She was just turning to escape out the back door when a figure appeared in the kitchen doorway.
CHAPTER FIVE
“ Morgan? What are you doing here?” Mateo whispered, walking into the kitchen with a confused expression. “Where’s your car?”
An odd mix of relief and alarm washed over her. Yes, it was Mateo, her friend and her sister’s boyfriend, not some deranged killer. But also, crap! It was Mateo. She’d have to explain to him why she was here, and her mind whirled, trying to come up with a plausible excuse for why she hadn’t waited for the others.
“I, uh, I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d get a head start.” She shrugged, hoping it looked nonchalant. “Besides, since I’m the one on Sheriff White’s person-of-interest list, I wanted to see for myself what was in here.”
Lame, lame, lame. Hey, wait, why was Mateo here without the others? Last night it sounded like they were all going to come together, but she was sure no one else was in the house besides Mateo and herself. “And what exactly are you doing here?”
Mateo reached over to stroke Belladonna’s head, and she nuzzled against his hand. He smiled at the fluffy white cat. “I talked to the tribunal about Clementine to see if they knew any paranormal reasons why someone might want her dead. They don’t think the murder has any paranormal motives though, so we still have no clue what’s going on.”
The cat purred loudly while Mateo scratched behind her ears.
Morgan didn’t miss the fact that Mateo had neatly avoided her question or the way he was avoiding eye contact.
He straightened and narrowed his gaze on her. “I thought you were coming later with your sisters.”
Morgan fiddled with the hem of her scarf and tapped her booted toe against the floor, her chin raised defiantly. “I thought the same thing about you.”
“I had to change my plans,” he said, looking away. “Got an appointment later.”
“Huh. Well, you really didn’t need to come at all, honestly.” Morgan exhaled slowly, forcing her tense muscles to relax, reminding herself that Mateo was on their side now, even if they’d had their doubts about him in the beginning. “My sisters and I can more than handle a simple recon mission to a crime scene.”
They stood in awkward silence for a moment.
“Wait a minute!” Morgan squinted at him, frowning. “You were checking this place out on the sly, weren’t you? Making sure there were no traps set for us. Did the tribunal send you here? What’s going on, Mateo?”
He gave her a sheepish look. “No. I came on my own.” He sighed. “Okay, fine. Yes. I just wanted to make sure things were safe before you and your sisters came in here. Is that so bad?”
“Jolene won’t like it. In fact, she’s gonna be pissed,” Morgan said, shaking her head. Her sister had resented him enough at first for saving her, when Jolene had felt perfectly capable of saving herself. Thankfully, she’d gotten over it. No sense rocking the boat again now. “She’s independent to a fault.”
“Not anymore pissed than she will be when she finds out you came here alone to nose around without them,” he countered, raising a brow.
Ugh. The guy had a point.
Eyeing each other, they stood with their arms crossed.
Finally, Morgan said, “Fine. I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“Deal.” Mateo gave a curt nod. “We’ll keep this little visit between us.”
Fresh guilt swamped Morgan’s already-frazzled nerves. Add another person to her list. She hated lying to Mateo and everyone else, but she couldn’t tell them what was really going on.
“So, did you find anything?” Mateo asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“Uh, no.” She fiddled with the scarf around her neck, confirming the amulet was still in its place, then patted her pocket where the scrap of paper was hidden. “What would I find?”
“I mean with your intuition.” He gave her some serious side-eye. “Any gut feelings about what went down in here?”
“Oh, um, no. Nothing in here really.” She glanced out the window, hoping her growing anxiety wasn’t written all over her face. “Before I came inside, I was actually looking around to see if any of her neighbors had a car like mine.” She gestured toward the pictures hanging in a row on the wall. “Or maybe if one of these people drove a Toyota. If it’s not paranormally motivated, like you said, then it could be someone else she knew, a relative or friend.”
