Spellbinding Blend

by Kennedy Layne

  Stop the bus! Back up the train! I think I just spotted Skippy underneath one of those campers over there.

  “Leo, leave the squirrels alone. None of them are out to get you,” I scolded him, not having time for one of his make-believe battles with the local wildlife. “We need to focus on finding Kevin Paul’s murderer.”

  That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Raven. There’s a very real possibility the culprit could be those squirrels. Who knows what kind of strange squirrel pelt-smuggling conspiracy Kevin Paul was involved with before he came to Paramour Bay? They may have had a bounty on his head.

  “…check on you in a bit,” a woman called out, having opened the door of a camper around thirty feet in front of us. Lo and behold, there was a decal of skull and crossbones right there in the middle of the door, just like the ones on a Jolly Roger pirate flag. Well, we’d definitely found Kevin Paul’s camper. “Drink some of that tea I bought you from that place in town. The old guy doesn’t know anything about tea, but my grandmother always said that chamomile with a dollop of newly harvested honey calmed the soul. The fresh honey was hard to find, but Rhonda had some on hand. See you after my shift.”

  My heart warmed at the thought of Olive going into town to buy Clara some tea from my shop for so many reasons. Heidi would have done the same for me, plus it meant that my tea shop was getting a little love from the carnival workers. I made a mental note to add a source of local honey to my list of items to keep in my inventory, and I honestly don’t know why I hadn’t through of that before. It seemed so obvious now that I thought about it.

  My BFF isn’t getting any love from anyone, it seems. In his defense, his expertise does lie in rare premium catnip variations instead of tea blends. Few people know that there are over two hundred and fifty varieties of the catnip genus.

  Heidi, Leo, and I watched as Olive quietly closed the door to Kevin Paul’s camper, fully believing that she’d see us right away. I’d even stepped behind Heidi, seeing as she was the one who agreed to come up with the required cover story. Instead, Olive reached for her phone that was inside the grey apron she had tied around her waist. Her fingers flew across the keys, making me wonder just who she was texting in such a flurry.

  “Hey, there,” Heidi called out lightheartedly, but sooner than I’d expected. Olive practically dropped her phone at the startling interruption, finally clutching the device to her chest. She was older than I would have expected, but maybe I was basing that on Button’s age. Granted, I didn’t know what he looked like underneath all that face paint, but he acted and spoke as if he were in his forties and not all that old. “We were looking for Bulldog.”

  Bulldog?

  Raven, did my short-term memory loss just kick in? Is Heidi talking about a man with the nickname of Bulldog or an actual bulldog? I don’t remember seeing one of those genetic misfits and serial droolers around here, but then again, Skippy has been messing with me. I’ve been quite distracted. I wouldn’t put it past him to dognap an overzealous breed of dog to use as a mount.

  “Bulldog is probably manning the hot dog stand, right now,” Olive said cautiously, taking us in from head to toe. Her wary gaze didn’t miss a thing, especially Leo who had decided to plop himself in the grass beside me. “What are you doing back here? This area is restricted for use by carnival employees only. No visitors allowed.”

  “Bulldog told me to meet him back here for his relish recipe,” Heidi shared, even rubbing her hands together in delight. “He said he’d part with it for fifty bucks cold cash. I was so excited that I forgot to ask him which camper was his.”

  Olive was probably in her late fifties, with weathered skin that showed just how much time she must have spent in the sun over the years. Her goldish blonde hair even had the sun-bleached ends. From where we were standing, it looked as if her eyes were bloodshot, but that could have been from crying over the death of her coworker.

  Or she could have been lighting up a—

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard you say you were in town at the tea shop,” I said with a forced smile, cutting off the direction Leo’s thoughts had taken. I wanted to be truthful with this woman, but I wasn’t sure she’d talk to us. We were outsiders, and seeing as Clara was her friend, it stood to reason that Kevin had been, too. “I happen to own Tea, Leaves & Eves. I’m glad we had some chamomile on hand for your friend. We heard what happened with Kevin Paul. You have our deepest sympathies for your loss.”

