by K E O'Connor
“What did Seth do that made you want to leave?”
“It’s not so much what he did.” Lotus’ shoulders slumped. “I’m used to batting away his advances and keeping his hands off me. But one afternoon, Isadora walked in on Seth making a pass at me. He had me pinned against the desk and was trying to kiss me. I looked right at Isadora and asked for help. I said I wasn’t happy and Seth needed to leave. Isadora did nothing. She shrugged her shoulders, turned around, and walked out the door. She left me when I needed her.”
My eyes widened. “How did you stop Seth?”
“I kicked him somewhere very delicate, very hard. He was limping for days.” Lotus grinned at me. “I knew I only had a temporary reprieve. It wouldn’t be long before he tried again. I’d had enough. What stung the most was that Isadora knew I needed her, and she hadn’t helped me. If I didn’t know how to handle myself around Seth, I’d have been in serious trouble that day, and Isadora knew that. She doesn’t care enough about me to make sure I’m safe.”
“What did she say to you about the incident?”
“That’s the horrible thing. She never mentioned it. Isadora acted like she’d seen nothing.”
“Seth sounds more like a dangerous stalker than a boyfriend.”
“That about sums him up. And I’d never date him. Seth’s a creep, and I don’t trust him.” Lotus chewed on a piece of pizza crust. “I like my work with Isadora, and I love doing research like this, but I had to resign. Isadora let me down. I can’t forgive her for that.”
Isadora seemed solely focused on making her book launch a success and had neglected her staff, even when they desperately needed her help.
“I understand why you want to leave. It’s a shame you can’t get rid of Seth and keep your job.”
“I sometimes dream about bumping him off and getting rid of him permanently.” Lotus chuckled. “I shouldn’t have confessed that to you since you’re investigating Gretel’s murder. I promise I might dream of murder, but that’s as far as it goes.”
Lotus’ openness made me trust her. She had enough problems in her life without going after Gretel and trying to conceal the murder. “There’s no way to get Seth fired?”
“I’ve thought about it several times, trying to make him leave, but he’s sticking around until he gets paid. Isadora also won’t let him go. She can get another researcher easily enough. I’m replaceable.”
“Did you see Seth the night of Gretel’s murder?”
“Unfortunately, yes. There’s not much for me to do at the moment, and everyone is focused on the new book launch. Isadora’s working on something new, so I’m helping with bits and pieces, but I have free time and usually get to finish early.”
“Was Seth working with you that night?”
“No. I finished work and went for a drink in the Ancient Imp. I’d been there a couple of hours and was thinking about getting dinner when Seth came in. Immediately, he came over, offered to buy me a drink, and started sweet talking me. I wasn’t in the mood for his nonsense. I left the Ancient Imp and came here.” Lotus sighed. “I love pizza. It takes away all your worries.”
“There’s something magic about what Tate does to his pizza. How long were you here that night?”
“Late. I stayed as long as possible to avoid Seth when I went back to the house. We’re all staying in the same place, and he’s knocked on my bedroom door a couple of times to see if he can give me a good-night kiss and a mug of cocoa.”
My brows shot up. “I hope you never let him in.”
Lotus wrinkled her nose. “The door is always locked. He’s never getting into my bedroom. I left here at closing time and got back to the house around midnight. I went straight to bed. I didn’t see anyone, and I was quiet because I didn’t want to alert Seth if he was listening for me coming home.”
“You’re too good for Isadora and definitely too good for Seth.” Lotus seemed like a decent person who’d been treated badly. “Who do you think wanted Gretel out of the way?”
“You can take your pick out of anyone here. Isadora hated her; Seth thought she was trouble and not worth the hassle. I even saw your mayor arguing with Gretel, and I thought they were friends. Even Cleo got the sharp side of Gretel’s tongue more than once. Gretel made enemies wherever she went. There will be plenty of people raising a glass when they learn that Gretel Le Strange is no longer hassling them.”
