A Drop in the Potion

by Constance Barker

  The nurses found a table, and I went about using my “smoothie sense” to combine the exact blend of vegetables, fruits and spices that matched their personalities. To me, smoothies had to be personal. No two bodies reacted the same to the ingredients, no two minds. Personalizing a smoothie called for a bit of understanding. I relied on my intuition, and I was rarely wrong.

  David returned before the nurses left, and Tanya managed to engage him in a bit of conversation. It wasn’t that Tanya was terribly aggressive. It was more like feeling out the possibles.

  “Is there something wrong with my face?” David asked after the nurses had left.

  “No, why?”

  “I haven’t had a woman stare at me like that since, well, since a long time.”

  I laughed. “Think of it this way. If you get sick, you have a nurse who will love taking care of you.”

  He laughed.

  “I’m going to the grill,” I said. “Be back.”

  Strangely, Tessa was not fuming, even though the grill was filled with Friday people wanting a hot meal. Generally, on a busy day, she would sound like Gordan Ramsey with a higher voice. Who would be the object of Tessa’s wrath? But today, she was almost mellow as she joined me in my booth.

  “Why the good mood?” I asked.

  “I’m saving myself,” she answered.

  “For what?”

  “Tonight. I want to be at my absolute best when I meet Mr. Bluth. And that can’t happen if I fuss at people all day. This is the new and improved Tessa, calm and serene.”

  I laughed so hard, I snorted. Her face started to turn red, but then she smiled.

  “No, my good Samantha,” she said. “I will not rise to the bait. Serene, I am serene.”

  I knew that while Tessa might be serene at the moment, that moment wouldn’t last. It was against her nature, and nature always won out.

  “I’m glad,” I said. “But we have to do something about this snow.”

  “I’m well aware of that, but what? We’re not water witches.”

  “I was thinking of the dark web.”

  “The dark web? It’s my understanding that it’s dark for a reason. No one wants to be known there.”

  “I know, but we need an expert water witch, and I don’t think we’ll find one of those in an open chat room. I mean, we need someone willing to share a powerful and perhaps personal spell.”

  Tessa thought a moment. “And how do you propose to find this uber-witch?”

  “I’m not sure, but I don’t want to go fishing alone. Tonight, is out of the question. But what about tomorrow? Are you free?”

  “In the evening, after I close.”

  “We can meet here. You, me, Mara, Genevive, and Allie.”

  “Allie isn’t part of the coven.”

  “I know, but she is on the net all the time. She can help guide us.”

  “That makes sense. It’s for sure I’m not going to navigate the dark web.”

  “Great. When are you picking me up?”

  “Picking you up?”

  “Tonight. You're taking me to the open house, correct?”

  Tessa laughed. “Of course, I am. And if you’re not dressed to the nines, I’ll be very disappointed.”

  “To the nines,” I repeated. “Count on it.”

  And I was dressed to the nines, which wasn’t easy for me. My best dress, a jade color that brought out the best of me, was old, hardly the latest style. Had I had more time, I might have found a newer dress, but the jade one would have to do. I wondered about heels, but with the snow, I decided I didn’t need to risk turning an ankle and falling on my face. I added the silver, leather jacket, whose sequins sparkled from any angle. I wondered if I would like some sort of light bulb, which made me laugh. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t there to impress, just to observe.

  “Sharp,” Tessa said as I climbed into her Jeep.

  “You look great, Aunt Sam,” Allie said. She was sandwiched between Mara and Genevive, who didn’t look all that happy.

  “Tres chic,” Mara said.

  “Before we head out,” I said. “Let’s make some rules.”

  “Rules?” Tessa asked. “We need rules?”

  “Remember what Windermere Manor is,” I said. “It’s been the ancestral home for a line of accomplished witches, and we know some of them have dabbled in black magic. I’m certain we don’t know all the manor’s secrets. So, we confine ourselves to the first floor. If we run into anything questionable, we leave it alone. If we must address it, we address it as a coven. No one leaves the manor without telling one of the others. The last thing we need is to go looking for someone. Make sense?”

