by Elle Adams
In the meantime, I went to talk to the ghost at the inn again. Mandy ducked out of sight when I walked into her room, as though expecting me to start yelling at her.
“Hey,” I said to her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She didn’t answer. Who was she hiding from? The coven, or whoever had been responsible for her death? I didn’t want to push her and end up back at square one, but now a second person had shown up dead. I really needed to know if Mandy’s own death was linked to recent events, if just for my own peace of mind. With Mina Devlin even less likely to cooperate with me now, I had few options available.
“Did you know Angie?” I asked, figuring I might as well start with that.
“She’s the coven’s healer,” she said.
“She was,” I said. “She retired last week. Then someone murdered her today.”
“Murdered!” Her eyes flew wide. “Why?”
I sat down on the bed. “It’s the same person who killed Harriet, I think. Angie was the last person to see her alive, so I think someone wanted to ensure she didn’t figure out who the killer was.”
She sank into a sitting position. “Please don’t tell anyone I’m here.”
“I won’t,” I said, keeping my tone gentle. “Do you remember how you died yet?”
She froze. “No. No, no, no.”
“Okay, you don’t have to push yourself if you don’t want to.” But what if she did know something which might lead to the truth? If Mandy was afraid someone would come after her, then her concerns might be legitimate. The last person we’d questioned was dead. That was an indisputable fact. Something had driven her here, and her fear of being banished was genuine.
And I’d protect her until she was ready to share the truth.
I left the ghost in her room and helped Allie with various tasks around the inn while I waited to hear from Drew.
Mart, of course, was nowhere to be seen. I’d have gone looking for him, but at the rate at which I was wrecking things lately, I’d only end up furthering his grudge against our ghostly neighbour if I tried confronting him now.
Drew finally came back to the inn around mid-afternoon, and I met him in the lobby.
“Hey,” I said to the detective. “Safely escaped Mina’s clutches in one piece, did you?”
“Just about,” he replied. “She insisted on taking all the books Angie gave me from the back room of the apothecary. The books Harriet was studying before her death.”
“Seriously?” I swore. “She can’t do that. Aren’t those evidence?”
“My colleagues finished looking through them and concluded there wasn’t anything in the books worth keeping them for,” he said. “They also agreed to hand the bulk of the investigating over to Mina Devlin after she marched into the office and yelled at everyone.”
“Of course she did,” I said. “Next you’ll be telling me she asked you to arrest me as a suspect.”
“She didn’t, but she told me to inform you to forget about ever joining the coven,” he said.
“I’m devastated.” I gave an eye-roll. “I got out my best hat for nothing.”
“If it helps, I’ve officially struck you off the suspect list,” he added. “My colleagues want me to prioritise this case over Harriet’s death, but we can do both, as long as we don’t tread on Mina’s toes.”
“I’d like to walk over her feet with a pair of heavy boots,’ I said. “Whereabouts are we supposed to go that won’t end up with us conflicting with her? She pretty much owns the entirety of the witches’ area of town.”
“I doubt she’s considered speaking to Maxwell and Lisa,” he said. “Maxwell isn’t a witch, and Lisa has never been part of the coven. I checked.”
“Good enough,” I said. “Not sure if she and Angie knew one another, but they must at least have been aware that Angie was the coven healer and that Harriet wanted to be her successor.”
Neither of them struck me as likely to have killed the old healer, but I’d have liked to talk to Lisa about her ability to see ghosts, and it would be a good way to pass the time before Angie’s ghost showed up. If she showed up, then I’d need to make sure I got there before whoever had banished the last one did the same again.
Drew and I reached Maxwell and Lisa’s house, and the detective rang the doorbell. Lisa answered, her hair heaped on her head in a bun, looking surprised to see us.
“Is Maxwell in?” asked the Detective.
“No,” she said. “He’s at work.”
“Okay, then can we speak to you alone?” I asked.
“Sure.” She didn’t sound happy, but she let us into the house. “I thought I’d already answered all your questions, detective.”
“Did you hear the retired healer died yesterday?” I asked.
“Angie?” Her eyes widened. “No. I didn’t.”
Guess the coven didn’t tell the town’s non-members. “I’m told you can see ghosts.”
“Who said that?” she said. “What does it matter?”
“It matters because Harriet’s ghost was banished,” I said. “Did you see her?”
“Is that what this is about?” she asked. “I didn’t see her ghost. I didn’t even know she was one.”
“Have you always been able to see ghosts?” asked Drew.
“Yes, but they’re mostly background noise,” she said. “It’d be weird not to see them. I swear I didn’t see Harriet, though.”
I knew I was supposed to be asking about Angie, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like to grow up in a place like this when you could see ghosts. While my own childhood had been unconventional even in the magical world, at least I’d known from the start that I was half-Reaper and I’d been given the tools to handle it. Given the coven leader’s attitude, I doubted she’d have bothered trying to help her fellow witches who had the misfortune to be able to see Hawkwood Hollow’s extra residents. They’d have just had to put up with being haunted wherever they went.
