Hex to Pay: A Witch Detective Cozy Mystery

by Stevie Day

  Aunt Penny was right. He was cute.

  Alice made her way over to Able and looked down at the pair of comic books he’d pulled from the boxes. “Legion of Super-Heroes,” she said. “That was a cartoon for a while when I was little.”

  “I know,” Able said. “I used to read these when I was a kid. I was never a full blown collector, though. Just a few things here and there. I had a run of these guys, the Legion. Don’t remember when or where I got them, but I remember these two issues. I probably read them a thousand times.”

  “That’s kind of sweet,” Alice said. It was hard to imagine this man might be a murderer… but she had to be careful, anyway.

  “Heroes,” he murmured. “That used to mean something. That used to be something to aspire to.” Able turned and looked at her. “How many cops do you think became cops because they read comic books as kids and wanted to be heroes? Or firefighters? Soldiers? Because they just wanted to save the day? Wanted to do good?” His golden eyes looked misty for a second, as if the topic meant something to him.

  “A lot, I hope,” Alice said.

  “Yeah,” Able agreed as he looked back down at the comics, looking a little lost in thought.

  “What about you, Able?” Alice asked, her voice growing soft. “What do you think being a hero means today?”

  He looked back up. “Ha. I honestly have no idea anymore. It’s all so… messy.”

  “Maybe it doesn’t have to be. Maybe just doing the right thing is enough. In some small way… honesty can be heroic.”

  Able was quiet for a long time, staring down at the comic book in front of him. He traced the letters with his fingers, ran them slowly over each character.

  Finally, he looked back up at her. “I didn’t kill Janet, Alice. I promise. I loved her. More than anything.”

  Alice believed him… but that was dangerous. And, she thought, irresponsible. She was still investigating a murder and Able Johnstone was still one of the top suspects, even if he did come across as honest and believable.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were having an affair with her, Able? That information really would’ve helped.”

  “Because it’s none of your business, Alice,” he snapped, his tone suddenly sharp. “I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you honesty. I don’t owe you a thing.”

  “That’s not very heroic, Able.”

  His shoulders slumped, the small burst of defiance already fading.

  “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Sorry I snapped at you.”

  Alice simply nodded in acceptance of his apology.

  “You know,” he continued. “I liked you the moment I saw you. So little, sitting across from that huge jerk, Dr. Dalton. I could tell he was getting angry. Yet you just seemed… at peace. That’s a hard thing to achieve. Peace. Especially around that guy!” He laughed, but it was a forced laugh. Alice smiled slightly, politely, but didn’t speak. She wanted him to keep talking.

  “And I did consider it, right then and there. Just coming clean and telling you about Janet and me. But it’s true what I just said, even if it was wrong of me to snap at you. It really isn’t anyone’s business.”

  Alice wanted to say something about it very much being Barry’s business, as Janet’s husband. But she didn’t want to put this guy on the defensive, so again she simply nodded.

  “I’ve known her for just about five years. We started off rocky. Adversarial. But she had a life and energy that I admired and it wasn’t long before I realized I was falling for her.”

  “I can see how someone with a personality like that would be attractive.”

  Able nodded. “I’ve been in love before, had girlfriends. But it was different with her. The relationship was different. I didn’t lie about her being my best friend. Even while my feelings were growing romantic, that adversarial relationship slowly transformed into a friendship. And I’d decided to be content with that. She loved her husband. If all I could have was a friendship with her, then so be it. A little bit of Janet was better than no Janet.”

  “But it grew from there, I take it?”

  He sighed. “Yup. Something amazing happened. She fell in love with me, just as I had with her. It was slow, gradual, and inexorable. Like destiny. Like a romance movie. The love just grew and grew. Then a couple of months ago, just days before she passed, she finally decided to leave her husband for me. It was the best day of my life. I had asked her a thousand times, and one day I asked her again, saying the same things I said every day. ‘I love you. Come be with me.’ And one day, she said, ‘Okay.’ Just like that. ‘Okay.’ She told me to give her a couple of days to sort it all out and tell Barry, then she’d move in with me.”

