Hidden Secrets: Blackmoore Sisters Cozy Mystery Series Book 9

by Leighann Dobbs

  Having that customer return those herbs earlier at the shop had bothered her more than she’d let on. Never, in all her years of herbology, had a client returned a product like that. It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. It was terrifying. And she hadn’t missed the look Fiona had given her either at the time, full of an odd mix of curiosity and pity. Thankfully, she’d not brought it up again. But the more lies Morgan told, the riskier things got and the harder it was to keep them all straight.

  Belladonna soon scratched and meowed at the door until Morgan let her in. Funny, but if Morgan didn’t know better, she’d almost think the cat knew she wanted someone to practice with. She took a seat on her bed with Belladonna in front of her. “Okay, let’s practice.” She frowned. “But how, exactly?”

  “Meow.” Belladonna jumped down from the bed.

  “Right.” Morgan smiled. “You go do something, and I’ll try to use my intuition to figure out what you’re doing.”

  She closed her eyes and concentrated since that was what Celeste had done with her spell book the other night and it seemed to work. Focusing hard, an image of Belladonna over by the little fireplace in her room flashed into her mind. Grinning, she opened her eyes, only to find the cat perched on the windowsill instead.

  Crap.

  She tried again, seeing the cat on the chair this time.

  Squinting one eye open, Morgan saw Belladonna now by the door.

  Ugh. This wasn’t working at all.

  The cat batted at a cabinet where Morgan kept a small supply of dried herbs in case of emergency. Maybe she should practice infusing her herbs with power instead. Start small. Good idea.

  She pulled out some horsetail and mint then began mixing. Horsetail was a diuretic, so she focused on increasing its potency. That would be pretty harmless, and she could test it out on her sisters without them noticing a thing.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “See? I told you her shop was open tonight,” Fiona said as they approached the door of the home where Rose Degarmo lived and operated her fortune-telling business, Forever Fortunes. The home had been built back in the 1920s, and the exterior reflected the Tudor Revival style of that time, with a steep-pitch side-gabled roof, diamond-pane windows, a large semi-hexagon-shaped bay window in the front, and white stucco walls. As they approached the front door, Fiona turned back to Morgan again. “Thanks for the tea, too, by the way. It was delicious. Great aftertaste.”

  “Thanks.” Morgan forced a smile. She appreciated the compliment, but her sister didn’t appear to have to use the bathroom any more frequently at all, which was disappointing. And discouraging. She needed to find a focused way to practice that targeted her intuition specifically if she had any hope of getting her powers back. So far, her research had turned up zilch in the way of ideas. Intuition was something most people took for granted, didn’t worry about at all. Practicing it wasn’t something most people did, so there were few guides or exercises out there to strengthen it. Her doubt demons reared their ugly heads inside her again.

  “Let me do the questioning, okay?” Jolene said, knocking. She’d finished her job at Mrs. Tower’s just in time to pick them up, and they’d barely had time to chat about their game plan on the way over. “We need answers, but we don’t want Rose getting mad and throwing us out.”

  The door opened to reveal a short, stout Italian woman in her midsixties, with salt-and-pepper hair that stood out around her head in curly disarray. She obviously hadn’t been expecting company tonight, if her surprised expression and wrinkled flowered housecoat and slippers were any indication.

  “May I help you?” she asked, her tone holding just a hint of Brooklyn. Rose flipped on the porch light then squinted. “Wait a minute. You’re the Blackmoore girls, right?”

  “We are,” Jolene said, flashing a polite smile. “We wondered if we might talk to you for a moment, Ms. Degarmo.”

  “Oh, well. I suppose.” She stepped aside to open the door fully and gestured them inside. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. I wasn’t planning on having people over this evening and didn’t have any clients scheduled. Please, call me Rose.”

  Morgan took off her coat once they were indoors and handed it to Rose then scanned the living room area where Rose conducted her readings. Pretty much what she’d expected a fortune teller’s space to look like. All the furniture was draped in purple velvet slipcovers, with lots of crystal balls scattered about. There were tarot cards, too, strewn over the cushions of a couch and stacked on top of the tables. Decks and decks of them. They seemed somehow familiar, but Morgan couldn’t place from where.

