“Hmmm,” she said, pursing her lips. “I don’t think I know him.”
“He’s from out of town,” Pawdrey explained. “Oliver’s from Mt. Rheanier, I heard someone say. He just moved over to Fairy Falls a few weeks ago to live with Renee, and it doesn’t sound like things went well.”
“No, it certainly doesn’t,” I mused. “Did you find out anything else?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize one ideal suspect wasn’t enough for you. But yes, I did because I am the best cat at discovering information. I have lots of tea to spill.”
“Alright, spill away.”
“Well, the rumor was the two of them broke up in part because of Renee’s spending. She had a credit card that she didn’t tell him about with a balance of almost a hundred thousand abras.”
“A hundred thousand?” I said, shocked. I still wasn’t entirely used to the paranormal currency – abracadollars – and how it translated into good old greenbacks, but that had to be the equivalent of at least ten grand, probably closer to twenty. “That was a lot of money.”
“Indeed. Someone had a penchant for designer clothing and purses.”
“When she was on more of a JC Penney salary,” I mused.
“Exactly,” Pawdrey said with a solemn nod. I didn’t realize cats could nod. But then again, cats weren’t really supposed to talk, either.
“What am I missing?” Scarlett asked, and I recounted the conversation with Pawdrey.
We arrived back at The Love Shack to find the store had been closed for the rest of the day, unsurprisingly. Victoria was behind the counter, sitting on a chair, looking as though she’d been crying. When she spotted us, she looked up. Pawdrey immediately wandered over to Victoria and rubbed herself against the witch’s leg. Victoria began stroking Pawdrey under the chin, and the cat let out a low purr of appreciation.
“Have you heard?” she asked, and Scarlett and I both nodded.
“Yes. It’s awful news,” I said.
“I can’t believe it,” Victoria said. “As soon as she found out, Eva told everyone they had the rest of the day off, but I didn’t want to leave, so she let me stay. I feel Renee’s energy in here. I’d like to be close to that for as long as possible. She might not have been from my coven or in my circle of friends, but I knew her, and I feel I owe that much to her memory, at least.”
I could feel Scarlett resisting the urge to roll her eyes next to me. While she might not have killed Renee, I had a sneaking suspicion she wasn’t exactly going to mourn the death, either.
“Is Grandma in the back?” she asked.
“She is,” Victoria said quietly, nodding.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” I offered, and Victoria shook her head.
“Thank you so much for the offer, but no, I am alright. I’m just going to feel the last of Renee’s spirit here before I go home.”
Scarlett ushered me towards the wall, and I reluctantly passed through it, throwing one last glance behind me to see Victoria sitting with her eyes closed, as though she were meditating.
Grandma Eva, tall and poised as always, was carefully picking the leaves from a bundle of plants that looked a bit like rosemary sprigs with purple flowers and placing them into a box. Her mouth was pressed in a thin line, and her eyes betrayed the sadness she must have felt at Renee’s murder.
When she heard us enter, she looked up. “You’ve heard,” was all she said.
Scarlett nodded. “Yeah. Has Chief Enforcer Tyson been here?”
“She left a couple of minutes ago. It’s such an awful situation all around. You must realize after this morning the position you’re in.”
Scarlett nodded. “I do. Did you hear about the incident in The Wand and Toad?”
“Yes,” Grandma Eva replied. “I don’t blame you for what you did, and I believe it was the right thing to do, but it’s an unfortunate situation all the same.”
“Did you know she recently broke up with her boyfriend?” I asked, and Grandma Eva nodded once more.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “It wasn’t long ago, only a few days. It was one of the reasons why I was so lenient with Renee this morning. She had always been rather on the moodier side, although she makes excellent potions. Add to that her personal situation and I wasn’t surprised when she lost it on Mina. She was having quite a difficult time of it recently.”
“How about trouble with anyone here?” I asked. “Any issues?”
“Nothing that would have interfered with her work, I’m sure of that,” Grandma Eva said. “She had no major problems with anyone here as far as I know.”