  Olive continued to regard us suspiciously, but Leo meowed at just the right moment. He made it seem as if we were harmless, which we were. Well, sort of. If you discounted my ability to hurl huge energy balls at opponents during a battle. Her shoulders relaxed just a bit, and she gave us a nod in appreciation. She had no idea that Leo had just complained about a yellow jacket that had suddenly flown past his ear.

  “Clara is still pretty upset,” Olive divulged, tucking her cell phone back inside her apron. “She and Kevin had just started dating a few weeks ago, and she really thought that he was the one, you know? By the way, you have a pretty nice shop.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, grappling for something else to say. Nothing came to mind.

  Par for the course. You could have used the opportunity to ask the woman outright if she thought Elroy Simpson was capable of murder.

  “Well, I best get to work. Bulldog’s camper is three down and two over on the opposite side. Can’t miss it. He put a huge hot dog decal on the door.”

  “Thanks,” Heidi said, but I wasn’t ready to finish the conversation. “I—”

  “I’m actually dating our local sheriff here in Paramour Bay,” I confessed, wincing internally when I sounded as if I was boasting. I wasn’t, and I quickly attempted to rectify my statement. “I overheard him say that some guy named Elroy Simpson might be responsible for your friend’s death. Do you think any of the residents have anything to worry about?”

  Wow. Subtle. Real subtle.

  Heidi was also giving me a wide-eyed look that told me I might have overstepped my bounds, but I blamed Leo. He was the one who’d put the idea into my head.

  “It’s all anyone’s been talking about, but I know Elroy personally. I worked with him for years, and I can tell you that he wouldn’t have harmed a hair on a puppy dog’s head.”

  What about a cat? Does he have a grudge against full-grown cats?

  Olive didn’t look happy that some things were being said about an old colleague. She was beginning to fidget and shift her weight from one leg to another.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologized, truly regretting even bringing up Kevin Paul’s name. “It’s none of our business, and I didn’t mean to accuse anyone when we don’t know the people involved. It also wasn’t nice of me to repeat secondhand gossip that I’d overheard.”

  There you go again, being too nice.

  “Look, Clara really liked Kevin. I didn’t blame him when George made the decision to hire him and fire Elroy. We’re used to these kinds of things happening around here, but usually a newb is given a three-month probation period before he or she is hired on full-time. I don’t know why Kevin didn’t have to go through one, the same as the rest of us, but there was some talk that he was related to George somehow. You know how it is. Blood is thicker than water. It doesn’t matter anymore. Kevin is dead, but you can take it to heart that no one in this town has anything to worry about, because I know that Elroy didn’t kill him.”

  “Olive?”

  The door to Kevin’s camper had opened and revealed a younger woman, but still one who clearly spent a lot of time in the sunshine. She was rather petite with her mousy brunette hair drawn high in a ponytail. She was a bit pale underneath her tan, and her nose was red from crying.

  Did you see that? That annoying yellow jacket flew right past her and into the trailer. I thought I was having a bad day. That thing is going to sting her for sure.

  “Is everything okay?” Clara asked, holding the cup of tea Olive had made her close
to her chest.

  “Yes, sugar.” Olive waved a hand protectively to indicate that Clara should go back inside. “Just some locals who Bulldog promised his relish recipe to, so nothing to worry about. Go back inside. I’m late enough as it is, and Seymour is going to say I owe him for not swapping on time. You know how that turned out last time.”

  Seymour sounds like my kind of guy. I wonder if he can help with my squirrel problem.

  Olive continued to stare at us long enough that I realized she didn’t want to leave Clara standing outside of Kevin Paul’s trailer. Talk about loyalty. I easily related, and I really needed an object owned by Kevin to cast the spell. Neither of these women had a clue that I was only trying to help them, and I was coming up blank for an excuse that would garner me such an item.

  “I hate to bother you,” Heidi exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air as if she were helpless when she was anything but. “You wouldn’t happen to have a piece of paper and a pencil I could use to write down Bulldog’s recipe, would you? I left my purse at home because we were going to be riding some of the rides.”

