A Charming Crime

by Tonya Kappes

  I held my hand in the air. The charm bracelet dangled. “The difference between dreams is that I seem to struggle with the killer. I can see my bracelet.”

  “Did you tell Oscar all of this?”

  “No. He’s so busy trying to figure it all out that I thought I could count on you to help me.” I lied.

  He eyed me suspiciously.

  “Okay.” I put my hands in the air. “I think it would be a conflict of interest. So I’m asking for your help.”

  “And what would that be?” He put his elbows on the table and locked his hands together.

  “Well, the killer is doing this at night. I figured if I would be at the lake, say at midnight, and you were hiding in the woods, the killer would come to get me and you could tackle them.” It seemed pretty simple.

  “When did you want to do this?” He didn’t seem to act like my request was stupid.

  “Midnight. Tonight.” I blurted it out before I had time to think about it and change my mind. The sooner the better.

  “Tonight?” His eyebrows shot up.

  I nodded.

  “I don’t know, June. It’s kind of risky.” He took a bite of his bread. “I’m not a citizen and it’s not my jurisdiction.”

  “But you have a gun. It’s no different from your stakeout here.” There was no way I was going to take no for an answer. It was foolproof. “We can say that you were visiting me. I have to get my life back.”

  “Visiting you at midnight?” He asked. He did have a point.

  “If I’m right, you won’t have to explain why you were there at midnight.” I begged, “Please?”

  “Fine. I will be in the woods at midnight.” He shook his head. “I will flash a flashlight twice to let you know that I’m there. Do not go out there until you see my flashlight.”

  “Got it.” I took a few bites of my lasagna. I felt a little relieved knowing that my life was about to get back to normal soon. “Can I ask you about my dad?”

  Cough, cough. Jordan pulled his napkin up, covering his mouth.

  “It’s just that I’m beginning to figure out things about my previous life and I don’t understand how or why my dad was with you when he got killed.” It was a legitimate question. And one that I needed answered.

  “The truth?”

  “Yes, the truth.”

  “I didn’t know your dad. Darla told me that he was a cop in another town and you two were in a witness protection program. I had just recovered from a gunshot wound and it was easiest to tell you and Oscar our lie.” He rubbed his mouth with his napkin before putting it back in his lap. “Was he a cop in Whispering Falls?”

  “From what I can gather, he was. And Darla left the village, but I’m not sure why.” I didn’t know anything about the witness protection program, but I was definitely putting that on my list of questions for the council after Jordan and I catch the killer. “How did you get Oscar?”

  That was one question I had never asked before. I knew that his parents were killed in a car accident, but I never got the particulars.

  “My older brother left for college and met a girl.” There was sadness in his eyes. “She came to our house just one time. They eloped and we never saw them again. I didn’t even know I had a nephew until my brother called telling me he was moving his family to Locust Grove. They got killed on the outskirts of town. Oscar was just a little fellow. I used all the department’s resources to locate anyone in my brother’s wife’s family, but came up empty.”

  Sadness swept over me. No wonder there weren’t any family photos in the house. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Does Oscar know?”

  “Yes. I’ve always been very open about it.” Regret dripped down his face. “I wished I knew my brother. There was not a will, nothing.”

  “I had no clue. I’m so sorry.” I picked up Mr. Prince Charming. This was so much to take in with all the other stuff going on. A Ding Dong was calling my name. “I better get going.”

  I wasn’t going to tell him that Oscar was a Fairiwick, because he obviously didn’t know. Nor did he know about the voodoo dolls. Still, Eloise’s words stung, “He could be an evil spirit, but doesn’t know it. I’ve seen a lot of little boys who make voodoo dolls that are spiritualist’s and don’t know it.”

  If that was the case, and I hated to think it, but the best friend that I’ve ever known or a stranger was on a mission to kill me. But why?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  When I pulled out of Jordan’s driveway, I carefully pulled out Madame Torres.

  “You’re back,” sarcasm dripped in her voice. The globe was glowing a bright red.

