Witch You Were Here

by A. M. King

  “I don’t think it was. My witch senses tells me otherwise. And what do you mean footage I won’t be able to see?”

  “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking and that it was a follower of the evil hunter who might have cast some sort of curse on dear flower girl name, do you really think they’d show up clear as a bell on camera? Plus all the lights went out.”

  “You’re right about that. But he or she wouldn’t be able to just show up out of nowhere. There must be a sign or something. I just won’t feel satisfied until I can rule out any paranormal interference. Something must have happened to Tulip. I’m sure it’s not the first time she’s chewed gum.”

  “Yes, but not everyone is skilled enough to multitask, darling. She wasn’t the brightest bulb in that office.”

  “Ebony, apologize. That wasn’t very nice.”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that word on the street has it she and her whole family hated cats. And she wasn’t a very nice person.”

  “Ebony!”

  “What?”

  “That’s not nice.”

  “Neither was she. You should hear the stuff she and her family said about your family.”

  “Still, no one deserves to be murdered.”

  “If she was,” Ebony added.

  The door opened. A tall man stood there in a blue blazer and pants. One of the security personnel. His gold-plated security tag and photo ID hung on his blazer breast pocket.

  “Can I help you?” he asked in a deep voice. The man had a thick moustache and a five o’clock shadow.

  “Hi, my name is Febe Summer. I’m a participant in the Kitty Fashion show.”

  “Yes.”

  “I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. My friend was...well, I was the one who found her backstage.”

  “Oh, that girl who choked on her gum. Sad, isn’t it? Sorry about your loss.”

  “Thank you,” Febe said, quietly. “I just have a few questions to ask.”

  “Sure, anything we can do to help you.”

  “May I come in?”

  He opened the door wider and she walked into the room. There were monitors all over the place. A few security personnel sat watching the different monitors where different security cameras were placed around the area of the event.

  Oh, great.

  Febe was mortified. There was a camera situated just outside the security office.

  Crap.

  No wonder he answered the door like that.

  They must have seen her talking to her cat. Ebony! Why did Ebony have to always chat with her in public? Now they will certainly think she must be off her rocker. Still, she hoped they wouldn’t notice that too much. After all, there were a dozen monitors on the massive board. Surely, they weren’t watching the CCTV monitor outside their door. They’d be watching the festival events, wouldn’t they?

  CCTV?

  Febe thought of something else. If it was paranormal activity, would it be possible for demonic spirits to interfere with the energy waves and block the images?

  Febe swallowed hard. Maybe Ebony had a point. Then again, if she had to, she would use all the magical resources she had access to, if necessary. She was going to get down to the bottom of this crazy accident.

  Febe could see on one screen, a good view of the stage. On another security monitor she saw a view of the audience. She glanced at another monitor which focused on the back of the stage, the area where Febe found poor Tulip.

  “I was just wondering if I could look at some video footage?”

  The security officer looked puzzled. “Well, Ma’am due to privacy concerns we don’t allow the public to view the footage unless there’s a...”

  “But that’s just it. My friend was found dead. I found her. I just wanted to know if I recognize anyone in the area.”

  “Wasn’t it an accident?” the other security officer asked. It was more of a statement than a question.

  “Yes, that’s what the police said.”

  “But you don’t believe them.”

  “Well, I just want to know what happened prior to that. I mean Tulip always chews gum and well, you know, I want to know how on earth she happened to have the gum go down the wrong way.” If that’s what happened.

  Okay, Febe, you’re making like zero sense here.

  The man scratched his head, combed his fingers through his dark thick mane of hair.

  He eyed her cat Ebony and Ebony returned the look. He seemed to be uncomfortable around her. Then again, some people had superstition about black cats. Maybe that’s what it was. Febe was used to that response to Ebony now, though she didn’t agree with it. Ebony, on the other hand, dressed in her Baroque costume, behaved as if she couldn’t care less.

  “The police have already been here and well, what did you say your name was again?”

