Graves and Goons (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 4)

by Constance Barker

  Graves and Goons

  by

  Constance Barker

  J. D. Sullivan

  Chapter 1

  Sofia Jorgenson took a deep sniff as she tested the freshness of the melon she was holding before placing it into her basket. She leaned over the grapes and was about to pick up a punnett when she felt a presence at her right shoulder. It was Jayne Buchanan, Jolene Bennett and Mariah Knight; members of the Ladies Morality Society.

  She stood up and smiled but felt suspicious of their reason for hovering over her.

  Jayne was the first to speak, “Sofia we have something to say,” she began, looking back at the other two women who nodded their encouragement.

  Sofia didn’t say anything but waited for her to continue.

  Jayne took a breath in before announcing “We know you’re a witch!”

  The shoppers close by stopped and stared before slowly moving away.

  Sofia Jorgenson had never hidden the fact that she was a witch, but didn’t advertise it either. She was fully aware that members of the Ladies Morality Society in Brightborough were against witches living in their town but she wasn’t about to apologize for who she was.

  “So what if I am?” Sofia said, rolling her eyes. “What difference could it possibly make to you?”

  Jayne glanced briefly at her cohorts and cleared her throat. “We stand for all things moral; we believe that witchcraft and anything supernatural is immoral.”

  Hot blood gathered in Sofia’s cheeks as she steeled herself. “Your holier-than-thou arrogant attitude is supernatural. I suggest you all mind your own business before someone gets offended and decides to teach you a lesson.” She glared at each one of the women in turn before they sniffed and turned their backs, leaving Sofia muttering under her breath in anger.

  Dakota’s eyes widened as he peered around the canned goods at the spectacle before him. Witches need to stick together he thought as he made his way over to Sofia.

  “Hey,” he said before placing an arm around her shoulder, “Don’t pay any attention to those hags. Some people are ignorant and have no idea what they’re talking about.”

  Sofia shook her head. “Thanks Dakota. It’s just that they make my blood boil. Do you know that they sometimes send me nasty notes in the mail?”

  “Really?”

  “Honestly I could think of a few spells I would like to cast on each and every one of them. They would deserve all they got.”

  “Oh yes, maybe a frog spell?” Dakota commented trying to lighten the mood.

  Sofia looked him in the eye, “I could think of something better than that,” she said before bidding him goodbye and walking to the checkout.

  Dakota watched after her surprised by the loathing he saw in her eyes.

  * * *

  Sofia decided that her best defense was offense so the next morning she went to visit Jayne. She drove to Barton St. where Jayne lived. It was a wide road lined with trees and each house had a well-tended garden. She made her way up the drive of number eleven and knocked on the pale green door.

  Jayne answered; her mouth dropped slightly as she saw Sofia. “What do you want?”

  “I want you and your cronies to leave me alone,” she said and placed her hands on her slim hips in defiance. Before she could say anything else, she noticed Gladys Carey, another member of the LMS, walking to the front door followed by Mariah Knight.

  Gladys pushed the door open a little wider and laughed. “We will not stop until we have driven out all the witches in this town.”

  “Yeah, well good luck with that!” spat Sofia before turning on her heels and striding back to the car.

  “Can you believe that woman?” said Jayne as she went back into the house. She poured tea for herself, Gladys, Jolene and Mariah.

  “Unbelievable,” agreed Mariah. “You can see right away that there is nothing morally good in that woman with her hippy clothes and that ‘I am all that’ attitude.”

  Jolene set a jar of honey on the kitchen table. “True, but she does produce exceedingly good honey.”

  All four women laughed, then stopped suddenly and turned towards the kitchen door. They couldn’t see anything unusual, so they shrugged it off and carried on with their conversation.

  Bella gave Stella a dig in her ribs. “Do you think they heard us?”

  Stella shook her head. “Don’t be slow darlin’, we’re ghosts. Now shut up and listen; I want to know what goes on in these little tea parties of theirs.”

  The two ghosts began to glide around the room. Bella hissed at Stella and pointed to a couple of dirty ashtrays before holding her nose and making a fake choking gesture.

  Stella placed a finger to her lips. She was trying to hear what they were saying about Sofia.

  “Yes I must admit her honey is wonderful,” said Gladys, “It’s just a shame that something so pure and natural should come from such an unnatural source. I’m sure the bees and their honey would benefit if they weren’t being polluted by her general aura of evil.”

  The other women laughed and passed the jar around.

  Stella and Bella looked up at each other as they followed the jar of honey being passed around.

  Bella flicked her head towards the kitchen. “How flaming hypocritical are they?”

  Stella nodded in agreement. “If you ask me, they all could do with a swift kick in the britches as father used to say.”

  Bella agreed and they disappeared into the wall.

  Mariah stirred the honey into her tea. “Are we being a bit hypocritical here?” she asked with a sly smile.

  “Not at all,” said Jolene patting the table. “It’s not the bees’ fault after all.”

