by Esme Addison
“Infrequently. She traveled a lot, so it made staying in contact difficult. An e-mail here and there.”
“You must’ve been pleased when you discovered she was coming to town.”
“I was. And it was a complete surprise. She didn’t know I’d moved from Boston, and I didn’t know the festival had invited her down. When Dylan told me, it was pleasant indeed.”
“Why did Celeste think you were having an affair?”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m not sure. I’ve given her no reason to feel insecure. She’s gorgeous, she’s smart … I try to be as attentive as possible with her. But I did spend a lot of time with Neve. It was professional only, honest.” He held up a hand like he was taking an oath. “But she and I could talk about things. It was easy with us.”
“And you talked about mermaids?” Alex’s cell phone chimed with a new message, but she ignored it.
“Among other things. Mythology is—was—a special interest for both of us.”
Jasper’s desk phone rang, and he excused himself to take the call, with an apologetic grin and holding up a finger.
Alex nodded and retrieved her own phone to check messages. There was one from Pepper.
Found a few photographs of Jasper’s office from an interview the paper did when he first took over the museum position. Tell me if you see what I see.
Alex looked at an image of Jasper smiling proudly behind his desk. She zoomed in and moved the image around, looking at items in his office. There was a laptop. Stacks of papers. Folders. Books. Pen holder … A grayish hunk of rock polished to a high shine.
Bingo.
As her heart pounded in her chest, she glanced up at Jasper, who was talking to someone about a shipping order for shelves and not paying her any attention. She texted back, Send this to Jack and tell him Jasper needs to be questioned ASAP. If the murder weapon was his paperweight, did he tell the police it was missing? If he didn’t, why not?
Because he’s guilty that why, Pepper texted back.
Gulping, Alex put the phone away and tried not to stare. Was she alone in a room with a murderer? Was Celeste dating a killer?
Jasper placed the phone down. “Sorry about that. I ordered oak shelves, and they want to send me pine. Idiots.” He chuckled. “Where were we? Ah yes, mermaids. Would you like for me to show you the exhibit?”
“Why don’t you have an alibi for the time Neve was killed?” She couldn’t help herself. As interested as she was in the mermaid history of the town, she had more pressing questions to ask. And she wanted to get them out before Jack arrived. If he arrived.
“Ah. I see. You don’t actually care about the exhibits.” He frowned at her. “I’ve already gone over this with the detective. I was going about the business of managing the reception. I have no idea what time it was when I was running around.” He shrugged. “I could guess that I was on the main floor, but I could’ve been outside on the grounds, seeing about fairy lights in the garden that went out, or I could’ve been in the kitchen, discussing how the waiters were passing out more red wine when the patrons wanted white.” He sniffed. “It is summer after all.”
Alex frowned at his frivolous attitude. “Did you happen to see Celeste when you were outside? Or Dylan? Or Bryce? They were all there at some point.”
“No. But it was a busy night.”
There was the sound of footsteps in the hallway, and Jack appeared. Alex sighed in relief.
When he saw her, he pasted a small polite smile on his face. “Alex,” he began in painstaking tones, “I didn’t know I’d see you here.” He nodded curtly at Jasper, who watched with amusement. “Can we speak privately for a moment?”
“Hi,” she said enthusiastically. “Of course. Let’s talk.” She took him by the arm and pulled him into the hallway, closing the door behind her. “I’m the one who told Pepper to search the paper’s archives for a photo,” she began in low tones. “And I’m the one who told her to send it to you.”
“I already had someone searching the newspaper’s archives, only we were waiting for the original photos to be developed and sent to us. They should arrive tomorrow. I would’ve seen this.”
Alex handed him her phone with the image of the rock on Jasper’s deck. “Well, you’re seeing it now. I should be here when you talk to him.”
“Every time you interfere with my investigation you’re putting yourself in harm’s way,” he whispered. “Do you understand that?”
“I’m sorry.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close, hoping she looked suitably contrite. “I just want to help. And I can take care of myself.”
He gazed into her hopeful eyes until his face softened into a reluctant smile. “It’s very hard to say no to you, Alex.” He looked toward the ceiling with a “why me?” expression. “Fine. Don’t say a word. Not one word.”
He opened the door and stepped into the room. “Mr. Collins, may I speak with you?”
Jasper nodded and gestured him in.
When the door was closed, Jack shoved Alex’s phone under Jasper’s nose. “What’s this?”
Alex stood in the back, near a bookshelf, trying to make herself invisible, while Jasper peered at the image of the ozite on his desk.
To Alex’s surprise, his mouth dropped open in a gasp of delight. “My paperweight. Have you found it? It went missing the night of …” Realization dawned on him, and he looked up, eyes wide with fear. First at Jack, then Alex, and then back to Jack. “You don’t think that—”
Jack watched him skeptically. “Yeah, we think it might be the murder weapon.”
Impulsively, Alex reached into his mind to see images of Neve flying through his brain. Him talking to her, her talking to him. Her smiling. Her laughing. Him watching her paint. He certainly had a lot of memories of her. Celeste had been right to be concerned. But she didn’t see him killing her. She wanted to delve deeper into his mind. Maybe the actual murder was buried deep. But there were the ethics and morality of using magic to consider.