  Febe took out her ID and showed it to the security officer.

  “Oh, right. You’re from the Summer Café. We go there from time to time. I thought I recognized you.”

  “Yes, I’m from the café. I just started there recently. I moved back from Toronto.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “I’m sure we can rewind a bit so that you can have a look. The Summer family are good people. Especially Katlynn Summer. She was a mighty one in the community. Always helping and giving back.”

  Febe’s heart melted. “Yes, she was...wonderful.” And still is.

  “The cops have already been back here. There’s no trouble taking a second look. You want to see who was with her at the time?”

  “Yes.” And a lot more too.

  “Well, let’s take a look here.” The security officer went to another part of the room and turned on another monitor. He then keyed some codes information into the keyboard attached to another monitor.

  Before long, footage was displayed on the screen. The atmosphere was so lively. It was a shame there’d been a death on the premises.

  She gasped when she saw herself on the monitor. Trey had gone off to grab some tickets. Then she saw Trey approaching her from behind. Of course, she couldn’t see him at the time as she didn’t have eyes on the back of her head.

  But oh, her heart melted when she saw the look Trey gave her. The look as if he was admiring her from behind.

  Butterflies sprang up in her tummy. She swallowed.

  Oh, my God. Trey really likes me.

  Of course, he does, silly. And you like him.

  That look was that of longing in his beautiful eyes. Febe’s breath caught in her throat. She wished she could have reached out and hugged him then.

  Focus, Febe. You’re not here to ogle over hot and sexy detective Trey. You’re here to focus and try to find out what really happened to poor Tulip Gosnik. Why was everyone targeting the Gosniks? Was it because they were witches? Were they witches though? And if they were, who’s to say the Summer sisters wouldn’t be next?

  Her mother had already warned her. Her heartbeat raced in her chest like a galloping race horse.

  This. Was. Serious. Business.

  “That guy really likes you. He your date?” the officer asked.

  “Um. Well, we’re just friends. Acquaintances actually.” Febe tried to play it cool and keep a poker face as much as possible. Not that she played poker. Still, she saw in the footage how Trey’s expression changed from loving to friendly when their eyes met. As if he didn’t want her to know how strongly he felt about her.

  Darn it.

  Focus, Febe.

  The security personnel knew Trey was one of the detectives there. She had to be careful not to spark any premature rumors around town.

  Febe then looked around and took note of everyone who was around the area at the time. There was Tulip Gosnik. She was on her cell phone and chewing gum when she really should have been taking more pictures of the show. Who was she on the phone with? She saw Bud, one of the cashiers who worked at the Summer Café. She knew he and some others would be attending the show. No big deal there.

  S
he also noted Ted, the delivery guy. What was he doing there?

  Okay, fine, delivery guys had a life too, didn’t they? They were entitled to have their days off just like anyone else in the neighbourhood.

  It was just so weird seeing him not wearing his brown uniform and cap. Funny, how we compartmentalise people based on the jobs they did and it was difficult to picture them doing anything else.

  He seemed to be enjoying himself with his date at his side. And no, his date wasn’t her Aunt Vanity. Thank goodness for that. Though she would never forgive him for blabbing to her auntie about seeing her at Mr. Dawes’ residence when he delivered a parcel to him.

  Oh well.

  Febe continued to scan the monitor and her eyes caught a familiar figure on the screen. She saw Bruce on the monitor! He was nearby but not too close to Tulip.

  What was Bruce, the editor at the Gosnik newspaper, doing there? Tulip never mentioned he’d be there. Bruce had also dated Aunt Vanity once. Then again, as Aunt Vanity boasted, she’d dated half the men in Blackshore Bay and she was damn proud of it too.

  She remembered when Bruce made remarks about the Gosniks changing the focus of the newspaper into a tabloid rag since their parents passed on. He never did like the way the sisters changed it up. He’d been an editor forever there.

  That was strange.

  Her skin prickled.

  That was very strange indeed.

