All's Fairy in Love and Murder

by K. M. Waller

  “Not to the flower shop,” I said in a rush of words. “Have them sent over around noon to the café.” When she furrowed her brow, I quickly added, “I don’t want to worry Mossy with them any more than she already is.”

  Mayor Caldwell shrugged. “Whatever.”

  When I didn’t move to leave she narrowed her eyes. “Anything else?”

  Honestly, the mayor intimidated me and I didn’t want to outright ask her about her alibi. While I didn’t feel in danger being alone with her, I had a feeling she could make things very difficult for Mossy when I left if I pushed her too hard. However, when Brianna brought the invoices over, I’d ask her about their alibi instead. Out of the two, I thought Brianna to be the weakest link.

  “No. I’m good,” I said.

  She turned her back to me and used a keycard to enter the back door. She shut it hard in my face and I headed back to the end of the alley where I’d come in.

  I strolled across the park and sat down on one of the benches outside the dog area. Allondra and her dog were gone and I had the place to myself. Good. I needed to think. All of this information gathering meant nothing if I couldn’t figure a way to put it in order. I’d been to the crime scene but Pip couldn’t help me. Doubtful I’d convince Officer Foster or the Chief to allow me in again. John’s place of work, City Hall, turned up more trouble than answers.

  That left me with significant others. They’d cleared Mossy but I couldn’t help the suspicion she hid something from me. I needed to know more about Brianna. That could be helped with the gossip club at noon as long as I could provide them with some valuable information to trade.

  “You’re thinking hard.”

  I startled as Callan sat beside me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Actually, I’m so glad you’re here,” I said.

  “Really?”

  “Did you come from the police station?”

  “Yes, but I have the next four nights off so I’m not going to sleep this morning in order to give me a little internal clock reset.” He quirked an eyebrow. “I’m free all day.”

  “Perfect. I need to pick your detective brain some more.”

  “Not this again.” He crossed his arms and sat back with a huff. “I’m not a detective anymore. Plus, from what I heard last night from the chief, Mrs. M has been cleared as a suspect.”

  “The killer is still out there.” I gestured to the building in front of us. “I caught the mayor arguing with a man in the alley. There’s a man with a scar following me around. Something’s not right in Lilac Cove.”

  “You’re going to turn into one of the gossip club women if you don’t watch out.”

  “I meet with them at noon.”

  He uncrossed his arms and turned toward me, his face taking on the expression he’d used when scolding Olivia. “No good ever comes from amateur snoops interfering with a police investigation. The way it works is that you pass on what you know and take a step back.”

  “I don’t mean to interfere, but I can’t take a step back. I have to help find John’s killer,” I argued.

  “I can’t be the one to help you.” He stood and wiped a hand across his brow.

  “Fine,” I said.

  “Fine,” he repeated and walked away, his shoulders squared.

  I took a deep steadying breath. I didn’t need the moody man’s assistance.

  I had a talking squirrel. One who may or may not have an attention span problem, but still a talking squirrel.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Fairyland Flowers only had one customer. The man with the scar. He pretended he didn’t see me when I flew through the shop door, and I stopped short at the counter, keeping him within my peripheral vision.

  Mossy busied herself with picking wilted flowers out of a bin of carnations. She smiled as I sidled up beside her.

  “Do you know that man?” I whispered.

  Her eyes flickered in his direction. “No, but he’s the first customer I’ve had all morning. It would appear that the mayor has let it slip that I might be stealing funds from the festival. I’ve had three phone calls with canceled orders already this morning.”

  “How awful.”

  “It’ll blow over, and Chief Rayburn has promised to get to the bottom of it all. But he’s busy, so I may have to deep discount my inventory and try selling roses one by one out in the park.” She shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  I gave her side hug. “I’m going to fix this. At my lunch with the gossip club, I’ll have them reverse the gossip started by the mayor.”

