Murder, Magic, and Moggies

by Pearl Goodfellow

  It was Richards and Phillips, the constables we’d seen earlier. Neither one of them looked like they wanted to be here, judging from the fidgeting and darting glances that seemed to afflict them.

  “Terribly sorry to have come by again, ma’am,” Phillips said by way of greeting, looking almost embarrassed.

  “What is it now, constables?” I asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as I felt. “Something in my cats’ eyewitness testimony not add up?”

  “Actually, ma’am, we’re here on a different matter,” Richards said. “Mr. Bradford Obonyo was apparently, er … taken from his shop. We found a bill of sale for some herbal tea from The Angel. That was dated today.”

  “The shop itself was in quite a state,” Phillips added. “All tossed around and—“

  “What did the Chief Para Inspector tell you about leaking unnecessary details earlier, Phillips?” Richards all but barked.

  “Who are you, me mum?” Phillips asked. “Because last I checked, CONSTABLE, you’re not any higher than me in the ranks.”

  Using the distraction of their argument, Eclipse was getting ready to lock eyes with both of them. I put a hand in front of my faithful feline just in time, provoking an annoyed growl that made the constables look in my direction again.

  “Go tell Millie and the others where I am and why,” I said firmly, opening up the back door to let Eclipse in.

  Eclipse fixed me with an annoyed look before trotting inside with a huff. I put my broom just inside the door before telling the constables, “Please forgive my cat. He’s been a little…overprotective this morning. I guess that you’ll need a statement from me at the station?”

  “Afraid so, ma’am,” Richards said, and, then, gesturing towards himself. “If you’ll just come with us…?”

  Even if Bradford was guilty, I did silently hope that he was okay.

  Chapter 10

  “…and that was the last time I saw Bradford,” I told David as we sat in his office. I was fighting my irritation at being back in less than twenty-four hours on yet another matter that had little to nothing to do with me.

  “I actually wanted to ask about something,” David said, leaning in a little as he recorded the last words of my statement. “You keep calling him Bradford rather than Mr. Obonyo, even though you’ve only known him for a day. Why is that?”

  My irritation finally got the better of me. “Oh, for Brigid’s sake, David!”

  “If I don’t ask this, Hattie, I guarantee you that someone a lot less sympathetic and informed than I am will,” CPI Trew said, his tone hardening with his statement.

  I sighed. “It was something he insisted upon. He’d rather people didn’t butcher his last name just so they could be polite.”

  “There, see?” David said as he pointed with his free hand while noting down my answer with his writing one. “Now I have a statement that I can corroborate with all his regular customers which will help your legal defense in the unfortunate event that someone gets the bright idea that you’re guilty of this too.”

  I sighed again, really feeling like a jerk now. “I’m not being grateful about this, am I?”

  David let a smile touch his lips. “Can’t really blame you for it, Hat. Twice in a row now, you’ve had to come in for questioning. That would be enough to set anyone’s nerves on edge.”

  He signed off on my statement with a flourish. “The good news is that now I have your statement, you are once again free to go.”

  “What about the matter we were speaking of this morning?” I asked, referring to the mysterious revelation about Druida being in a witness protection program.

  Getting up from his desk, he held up a finger and mouthed, “Later.” Then he took my statement, and we walked out of his office toward the front doors of the station.

  We didn’t quite make it. None other than Mayor Fog had just bulled his way past the desk sergeant’s protests and came right for us. His eyes locked onto me with pure hate and the redness of his cheeks suggested that he was close to bursting a blood vessel.

  “Chief Para Inspector Trew,” Fog said in a tone that was roughly the volume of one of his campaign speeches. “I want this woman arrested for the murder of Druida Stone and the kidnapping of Bradford Obonyo…now!”

  The rest of the constables around us did their best not to laugh at this assertion. I probably would have too if I weren't feeling so bowled over by the dark waves of anger rolling off this ridiculous little man.

