"No, I can use them. They'll be perfect for displaying my stock,” I said. "They left in a hurry because of the haunting?"
"That's what the note said."
"They left a note?" I asked. "That's it? That's how they broke their lease?"
"Yep, they up and ran out in the middle of the night. Left a note in the shop that I didn't find until the rent was late. They did the same thing at their townhouse too," Castor said. "Skipped out on the rent and left Coventry."
"I know it's probably none of my business, but who was it?" I asked.
"The tenant or the other landlord?" Castor asked.
"I guess both if you're willing."
"The guy running the bookshop was Lance Bleucastle. The landlord for his townhouse was my friend Jacob Winemaker," Castor said. "Why did you want to know?"
"I guess I'm just curious," I said. "It's strange that he just up and left like that in the middle of the night. Don't you think?"
"Well, I don't know for sure if it was in the middle of the night," Castor said. "Jacob and I didn't know he'd skated out on his leases until the rent came due and he didn't pay. Leaving in the middle of the night is just how people used to do it back in the day."
"Well, thank for telling me about it,” I said.
After that, we ate our food. I didn't want to keep asking him about Lance or the ghost and let our food get cold. It smelled too good to not dive in while the fries were still hot and the sandwich was fresh.
I was about halfway through my sandwich when a woman walked up to the table. "Greta, what are you doing?" Castor asked.
She was glaring at me with a hatred I'd rarely seen. "What are you doing here with her?" Greta said and pointed a finger at me.
I wondered for a moment if the two of them were involved somehow and the woman thought he was cheating on her with me. He wouldn't have been very good at being a philanderer if he brought the woman he was cheating with to the diner, though.
"We're here signing papers,” I said before Castor could say anything. "I'm leasing the shop in the square."
"Shut up!" she hissed at me.
"Greta, there's no reason for you to act that way," Castor said and stood up. "No reason at all."
"You know she's a killer, right? She's a killer and you leased your shop to her?" Greta's voice was rising to a crescendo. "Not only that, but she's from that Skeenbauer family. She's one of those freaks that turned this town into Satan's playground!"
"Satan's playground?" Castor asked with an amused chuckle. "You don't even go to church, Greta. Why are you in here hollering about Satan's playground?"
By that time, the entire diner had turned to look at us. Reggie had just delivered a large order to a table across the dining room, and she was scooting over in our direction as fast as possible. Reggie made it about halfway over when the one guy in the whole restaurant who wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him scooted his chair back and tripped her. She fell down and managed to catch herself with her hands before her face hit the floor, but she dropped her tray. It clattered loudly, and no one made a move to help her.
I started to get up to go to her, but Greta must have thought I was getting up to fight or something. She grabbed my Coke glass and threw what was left in it in my face.
"Greta, that's enough," Castor said. "No, you've left me no choice." He pulled out his phone and dialed 911.
I dodged Greta throwing the glass at me and rushed over to Reggie. After I helped her to her feet, I looked around to see that Greta was marching over to us.
"Take her in the back," Castor said to Reggie.
"Come on,” Reggie said and grabbed my wrist.
She pulled me through the dining room and behind the counter. We went through a black swinging door that led into the kitchen and prep area.
"Is she going to follow us back here?" I asked.
But just then, the cook came around from the grill area and went back through the door. Before it stopped swinging, I could see that he'd put himself between Greta and us.
"Nah, he's got it,” Reggie said. "He won't let her back here.”
"That's the second time today that some woman has gotten in my face and called me a killer. That and insulted my family."
One of Reggie's knees was an angry red color and skinned. It must have been the one that hit the floor first. Without thinking, I waved my hand over it and healed the wound.
Reggie must have felt something because she stretched her leg out and looked at it. "Huh, I thought I skinned my knee pretty bad when I went down on it,” she said.
"Looks like you're bouncier than you thought,” I said.
"Are you calling me fat?" she asked and then laughed.
"Oh, yeah, you've got horribly fat knees,” I said.
She cracked up at that, and it made me feel a little better too. A couple of minutes later, the cook came back through the door.
"Crazy pants gave up and left,” he said. "But you guys better stay back here until Thorn gets here just in case.”
Chapter Ten
Thorn arrived pretty quickly. There were a lot of witnesses that told him Greta attacked me. He wanted to get out there and arrest her, but he pulled me aside first.
"Can you come outside and talk with me for a quick second?" he asked.
"I need to be going anyway," Castor said with his wrapped up half sandwich and fries in a white paper bag. "Call me if you need anything."
"What was that about with Castor?" Thorn asked when we got outside. "Why would you need anything from him?"
"That's why I was here at dinner with him,” I said. "I rented his shop space down at the town square."
"You're going to open a shop in the square now?" Thorn sounded incredulous. "After what just happened here?"
"One, I'd already signed the lease and handed over the deposit when Greta attacked," I said and took a deep breath. "And two, I already told you I wanted to open a shop. I said it this morning."
"I thought I said that it would be better for you to wait until you're not a murder suspect anymore,” Thorn said.
"You did, but I don't take my marching orders from you."
