"Very sorry for your loss, miss," the Nikoli said, nodding.
"Th-thank-you," Opal stammered, looking up and wiping at her cheek. "This doesn't seem real... she was perfectly healthy yesterday." She looked at Celestial and shook her head disbelievingly.
"I'll need to talk to you about that, but first I need to secure the scene," Detective Brewer said.
"I'll take you up," Meredith said, gesturing to the winding staircase. She headed up and Brewer followed after.
Celestial moved closer to Opal instinctively. She hadn't seen her youngest cousin in months. She looked gaunt, and Celestial felt awful for her. She was a pretty twenty year old girl with blue eyes and dark hair, but she wasn't a beauty like Isabella. Her skin was marked and pocked with scars from her teenage acne and she would rarely meet anyone's eye. Celestial knelt down next to her and gave her a gentle hug. She knew Opal was painfully shy and had been bullied mercilessly as a child, but she was still shocked that her cousin seemed to shrink from her embrace. Celestial drew back awkwardly.
"You're cold, let me get you a blanket," she offered, looking around the cozy foyer in vain.
"I want to go upstairs," Opal said abruptly, standing and running up the staircase. Della and Bella's eyebrows shot up.
Celestial followed after her cousin, Athena fluttering behind her. At the top of the stairs was a long, dark hallway. Meredith and Opal stood outside a door that was slightly ajar. Golden light spilled from the room. The ghostly sisters drifted up through the floor and kept a respectful distance down the hall.
Detective Nikoli Brewer poked his head through the doorway. "Meredith, can you come in and have a look? I need you to tell me if anything is out of place. Just try not to disturb or touch anything," he warned, opening the door further.
Meredith went in, and Opal and Celestial moved into the now open doorway. Opal gasped as she looked in at her older sister's lifeless body. Isabella was lying on her back, tucked into the bed under a heavy coverlet just as if she were asleep. There wasn't a blemish or drop of blood on her, and tears came to Celestial's eyes. They hadn't always seen eye to eye or been close, but they had grown up together... and she was far too young to die. Isabella's skin gleamed pale, and her dark hair pooled on the pillow, still glossy and beautiful.
The room was neat, the brocade curtains drawn and a single suitcase laid on a luggage stand. The rich colours seemed gloomy in the lamp light.
"This tea cup... it's not one of mine." Meredith said, pointing to an empty tea cup on the bedside table.
"Are you sure? You must have many," Nikoli probed, squatting next to the bed to look closely at the gold rimmed white china cup decorated with red, pink and gold roses.
"I'm sure," Meredith said quietly. "I collect certain patterns. I've never had any like this."
"Isn't that one of your tea cups?" Athena whispered to Celestial.
Opal looked up sharply, and Celestial was sure she had overheard the dragonfly's whisper. She stepped forward quickly.
"Detective Brewer, it looks like a pattern I have at home. Old Country Roses... but it's fairly common," Celestial said, shrugging her shoulders slightly. It seemed all eyes in the room turned to her, and the only movement for a minute was the fluttering of Athena's wings next to her, sending a slight breeze over her neck. She shivered.
"I'll bag it," Nikoli said after a moment, already pulling a bag from his pocket as he spoke.
Celestial went back into the hallway. Her cheeks felt hot. Bella and Della were whispering to each other but as soon as she looked at them, they winked out of view. She ran a hand through her hair wearily. This night was starting to feel like the longest one of the year.
Chapter 4
Back at the gift shop, Celestial paced back and forth in a frenzy over the tea cup that was found at the bed and breakfast. Anxiety gripped her as she wondered if someone had been trying to frame her. It was a well-known fact that she never saw eye to eye with her cousin, but Celestial hoped she wouldn’t be pinned as a suspect so quickly.
As she rearranged some decorative soaps to calm her racing mind, a large monarch butterfly fluttered into the shop and settled peacefully atop the checkout counter. The butterfly’s orange and black wings folded delicately behind its body as it seemed to wait for Celestial’s direction.
Celestial was startled at first by the visitor. With her hands on her hips, Celestial let out a frustrated groan. “How many times have I told you not to sit on my counters Tamara?”
Giggling softly as she assumed her human form, Tamara protested playfully. “I wouldn’t have to sit on the counters if you would finally invest in a good couch.” The monarch, now an elegant woman, flipped her lengthy black hair over her pale shoulder with a shy smile that reached her almond-shaped eyes.
“I’ve been meaning to order it, but with everything going on with Isabella I lost track.” Celestial sighed, abandoning her efforts to organize the soaps in favor of greeting her good friend. “I just went over to the B&B, it’s a very unsettling scene.”
Tamara hopped off of the counter with a frown. “Speaking of which, I’ve been flying around the bed and breakfast a lot lately. I saw Opal entertaining a group of mourners and well-wishers, but I thought it was odd that she didn’t shed a tear the whole time.”
Images of Opal sniffing and wiping her cheeks earlier came back to Celestial, and she shook her head vigorously. “You can’t be implying that Opal might have had something to do with Isabella’s murder. Grief hits everyone at different times.”