  “Absolute sense,” Mara said. “I, for one, will not be wandering the manor.”

  “Me either,” Genevive said. “With my luck, it’ll start raining inside the house.”

  “I want you to have fun,” I said to Genevive. “Tomorrow, with any luck, the coven will come up with a solution for the snow.”

  “Oh I hope so,” Genevive said.

  “Do I get to help?” Allie asked.

  “Yes,” Tessa answered. “I forgot to tell you.”

  “Ask me,” Allie said.

  “I forgot to ask you,” Tessa said. “Now, are we quite ready?”

  I detected a slight irritation in Tessa’s voice, and I wondered if her newfound grab at serenity had come up empty. The Jeep leaped forward through the snow, and I was pretty sure serenity had lost.

  Under the winter moon, the snow sparkled around Windermere Lake. It looked like some winter wonderland snatched off a Christmas card. I couldn’t help but be impressed, although I still wished the snow would melt away. As we came in sight of the manor, I noticed that snow still fell around it, light, pretty snow. In the back seat, Genevive groaned. I wanted to tell her everything was going to be all right. I didn’t. Something told me that the open house wouldn’t be what we expected.

  Chapter 8

  Hughes opened the door before we even knocked, as if he had been watching.

  “Welcome to Windermere Manor,” he said. “May I take your wraps?”

  While we handed over our “wraps”, Hughes continued.

  “You’ll find the wine bar in the library and the spirits bar in the den. The buffet has been set up in the dining room. A string quartet and dancing is in the ballroom. Feel free to roam. Should you require something, please see me or one of the attendants.”

  Hughes left us without so much as a smile, which was to be expected, given our previous experience. While he didn’t mention it, I was certain he recognized us.

  “Quite a butler, isn’t he,” Tessa said.

  “This place looks fantastic,” Mara said.

  “We want to taste the food,” Allie said.

  “Just don’t get lost,” Tessa said.

  I watched the teens run off, and I knew they were going to have a good time. But what struck me was exactly what Mara said. Windermere Manor didn’t look like...Windermere Manor. All of us remembered the old manor, a dark and rather dreary place where everything was an antique that you couldn’t touch. It was stuffy and stale, where very little changed from decade to decade. But this open house was entirely different. Bright, almost airy, smelling of polish and lilac, the rooms had shed their gloomy corners and opened up in ways I found both charming and surprising. I imagined that the original manor had been precisely like this, welcoming and happy.

  As we moved into the library—wine being a healthy staple as far as I was concerned—we found Ethan and Ada Gallagher chatting happily with the three nurses. The nurses no longer looked like nurses. They had dressed to the nines, just like us, and while Tanya seemed to keep an eye out for an eligible man, the others seemed happy with Ethan and Ada. I glanced at Tessa, since she had found Ethan attractive at one time. Tessa’s smile wasn’t forced, but it didn’t seem quite so wide as before. I supposed that Tessa still had feelings for Ethan, even though they had decided to be just “friends”. Mara and I grabbed our wine a
nd kept moving. The last thing I wanted was to subject Tessa to the giggles and laughter of the nurses.

  Tessa decided she needed something a bit stronger than wine, so we drifted into the den, where a little, old lady stood behind the bar. Did she have vodka and tonic? Indeed, she did, and in a jiffy, Tessa was armed with a rather stiff drink. I wasn’t worried, because Tessa wasn’t a real drinker. And if she had one too many, there were a lot of us who could drive the Jeep. As we turned from the bar we met Linda Downs, the realtor.

  “You again?” Linda said. “My word, he did invite everyone in town.”

  Linda coughed, and I noticed just how sick she looked. While her makeup was first rate, it couldn’t hide the illness. Her entire body trembled, as if feverish.

  “Are you alright?” Mara asked.

  “Of course, I am,” Linda snapped. “I’m sure it’s just some bug I managed to catch in this burg. Probably from one of you.”

  “Listen,” Tessa said. “We know you don’t like us, but there’s no reason to be rude.”