  “I would need evidence to make such an arrest stick, sir,” David said smoothly. “As it stands—“

  “If you value your job, Chief Para Inspector, you will see to it that you are protecting this isle responsibly!” the mayor growled, bringing his face to within inches of David’s.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Mayor,” David replied with his own brand of menace. “If you value your continued safety, you will step down. Now.”

  CPI Trew glared over the rim of his Lennon glasses and I saw the dawning of fear in the politician’s eyes. Marty Fog sensed the seriousness in David’s statement. I could feel the tension build in the officers who were looking in on the scene. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop, right then.

  Making one more play for intimidation, Fog returned his laser gaze to David’s eyes again, and told him, “I. Want. This. Woman. Arrested.”

  “And I want peace on earth,” a female voice suddenly said as its owner swished into the bullpen. “Life can be so very disappointing.”

  Every male eye was glued to the new arrival. She was your classic statuesque beauty, whose pantsuit wasn’t nearly enough to cover the voluptuous body hinted at underneath the clothes. But any bimbo can look good, especially with the designer heels this new arrival was wearing. This woman also had a real presence about her, something that would likely follow her long after her looks were ancient history. Her long auburn hair was immaculately styled and so shiny, it reflected the sodium lights of the station. I self-consciously touched my dull, messy curls.

  Whether it was the stress of being questioned for two separate incidents in one day or whether the woman was just naturally annoying, but I was flooded with both envy and irritation at the sight of her. On the other hand, there was definitely some comedic relief in seeing the Mayor’s previously screwed up face go slack with wonder at this uninvited female.

  “I don’t suppose, with all this commotion, that David’s desk sergeant here is going to get around to introducing me properly,” the woman added, flicking her shining locks over her left shoulder while pulling a badge from her designer bag. The symbol on the badge was one I didn’t recognize, a Norse longsword on top of a globe with a quartz rainbow arcing over both of them.

  “Raquel Berry, Heimdall Global Services,” she announced, flipping open the badge to show her photo. “My firm has been retained to consult upon the Druida Stone case.” Berry nodded with a smile at David. That smile looked a little too familiar for my liking.

  “B-but,” Mayor Fog said as his befogged brain remembered how to make his tongue work. “What interest does one of the most exclusive, private security firms on the Isles have in such a trifling case such as Druida’s?”

  Ms. Berry placed a perfectly manicured hand on her hip, and I could have sworn she stuck her chest out a little. “Oh, come now, Mr. Mayor,” she said with another flick of her long hair. “Surely you, of all people, understand the concept of a nondisclosure agreement which does not allow me to reveal such details to outside parties.”

  She flashed a dazzling smile of perfectly formed, dainty teeth. My tongue swept over my own slightly crooked ones, but I kept silent.

  Fog’s mouth started opening and closing like a fish’s, but no words came out. Guess his ability to speak had been a mere temporary function.

  “Then again, maybe you don’t,” Ms. Berry added, her voice turning to hard candy. “You certainly seem to lack an understanding of how making foolish statements like you did just now, and trying to coerce false arrests, would form
an excellent starting point for a lawsuit on the grounds of public slander.”

  “But she’s guilty!” the mayor protested, his face turning crimson from being challenged by this vixen.

  “Not according to the evidence cited by your own Police Chief,” Ms. Berry said, resting an expensively adorned hand on David’s shoulder. I felt something close to rage at this overtly familiar gesture. “Now, while I’m no lawyer, I would nevertheless suggest that you stop digging the hole you are in before this sweet little girl here buries you in it.”

  Berry pointed to herself and smiled sweetly, and I couldn’t help but notice her giving David’s shoulder a brief squeeze. It was a real “we’re in this together, don’t worry” gesture.

  The faint traces of a scowl slithered on the Mayor’s lips. He’d just publicly humiliated himself in front of people he needed on his side. He forced a polite smile, nodded his head and turned on his heel. He strode out of the building in a gait of false confidence.