  Chapter 7

  “So you think someone choked that poor girl?” Aunt Trixie said the next morning, while the sisters were in the kitchen making coffee and breakfast. Aunt Trixie was busy setting up cups and saucers on a tray while Aunt Eartha was taking freshly baked buttermilk biscuits out of the oven. The delicious scent permeated the atmosphere.

  It would have been a nice cozy Sunday morning had it not been marred by the sad news about Tulip Gosnik’s untimely demise.

  “Yes, I do think someone choked her, or spooked her, or something,” Febe said, taking out the plates out of the cabinet.

  “Trey just called. They did a rush autopsy as a special favour to the family. The results said she died from choking on the gum. No foul play evident.”

  Febe frowned. “I know what they said, but...I still think something else happened. I think she might have been spooked.”

  They had to keep their conversation down as they still had visitors all over the house, mostly ghosts.

  “You think maybe your Uncle Hoot spooked her?” Ebony said with a trace of sarcasm as she strutted into the kitchen toward her saucer of milk.

  “No Ebony, I don’t think Uncle Hoot had anything to do with that, although come to think of it, where was he last night?”

  Febe felt the plate she was holding in her hands wobble and then before she could stop herself, it slid out of her hands and smashed unto the floor.

  “Oh dear, clear that up. Do an undo spell! Do an undo spell! That’s seven years of bad luck, child. We can’t afford that,” Aunt Vanity panicked as she walked into the kitchen, her compact mirror in her hand. Her makeup was done to perfection, you’d think she was having a modelling cover shoot done instead of having breakfast with her family and visitors.

  “That’s only if you break a mirror, not a plate, silly,” Aunt Trixie said. “Just keep staring into that compact mirror of yours and you’ll soon get your seven years of bad luck. I cannot believe that mirror hasn’t cracked or combusted after staring at your face all day long.”

  “Excuse me?” Aunt Vanity was fuming, her face reddened with fury, her hands on her hips, ready to challenge her sister.

  “Ladies, please behave yourselves,” Aunt Eartha interjected, “You know we have guests in our home.”

  Just then, Febe thought she was imagining things when the pieces of the broken plate started jiggling around on the ground and she thought she heard laughter.

  Was she going stark mad?

  The pieces then flew together magically as if some force pulled the pieces together and then it morphed into a person.

  It was her dear great-grand warlock uncle.

  “Uncle Hoot! How could you?” Now it was Febe’s turn to be furious.

  Uncle Hoot couldn’t stop laughing. He was hunched over, tears spilling from the corner of his eyes as he continued to laugh out loud. “You should have seen your face, Febe,” he cried out, laughing.

  “That wasn’t very funny. What were you doing hiding in the plate cupboard?”

  “You asked where I was last night, didn’t you?” he said, still laughing. “Well, I was at the fashion show, but it was too boring for me. I came back home and hid in your closet—then I just had to check out this plate cupboard. So much more interesting than what’s in your closet.”

  “You what?”

  He laughed again. “Just kidding, darling. Oh, you’re so easy. You’re so gullible.”

  Febe narrowed her eyes. That’s it. She really had to get rid of her house guests. Family or not. This was impossible to deal with. This was so not funny.

  “Oh dear, calm down now, your uncle doesn’t mean any harm,” Aunt Eartha said trying hard to keep the peace. Though Febe did catch Aunt Eartha give Uncle Hoot a scowling glance as she pinched her lips thin.

  “Hoot, you need to excuse yourself and promise me you’ll play no more pranks or jokes on Febe or anyone in the family. Is that understood?” Aunt Eartha’s lips were thin with defiance as if she dared him not to agree to that.

  “Fine then. Sour pusses. I’ll behave myself. Talk about a party pooper. Where’s the life in this house? Looks like the ghosts have more life than you bunch. I’m out of here,” he sang as he swept out of the room with a gust of wind.

  Febe shook her head and sighed. “I am so not getting used to being a witch. Why can’t I have normal relatives?” she whispered under her breath.

