A Spell for Trouble

by Esme Addison

  “The police detective?” Now this was ridiculous. Alex sat back in her seat. “I don’t know what you’re implying.” Besides, if she never heard the name Jack Frazier again, it would be too soon.

  Pepper drew close again. “Look, there’s this story that I found from way back, when one of your ancestors was rumored to have murdered someone through witchcraft. Have you heard of this?”

  “Again with the witches.” Alex rolled her eyes. “No one is going to actually believe this.”

  “But there are many in town that do.” Pepper’s pen hovered over her notebook. “Did you want to make an official comment for the article?”

  “Yeah, I’ll make a comment.” She leaned closer. “You’re writing about fairy tales. How’s that?”

  Pepper smiled slightly. “I’ll make a note.”

  Minka returned then, clutching at her torso. “I have a knot in my chest that just won’t—oh.” She stopped when she saw Pepper. “What are you doing here?”

  Pepper rose. “Leaving.” She dropped her notebook and pen back into her messenger and slung the strap over her shoulder. “Minka, I’m sorry about your mom. If I write about this—I hope you understand I’m just doing my job.”

  “Everyone’s just doing their job,” Minka muttered.

  “’Bye, Alex.” Pepper left without a backward glance.

  Once she was gone, Minka took her seat back. “Sorry, I wouldn’t have left if I’d known she was here. She was fixated on our family even in high school.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’ve been better.” Minka took a deep, restorative breath. “I could really use some Calm Down tea. But Attorney Winston is here, so at least we know Mom is in good hands.”

  Alex massaged her temples. “So, Pepper said some wild things.”

  “Pepper is always saying wild things. What’s new?”

  “She said that we’re water witches, descended from mermaids.” Alex laughed in disbelief. “She also said something about a murder. Does she really believe that?”

  Minka waved a hand. “Honestly, we have bigger problems right now than some colonial-era gossip. And if Pepper goes and prints some story about our family being witches—well, I can’t see reasonable people believing that, can you?”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that. I was kind of stunned by the wackiness of it all.”

  “Don’t worry about Pepper. She’s an annoyance, that’s all. We can deal with her.”

  Kamila poked her head through the doorway then. “Hey, girls. I got the scoop.”

  Minka jumped up. “What is it? When are they going to let Mom go?”

  Kamila took her sister’s hands in both of hers, instantly calming her. “They’re suggesting a low bail and house arrest. She may even be able to go to work. Now, she’s going to have to stay here until Monday—”

  “What?” Minka’s hands went to her cheeks. “She has to stay in jail?”

  “I did my best, but the chief won’t let her out until she’s been arraigned, and court isn’t until Monday. She’s going to be right here,” Kamila said, trying her best to soothe. “We have a holding cell and it’s decent. She’s the only one in there. Everyone knows Mom. They’ll be good to her. We can even bring her meals and books.”

  Minka balled her fists. “It’s not good enough, Kamila. Mom cannot sit in jail for the weekend. She’s not a criminal.”

  Alex wrapped an arm around Minka’s shoulders. “Of course she’s not a criminal, and none of this is fair. It’s frustrating, but we have to be patient. Justice can be slow.”

  Now Kamila stepped back. “This is serious, Minka. They think Mom killed someone. She can’t just walk out of here.”

  Minka sat back into her chair. “What are we going to do?”

  “Can you tell us what happened, Kam?” Alex asked.

  “Bennett didn’t show up to an important dinner meeting Tuesday night, and he wasn’t returning phone calls,” Kamila explained. “Edwin Kenley—that’s his business partner—called the police to ask them to run a welfare check. They arrived Wednesday morning and were going to just knock on the door, but Stephanie was there. She’s his soon-to-be ex-wife.”

  “The wife was leaving the house?” Alex said.

  “No, she was just arriving,” Kamila replied. “She unlocked the front door for the police and gave them permission to enter, and that’s when they saw him. He was found beside a half cup of Mom’s Good Luck tea. They found tea leaves and deadly nightshade berries in his stomach.”