  “I am.” I placed her between me and Mr. Prince Charming. “Are you going to show your face?”

  “No.” Her tongue was as sharp as a knife. “I wanted to help you.”

  I squeezed the steering wheel. “You can still help me.”

  “No, you ruined that. If you made a deal to buy me from Isadora Solstice I could’ve helped you.” A couple of gold flashes and the globe went black again.

  Hiss, hiss. Mr. Prince Charming batted at Madame Torres.

  “She’s testy.” I patted Mr. Prince Charming. With or without Madame Torres help, I was going to find the killer and Jordan was going to help me.

  Anxiously, I waited for midnight to come. I held off on calling Jordan to make sure he was going to be there. He affirmed that he would be, and there was no reason to believe otherwise. But it played in the back of my mind that he may have called Oscar and told him our plan.

  I pulled the Green Machine on the outskirts of Whispering Falls behind some woods. I had to get to Eloise and tell her about my plan. If it didn’t work out, and the killer got me and Jordan, at least someone would know what I was up to. Unfortunately I knew I couldn’t share it with someone inside the village and that included Oscar.

  “Okay, buddy.” I put my bag over my shoulder and place Madame Torres inside. “You found Eloise’s once. Can you find our way from this side of town?”

  I took Mr. Prince Charming out of the car and put him on the ground. With his tail wagging in the air, he pranced off and I ran behind him.

  It didn’t take long until we reached a clearing. In the distance I could see the back of Eloise’s tree house. As quickly as my legs would take me, I ran as fast as I could so no one would see me. If the village knew I was gone, they were probably looking for me.

  The closer I got, the aromas of the cauldrons engrossed my senses.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me?” Madame Torres chirped from my bag. “I’m a crystal ball, not a bouncy ball. Slow down!”

  I ran faster.

  “Eloise?” I yelled into the garden once I reached the gravel walkway. The lanterns burned bright. “Are you here?”

  “June? Are you okay?” Eloise popped up from the Singing Pettles row and wiped her hands on her apron.

  “Hmmm” The Singing Pettles had their leaves to the sun. “Laalaa.”

  I shook my head. “I’m never going to get use to this life.”

  Eloise put them in the basket on the ground with the other ones she had picked.

  “I can only pick them once a week or they give me a headache with all that singing.” She laughed and walked towards me. “You look frightened. Are you okay?”

  “Okay?” A shadow of annoyance crossed my face. “You know I’m not okay.” I stomped my foot.

  “I’m not a toy!” Madame Torres screamed from my bag.

  I opened it and stuck my face in it. “Shut up!” I snapped the flap down, and looked at Eloise. Tears streamed down my face. “I’m not okay! A couple of days ago I was just a girl with a quirky mom who sold fake homeopathic remedies at a flea market and was the most wonderful best friend in the world.”

  Eloise put her hands out for me to take.

  I shook my head and walked backward a few steps. “No. I’m not okay,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now I’m a girl that has some kind of power. I see people when they really aren’t there. I have an angry cr
ystal ball in my bag. My cat steals. Not only am I accused of being a murderer, I’m being framed. I don’t know who or what I am!”

  I fell to the ground with my head in my hands.

  “Um. . .can you take it easy during your nervous breakdown?” Madame Torres’ was muffled.

  Eloise bent down and held me. She sat there with me while I cried. This entire situation had finally gotten to me.

  “I shouldn’t have run away.” I took my purse off my shoulder and pulled Madame Torres out. I held her up to Eloise. “I stole this.”

  Eloise smiled. “Hi, Madame Torres.”

  The ball glowed the normal green. “Well, well. Look what June dragged in. Where in the world have you been?”

  “Banned.” Eloise took the ball, and then picked up the basket of Singing Pettles.

  “I hate to break up this little reunion, but I need some help.” I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes. I picked up my bag and put it back on my shoulder.

  Eloise had a great idea. “Let’s go have a Ding Dong.” She continued her conversation with Madame Torres as I followed behind to the Gazebo.