“Right, thanks Grandma,” Scarlett said.
“How did your lesson go this morning?” she asked in reply. “Apart from the incident with Renee, of course.”
“Really well, actually,” I replied. “The potions I made worked, and Scarlett taught me a few spells as well.”
“Good,” Grandma Eva said, nodding. “I’m very glad to hear it. If you need anything at all, do not hesitate to ask.”
“Who was she close to?” Scarlett asked. “Renee, I mean. Is there anyone here she might have confided in?”
“Yes, you should speak with Amanda; you were at the Academy with her,” Grandma Eva said. “She was Renee’s best friend. She didn’t work here, but the two often came in together, and I gave her a few days’ worth of work when she was a bit down on her luck a couple years ago.”
Scarlett scrunched up her face. “Amanda? Really? She’s awful.”
“She’s not awful,” Grandma Eva replied. “She’s simply different from you in the same way as Victoria is different from you.”
“Yeah, but Victoria is actually nice,” Scarlett replied. “Amanda always acts like she’s better than me.”
“And when you realize that stems from insecurity rather than an actual belief in superiority, you’ll see that she really doesn’t believe in it at all,” Grandma Eva said kindly. “People do all sorts of things to hide who they really are.”
“Well, we can’t all be blessed with this amazing ability to see people’s true colors,” Scarlett muttered.
“It’s not magic,” Grandma Eva said with a light laugh. “It’s called truly paying attention to people, and it can help you understand what’s going on with them.”
“That and you use half the town as your spies,” Scarlett said, and Grandma Eva winked at me.
“I prefer to call it networking.”
I laughed as Scarlett shook her head incredulously. “You’re crazy, Grandma. And I mean that in the best possible way.”
“Thank you, dear. Now, I assume the two of you are going to be looking into this murder?”
“Of course we are,” I said. “Chief Enforcer Tyson thinks Scarlett is the killer.”
“Yes, I do believe she does.”
“Well, we’re not going to let that happen,” I said hotly. “We have to find the real killer and take them to the Chief Enforcer before she arrests Scarlett.”
“Good,” Grandma Eva said. “Excellent idea. Although I would appreciate it if this time around you didn’t get yourself nearly killed.”
“I learned my lesson,” I said. “That won’t happen again. At least, I certainly hope not.”
“Besides, the killer will have to contend with me, too,” Scarlett said, waving her wand around. “And I’m not nearly as polite as Mina.”
“No, that you are not,” Grandma Eva said mischievously. “It drives your mother insane that you ended up more like me than like her.”
“More like you? But I’m not a thing like you,” Scarlett said.
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re very much like me; you simply don’t realize it at the moment because I’ve refined my style to be a little bit more subtle. You still like to charge into everything like a bull, horns first. And while I used to be the bull, I’m now a unicorn.”
I laughed. “Good analogy.”
“I guess my goal is to become a unicorn, then,” Scarlett said. “I’m ok
with that. Although Tauros, the bull Pokemon, is super ugly.”
“There’s a Pokemon who looks like a bull?” I asked, and Scarlett nodded.
“Yeah. He has three tails.”
“I guess you learn something every day.”
“So you do, although I’d rather the magic stick in your head better than you cousin’s facts about Pokemon,” Grandma Eva said lightly. “Now, you witches let me know if you need any help. Remember, I’ve got a decent network of paranormals here in town that I can count on for information.”
“Right, thanks Grandma,” Scarlett said, and we went back out into the main store.
CHAPTER 9
“Did I hear you say that you’re one of the main suspects?” Victoria said when we came back out, still stroking Pawdrey who was now so pleased her eyes had completely closed. I had a sneaking suspicion my cat had fallen asleep. “I didn’t mean to overhear, it’s just…”
“Scarlett’s voice carries pretty well,” I said with a grin.
“It does,” Victoria said. “That’s just awful. I’m very sorry.”