“Well, whoever it was, we better get a move on.” He tapped his watch. “Jake said the cops are coming back to finish up here and remove the crime scene tape at eight o’clock sharp. They’re done processing evidence here, but we still shouldn’t be anywhere near the premises until they’re entirely gone. Especially you. That’s why Jolene and the others are coming this afternoon.”
“Right. Let’s go then.” The last thing Morgan needed was for Sheriff White to see her near Clementine’s house, so Mateo didn’t have to tell her twice. They exited through the back door, and Morgan made sure it was locked behind them. Outside, it was getting lighter as the sun rose in the sky. Based on the cloudless blue, it would be another frigid day.
They parted ways at the end of the driveway, Mateo calling to her, “Remember, we never saw each other here.”
BY THE TIME Morgan had picked up the coffees and walked into Sticks and Stones, she was only a half hour late. Fiona was busy at work, as usual.
“Good morning,” Morgan said, setting down Fiona’s vanilla latte on her workbench then carrying her own yerba mate tea over to her counter.
“What took you so long?” Fiona asked, glancing up at her.
“The coffee shop was super busy this morning.” Morgan hung her coat and hat on a peg on the wall behind her apothecary cabinet while Belladonna got settled in a chair directly across from Morgan’s workspace and promptly fell asleep, probably worn out from all the snooping earlier, Morgan supposed. Just as well. She could do without another bout of the intense feline staring right now.
“Have you gotten any new vibes about who might have killed Clementine?” Fiona asked as Morgan got out her supplies to mix her herbs for the day. Fiona was still working on her moonstone bracelet from the day before. “I know we talked about it, and he’s supposed to be in China, but I still think Dr. Bly could have something to do with it.”
“It’s not paranormal related,” Morgan said without thinking then scrambled to cover her tracks. “I mean that’s not the sense I’m getting.”
“Really?” Fiona straightened, gaze narrowed. “So, your intuition has given you some clues, then?”
“Nothing specific,” she hedged before crouching down to pretend to search for something under her counter. She hated lying to her sisters like this, but it wasn’t like she could tell them that Mateo had talked to the tribunal and he’d told her this morning they weren’t suspecting paranormal involvement or that she hadn’t seen any signs of paranormal fighting in the kitchen where Clementine had been killed. Besides, she and Mateo had made a deal. Morgan intended to keep it. She could only hope Mateo would too. She grabbed an empty jar and straightened, forcing what she hoped was a confident smile. “I’m thinking we probably shouldn’t waste too much time looking into it.”
“Huh, maybe—”
Whatever Fiona had been about to say was interrupted by a customer coming into the shop.
The woman, who looked about fifty and had been in the shop the week before, had dark circles under her eyes. She looked about as tired as Morgan felt.
“Hi,” the woman said, walking up to Morgan’s counter. “Remember me? I bought a bag of chamomile tea from you last week to help me sleep, but it’s not working.”
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry.” Morgan took the bag and receipt from her to process the refund. “Are you under a lot of stress?”
“Who isn’t?”
“Okay. Maybe valerian root would be a better choice then. We could do an exchange today and see how you like it.” Morgan ignored her sister’s raised brow and focused on
her customer instead. They’d never once had a customer return goods due to defective magic. She made sure to grab a bag of tea that had been made before her gifts went wonky. “If you’re still not satisfied at that time, then we can process your refund.”
The woman inspected the new bag of tea, nose wrinkled, and gave a reluctant nod. “I’m desperate, so I’ll try anything at this point. I’ll be back here next week though for my money if it doesn’t work.”
“Of course.” Morgan packaged up the woman’s new purchase, her fingers trembling with worry. If her herbs were losing power, then things with her gifts were getting even worse. She handed the tea to the woman then glanced over to find Belladonna watching her again from the chair with that Sphinxlike look. Head lowered, Morgan reached into her pocket to confirm the scrap of paper she’d picked up from the floor of Clementine’s home was still there, relieved to feel the paper tickle her fingertips as they slid across it.