  * * *

  Less than ten minutes later, a thunderous explosion ripped through Jayne’s kitchen destroying the entire front part of the house.

  Chapter 2

  Dakota had heard about the dead women on the local news and needed to see Celestial. He attempted to apparate into her store, Herbal Heaven, but found himself skidding in the dark. There was a smashing sound. He patted around with his hand and realized he was in a storage box.

  He was about to push off the lid when light flooded in from above and he saw Celestial’s brown hair hanging past her smiling face.

  “You okay in there?” she asked before helping him out trying to avoid her broken crockery. The box had slid and bumped into the kitchen table.

  “Why is this huge box in your kitchen?” Dakota asked.

  “It was delivered a few minutes ago.”

  Dakota shook his head and looked around at the cozy kitchen. “I would have landed exactly where I intended if that hadn’t been here!”

  “I’m sure it would have been an excellent entrance. Although I’ve known you since we were kids and I haven’t seen one yet.” She stifled a giggle. “Now what is it you came to see me about?”

  “Oh yes, those hideous hags from the Ladies Morality Society . . .” he said, “. . . are all dead!”

  He then related the altercation he had been witnessed to earlier between Jayne and Sofia.

  * * *

  It was another busy day in Celestial’s store. Her new neroli hand cream with healing properties was proving very popular with her regular customers.

  Mrs Fordenbridge practically ran up to Celestial and took both her hands and held them tight. “My dear, you’re a genius! This hand cream has healed the psoriasis on my hands. I had such terrible dry patches. Why don’t you make it into a body lotion too?”

  Celestial smiled. “I’m so gl
ad you like it and maybe a body lotion would be a good idea. Thank you.”

  The woman squeezed her hands once more before walking back over to her friend.

  Celestial continued to restock the shelf of shampoos when she noticed Athena and Tamara fly through the window towards the cash register. She checked briefly that nobody else had seen them before making her way over to the counter where they had both landed on the large plant next to the register.

  “Hi guys. How are you?”

  Her dragonfly familiar, Athena, buzzed her wings. She was obviously excited about something. “Celestial, have you heard the news? Four of the women from that witch haters society have been found dead.”

  Celestial nodded her head. “Yes I know; you’re about the third person to tell me. I’m not sure why everyone thinks I need to know about these deaths so urgently.”

  Tamara glanced at Athena before replying. “Because you’re you and you love a good mystery to solve. It’s what you do.”

  “It’s not all I do,” she protested. “Anyway, did you guys know any of them?”

  Both her friends shook their heads.

  “Did you know them? From your coven days?” asked Athena.

  Celestial stood up as a customer placed her basket of goods on the counter. She bagged the items and took the money. “Have a nice day and do come again,” she said with a smile before leaning back down to Athena and Tamara.

  “No, I didn’t know any of them. I have heard about the LMS but I don’t know any of the members.”

  Tamara screwed up her tiny butterfly nose. “What’s the LMS?”

  “The Ladies Morality Society.”

  “Really? Sounds boring,” said Tamara.

  All three friends sniggered.

  “I think they want to rid the town of all witches . . .” she looked at Tamara, “. . . and shapeshifters – although I’m not sure they are aware of the existence of shapeshifters.”

  Athena giggled. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if they called the police about a witch and got detective Nikoli.”

  Celestial laughed. “Oh yes that would be ironic.”

  Nikoli was the local detective. He was also very attracted to Celestial (the feeling was mutual). And finally, he was a wolf shapeshifter.

  “So how do they intend to get rid of all the witches?” said Tamara.

  “I think their idea is to rehabilitate them, not burn them at the stake or anything. I don’t agree with their ideas but I’m not one to stir the pot.”

  “No of course not,” Tamara said sarcastically.

  Celestial shot her a look. “Do you know what happened?”

  “They’re saying it was a tragic accident,” said Tamara. “Somehow the kitchen had filled with gas. They were all smokers so maybe that’s why it blew up but people in town are suspicious.”

  “Did you speak to Bella and Stella?”

  “Yes we did. I thought maybe the women were doing their own kind of spell, you know to rid the town of you pesky witches but they were just having tea,” Athena mused.

  “Anyway, that this whole thing is really none of our business and I’m sure Nikoli and the medical examiner will figure the whole thing out,” Celestial said slowly.

  “Yes I’m sure you’re right. Although I was wondering who Nikoli would have in his pool of suspects. I mean, who would want them dead except every witch in town?” said Tamara.

  Athena landed back on the leaf of the plant by the register “I think there are plenty of people in this town who didn’t care for their attitudes. Of course Sofia will be a suspect.” She turned to Celestial. “Did you hear about the fight between Sofia and those women in the market? By all accounts, it was a humdinger.”

  Celestial screwed up her face. “I think fight is an exaggeration. According to Dakota it was more of an altercation. Although he did comment on how angry Sofia looked as she walked away.”

  “Do you think she could have used some dark magic to get revenge for them embarrassing her in public?” Tamara asked.