“Thanks,” Scarlett said. “It’s fine, though. Obviously I didn’t kill her, and I’m sure the truth will come out eventually.”
“Especially if we give the truth a nudge in the right direction,” I replied.
“Well, you have to speak with Amanda,” Victoria said. “She and Renee were best friends.”
“That’s what Grandma said,” Scarlett replied. “I know her from the Academy, but we aren’t exactly friends.”
“Oh, let me come, then,” Victoria replied, getting up. “I also know Amanda well, and she really likes me.”
“That’s because you’re the nicest witch alive,” Scarlett said, and a blush crawled up Victoria’s face.
“What a lovely thing for you to say.”
“Well, it’s true,” Scarlett said. “First you’re going out of your way to teach Mina how to make potions, now you’re offering to come speak with Amanda for us so we can clear my name in a murder investigation, and you barely even know us.”
Victoria laughed. “Well, you know, I like to help people where I can. Come on, let’s go. I know where she lives, and that’s probably where she’ll be.”
Scarlett and I followed Victoria back out onto Aphrodite Way while Pawdrey woke up, climbed up onto my shoulder and let out a big yawn.
“What a lovely nap,” she said. “That other witch sure knows how to pet a cat.”
“Do you have a familiar?” I asked Victoria, and she nodded.
“Oh, yes. A cat, similar to yours, actually.”
“Ah, that explains it. Pawdrey says your petting skills are second-to-none.”
“Well that’s very kind of you to say, Pawdrey,” Victoria replied to my cat. Pawdrey meowed in thanks.
Victoria led us behind Aphrodite Way. A few blocks away, we reached a cute little wooden cottage painted a gorgeous turquoise with grey trim. “This is Amanda’s house,” Victoria said, leading us up the cobbled stone walkway and to the door where she knocked firmly.
“Amanda?” she called out. “Are you there? It’s Victoria.”
The door opened a moment later, and a short witch with shoulder-length auburn hair and dark blue eyes answered. She had obviously been crying, and she didn’t look especially pleased to see us.
“Victoria. I didn’t know you brought other people.”
“This is Scarlett, who you know, and Mina. They want to find the person who killed Renee. Can we come in?”
Amanda paused for a moment. “I don’t know. From what I heard, there’s a good chance one of these two killed Renee, and I don’t want them in my home.”
Scarlett looked like she was going to blow up on Amanda, but I put my hand on her arm to stop her and stepped forward.
“Hi, Amanda. I realize you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me at all, but I’m telling you, we didn’t kill Renee. I didn’t really know your friend at all, and even though I’d be lying if I said we got along in the short time we knew each other, we really do want the real killer found. And I’m sure that’s what you want as well. So please, let us come in – or we can speak outside if that makes you more comfortable – but I’m asking you to let us help find the real killer. It wasn’t us, and we don’t want to increase your pain, but we want to find the person who did this to your friend. It might not be for the same reason, but we have the same goal.”
Amanda studied me for a moment and then nodded. “Only because Victoria is here,” she eventually said. “I trust her, and if she says you didn’t do it, then fine. But I heard about what happened in The Wand and Toad.”
Amanda opened the door for us and stepped aside to let us pass. The interior was just as cute as the outside, with small, cozy rooms, modern furniture, and older wooden accents on the walls.
We stepped past the entrance into a neat and tidy living room, and Scarlett, Victoria, and I shared a long beige couch while Amanda sat in a coral-colored accent chair across from us, still eyeing Scarlett and me with narrowed eyes. Pawdrey jumped off my shoulder and found a ray of sunlight pouring through the window onto the blonde hardwood floors, and promptly lay down on it.
“So you’re saying you didn’t kill Renee.”
“No,” I answered firmly. “She left The Wand and Toad, and we stayed for about half an hour after and then went straight home. We didn’t see her again after she left and only heard about an hour later about her body being found. I’m telling you, we had nothing to do with it, but we want to find out who did. We know she recently broke up with her boyfriend.”
“Oliver, that scumbag,” Amanda muttered.