She didn’t necessarily feel okay about what she was doing. It was so invasive. She wouldn’t want someone reading her mind, seeing her deepest thoughts. This was the issue that bothered Kamila, the reason she wouldn’t practice. But this was also a murder investigation, and shouldn’t she use every tool available to her?
Just one more deep dive, she promised herself. She turned back to Jasper, trying to see further into his mind. Again, all she saw was him enjoying his time with Neve. It was almost like she was viewing a loop of memories, the same ones kept appearing over and over again. And she could sense, almost feel his emotions for her. The memories were infused with affection. He’d cared deeply for her.
Jasper turned to look at her curiously.
And she took a breath. Could he sense what she was doing? She immediately retreated from his thoughts, blushing at potentially being caught snooping in his memories.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Jasper said.
“Sorry,” she said quickly. “I was just wondering about the paperweight. It’s interesting.”
“It was a gift from Neve. She was appreciative that we’d brought her here to paint the mural.”
Alex blanched. Neve had been killed with her own gift? How horrible.
“And where is it?” Jack asked.
“I’m not sure. It disappeared that night.”
“Why didn’t you report it missing?” Jack’s pen hovered over his pad as he stared at Jasper.
“Well, for one, it’s just a rock. I thought it had been moved while the police searched the office and would eventually turn up. Sorry.”
“What was the paperweight made of?” Jack asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Your office window was unlocked the night of the murder. Who knew you kept it open?” Jack continued. Jasper shrugged and Jack moved to the window and looked outside. The museum gardens, with a coiling brick path and wooden benches, were directly behind the office. Fairy light
s still hung from the trees, waiting to be taken down. “Anyone could’ve come in from the garden and left the same way, which would account for why we didn’t see anyone enter or exit the office on the security footage.”
He turned and glared at Jasper, as if he was purposely holding back information. “Who knew Neve was going to your office to use the phone? Who did you tell? Who overheard you?”
“I don’t know,” Jasper said, his voice rising in alarm.
“I’ll need a list of visitors to your office for the past two weeks. Results of the fingerprinting came in, and I need to eliminate anyone who was here for legitimate reasons.” He pinned Jasper with a stare so hard, Jasper flinched, looking away. “You can give it to the officer outside.” Jack moved toward the door. “Don’t leave town.”
“Not planning on it,” Jasper said with a weak grin.
* * *
Outside the museum, Alex stood beside Jack’s truck, a large, shiny blue Ford F150. “What do you think? You believe him?”
Jack glanced back at the museum. “Neve died in his office, his paperweight was the murder weapon, and he can’t account for his whereabouts when she died.”
“Why not take Celeste off your suspect list and arrest him?” Alex asked. “You brought in my aunt with much less.”
“And I learned from my mistake. I was wrong and I let her go. This time when I make the arrest, I want it to stick. No do-overs,” he said, glancing at Alex. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but Celeste is hiding something.”
Alex sighed. Because she knew that much at least was true. But still, she couldn’t have done it.
“The evidence just keeps stacking up against her.”
“There’s more?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m afraid so. And that’s all I’m going to say on that topic.”
Alex ran a hand through her hair, frustrated. “How many suspects do I need to hand you before you realize Celeste isn’t involved?”
Eyebrows knitted together, Jack gazed at her. “I’m just doing my job. You know that. Celeste still has more motive than anyone else in town. You know that Neve was pregnant. She was obviously seeing someone—maybe Jasper. Until I find compelling evidence to the contrary …” He stopped when he saw the worry and frustration in Alex’s eyes and put a gentle hand on her arm. “That’s not a challenge for you by the way. That doesn’t mean try harder, investigate more. Or place yourself in jeopardy.”
Alex opened her mouth to speak but he leaned toward her, pulling her close, and silenced her with a kiss.
Her eyes fluttered in surprise and then closed as she felt herself softening, tenderness and longing for something more flowing through her, warming her heart. She leaned in to accept the kiss, to kiss him back. When she opened her eyes and looked into his, she found his gaze to be unreadable.
“Leave the investigation to me. Please.”
Alex didn’t respond. She was pleased that he’d kissed her; it was nice. Actually, it felt wonderful, but was he kissing her because he cared or because he wanted her to shut her up? To stop meddling?
“Do you want a ride back into town?”
Alex shook her head. “It’s nice out. I’ll walk.”
“Alright.” He opened his door, then looked back at her. “You sure?”
Alex nodded. “I’m sure.” And she began walking back to town.
Chapter Thirteen
When Alex returned to the shop to give Minka her lunch break, her cousin’s cheeks were pink with excitement.
“Montgomery Blue called the shop, looking for me, when you were out. He wants to get together to discuss preservation opportunities with me. We’re meeting for coffee. Will you come with?”
“Sure, of course,” Alex agreed, not wanting Minka to be alone with the man. “Actually, why not just invite him to the house for dinner? We can all meet him.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll make the arrangements. And let you know when it’s happening.”