I nodded as I stood from my seat. “Thanks for the information. Enjoy the rest of your pizza.” I wandered back to the counter where Tate was serving up a large deep pan stuffed crust with extra sausage and mushrooms.
“Did you get everything you needed?” Tate asked.
I nodded and licked my lips. “I don’t suppose that’s for me, is it?”
“Sorry, special order. I can always make you one.”
“Make that two,” Wiggles said. “And some dough balls.”
“Maybe another time.” I leaned closer to the counter. “Do you remember Lotus being in here the night Gretel was murdered?”
He nodded. “Of course. She’s hard to miss with that cute blue hair.”
“What time did she come in?”
“Just after eight. She had a large pizza, a side order of garlic bread, and a triple fudge sundae. She can sure pack away the food for such a tiny thing.”
“How long was she here?”
“All night. I had to ask her to leave because I was ready to close the shop. She looked like she was settled in and would have stayed as long as she could.”
“Lotus didn’t say anything about why she wanted to stay?”
“No, she wouldn’t open up.” Tate glanced at her. “Did she tell you what’s wrong?”
“Guy trouble,” I said. “And employer trouble.”
“That’ll do it. Everyone enjoys comfort food when they’ve got problems like that.” Tate shook his head. “I locked the store and walked Lotus almost back to her house. I didn’t want her walking home on her own when she was clearly troubled.”
I smiled at him. “You’re a decent guy, Tate.”
“And he makes awesome pizza,” Wiggles said. “You can make me one of those deep pan extra sausage pizzas to go.”
“No pizza,” I said. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Not even a small one?”
“We can treat ourselves to pizza when we’ve solved this murder.” I nodded thanks to Tate and left Mystic Mushroom before I was also tempted by the alluring scent of garlic bread and melted cheese.
My thoughts swirled as I considered what I’d just learned. Everything I heard about Isadora was bad news. She’d stop at nothing to ensure her book was a success. She’d ignored a staff member who needed her help, walked all over everybody else, took advantage of her assistant, and maybe even killed Gretel to rid herself of the woman who could ruin her hard work.
Isadora Ash was my number one suspect. It was time to bring her in for questioning.
Chapter 14
“Do you know when she’s coming back?” I stood outside the house Isadora was staying in.
Jonah shook his head, his expression apologetic. “I insisted she take a break. She’s gone for a walk to get fresh air. I’m hoping that will calm her. You’re welcome to wait inside if you have more questions.”
“No, thanks. We’ll take a walk around and see if we can spot her. Did she say where she was going?”
“I suggested the stores. Isadora can have a browse around and take her mind off work.”
“Thanks. I’ll see if I can find her there.” I said goodbye to Jonah and walked back into the village, hoping I’d see Isadora in a café or checking out one of the stores.
“Where do you think she’s hiding?” Wiggles asked.
“I’m hoping she isn’t hiding.” If she was, it only added to my suspicions.
“Someone has a guilty conscience.” Wiggles sat and scratched his belly with a back paw as we surveyed the people wandering past.
“It does seem odd. Maybe we spooked her wh
en we first asked questions. Isadora might think we’re onto her.”
“I could try sniffing her out, but my nose is full of the delicious aroma of pizza. I have pizza on the brain. The only way to cure that is to eat pizza. We should get a pizza. Ten minutes to order a pizza. I can eat a whole pizza in five minutes.”
“If you say pizza one more time, it’s off the menu for a month.”
“Piiiizzzzza.” Wiggles snorted and turned his back on me.
I had to make this search for Isadora official. I needed to bring the angels up to speed on what was going on. They had more bodies than me and could help me look for her.
I walked to their headquarters to find the reception desk empty again. I didn’t wait this time and went through into the back room with Wiggles.
A blob of something white and fluffy smacked into my forehead. “What the—”
“Oh! Tempest!” Sablo froze, a ball of what looked like sticky white feathers balanced on one outstretched wing. “We weren’t expecting you.”
I wiped my forehead and found it covered in white feathers and something that smelled like melted sugar. “What’s going on?”
