Crooks and Crystals (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 3)

by Constance Barker

  “Oh good you’re here. Celestial, I really need to talk to you. You simply must help me.”

  Celestial held a hand out and guided Morgana to a stool. She sat down and wiped her forehead with the fine silk scarf she was wearing.

  Tamara shifted into her human form, stood next to her friend, and placed a hand gently on her arm. Morgana jumped as she felt her touch then smiled as she realized who it was.

  “What’s happened?” Celestial asked.

  “I need you to help find out who killed Martin. The whole town is looking at me like I did it! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that an abusive misogynist is dead but I’m telling the truth when I say I didn’t kill him!”

  Celestial gave her a sympathetic smile. “Would you like some water?”

  Morgana placed both hands over her eyes. “I’d rather have a shot of expensive whiskey,” she mumbled through her hands before looking back up, “but I’ll settle for water.” She gave her friends a weak smile.

  Tamara nodded at Celestial and went to fetch a glass of water.

  Celestial settled herself onto a stool next to Morgana. “We believe you, Morgana, but you did threaten his life in front of half the town. They just put two and two together as anyone would,” she said gently.

  “I know, and trust me I wanted to kill him but I’m not capable of physical violence. It’s just that sometimes my mouth runneth over and I don’t care who’s around when it does.” She looked pleadingly at Celestial who smiled and placed a hand on her arm.

  “I do believe you, Morgana, and what’s more I’m going to do everything in my power to find out the truth and prove that you’re not a murderer.”

  Chapter 4

  Once Morgana had left the store, Celestial, Athena and Tamara eyed each other thoughtfully. Athena was the first to speak.

  “We all know what we need to do now.”

  Celestial nodded, lips pursed. “Yes, although I’m not sure what we can hope to achieve.”

  Tamara looked first to Athena then back to Celestial. “I’m sure you both assume I know what you’re talking about but I really don’t have a clue. Could one of you fill me in?”

  Celestial laughed. “Sorry Tamara. We were thinking we need to go and have a look at the crime scene.”

  “Will there be anything worth looking at after the police have been there?”

  “Let’s find out shall we?” Celestial said as she slipped off her stool.

  They apparated into the woods just beyond the crime scene and checked the coast was clear before walking to the clearing where the victim had been found.

  Someone had obviously taken time to hack away the vegetation and flatten the area to make a definite circle. It did appear it to be a space where rituals were performed or spells cast.

  Celestial spun around slowly. “Right, let’s all take an area and see if we can find anything unusual.”

  Athena buzzed on her right shoulder. “You mean more unusual than a dead body with a pot of blood next to it?”

  “Just look for things that don’t belong.”

  After twenty minutes of scouring the area and peering into hollow tree trunks, Athena had given up and Tamara was sitting on a log flicking through the leaves around her feet with a stick. When she looked up Celestial had disappeared.

  “Celestial, where are you?” she called out.

  There was a moment of fearful silence before she heard her friend’s voice off in the distance.”

  “Over here!”

  Celestial was now about two hundred feet beyond the clearing. She was bent over pushing aside some foliage and fallen branches.

  Athena buzzed her way over to a nearby tree stump. “What is it?”

  “I saw a glint of something . . .” She carefully pinched the object between her two fingers using one of the gloves she used when making her lotions. She stood and held it up for the others to see.

  “Oh my goodness,” said Tamara, “that’s got to be the murder weapon!”

  Celestial nodded. “We’ll have to let Nikoli–”

  As she spoke his name, a wolf appeared from behind a large tree.

  “Hi Nikoli,” she said with a smile, “We’ve found a clue; possibly the murder weapon.” She held up the object; it was a large syringe with the needle still in place. Nikoli’s amber eyes glowed against the ambient light of the woods as he peered closer.

  “Shall we bag it for you?” asked Celestial. “It would be unseemly for you to shift back to human form right now and I can hear children playing at the edge of the woods.”