* * *
After Minka left on her lunch break, Alex texted Pepper and asked her if she minded stopping by on her lunch break, then told her that she’d talked to Jasper and one of the minerals Leviathan Industries mined had come up. She wondered if the paper had a dossier on Leviathan or the mineral, ozite. Alex was pleasantly surprised when Pepper responded that she’d interviewed a professor of mineralogy at Bellamy College in the past and had some information to share.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Pepper was in the shop with a folder in hand.
“It’s an interesting mineral,” Pepper said in greeting. The first recorded usage of it was by Native American tribes along the coast of North Carolina who used it to ward off bad spirits. You can find statues and pendants made of it in several history museums in the state and beyond.
“It’s usually black, gray, or greenish. It’s only found in a few places in the world, off the coast of North Carolina and in certain places in the Baltic Sea.”
“That is rare.”
“Yeah, and Montgomery is mining it,” Pepper said with raised eyebrows. “Leviathan is the only company that has access to it.”
“What is it used for? And why does he have a monopoly on it?”
“I think he just happened to find a use for it first and put the resources in place to get it. As far as minerals go, it’s spectacular. It has high magnetic susceptibilities because of the high concentrations of iron and manganese in it. The mineral comes in a variety of the colors I mentioned, but the rarest of them all is called dragon ozite. It’s a bright green on the outside with a shockingly orange-red color inside, and it’s found off the coast of New Bern in mines dating back to prehistoric times.”
“Wow …” Alex shook her head. “Does he have a background in science?”
“No. He’s strictly a businessman, but I know he’s got teams of scientists and geologists working for him.”
“I know a little about mineral use in industry,” Alex said. “I had a cell phone company as a client in the past. So, I know certain rare earth minerals are used in making cell phones and laptops. Why is he mining ozite, and who’s buying it?”
“Military contracts, I think,” Pepper said. “I did some digging and found that his company is developing a new type of tank impervious to directed-energy weapons.”
Alex exhaled in frustration. “I don’t know anything about weapons.”
“Maybe you can find someone who served in the military?”
“Yeah. Maybe. Thanks, Pepper. That was very helpful.”
* * *
The day at the shop had been uneventful but steady with customers. Alex was in the middle of restocking candles when the front doorbell jingled.
“This is where the magic happens,” Bryce said as he entered Botanika.
Alex looked up from her work. She stood, heaving a box of candles off a shelf as she did. “Hi, Bryce. How are you?”
His eyes lit up as he took in the shop. He walked around, picking up items and reading labels. “This place is fantastic,” he said, and then took a deep breath. “It smells so vibrant and healthy.” He laughed. “And I’m fine, thank you.”
Alex set the case down and went to the checkout counter, her conversation with Pepper still fresh in her mind. She’d mentioned that Alex should talk to someone in the military about directed-energy weapons. Hadn’t Dylan said Bryce had served?
“Were you in the armed forces?”
An amused look crossed his face. “You’ve been talking to Dylan about me?”
She shrugged. “Not really, but it did come up. What branch?”
“Army.”
“What did you do?”
His lips quirked up. “Air and Missile Defense. Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” she said nonchalantly. “What can you tell me about directed-energy weapons?”
An eyebrow raised. “That’s certainly random. Well, ironically enough, it’s one of my areas of specialization.”
What are the odds? Alex wondered to he
rself.
“What do you want to know?”
“I’m not sure,” Alex confessed. “It seems like they may figure in Neve’s death somehow, and I’m just trying to work it all out. The mineral ozite may also play a role in this. Do you know anything about ozite?”
“It’s very rare.”
“I’ve heard. And only Leviathan Industries mines it.”
“Where did you hear about it?”
“Came up in the murder investigation. Did you work with it in the army?”
“No. But some of my team at Pro-Tek have. We buy it from Leviathan and are testing it for a variety of possible uses in weaponry. Many companies are doing that in a race to create the next big advancement in weaponry.”
“I heard Montgomery was using it to make a new kind of tank.”
Bryce snorted. “Tanks are anachronistic. Only a civilian would believe that lie.”
“Directed-energy weapons are the wave of the future?”
“The future is now in that case. But yeah, you could say that.”’
“What are they exactly?”
“It’s a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, like laser, microwave, and particle beams.”
Alex rubbed her temples. “In laymen’s terms, please?”
He laughed. “Okay. Ever seen Star Trek?”
She nodded, recalling with a smile how often she’d watched the reruns of the original television show with her father. Captain Kirk’s kind and compassionate nature had reminded her of her father, and in fact he kind of looked like him in photographs she’d seen of him in his thirties.
“Think about the guns they had—the phasers?”
“Okay. Yeah?”
“Take the ray of energy that came out of the gun and multiply it by a million. Bigger gun, stronger beam of energy. That’s what I’m talking about. And the potential applications of this technology are limitless. That’s the Barney version,” he said, grinning. “As simplified as possible. How is this possibly related to Neve’s murder?”