On the other hand, why would Harriet have gone to haunt Cathy and not come here? Maybe she was angrier about losing out on the coven healer position than she was about her breakup, but if Lisa or Cathy hadn’t banished her, who had?
“When did the two of you meet?” I asked. “You and Maxwell?”
“Oh, about six months ago,” she said. “He works in the bookshop, and I fell for him right away.”
I tilted my head. “I thought the two of you only got together last week.”
“Officially,” said Drew. “Were you seeing each other before then?”
She fidgeted. “Um. Max didn’t want Harriet to know, but…”
“But she’s dead,” I finished. “So you can tell us the truth now.”
“We met up a few times, but I knew there was something real from the start,” she said. “He always wanted to be with me. He was just too nice to finish things with Harriet.”
“I wouldn’t call it nice, if he cheated on her,” I said. “How long were you seeing each other before he told her?”
“Six weeks.”
I winced inwardly. I’d bet Harriet had known. That sort of thing was difficult to hide. It might explain why she hadn’t come back here to haunt them. She’d been resigned to losing Maxwell already, and it might even have been a relief when he’d finally moved out.
On the other hand, I’d have to speak to Maxwell himself if I wanted to hear his side of the story.
The detective and I left the house after asking for directions to the bookshop where Maxwell worked.
“I think that’s progress,” I said. “I don’t think she’s the one who banished Harriet’s ghost, anyway.”
“You think she was telling the truth?” Drew said.
“I actually do,” I said. “I don’t think Harriet was all that surprised to find out about Maxwell’s cheating. I bet she was relieved to have him gone.”
“Then we’ll see if he backs up Lisa’s story,” he said.
10
Drew and I entered the
local bookshop, where we found the werewolf standing on a ladder to return some books to a high shelf. The blond muscular man appeared out of place in the cosy shop next to the piles of old books, and when we entered, he hopped off the ladder. “You again?”
“That’s us,” I said. “We just wanted to ask you a few more questions.”
“Ask away.” His gaze darted towards the door, as though he hoped someone would show up and rescue him.
Drew stepped in first. “You might be aware that the coven’s retired healer was found dead in her shop yesterday. Murdered.”
“What?” he yelped. “I’m a werewolf. We don’t hire healers from the coven. I’ve never been to her shop in my life.”
“We have reason to believe her murder was linked with Harriet’s death, so I felt it necessary to question the same suspects again,” said the detective. “We already spoke to Lisa, and while we don’t believe she murdered the healer, some questions about your relationship came up.”
“Like what?” His eyes darted between us, his expression bemused. “Lisa wasn’t involved either.”
I drew in a breath. “Lisa told us that you and she already had a relationship going when you were still living with Harriet.”
A flush rose on his cheeks. “She told you that?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Did Harriet know?”
“I think she suspected,” he muttered. “It was hard to hide anything from her even with her working long hours and studying all the time. It was a relief to get it all out in the open.”
“And you’re sure Harriet was fine with it all?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. She wasn’t happy for a while, but she wanted the position of coven healer and she was focused on that. Not on our relationship.”
That fit with what Lisa had said, and it would explain why her ghost hadn’t come to their house. Not when she’d already been resigned to breaking up with him and she’d been focused on the position of coven healer… which she’d lost out on anyway.
But I still felt like I was missing something. Where did Mandy’s ghost’s appearance fit into it all? It wasn’t any use asking Maxwell about her, since as a werewolf, he wouldn’t know the identities of every coven member who’d died in town over the last few years. Besides, after Angie’s death, I needed to be careful what I said, and to whom.
The detective’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “I’ll come back if I have more questions. Thank you for your time.”
I ducked out of the shop after him as he took the call and waited for him to finish speaking on the phone. From his tone, it sounded like the police were on the other end, probably checking up on him.
“I have to head back to the office,” he said. “If I can get permission to go and speak to Cathy at the hospital again, it’s an option, but I’m inclined to believe Lisa and Maxwell aren’t involved.”
“Me too,” I said, “but I feel like we’re missing something somewhere. Who else might have known her ghost was around and decided to banish her?”
I was also starting to suspect that Harriet’s relationship drama had taken a back seat when it came to the events which had led to her death. No, the truth likely lay with the coven, which made it all the more frustrating that they’d been utterly unwelcoming to me. Witches were the only paranormals who had the ability to see ghosts—aside from Reapers, of course. And it sounded like all the witches she’d been close to in life had been part of the coven.
With Mina Devlin overlooking everything, I needed to be sneakier if I wanted answers. In the meantime, I was determined to find the healer’s ghost before whoever had banished Harriet got to her, too.
I waited for sunset before slipping out of the inn and heading across the bridge back to the witches’ part of town. Then I made for Angie’s shop, hoping I hadn’t made a mistake in leaving Drew out of this. After I’d accidentally dragged him into Death, I’d rather avoid getting him involved in any ghost-hunting shenanigans. Especially ones Mina Devlin would disapprove of.