  So Barry knew about their relationship and hadn’t told Alice? She found that odd. “How did Barry take that?” she asked.

  “Not well,” Able answered. “I don’t want to be overly critical of the guy. From what I can tell, he still loved her very much. But he isn’t a very… strong… individual. For one thing, he has an incredibly overbearing mother that Janet just couldn’t stand. All their life together, she had to listen to him grovel to his mother like he was still a little boy. Who wants to stay married to someone like that?”

  It was harsh, but Alice could see how that’d put a strain on a relationship.

  He continued, “When she told him she was leaving, he cried. Begged. I think she still loved him, at least a little bit, because she didn’t leave straight away. But she’d gotten tired of his act. He promised to change, tried to show her old photos and played old songs for her. It was desperate and kind of sad, from the way she described it.”

  Alice winced. “Yeah. That is sorta sad.”

  He returned a comic back to its slot. “Anyway, it didn’t work. Janet was just about to move in with me when she passed.”

  Alice let all this new information sink in. Was Able still leaving something out? She had to keep softening him up to be sure. She placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “I meant it the other day when I said I was sorry for your loss.” Alice paused before continuing, “And I still mean it now.”

  “So you don’t think I’m a louse for stealing another man’s girl?” His eyes started misting up again, so he turned and started to walk away.

  She followed him as he walked down the aisle. “It’s not my place to judge, good or bad. Love makes things messy, I get that. But at the end of the day, as much as I might want to sympathize with you, my only role here is to find out who killed Janet.”

  “Wait a minute,” Able said, spinning to face her straight on. “You actually believe she was murdered?”

  Alice bit her lip. That had been a mistake, something that had just slipped by as she had gotten caught up in the conversation. It was information she wanted to keep close to the vest until the best time to use it came about.

  It had seemed far-fetched to worry about Able, especially standing in a comic book store, somehow harming her. But she was suddenly aware that if he were the killer, he could be a dangerous individual.

  Still, his story rang true. And if it were true, and he was about to finally be with the love of his life, why would he suddenly turn around and kill her?

  Unless he was lying.

  Barry had described him as “smarmy.” It wasn’t the harshest description one could come up with, but it did suggest a dislike. And Able was a salesman who seemed able to turn on that salesmanship at the drop of a hat. What if he was selling a story to her now?

  What if everything he said was a lie, and he was so good at it, he could easily fool the much too trusting Alice?

  Questioning his motives like this was good. Again, best to not make any judgments or jump to any conclusions. Just gather all the information, theories, and hunches, and think of them all as pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle she was still in the process of putting together.

  “I’ll put it this way, Able,” she finally said. “I thought my job was going to be to help my client by bringing him peace and closure.
Now I’m not so sure that really is the best way to help him.”

  “Huh,” was all Able could manage.

  “But, Able. One of the first things you said to me a few minutes ago was ‘I didn’t kill her.’ Which is an answer to a question I never asked.”

  “So,” he said, running his hand through the generous amount of mousse in his blond hair. “What are you implying? I’m a liar? A murderer? Are you serious?”

  “I didn’t say any of those things. I just—”

  “Why did you ask me here, Alice?” he said, suddenly gruff and to the point. “To accuse me of murdering the love of my life?”

  “No,” she answered. “Not even close. And I’m sorry, because this conversation is starting to go way left of where I meant for it to go. I’ve had a tough couple of days so I’m really frazzled, that’s all.”

  “But you knew about the affair before talking to me, didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Alice answered.

  “How? Who told you? Barry?” His eyes turned dark, and an ominous frown formed on his face.

  “It’s not important who told me,” Alice insisted. But Able’s question did trigger a thought in her: Why hadn’t Barry told her about the affair?