"You're impossible,” he said.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked, but it was my turn to be incredulous. "How can you be mad at me? You don't even know me,” I said and put my hands on my hips.
"You're right. I don't,” he said and threw up his hands. "Sorry I tried to help. I'm going to go find Greta and arrest her for assaulting you."
He turned to leave without saying another word, and I instantly felt terrible. We'd clicked almost immediately, and I could tell by the way Thorn was acting that he'd felt it too. I'd been a total jerk pretending like it never happened.
"Thorn, wait," I called after him.
"I've got a job to do right now. I'll talk to you later."
"Great,” I said as he got into his car.
"You two are going to get married." Reggie's voice from behind me made me jump six inches off the ground.
"What?" I asked.
"You and Thorn are going to get married,” she said.
"I heard you,” I said. "What I don't understand is what the heck you are talking about."
"Sparks like that flying between two people who just met? Mhm. I give it a year."
"There were no sparks. He's just gotten himself all wound up over... I don't know actually."
"What he's wound up over is you. I've never seen Thorn even look in another woman's direction more than once."
"He was mad at me for not listening to him,” I said.
"Yeah, and he's got no reason to be, right? He's overprotective of you out of nowhere? I read enough romance novels to know that means there is a wedding in the not so distant future."
"Romance novels aren't realistic,” I said.
"Nothing in Coventry is."
"He's just being weird," I countered.
"Uh huh,” Reggie said and winked at me. "So, what are you up to now?"
"
I really should work on getting my business up and running, but there's something I need to take care of first,” I said.
"What's that?"
"I need to figure out who killed Merrill," I said.
"Ooooh. No wonder Thorn was mad at you."
"That wasn't why, but it doesn't matter. I want to open a business, and I need to prove I didn't kill the guy. Otherwise, these people are going to keep showing up and screaming at me about how I'm a killer from a weird family. It will ruin my business."
"How are you going to do that?" Reggie asked.
"I can't tell you. It's a secret."
"Ooooh, a secret? Now you have to tell me."
"Seriously, I can't. I can't tell anybody what I'm about to do."
"Then I'll just follow you," she said.
"What?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You heard me. Either you drag my bored behind along with whatever shenanigans you're about to get into, or I'll just follow you,” she said completely seriously.
"Reggie... don't you need to get back to work?"
"Nah, I worked closing last night. The dinner rush is over and a bunch of people left because of Greta. The other waitress is going to handle the floor for the night. It was mostly her tables that cut and run,” she said with a chuckle. "So, where are we going?"
She was completely serious about following me, so for a moment, I considered going home. It would have been easier if I'd just gone home and let Reggie follow me there, but I felt like I had to go to Merrill's place.
"Fine, you can go, but I have to stop by my house and get my cat first,” I said.
"Why?" she asked, her brow all scrunched up.
"Because what we're about to do isn't technically legal, and he's my emotional support animal,” I said.
"This sounds intriguing,” she said and rubbed her hands together. "Wait, you bring your emotional support cat with you when you break the law?"
"Yes,” I said simply. "So, are you still coming?"
What I didn't tell her was that I was bringing Meri for protection. I couldn't wipe her memory if she got spooked and decided to call the sheriff, but Meri probably could. He could do it to protect me. I hoped.
Reggie got in my car and was quiet while I was pulling out of the diner parking lot. It wasn't until we were out on the street and headed for Hangman's House that she finally said something.
"I overheard something earlier today that I thought might be of interest,” she said. "That's why I wanted to come along. I watch a lot of those true crime shows, and I just have to know what happened here."
"What did you hear?" I asked.
"Well, I was serving these two guys lunch, and I heard one of them say Merrill's name. He said it all quiet like he thought I was too far away to hear, but I have good ears."
"The guy said his name, but what else did he say?" I asked.
"Well, he said that Merrill owed him money for some house repairs. A lot of money apparently. He said that now that Merrill was good and dead, he was going to file a lien against his estate. He's was getting his money out of him one way or another."
"That sounds interesting,” I said. "Do you know who he was?"
"Yeah, his name is Jerry Sprigs. He's one of the only contractors in town that's not working on building new houses over in the new subdivisions. So he's just about the only guy available for remodels or repairs. Well, he was available. I'm pretty sure he's all booked up now too."
"Hey, do you know where Merrill lived? I can look it up if you don't."
"I do,” Reggie said. "He lives down the street from where I grew up."
"Well, after we get my cat, I'll let you tell me how to get there then,” I said.
We pulled up in front of Merrill's house less than twenty minutes later. He lived in a section of Coventry I hadn't spent much time in. The houses were smaller than the grand old Victorians most of the witches lived in.
Instead, Reggie's and Merrill's old neighborhood was filled with post-WWII houses. Some of them were what I'd heard affectionately referred to as "Cracker Jack boxes."
There was police tape tied to one side of the front porch, but it was flapping in the wind. "We're going to get in big trouble if we go in there and it's a crime scene,” Reggie said.
"Look at the tape blocking the door, it's ripped and blowing in the wind. That means it's not secure anymore,” I said as we got out of the car.
