by Jinty James
“Okay.” Suzanne nodded.
“Yes,” Maddie agreed.
Trixie didn’t say anything, she just sat demurely on her stool.
“Hmm.” The detective didn’t look convinced. He took another sip of his drink, then departed.
A loud growling sound made Maddie freeze.
“What’s that?” she frowned.
“My stomach.” Suzanne looked embarrassed as she held a hand to her tummy. “I’m starving. We missed lunch because of what happened. I can’t believe I’m hungry after seeing ... Veronica, but I am.”
“Why don’t we go get something to eat?”
“Do you think the salad shop will deliver? I really don’t want to go near Claudine’s café again today.”
“Good thinking.” Maddie nodded.
Suzanne fished out her phone and dialed the salad shop.
“Yes!” She snapped her fingers. “Two power salads coming right up!”
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged grins, before suddenly becoming swamped by a deluge of customers, all talking about the murder.
Everyone seemed to think it was terrible that another murder had been committed in sleepy Estherville, but none of them seemed sorry Veronica was dead.
“Maybe the whole town was in on it,” Suzanne whispered out of the side of her mouth as their last customer departed.
“I know.” Maddie nodded, her stomach now grumbling. She checked her watch. “How long ago did you order the salads?”
“Sorry it took so long. Everyone came into the shop at once, talking about the murder.” A teenage delivery boy rushed up to the truck. “Two power salads and two quinoa coconut cacao cookies.”
“Thanks.” Suzanne handed him some cash.
He waved to Trixie, a big grin on his face as he spied her, then hurried back across the square.
“Quinoa coconut cacao cookies?” Maddie crinkled her brow.
“I figured we deserved a treat, and the shop only has healthy stuff.” Suzanne opened her brown paper bag, plucking out a cookie and biting into it. “Mmm.” She closed her eyes as she savored the bite. “Not bad for healthy stuff.”
“Mrrow?” Trixie asked.
“Do you want some lunch, Trix?” Maddie pulled open a drawer and grabbed a bag of dry food, shaking brown crunchy pellets into a bowl for her familiar.
“Mrrow!” Trixie investigated the bowl and started crunching.
Maddie opened her container and forked up a mouthful of salad greens. “How much do I owe you for lunch?” she asked.
“My treat.” Suzanne waved a hand, munching on her own leaves. “It’s nice for healthy food, but I don’t think anything can beat one of those Seattle burgers.”
“They were the best,” Maddie reminisced.
“We’ll have to go there again – soon.” Suzanne’s face lit up at the thought.
“Definitely!”
After she finished her salad, Maddie nibbled on her cookie. It was definitely tasty, despite being healthy. Ever since she and Suzanne had catered for the organic vegan self-help retreat, she’d been more adventurous with healthy, unusual foods.
“Hmm.” Suzanne stared at her half-eaten cookie. “Maybe I could make a health ball version of this.”
“Isn’t that copying?” Maddie frowned.
“Huh. Maybe.” Suzanne wrinkled her nose. “I might have to do some experimenting and see what I can come up with that’s totally original and not copying.”
“Good idea,” Maddie replied with a little smile.
“Although,” Suzanne continued, “I might have to put my experimenting to one side for now. I’ll be over at your place tonight for the full moon, and we also have to find out who killed Veronica.”
“No, we don’t,” Maddie replied. “You heard what Detective Edgewater said. We should stay out of it. And I think he might have a point.”
“You do?” Suzanne stared at her, disappointment written on her face.
“Yes.” Maddie nodded. “I don’t think I heard one nice thing said about Veronica. We’ve personally heard from three women who had a grudge against her. How many more people did Veronica betray in some way? I really don’t think we should get involved.”
“Trixie?” Suzanne turned to the cat, but the Persian was busy nosing about in her bowl for the last of the kibble. Suzanne pouted.
“I can understand if you want to find out who did it because you were the one who found her,” Maddie said gently.
“Yes.” Suzanne nodded.
“But do you really want to get mixed up in murder again?”
