by K E O'Connor
I stopped by a display of witch hats through the ages. The sign said, ‘try me on.’
I couldn’t resist. I grabbed a typical black pointed hat and stepped in front of the mirror.
“Not your style.” The wrinkled face of a witch appeared in the mirror.
Jumping back, I flung off the hat before laughing. It was a neat trick.
I’d almost forgotten what I was supposed to be doing as I wandered around, staring at the ancient torture devices used to extract confessions from witches.
Peering into a glass cabinet, I grimaced. There was a metal mask with spikes on the inside. It was described as a witch talker. It was used as an encouragement to get reluctant witches to reveal their abilities when interrogated.
“I’m glad they don’t use that anymore,” I muttered.
“Tempest! Any sign of Gretel?” Mannie bustled into the room.
I’d only gotten into the first exhibit room before getting distracted. “No sign of her in here.”
“I hope she gets here soon, or I’ll have to change the running order of the evening.” Mannie frowned. “No matter. This way. I’m about to open the doors.”
I followed Mannie into the main entrance foyer. Rows of chairs sat in front of a podium. Behind the podium was a long red curtain.
“Cleo! There you are. Get ready by the door to welcome our guests.” Mannie gestured to a short, curvy brunette with tanned skin and silky dark hair who lingered by the chairs.
I’d not seen her in Willow Tree Falls before. She must be a member of Isadora’s team.
Cleo nodded and hurried to the double doors to stand opposite me.
Mannie looked around before giving a satisfied nod. “Let the crowd enter.”
I opened the doors, with Cleo’s assistance.
Mannie stood to one side, shaking hands and kissing the cheeks of all the women.
I kept an eye out for Gretel, but she didn’t enter with the crowd. Maybe she had stage fright.
“Take a seat, everybody,” Mannie called as the crowd grew and people jostled for space. “We’re having a wonderful reading from the renowned author, Isadora Ash, before the museum opens.”
Waiters wandered around the crowd, passing out glasses of champagne and tiny filled pastry canapés.
I grabbed a couple of canapés and stuffed them into my mouth. Not bad, cream cheese and smoked salmon.
There wasn’t much to do other than crowd watch. Everyone was mingling and making small talk. All the history nerds were behaving themselves as I figured they would.
The sound of a microphone squealing had everyone turning. “Sorry about that. If you’d all like to take a seat, we can get started.” Mannie stood on the podium, smiling at everybody.
It took a few minutes, but everyone was soon settled in a seat and waiting for the talk to begin.
I edged around the side of the audience and stood next to Suki and Isadora.
“Is everything okay?” I asked Suki.
“Everything’s good on my end,” Suki said. “I didn’t get much of a look in with the canapés, though. I heard the waiters complaining about a fat dog who keeps knocking them out of their hands.”
Trust Wiggles to get in on the canapé action. “Don’t worry. Once everyone’s looking around the museum, we can eat the leftovers.”
Mannie tapped the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Isadora Ash to our new museum. Her research inspired the wonderful exhibits you’ll see tonight. Make her feel welcome.”
There was applause as Isadora walked to the podium and nodded thanks at Mannie, who moved to one side.
“Thank you for such a lovely greeting this evening. I’m sure I’m as excited as everybody here to be the first to reveal the exhibits at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.”
“It’s scary back there,” Suki muttered to me. “Isadora showed me a couple of the exhibits. They did gruesome things to you witches back in the day.”
“They probably still would if they knew we existed,” I whispered.
Suki shuddered. “I got jumped on by a ghoul.”
“What did you do?”
“Squished him in a headlock.” Suki shrugged. “Isadora stopped me before I pulled his head off. He wasn’t real, but he sure smelled like he was.”
I nodded. The exhibits were pretty spooky.
“I’d like to read you a few passages from my new book,” Isadora said. “But, before I do that, I’ll reveal the first interactive exhibit of the museum to give you a taste of what’s to come.” She walked to the side of the curtain and pulled a cord.
The curtain dropped, and the crowd gasped.
Displayed in front of everyone was a small pond, complete with living plants and the deep croaking sound of toads. The stench of fetid water crept across the room. By the side of the pond was a full-sized ducking stool. On that stool was a dead witch.
Everyone applauded as Isadora presented the display with a flourish of her hand.
“This is our first exhibit, which is an interactive experience.” Isadora gestured to the lever. “You can duck a witch. And for those brave enough, you can take your place on the ducking stool and see what it felt like to be a witch questioned by those who feared the magic we all possess.”
“It looks a bit chilly to me,” I whispered to Suki. “I bet that water’s not warm.”
“Not to mention the smell.” Suki held her nose. “I’ve never been a fan of water. This reminds me of the swamp in the forest.”
A movement by the ducking stool caught my eye. I stepped away from Suki and peered closely at the rushes planted by the pond. Wiggles was poking around in the middle of the display.
I gestured for him to come away, but he ignored me and continued sniffing.
Isadora had returned to the podium and was reading from her book, drawing the audience’s attention back to her.
I inched closer to the display, not keen to draw any attention. “Wiggles! Get out of there before you break something.”
He looked at me, and his red eyes glowed. He lowered his snout into the water and snorted loudly.