  Eloise sat Madame Torres on the table next to the Singing Pettles. They hummed away happily.

  “Do you mind?” Madame Torres’ eyes shot in the directions of the basket. “They give me a head-ache.”

  I couldn’t help but smile as I ate my Ding Dong. Madame Torres was a pain-in-the-butt. Thank God she wasn’t in human form.

  “Tell me what is going on?” Eloise set the basket on the other side of the gazebo. They still let out a low hum, but nothing like before.

  “I have a plan that I put into motion with Oscar’s Uncle Jordan.” I told Eloise how I was going to go to the lake because I had the nightmare about the next victim being me. “I wanted to tell you just in case it doesn’t work out, and the killer kills me and Jordan.”

  Eloise wrung her hands as she paced back and forth. “I don’t like this idea.” She picked at her short red hair.

  “I need some of that truth serum that you and Darla gave Izzy that time.” If I could give some to the killer, which had to be one of the council members, including Oscar, they’d sing like one of the Singling Pettles and confess to everything.

  The heavy leashes that shadowed her cheeks flew up. “How did you know about that?”

  “Darla’s journal.” I patted my bag.

  “I don’t think that would be a good idea. You never know what someone is going to say.” She looked away.

  Madame Torres’ head went from one end of the globe to the other trying to keep up with our conversation.

  “Eloise, I need you just like Darla needed you.” I pleaded with her. She was a crucial part to ending this madness. “I have to hear them confess to murdering Ann and why. I fear that the answers to the death of my parents relies on the confession.”

  “I don’t know.” She spread her arms out in front of her and sprinkled hot pink dust into the air. The rows of plants bloomed to their fullest. The colors lit up the garden like a rainbow.

  I took my phone out of my bag. “It’s eleven o’clock. I have one hour until I meet Jordan.”

  “They are going to have my head if this backfires.” She drew her arms in and pointed towards Whispering Falls. “They will come after me with burning torches.”

  “No. No they won’t.” This was going to work. If I was going to rely on my intuition like Darla told me to, everything was going to work out if everyone did what they were supposed to do.

  Eloise’s cloak swooshed around her as she drew her hands into the air. A clap of thunder rang out, but the stars in the sky were as bright as the day.

  She rushed through the garden picking several different plants and flowers. She gathered them in her palm over the top of the cauldron. With one blow from her lips, the flowers turned into a pile of dust. She brushed them into the cauldron and stirred until it bubbled over.

  “Hand me a bottle.” She pointed toward the gazebo windowsill. “Anyone will be fine.”

  I grabbed the purple one with the star cap. It seemed the most appropriate.

  Eloise took it from my hand and scooped up the overflow of the cauldron. She cast her eyes on me. “Use this with extreme caution. I suggest you take a bottle of water and add a couple of drops. Only a couple of drops.” She wiggled her finger back and forth. She repeated, “Only a couple of drops.”

  Carefully I placed the bottle in my bag and grabbed a bottle of water from the table.

  “Mr. Prince Charming, you stay here with Eloise and Madame Torres.” I didn’t want him to see if anything happened to me. I knew that Eloise would take care of him. “Please return Madame Torres if something goes wrong.”

  “No you won’t. I’m not going back in some glass case or dark closet.” The ball lit up bright red.

  Eloise grabbed me by the shoulders and drew me close to her. “Keep safe sweet, sweet, June.”

  I held onto her words as I made my way into the dark night, through the woods and around the rock. I could see the lake as clear as day.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  My heartbeat echoed so loudly that I was sure it could be heard all over Whispering Falls. Patiently I waited in the woods for Jordan’s signal. I sat down in the grass and reached into my bag to get Darla’s journal and my phone. I used the phone’s keypad light to read a page in the journal.

  “I thought Otto’s job as a police officer was getting to him after he told me about the people that have come to visit him. He said someone was sitting next to June, but I didn’t see anyone. I told Eloise about it and she didn’t make me feel any better. She believes that Otto is a medium, which means that he’s a Fairiwick. That would be devastating to him. He loves Whispering Falls and couldn’t imagine being banned.”