“But we’re good at it,” Suzanne protested. “We’ve solved what – five murders in the past year so far?”
“Helped solve,” Maddie corrected. “Detective Edgewater seems to know what he’s doing.”
“Sometimes,” Suzanne countered.
“Well, he did say if we heard anything pertaining to Veronica to pass it on to him. So we could do that.”
“Hmm.” Suzanne made it sound very similar to Trixie’s “Broomf!”
“Besides,” Maddie tried to cajole her, “don’t you have Ramon to dream about?”
CHAPTER 9
That evening, Suzanne arrived at Maddie’s house.
“I can’t wait to see what new spell you’ll be able to do tonight,” Suzanne enthused as she peered out of the living room window. The sky was black and the moon was heavy and golden. She pulled the curtains and turned around to face Maddie and Trixie, her eyes sparkling.
“Mrrow,” Trixie seemed to agree, sitting on the periwinkle sofa next to Wytchcraft for the Chosen.
“I guess we’d better get started.” Maddie sat on the other side of the book, while Suzanne sat next to Trixie.
Maddie opened the ancient tome, the pages crumbling and fly-spotted.
“You already know how to do the Tell the Truth spell,” Suzanne mused. She suddenly drew in a breath. “I know! You could cast it on Ramon and ask him if he’s really interested in me!”
“Suzanne.” Maddie shook her head. “You know I don’t agree with using magic for personal gain.”
“It wouldn’t be your personal gain,” Suzanne argued. Her face fell as she reluctantly conceded Maddie’s point, and she sighed.
“Mrrow.” Trixie patted a page.
“You know how to do this one,” Suzanne said. “Escape Your Enemy.”
“Yes,” Maddie replied, hoping she would never have to use it again.
They paged past glamour spells, fountain of youth spells, how to ensure a good harvest, and many others. But none of them appealed to Maddie. She knew from experience that she would experience a slight tug or inclination to a certain spell in the book – but only on the night of a full moon.
They were nearly at the end of the book. What if none of the spells called out to her tonight? Did that mean that her progress as a witch was suspended – or even halted?
“Mrrow.” Trixie tapped the book with her paw, which meant, “Turn the page.”
“Okay.” Lately Maddie had been growing in confidence with her magical abilities, but tonight her doubts had resurfaced.
Why couldn’t there be a page in the book that stated exactly what she could expect from her abilities in the coming years? The only reference she had was that when a witch turned seven-and-twenty, she came into her full powers. Maddie had turned twenty-seven months ago and so far was only able to master one new spell per month.
Maddie scanned the next page and paused. There was something different about this spell.
“An Incantation to Find Someone and Discover What They’re Doing Right Now,” she read out slowly.
“Mrrow,” Trixie sounded approving.
“Ooh, is this the one?” Suzanne’s face lit up.
“Maybe,” Maddie replied cautiously.
“That sounds exciting!” Suzanne peered at the page.
Maddie studied the handwritten words on the page. Somehow, she knew that this was the spell she was meant to find tonight.
“You
should try it now.” Suzanne’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you think so?”
“Mrrow!” Trixie agreed.
Maddie pulled out a small notebook and pen she had in her shorts’ pocket. She knew from experience that it would be best if she wrote down the words so she wouldn’t have to memorize the incantation and possibly make an error – with unintended results – when using it for the first time. But writing down the spell meant she’d have to make sure she had the scrap of paper on her everywhere, in case she needed to use it. And in the past, sometimes she’d had to use a spell when she’d least expected to, when she and Suzanne were investigating a murder.
“Mrrow.” Trixie bunted her arm in approval as Maddie wrote down the words.
“Who are you going to spy on?” Suzanne asked eagerly.
“Hmm.” Maddie nibbled her lip. Was it fair to spy on someone when it wasn’t connected to solving a murder? Should they even get involved in attempting to solve Veronica’s death? She glanced at Suzanne who looked like she wanted to bounce with excitement at the idea of Maddie attempting a new spell.
“What if I try it on you?” Maddie asked.