  “No, I suppose it’s not,” Able agreed, the tension starting to leave his face. “Because it was only days away from not being an affair and becoming a love story. I have an engagement ring in my drawer at work. Bet you didn’t know that.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry,” was the only response she could think of. Alice had to wonder further why a man intent on proposing to a woman would ever kill her. He couldn’t have done it.

  “You know,” Able said, barely letting the information about the ring settle in, “if she was murdered, wouldn’t her husband be the most obvious suspect? ‘My wife can’t leave me if I kill her first,’ that type of thing? Why haven’t you considered him?”

  Of course she had. But that was assuming she still trusted Able’s story.

  Able sighed and put away another comic book he was holding. “I’m exhausted. I’m gonna get going now. I told you everything I possibly could.”

  “Okay,” Alice said. She felt tired herself. “And I’m sorry that I upset you, Able. Honestly.”

  He shrugged. “I believe you, Alice. Doesn’t make me feel any better though.”

  And with that, he abruptly turned and walked out of the store.

  Alice let out a long exhale and rested her hand on the box of comics in front of her. She turned her head… and was suddenly nose to nose with Danny.

  “You think he did it?” he asked eagerly, eyes wide.

  “Danny. Jeez. Were you listening to all of that?”

  “Well, I mean… You were talking in the middle of my store without asking for privacy or modulating your voices in any way, and I didn’t think it was eavesdropping because I wouldn’t do that, Alice. I hope you know I would never do that—”

  Alice put her hand on Danny’s shoulder, which seemed to calm him immediately. He looked at her hand, which she immediately pulled back to her side.

  “Danny,” she began. “Would you mind giving me a ride home?”

  He looked around the store. “Right now?”

  “It’s cool if you can’t—” She started to turn away.

  “Store’s closed! Everyone out!” he yelled. Everyone turned to look at him in confusion.

  “Danny,” Alice whispered. “Alfonso is here.” She pointed at Danny’s employee. “You don’t need to close the shop to give me a ride home. Doesn’t he run the store on your days off?”

  “Oh,” he said quietly, having momentarily forgotten that in his excitement. “Okay. So… now? Ride? You need the ride now?” He fumbled in his pant’s pocket for his keys.

  “Is that cool?”

  He pulled the keys out and smiled a big handsome smile. “That’s cool.”

  Alice was getting used to passenger seats. She couldn’t place the make and model of Danny’s car; cars weren’t one of her “things.” But it was clean and well-maintained, and she could appreciate that.

  The ride was quiet for the first couple of minutes as Alice lost herself in thought. Right before pulling into her driveway, Danny spoke.

  “Hey, uh, Alice? So, like, I was wondering if… you know. Would you mind—No, I mean, would you like to maybe go to a movie this weekend? With me?”

  “What?” Alice asked, legitimately surprised. She was well aware of Danny’s feelings for her but had thought he was a long way from having the courage to actually ask her out on a date.

  “You like movies, right?” he asked, his big blue eyes looking hopeful.

  “I love movies,” she answered.

  “Great. Want to go see one? With me? This weekend?”

  Alice was at a loss for words. She liked Danny, but not like that, but she was pretty sure he was asking her like that. She decided stalling was her best bet.

  She smiled. “Can I think about it?”

  “Sure. I don’t mind.”

  “Okay,” she said, swinging open the passenger door and hurrying out. “Thanks for the ride, Danny.”

  “Anytime, Alice!” he said, unable to hide his smile. Apparently a virtual “maybe” was more than he had hoped for.

  And heck, if Alice managed to survive solving this case, a little movie date with Danny wouldn’t be half as harrowing in comparison.

  22

  Aunt Penny got back to Alice’s house around 8am the next morning.

  “Wow, Aunt Penny,” Alice said as they exchanged a warm embrace inside by the front door. “You look like you’ve had a rough night.”

  Aunt Penny was dressed in faded bootcut jeans and a black Def Leppard t-shirt, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail. “Yesterday was… hard.”