  He let out a low growl before answering, “Much appreciated. I’m not sure how my team missed it.”

  Celestial pulled a small plastic bag from her jacket pocket and dropped the syringe inside before sealing it. “It’s a long way from the crime scene and it was hidden in a small crevice in a fallen log under all that tall grass and leaves. I only noticed it as the breeze blew the grass back and I happened to see a glint of silver from the needle.”

  “Did you find anything else?”

  Tamara stepped forward. “Martin most likely knew his killer. There are no drag marks at the scene and you told us your forensic team found two sets of footprints so he must have walked here with someone he knew.” She placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the area around them.

  Celestial, Athena and Nikoli remained rooted to the spot eyes wide.

  “Thanks for that, Sherlock,” said Celestial with a laugh, “I thought you were just fannying about with the leaves.”

  Tamara glared at her; hands still firmly on her hips. “I prefer Columbo, actually.”

  “Anyway, Columbo, I had already considered that but thank you for your insight - it was well thought out.” Nikoli gave her a nod of appreciation.

  Celestial raised her palms up. “That pretty much eliminates Morgana. There is no way Martin would have gone anywhere with her.”

  “There are those that would argue that she could have tricked him into coming here with her somehow,” said Nikoli.

  Celestial shook her head. “Martin Zeller was arrogant not stupid.”

  “Maybe you’re right. Just keep me informed of any bits of gossip that come into your store this week.” He gave a short growl before walking away.

  * * *

  Morgana kept her head high and her heels clip clopping at a brisk pace as she made her way to the bakery. The sun was weak but it was out which allowed her to wear her large Gucci sunglasses – although they didn’t cover as much of her face as she’d hoped. The townsfolk stared, albeit discreetly, as she walked by. Some gave her an accusatory look while others boldly gave her a ‘thumbs up’ in admiration of the woman who they thought rid the world of a nasty scumbag.

  The warmth of the bakery was noticeable on entering. The smell of powdered sugar and cinnamon weaved its way through the air. There was a brief silence as she walked up to the large glass-fronted counter to the right of the entrance. The red-headed girl behind the counter bid her good morning and the silence lifted.

  Morgana placed her sunglasses on the top of her head and placed her order. “Good morning. Could I have a loaf of spelt bread and four cinnamon buns please?”

  As the girl turned to fetch her order, a large woman in a blue dress walked up to her and slapped her on the shoulder.

  “Good for you for taking out that monster,” she said enthusiastically. “I would have done the same if he’d hurt my sister.” She patted her shoulder before walking away.

  Morgana protested, “Oh but I didn’t . . . I couldn’t . . .” She turned to face the queue that had begun forming behind her. There was a collective bobbing of heads before someone began clapping.

  “You must listen to me,” she protested, “I really didn’t . . .”

  But no one was listening. The rest of the customers joined in with the clapping.

  How could they think me capable of murder?

  “Here’s your order,” said the girl behind the counter holding up a paper bag.

 
“Thank you,” said Morgana, her eyes filling with tears. She grabbed the bag, placed her sunglasses back on.

  She began to walk with her head held high past the line of people waiting for their turn to order, when she stopped suddenly.

  Her eyes caught sight of...Celestial.

  Morgana immediately lowered her face and began to walk faster, repeating a phrase over and over to herself.

  “I didn’t do it! I swear. I didn’t do it!” she repeated as Celestial watched her walk away.

  Chapter 5

  The next day, Celestial was still suspicious about the strange scene in the bakery with Morgana. Though it seemed like several people in town thought Morgana was the killer, she hadn’t reacted out of guilt like Celestial had expected. Her tears might have been enough to clear her, but Celestial still wasn’t entirely sure.

  She was about to call Nikoli to ask if he had any news about the evidence she had found, but as if he read her mind, he walked into the store and greeted her. After looking around to make sure nobody could hear, he whisked Celestial into the back room and began to speak. “That syringe you found had traces of heroin in it.”