I shook my head. He most likely wanted to be the first to take a ride on the ducking stool.
When Wiggles’ head emerged from the water, he held the witch’s leg in his mouth.
That leg looked worryingly real. The skin was puffy and blotchy, nothing like a mannequin’s leg.
Glancing at Isadora to make sure I wasn’t disturbing her, I ducked and concealed myself with the plants as I crawled on my hands and knees marine-style toward Wiggles. As I got closer, my nose wrinkled. There was an unhealthy smell lingering in the water, and it wasn’t pond scum.
“Put the leg down,” I whispered to Wiggles.
He spat the leg out. “Happily. I knew I smelled something odd. They’re using a real body for the exhibit. How true to life is that?”
True to life! I sat up and heard several of the audience members murmur as they saw me.
“Is that Tempest?” I heard Granny Dottie say. “Coooeeee! Tempest. I didn’t know you were a part of this exhibit.”
I ignored my embarrassing family as I lifted the head of the witch sitting in the ducking stool.
I gasped as I stared into the very lifeless eyes of Gretel Le Strange.
Chapter 3
The book fell from Isadora’s hand as she turned and saw me beside the dead witch. “Is that Gretel?”
I lowered Gretel’s head back to her chest. “I’m afraid so.” That explained why she hadn’t shown up for the museum opening. She was already here, but not in the role I imagined she wanted to be.
“Tempest, what’s going on?” Mannie hissed as he hurried over. “You’re making the audience worry.”
“They need to worry.” I stood and wiped my damp hands down my tuxedo pants. “This is a crime scene. The witch in the ducking stool is Gretel Le Strange.”
Mannie gasped and staggered back. “That’s not possible.”
“You said she was missing. I
t turns out, she’s not missing. She’s dead.” The audience was murmuring, and I felt the panic grow in the room. “We need to clear this place,” I said to Mannie. “Any evidence that might show who did this to Gretel will be destroyed with so many people in the room.”
Mannie stared at me. “What about the opening? It’s been arranged for such a long time.”
“What about the dead body?”
His lips pursed. “Of course. We need to move Gretel before the evening can continue.”
I gaped at him. “There’s not going to be any evening. Somebody’s been murdered in the museum.”
“Murder!” A woman in the front row rose from her seat and craned her neck. “What’s that about murder?”
The word spread quickly, and soon the rest of the crowd were on their feet, pushing closer to get a better look.
“Suki! Wiggles! We need crowd control,” I shouted.
They jumped in front of the podium and kept the crowd from getting too nosy.
“Get everyone out of here,” I said to Mannie. “Now.”
“Very well.” Mannie huffed before hurrying to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention. There’s been a small accident. I’m afraid the evening will have to be postponed for a few hours.”
The crowd murmured their disapproval and shuffled uneasily.
“What’s going on?” someone shouted.
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Mannie lied. “A small technical difficulty.”
“Is that a real body?” another person yelled.
“Of course not.” Mannie’s laugh sounded forced. “Everything is fine. You all need to leave for now, though. Perhaps we’ll have a second go at the opening tomorrow night. I’ll make sure we have extra champagne to make up for this unfortunate incident.”
I shook my head as I stared at Gretel. There’d be no chance of opening this museum anytime soon. Not with a dead body on our hands.
The audience remained where they were as if expecting a show.
I moved away from the ducking stool and stood with Suki and Wiggles. “Let’s clear this lot out. Herd them like sheep toward the door. Prod anyone who doesn’t look like they’re going to move.”
Between the three of us, we forced the grumbling crowd to the main doors. After ten minutes of gentle shoving, everyone was outside.
I locked the door behind them. “We need Angel Force here.”
“I’ll send a message via the snow globe,” Mannie said. “We have one in the back office.” He bustled away.
“What do you need us to do?” Suki asked, her shades slipping down her nose.
“Nothing for now. Just try to avoid messing with the crime scene.”
“Hey! Here’s a plate of canapés,” Wiggles called. “They’ve only been trodden on a couple of times. Plenty are undamaged.”
Suki hurried over and sat on the floor with Wiggles to inspect the trampled food.
“Do you want one?” Wiggles glanced at me.
“I’m good.” Wiggles would eat anything, and it looked like Suki wasn’t all that fussy either.
A fist pounded against the door. I cracked it open and peered out to see Dominic and Sablo standing outside, their white angel uniforms gleaming in the gloom.
“That was quick.” I pulled the door open wider and let them in before locking it again.
“What are you talking about?” Sablo’s long blonde hair was wrapped in a thick coil on top of her head.
“Mannie only just sent the message.”
Sablo exchanged a confused glance with Dominic. “We saw no message. We were passing on our way to grab a pizza and saw the crowd outside. We thought we’d better see if everything was okay.”
“We can’t be long,” Dominic said. “Our pizza will be ready in five minutes.” He grinned at me. “You’re welcome to a slice of mine, Tempest.”
“The pizza will have to wait,” I said. “There’s been a murder.”
Sablo took a step back, and her wings fluttered behind her. “Are you sure?”
“There’s the body of a witch on the museum’s ducking stool. It’s doubtful she ducked herself,” I said. “You’d better take a look.”