I trod through the darkness to the shop. The place was deserted, as expected, though the petrified insects floating in jars were freakier than any ghost. As I walked, I cast a quick warmth spell to make myself less like I’d walked into a giant freezer. The old healer had lived in the flat above the main shop, so there was no more likely place for her ghost to show up than in here.
It looked like Mina had stripped the place of anything which might count as potential evidence, but I still had a quick poke around the shelves in search of any samples of ghost-banishing herbs. It took several minutes of stumbling around in the dark between shelves until I had all the bottles stashed in my pockets. Removing them from the shop probably wouldn’t deter anyone who really wanted rid of her, but I could at least delay them a little.
Then I stood at the back and waited for the ghost to show up. Spirits were more likely to appear at night, and it’d already been more than twenty-four hours since her death. Come on, Angie…
In the darkness, the door creaked, and there came the faint sound of footsteps. I held my breath. That wasn’t a ghost. Someone had come into the shop. Someone very much alive… and breaking and entering.
I crept forward, wand in hand, and peered at the tall figure creeping through the shadows.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Mina Devlin glared at me. “You. I knew you were up to no good.”
“Speak for yourself.” I pressed a hand to my thumping heart. “What are you doing in here?”
“It’s my business,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“I’m part of an official police investigation,” I told her.
“I think we both know there is nothing official about this,” she said. “Thought you’d steal from Angie’s private stores, did you?”
She wasn’t wrong, though not for the reasons she assumed. “I came here to speak to Angie’s ghost.”
“I don’t see any spirits,” she said.
“Thought you couldn’t see them anyway.” I bit down another less savoury remark. “I know it takes roughly a day for a ghost to appear, and given that Harriet’s ghost vanished before I could speak to her, I wanted to be sure I got here in time to speak to Angie.”
“Vanished?” Her eyes narrowed. “Who told you that?”
Tread carefully. “I spoke to Cathy, who saw Harriet’s ghost shortly after her death. But she hasn’t been seen since, and considering the high number of ghosts in town, I figured it couldn’t be accidental. I was going to speak to you about it earlier, but when the detective and I found Angie’s body here, we had to put that plan on hold.”
“So you admit to your involvement in her death?” she said.
“I think there’s a good chance the person who killed her did so to stop Drew and me from finding out the truth about who killed Harriet.” I knew I was digging myself a bigger hole, but I couldn’t bring myself to give a crap. “If you agree, the police would appreciate your help.”
“Don’t try that with me,” she said. “I know you’re involving yourself in this out of your own curiosity, not because you were invited to assist the chief of police.”
I held her gaze. “I work with ghosts. It’s hard not to get involved in cases where they disappear when they shouldn’t.”
“Who are you to say they shouldn’t?” she said. “You’re not the Reaper. You claimed to aspire to join my coven, and yet you’re here breaking into the home of one of our valued members.”
“You weren’t exactly welcoming to me,” I told her. “I might not want to join the coven, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the deaths of two of its members.”
She strode up to me until we stood nose to nose. “If you value your safety, I would. The coven’s business is ours alone, not yours, and not the police’s.”
“I could ask what you’re doing here,” I said, a surge of recklessness rising within me. “You’re breaking and entering, too.”
The coven leader scoffed. “This shop is now the property of the c
oven. You’re trespassing. Leave, now.”
Her sharp tone hit me like a whip, but I held her gaze. “If I find out her ghost has been banished…”
“You’ll do what?” she said. “I wouldn’t pick a fight with the coven, Maura. Reaper or not, you’ll lose.”
And everyone in the coven is cool with you breaking onto the property of your former healer? At least I’d swiped the herbs for a banishment spell. That ought to delay her a little if she planned to act against the ghost.
“Nobody said anything about fighting,” I said. “Good luck with whatever you’re doing here in the middle of the night.”
And with that, I turned around and left the shop. That went almost as well as my attempt to join the coven. Doubtless the detective would not be thrilled to learn what I’d done, but I’d had to try, for Angie’s sake if nobody else’s.
On impulse, I cloaked myself in shadows and came to a halt outside the shop, waiting for her to leave. Minutes trickled by, and the cold bit through my clothes. I risked another peek into the shop, but my Reaper senses were as dormant as the sensation in my feet.
No ghost showed up. When Mina approached the door, empty-handed, I headed back to the inn, hoping I hadn’t made a huge mistake. It wasn’t like I’d had a chance in hell of joining the coven anyway, and Mina was a prime example of the kind of authority figure I’d always struggled not to come into conflict with. Leading the coven didn’t give her licence to act like she ruled the entire town.
If I’d done a better job of convincing her I’d wanted to join the coven from the start, I might not be in this mess, but she’d been set against me before we’d even met face to face, and I’d only end up in worse trouble if I confronted her now.