by Tonya Kappes
“Oh, Oscar,” I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. “Petunia did sit up a little more and seemed more interested in what Adam had to say when he told the group around the campfire how he was allergic to bees and wanted them to help him look out for them.”
“He told the group?” Oscar knew this was going to solidify how someone knew.
“He did. Deadly, he said,” I whispered as the words were too painful to say loudly. “I just can’t even…”
“June, none of us want to think our own kind would do something like this. But think about it.” He put his arm around me. “Who would have enough time to get him down the trail, hit him over the head, bees swarm him but not the killer, and the killer get back here? It’s hard enough to walk that trail and know it, much less not know it.”
“But… Petunia?” I questioned again.
“There’s only one way to find out.” The look in his eyes frightened me.
“No.” I refused to even try to think about it.
“June.” Oscar’s voice took on a tone of reasoning. “What if your shop was on the line? What if our marriage was on the line? You’d do whatever you had to do to make sure we were safe here in the village. That’s a person’s soul she’s dealing with. It’s her job to use her gift to nurture that soul.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked in fear of his answer.
“I’m just going to question her. That’s all.” He put his hands out in front of him. “Are you going to come with me?”
I gulped back the tears. Petunia had such a big heart. He was right. She’d gone through extreme measures before to keep her animals safe, but extreme as killing?
“But she didn’t really kill him if the bees did it.” I looked down at the stack of bowls.
“She didn’t physically kill him herself, but she hired the bees like a mortal would hire a hitman.” Oscar said it like he was truly sold on the idea that Petunia had killed Adam Vedder.
I began to pace back and forth. Something was unsettling about the whole thing.
“This whole theory isn’t sitting well in my gut.” I had to tell him how I was feeling. It was part of my gift, and he needed to know that for his investigation.
“It’s because she’s one of your best friends. You don’t want to believe it.” Oscar stood there, his brows drawn together in a V and his hands on his hips.
“But…” I bent down and looked at the stack of bowls. One by one, I took them apart. I looked at each one. The remains of the dried rim of the stew remained where the full line was before they ate it up. “Oscar,” I gasped and held up one of the bowls. “There’s granola in this bowl.”
“I bet that’s Adam’s bowl. The Karima sisters said he’d had granola in his digestive system.” Oscar came over and took the bowl.
“If he ate granola, someone else ate granola.” I showed him the next bowl and smiled. “Petunia hates granola. Whoever ate this second bowl of granola is our killer.”
“June.” Oscar gave me the cop look that I hated. “Maybe you need to step away from helping me and let me continue with Colton on our own. You are too close to Petunia to even see the possibility.”
I utterly despised when he did this to me during one of his investigations.
“Let me get back to my shop, and let me read them if they come in. That way, we can know for sure if my intuition about Petunia is right and how she didn’t do it.” I smiled, knowing I was right. “It’s not like Petunia is going to leave by nightfall like the Audubon Society members.”
“Fine.” He took the other bowl. “I’m taking these for evidence.”
“Fine.” I shrugged and threw my arms around him before Mr. Prince Charming and I ran off toward the village.
Chapter Sixteen
The news of Adam Vedder hadn’t seemed to reach anyone outside the circle of the Audubon Society members. Of course all the spiritualists in the village knew but the other tourists didn’t… yet.
“How has the morning been so far?” I asked Faith when I got back into the shop.
“It’s been a little slower than normal.” She walked out from behind the counter and bent down to pick up Mr. Prince Charming while I hung my bag on the back of the chair.
He loved Faith. His loud purrs proved it while he snuggled his head under her chin.
“Why couldn’t I have a fairy godcat?” she asked him in a whispering baby voice, careful so the few customers I did have didn’t hear her.
“He keeps me safe.” I patted him before she put him back on the ground.
He darted underneath one of the tables, practically taking the red tablecloth with him.
“One of these days, one of these entire displays is going to come crashing down if he doesn’t stop doing that,” I groaned.
“Any news?” Faith asked.
“No.” I didn’t want to say anything about Oscar’s absurd theory about Petunia killing Adam. “Oscar only has until tonight to hold the Society members.”
As if on cue, the bell over the shop dinged, and in walked Cindy, Tammy, and Paris.
“You girls are going to love this shop.” Paris was telling them about how she’d come in and I’d made her a special lotion. The more she talked, the more my gut hit me about her misfortune.
“Hi, ladies,” I greeted them. “Look around. I’d love to give each one of you a consultation and pick out the perfect soap, lotion, hair care or whatever product you’d like for yourself.”
“I told you.” Paris wiggled her brows and made her way over to the essential oil section of the shop.
“Do you need me to stick around? I’ve got to make the pastry delivery to the Piggly Wiggly in Locust Grove, or Raven is going to kill me.” Faith had so many small jobs outside of running the paper. She worked for her sister at the Wicked Good Bakery and did all the deliveries to the local store who kept her pastries in stock.
“Go. I’m fine,” I assured her. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she called on her way out the door.
I watched as the three women went their separate ways in the shop. Each one of them had a need, and all of them were meshing together.