  “But there’s no deadly nightshade in that recipe,” Minka insisted. “Those are bayberries.”

  “The police found deadly nightshade berries at Mom’s house. They’re saying she added them to Bennett’s tea to poison him.” She paused. “She hated him. Don’t you think it’s at least possible—”

  “Don’t even say it,” Minka cried. “Mom may not have liked Bennett, but she wouldn’t resort to murder.”

  Kamila was silent for a long stretch as she stared at the floor, looking troubled. Then she turned to Alex. “There’s no reason for you to stay here tonight. Why don’t you and Minka take my car home? I can get a ride.”

  “I’m not leaving,” Minka declared. “I’ll sleep here all weekend, too.”

  Kamila looked at Alex and opened her arms in a pleading motion. Alex got the hint. “Minka, Kam’s right. We should get home and straighten up.”

  Slowly, she coaxed Minka to her feet and toward the door.

  “I’m not going to sleep. Not until Mom is out of here.”

  “I know,” Alex said. “And I’m not going to rest until these charges are dropped.” It was a risk, her committing to finding a murderer and clearing her aunt’s name. It was dangerous. She could get hurt. She understood all of that. And the little girl inside her who’d lost a mother, that believed with all her heart, that if her mother hadn’t been so fierce and independent she’d be alive today begged her to step aside and let the police handle it.

  But something within Alex had changed when she reunited with her aunt and cousins. She knew without hesitation that fighting for the family she’d just discovered was worth any dangers she faced.

  Chapter Seven

  In the course of executing the search warrant, police had moved furniture and left cabinet doors wide open. Alex was dismayed to discover that someone had even searched her dresser drawers and tossed her clothing all over the bed. She and Minka spent most of the night cleaning the house, feeling equal measures of embarrassment and anger. Athena walked through the house with her ears down, disturbed by the disruption around her. Fortunately, the owner of the local historic renovation company was able to repair the front door early on Saturday morning.

  They decided to close Botanika for the weekend. There was no reason to subject themselves to any gossip that might have walked through the shop door—not that the gossip was confined to the store. Pepper Bellamy had been busy online, posting all over her personal gossip blog. Alex and Minka did their best to ignore her efforts and keep themselves busy. For Minka, that meant binge-watching rom-coms. Alex took several long runs around town and sat in the garden, thinking. Surrounding by pink hollyhocks, purple sweet peas, white peonies, and yellow rosebushes, she allowed the falling water of the mermaid fountain to lull her into an almost meditative trance as she tried to process what was happening to her family.

  * * *

  Thank goodness, her aunt was arraigned on Monday, released on bail, and placed under strict house arrest. Tobias met her at home to be certain she understood the rules. “You cannot leave your home, not even to visit your gardens.”

  “What?” Her face lost its color. “So, I’m not even allowed to have sunshine and fresh air?”

  He cringed. “There’s a concern you may have access to more poisons, since you’re known to be so handy with herbs and such. And you cannot work at Botanika,” he explained. “That means you cannot prepare any products that will be sold. Is that understood?”

  “They’
re determined to bore me to death,” she grumped as she flung herself onto the overstuffed chair in the living room. “Still, it feels nice to sit on some real furniture. And look—new jewelry.” She held out her ankle to reveal a black monitor.

  Tobias was a pleasant-looking man with a short, stout frame, receding dark-gray hair, and round wire-framed glasses. He looked solid and dependable, and Alex felt a small measure of relief when she saw him.

  He patted Lidia’s shoulder. “Just keep on the straight and narrow. That will make my job a lot easier. Because trust me, I’m going to be fighting these charges.”

  Lidia sighed. “You’ve already done so much. Thank you.”

  “By the way, do you have an alibi for the time of death? If you do, we can nip the police’s suspicions in the bud now.” He gazed at Lidia expectantly.

  Lidia ran a hand through her air, her face sagging with exhaustion. “I’m afraid not, Tobias. At least not one that I can share.”