"Hey, we should pull around to the alley,” Reggie said. "Get back in."
I did, and I was about to ask what got into her, but I saw it. One of Merrill's neighbors was peeking out her curtain at us. I don't know how I'd been so stupid to just park right in front of the house.
We drove the car around to the alley and parked it there. Well, not right behind his house. I parked it a block away, and we hurried down the alley to his house.
Merrill's back yard was surrounded by chain-link fence, but his gate wasn't locked. We went through it and hurried through the yard.
The house didn't have a door in the back. Instead it was around the side of the house off the driveway. We were right in sight of the neighbor's window, so I used a little magic to unlock the door.
"Oh, good. It's unlocked,” I said as we went inside.
"You would have thought the sheriff's office would have made sure it was locked,” Reggie said.
"Yeah, you would have thought so. Maybe there's something wrong with the lock," I offered.
"Could be,” Reggie said as she looked around. "You sure you want to do this?"
I could understand why she was asking. Merrill's place was a disaster. "This is horrible,” I said. "You don't think they did this why they were searching, do you?"
"No, this is the kind of mess he had to work on for years to accomplish",” Reggie said. "Maybe we shouldn't be in here. This house could be a biohazard zone or something."
"I'm sure we'll be fine,” I said, but I hurried out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Please do a protection spell," I whispered into the bag Meri was riding in. "This place is probably a biohazard."
"What was that?" Reggie asked as she walked into the living room. "Were you talking to the cat?"
"Yeah, I mean, he is my emotional support cat. I don't like this mess at all. You're right, though. We should take a look around and see what we can find fast. Then, let's get out of here. It stinks."
Fortunately, the house was small. But I doubted that Thorn and his deputies had been able to find anything in the house. There were beer cans and old papers and magazines everywhere. Each room, including the bathroom, had its very own stack of dirty dishes too. I'd never seen anything like it.
We looked around for a good ten minutes, and all we found was trash. One thing I learned was that apparently Merrill hadn't been killed in the house and dropped off at the diner because there was no real crime scene in the house.
Merrill's bedroom had a twin bed and a desk set up in one corner. I was heading over to the desk to see if there was anything but dirty dishes and empty beer cans on it when Reggie called out to me. "Your boyfriend is here! The neighbors must have called the cops. We gotta go."
Right as I was turning to run from the room, I saw an invoice on the desk from Reliable Construction. I grabbed it quickly and then sprinted from the room.
We lucked out that Thorn went to the front door first. He must have had a key, but as he was coming in the front door, Reggie and I were running out the back.
Chapter Eleven
We made it out the back gate before Thorn appeared in the yard. "Hey!" he yelled at us, and I shoved the invoice into my bag.
"Oh, hi, Thorn!" Reggie called back cheerfully.
"What are you two doing?" he asked as he closed the distance between us.
"We were going to break in and have a look around",” Reggie said, and I shot her a death stare. What was she doing? "I mean, it was my idea. I think Kinsley just came along to talk me out of it, and she finally did. Thank goodness or you'd probably have
to arrest us right now."
"The neighbors called it in and said they saw two women going in the back door",” Thorn said and crossed his arms over his chest.
"We went into the yard, but we change our minds. So, we came back out here and we were just leaving",” Reggie said.
I held my breath and prayed that Thorn didn't ask me to confirm her story. While I was impressed with her ability to spin a yarn to the sheriff, I didn't want to lie to him. I didn't know if I could lie to him.
Thorn's piercing eyes fell on me and he watched me for a second. Just then, Meri popped his head out of the top of the bag.
"Do you have Meri with you?" Thorn asked with a chuckle.
"I do",” I said and felt my cheeks turn bright red.
"Well, I guess I don't believe that you'd break into a house with your cat in a tote bag. That's a little too absurd for even this town."
Oh, if he only knew.
"See, so can we go?" Reggie asked hopefully.
"Yeah, you guys can go, but Reggie, please don't drag our newest resident into any more situations where I have to be involved",” he said and started to leave. "Oh, and if I catch you breaking into any more houses, I will arrest you both. And the cat."
"I'm sorry",” I said, but before Thorn could respond, Reggie grabbed my hand and yanked me down the alley.
"Come on, let's move",” she said as she pulled me toward the car. "He said we could go, so let's get out of here before he changes his mind."
"He knew",” I said as I got into the car.
"Yeah, he totally did, but either he couldn't prove it or he didn't want to arrest you",” Reggie said. "Either way, when he checks the place out, he'll see we didn't do anything."
"Well, I did find an invoice from Reliable Construction on the desk in Merrill's bedroom and I took it",” I said.
"Oh, yeah? That's Jerry's company."
"That house didn't look like it had any kind of remodeling done",” I said.
"Where's the invoice?" Reggie asked.
"In the bag with Meri."
She dug it out and looked it over. "It doesn't look like there was any remodeling because it was foundation work. This unpaid invoice is for a lot of money too, and he just got it a couple of weeks before he died. I doubt he paid it."
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