  I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until he walked out. Even though Berry’s hand was still on David’s shoulder, which was burning a hole in my patience, I looked at her and said, “Thanks for that.”

  “Oh, think nothing of it, honey,” Berry said with another positively enraging hair flick. “It’s hardly your fault that you’re not the mayor’s type.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked, not quite believing what I was hearing. I was rapidly approaching the outer edge of my tolerance for this woman.

  “Why don’t we all discuss this in my office?” David suggested, subtly stepping between the two of us while finally breaking free from the bejeweled hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, David, but…” Berry said with a practiced frown, the kind mothers used when they want to be sure that their children understood where they were coming from.

  “This isn’t Hattie’s first case with the department,” David pointed out. “She’s been a consultant on—“

  “Wait, wait, hold on,” Berry interrupted, throwing up a hand to cut off his praises. “You mean to tell me that this is the very same Hattie Jenkins you mentioned who is a suspect in this case? And you’re saying that you want her to be part of this investigation?”

  I pushed past David and glared up at her. I suddenly wished I wasn’t wearing flats, as it angered me even more that she had at least three inches on me (wonder if she’d have been so high and mighty in flats). “In case you missed me from behind that veil of hair, I’m right here.” I said before swallowing and balling my fists up at my sides.

  Berry gave me a look of disdain as if replying to my petulant response wasn’t worth her time.

  “Hattie is actually more of a person of interest than an actual suspect,” David said, reaching out to give my shoulder a squeeze this time. Strangely, I didn’t feel placated by his encouragement.

  “Oh, David,” this increasingly annoying woman said as she stroked his cheek. What the Tartarus?! “You’ve still got a good heart, and I can see how this case is probably the most interest any person has had in your dear Hattie for some time now. Still, I can think of a good many lawyers who would have a field day with this proposed setup.”

  David groaned an exhaled whistle through his teeth. I knew that groan. It indicated that someone, other than he, was in the right. That was the groan he gave right then before saying, “I did already say that you were free to go, Hattie. If you have any more deliveries to make—“

  “Do you not even remember the part of my statement where I had just wrapped up my deliveries for the day when your constables picked me up?!” I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, pulsing at my temples as it pounded its angry course.

  “Deliveries?” Berry said, turning to look over her shoulder at me. “What are you, a papergirl?” She arched an immaculate eyebrow in mock surprise.

  “I own and manage the Angel Apothecary,” I blurted out, with none of the usual pride I felt at sharing my profession. “My family has been delivering home remedies and cures to the people of these Isles for the last two centuries.” Am I seriously trying to impress this woman?

  Berry grunted as she dropped her hand from David’s face (at last). “Well…I guess SOMEONE has to be responsible for such ‘earthy’ tasks.” She smiled a sickly sweet smile, revealing those perfect teeth in the process.

  “Hattie’s work is important, Ray,” David cut in, coming to my defense yet again. “And, her commitment to helping on this recent Strands outbreak alone --”

  I didn’t hear a word David was saying. My mind only caught “Ray.” Ray?

  “David, David, David,” Berry said, sliding an arm across his shoulders with another—you guessed it—hair flick. “You’re absolutely boring me to tears now.”

  She laughed a tinkling laugh that sounded like some heavenly musical instrument. “Don’t we have more important things to do, like absolve this … uh, shop assistant from Druida Stone’s murder? Why don’t we go back to your office so we can look the case over in detail?”

  Considering the way I felt my blood boiling at this turn of events, it took every ounce of willpower I had not to rip out this shameless hussy’s precious hair by the roots as she walked away with David in tow. I have to say I was suitably impressed by how I managed to walk and not storm out of the station calmly. My insides were tied in knots, however.