  “Rude?” Linda asked. “You have no idea what rude is. If I had my way—”

  Linda didn’t complete the sentence, as she lapsed into a coughing fit. Holding her hand over her mouth, she turned and hurried away. I suspected she had the flu or some kind of virus.

  “I’d say that was pretty rude,” Mara said.

  “She’s sick,” I said. “That explains a lot.”

  “She’s just a priss,” Tessa said. “Come on. Let’s find our host.”

  We left the den and walked down the hall to the billiard room. As we entered, we saw Hughes conferring with a tall, rather elegant man in a perfectly fitting tuxedo. Gray hair, lean, straight as an arrow, there was only one man he could be—Mr. Bluth, our host.

  “Ah, my most thoughtful neighbors,” Mr. Bluth said and kissed our hands, one by one, making us all blush. “I must tell you that the breads and jams were top-notch. I can’t remember when I enjoyed them so much.”

  The praise made Mara blush deeper.

  “I’m Samantha Greene,” I said, in order to keep Tessa from fawning.

  “Of course,” he said. “Ms. Smoothie, if I’m not mistaken. Your blending skills are famous in this county. And I must partake of them soon.”

  “Tessa Smith,” Tessa said.

  “You, my dear,” he said, “have a reputation that stretches from Paris to Goodsprings. I was told before I left Europe that I simply had to taste your food. I will, I promise, I will.”

  “I bet you don’t know about me,” Mara aid.

  “The lovely and talented writer for the Gazette? How could I not know of you? When you pen a piece on this little party, please be kind. I’ve only just moved in. I promise that the next party will be ten times better.”

  “I don’t see how it could be,” Mara said. “But I’m certain you’ll have to invite us back to make sure.”

  He laughed, a deep, rich laugh, and again, I was struck by the difference between Mr. Bluth and the former owner of Windermere Manor. Her laugh was more like a bray.

  We chatted with our host for a few more minutes, before I noticed that several other guests were waiting their turn. I made sure we thanked him adequately and then sort of herded Tessa and Mara away. After all, no matter how witty we found ourselves, I had the feeling Mr. Bluth had traded bon mots with women far more engaging than us.

  On our way to the ballroom, we stopped at the den where Tessa refreshed her drink.

  “Don’t worry,” Tessa told me. “I know my limit.”

  “Me too,” I said, making her laugh.

  In the ballroom, we found the nurses and detectives still chatting, and while the first brush might have been passed off as innocent prattle, that they were still laughingly engaged, seemed to rile Tessa. I knew the telltale signs of a minor storm building up inside her. If we just waited around, Tessa’s less-than-perfect side would emerge. That was not something to look forward to. So, I grabbed Tessa and Mara and pulled them aside.

  “Now is the perfect time,” I said.

  “For what?” Tessa asked.

  “For exploring.”

  “What?” Mara asked. “Exploring what?”

  “The manor,” I said. “Everyone is here on the first floor, enjoying it all, so we have the freedom to roam and perhaps discover if there is any residual black magic hanging around.”

  “I thought we had a rule against snooping,” Tessa said.

  “Don’t be snarky,” I said. “I’ll admit I was wrong. But don’t you see, we’re almost a full coven, and together, we can overcome anything that might be around.”

  “I’m for it,” Mara said. “I wouldn’t be, if I were alone. But with you two, I feel almost safe.”

  “Let’s do it,” Tessa said. “I’ve heard enough laughter to last for a month.”

  We eased out of the room, not wanting to be seen as in a hurry. We lollygagged along until we came to the grand staircase. It didn’t hold the best memories for any of us, and we hurried up the steps. I knew that once decided, action had to be swift. We found ourselves in the long second floor hall. We were alone, as expected.

  “Where do we begin?” Tessa asked.

  “We know the office, where we encountered the black magic is in the middle,” I said. “It might be better to start at the far end and work our way back. That way, if anyone spots us, we’ll be returning, not snooping.”

  “Makes sense to me,” Mara said. “I’m not all that anxious to visit the office in the first place.”

  We walked to the end and faced large, double doors, carved wood, with the W flourish plainly visible.

  “The master bedroom, if I remember right,” I said.