  She used her free hand to boop the end of my nose. Then she broke off the stem from a carnation and slipped it behind my ear. “You’re a good niece. I wish I had you around more.”

  “Me too.” Maybe Dad would let me visit now that I’ve spent a few days in his crash course living as the humans. “I’m off to see Pip, but I’ll check back with you soon. Don’t despair.”

  The man with the scar scratched under his nose and, after standing in front of a fern for much longer than necessary, walked out the door without buying anything. I may be naïve about a lot of things in the human world, but I knew when someone spied. What I couldn’t figure out is how he connected to John Bleaker. Pip might know, though.

  I rushed to the back to grab Pip’s cage. He squeaked and chittered and flicked his tail in every direction. “Hi, Pip. I need you to identify someone for me. We have to hurry before he gets down the sidewalk.”

  I reached for the top of the cage and that’s when I noticed the note. No cheating. Sincerely, Dad. The note crumpled away when I picked it off the cage. What did he mean cheating? “Pip?”

  Pip chittered. “Pip, Pip.”

  Oh no. My one secret advantage. “Please say something other than your name.”

  He jumped around inside the cage and flicked his tail three more times. “Pip, Pip. Hungry.”

  “Anything other than your name and hungry?”

  “Pip, Pip. Hungry,” he said and gave the squirrel equivalent of a shrug.

  Dad took away our ability to communicate. Again.

  “That wasn’t cheating!” I yelled into the air just in case Dad watched me from the courtyard fountain. Of course he watched. That was the only way he could know that Iris had been there and helped.

  I needed Pip to talk.

  I opened the cage door and Pip jumped onto the front of my dress. Back out in the main shop area, the door jingled when a man passed through.

  “Hello, Mossy-girl. How’s business?” The tall man with brown hair and a neatly trimmed goatee sauntered to the counter.

  “Terrible, thanks to your wife,” Mossy answered.

  “She can be a handful, can’t she?” He leaned on the counter and flashed bright white teeth at the both of us. “Regardless, I need my usual order today. Two dozen red roses, with one white rose in the middle.”

  “White is the symbol of true love,” I offered even though no one had asked.

  Mossy snorted but quickly composed herself when the man shot her a dark look. She nodded toward me. “This is my niece, Juniper. Juniper, this is the mayor’s husband, Dr. Caldwell.”

  He winked at me and gestured at the flowers. “Can you have them delivered? I’m afraid I have patients waiting at the office.”

  “I’ll take them,” I offered. The faster I got the copy of invoices from Brianna and proved Mossy had nothing to do with stealing the funds, the faster I’d see a smile return to her face.

  “I’ll have them ready before the end of the hour,” Mossy said.

  He nodded to her and tossed a credit card on the counter.

  While she rang up his charges, he turned his smile to me. “I hope you’re settling in to our little town just fine.”

  “Other than the murder and false accusations of my aunt stealing, it’s turning out to be a great visit,” I said.

  He didn’t flinch. “If you need someone to show you around, I’d be hap
py to stop by this evening. We have some hidden spots down by the beach.”

  I blinked hard. Was the mayor’s husband offering to take me to a secluded beach area, just the two of us?

  Pip barked at him.

  Mossy cleared her throat. “Do you need a receipt?”

  “Think about it,” he said to me before turning back to her. “I’m good. See you around Mossy-girl.”

  He covered his eyes with dark sunglasses and strolled to the exit.

  I shivered and rubbed my arms.

  Mossy waited for the door to close all the way before saying, “Stay away from that one.”

  “I plan to,” I assured her. Pip took a few more hops and landed near my shoulder. Then he fussed with my braid as if he had a nut he wanted to hide in the interlocked hair. “Pip, Pip. Hungry.”

  Mossy snapped her fingers and Pip jumped onto the counter. She pulled a sleeve of crackers from beneath the counter and opened them for him. Pip chittered with delight.

  “Wait,” I started. “Did you understand Pip just now?”

