While I did my best to keep it off my face, I was immediately on guard. Millie only put on that smile whenever she was about to do something underhanded to confirm ugly suspicions she had. Sure enough, I saw her slip her hand into the rabbi’s coat pocket as she took the papers.
“Can I see you out?” Millie asked.
“Most certainly, child,” the rabbi said with a slight bow.
As they went to the back, Gabrielle murmured, “Why did Millie put her hand inside my creator’s pocket?”
“I don’t know yet, Gabrielle,” I admitted. “But, I’m hoping she tells us as soon as she gets back in.”
“Hiya, Boss Lady!” Shade all but bellowed as he jumped up on the counter. “Just ran into something that—“
My Lothario of a cat stopped short as he took a good look at Gabrielle.
“Whoa,” he said. “Is it just my eyes or did the clay maiden suddenly get a lot more human?”
“The second possibility, Shade,” Gabrielle acknowledged. “It is…a long story, I believe they say?”
“Among a lot of other things, my lady,” Shade said, the lecherousness in his voice coming back with a vengeance. “Among a lot of other things.”
“If you’re done flirting with our friend, Gabrielle,” I said to my kitty cat. “I think you were about to tell me something important.”
“Oh, yeah!” Shade admitted, shaking his head. “Noticed it just when I came in but I need—“
Millie came back at this point, holding a sheet of paper that I knew wasn’t part of the documentation for Gabrielle’s new life.
“That what you pulled out of the rabbi’s pocket, Millie?” I asked with an accusing tone.
“Well, Tartarus!” she huffed. “I swear to Brigid that I had you fooled for once.”
“I saw it too, Millie,” Gabrielle said, patience mixing with concern. “I want to believe it was for a good reason.”
“Ahh, you too, Gabbie?” Millie said with a shake of her head. “Guess I’m not that slick.”
“Uh, Boss,” Shade prompted. “I know that this is slightly awkward timing, but I was about to tell you that something important.”
“Alright, Shade,” I said, crossing my arms. “Make it fast.”
“Actually,” Shade said. “I need something first.”
“Oh, for crying out loud!”
“Hey, hold off on the dragon flames!” Shade said, raising his forepaws in comical protest. “I just want to be sure that what I’ve got to tell you is right on the button. Otherwise, I’m wasting your time, and we both know how much you HATE that.”
“Is this ‘something’ that you need something I can get for you, Shade?” Gabrielle asked, stepping in front of me.
“Well,” Shade said, his forepaws going back down on the counter. “Assuming you’ve been around the shop long enough, I guess you know where our stock of lavender is, right?”
I threw Shade a sharp look.
“Hey, hey,” he said in protest. “Remember what I said about wanting to be sure. So, if the very dirty, but lovely, Gabbie would be so kind…”
Gabrielle reached back to give me a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder before following Shade to the back. Once they were out of sight, I said to Millie, “Your turn.”
“Look familiar?” Millie said, unfolding the paper. It looked like a letter…written in Ogham.
“What does it say?” I asked, taking four quick steps to the counter.
“What do I look like, Google Translate?” Millie protested. “I’ll need a few minutes to figure that out. But the real question is what was it doing in the rabbi’s pocket in the first place?”
Right then, Gabrielle and Shade came back to the front. Gabrielle looked grave.
“What?” I asked as Shade got back on the counter.
“My guess was bang-on, Boss Lady,” Shade said, sadder than usual. “Our lavender comes from Cathedral Isle, right?”
“Right,” I said, still not sure where he was going with this.
“Well, I smelled some lavender on our holy man when he was going out the door,” he explained. “The thing is…it reminded me of the scent that I’d smelled back out at Nebula’s. That’s why I needed to check with our store supply, just to be sure it wasn't the same variety.”
“Got any idea where it comes from?” I asked in as level a tone as I could muster. I was beginning to lose the thread on this case once more.
Shade gave me a grim look that matched Gabrielle’s. “It’s local…grows everywhere up and down the coast. But, there's a pretty large field of it near the Sugar Dunes.”