  “I don’t think we should go in there,” Mara said. “I mean, I don’t feel Mr. Bluth is connected to black magic in any way.”

  “I agree,” I said.

  “While I would like to invade his privacy,” Tessa said. “I think we should leave that for some time when we find it necessary to go in.”

  We turned away from the double doors and faced the first door on the right. Tessa, the bold, tried the door.

  “Locked,” she said.

  “I wonder why,” Mara mused.

  “Because someone doesn’t want us in there,” I said, even as I heard Tessa mumble under her breath.

  “Oh, wait, I was mistaken,” Tessa said. “It’s not locked.”

  “Tessa Smith,” I said. “That was an unlocking spell, wasn’t it?”

  “Was it?” she asked. “I swear I don’t remember.”

  With that, Tessa giggled and opened the door. At that moment, I was pretty sure Tessa had had more than enough vodka.

  I followed Tessa into a mostly dark room. A small, weak lamp cast a feeble halo that left most of the room in shadows. Something was wrong. I felt that. It wasn’t the wrongness of black magic, but it was wrong nevertheless.

  “Do you feel that?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Tessa said and moved toward the lamp.

  “What is it?” Mara asked as she moved in the opposite direction, toward an ornate, curtained bed, something from another century.

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “It could be—”

  Mara YELPED, and that was all it took. Tessa and I moved immediately to her side.

  “What?” I asked.

  Mara pointed.

  In the bed, hardly lit, Linda Downs stared up at us. Given the paleness and the stare, I guessed she was dead. But it was difficult to know for sure. I touched her cheek.

  Cold.

  “Is she?” Tessa asked.

  I nodded. “Yes, she is.”

  “Oh, no,” Mara said. “Oh, no.”

  Chapter 9

  “What do we do now?” Mara asked.

  “The only thing we can do,” I said. “Go downstairs and quietly ask Ada and Ethan to come up here. Oh, the nurses too. They might be able to shed some light. If you can, try not to tell them why you’re asking them to come up. Sugarcoat it, by saying that there
’s been an accident, well, I think that’s all right.”

  “I’ll be discreet,” Mara said.

  “And ask Mr. Bluth to come up too,” Tessa said. “After all, this is his house.”

  Mara left, and Tessa reached for the body.

  “I think it would be better if we don’t touch,” I said. “I don’t know much about forensics, but I don’t think we should add more DNA to the body.”

  “You’re right,” Tessa said. “Let’s wait for the professionals.”

  The nurses were the first to arrive, and they weren't quite sure what they were doing there. I explained that we were pretty sure Linda was dead. But as we were not professionals, we called upon them to check.

  It didn’t take them long. Misty bent over the body, while Tanya moved us back, away from the bed. Helen went to the bathroom and came out with towels. Misty stood, blocking out the body.

  “I can’t find a pulse,” Misty said.

  Tanya was next to try. She felt around and shook her head. Helen gave a third opinion that matched the other two. Linda was completely dead. They didn’t venture a time of death, but they didn’t have to. We knew when she left the party, very much alive, so she died sometime between her run-in with us and when we found her.

  I stared. Death was always a shock. But Linda Downs had been sick. Perhaps, her heart had given out, or she might have taken too many meds. That could happen.

  “Let’s wait for the detectives,” Tessa said. “They have more experience with this sort of thing.”

  We didn’t have to wait long. Within a minute, the detective twins entered.

  “What’s the problem?” Ethan asked.

  “Her,” Tessa said and pointed. “She’s dead.”

  “Dead?” Ada asked. “Are you sure?”

  “As dead as dead can be,” Helen said.

  “About as sure as we can be,” I said. “But take a look, please.”

  Ada first and then Ethan stepped close and touched the victim’s skin. It didn’t take them long to reach the same conclusion we had. Linda Downs was dead, very dead. No amount of wishing and hoping would change that. And as soon as they agreed, they went into detecting mode. Ethan fetched a notebook from his back pocket. Ada began turning on all the lights and checking out the corners. It was Ethan who herded us away from the bed and the body.