Witch's Wheel

by Abby L. Vandiver

  He had just seen her in all of that jewelry the night before.

  This is going to kill me . . .

  Then he picked up the loose diamond.

  Where did you come from?

  He pulled the manila police folder in front of him and leafed again through the papers inside. This time he stopped to read the processing of the body.

  The single diamond was found tangled in her dress “at the point of entry.”

  Then Teagan picked up every piece of jewelry listed and checked it again. This time not for sentimental value, but for any damage.

  The diamond earrings. Intact.

  Tennis bracelet. Intact.

  Her wedding rings. All the diamonds intact.

  And according to Rose Avery, she didn’t have on her brooch because she’d taken it before his grandmother went down into that cellar. Still he’d seen it a hundred times and he knew there were no diamonds missing on it.

  He placed the loose diamond in the palm of his hand and stared at it. Then the realization hit him. And if he hadn’t gone back in time, he wouldn’t have ever figured it out.

  He closed the diamond in his hand and squeezed it tightly. He knew exactly where that loose diamond had come from.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Teagan didn’t need a GPS to go to the industrial-turned-residential building he’d just pulled up in front of. The red brick exterior was as familiar to him as his own home. And he knew he was in the right place when he saw a white cat and a black one, both with green eyes stare at him from a second floor window in the building.

  “Teagan, my boy,” Uncle Teddy said when he opened the door. “Hope you’re doing better today. You gave me quite the scare the other night.”

  “Nothing like the scare I’m going to give you,” Teagan said and followed the man inside.

  “So, to what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

  Teagan stood in the middle of the floor. His fists balled up at his side. He was breathing hard.

  “She didn’t come and help you wrap your hand,” Teagan said.

  “What are you talking about, old chap?”

  “Don’t call me that,” Teagan walked up close to him. “The night she died. She didn’t wrap your hand.”

  Teddy looked down at his hand, then back up at Teagan. “Who?”

  “You know who I’m talking about.”’

  Teddy backed up from Teagan, then turned around and went over to his bar. “You’ll have to tell me,” he said. Two pieces of ice clanged as they hit the glass tumbler.

  “My grandmother. She didn’t wrap your hand the night she died.”

  “I remember that she did,” Teddy said. He poured bourbon over the ice, and took a gulp.

  “No she didn’t. Don’t lie.”

  “Well somebody helped me wrap it.”

  “You didn’t cut your hand when those bottles of wine fell to the kitchen floor. Rose Avery knocked those bottles over and lost her job for it. But that’s how you got the idea to say that was how you cut your hand. You saw Gustov’s cut hand.”

  Teddy smiled at Teagan. “And who is Rose Avery, may I ask?”

  “You cut your hand when you stabbed my grandmother to death,” Teagan said, his teeth clenched.

  “What?” Teddy set the glass down on the desk. He stretched his arm out and walked toward Teagan. “Maybe you should sit down. You’re talking nonsense. Maybe we need to get you some help.”

  “I don’t need any help,” Teagan said and backed up. “I know what you did and I am going to make you feel just how it made me feel when you took her away from me. Do to you what you did to her.”

  “Hold on, Teagan.” Teddy put his hands up. “You need to slow down. I haven’t done anything.” He spread his arms and walked toward Teagan as if he wanted to embrace him.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Teagan warned.

  Teddy stopped moving. He eyed Teagan. “I didn’t do anything, Teagan. And I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

  “Yes you did,” Teagan spit the words out. “You killed my grandmother,” he screamed at him. “Why?” Tears started to roll down Teagan’s face. “Why would you kill my grandmother? What did she do to you?”

  “You’ve gone mad, boy.” Teddy turned around and walked behind a desk that sat in the center of the long wall of the loft apartment.

  “I have not gone mad. At least not in that sense you mean.” Teagan took a few steps toward him. “I found that loose diamond that came out of the ring you had on that night.”

  “What?” Teddy asked.