  “Can I get you ladies something to drink?” Rose walked toward a doorway across the room. Behind her, Morgan could see a bright-yellow-and-white kitchen. “I’ve just made a fresh pot of tea, or I have coffee too.”

  “No, no. That’s fine, thank you. Our sister Morgan just made us all tea before we left home,” Fiona said, earning her a sharp look from Jolene, who probably thought that not accepting the tea was impolite.

  They all took a seat in the living room. Morgan perched on the edge of an armchair, eyeing the tarot cards laid out on the coffee table.

  Once Rose got settled with her cup of tea, Jolene dove right into the questioning. “I’m assuming you’ve heard about what happened to poor Clementine Vega?”

  Morgan watched Rose’s reactions carefully, concentrating hard to try and get a read on her. Even if her instincts didn’t kick in, hopefully it would not be hard to notice the telltale signs of guilt and lying. But Rose didn’t look guilty or evasive. The woman exhaled slowly and lowered her head, looking genuinely contrite.

  “I have. Such a shame,” Rose said. “Clementine and I didn’t always get along, and she was quick to bad-mouth me, but I was so sad to hear about her murder. No one deserves that.”

  She reached over and picked up one of the nearby tarot decks and began fiddling with the cards, flipping them over and laying them out as if doing a reading. The first one she turned up was the seven of swords, and Morgan’s heart sank. It was a card that symbolized sneakiness and doing things behind other people’s backs.

  Rose’s gaze flicked up from the deck to lock with Morgan’s eyes. Morgan’s breath caught at the sense that she’d been found out, all her lies revealed, and that Rose saw right through Morgan’s veiled attempts to keep the issues with her powers from her sisters. Perhaps the woman really was a rogue paranormal, like Jolene had suggested.

  Panic, hot and strong, surged through Morgan. If Rose said something in front of her sisters and exposed her secrets, it could be catastrophic. She gave a small shake of her head, silently pleading with Rose to keep quiet.

  The fortune teller watched her for a moment then gave a curt nod and continued flipping cards.

  Morgan exhaled slowly, shoulders slumping with relief.

  “Did Clementine’s bad-mouthing cause you to lose any business?” Jolene asked, always right to the point. “I can’t imagine that it would be good to have a rival spreading rumors behind your back.”

  Rose snorted, still flipping cards. “Clementine didn’t believe in my powers. Thought I was faking it. But she was wrong. I truly do have second sight. It’s something you have to nurture though.” Her gaze darted to Morgan again before looking away. “Use it or lose it.”

  So maybe Rose really was a paranormal. But not a rogue. If she were purposely trying to hide her powers, she wouldn’t admit to them so freely. Most likely she was one of the many unrecognized paranormals whose powers weren’t strong enough to be acknowledged by the community.

  “Did you and Clementine argue recently?” Jolene continued.

  “No,” Rose groused. “I steered clear of that woman. Haven’t seen her in months, actually.”

  “Any idea who might want her dead?” Jolene asked.

  “Nope. And before you go thinking it was me, forget it.” Rose narrowed her eyes at Jolene. “Why are you asking? Why not the police? Are you looking into the case?”

  Jo
lene managed to look as if she were appealing for help. “Sheriff White wants to blame Morgan, and we figured we’d better do our own investigation.”

  Rose scowled at the mention of Sheriff White. “Ughh… I don’t like that sheriff. Let me see if I can help you out.” She set her cards aside and pulled over a crystal ball instead. “I didn’t appreciate the rumors Clementine spread about me, but I knew they weren’t true. Live and let live, I say. Here, let me take a look in my crystal ball and see if I can find anything that might help shed some light on who might have had a problem with Clementine.”

  The sisters gathered closer.

  “Hmm,” Rose said, holding her hands on either side of the crystal ball then closing her eyes. Within the glass sphere, smoke swirled and light glowed. It seemed Rose was telling the truth. She did have the power of second sight. Either that or the crystal ball was rigged somehow. Morgan tilted her head to see if it had an electrical cord. Maybe it ran on batteries. The older woman opened her dark eyes and stared into the crystal ball, frowning. “Huh. Does a white cat mean anything to you girls?”