“Ooh!” Suzanne jumped up. “But you already know I’m standing right here.”
“What if you go into my bedroom?” Maddie suggested. “And I’ll cast the spell here.”
“Okay.” Suzanne hurried down the hall toward Maddie’s room. “And I’m going to be doing something!” she called out.
Maddie gave her friend another minute, then read out the words on the paper. Trixie rubbed her cheek against Maddie’s arm.
“Show me the person I am thinking of
Show me their actions
Show me true”
Maddie repeated the words three times while thinking of Suzanne. She tried not to let herself think that Suzanne was in her bedroom; instead, she focused her mind on the moment when Suzanne had jumped up from the sofa, excited about the spell.
A picture arose in her mind. Suzanne was in Maddie’s bedroom, touching her toes.
Maddie giggled.
“It worked!” she called out.
“Mrrow!” Trixie agreed, hopping off the sofa and scampering toward Maddie’s room. She followed her familiar.
“Well?” Suzanne flung open Maddie’s bedroom door.
“You were touching your toes.”
“Yes!” Suzanne hugged Maddie, and bent down to stroke Trixie. “It worked!”
BUZZ BUZZ.
Maddie groaned and rolled over. She wished she could sleep in, especially after testing the incantation last night – she’d felt more tired than usual after Suzanne had gone home. But today was Friday.
She smiled, sleepily opening her eyes. That meant in two days’ time she and Trixie would be having a picnic with Luke.
“Mrrow.” Trixie hopped onto her chest and gently patted Maddie’s cheek, her claws sheathed. Wake up.
“Okay,” Maddie grumbled good-humoredly.
After a quick breakfast and shower, Maddie and Trixie hopped in the truck and drove to the town square. Even though she had permission to park at the square during the day, she had to bring the truck home at night.
“Hi!” Suzanne waved and bounced on the spot as Maddie parked Brewed from the Bean.
“You’re in a good mood,” Maddie observed as she and Trixie jumped out of the front of the vehicle.
“I’m seeing Ramon tomorrow.” Suzanne grinned. “I couldn’t sleep last night after I got home, so I went through my closet and I’ve already picked out what to wear on my date!”
“That’s great!”
“I even took a photo to show you – and Trixie.” Suzanne held out her phone to both of them. A cute light blue dress with a swing skirt lay on her bedspread.
“I think it’s perfect,” Maddie said, pleased that her friend seemed calm – albeit enthusiastic – about her upcoming date.
“Me too,” Suzanne said with satisfaction. “What about you, Trix?”
“Mrrow!” Trixie stared at the photo on the phone, putting out a paw to touch it.
“Oh, good.” Suzanne put the phone back in her pocket. “Now all we have to do is catch the killer and have fabulous love lives!”
Maddie shook her head, choosing not to reply to Suzanne’s remark. She jumped into the back of the truck and started setting up the coffee machine. In a few minutes, hopefully the early morning joggers would start arriving demanding bottled water, or for some of them, a quick espresso before they set off around the block again.
After selling five bottles of water in ten minutes, Maddie turned to Suzanne only to be interrupted by a nasal voice.
“I want to talk to you, Maddie Goodwell!” Claudine.
“What does she want?” Suzanne muttered, peering out through the serving hatch.
Claudine stood at the counter, dressed in black, her hands on her hips and a big scowl on her face.
“What did you do to my cousin?”
CHAPTER 10
“I ’m sorry about Veronica ,” Maddie said awkwardly.
Trixie sat on her stool and stared at Claudine with narrowed eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“Yes.” Suzanne nodded.
“I just spent all yesterday afternoon being interrogated.” Claudine scowled. “I don’t know what you told that detective, but he didn’t believe a word I said.”
“What did you say?” Suzanne asked curiously.
“None of your coffee beans,” Claudine snapped. “But I did not have anything to do with Veronica’s death. How could I? She was my cousin!”
“Family members have killed before,” Suzanne observed.
“Suzanne!” Maddie hissed out of the side of her mouth.