  Of course, her aunties overheard her.

  “Oh, it’s not so bad, darling. You’ll get used to being magical. Besides, don’t worry about your relatives. You don’t see them often.”

  “And thank heavens for that,” Ebony added after she was done with her milk.

  Febe grinned and shook her head. She had to agree with her black Bombay cat right now.

  “Anyway, as I was saying earlier,” she said as she continued to set the plates down on the table. “I think it’s so strange that Tulip is dead only a few weeks after her sister.”

  “What are you thinking?” Aunt Trixie asked rhetorically.

  “I’m thinking what you’re probably thinking. If it’s true that the Gosniks could have witches in their bloodline, then we’re all in trouble. Someone must be targeting them and could target us. That note we received the other day was a warning we should take very seriously. An attack could be imminent. What’s ironic is that the next two weeks are the celebration of the end of the Salem Witch Trials—and it looks as if more than three hundred years later, we’re still being targeted and persecuted—just in a different way.” Febe frowned crossing her arms across her chest.

  “You remember that the person who killed Darla Gosnik may not have known she was a witch.”

  “True. But the Gosniks had death threats against them—the killer just got to her first because of a tabloid piece she was about to publish.”

  “That’s true too.”

  “So who does that leave now as a possible suspect?” Aunt Vanity asked, concerned.

  “There are a few possible suspects,” Febe said, thinking out loud. “Of course, we can’t let the cops know we’re looking into this as a possible murder, since it more than likely involves the paranormal. All evidence points to a simple accident and no foul play.”

  “That’s true. We don’t want to give ourselves or any of the other paranormals in the town away. They already believe we’re just mythical creatures, unaware we’re living amongst them. Sheesh, talk about being blind.”

  “People see what they want to see or what think they should see, Auntie.”

  “That’s true.”

  “The only perso
ns I saw around the area behind the stage were Bud from the café, Ted the delivery guy, and get this: I saw Bruce from the newspaper.”

  “Oh, Bruce,” Aunt Vanity said, fixing her tresses and blushing, “I’m sorry I missed him. I was planning on going to that cat show. How did he look?”

  “Guilty as hell,” Ebony called out.

  “Ebony!” Febe said, hushing her cat. Febe remembered that Ebony was with her when they went into the security control room to view the monitors and watch a clip of the closed circuit TV recordings. Yep, Bruce did look a bit suspicious, but that meant nothing right now. She didn’t get any strange vibes about him in particular. She was probably going to have to look up a reveal spell to see if she could figure something out. Though it would be a bit difficult with footage.

  “Well, he did to me,” Ebony said, then purred and licked the back of her paw.

  “Anyway, I thought it was strange that he happened to be backstage.”

  “Maybe he was just checking up on dear Tulip to make sure she was covering the event.”

  “But why? He doesn’t usually appear at shows or on assignments. Besides, Tulip had mentioned earlier that he’d sent her to cover the event so why would he turn up backstage? If he were in the audience, that would be another thing altogether.”

  “Oh, come on now. You don’t really think he had anything to do with it, do you? Besides, it was an accident,” Aunt Vanity said, trying to defend Bruce.

  Febe had to keep in mind that Bruce and Aunt Vanity had dated once, or was that twice?

  “But didn’t he always say that he wished he had total control over the newspaper?” Febe asked.

  “That’s true, but he wouldn’t kill off the heir.”

  “Tulip wasn’t exactly thrilled to be working as a reporter for her family newspaper.”

  “I don’t think she’d be thrilled to be working, period. She was practically dragged in there to work. I remember going to the office to see Bruce and she’d always be complaining, saying she wished she were anywhere but there. But her family threatened to cut her off if she didn’t do something useful with her life.”

  “You mean other than count her trust funds, wake up at noon every day and post vacation pics on social media of her wonderful privileged life. Which I always thought was odd, because she never worked and vacation was what you got when you needed time off work,” Ebony said, yawning.