  “I knew it.” The shop owner shook her head. “It must have been something more than a general overdose though, someone wanted Martin dead.”

  “You’re onto something there. The medical examiner checked the body and found a tiny pinprick between the victim’s toes, but there was definitely something suspicious about it. We just have to wait for the toxicology report.”

  Celestial frowned. “And how long is that going to take?”

  “It could be a few days to a few weeks before we get the results.” The detective smiled coyly. “Do you think you can stay out of trouble until then?”

  Rolling her eyes with a small grin of her own, Celestial chuckled. “Yeah right. Do you remember who you’re talking to?”

  Nikoli crossed his arms. “As long as you don’t break into any more houses to gather evidence under dubious circumstances, we should be fine.”

  “Okay, but don’t come crying to me when the police hit a dead end and don’t have enough evidence to make a case.” She shrugged her shoulders, but as she saw how serious Nikoli’s face was, she relented. “Fine.”

  The other let out a long sigh. “Anyway, do you think that Morgana had something to do with the victim’s death?”

  She thought back to the scene she witnessed yesterday, shaking her head. “A group of women came into the bakery and congratulated her on getting rid of Martin, but she started to cry and ran away. That’s not the type of behavior indicative of a murderer.”

  “You never know.” Nikoli interjected. “People process grief in different ways, perhaps she felt sorry about what she did.”

  Celestial wasn’t convinced. “I have a gut feeling it wasn’t her, though I’m not entirely willing to bet my life on it either.”

  Going deeper into detective mode, Nikoli whipped out his pad and pen. “Who else might have wanted him dead, do you think?”

  Putting a finger to her mouth, Celestial thought hard, but couldn’t come up with any names.

  Athena fluttered towards Nikoli’s ear just then, buzzing softly. “A little bird told me that Martin’s secretary wasn’t too happy with him before he died. Her name is Samantha, it may be worth looking at her more closely.”

  “That’s a good tip, Athena. I know Samantha from around town. We’ve even spoken on a few occasions. I didn’t she was Martin’s secretary.” Celestial thanked her familiar and encouraged the bug to continue. “Was there any particular reason why?”

  Athena’s wings trembled with excitement. She was happy to help. “Apparently Samantha had a very big crush on Martin, and he started leading her on.”

  “They were in a relationship?” Nikoli scribbled down the tips.

  “If you could call it that.” Athena giggled. “I heard that when Samantha realized Martin was never going to leave his committed relationship with someone else, she became irate.”

  Nikoli nodded, finding the information useful. “Yes, that’s very interesting. Anything else?”

  Athena thought for a moment before piping up again. “He ended things with Samantha and it didn’t go over well. My sources tell me she screamed at him so loud that everyone heard, she didn’t want to be his ‘side-piece’ anymore.”

  “A romance gone sour is usually a good motive. But do you believe Samantha was so angry she might have actually gone through with killing Martin?” Nikoli questioned.

  Celestial winked in the detective’s direction. “If that happened to me I might just kill someone.” She was satisfied when he turned red and coughed, excusing himself quickly. “Look into it, if Samantha felt that her pride and her character were assassinated due to that incident, she might have sought revenge.”

  Nikoli nodded as he left, stuffing his pad and pen away before bidding the two goodbye. Once he was gone, Celestial and Athena got straight to gossiping as they walked back to the front of the store.

  “Which little bird told you all of that?” Celestial laughed, impressed.

  “I have my sources but I’ll never tell.” Athena winked.

  There were not a lot of customers in the shop, and Celestial figured it might be time to close down for the day. After she helped the remaining few, she closed the doors and turned to Athena again. “You really think Samantha did it?”

  “It’s hard to say for sure.” Her familiar sighed. “There were a lot of people who didn’t like Martin, and not just because he broke up with them either.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard some things about him, most of them unpleasant.” Celestial agreed with a frown.