  “Oh no. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No, not really. It was a terrible accident, thirteen people brought in. Two didn’t make it. And you never get used to that.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Alice said, and hugged her aunt again.

  “Enough of that.” Aunt Penny playfully shoved her niece away. “How’d it go with Mr. Johnson yesterday?”

  “Johnstone,” Alice noted as they started toward the kitchen. “And it was interesting.”

  “Interesting? How? Tell me everything.” Her aunt leaned over the gray kitchen counter and rested her elbows on it, her body clearly exhausted from the night before, but her eyes wide in interest.

  “He admitted to the affair,” Alice started. “But he claims she was leaving Barry. That she had told Barry as much just a couple of days before she died.” Alice grabbed a mug from a cabinet and poured some coffee she had brewed, offering the cup to her aunt.

  Aunt Penny wrapped her hands around the mug, lowering down to inhale the comforting scent. “That’s a pretty big coincidence, isn’t it? She tells her husband she’s leaving him, then a couple of days later she’s dead? Do you believe his story?”

  Alice sighed heavily. “I kinda do. But I’m trying to keep an open mind. One thing about his story, though… It does suddenly make Barry the number one suspect.”

  “I’d say so,” Aunt Penny agreed before pausing to sip her coffee. “Although it’s odd for him to hire you if he’s the actual killer.”

  “Maybe that was the intention. To throw suspicion off him.”

  “So what’s our next move?” Aunt Penny asked, her eyes looking a bit brighter after her dose of caffeine.

  Alice smiled. “We drop in on Barry, unannounced.”

  “Clever. Catch him off guard.” Aunt Penny grinned. “Let’s go solve a murder!”

  Forty-five minutes later, the pair were knocking on Barry Lombardi’s door. Two minutes later, they were still knocking.

  “His car’s in the driveway,” Aunt Penny said.

  Alice huffed as she stared down at the welcome mat. “He’s been a mess. Just spiraling downward, I think.”

  They knocked for another full minute before Alice grabbed her cellphone and dialed Barry’s nu
mber. They listened through the door and heard music playing from somewhere within the house. After about five rings, a groggy Barry Lombardi picked up.

  “Alice?” he asked.

  “Yup,” Alice replied. “It’s me. Did I wake you?”

  “No,” he said. “The lunatic banging on my door for the last ten minutes did. I was about to grab a baseball bat and go give them a piece of my mind.”

  “Sorry, Barry,” Alice said, grimacing at Aunt Penny. “That’s me knocking on your door.”

  “Oh!” he said, suddenly seeming much more alert. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. Why didn’t you call first?”

  Alice heard moving around now, through the phone and through the front door. “I didn’t think to call until just now. Sorry.”

  He was mumbling something into the phone, but they could hear him getting closer to the door.

  Alice was keeping her mind open to the possibility that Barry had killed his wife. But it still felt unlikely. His pain over losing Janet was real, and his overall demeanor simply didn’t suggest that he was capable of murder.

  Still, she would’ve felt better coming to this place with some spells prepared. A protection spell, maybe a distraction spell if they needed to run. But that wasn’t possible, at least for the time being. Instead, if trouble arose, she’d have to rely on her intelligence and wits. She hoped she had enough of both.

  She’d relied so long on magic as part of her repertoire, it scared her to think of what might happen if she was about to be face-to-face with a killer and not have access to the spells that could protect her and Aunt Penny.

  The door opened, and the supremely frazzled Barry Lombardi Alice had come to know stood before them, looking worse than ever. His mousy brown hair looked even mousier, and the five o’clock shadow he sported the last time now was a patchy beard.

  “Who’s this?” Barry asked, gesturing toward Aunt Penny.

  “Hello, Mr. Lombardi,” Aunt Penny said, offering her hand, which Barry hesitated to shake. “I’m Penny. I’m Miss Munroe’s interpreter.”

  “Interpreter?” Barry asked. “Who needs to be interpreted?”