  “Yes! That’s Belladonna,” Celeste said. “Our pet.”

  “Good. Good.” Rose’s hands hovered over the ball, and the light inside it shifted as the scene changed. “Wait, here’s something else. A man walking down a remote, wooded street. There’s a giant oak to his left…”

  Morgan squinted at the image of the person in the ball. His expression looked furtive, as if he were deeply troubled by something.

  “Wait! I know him,” Fiona said. “That’s Benedict Donovan. I just made him an amethyst bracelet last week.”

  Morgan had been about to ask, but Jolene leaned forward and pointed at the man in the crystal ball. “I know where he’s at too! He’s on Cross Street, right near Clementine’s house, isn’t he?”

  Interesting. Apparently the crystal ball wasn’t rigged, because how else would she have gotten the image of Benedict near Clementine’s house?

  The sisters peered more closely at the image then exchanged a look. Yep. It was Cross Street all right. Looked like they had suspect number three, and he’d moved right to the top of the list.

  “Why would Benedict want a bracelet?” Celeste asked. “Was he seeing Clementine?”

  Fiona closed her eyes. “I’m not sure… no, wait. It wasn’t Clementine he was seeing. It was Alma Myers. I remember he told me to keep the bracelet a secret from her.”

  “That’s right. I remember hearing about the two of them.” Celeste looked back into the crystal ball. “That explains why he would be on Cross Street. He was going to Alma’s, not Clementine’s.”

  “Darn!” Jolene sat back in her chair. “But if he hangs out at Alma’s, he might have seen something. The houses aren’t that close, but the trees are bare now, and you can see what’s going on at Clementine’s from Alma’s.”

  “Worth asking him.” Morgan was disappointed. Too bad the crystal ball hadn’t shown someone clobbering Clementine over the head.

  “I guess that doesn’t give you any new clues though.” Rose sounded disappointed too. She pulled the ball close and rubbed her hands around, trying to conjure up something more helpful. Something red sparked in the globe.

  “What was that?” Celeste leaned in.

  The center of the globe was mostly white with snow, but partially buried, a navy-and-white-striped knit cap stuck up.

  “Looks like a hat,” Jolene said. “Could that have something to do with Clementine?”

  “It doesn’t.” Rose waved her hands, and the hat disappeared. “Just a hat in the snow. Meaningless.”

  While Rose made a few more futile attempts to coerce something useful out of the ball, Morgan’s attention drifted to the decks of cards. A jolt of recognition caught her breath. Now she recognized where she’d seen them before. It was the exact same blue and purple colors with stars as the scrap of paper Belladonna had found at Clementine’s place the other day.

  She looked up at Rose, who was still busy scrying with the crystal ball.

  Had the woman been lying about not seeing Clementine for months?

  “Sorry, girls, nothing else is coming up.” Rose glanced up from the ball, her brows knitting together when her gaze met Morgan’s. Probably because Morgan was staring at her a little too intently. Morgan looked away.

  “Well, thanks so much for talking to us, Rose,” Jolene said, holding out her hand. “You’ve been very helpful.”

  “Uh, sure.” Rose went to stand.

  “Don’t get up,” Fiona said as they all got up and started toward the door. “We’ll show ourselves out. Have a nice evening.”

  Once back at the curb, Celeste couldn’t stop talking about what they’d seen. “That can’t be a coincidence. Benedict Donovan on Clementine’s street.”

  “Yes, but don’t forget we also learned that Rose really does have paranormal abilities,” Fiona added. “And if so, she might have shown Benedict Donovan in there to throw us off track. We did tell her we were investigating the murder. Maybe we shouldn’t have tipped our hand.”

  “And that hat. Do you really think it’s meaningless?” Celeste asked. “Maybe she was trying to throw us off track.”

  “I don’t think she was trying to throw us off track. I think Rose was being honest with us.” Jolene unlocked the car. “Her aura was purple, not brown like it would’ve been if she’d been lying. Her second-sight abilities were true, too, as we all saw, but they aren’t very strong. I don’t think she could have faked what we saw in the crystal ball.”