  He shot her a concerned look and rubbed his chin. “Well then, that makes things a bit more challenging.” But then he smiled. “No matter, we’ll discuss it more once you’ve gotten some rest.”

  Alex stared at her aunt, wondering where she’d been when Randy was murdered. After Winston left, Alex knelt by her aunt’s side. “Now that you’re home, we can figure out what actually happened to Randy Bennett.”

  “Aleksandra. I have to say something first.” Lidia reached for her hand and pulled her closer. “I am so sorry for the way I spoke to you last week when we were in the back room together. I had a bad feeling about Randy’s death. There’s a dark cloud hanging over all of us right now, and—” She shook her head. “There’s no excuse. You were trying to be kind, and I responded with anger.”

  Alex’s throat tightened, and she squeezed Lidia’s hand back. She was touched that her aunt had remembered, and grateful that she had apologized. “I know, your famous temper. But it’s okay.”

  “It’s not. All weekend I thought about how glad I was that you were here to help my girls while I was gone, and that I had been unkind to you. I’m sorry.” Her beautiful face appeared to have aged while she was in the holding cell, and Alex’s heart hurt to see the strain this was causing.

  “I’ve spent the weekend doing some thinking, too. Can you think of anyone—anyone at all—who would have wanted to kill Randy Bennett?”

  Lidia shook her head. “That’s the question I keep asking myself. But I can’t name a single person who would want to hurt Randy. We weren’t even close—not anymore. I haven’t been a part of his life in ages, and he’s not a part of mine. Why in the world would I kill him?”

  “I understand.” Alex reached down to kiss her aunt on the cheek. “I’m going to fix this, Ciocia. You’ll see. Just leave it to me.”

  * * *

  “Have you seen this trash?” Alex said to Minka and Kamila. They were in Alex’s room, lying across her bed. “Here. It’s Pepper’s blog. You’ve got to read this for yourself.” She handed over her phone.

  Local businessman Randolph Bennett was found dead in his home on Wednesday morning. By Friday evening, Bellamy Bay P.D. had arrested their culprit: Lidia Sobieski. Ms. Sobieski is well known for her encyclopedic knowledge of plants. Sadly, all of that knowledge may have come in handy if she poisoned Mr. Bennett.

  The Sobieski family is rather notorious. Some interesting rumors have followed them, and while normally this writer wouldn’t pay any attention to such gossip, it’s worth noting that instead of dying out, these same tales have haunted each generation of Sobieski women. There must be some truth to the stories, right?

  The journal of none other than Captain John Bellamy gives us a detailed account of the Sobieskis, and it’s quite fascinating. Their story involves love affairs, magic—and even murder. That’s right, legend has it the Sobieskis have killed before. This entire puzzle will be set down piece-by-piece in detail very soon on this blog. Don’t forget to subscribe so that you can read it first.

  Minka frowned and handed back the cell. “I see Pepper’s been making the most of our family’s tragedy. How decent of her.”

  “Just Pepper being Pepper.” Kamila rolled languidly onto her back and yawned. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she hadn’t been sleeping well. “Our family is one of her favorite subjects. This is nothing new.”

  Alex wasn’t inclined to be as gracious toward Pepper as her cousins were. What was Pepper’s fixation with the Sobieskis about? “Doesn’t this bother you? Even a little?”

  “I guess so. I’m not sure what her interest in our family is. I think her own family history isn’t exciting enough or something, so she’s always digging into our past.” She shrugged. “I’m really tired.” Minka crawled off the bed. “I’ve got to get some sleep. I want to open Botanika tomorrow, to keep things running like usual. I can’t even think about Pepper and her stupid blog.” With that, Minka slumped off toward her own bedroom. “Wake me before dinner.”

  “Yeah, I’m with Minka,” Kamila said. “I’m going to take a nap in my old bedroom and then maybe I’ll get riled up, but now?” She yawned, and that was answer enough.