I curled my shoulders back and sucked in a deep breath through my nose and out my mouth before my intuition told me to visit Paris first.
She picked up the small brown bottles that held the special essential oils and lifted them to her nose.
“You used the lotion?” I asked.
“I did. Amazing.” She had a big smile on her face. Her misfortune hit me.
“You were going to take Adam Vedder up on his offer to have him pay you, weren’t you?” I had to clarify what I could sense.
“I was going to tell him that night when we all started to look for the bird.” She turned her shoulder and her body so the others didn’t hear her. “I really could’ve used his money. He even offered a job at the zoo. But now…” She blinked a few times. “I don’t know. I thought I’d go see if there were any jobs anyways.”
“Be sure you apply your lotion before you go apply for the job.” It was my way of making sure the potion worked and her misfortune turned into a good fortune. I had a good feeling about her getting a job at the zoo.
My attention turned to Tammy when I heard her talking to Mr. Prince Charming.
There was a sweetness to her voice. My phone chirped. I pulled it from my pocket and looked at the Instagram notification. I smiled when I saw A Charming Cure had been tagged with a photo of Mr. Prince Charming and a caption from Tammy.
“Oh!” I laughed. “Thank you.” I showed her my screen. “I’m new to Instagram and have no clue really how to use it.”
“It’s so much fun. Especially for people my age.” She held out her hand. “May I show you some features?”
“Sure.” I handed her my phone and made sure to touch her hand during the exchange to see if I could get a read on her.
There wasn’t anything. Not even a drop of anything she needed. She had an air of confidence about herself, requiring
nothing she wanted or needed enhanced with potions.
“If you tap here”—she used the pad of her finger to bring up a part of Instagram I’d not explored—“you can see the things your friends you followed liked. Will you follow me?”
“Of course.” I was agreeable to anything since I was just learning. She handed me my phone.
“Great.” She gave me instructions on how I could click on her name from the tag where she’d posted the photo of the shop. It took me to her profile. “You will click the follow back button.”
I followed her instructions to follow her back.
“That’s great.” I wasn’t really sure about all the new social media things and how they would interfere with the magical aspect of our village.
If it really got down to business and needed it, we could bring in business with our special gifts, though it was frowned upon by the council.
“I’m definitely going to keep an eye on your account because I love how you have this shop cat and the products. I have some friends with specialty boutiques that would love to carry your products.” Tammy pointed to the soaps. “Especially soaps and lotions. Those items fly off the shelf.”
“I’m in a few stores and could always use more.” I didn’t bother telling her about the big box store I was in because I’d love to have her contacts. Anyone I could help with my gift was amazing.
The magic worked a little differently with stores. The magic was in the glass bottles themselves. I couldn’t be at the stores and create a special potion for the customers when they looked at the bottles, so I had come up with a way for the bottles to perform on touch. It was like those mood pencils or cups that changed color from the temperature of the liquid, only the touch of the bottle was able to read exactly what the customer needed, turning the ingredients into the magic.
If a customer didn’t have a specific need, like Tammy, then it was just a nice product for them with a gorgeous and reusable bottle.
“Can I write my information down?” she asked and took one of my business cards from the holder next to the register.
“Sure.” I walked behind the register to retrieve a pen.
When I went to hand the pen to Tammy, I saw Eloise rush by with the suitcase in her hand, Petunia following closely behind.
“Wasn’t that your friend, Petunia?” Tammy asked when she’d turned around to see what had gotten my attention.
“Yes. She’s very upset about Adam Vedder.” I went back to focus on Tammy. “I want to thank you for answering Oscar’s questions this morning.”
It was my way of opening up discussions about the murder and seeing if she knew anything.
“No problem. I have nothing to hide.” She shrugged and turned her attention to the card, where she wrote down her phone number. “If you want to show me the product you think will go best in these smaller retail shops, I’ll be sure to take those with me.”
“You don’t mind?” I asked.
“Absolutely not.” She pointed to the aromatherapy section. “The spa things are pretty popular right now.”
“You are so knowledgeable about what’s popular.” I waved her to follow me over to the section. “This is Lunar Sugar. Named after the moon cycles. I suggest this for women who are having trouble sleeping during menopause.”
I left out that there were Sceever eggs and Skully Perch in the ingredients that worked to cool the body temperature when hot flashes started while sleeping.
“The moon cycle can have an effect on sleep during those hot flashes. This has a nice lavender scent to help drift off to sleep while the lotion continues to cool the body so those hot flashes aren’t even felt.” I uncorked one of the bottles and dabbed some on the back of Tammy’s hand for her to rub it in.
The Luna Sugar had an active ingredient magical element where the more you rubbed it, the more the lavender scent came out. When the customer rolled in the bed, it activated the scent, helping the customer drift back to sleep.
“Did you say help in sleeping?” Cindy walked up behind us, and my gut caught.
Something there with her was worth exploring. I looked away to gain my composure when I noticed my bag was lit up. Madame Torres had picked up something.