Dominic hurried over and handed me a cloth. “You know what it’s like. When the boss is away...”
“You throw sticky balls of feathers at each other?” I wiped my forehead clean of feathers.
“It’s Angel Ball.” Sablo wandered over, tossing the white ball in the air.
“That’s right,” Dominic said. “We use our wings like bats. We each spare a few feathers, mold them into balls and bat them back and forth. Whoever drops the balls first is the loser and has to buy doughnuts.”
“I’d love to play,” Wiggles said. “I’m great with balls. And I love doughnuts.”
“Angels only,” Sablo said. “And I’m not trusting you anywhere near doughnuts ever again.”
“We’ve been playing for three hours,” Dominic said. “And we won’t count your involvement because you aren’t an official member of the crew. The pause in the game doesn’t matter.”
“No, we’ll have to start again.” Sablo flicked the ball in the air and caught it on her wing. “Previous time score void, thanks to intruders.”
“Before you focus on this crucial task,” I said, “you might be interested in what’s going on with Gretel Le Strange’s murder.”
“Oh! Of course.” The ball of feathers disappeared into Sablo’s hand as she tucked it behind her. “What have you found out?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure why I bothered. All the angels wanted to do was bat their balls around and munch on doughnuts. “I’ve spoken to everyone who has a connection to Gretel. Some alibis aren’t great, but we need to focus on Isadora Ash.”
“The author?” Dominic rubbed his chin. “Why would she ruin her book launch by killing Gretel?”
“Isadora isn’t as straightforward as she appears. For one thing, her alibi is lousy. She was seen going into her room the night of the murder, but it would have been easy to return to the museum unnoticed. Isadora’s also fiercely ambitious. She’d stop at nothing to make this book a success. Gretel was causing her problems. I’ve heard mention of a possible lawsuit against Isadora. Gretel was threatening legal action.”
“That sounds serious,” Dominic said. “You think Isadora killed Gretel to stop her from taking her to court?”
“It’s looking increasingly likely. Although, no one has a nice word to say about Gretel. We need to bring Isadora in for questioning. I believe she had the most to lose if Gretel kept interfering.”
“Make it happen,” Sablo said. “We have an empty interview room if you want to use it.”
Anger bubbled inside me. “I’ve been trying to, but there’s a problem. She’s missing.”
“Is she on the run?” Worry flickered across Dominic’s face.
“That’s what we need to find out. Can you get the angels to be on the lookout for Isadora?”
“Sure,” Sablo said. “We can pause Angel Ball and have a look around.”
“If it’s not too much trouble.” I hoped I didn’t sound too sarcastic. “Is there any sign of Dazielle coming back?” I never thought I’d be pleased to see Dazielle, but I now understood why she walked around with a sour expression on her face. It was all thanks to having to deal with this bunch of feathery fools on a daily basis.
“There’s still no word,” Sablo said. “We’ve sent three messages. She must be enjoying her training.”
“Until she returns, we focus on Isadora. Get a team out looking for her. Whoever finds her first, bring her in for questioning.”
“Are you leading on the questioning?” Sablo asked. “You know a lot more about this case than anyone else.”
“Sure. You find her, bring her in, and we’ll talk.”
“We’ll get right on it, boss.” Dominic hurried away.
I looked around for Wiggles and saw him with his paws on a desk, chewing furiously.
“Quit it,” I hissed at him. “You know what the angels do to you if you steal their food.”
He took another big mouthful of whatever leftovers he’d discovered before racing over to me. “They always leave food around. I don’t understand these angels. Why leave perfectly edible food to go stale? I’m doing them a favor by eating it.”
I rubbed my forehead as I left the angels to get organized. If I came back to find them playing Angel Ball in a couple of hours, I was turning in my unwanted investigator badge and letting Mannie deal with the fallout.
Until the angels found Isadora, there wasn’t much else I could do. I’d spoken to all the witnesses and suspects and needed to let the angels do their thing and track down Isadora.