  Alex was left alone in her room with Athena, who was snoring beside the bed. She closed the door and positioned her pillows against the headboard. Maybe Minka and Kamila weren’t bothered by Pepper, but it bugged the heck out of her. She’d always had a protective streak, and she’d be darned if Pepper was going to spread this absurd gossip about her family. The best thing to do was to get the police looking in the right direction: away from Lidia. But where to start on the matter of Randy Bennett’s murder?

  She did a quick Google search on her phone and pulled up a few articles. Randy Bennett had been a real-estate developer, so many of the online photos showed him at ribbon cuttings holding a giant pair of scissors. Only one caught her interest, something about a land dispute that might have been heading to court.

  She jotted a few notes, then stretched and rose. Her limbs were heavy from fatigue, but she’d never been one to nap. She tucked her notebook under an arm and walked downstairs to the kitchen, followed closely by Athena. Lidia was opening and closing the cabinets and mumbling to herself.

  “Smells like someone’s been baking,” Alex said, before spotting a plate of pączki—Polish doughnuts—on the wooden top of the breakfast bar. Her face broke out into a grateful smile. “I tell ya, freshly baked treats from the motherland never gets old.”

  Lidia smiled over her shoulder. “Help yourself. I’m just reviewing the damage those lovely police officers did while they were searching my house.” She flung a tall cabinet wide open to gesture at the towers of pots and pans. “Look at this. Were they raised in barns?”

  Alex bit her lip. She’d actually been the one who’d tried to straighten up that cabinet. She didn’t think it looked that bad. “How about if I make us some tea? Then I’ll help you organize that pantry the way you like it.”

  “You’re sweet.” Lidia closed the doors again and stepped away. “But there’s no need to clean it now. I want to have something to do for the next however many months, since they took all of my herbs away.” She lowered herself onto a chair at the breakfast bar, looking withered. “I’m a prisoner in my own house.”

  “But hopefully not for long.” Alex smiled sympathetically and reached for two mugs. “How about lavender tea?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Alex put the kettle on the stove, scooping fragrant leaves into the teapot. When the tea was ready, she set a steaming mug in front of her aunt.

  Lidia took a raspberry pączki and set it on a small plate. Then she pushed it toward Alex. “Raspberry is your favorite.”

  Alex was touched she remembered. “Yes it is.”

  “Those raspberries grow wild in the backyard,” Lidia said, helping herself to a strawberry doughnut and taking a bite. “Better than the food I had all weekend.”

  Alex opened her notebook and flipped to the right page. “Okay. So, for now, we’re saying yo
u don’t have an alibi?” She glanced at her aunt, hoping not to upset her.

  Lidia shot her an annoyed look. “You heard what I told Tobias, yes?”

  Nodding, Alex swallowed against the tightness in her throat. Her aunt certainly wasn’t making this easy. “Okay, so let’s talk suspects.” She positioned her pen. “I’ve heard that most murders are committed by those closest to the victims. Randy was going through a divorce and his wife Stephanie was at the scene. Do you know her?”

  Lidia chewed before responding. “Yes, we went to college together. She was going to be an interior designer, but once Randy made his millions, she abandoned her dreams.” She paused. “Perhaps that’s unkind. Stephanie has a number of charitable interests and she’s done a lot of good, I’m sure.”

  “Randy was a millionaire?” Alex thought back to the sallow, disheveled man.

  “Many tens of times over,” Lidia said solemnly. “He owned Bay Realty Corporation. From what I’ve heard, it’s worth about a hundred million dollars.”

  Alex let out a low whistle. “So Stephanie Bennett had a reason to kill her husband before the divorce was final. Maybe a hundred million of them.”

  “They were married for a long time.” Lidia hesitated before adding, “If you’re wondering if I think Stephanie could be capable of killing Randy for money, then yes, I think it’s possible.”

  Alex wrote Suspect: Stephanie Bennett. Motive: $100 million.

  “This is delicate, but do you think that Stephanie might want to frame you for Randy’s murder?”

  Alex braced herself for an angry outburst, but Lidia’s face revealed nothing. “Stephanie and I were not friendly. I suppose it’s possible that she would see me as a convenient scapegoat.”