  I loved Heidi’s creativity in situations like these.

  She does have a gift.

  “Yeah, I’m sure there’s something inside. Give me half a second,” Clara said, using a tissue to wipe her nose. She gave Olive a small smile of reassurance. “Go. Seriously, I’m fine. I’ll give these young ladies a pad and pencil, and then I’m going to go lay down for a bit.”

  Olive finally relented, slowly walking away toward the carnival rides and whichever game Seymour was currently manning. I admired her devotion to Clara, and I would do what I could to bring both of them closure. Solving this crime might have started out with my wish to protect the supernatural, but it was now much more than that.

  You’re getting all sentimental, Raven. You know that I don’t like having my heartstrings tugged on. In case you didn’t notice, you’ve been yanking on them like they were lanyards hanging from your favorite church bells at Notre Dame, Miss Hunchback.

  “Here you go,” Clara said softly, having reached just inside the camper door. Sure enough, she had a small pad and pencil in hand. “Don’t worry about bringing it back. Kevin won’t be needing it no more. He’d use it to figure the odds on the horses.”

  Clara didn’t have to say why, and my heart squeezed tight with the grief she must be going through today. Without another word, she quietly closed the camper door.

  I’ve got something in my eye, just in case you were wondering why I’m blinking so rapidly.

  “Now what do we do?” Heidi asked, holding up the objects that would hopefully lead to Kevin Paul’s murderer being put behind bars. “Can you cast the spell here?”

  “No, I’m going to need the right spell components.” I did have an idea, though. I took the pad and pencil, writing down the ingredients I’d need from memory. I’d done this particular spell before. Once I had everything listed, I took my cell phone out of my skirt pocket and snapped a picture. “I’ll send a text to Mom, letting her know we got what we needed. She can use my car to drive to the cottage and give Ted the list of the additional items we’ll need him to gather.”

  If you can pull her away from Beetle. I’m still not ready to discuss what went down this morning between them. Can we keep avoiding that topic for now? My stomach is finally settling. Let’s revisit the subject only if they end up having that dinner they talked about this morning.

  I wasn’t going to argue with Leo’s logic on that particular subject. I couldn’t wrap my mind around my mother actually agreeing to share a meal with Beetle, either. It made me wonder if she was up to something. Possibly recruiting herself a spy. If I found even an inkling of evidence that she was going to use Beetle in some deceitful fashion, I’d immediately put an end to it. Beetle was too sweet of a man to get caught up in one my mother’s underhanded schemes.

  “Bulldog? Really?”

  “I met him when I was looking for the wine your mother wanted at lunch, and we got to talking about New York,” Heidi responded with a smile. “One thing led to another, and the next thing I know…he’s offering up his relish recipe.”

  “You never cease to amaze me.”

  Me, either. Do you think there’s a spell where we can turn her into a hot-looking feline?

  “Listen, let me call my realtor and see if she can move up the time on the next house listing,” Heidi suggested, pulling her own phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. “It sounds like we’re going to need all the time we can get later tonight.”

  While Heidi was on the phone, I noticed that the palm of my hand had begun tingling sometime in the last five minutes. I’d thought maybe it was because I was writing on a piece of paper that belonged to a dead guy, but now I wasn’t so sure. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing at attention and heat began to pool in my palm.

  Someone’s watching us, Raven. And it’s not Skippy.

  Leo vanished into thin air. I cautiously waited for him to return, taking the time to look around at all the campers. There were a lot of places for someone to hide. Unfortunately, Heidi completed her phone call before Leo could reappear.

  “Where did Leo go?” Heidi asked, searching the area for any sign of my familiar. “What happened?”

  “Someone was watching us,” I said warily, suddenly having the urge to rejoin the carnival where we’d be surrounded by witnesses. “Let’s go. Leo will catch up with us.”