  “You had a ring on that night that was missing a diamond.”

  “How do you know that?” Teddy asked a darkness coming over his face.

  “I saw it,” Teagan said.

  “You saw it?” Teddy laughed. “You couldn’t have seen it.”

  “And then the police found it embedded in my grandmother’s clothes. It fell out when you stabled her. That was probably her blood mixed with yours when you went to clean up in the half-bath wasn’t it.”

  Teddy jerked his head back, his eyes got big. “How could you know that?”

  “You did kill her, didn’t you? You killed her and then you pushed that rack over on her. Didn’t you?”

  Teddy shook his head, like he was shaking off the shock of hearing the truth coming from Teagan. “I cut my hand on the wine bottles I broke. Just like I have told you each time you asked me about that night.”

  “And each time Teddy, you’ve lied.”

  “Teddy?” Teddy said and raised an eyebrow. “What happened to calling me Uncle Teddy?”

  “You are nothing to me,” Teagan said. “And I’m sorry that I am the namesake of such a vile and disgusting person.”

  “Whoa. First you throw around accusations, now you call me names? What is going on with you?”

  “Gustov and Rose Avery can prove that it wasn’t you that broke the bottles from that case of wine.”

  “What?” For the first time, Teagan saw a flicker of apprehension in Teddy’s eyes. “Have you talked to them?”

  “I’ve talked to everyone, including the contractor who dismantled the wine cellar,” Teagan said. “He told me that some force would have had to be put behind that rack for it to fall.”

  Teddy plopped down into the desk chair.

  “And I’ve talked to the police.”

  Teddy gasped. He ran his hand across his forehead and took in a breath.

  “You’ve been making your rounds, haven’t you, old boy?” He sat back in the chair. “I’m sorry that you had to stir up all this trouble. Things had been going swimmingly between the two of us. Hadn’t they?”

  “I just want you to tell me,” Teagan said. “Tell me why you took my grandmother from me.”

  “Have you told anyone else any of this?” Teddy asked.

  “I wanted to do this all by myself,” Teagan said.

  “Do what?”

  “Confront you,” Teagan said.

  Teddy studied Teagan for a long moment. Sizing him up, he realized that Teagan knew a lot more than anyone else had ever voiced over the years. And he knew that he couldn’t let Teagan tell anyone else about it.

  “I told you to let this go. Get past it. But no, you didn’t listen.” Teddy pulled out a gun from the desk drawer and pointed it at Teagan. “I’ll tell you why I killed her. It doesn’t matter anymore because tonight you’ll be having an accident just like she did.”

  “You don’t scare me,” Teagan said.

  Teddy laughed. “That’s exactly what Olivia said. And you see what happened to her.”

  “Why?” Teagan pleaded, Teddy’s callousness about killing his grandmother wrenching in his gut.

  “Because she was in my way.”

  “In your way of doing what?”

  “I’m a jewel thief, old boy. At least I was then. I’ve since retired,” Teddy said. “I had a stash down in that cellar and she saw me go down there. And as you know, she didn’t allow anyone but you i
n her precious wine cellar. At least not without her permission.”

  “Is that why you went the wrong way when you went to get the cases of Chateau Margaux? You were trying to get to your stash?”

  “How do you know about that?” Teddy asked. “Who told you all of this?” Teddy laughed. “I think I’m going to have to kill them too.”

  “Who went down there to get those cases of Chateau Margaux with you that night?”

  “You talk like you were there.” Teddy said regarding Teagan’s words like a bombshell.

  Teagan chuckled. “I was.”

  “Now tell me who helped you put those cases of wine in the parlor.”

  “I don’t know. Some young man who was a friend of Pastor Tim’s. Never saw him again.” Teddy eyed him. “Did you find and talk to him, too?”

  Teagan closed his eyes. He felt one start to twitch. He swallowed. “Yeah, I guess you can say that I did.”