  “The man was a philanderer. He also had a reputation of getting drunk and getting angry.”

  Something about those words struck a chord with Celestial, and she began to think deeply. “Hmm, do you think he was drunk right before he got killed?”

  “What are you getting at?” Athena was lost, but she knew Celestial was smart. She had to be on the right track.

  “If he was drunk when he arrived at the murder site, maybe he could have angered the wrong person. It may be worthwhile to question people at the local pubs to see if they saw or heard anything.”

  Athena shook her head. “That would have been smart, but Martin was known to drink alone at home. Good thought, though.”

  Celestial began to grow frustrated. She felt as if the key to the case was right under her nose, but she couldn’t quite grasp it yet. “Oh well. We’ll know for sure when that toxicology report comes back.” Hopefully, despite Nikoli’s estimate, it would come sooner than later.

  Chapter 6

  Celestial was processing dried herbs when her door rattled and Samantha came in. She looked around uncertainly as if the stranger items in the shop confused her.

  “Can I help you, Samantha?” Celestial called out. Samantha quickly made her way to the counter.

  “You have some strange stuff in here.” Samantha said shortly.

  “Can I help you with anything?” Celestial ignored the comment. ‘Strange’ was a matter of opinion.

  “I heard about your lotion.” Samantha said warily. “and soap? Everyone’s raving about how great it is. I thought I should get some.”

  “Sure.” Celestial pointed to some bottles and paper wrapped soaps on a stand by the front counter. “They come in different scents. Have a look and tell me what you like.”

  “It’s a good thing they are reasonably priced.” Samantha picked up a few bottles to examine. “I’m really running short now that Martin’s gone. Do you know anyone who’s hiring?”

  Celestial shook her head. “No, I’m sorry.”

  Samantha nodded, playing with the bottles of lotion. Celestial felt like there was a lot going on behind her expression. It might be worth finding out what it was.

  “Are you okay, Samantha? Do you want to talk about anything?”

  Samantha shook her head, then looked up and nodded.

  “He was suc
h a pig.” Samantha’s voice was breaking. “I was going to start looking for a new job anyway, but now I’ve got no income while I look for a new one. I hated Martin and I hated the work but at least I knew he wouldn’t fire me.” Samantha looked up, sniffing. She was clearly very upset.

  “So, you’re sorry he’s dead?”

  Samantha’s eyes changed so fast Celestial almost regretted her question.

  “I didn’t say that.” Samantha’s tone was guttural and barely controlled. “He got what was coming to him. He won my trust and my love then he tossed me aside like garbage. Maybe now he knows what it feels like.”

  Her face stayed hard, her eyes glinting with anger. Just when Celestial thought Samantha would let out another angry tirade, the woman burst into tears instead.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” Celestial hurried around the counter, putting an arm around Samantha as she switched on the kettle. “Let’s have some tea and you’ll feel better.”

  Samantha shook her head as if this was a truly ridiculous notion, but she did take the chair Celestial offered her, as well as the small cup of tea.

  “Are you feeling better?” Celestial leaned over to rub Samantha’s arm gently. Samantha nodded, taking the tea cup.

  “I’m sorry. I totally didn’t mean to break down like this.”

  “It’s perfectly okay. Everyone is under stress and you’ve been right in the thick of it. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. Not just all the drama with Martin, but now losing your job as well.”

  “It’s been a shock.” Samantha put her teacup down, nodding. “I was just so angry with him. I couldn’t let it go. He made me feel so special I…” Her voice trailed off as her gaze wandered. Celestial stayed quiet, knowing full well that people often needed to fill silence and would spill secrets if you just kept your mouth shut.

  Samantha shook her head. “One moment I was furious, wondering how to rebuild my life after he wrecked it up. Then he’s dead and everyone’s a suspect… As if that isn’t enough, now I have no job to go to. I mean, it doesn’t sound like much, but this is going to make or break me.”