Sablo and Dominic hurried after me as I returned to the exhibit.
They stood staring at Gretel for a minute, neither of them saying anything.
“This is terrible timing,” Sablo said.
“I’m sure Gretel will agree,” I said. “She was here to show off her knowledge at the opening event, not be drowned on a ducking stool.”
“Oh, it’s not that.” Sablo glanced at Dominic. “Dazielle’s away.”
“Then she needs to come back.” Dazielle could be stubborn and sometimes followed the wrong clues, but she usually saw sense in the end. Sablo and Dominic, not so much.
“She’s on an immersive course outside of the village. I don’t think they get access to their snow globes.”
“So, who’s in charge?”
Dominic scratched the back of his head. “We sort of all are. We operate a cooperative system at Angel Force. When the boss is away, we all get a say in how things are run.”
I repressed a groan. All that meant was no one would take charge of this murder investigation.
Mannie hurried over. He tugged at my arm and tilted his head to the side. “I need to speak with you in private.”
I followed him, leaving the angels to puzzle over what to do next. “What’s up?”
“You have to deal with this problem,” he said. “The museum will be ruined if this doesn’t get sorted quickly.”
“You’ve got Sablo and Dominic here.” I glanced over to see Dominic toying with the lever on the ducking stool. I could tell he was itching to give it a tug. “They’ll figure things out.”
Mannie curled his beard around his fingers. “Tempest, we both know what the angels are like when Dazielle’s not here.”
“Are you referring to the incident three years ago?” I grinned.
He nodded. “We were finding feathers six months after that party.”
I held my laughter in. The last time Dazielle had been away, the angels had had the equivalent of a frat party at a thermal spa. Three hundred drunken angels had gate-crashed the party and run amok through Willow Tree Falls. It was epic.
“We didn’t have a murder to deal with then,” I said. “I’m sure they’ll sort this out. They can be professional when they need to be.”
Mannie’s expression was pensive. “Dazielle knows how to take charge and get things moving. And these two are...”
“Pretty but ineffective?”
“Something like that,” Mannie said. “You’ll have to help them figure out what happened.”
“Mannie, I’ve already stepped up as your security detail for the night. That’s enough.”
“And look what happened.” Mannie gestured around the deserted room. “My audience fled in terror, and someone’s been murdered. I call that terrible security work.”
I scowled at him. “Gretel wasn’t murdered on my watch. That body has been in the water for a while.”
“You see! You know about this sort of thing, and you found the body. You’re good at this. I know Dazielle complains about you—”
“What does she say?”
“Oh, the usual.” Mannie wouldn’t meet my glare. “She thinks you interfere.”
“And I definitely will be interfering if I investigate this case when she’s not here.”
Mannie grabbed hold of my hands. “Please, you have to sort this out. What can I give you to convince you to step up and lead on this investigation?”
“Nothing! I didn’t know Gretel. I only met her briefly yesterday. You need to find out who’d want to kill her in such a public way. Someone clearly didn’t like Gretel and needed everyone to see what they thought of her.”
“There you go. You’re already thinking about the reasons for her murder. Anything you want, it’s yours. I can pay for a holiday, or how about a car? You’re alwa
ys walking around everywhere. That must be exhausting.”
I tried to pull my hands from his hot grasp, but he held on tight. “Mannie, I don’t need a holiday or a car. I don’t even drive.”
“Someone has to lead on this. It doesn’t need to be for long, just until Dazielle returns from her course.”
My brow wrinkled. “How long will that be?”
“A day or two at the most. No time at all. You just need to do the basics. Collect evidence, talk to suspects, figure this out. A smart young witch like you should have no trouble dealing with this.”
I finally extracted my hands from Mannie’s grip. “If I’m investigating this, you’ll be a suspect.”
Surprise registered on Mannie’s face. “Me! A suspect. I was friends with Gretel.”
“If you want me to do this, I’m doing it properly.”
He huffed out a breath. “Very well. I suppose it’s only right you ask me appropriate questions, but I can assure you I’m not involved.”
I looked around the room. Sablo and Dominic still stood looking perplexed by the body. If I did nothing to help, they’d probably leave Gretel attached to the ducking stool for anyone to gawp at.
“I’ll do this. Just until Dazielle returns.” I lifted my chin. “I get to question whoever I need to, and you don’t interfere.”
Mannie sighed. “Thank you, Tempest. Anything you need, it’s yours. Gretel was a friend. It’s terrible what’s happened to her. I need a nip of brandy for the shock.”
I nodded. “First things first, I need you to round up everyone close to Gretel. We might as well start there. Anyone who’s been working with her at this museum could be involved. I must speak to them all.”
“Of course. I’ll get right on that.” Mannie hurried away.
I was surprised he was following my orders. Maybe this wouldn’t be so difficult to deal with.
I turned and walked back to Dominic and Sablo. “Good news. You have a new boss.”
Dominic grinned at me. “Mannie’s put you in charge of running Angel Force?”
I choked out a laugh. “Not for a second, and I’d never agree to do that. He wants me to lead on this investigation. Do either of you have a problem with that?”