Murder, Magic, and Moggies

by Pearl Goodfellow

  Speaking of dangerous attractions…

  Violet’s voice tapered off. Her jaw fell slack. In fact, a quiet wave of hush rolled through the whole of Town Hall, as the entire crowd abandoned their excited babblings to appraise the utterly beautiful couple that breezed into the packed chambers.

  The woman stood near to six feet. Her long, hair waterfalled in a shimmering blue-black swath over her alabaster shoulders and down her back. The simple, yet remarkably elegant cobalt dress she wore clung suggestively to a distinctly feminine figure, curving seductively in all the right places, and pooled nearly to the floor. But, the shapely, prominently toned muscles that flexed as she moved hinted at a subtle strength that quite possibly could have rivaled almost half of the men in the room.

  And the way half the men ogled her? She might have need of it. She may as well have been on the menu at Napoleon Bone-Apart’s, Gless Inlet’s local rib joint. I was hard pressed to blame them. Her face? A sculptor’s dream. A perfect visage chiseled from exquisite marble. But, the stoic expression on her face was equally as cold as the smooth rock. Her almond-shaped eyes were brimming with blue ice. The statuesque muses lips were pressed together in unsmiling reticence. Her high cheekbones?

  Sharp enough to cut.

  Her chilly features still didn’t stop every creature of the male persuasion from staring, slack-jawed, in unabashed awe at her inarguable beauty. I might have readily expected a few disapproving slaps on the head for the ogling gents in the room from their significant others. Except, the ladies were otherwise occupied, soaking up calories from their own eye candy. The Eye candy that was supposed to be taking me out on a dinner date. Not sashaying into a Town Hall meeting with a Miss Universe contestant on his arm. An exasperated, air-filled sigh motor-boated my lips.

  Gideon Shields was every bit as handsome as I had remembered from our first meeting over Millicent’s dead body.

  Crispy, dead body.

  I winced. Maybe I really should start reconsidering just where I dipped my toe into the dating pool. Could have a lot to do with my floundering romantic life. Though, I suppose if I were going to drown, there weren’t many guys as handsome as the governor of Cathedral Isle available to give me mouth-to-mouth.

  He held out eager hands, warm ones if memory served, and cheerily pumped the arms of the men in the crowd. His caramel locks sprung buoyantly around his head like a golden halo as they caught the warm light from the nautical-themed lantern fixtures that matched the antique maritime maps on the walls of the building. His amber eyes twinkled merrily as he grinned easily through the throng, headed toward Under-Mayor Grimsbane and the podium.

  “Sigh,” Violet gushed. “That man is pure poetry in motion.”

  While I nodded in agreement, I was more than a bit confused. “Yes, but what is he doing here?”

  “How about I go find out?” Shade purred, nosing up again over the edge of my purse and hitting the floorboards with a quiet thud before I could stop him.

  “No! Shade!” I whisper-hissed after him, but he was already a jet black streak weaving through the feet of the crowd.

  I took a fast step toward my meddling mouser, only to find David Trew blocking my path.

  “Hattie,” CPI Trew began, his voice husky and breathless. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t just a touch over sexy. “I need you.”

  My heart skipped about five beats. Even Violet swooned a little.

  I’ve always said David underestimates his own appeal. And that new, sexy little shock of white through his hair? Well, it dialed up the yummy notch to the point where, now, other ladies besides me were starting to sit up and take notice.

  David was still remarkably obtuse when it came to translating the subtleties of the opposite sex, though. In fact, maybe if he’d made more than the smattering of vague romantic overtures toward me in the past five years, I might not have even glanced at Gideon Shields. No matter how handsome the governor of Cathedral might be.

  Verdantia just smiled graciously. She caught Violet by her elbows and set her to rights, directing the starry-eyed beautician towards the other side of the room.

  “Violet and I will take our leave, now, Hattie. It really was a shame to hear about poor Millicent, no matter how brash she may have been. Perhaps if she had been more careful, she’d still be around. It’s a funny little thing. She, of all people, had such a healthy respect for the…power of nature. Lightning. Tsk. Such a shame. I do hope you get to the bottom of things. Well, a pleasure as always, Chief Trew.”