“Yes, but I knew she never liked her sister. Isabella bullied Opal relentlessly since birth. Isn’t that something worth exploring?”
Celestial’s brow furrowed as she empathized with Opal. Isabella wasn’t her favorite cousin either, and Celestial understood how it felt to be targeted due to that small fact. “There were a lot of people who disliked Isabella, but that doesn’t mean any of those people should be higher on the list of suspects than any other.”
“Actually, that means quite the opposite. There could be an endless list of suspects.” Tamara pushed back.
“Including me?” Celestial accused. “I didn’t like Isabella either, does that mean I’m guilty, huh?” Her eyes narrowed at her friend, and the tension in the room grew thick.
After a moment, Tamara relented. She spoke softly to hide her embarrassment, she didn’t intend to point the finger at her close friend. “No, you’re right. But it just means that we should keep our eyes and ears open without trusting anyone too freely.”
With a sigh, Celestial agreed. “I didn’t mean to get upset. There’s just so much going on right now, especially since one of my tea cups magically ended up in Isabella’s room.” She threw her hands up into the air in annoyance.
Tamara’s ears perked up at the new information. “Do you have any clue how that might have happened? Perhaps any leads about someone who may be trying to frame you?”
“My guess is as good as yours. But with the number of magical beings in this realm, any witch or fairy could have cast a spell to make it appear at the scene.” She imagined that it had to be someone capable of a very strong spell, but she wasn’t entirely sure who that could be.
The two slumped in defeat as the potential suspect list soon became endless. Sunlight was beginning to fade as golden rays shimmered through the shop windows. As darkness crept closer, the friends were no closer to nailing down a suspect.
Tamara looked intently around the shop in silence before speaking once more. “Are you certain it’s your tea cup and not just one that looks similar? My mother brought several family heirlooms and tea cups from Japan, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others like them here.”
“Trust me, as soon as I came home I ransacked my collection to try and find it. You’re right that country roses are a common pattern, but the fact that I couldn’t find mine means someone or something else put it at the scene.” Celestial put her head in her hands, defeated.
“I understand that, but in the end
, whomever or whatever committed the murder will have to face a jury of non-magic humans. Explaining that evidence just magically appeared in a dead woman’s room is not going to help anyone’s case.”
Looking up at her friend, Celestial’s bottom lip began to quiver. “I’m frightened Tamara, I can’t be a suspect.” A tear slid down her cheek as she became haunted by her own thoughts.
Tamara comforted her friend, placing a delicate hand on Celestial’s shaking shoulders. “Don’t worry about it too much. I’m certain that the real culprit will be found in no time.”
“But what if the detectives can’t narrow down a suspect, and all they have to go on is my stupid tea cup? You said it yourself, a jury of humans would never believe in teleporting evidence!” Celestial sobbed, completely overwhelmed by the possibility.
“Listen, it’s going to be okay. The best you can do is offer to help the detectives to the best of your abilities.” Tamara’s soft voice would have usually soothed Celestial instantly, but the stakes were too high for anyone to be of comfort.
“And how should I do that?” She asked halfheartedly, swiping at her running nose.
After giving the matter a little thought, Tamara’s eyes brightened. “First, you can start by making a list of potential suspects. I know we discussed how hard that might be, but anything that deflects the attention from you is a good start.”
Agreeing with her friend’s idea, Celestial began to gain hope once more. “I can do that. I guess it would help to collect the rest of my tea cups and dishes, just in case they need those as well.”
Smiling, Tamara hugged her friend. “See? It’s all going to be okay. Let me help you with that list.”
They began naming a couple suspects, but throughout the activity, Celestial couldn’t help feeling like they were missing a giant piece of the puzzle. She just didn’t know what it was yet.
Chapter 5
Nikoli walked into Celestial’s shop. The smell of herbs and flowers lingered in the air. The smell was particularly potent to Nikoli. His nose always itched a little bit when he entered the shop.
It was always easy to find Celestial. She was usually just around the corner from the entryway anyway, but Nikoli’s nose always knew where exactly she was before his eyes. Her perfume was made from natural scents, like everything else in the store, but her smell was always more airy and fresh than the rest of the shop. Mixed in with the smell was a lot of lavender.
Nikoli went straight over to her. As much as he wanted to believe his childhood friend’s innocence, he had to do his job.
“Celestial, can I get a quick word with you?” he asked.
She looked up from her work. She was grinding dried lavender with a mortar and pestle.
“What is it?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”
She furrowed her eyebrows. Though she was usually much happier to see her childhood friend, she couldn’t help but wonder if there were some ulterior motives for his visit.
“Well, if you recall, you mentioned to me that the tea cup at the scene of Isabella’s murder seemed like it matched one you had in a set. I’m going to need to take the whole set in as evidence.”
“Oh, yes, that makes sense.” Her voice sounded to her like it was not quite her own. “Let me fetch that for you.”
Celestial abandoned her mortar and pestle and headed to the back of the shop. There, she knew a few tea sets would be in the cupboards. After visiting the crime scene, she knew exactly which one to grab.
As she gathered all the pieces of the tea set, she remembered, unfortunately, one cup and saucer was in fact missing.