  “I’m starting to recognize his hungry grunts, if that’s what you mean.” She shrugged off my question and fixed the vase with the red roses and baby’s breath. When it came to the white rose, she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  “Do you doubt his love for his wife?” I asked, sensing between the expression and her snort earlier, she knew something about his marital status.

  “I doubt that man’s love for anyone,” she replied. “But it’s not our business. Thank you for delivering the flowers. I’ll keep Pip here since I’m not busy. I’ll return him to his cage when he gets tired, or if he causes too much trouble.”

  I rubbed a finger over his tiny head. “You won’t cause any trouble, will you?”

  His tail flickered twice which I took to mean “yes.” Take that, Dad. We can still somewhat communicate.

  The vase took both hands and Mossy had to let me out the door. I checked left and right, craning my neck over the roses, but didn’t see the scar man. How did he disappear so quickly?

  I trudged the path back to city hall for the third time that morning. Now that it was open, I didn’t need to ring the buzzer, but I had to wait for someone to open the door for me. The lobby had two or three people occupying the plastic chairs while a woman with thick eyebrows sat at the counter. At the elevator, I used my foot to press the up arrow.

  Elevator music filtered in from a speaker above my head as I rode up to the second floor. This time when I approached Brianna, she didn’t pretend to be on the phone.

  She gasped at the flowers. “Are those from Dr. Caldwell?”

  The mayor’s door was closed and I could hear her bark at someone from the other side. I had to be fast with my questions for Brianna. I set the flowers on the end of the desk. “They’re for the mayor.”

  She sniffed the bouquet, a red blush creeping up her tan neck. “Of course they are.”

  “The mayor was going to have you copy the fake invoices for me. I can grab them now if you have a minute so you don’t have to deliver them to the café.”

  She pulled out the white rose and set it aside. She cut her eyes at me. “What invoices?”

  “The fake ones that my aunt is accused of sending over to John for flower arrangements never delivered.”

  She shrugged. “The mayor hasn’t said anything to me.”

  “But you were here earlier during the meeting with my aunt. I saw you eavesdropping.”

  “The mayor hasn’t given me anything,” she repeated and pointed to a tray labeled in box. The box had so many papers sitting on top that it spilled to the side of her desk. How would she know the difference? The mayor and her secretary were making things ten times harder than they needed to be. No wonder John had been looking for another job. The reminder of the interview that he’d never made it to because of me spurred on my determination. Brianna had to know something about his leaving.

  “Did you know John Bleaker was leaving as deputy mayor?”

  She sat back and let out a laugh that sounded like a baby goat choking. “John would never leave the mayor’s office. It held too much power for him. Always having an inside peak into everyone’s business.”

  “It’s true,” I said. “He was.”

  She sobered and her face took on a hard edge, scarier than the mayor’s had been in the alley way. “Just who are you? You’ve been in town for exactly two minutes and you’re in everyone’s business already. Stop spending time with those gossip hags. You didn’t know John and you don’t know me. So go back to your little fairy flower shop and mind your own business.”

  I’d underestimated her, it seemed. She was as strong a link as the mayor. I gave up on getting any useful information from her and headed back to the elevator.

  While I waited, I watched Brianna and tried to get a read on her. It seemed that as soon as I’d walked away it was if Brianna had forgotten all about me. She turned her attention to the white rose. She rubbed the petals against her cheek and smiled. If I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect she thought that white rose was meant for her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I sat inside the café for an hour before the gossip club showed up for our lunch date. Emory, Allondra, and Gladys walked in together, two of the three with huge smiles. Gladys wore the frown.

  “We know what we’re doing for our May Day Festival booth Friday night,” Emory said.

  “What’s a May Day booth?” I asked.

  “Usually, we sell our canned goods. Tomatoes, fig preserves, and sweet pickles.” Gladys sat down and crossed her arms.