  I barely remembered the walk back to the Angel. All I could really remember was the uncomfortable feeling of being so quickly marginalized by the hideous Berry. For all I knew, Raquel Berry’s sole purpose was to finish the frame that Mayor Fog wanted to hang around my neck. By her enthusiasm to see me crash and burn so readily, and from the unpleasant feelings I had from watching this latter-day Jezebel cozy up to David, I was definitely adding Raquel Berry to the suspect list. But don’t think it was just the way I had been treated. David had good reason to believe that Raquel knew of Druida’s past, and of our librarian’s entrance into the witness protection program…why else would he bring her into this case? Okay, maybe there was another reason he brought in “Ray, “ but I didn’t want to think about that just now.

  But the kicker was this: If David’s ex had had that kind of knowledge on Druida for a while, she might have just found a way to profit from it finally. Yes, it was thin reasoning. No, I was not sorry that it sounded petty. Berry was an unknown quantity in a case already full of them. I was just treating her accordingly. Or, at least I was trying to convince myself that that was the case.

  Chapter 11

  For what must have been the fourth or fifth time that hour, I looked at the applewood wand in my hand. I stood, slumped across the counter, deep in thought, both about the wand’s puzzles and -- more sorely -- about the earlier turn of events at the station. There were five symbols carved on the stem of the magical device, all in Futhark, and each representing a trial by the Fae Court. Tests devised for humankind so it could have a chance at proving its continuing worthiness to remain on this Earth. I had run across it in my last case with David, where I was informed that my Grandma Chimera had once owned it. But even as powerful and ethical a witch as she was, she had ultimately failed to overcome all the trials that the Futhark symbols represented. I idly wondered if she felt like as much of a failure with her trials as I did right now after the spectacle at the station.

  A flash of movement got my attention, and my free hand grabbed a furry tail on the counter. “Don’t you even think about wiping out my memories, ‘Clipsy.”

  “I’m trying to protect you,” Eclipse explained patiently. “In this case, from yourself.”

  “But to what end, brother?” Onyx piped up as he jumped on the counter. “Our dear Hattie’s memory for detail is one of her most valuable assets and the very idea that you could cure her pain by erasing the last day from her thoughts would be as absurd as supposing—“

  “—that you will ever get tired of the sound of your own voice,” Gloom quipped from an unknown hiding place.

  I sighed, putting the wand down, and le
tting go of Eclipse’s tail. He turned around and licked my arm in an attempt to comfort me. “Nothing like a good wash to bring you out of the doldrums,” he announced in a professional manner.

  Millie had been tiptoeing around me and busying herself with menial tasks ever since I had returned from the station. I knew it must have been unsettling for her to see me this way, but, as it was now approaching closing time, she seemed ready to talk.

  “Do you really think David is that shallow?” she asked me point-blank. “For crying out loud, Hattie, she’s his ex for a reason.”

  “Lots of people break up for reasons that have nothing to do with them not liking each other,” I said back. “You take one look at her and then take one look at me. Trust me, Millie…you’ll see what I mean if you actually meet this woman.”

  I sighed again. There was no comparison.

  Millie’s face puckered up, and she marched from behind the counter and turned the open sign to closed in a dramatic and angry flurry. Her insubordination at daring to close the shop six minutes before closing was just enough to snap me out me out of my melancholy.

  “What do you think you’re—“ I started, standing to full height.

  “I…have…had it,” Millie said, marching back up to the counter like an angry pixie. “You have spent the entire day since you got back, feeling sorry for yourself. That’s when you weren’t busy biting off the heads of one of your kitties, that is. All they are trying to do is comfort you!”

  Millie stared at me, daring me to give yet another defeated response. “Now, I don’t care if you’re the boss or if you see to it that this is my last day on the job. You are going to talk to me, by Brigid!”

  Somehow, my diminutive assistant silenced me with her demands. It wasn’t often Millie got angry, but like me, when she did, it kinda grabbed your attention. I continued to roll the wand between my fingers, rather embarrassed by being called out on my behavior.

  “Now I know and YOU know that this isn’t about David falling head over heels for some bimbette out of Talisman,” Millie said, backing off a little. “What’s this really about?”