She brought the tea set out to the front where Nikoli waited for her.
“Here it is,” she said. “I hope it helps lead you to whoever did this.”
“I hope so too,” he said.
Silence hung in the air for a moment. Neither of them looked each other in the eye.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll figure everything out.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“It’ll be over before you know it. I know you’re innocent. That will be obvious to everyone else soon too.”
“Are you sure?”
He hesitated for a moment. He hoped she wouldn’t notice. “I’m sure. You can count on me.” He said.
“I know I can. I just know how it looks. It was my cup after all.”
“That’s part of the issue though. It was your cup and you told us as much. You’re smarter than that. I don’t think you would overlook that detail. I don’t think you would do it at all anyway.”
“I don’t think everyone else will be so generous. After all, Isabella was openly challenging me. I have the perfect motive,” she said.
“You have a motive,” he said. “Having a motive doesn’t mean you’re guilty. I’m sure plenty of people have a motive. It doesn’t mean that they acted on it.”
“Unfortunately public opinion doesn’t always take hard evidence into account,” she said. “You just need to look guilty enough.”
“That’s why we need the tea set. Maybe there’s a clue. Something to point us to someone else.”
“I really hope so. If not...”
“Don’t worry about that yet. There’s lots of ways a teacup can travel from one place to another. It doesn’t always mean it was transported by the owner.”
“But that’s not the only thing,” she said. “Do you know a cause of death yet?”
Nikoli rubbed at his jaw before answering. “No, but there were berries in the bottom of her cup. We think it may be linked to her cause of death if they didn’t cause it directly.”
“Oh, well, that will clear things right up, I’m sure,” Celestial said, sarcastically.
“I wanted to ask you a few questions about that as well,” he said. “You have to admit that no one knows more about plants than you.”
“So, you want to know what types of berries could be used to poison someone’s tea.”
“She made no secret that she drank a cup of currant tea every night. It would be easy to plant. She wouldn’t notice until it was too late.”
“It’s clever,” she said. “She was my family. I knew what tea she drank.”
“Don’t focus on that right now. Lots of people knew what tea she drank. When she came out of that meeting, she was an easy target.”
“Right, but we were fighting before she died.”
“Did you two often fight?” Celestial thought the change in the tone in his voice must be him slipping into detective mode.
“We did. We were family, but we were very different. I never thought she would try to take over my position though. That was a real nasty shock.”
“I’m sorry, Celestial.”
“Now it’s my turn to say it’s not your fault,” she joked. “Do you think the berries were really what killed her?”
“There’s no other evidence to go off of right now. I could be wrong, but if I were a betting man, I would say the odds are good.”
Her brow furrowed and her hands held tightly onto the counter. Nikoli wanted to reach out and hug her.
He resisted the urge and gave her a small smile instead. “I’ll take care of this,” he promised. “Please, don’t worry about a thing.”
He took the tea set off the counter. “Thanks for the tea set, Celestial. I’m not sure a killer would be cooperating this much.”
“I don’t think so either. I just hope I don’t get caught up in this any more than I already am.”
“Everything will be okay.” He nodded to her bowl. “I think you have some work that you need to get back to. Promise me you’ll try to relax, please?”
“I’ll do my best,” she said. “But no promises.”
Chapter 6
Celestial was trying to get back to her work after Nikoli left. However, as much as she tried to, she couldn’t get into a rhythm.
It usually came so naturally to her. She simply needed to focus her mind and spirit on manifestation while her hands did the cra
fting. Most of the time, all the pieces of her body and soul would work in perfect synchronization to cast a spell over one of her wares.
Today was not one of those days, however. She tried reaching out for the magic, but her mind kept wandering back to Isabella. She wondered if she should have handed over her tea set after all. Perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything.
However, Celestial’s worrying was interrupted by a loud crash outside. She heard pots breaking.
“My herbs,” she yelled, rushing out the door. Sure enough, several of her herbs had been smashed. Broken pieces of terra cotta lay strewn about her patio.
Dakota lay amongst the rubble in a daze. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll clean this up.”
“Did you just apparate in the middle of my herb display?” Celestial asked, incredulously.
“Well, I thought I was going to apparate to about three feet that way,” he said pointing toward the sidewalk. He got up and looked at the destruction all around him. “I guess I owe you some new plants, huh?”
She sighed heavily. She felt too exhausted to really care, even though she would normally be devastated about the turn of events.
“Come inside for a cup of tea,” she said. “I could use one anyway. After that I’ll get you a broom and you can pick me up some new plants.”
He dusted the dirt off his pants. “I think you’ve got yourself a deal.”
They went back into the shop. Dakota got set up at a small table while Celestial brewed the tea.
“It smells good in here,” he said. “I mean, it always does, but extra good today. Is that lavender?”
“It’s lavender, yes,” Celestial replied. She put black tea leaves and dried bergamot and lemon into a diffuser before brewing the tea.
“I meant to finish making an order of soaps today, but I don’t think I’m going to get to it. I don’t want to put a subpar product out.”
“Sorry. You probably really didn’t need me destroying your herb garden then, huh?” he asked.
Spooks and Spells Page 2