  As the fairy grocer wafted away with Violet in tow, my brow twisted in a curious little knot. “The bottom of things? What do you suppose that means?”

  “That Verdantia knows a bit more than she’s letting on,” David offered. “And, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, Ha….”

  “Hattie Jenkins!” Gideon’s mellifluous voice cut David’s clean off.

  “You,” he waggled a friendly finger at me. “You owe me a dinner date.”

  David’s jaw set grimly as he drew his arms across his chest.

  If he noticed, Gideon didn’t show it. He wrapped a long, sinewy arm around my shoulders and steered me toward the front of the crowded room and away from David.

  “I, uh, didn’t know you were on Glessie Isle,” I stammered.

  Gideon’s warm laugh eased the butterflies in my stomach. “Well, I did say I had business here.”

  He gestured to the room. My eyes widened excitedly. “Oh! Are you here to help fight the Sugar Dunes airstrip proposal?”

  “Fight the proposal? My goodness, no! Miss Falk and I are here to support the project. We want to build a Sugar Dunes airstrip to help export Cathedrals black diamonds.”

  Men. I was starting to think maybe Millicent had had the right idea.

  “You can’t be serious!” I exclaimed, drawing the attention of several nearby townsfolk. “Sugar Dunes is critical habitat for the endangered Least Tern! If a proposal to develop the Dunes area were to be approved, it could have disastrous repercussions on the terns’ entire ecosystem!”

  “And we expected such a volatile initial response to the concept,” Gideon countered, unruffled by my vocal outburst. “Which is why we have traveled here, personally, to convince the good people of Glessie that the benefits far outweigh the risks.”

  “The benefits!?” I exploded. “Like what the proposed construction will do to the marine ecosystem round the Dunes and Nessie Beach? Like the devastation it will cause to the kelp forest at Sugar Dune Point? Forests which are already at risk of extinction due to already existing climate changes from other areas? And what about the potential impact on commercial and recreational fisheries?”

  My heated outburst had accomplished everything Under-Mayor Grimsbane had not…it had gathered the attention of every single person in the room. Including the stern-faced, blue-haired woman Gideon kept calling Miss Falk. Typically, I shied away from such attention, but this was one situation where I was motivated to jump up on the proverbial soapbox – figuratively and literally. I snatched a nearby chair and jumped nimbly on it until I was at least a full foot above the crowd.

  “That’s right!” I engendered Galen Killoran and Leif Borges, two of Gless Inlet’s fleet captains. “Because it’s not just the terns who are threatened by the airstrip development. What’s going to happen to your fishing business, Galen, when you lower your nets into the water and draw back nothing but sludge? How will you feed your families? And speaking of sludge, has anyone thought of how the development will impact water flows and the surf and water quality in Nessie Bay? What is the risk to the wastewater plant outflow? Gless Inlet is a coastal tourist town. What happens if polluted outflow washes back on our beaches? What do we tell the summer visitors when our pristine beaches are fouled? ‘Oh, what’s that? Out of sunscreen? That’s okay! Just slap a little of this toxic waste on your skin. I guarantee you’ll forget all about that annoying little sunburn.’ And for what? So the Cathedral government can profit at the expense of Gl
essie Isle and its inhabitants?”

  Animated discussions burbled through the restless crowd. I didn't notice as a dollop of pink sidled up next to me. I glanced down at Millie, my friend and assistant.

  “Wow, Hat. I think you missed your calling. You’ve really got the crowd worked up and talking seriously about the subject. You’re my hero,” Millie murmured as she tugged on my skirt.

  The Aphrodite with blue-black tresses glided up next to Gideon and whispered something sotto voce into his ear. I swear it was like her lips hardly moved. Whatever she said, Gideon nodded then held his long arms in the air.

  “Ladies and gentlemen! Please! Do not misunderstand. While Miss Jenkins concerns are quite respectable, her accusations against my government are entirely unfounded. Our proposal to develop an airstrip on the Sugar Dunes is not motivated by profit. I repeat, our plans are not for profit.”