“Yes. Do you have trouble sleeping?” I asked.
“She never sleeps.” Tammy gave Cindy a sympathetic smile.
“I’ve tried every sleeping pill out there. I’ve been to the doctor. Nothing works.” Cindy shook her head.
Not even Mr. Sandman Sprinkles, I thought and immediately wondered about Adam.
“Maybe you should try some Luna Sugar,” I suggested and gave her a little squirt.
“I’ll try anything at this point.” She rubbed the lotion on her hand and lifted it up to her nose. “It smells yummy.”
The smell of raisins and walnuts filled the air around her, which told me this was the next potion I was to create. The potions took on the smells of items customers loved, and apparently she loved raisins and walnuts.
“Since you don’t live here, I’d love to create a larger bottle for you and in a bottle you’ll love. Same price.” I gestured for her to follow me over to the shelf of empty bottles. “You can pick out the bottle you love.”
Her eyes looked across the shelf.
“Touch them. Let one speak to you,” I encouraged her because it was how the bottle would let me know it was specifically meant for her.
She must have taken what I’d suggested very seriously because we stood there for a couple of minutes while she began to pick up every bottle and hold it.
“If you can’t tell, I really want to sleep.” She looked at me and put one of the bottles back on the shelf.
“I understand. I want you to sleep too, so I’m going to go make up a big batch for you while you look,” I said. “Take your time.”
I left her standing there to pick out a bottle and headed back to the counter, where I grabbed my bag off the chair as I walked behind the partition. I flipped the cauldron on and took Madame Torres out of my bag while I waited for the pot to heat up.
“This one true eye beckons me, to see the things I cannot see, to hear the things I cannot hear, but to give me sight that I hold dear.” Madame Torres’s voice held a monotone when I took her out of the bag. The iridescent colors of the Spangled came in waves as she repeated the words again.
“This one true eye beckons me, to see the things I cannot see, to hear the things I cannot hear, but to give me sight that I hold dear.”
“What are you saying?” I tried to decipher the word rhythm she gave me. It was how she communicated, and it was up to me to figure all this out.
When she didn’t answer me and the colors continued to roll like the waves in the ocean, I knew she was talking about the Spangled and seeing something.
“Is it the binoculars?” I asked and recalled seeing Darla’s sketching of binoculars in the margin in The Magical Cures Mystery Book.
My gut clenched, letting me know I was on the right track.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Darla. “You were so wise beyond your years.”
I grabbed The Magical Cures Book, and the pages flew open to where I’d seen Darla’s cute pictures.
Even though Darla didn’t have the spiritual gift, she did have the vision of things I might need in the future because I truly believed she knew her life here on this earthly world wasn’t going to be long. She could put different herbal ingredients on the page along with things they would help. And by her drawing binoculars and the campfire on the page of the Wisp Cap Salt, I knew it was one of the ingredients I had to put into Cindy Sams’s lotions.
I ran my hand down the ingredient shelf behind me.
“Wisp, wisp,” I repeated until I saw the bottle give off a faint glow. I grabbed it and also grabbed the Mr. Sandman Sprinkles bottle. “I have a plan.” I uncorked the Wisp Cap Salt and put a few dashes into the now-bubbling cauldron. “I’m going to give Cindy the potion she needs to help her sleep when she leaves and extra Sandman for now
.”
I knew I had to go look in her room at the Full Moon Treesort before she left and wondered if that was the dream Amethyst had last night and had slightly referred to this morning.
When I put the big pinch of Mr. Sandman Sprinkles in the cauldron, the moving and swirling potion that was red had turned pink with lime-green accretions on the bottom. It smelled like raisins, and when I put my finger in to taste, it was the walnut flavoring Cindy Sams seemed to be longing for.
“I’ve got one I love,” Cindy Sams’s voice echoed through the shop.
I ran my hands down my pants and hurried to the shop floor, where I found her standing next to the shelf of empty bottles with the iridescent blue and purple bottle with a bird feather etched on it.
“Maybe we didn’t find the Spangled Smoky Momoko here, but I can capture my adventure in Whispering Falls as a success with this beautiful bottle.” Her words caused me to suck in a quick breath.
Had she just confessed to Adam’s murder through her subconscious?
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to fill your bottle.” My hand shook when I took the bottle from her.
My intuition didn’t give a definite answer to whether or not Cindy Sams had committed the murder, but there was one thing I did know, and that was that she wasn’t one bit upset Adam Vedder was dead.
“I’m telling you,” I told Oscar on the phone after the three women had left. “None of them were upset. None of them have a bad conscience about it either.”
“Then maybe Webster did do it after all,” Oscar suggested, with a tone in his voice that made me question him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him while I finished up cleaning the shop and restocking the shelves so we’d be ready for opening in the morning.
“There’s not clear evidence on who did this. Looking at it as a spiritualist, Petunia is the number-one suspect because she knows the bees and she’s protective of the souled animals. But as a lawman on the mortal side, there is not one piece of valuable evidence that would convict any of them.” He stopped talking.
“What are you trying to say?” I asked.