  “Still she seemed like she wasn’t telling us everything,” Fiona said.

  “Besides, I found out something else tonight,” Jolene said, starting the engine while they all buckled the seat belts. “Mrs. Tower’s house is on the river behind Noquitt Beach. The noise in her shed was a skunk, but when I looked across the river, I noticed some paranormal energy.”

  “Really?” Morgan took that in. In truth, Noquitt Beach was more like a sandbar, with the ocean on one side and the tidal river on the other. If Jolene had noticed paranormal energy, then someone must’ve been digging there around low tide. Someone paranormal. “Luke didn’t say anything about any activity over there.”

  “Neither did Mateo,” Jolene said. “But that doesn’t mean someone isn’t doing it without the various agencies being aware of it. They have ways to mask themselves.”

  “Jake didn’t mention anything either,” Fiona added. That pretty much exhausted their usual channels for intel. “Do you think there’s more rogue paras in town? Maybe they had something to do with Clementine’s murder.”

  “Another avenue to check into for sure,” Jolene agreed.

  “Hey, Fiona. You said you made a bracelet for Benedict,” Celeste said. “Do you have his address on file?”

  “Probably. I’d have to look when I get into the shop tomorrow.” Fiona gripped the back of the front seat as Jolene accelerated away from the curb. “It’s too late to pop in on him tonight now anyway. Besides, I don’t know him that well. It would be awkward.”

  As they drove on, Morgan felt more and more restless. First was the whole tarot card thing. Why had a scrap of one been at Clementine’s house? Had Rose been there? She wanted to share that with her sisters and get their opinions on it but couldn’t because then she’d have to tell them about all the rest. Then there was the fact her tea did not seem to be working on them. Not at all. So depressing. Giving a last-ditch effort, she blurted out, “Doesn’t anyone have to go to the bathroom?”

  “No.” Fiona gave her a funny look. “Do you?”

  “No.” Morgan sighed and leaned her head against the car window, defeated.

  “Whatever.” Fiona gave a dismissive wave. “I have an idea. How about tomorrow I call Benedict and pretend I found some stones that match his bracelet perfectly and ask him if he’d like me to make a set of earrings to go with the bracelet?”

  “Do you actually have some?” Jolene asked, glancing at her sister in the rearview mirror.
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  “I do.” Fiona grinned. “It’s a great excuse to get him back into the shop, where we can talk to him about why he was on Clementine’s street. I mean, who could resist my pretty amethysts?”

  “True.” Jolene smiled. “Also, we should probably prepare for a paranormal battle, just in case. If nothing turns up with this Benedict guy, we can check out the energy I detected down by the beach.”

  Morgan’s spirits sank further. This was the worst possible time for a battle, at least for her. She’d be no help at all. But Morgan knew talking to Benedict would only be a temporary reprieve. Once her sisters got their minds set on something, it was hard to dissuade them.

  She needed to find out more about Clementine’s murder and hopefully prove it didn’t have anything to do with the paranormal energy Jolene had seen on the beach, and her best lead was the tarot card. Which meant she’d have to find a way to go back to Rose’s without her sisters knowing so she could find out exactly what this tarot card connection was about.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The next morning, Fiona called Benedict Donovan as soon as she and Morgan arrived at Sticks and Stones. He seemed a bit reluctant to come in, but she finally persuaded him to come and look at the stones.

  Celeste and Jolene had conveniently dropped by to be there when they talked to the man as well and were busy perusing the new selection of herbs Morgan had gotten in the other day when the bell over the door rang, signaling Benedict’s arrival.

  He walked in, frowning, looking a bit out of sorts. An unassuming-looking man, Benedict had brown hair and brown eyes, glasses, and a medium build and was maybe in his late fifties. Overall, pretty ordinary.

  “Ah, Mr. Donovan. Welcome back to Sticks and Stones,” Fiona said, a bit too loud and cheerful, to let the others know the game was on. “Come over here and let me show you what I think would make a fine pair of earrings for your special someone. Ladies, perhaps you’d like to see them as well.”