  “That’s so last year,” Allondra said. “This year we’re going to have a pet psychic tent.”

  Uh oh.

  “That’s right,” Emory said on peal of laughter. “You’re going to talk to people’s pets. We’ll charge five dollars a chat. That’s more than we were charging per can of our best preserves.”

  How did I tell them that I couldn’t talk to animals? Not even Pip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. My psychic powers don’t work on command. In fact, what happened with John’s squirrel could be considered a fluke.”

  “Told you,” Gladys said and finally smiled. “We’ll keep to the canned goods this year.”

  Emory sat back and pursed her lips.

  Allondra wasn’t one to give up so easily. “This morning when Killer sniffed you through the fence, he didn’t try to bite anyone all day long. I think your powers are working just fine.”

  I put my hand out. “Why don’t we table this discussion and we’ll come back to it later. I actually need some more information from you ladies.”

  The atmosphere around them changed. I knew the game. Give a lot to get a lot. I only hope I had enough to give.

  “John had an interview set for yesterday morning. Do any of you know why he would leave the mayor’s office?”

  Gladys played with the cloth napkin in front of her. “He was always threatening to leave the mayor high and dry. But he never made good on it.”

  Allondra leaned in but didn’t lower her voice. “I heard he once wrote a three-page resignation letter.”

  “It’s because of that Brianna,” Emory added. “She was dating both him and a certain married man at the same time. She’s attracted to money. Always has been.”

  The table quieted and I plunged forward with another tidbit to feed their gossip monsters. “Dr. Caldwell sent roses to the mayor’s office today. Brianna pulled out a single white one among the red and acted like she’d been expecting it.”

  Emory slapped the top of the table. “I knew it. When Dr. Caldwell and John had a tiff in front of John’s house last month, I knew the talk about him and Brianna had to be true. I think John threatened to tell Mayor Caldwell.”

  “Did he?” I asked. “Do you think the police have questioned Dr. Caldwell about the murder?”

  Gladys sipped her tea, then leaned forward. “Officer Foster said that the mayor, Dr. Caldwell, and Brianna all gave each ot
her strong alibis. While it seems fishy, I doubt the three of them would be in on it together.”

  The women shrugged. Allondra sat back and gave her a wink. “You should ask Callan what he hears down at the station more about it. You two seemed awful cozy on the park bench earlier today.”

  I glanced at Emory and Gladys who had both leaned in anticipating my answer. Their attention span was worse than Pip’s.

  I rested my chin on my hands. “Callan is very nice, but he refuses to help me with the investigation into John’s death. And that’s what I need right now.”

  Gladys tsked. “That’s because of what happened in Atlanta.”

  “What happened in Atlanta?” I sat in awe of how easily she’d turned my focus.

  She tapped her fingers on the table. “It was all part of a big raid on some mobster thugs running guns. He arrested a very bad man and one of the underlings capped his partner. All he does now is run the dispatch and take care of Olivia.”

  Poor Callan.

  “Anyway,” Allondra began. “What do you think about our pet psychic idea? You can make stuff up and it will still bring in a crowd. Everyone in town is convinced you can talk to the squirrel.”

  I eyed her and hid my smile. “I wonder who gave them that idea in the first place?”

  “Officer Foster,” Emory said flatly. “I hate how that man beats us to the good stuff sometimes.”

  They’d given me so much information that I didn’t want to disappoint them. I could pretend to talk to animals for a couple of hours. “If I’m still in town by Friday night, then I will sit in your tent and talk to the animals.”

  Emory slapped the top of the table again. Allondra clapped her hands. Gladys frowned.

  “We’ll take care of everything,” Allondra said. “All you have to do is show up.”

  We ordered our sandwiches and after enjoying the quick meal together, said our goodbyes. I walked back to Fairyland Flowers with a plan forming. If John had in fact written a three-page resignation letter, then I could almost bet it’d be in that tray on Brianna’s desk and she wouldn’t know for months.