Chapter 17
“Brigid, why’s it gotta be me?” Jet whined after I told him what I needed from him.
By then, Gabrielle and Millie had gone back to Millie’s apartment. My dear assistant promised to phone me with a translation as soon as possible. I told her where I’d be if I wasn’t picking up on the home phone. Now I was just trying to convince the most homebody of my Infiniti kitties to do a task I knew he was up to.
“Nobody else I know could find it faster,” I said, buttering him up. “Especially with a jolt of catnip in him. C’mon, Jet. I can’t ask Fraidy again. He’s used up enough courage for a lifetime.” I coaxed.
“But I HATE the so-called great outdoors!” Jet protested, coming out as a pitiful meow. “It was bad enough when I was being used for target practice by our temp worker this week. But, now you—“
“What would you say to a full week of being able to run on the counters without getting squirted?” I interrupted.
Jet pulled out his most sour face. “Oh, you’re fighting dirty, Hattie Jenkins. But I’m not budging on this.”
“Not even for unrestricted access to the catnip during that week?”
Jet started to look more and more conflicted. I was hitting him in his weak spot and we both knew it.
“Plus, you can think of it as an apology for getting sprayed so much by Gabrielle,” I added. “You know I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t—“
“Alright, alright,” Jet said in protest. “But, you better make good on those claims or I’m going to be one unhappy kitty.”
I gave his head a rub. “Knew I could count on you.”
“Yeah, yeah…just open up the Bast-damned door so we can get this over with.”
I opened up the back door and Jet raced straight out. I was right behind him with a pair of garden shears, a bag and my riding broom. The coast wasn’t too far away and it was a full moon out tonight (a witch’s moon, as Grandma Chimera would have called it). I knew Jet could keep up with me from the ground, but we weren’t traveling to the same place. He was going a little further afield. I had no idea how long it would take me to find a sample of the lavender Shade had told me about, but find it I would.
I leaned against the steel slab of the cold room’s examining table while Maude worked with her chemistry set on the lavender samples.
“I have to admit, I’m surprised to see you flying solo on this one, Hattie,” she said while she boiled the coastal sample. “I figured any excuse to see our beloved…or perhaps I should say YOUR beloved…Chief Para Inspector would be—“
“Maude,” I said with admonishment.
She gave me another chuckle. “You really do need to learn how to lighten up on this subject. If my work has taught me nothing else, it’s that few things in this life are worth the seriousness that most people put into it.”
“Okay, I’ll admit it,” I said, pushing myself off the table. “I just wanted to be sure my theory was sound before I went to David with this. I didn’t want to waste his time or, worse, jump to the wrong conclusion.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Maude said, pouring the sample into another vial situated in the Mass-Spec machine next to it. “I think that you’re definitely finding your true calling with this case.”
Within a few minutes, the Mass-Spec was done and Maude looked over the results. With a nod, she said, “Your theory looks like it’s holding water. This is an exact m
atch for the lavender I found on Nebula Dreddock.”
“And my shop sample was—“
“Not even close,” Maude assured me. “Whoever our killer is, they definitely got it from what was previously an untraceable source.”
Maude turned around to see the look in my eye. “You think you know who it is.”
“I’ve got suspicions but not definitive proof. I also, incredibly have to thank Shade for where these investigations have been steered. That little chump wouldn’t shut up about the Lavender. I honestly brushed it off as if it were nothing at the start, but now…” I trailed off. “I’m just waiting for one more thing, and then hopefully I’ll be as sure as I can be that … “
The wall phone next to the Mass-Spec suddenly rang. Without missing a beat, Maude picked it up and said with a grin, “Glessie Isle Morgue, Mistress of the Night Maude Dulgrey speaking.”
Her grin broadened as she said, “Oh, hi, Millie…yes, she’s here. Just a second…”
I was already walking towards the phone when I heard the mention of Millie’s name. As I took the receiver from Maude, I said, “What does it say, Millie?”
“You’re not going to believe it,” Millie assured me.
When she told me, my eyes widened and I got scared.