  It was one thing to stay on the outskirts of this type of investigation, providing Liam or Jack with useful information to help solve a murder. After all, I could easily protect us if something went wrong in my immediate vicinity. Regrettably, Heidi couldn’t do the same if we were separated.

  “Did you happen to catch Olive mentioning that there were rumors that Kevin was related to George?” Heidi asked, as aware of our surroundings as I was now that my palm was practically burning. I closed my hand into a fist, hoping to ease the uncomfortable sensation, but the tingling only became worse at the mention of George. Was he the one responsible for Kevin’s death? “Do you think that was mentioned to Liam or Jack?”

  “Probably, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it up to them in conversation.” I breathed a little easier the closer we got to the loud sounds of the carnival rides and the growing afternoon crowd. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be easing the heat in my palm. “Heidi, I can’t put a finger on it, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this murder mystery.”

  Heidi didn’t immediately respond, and I glanced her way to see why. She hadn’t stopped walking, but her blue eyes were wide with shock. I followed her gaze to find that a large group of people were gathered around the carousal, but that’s not what caught her eye. It was the fact that yellow crime scene tape now surrounded one of the most popular children’s attractions that had apparently been shut down for the day. At least, that’s what the sign in front of the ride stated.

  “Look,” Heidi said, pointing a finger past the crowd. Liam and Jack were talking with a forensic person who held an evidence bag in his hand.

  There you are!

  Leo sounded a bit out of breath. He’d come running out from behind one of the game booths to make his sudden appearance less conspicuous. His fur jiggled with each step of his jog.

  I couldn’t find anyone watching us from any of the campers, but good ol’ Olive might not be so good, after all. Give me a second. I can’t breathe. What idiot said running was good your health? I’m pretty sure my lungs aren’t supposed to feel like they’re ready to explode.

  “Raven, did you hear that?” Heidi wasn’t referring to Leo, but instead one of the carnival workers who had been talking to another colleague. “They think the police found a wallet of the man who used to work here. They must be talking about Elroy Simpson.”

  Could it be that simple? There was more and more evidence piling up against Mr. Simpson, from him being spotted in the area to his wallet being found maybe fifteen yards from the scene of the crime. By the
time Heidi and I made it back to the cottage to cast the spell, Liam and Jack might very well have apprehended the killer themselves.

  Don’t bank on it. Olive didn’t go relieve Seymour like she said she was going to when she left the campers. Instead, she went to George Mertes’ trailer.

  I knelt down to the ground to pet Leo, giving others the appearance that I was showering affection on my furbaby.

  “Why would that be suspicious?” I whispered, scratching behind Leo’s ear. Even though he could read my mind, I still had a hard time not talking to him when I wanted to know something. “George is Olive’s boss, right? It doesn’t seem so out of place that she’d want to talk to him about being late for her shift.”

  Scratch my shoulder blade while you’re at it. There. Yeah, that hits the spot.

  Loud purrs of satisfaction almost overtook the murmuring of the gathered crowd in front of us. Leo practically fell onto his side in relief after I’d finished giving him a small massage where the squirrel had landed on his shoulders.

  “Leo?”

  What? Did you see a squirrel somewhere?

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten, telling myself over and over it wasn’t his fault that he had short-term memory loss. My all-too-brief moment of attempted composure was gone the moment Heidi grabbed my arm and yanked me off the ground.

  “Olive is talking to Bulldog,” Heidi muttered in disbelief, turning away so that her back was to them. “Bulldog and I talked about relish recipes, but he never said for me to meet him at his camper. Olive is going to know that we lied if we don’t intercede.”

  Olive? Oh, I remember now. Wow! How could I forget something like that? I might need to stop in at the tea shop for some of Beetle’s premium catnip snacks. I’ve gone too long without a booster buzz. Anyway, I overheard Olive tell George that they needed to hide the evidence! That can only mean one thing, Raven.

  “Leo found out that Olive and George might have killed Kevin Paul,” I whispered to Heidi, finishing Leo’s assumption. “Heidi, if that’s the case, we need to prove they did and then find evidence to give Liam and Jack reason to suspect them.”