  “Baloney!” Fleet captain, Galen Killoran, gave a hearty Bronx cheer. “That’s what you corporate big wigs always say! A lot of fancy lip service while ya stomp on the little guy!”

  A few cheers went up in support of Galen’s assertion. I smiled. Even without Millicent, it seemed as though the tide was turning in favor of nixing the proposed runway scheme. Okay. I’ll fess up. My heart did swell with a modicum of pride. But, Gideon wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

  “A tragic reality of today’s world which I am glad to say Cathedral does not cater to.”

  He maneuvered a chair next to mine in a nonthreatening, almost friendly gesture, and stepped up, dwarfing any physical advantage I might have imagined I had. His shadow stretched, long and lean, over nearly the entire crowd. If I’d dwelled on the fact, I might have felt a little more confounded, but Gideon’s wasn’t the only shadow to catch my attention. I could have sworn I saw a distinctly feline shape peel away from the shadows of the podium toward the chairs where we standing. I lost sight of the tomcat outline until I saw just a paw to the right of Gideon's chair. Specifically, a swiping paw. And that paw was now swatting frantically at the floorboards beneath Gideon’s gorgeous companion.

  “Shade!”

  I tapped Millie’s shoulder and gave a discreet nod toward the tapping shadow. She shook her head in comprehension and started to maneuver towards my crazy cat.

  “Excuse me.” Millie wiggled and wormed. “Pardon me.”

  The petite blond carrying the particular, draped package suddenly appeared in the crowd and took a position directly in front of the orating governor. She looked more than a little annoyed at Millie for obstructing her view. Millie paid her no heed. She was on a mission.

  “In fact,” Gideon continued as Millie squeezed her curvily cushioned frame between Gideon and the pressing crowd.

  “Our real motivation for the Sugar Dunes airstrip…”

  Millie was nearly to Shade, and whatever had him so intrigued.

  “…is…”

  Millie leaned down.

  “…to save lives.”

  “LIAR!!!” The explosive outburst was accompanied by a loud crash as the petite blonde dropped the curious parcel in her arms. The cover fell to the wayside, and the wired door of what appeared to be a birdcage sprung open, releasing three squawking, and very startled terns. Feathers and dander flew in a flurrying cyclone as the birds flapped insanely through the crowd.

  The blonde bolted straight at Gideon. “If you cared about lives, my Millicent wouldn’t be DEAD!!!”

  Ravena Valley! It had to be!

  The diminutive Ravena barreled forward, body-checking Millie into Gideon’s companion.

  “Me-YOWL!!!” Shade let out a pained cry as his paw was crushed under a rather pointed heel. Miss Falk flailed for balance, a momentary look of worry muddying her otherwise perfect features. The look was quickly replaced by icy irritation as she noticed the now-visible Shade skulking about her feet. With a cold stare at Millie and the cat, she immediately gathered the trailing hemline of her dress and moved to assist the wind-milling Gideon who was about to topple from his chair-stage.

  He wasn’t the only one!

  As Ravena threw herself on top of Gideon, one of Gideon’s long arms swept me from my own perch, and I was in a head-on collision with the hardwood floor.

  “David!” I cried as I caught sight of my old friend desperately trying to push his way through the madding crowd to reach me.

  “Oof!” Gravity won the race. I hit the ground…hard. The wind knocked from my lungs, but it wasn’t from hitting the ground. I’d no sooner hit the floor when Gideon Shields fell on top of me.

  The entire length of the devastatingly handsome governor lay atop me. He was so close, our noses nearly touched. I guess his icy-eyed assistant didn't get to him in time.

  For one fleeting moment, I almost didn’t notice the pained expression on David’s face as he suddenly stopped his forward motion.

  I almost didn’t see the dark look on Miss Falk’s face as Gideon brushed a lock of hair from my forehead.

  I almost didn’t spot Millie’s pert mouth drop open in an astonished little “O.”

  Then one of the flapping birds squawked loudly and landed a warm, liquid purple-white splotch of gross on my face. Which definitely ruined my intimate moment with Shields.

  Shade sniggered as he limped past the pile-up and past Violet Mulberry, who's face was slack with wonder at the turn of events. “More like ‘poultry in motion,' huh, Violet? ” Shade quipped.