“Millie, call the police station and tell the desk sergeant what you just told me,” I quickly told her. “I’m going to call David myself but this is something we can’t waste any time on.”
“With you there, Hattie,” Millie said. “I’ll call just as soon as we hang up.”
“So, let’s do that now.”
As soon as I heard the phone click, I quickly dialed up David’s direct line. No sooner had he picked up, I blurted: “David, Millie’s putting a call into your desk sergeant, or about to, which relates directly to our case. But first, there’s some records I need you to look over…”
I prayed to Hecate, Bast, Frigga and frankly just about any Witch Goddess I thought might be listening that Jet had managed to get back to the shop before me. I needed to get to the Dunes Cabin, and quick. I sighed with relief when I saw a kitty shape by the door as I flew to the back of the Angel. Then I realized that it was Fraidy.
“Sweetie,” I said. “What are you doing somewhere other than under the bed?”
Fraidy shivered as I asked that. “Well…you remember that oath we both swore to Lady Bast?”
“Not like I could forget, Fraidy boy,” I said with a smile.
“One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done,” Fraidy said in a muttering tone.
Then in a more solemn voice, he added, “But, since I swore it and I think you’re getting close to the killer and it looks like you’re off again to somewhere scary … or, rather, terrifying…well, I…you know, I just thought…”
“I’d be glad to have you along,” I said, sparing Fraidy the struggle of admitting that he wanted to do something brave. “But, we still need to wait on your catnip-dosed brother to get back so we can actually find the way to the destination. I’ve never been there before, you see?”
“Well, I c-can f-find it again, I suppose. It might take me a while longer than the zippy cat, but I CAN find it.” Fraidy puffed out his fuzzy chest. No doubt he was reliving his good deed of guarding Gabrielle’s gift from the light-fingered faeries. Gosh, he was so cute sometimes.
Right on time, my too-fast-for-his-own good kitty, Jet, zipped into the alley like a feline version of the Flash.
“Woo-hoo!” Jet all but yelled. “What a rush!”
Looking at his eyes, I said, “Jet, did you somehow manage to dip into some catnip?”
“Of course I did, Hattie!” he shouted out. “How else do you think I was going to be able to handle being outside for this long?!”
“But, where did you get it?” I asked.
“Oh, Midnight told me. Like, he was told by some bogans who got the word from some dryads who, like heard it from—“
“JET!”
“Alright, bottom line: my gossip of a brother found a source where I could get all I needed to get comfortably numb and unbelievably fast! Who knew he actually had some dope information on this stuff?”
That’s when Jet finally noticed the increasingly freaked-out Fraidy, who made a quick retreat behind me.
“Oh, hey, Fraidy!” Jet said with a kitty grin. “What are you doing out here this time of night? Or, you know, any time?”
“Never mind that,” I said, chopping the air with my hand. “Did you find it?”
“SURE did,” Jet said with enthusiasm. “Just follow me from the air and I’ll take you straight to it! Then I’m rushing back and getting stoned on all that free catnip you promised!”
I don’t know how he managed to maintain his self-control for that long but Jet somehow managed to wait for Fraidy in his own twitchy way and I to get airborne before rushing down the streets again. I was grimacing, wondering how I’d be able to manage him after his next catnip trip. He was already bombed as it was.
Following Jet wasn’t that hard. But, it was taking a lot longer than I would have liked. I felt the urgency of the matter pressing down on my chest. I could only hope we’d be in time. We’d gotten way past the town limits and were heading to the northern end of Glessie. I felt the sands of time slipping away all too quickly.
“H-hey, Hattie,” Fraidy said from his perch on my broom.
“What is it, Fraidy?” I asked, keeping my eyes on Jet below.
“There was, uhm…something Onyx wanted me to, you know…pass on to you. Promise not to be upset?”
“Onyx would be the one I’d be upset with,” I assured him. “What did he want to tell me?”
“That you should…really try to remember that…air wall spell. You know, the one Chimera used to stop Jet cold that one time?”
