral Dominic, but you can’t stop a witch. Come hell or high water, I’m
pulling out all the stops to figure out this crime and expose the killer. Somebody has to. It’s obviously beyond your capabilities.”
Tyler rolled his eyes and his mouth upturned in a slight smile.
Which infuriated Aunt Pearl. “Just try and stop me.”
Tyler didn’t move.
Aunt Pearl looked confused. Her eyes darted back and forth between Tyler and the front door.
“Sheriff—you gonna stop me or what?” She crossed her arms and planted her feet wide.
I ran into the hallway, followed my Mom and Aunt Amber.
I faced my aunt. “Seriously, Aunt Pearl, where can you go in this storm?”
Aunt Pearl stepped backward until she was against the door. She cowered like a cornered animal, powerless.
“None of your business,” Aunt Pearl snapped. Her body belied her sharp words. For the first time, she looked uncertain.
And scared.
20
It all happened so fast.
Aunt Pearl faced us in a combat stance, her back against the front door.
“Aunt Pearl! Put the gun down!” My arms shot up instinctively. She wouldn’t shoot to kill, but I wouldn’t put it past her to shoot my foot or possibly an arm or leg if I didn’t cooperate. She would rationalize it and repair the damage with witchcraft.
I couldn’t afford to take that chance.
“Hey, that’s Tyler’s gun! What the heck—” Aunt Amber raised her arms as realization dawned. “Pearl, what on earth are you doing?”
My pulse quickened. I scanned the hall for Tyler, but there was no sign of him. He had been right beside Aunt Pearl less than a minute ago. Never mind his gun—what had she done with him?
“We’ve got a killer in our house and Sheriff Gates carelessly left his gun lying around,” Aunt Pearl said. “Someone had to take charge of the situation.” She tilted her head toward the floor. Tyler’s empty holster lay where he had stood moments earlier.
I kept my voice calm. “And that someone is you?”
Tyler had been wearing his holster with his gun in place, I was sure of that. He was always careful with firearms too. If he wasn’t wearing his gun, even for a minute, he locked it up. And if he wasn’t wearing it, that meant only one thing.
Christmas Witch List--A Westwick Witches Cozy Mystery Page 11