Alone again, both sisters got back to work. It wasn’t long though before Fiona was back to talking about the case. “Jake said the cops will be done at Clementine’s place by this afternoon.”
“Yeah?” Morgan did her best to sound like this was new information. “Okay.”
“Mateo was there when Jake called, but I let Celeste and Jolene know already too. They’re going to meet us here at three, and we can close a little early to head over to Clementine’s at four. Hopefully we can find something.” Fiona sat back to inspect her work. “Perfect timing, actually, since Mom is making a lasagna tonight. We can head to the house afterward and discuss everything.”
“Luke said he was going to talk to his contacts at the agency today to see what he can find out too,” Morgan said, grinding up some sage with a mortar and pestle. She could still feel the weight of Belladonna’s judgmental stare on her, but she ignored it as best she could. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that they’d find out who the real killer was soon and that she’d get her gifts back up to full power as soon as possible. Morgan wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up with all this deception.
CHAPTER SIX
“N unc aperire,” Celeste murmured while holding her hand over the knob of Clementine’s door that afternoon. A hush fell over the sisters as they listened for the lock to snick open. Morgan couldn’t help glancing around to make sure there were no telltale signs of her visit here earlier. She and Mateo had been careful, but still.
“There.”
Celeste creaked opened the door slowly and started inside before Fiona stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Should we wait for Mateo?” Fiona whispered.
“Oh, he can’t make it,” Jolene said, with a flat stare and a dismissive wave. “He had a work trip again.” When the others gave her an inquiring look, her cheeks pinked. “What? It’s not like we can’t figure this out on our own. We don’t need him babysitting us all the time. I’m glad he had other plans.” She pushed past Celeste and Fiona and walked inside.
Fiona snorted. “Girl always was too stubborn to admit she needs help.”
“Exactly why I think Mateo’s a great match for her, even if Jo’s loathe to admit it,” Celeste added, following Fiona through the door. “They make a good pair. Balance each other out.”
Morgan was just glad the attention was on someone other than her. Not to mention the fact that perhaps Mateo wasn’t as chill about all of Jolene’s antics as he let on. If her sister found out he’d been here scoping out the place earlier, she’d go ballistic. One more reason to keep quiet about it all. She reached inside her coat to fiddle with her amulet then followed the others inside.
After closing the door behind them, they focused their attention on the kitchen, since it was obvious that’s where Clementine had been killed. The police tape was gone, as were the yellow markers on the floor, but there was still a layer of print dust on everything, and the room smelled of antiseptic and a slight hint of death that no amount of cleaner would remove. Morgan shut her eyes, desperately trying to summon her intuition. It would be so helpful right about now and would solve all of her problems, but she got nothing back. Not even a frisson of power. Head lowered, she blinked back the sting of tears. What if she was permanently broken? What if her gifts never returned? What would she do with her life if she was just another ordinary person?
“I’m picking up some auras and energy, but it’s scattered,” Jolene said, jarring Morgan from her morose thoughts. “Feels like two paranormals, but from the vibes I’m getting, neither meant Clementine any ill will. Morgan, what have you got?”
The sisters turned to her for confirmation, and her stomach dropped to her toes. In the past, she’d have been ready with helpful information, eager to solve the mystery. Now she just felt ashamed and sad. With everyone counting on her though, Morgan needed to say something.
She quickly scrambled, closing her eyes and putting on a show of trying to sense her intuition. “Uh, yeah. I’m picking up two paranormals as well.” Morgan figured that the two paranormal energies Jolene was picking up were most likely hers and Mateo’s from earlier, but she couldn’t very well say that. Better to just confirm and cast some doubt, because the last thing she wanted was to send her sisters off onto some kind of paranormal witch hunt that could put them in danger. Especially since both Mateo’s and Luke’s sources doubted that Clementine’s death was paranormally motivated. “Um, maybe they just knew the victim? You know, paranormals do hang out together.”
She’d dug this hole, and now she had to find a way out of it. What she needed was a way to get her sisters on board with the idea that this might be a regular human-motivated killing without spilling her secret. That would put them off her scent and also focus their attentions where they were likely to do the most good.