  “Medium?” I whispered. Wasn’t that when people saw dead people? Did my dad die because someone found out he was a Fairiwick?

  What about me? Did that mean. . .I drew back and threw the journal in my bag. Had the mysterious shadow been a spirit? Was I part medium? Did the killer only want to kill off the Fairiwicks and found out who I was?

  Freight and share agony pierced my soul. I was living someone’s life, but not mine. . . not the one I knew. I grabbed my phone and stood up. It was ten after midnight and I hadn’t seen Jordan’s flashlight signal. Just when I was about to put my phone in my bag it vibrated.

  “June, where are you?” The text from Oscar had a big red exclamation on it as though it was urgent. “We need to talk.”

  Talk? At midnight? Either they had the council meeting and he was going to put me in jail or he was looking for me because he was the killer.

  I didn’t respond. Either way, he’d find out where I was soon enough.

  I’d give Jordan another ten minutes.

  I unscrewed the cap off the bottle of water. I used the light from my phone so I could see what I was doing. Carefully I held it between my legs and took out the potion.

  One, two. I counted the drips of the serum as it went into the water. I replaced the cap on the water and shook it up.

  Off in the distance I saw a quick two flashes. Jordan was here. It was time. I wished I had a few more seconds so I could eat a Ding Dong. It might be the last time I tasted the delicious goodness.

  Instead, I stood up with the water bottle in my hand and putting one foot carefully in front of the other, I walked towards the lake.

  The ground became mushy the closer I got to the edge of the water. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Ann felt before she took her last breath.

  The lake was still, the water didn’t move. It lay like glass. The moonbeams shone off the water into the clearing. The silence rang in my ears and the only thing I could feel was the beating of my heart.

  I looked around to see if I could see anything. The fireflies played in the distance. They seemed to chase each other in circles and then in a straight line. Suddenly they darted into the night.

  “We’ve been out here for about
an hour.” Jordan whispered.

  “You scared me.” I dropped the bottle. “Go back and hide. Let’s give it a little while.”

  “Maybe you didn’t see your nightmare right.” He picked up the bottle.

  I looked out onto the lake. I shook my head and recalled the vivid images from my nightmare. “No. It was my bracelet, I’m sure of it.” I turned back around. “NO!” I screamed and smacked the water bottle from his lips.

  “What? I’m thirsty.” Jordan’s eyes grew dark and he stepped backwards. “I think you are losing your mind.”

  Just like a spotlight, the moon shone down on the ground between us, exposing Jordan’s footsteps in the soggy mud. It was the same shoe print I found where Ann was killed and under my window sill from the Cape Cod.

  “Oh, no.” I drew in my breath and put my hands up to my mouth. My intuition nagged me. “You killed Ann?”

  “What? What did you say?” He ran toward me. His hand reached out as I tried to run.

  The mud was like quicksand. I couldn’t move. The harder I tried the more my feet dug into the marsh.

  “Where do you think you are going, June?” He smiled, the evil showed in his eyes. He picked up the bottle and drank the rest of it before he crushed it in his grip. “Killing someone always makes me thirsty. But none of the others brought me a drink. Thank you.” He threw the bottle in the lake.

  None of the others? I only knew about Ann.

  Like the water rippled from the effect, chills rippled throughout my body with each word that escaped from his lips. I tried to pull up a foot, but I was already buried to my calves.

  “You psychics are all like. You think you can rule the world. Especially the Fairiwicks.” He paced back and forth, not getting too close. He knew I was stuck. “Do you know what it’s like being the outcast in a family, June?”

  I shook my head. He drew a gun from underneath his shirt and waved it at me.

  “My brother, my parent’s, we were part of a village out west. We were all banned because I didn’t have any powers. I was the runt.” He jabbed himself with his gun. “Do you know what animals do with runts, June?”