“What was wrong with him?” Scarlett asked. “I mean, other than threatening her when they broke up?”
“Oliver and Renee had been together for about a year, and he moved here a few weeks ago into her apartment. He didn’t want to; he initially wanted her to move in with him in Mt Rheanier, but she has all of her family here, and his parents had both passed away, and he was an only child. Eventually he agreed to move here, but it wasn’t anything like Renee had expected.”
“In what way?”
“He expected her to do everything around the house. Oliver is between jobs right now because frankly he’s got a bit of a temper and he got into a fight with someone at his old job. And so he would spend the whole day sitting around not doing anything, and Renee would come home from a day at work and find the house a mess and Oliver expecting her to cook him dinner and do his laundry while he continued to play video games.”
“Yikes, that’s a bit of a red flag,” I said, and Amanda gave me a knowing look.
“No kidding, right?” She seemed to be warming up to me a little bit. “I told Renee she should just dump him, that he wasn’t worth her time, but she really did love him. He just drove her a little bit insane. Then, last weekend, she finally snapped. She refused to do his laundry and simply pulled her clothes from the hamper and cleaned them, leaving his dirty stuff for him to do. Oliver freaked out, told her it was her role as the witch in the relationship to do the housework, and grabbed her roughly by the arm. I think at that moment Renee realized that if she stayed with Oliver things were only going to get worse, not better, and she dumped him then and there. She told him to get his stuff out of her apartment that night and called some of her friends to make sure she would be safe during that time.”
“We heard he threatened her. Is that true?” Scarlett asked, and Amanda nodded.
“Oh, yes. I was there; I was one of the paranormals Renee called. As he was leaving, he told her if he couldn’t have her, no one could, and he’d make sure to see to that. She put on a brave face, but as soon as he left, she collapsed and started to cry. She was scared. Terrified, really. She genuinely thought he might come back to hurt her.”
“Do you think he might have done this?”
“He was the first person I thought of,” Amanda admitted. “And then I heard about the incident in The Wand and Toad. She hadn’t e
ven gotten a chance to tell me about it before…”
Amanda trailed off, her eyes glazing over as she stared off into the distance, caught in the midst of a memory of her friend.
“She attacked us first,” Scarlett said, and Amanda’s eyes flashed with anger. My cousin wasn’t exactly the diplomatic type.
“Well, she was going through a lot,” Amanda answered. “Someone like you wouldn’t recognize that, but that’s why she wasn’t herself.”
“Can you think of anyone else who might have wanted her dead?” I asked.
Amanda shook her head slowly.
“What about money issues? We’ve heard that she was in quite a bit of debt.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t know about that. Renee always kept that sort of thing close to the chest, even with her best friend. She was always a little bit self-conscious about the fact that I come from one of the oldest and most prestigious families in town and that she was just a nobody.”
I did my best to will Scarlett to keep her mouth shut, and luckily, it appeared she got the hint.
“Apart from the end of her relationship with Oliver, was she acting strangely?” I asked.
Amanda nodded slowly. “You know, she was, in fact. For the last two weeks or so, Renee acted a little bit strangely. She would answer text messages and be evasive about who they were from when she never cared about me knowing that sort of thing before.”
“And you have no idea what it was about?”
“Sorry,” Amanda said with a shake of her head. “Not a clue.”
“What about her family? Does she have anyone?” I asked.
“Sure,” Amanda said. “Her parents, one brother, and one sister all still live in town. Her parents have long since retired, and her sister works for the town doing light magical maintenance work where it’s needed. Her brother works… somewhere. I’m not entirely sure what he does.”
“She gets along with all of them?” I continued.
“Her parents, yes, of course. She and her brother have had a few issues over the years but nothing big. Just brother-sister stuff. She lent him some money a few years back, and he was slow at repaying it, but he eventually did. That sort of thing.”
Hex Over Heels: A Witch Cozy Mystery (Fairy Falls Mystery Book 2) Page 5