  “I know anger can trigger irrational thoughts and acts but from what I’ve heard of her, I doubt Sofia did anything so extreme.”

  The three friends agreed to chat again soon before Tamara and Athena fluttered out of the window into the cool morning air.

  Celestial began tidying her stock and checking her essential oils as she thought about the dead women. She shook her head as if to release the thought. This time she intended to keep her mind on her own business. After all, the town had an exceptional homicide detective in Nikoli Brewer. His solve rate was higher than average and she was sure that he would find the murderer without her help.

  She took a deep cleansing breath and let it go before continuing to check her essential oils but thoughts of who might have wanted these women dead kept creeping back into her mind.

  Maybe Athena and Tamara were right, she thought: solving mysteries...it’s what I do.

  Chapter 3

  Detective Nikoli Brewer nodded a greeting at the officer guarding the crime scene before placing some plastic covers over his shoes. He ducked under the cordon tape to Jayne Buchanan’s house – or what was left of it.

  He looked around the scene. The smell of damp smoke filled the air. He doubted the forensic team would find much to work with.

  He looked around and kicked at the remnants of the kitchen table. The bodies had been taken away but his especially sensitive wolf nose could detect the smell of burnt flesh. His cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen: it was the coroner.

  “Yeah, what you got for me?”

  “I thought you would like to know that all four women were dead before the stove exploded.”

  “Are you sure?” Nikoli said more as a reaction than an actual question.

  “I’m afraid so. There was no sign of smoke in any of their lungs.”

  “So what was the cause of death?”

  “Difficult to tell at this point; their bodies are a little charred, which makes it harder to search for any unusual marks on the body.”

  “Okay, thanks. Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

  He scanned what was left of the kitchen for anything that might help with the investigation and his eyes stopped on some shards of glass and crockery fused to the table. He recognised the honey jar – it was one of Sofia Jorgenson’s.

  He was reminded of a conversation he’d had in his office shortly after they had been informed of the incident. Officer Cole had knocked on his office door.

  “Sir I have some information that might be relevant in the LMS case.”

  “Great. I could use a lead.”

  “It could be construed as gossip sir because it came from my friend’s mother who was shopping at the time and overheard something, but I thought I ought to mention it.”

  Nikoli smiled. “Never underestimate the power of the nosy neighbor or the town gossip; they’re an invaluable source of information.”

  Cole grinned and relaxed her posture. “Well, my friend’s mom was shopping at that market on the edge of town and she saw Jayne Buchanan, Mariah Knight and Jolene Bennett walk up to Sofia Jorgenson then accused her of being a witch.”

  Nikoli rubbed his chin. “Go on.”

  “Apparently, Sofia was furious and said something like, ‘What’s it got to do with you if I am?’ and then threatened to kill them. Some funny looking guy spoke to her after that and she calmed down a bit but I think she’s worth looking into sir.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right, Cole. Good work. I’m going to check out the scene first but then I’ll go and have a word with Miss Jorgenson.”

  He jutted his bottom lip as he wondered how many of the dead women had taken honey in their tea. He placed the jar into an evidence bag. He wanted it to be analyzed.

  The analysis team had given Nikoli a time frame of two to three days for the results of the honey so he decided to concentrate on building a picture of the women and their lives and maybe begin a timeline for the days befo
re their deaths.

  * * *

  Sofia Jorgenson’s house was a few miles outside of town down a country lane. The approach to the house was bumpy and overgrown; Nikoli slowed the car to avoid his head hitting the roof.

  The house itself was a modest cottage with a large sign to the right of the drive which advertised her honey. He parked in front of the house and walked across the gravel.

  After several attempts knocking at the door with no response, he walked around the back where the bee hives were. Someone was there in a bee suit tending the bees. Nikoli called out.

  The woman held a hand up when she heard her name being called, finished what she was doing and walked over to Nikoli. She pulled off her hat and veil and wiped her forehead with her sleeve.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m Detective Nikoli Brewer. If you’re Sofia Jorgenson, I would like to ask you a few questions about the confrontation between you and Jayne Buchanan.”

  Sofia slumped slightly and began walking as she talked. Nikoli matched her pace.

  She explained exactly what happened in the market and gave him Dakota’s name if he needed any confirmation.

  “Dakota Wells?”

  “Yes he saw the whole thing. Do you know him?”

  “I do. That’s fine. I just have one more question, Miss Jorgenson . . .”

  She stopped and turned to face him. “No. I didn’t kill them if that’s what you were going to ask.”

  “We found a jar of your honey at the scene. I’m just checking all the leads.”

  Sofia’s eyes widened.

  Nikoli continued. “We have no evidence at the moment as to what killed them but you understand that I do need these questions answered.”

  “But there’s no way I could have done anything to their jar of honey. It’s not like I knew in advance what jar Jayne was going to buy. There are plenty of places she could have bought it from and they’re not numbered.”

  Nikoli took note of her answers and said if he needed anything further he would be in touch.

  * * *