“Sorry.” Suzanne looked abashed.
“We didn’t say anything to Detective Edgewater,” Maddie told Claudine as gently as she could. “He asked if we knew if Veronica had had an argument with anyone and we told him how you told Veronica to take down her iced coffee stand.”
Maddie could tell by the look on Suzanne’s face that she wanted to chime in with “illegal iced coffee stand” but to her friend’s credit, she didn’t say anything.
“What else?” Claudine demanded.
“That’s it,” Maddie told her.
“Then why did he question me over and over?” Claudine growled.
“Search me.” Suzanne shrugged. “But we don’t know anything else.”
“I didn’t kill her,” Claudine told them. “But I don’t know about you two. Do you have an alibi for the time of Veronica’s death?”
Maddie and Suzanne looked at each other, their eyes wide. Detective Edgewater hadn’t asked them that question.
“None of your business,” Suzanne finally told her, but the snap was missing from her voice. “Do you?”
“Ha! As if I’d tell you.” Claudine glowered. “But I know you two didn’t like Veronica and I made sure I told the detective that.”
“What?” Now it was Suzanne’s turn to scowl at their nemesis. “You must know we didn’t kill her.”
“I don’t know anything of the sort,” Claudine huffed. “Just stay away from me – and my café. I don’t even want to see you walk past the front or the back entrance.” She turned to leave, a tiny tear glistening from her eye.
“Now I feel terrible,” Maddie said when they were alone.
“I know what you mean.” Suzanne sank on a stool. “I wish I hadn’t been so ... so ... with her.”
“She must have liked Veronica,” Maddie continued. “Did you see Claudine’s face just now?”
“Yeah.” Suzanne nodded, her ponytail not bouncing. “I feel like a heel.”
They turned to look at Trixie, but she just sat on her stool looking thoughtful.
“We don’t even know when Veronica was killed,” Suzanne said. “Detective Edgewater didn’t tell us.”
“We couldn’t possibly be considered suspects, could we?” Now it was Maddie’s turn to flop on a stool. It wouldn’t be the first time
if they were.
A wave of customers came toward the truck.
“Let’s try not to think about it right now.” Suzanne stood, her fingers poised over the register.
“Good idea,” Maddie agreed. Veronica hadn’t seemed like a nice person, but no one deserved to be murdered.
“VANILLA CAPPUCCINO, detective?” Suzanne asked later that morning. They were enjoying a welcome respite from customers. Today’s business had already made up for the downturn in sales that week. Iced mochas were a hit!
“Not today, thank you, Suzanne,” Detective Edgewater said, plucking his notebook from his coat pocket.
“Mrrow,” Trixie said quietly.
She’d hardly said anything all morning – ever since Claudine had visited them. Was she thinking about the murder? Or had Claudine distressed her in some way? Maddie didn’t think the Persian had forgotten the way Claudine had treated her when she’d appeared in the café over a year ago.
“Hello, Trixie.” The detective’s solemn face lightened a little as he looked at the furry white cat.
Trixie lifted a paw in his direction, then settled on her stool.
“Have you two forgotten to tell me something?” he asked enquiringly.
Maddie and Suzanne looked at each other in puzzlement.
“No sir,” Maddie replied.
“Nope.” Suzanne’s ponytail swished.
“I’ve been told that you hated the victim and wanted her dead,” he continued.
“Who told you that?” Suzanne’s eyebrows climbed to her hairline.
“It’s not true,” Maddie said quietly.
“Where were you around seven o’clock yesterday morning?” he asked.
“At home,” Maddie answered. “And then Trixie and I left around 7.20 and drove the truck here.”
“And I left my house about that same time and arrived just after Maddie,” Suzanne added.
“We open at 7.30 Monday to Saturday,” Maddie said.
“Sometimes a few minutes earlier,” Suzanne chimed in.
“Okay.” He wrote something down. “I hope you know I didn’t like asking you that, but it’s my job.” He frowned. “And you’re sure you don’t have anything to add to what you told me yesterday about the victim?”