  “I wasn’t going to go to jail then, Teagan. Just like I’m not going to jail now.” He pointed the gun at Teagan and pulled the trigger.

  Epilogue

  The moral to this story is that there is hope to be found in all of us. It’s never too late to make a change, and although we can’t get time back, we can make the best use of the time we have.

  With time comes change, and change takes time. The key is not to lose what is innately inside of you over the course of time.

  Teagan Bales learned his lesson. It only took him one day (and a trip to Normal Junction) to do it. Kudos to him for deciding to become the man his grandmother wanted him to be.

  In the end, Teagan didn’t connect with the owners of that little watch repair shop, as his grandmother’s brooch showed up at his house by courier ticking away before he could get there.

  Had his grandmother’s watch really been used as an enchantment enabling him to travel in time? Teagan wasn’t sure. But he did know that the brooch hadn’t stopped at the moment of his grandmother’s death. Its trouble was that it had not been cared for, and Teagan understood that as a lesson, too.

  Always take care of the things that are important to you.

  And Teagan’s connection with Caroline? Well, that caused him to discover something else. He found that there’s a little magic to be found in the things and people we surround ourselves with every day.

  Oh! Are you wondering what happened to Teagan Bales when he confronted that mean old uncle of his? Don’t despair, he didn’t die. It seems that Uncle Teddy took up fishing because he wasn’t a good enough shot to have any luck hunting. The bullet only grazed Teagan’s shoulder, and the noise it made alerted the police, who had just arrived, to exactly what unit Teagan had gone into.

  Good thing Tony Camarary had been put on alert.

  Now, Dear Reader, I know you’re thinking, How could that good detective know that Teagan had gone to confront his grandmother’s killer? Well, it’s not too hard to figure out. Just think about.

  Go ahead. I’ll wait.

  No. It wasn’t the cats that alerted Detective Camarary that Teagan may be in danger. Don’t be silly!

  It was Caroline.

  Teagan had called her and informed her of his actions every step of the way. But after he visited his safe deposit box, she hadn’t heard from him. That made her not only alarmed, but suspicious, especially since the bank manager had called to inform her that Teagan had left the box out, valuable contents strewn about, and stormed out without nary a word to any branch personnel.

  Caroline knew something was wrong.

  Teagan had been on the hunt for a murderer, and in her gut she realized, he must have found one. Thank all the lucky stars that always align in Normal Junction that Caroline was very adept in using a GPS, unlike her employer, and she always kept a locator on Teagan’s phone.

  She knew just where to find him.

  THE END

  Thank you for taking time to read Witch’s Wheel. Look for more books in the Normal Junction Cozy Mystery Series coming soon. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends about it. And don’t forget to take the time to click on the link and post a short review.

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  A Note from the Author

  Welcome to Normal Junction, my new cozy mystery series!

  I love stories about ghosts and witches, so I thought why not write one? So I did. Actually I wrote three. Witch’s Wheel is the first. But look for Angel Angst, and Ghostly Gadfly, both with summer 2017 release dates.

  The series’ books all take place in the magical imaginary place of Normal Junction. A place where people can find help when life’s little bumps send them on a roller coaster ride. All are cozy mysteries, so there’s a murder to be solved by amateur sleuths, but each book has different characters, and a different supernatural sidekick.

  Usually, I throw a little history in my book – mixing fact with fiction – but not here. These are all for fun.

  Thanks to my beta reader and friend, Kathryn Dionne. You never fail me, and as always, the book is better because of you.

  It may sound silly, but I want to dedicate this book to the television show, Bewitched that stared Elizabeth Montgomery. I loved that show, indeed, my favorite childhood program, and it’s how I learned to love witches.

  I appreciate all my reviews and look forward to reading what you thought about my book. Grammatical errors are of course unintended, so if you find any, just email me and let me know what you’ve found.

  I love connecting with my readers and look forward to chatting with you soon.

  Read My Other Books

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