  The problem with immortal cats? You couldn’t strip them of one of their nine lives.

  Chapter 5

  “Bacillus pumilus, Citrobacter amalonaticus and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia,” Maude Dulgrey smiled a toothy grin as she opened the imposing, iron-hinged, solid oak door to her morgue. Maude’s pallor might be a little on the dull and ashy side, but the ghoulish medical examiner always had a smile that beamed at a thousand watts.

  “Well,” I snapped, more upset with David for pulling me away from Gideon than at Maude for speaking at me in tongues. “That’s not any herb I’ve ever heard of, so I guess you won’t be needing my services in this case, after all, Chief Trew.” I promptly turned on my heel and started down the sidewalk. David snagged me by the elbow.

  “Come on, Hat. It’ll just take a minute. And I really value your opinion.”

  “Just not my dinner plans,” I quipped. I rubbed angrily at the garish purple-white goo still stuck on my cheek in Rorschach spots. If Gideon hadn’t made such a strong argument for the airstrip, the offending mark alone might have had me second guessing my stance on tern protection.

  Fact was, however, Gideon had made a surprising revelation. Well, that is, he did after the feathered fiasco at Town Hall. That had been an unholy mess.

  When the tern’s cage exploded open, Shade’s feline instinct had kicked in, and he immediately shot after the suddenly liberated birds. Immortal kitty or no. The frightened birds squawked into flight, throwing up more clouds of white, downy feathers and dander. It looked like Old Man Winter had blown a Nor’easter through Town Hall. Confused people scurried like crazed ants deserting an ant hill, bumping into one another, falling down.

  “This is exactly why animals aren’t allowed in Town Hall!” Under-Mayor Grimsbane cried, his voice squeaking comically above the cacophony.

  Once the hubbub died down and Fortescue Grimsbane saw to it that David slapped both Ravena Valley and me with the appropriate citations, Gideon had graciously helped me up and, once he ensured I was sound, delivered a compelling reason for his proposal. A logic that had the whole town looking at the suggested plans in a new light.

  He had offered to explain it to me, in depth, over a slice of deep dish – my own little guilty pleasure, truth be known – when David had swooped in and whisked me here before I could say “Mange!”

  Maude chuckled a dry rasp. Little plumes of dust wisped from her mouth. “No, no, no. Hattie. It’s not herbs at all. It’s some of the fungi and bacteria in that funk on your face. Although, it’s not without its merits. I hear
there are some spas on The Mainland who offer bird poop facials at $180 a pop!”

  “What a load of crap!” Carbon exclaimed. The tabby tagalong we had picked up as we passed The Angel Apothecary never missed an opportunity to visit Maude’s. Besides the tempting salmon-flavored treats she always kept on hand, he adored snuggling next to Maude’s industrial-sized boiler.

  “Exactly, my furry little friend!” Maude creaked downward to give Carbon a hearty noogie on the head. “Japan ships a pretty pound of it to high-end salons and spas all over the world. Apparently the acids in the stuff act as a natural exfoliant. Whatever next?" Our Medical Examiner raised her thin eyebrows in mock horror. "Come on, Hattie. Let me get you a proper antibacterial wipe. That is, unless, you’re going for that youthful glow to impress a certain, ahem, someone.” The ghoul coroner eyed David with a milky gaze. I found myself taken aback because as soon as Maude ribbed me about this, I realized it was Gideon I had in mind. Not David. It was a strange feeling to have my focus of attention change like this. I felt a little remorseful; I won't lie. I heard Carbon give a giggly snort at Maude's humor, and CPI Trew and I followed he and the coroner into the building. I guess since I was headed inside anyway, I could see what the Chief thought was so important he had to drag me away from a perfectly crisped Margherita pie and an excellent room temperature chianti. And the Governor of Cathedral.

  Torches sputtered on the cold walls, their hesitant orange-gold light quivering with dancing shadows on the flagstone floors. The dark corridor narrowed as we went, giving me that eerie feeling as if we had stepped through the maw of some dreadful monster and were now shimmying down his esophagus into the pit of his belly to be politely digested.