I slowed as I walked past Aurora’s store. The lights were off and the blinds down. “Why’s the store shut? It’s not closing time.”
“Maybe she’s got wedding business to take care of,” Wiggles said. “I bet she’s tasting wedding cake. That always sounds like the best bit of getting hitched. All the free cake you want to sample.”
I peered through the window. Most of the shelves were missing stock. That never happened. Aurora was always getting new stock and special deals in for her customers. That was one of the things that made her so popular; she was rarely missing an item if somebody needed it in a hurry. Whether it was a calming spell or a healing crystal, Aurora always had something suitable.
“I don’t like this,” I said to Wiggles. “Maybe Aurora’s not well.” I took a step back and peered at the apartment above the store. There were no lights on, and the curtains were open. It didn’t look like anybody was home.
“She’ll be at Toby’s house,” Wiggles said. “I bet that creep’s convinced her to move in with him. Not that I blame her. Twelve bedrooms, a heated pool, acres of ground for me to run around in. I’d be tempted to move in if he asked.”
I glowered at him. “You love our apartment.”
“The apartment’s great, but it would be nice not to have to run up and down the stairs every time I need a bathroom break. I’ve told you I’m happy to use a litter tray if you can find a big enough one.”
“You’re not a cat,” I said. “You don’t go to the bathroom in the apartment.”
Wiggles grumbled under his breath. “Maybe I should get Toby to ask me to move in with him. I bet he’d give me a litter tray. It would be gold-plated. No, it would be solid gold.”
“He’d never do that. Toby has allergies, and he’s particularly allergic to you.”
“He will be after my gardening efforts the last time we were at his house,” Wiggles said.
“We need to pay Toby Matlock a visit. I want to see what he’s up to with my sister.”
We hurried past the stores again. I kept an eye out for Isadora as we walked, but she was nowhere to be found.
We walked along the long lane toward Toby’s house, passing increasingly grander houses as we approached his driveway.
I headed to his front door, which was flanked by two menacing stone drago
ns. I paused before I knocked.
“This needs discretion,” I said to Wiggles. “We don’t want to bump into Feodor and be stopped from getting in. Let’s see what’s going on inside before we try to get through the front door.”
Wiggles stood to attention, his tail in the air. “Stealth mode activated.”
“Let’s head around the side. Maybe Aurora is inside and nothing bad is going on. They might be having a nice dinner and I’m worried about nothing.” I didn’t believe my own words, but I hated to think Aurora was being exploited by Toby.
We crept around the side of the house, passing manicured bushes pruned into animal shapes. I peered in the first two windows and saw the hallway.
Wiggles hummed the theme tune to Mission Impossible as he scuttled beside me on his belly, his eyes darting from left to right.
I raised my head and looked through the window. My breath caught in my throat. “She’s in here.”
Aurora was in Toby’s study, a smile on her face as she sat perched on the couch. She was staring into space, looking at nothing in particular.
Toby sat behind his desk, bent over some paperwork.
I stared at Aurora. Although she was smiling, the expression on her face was vacant, and her eyes looked glazed.
“Let me see.” Wiggles pulled himself onto the frame with his paws and peered through. “I’ve never seen her in that dress before. It’s low cut for your sister. She’s showing a lot of, well, I don’t like to leer at Aurora. She’s showing some skin.”
“I’m not worried about the dress.” My fury mingled with Frank’s energy as his power pushed up my spine. He sensed Aurora was close, and something bad was happening to her. “Toby’s used his magic on her. Look at her face.”
“She looks spaced out.” Wiggles shuffled his butt closer. “Is that goofy look because of Toby?”
“It has to be.” I studied her neck and saw her magic eraser pendant in place. How was Toby influencing her so easily?
“Eeek!” Wiggles tumbled backward. “We’ve been spotted.”
I froze as Toby’s gaze met mine. It was too late to do a Wiggles and hide. I stared at Toby for several seconds, neither of us blinking.