“The Wall of Winds?” I asked. Funnily enough, I found it a pretty simple spell to cast back when I was working with magic. The moment Fraidy had mentioned it, I realized that I still remembered enough to do it again.
“Yeah, yeah!” Fraidy said quickly. “That’s the one! Umm, I’m…sorry about putting this on you but…”
“Oh, I can’t get mad at my brave little kitty who’s helping me to solve a crime,” I said, feeling a hint of amusement despite the grave circumstances we were flying into. I thought of the magic then. I had never felt so torn on the inside. All these years I’d been doing my level best to stay far away from witchcraft. Sure, I’d use the odd helpful domestic charm, but using magic where real live people were concerned? Everything since the fire made me never want to work with the ancient arts again. But, here I was again, on the cusp of performing a spell handed down by one of my irritatingly always-right cats. I thought of Gabrielle, and our conversation. Maybe engaging with my inner sorceress once more wouldn’t hurt. This was for the greater good, right? Wall of Winds. Yes, I was pretty sure I could pull this charm off. I leaned forward and gave my lovely little friend an affectionate rub behind his ear. His motor switched on immediately, and although he was nervous, his purr was genuine.
“Tha-thanks, Hattie,” Fraidy said with relief. “That means a lot.”
I gave him a brief squeeze, but my attention soon shifted from our conversation to the ground below. Jet had just raced to a spot where I could make out the cottage that Rabbi Goldsmith had been renting. In the moonlight, it looked positively picturesque; a Grimm’s fairy tale cottage with a thatched roof, stone walls, an old-fashioned wishing well to the side of the tiny kitchen door. A pond of clear water lay to the other side of the cottage, reflecting back the moonlight from its glassy surface.
Jet was already running back to the Angel, but he wasn’t my focus now. (Although, I dare say he’d be my focus for the next week, when he outright destroys the shop with his rampages.) There was a shadowy figure by the well, and he was raising something in his hand towards his own head.
“Oh, my God and Goddess,” I breathed. “Fraidy, when I say jump, land on his hand.”
“What?!” Fraidy ye
lped.
The figure from below saw us coming and gave us a startled look. He began running towards town, but I was ready for him. I really didn’t want to do this part but I had no choice, I knew. “VENTO SOLIDUM!” I roared. The gentle night breeze started buffeting in seemingly every direction. I had to hold on to Fraidy as the wind tossed us from one side to another. Suddenly, the air immediately before the fleeing man turned into a solid barrier. The poor man may as well have ran into a brick wall. He fell to the ground with a thud, but quickly tried to pick up the thing in his hand again.
“Jump!” I yelled to my quaking cat.
Fraidy, to his credit, didn’t hesitate, but maybe that was just the sound of my voice barking at him. With a loud meow, and as accurate as a cruise missile, he landed right on target and clamped down hard. Just as I’d figured, the figure was too busy trying to get Fraidy off his hand to bother with the item he had.
All this gave me enough time to land and snatch the weapon from the flailing man’s loose grasp. I held in my hand an ornate dagger with a Celtic design on the hilt.
“Let Avery go, Fraidy,” I told my cat calmly.
“Gladly!” Fraidy said, running behind me.
Avery Flute was crying without shame as he clutched his hand. I knew it wasn’t the pain that Fraidy had inflicted on him that was causing the tears.
“You won’t find absolution by taking your own life, Avery,” I said as gently as I could. He looked at me, fresh tears building, falling on repeat. “To find freedom from the guilt, you need to work your way through it yourself.“ I placed a hand over his heart. “In here,” I said.
Avery put his hand over mine and sobbed, nodding his agreement. He had a terrifying road ahead of him. I didn’t envy his position or his horrendously heavy load. We said no more, and taking his elbow I guided the distraught Avery Flute to the station.
The next morning, Avery stared at the one-way glass from his side of the interrogation room like a zombie. The hand Fraidy had mauled was bandaged up but if it was still hurting, he didn’t give any sign. I felt a wave of pity just to look at him.
Murder, Magic, and Moggies Page 17