“Hmm? They knew her, huh? Let me see if I can conjure Clementine’s ghost, and she can tell us who they were.” Celeste closed her eyes and murmured one of her Latin spells again, but nothing happened. “Darn. Nada. I’m sorry, but you guys know the ghosts don’t always appear on command, and the paranormal spirits are especially difficult because they’re less apt to be attached to the earthly plane. Poor Clementine is probably exploring her new world in the afterlife. That’s bound to take up a lot of time, especially at first.”
Belladonna wandered past Morgan, giving her the stink eye again, most likely for lying to her sisters once more, but what else was she supposed to do? She was in too deep and drowning faster by the second. She took a couple of deep breaths and forced the chaos inside her to calm. If she had any hope of making it through this disaster, she had to think rationally, look at the facts. Morgan had watched enough TV detective dramas to know that usually the guilty party was someone close to the person murdered. Who would’ve spent the most time in Clementine’s orbit? Clients for one. Maybe friends, if she had any. A boyfriend, perhaps? She didn’t know Clementine well and hadn’t remembered seeing a ring on her finger or any pictures of a happy couple anywhere, but it was possible she was seeing someone.
Okay. That’s where she should focus her attention, then, and try and steer her sisters there, too, if she could.
“Boy, the room is awfully neat for a crime scene. I don’t think she struggled much,” Fiona said.
Celeste pointed to the table. “And look at the teapot. She must’ve known her killer. Because why else would she have tea on the table?”
“She might’ve been serving it for a client,” Jolene said. “I know she read tea leaves and also just liked to provide a relaxed homey atmosphere.”
“In her kitchen? Is that where she normally served clients?” Fiona asked.
“Not sure. Do we know for sure she died in here? I mean, it looks that way with the chair and all, but maybe that was just from a struggle.” Jolene dug out her phone. “I’ll text Jake and see if he can get us a crime-scene picture from one of his contacts. It’s a long shot, but what the heck? It would help to know just how Clementine’s body was found.”
Morgan bit her tongue.
She knew exactly where the body had been because she’d seen the remnants of the outline. That was gone now though, and she couldn’t very well tell her sisters she’d been here before the police cleaned up. She also knew that Clementine normally served tea to clients in the parlor, but how could she tell her sisters that? This meant more than ever that Clementine knew who had done this to her.
They proceeded out of the kitchen and into the living room and then the front parlor. Jolene and Celeste even checked out the upstairs and the attic while Fiona and Morgan stayed on the first floor, but nothing. There were no more clues, no more energy—paranormal or otherwise.
“Well, I think from the fact that there wasn’t a lot of physical damage to the house or its furnishings, we can deduce that there was no violent fight or struggle. Seems to point to her knowing her attacker as well,” Jolene said. She’d recently taken several courses in investigating crime scenes for her job at Jake’s PI firm in hopes of one day maybe getting out from behind her desk and assisting him on cases. “Based on what we saw in the kitchen, maybe Clementine and her mystery guest argued, and the killer had caught her by surprise with the attack. Or possibly there was no argument, and the killer came over to lull her into security before attacking from behind. If they used some kind of magic on her to restrain her, it wouldn’t have been hard to do her in then.”
“Maybe, but I’m beginning to lean more and more toward this not being paranormal or Dr. Bly related at all. After all, Luke told me last night that his agency has no reports of any paranormal activity here. Maybe it’s best if we just let things go for now. Let the police do their work. I’m guessing it’s just a normal run-of-the-mill human murder anyway. That’s what my intuition’s telling me.” Morgan felt quite proud of herself for weaving together a bit of truth with that whopper of a lie without flinching. The fact she was getting better and better at fooling people dampened her enthusiasm though. She didn’t want to be a competent liar. She wanted to get her gifts back and tell the truth again.
Hidden Secrets: Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mystery Series Book 9 Page 4