by Jinty James
“Why do you want to know all this?” Linda asked. “The detective said they’re going to do their best to find out who did it.”
“That’s good,” Maddie replied. “Joan was one of my regulars, and I saw her yesterday morning. I just can’t believe this happened.” And she couldn’t. If only she’d warned Joan in a much more specific way, instead of just telling her to be “careful”.
“I know.” Linda shook her head in sorrow. “If only I hadn’t cancelled our jog this morning.”
ON HER WALK BACK TO the coffee truck, there was one recurring thought in Maddie’s mind – Linda hadn’t looked sick at all, apart from her tear-blotched face. Yet she’d used that excuse to cancel her morning jog with Joan.
Was Maddie imagining things, or was there a reason to suspect Linda?
“Where did you go?” Suzanne asked as Maddie climbed back into the truck, banging the door behind her.
“To ask Linda some questions.” At Suzanne’s blank look, she elaborated, “Joan’s neighbor and best friend who ordered that black coffee.”
“Oh.” Suzanne nodded. “So, what did she say?”
“Not much.” Maddie frowned. “Only that she cancelled going jogging with Joan this morning because she wasn’t feeling well.”
Suzanne wrinkled up her nose. “I can’t say I blame her. I’d hate to go running at the crack of dawn.”
Maddie tapped her lip. “How long have we been here, on the town square?”
“Six months. Why?”
“Yet I can’t remember ever seeing Joan or her neighbor Linda out jogging in the morning.”
“You’re right.” Suzanne snapped her fingers.
“So did they really go jogging together – apart from this morning? Or is the word jogging a cover for something else they did together?”
“Like what?” Suzanne’s eyes widened. “Sneaking out of the house to do something that their husbands don’t know about? Yoga with a hot male instructor? Bootcamp with a hot male instructor? I know! They both had hot male lovers and this was the only time they could meet them!”
Maddie made a face. “At seven a.m.?”
“Think about it,” Suzanne urged. “Jogging would be a great cover for meeting your boyfriend on the side.”
“But both women look like they’re in their fifties,” Maddie pointed out.
“So? Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re dead inside.”
“Says the twenty-seven-year-old woman,” Maddie teased, “who seems to have hot males on the brain.”
“What can I say?” Suzanne sighed. “It’s been a while. And maybe there should be some yoga classes around here with a hunky guy showing you the poses. I would definitely go.” She nudged Maddie. “And I bet you would, too.”
“Probably,” Maddie conceded. Just like Suzanne had said, it had been a while for her, too. But right now she was busy with her burgeoning coffee truck business, and trying to discover if there was more than one spell she could do. But, if casting spells meant she could foresee someone’s death, she didn’t want to do that anymore.
So why even bother trying to see if she could cast different spells from the old witchcraft book now that she had turned twenty-seven?
“What are you going to do now?” Suzanne asked.
“Speak to Joan’s husband, I guess.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Suzanne asked.
“I’m sure.” Maddie nodded. But she wasn’t certain at all. Only the guilt she felt at seeing the vision in the coffee cup compelled her to continue with her investigation.
“Then I suppose you should visit Joan’s husband,” Suzanne said.
“Yes.” Maddie took out her phone, pressed a button, and showed the screen to Suzanne. “But first, look what Trixie is up to.”
“Ohhh.” Suzanne smiled as she watched the white Persian sit on the sofa next to the ancient book on witchcraft in Maddie’s living room.
Maddie had installed a camera connected to her Wi-Fi connection and her phone a few months ago. On the days when Trixie didn’t accompany her to work, Maddie liked knowing what the feline got up to when she wasn’t around.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if she could open the book and flip through the pages?” Suzanne giggled.
“Something tells me she might have done that already.” Maddie smiled, the sight of the cat lifting her mood.
“Really?” Suzanne raised her eyebrows.
“Uh-huh.” Maddie nodded. “One day I came home and I could have sworn the book was shut when I left that morning. But it was wide open, and Trixie was staring at the page, as if she was actually reading it.”
“You’re definitely a witch.” Suzanne nodded. “Your powers just aren’t at their fullest yet, that’s all.”
“Maybe I don’t want them to be,” Maddie said somberly. “Look what happened yesterday – and this morning. If I hadn’t done that spell with Joan’s coffee—”
“But something made you do it, right?” Suzanne asked. “You told me a while ago that you get a feeling for when to do it for other people.”
“Yes,” Maddie said reluctantly.
“What if you were supposed to do it yesterday? So you could see Joan’s murder? What if you’re supposed to solve it?”
“Do you think so?” Maddie asked after a pause.
“Yeah.” Suzanne said. “It makes sense to me. I know you feel horrible right now about it all, but what if someone out there—” she waved a hand in the air to indicate the air, the universe, or heaven – or maybe all three “—has decided you could use your power for good?”
“It’s not as if I’m using it for evil,” Maddie said wryly.
“But doing something with it that’s bigger than you or me,” Suzanne said impatiently. “Helping to balance the random cosmicness of everything.”
Maddie knitted her brow. “Since when did you become all woo-woo?”
Suzanne flushed. “I’ve been reading some books from the library. Think about it, Maddie. What if for some reason the sheriff’s department can’t solve the murder, but you can? But if you hadn’t cast the spell on Joan’s coffee, you mightn’t have felt the urge to investigate.”
Or, on the other hand, Maddie thought, I might have felt guilty that I hadn’t done the spell to sneak a peek at Joan’s future and I would have still felt compelled to investigate. But she decided to keep that thought to herself. Suzanne was on a roll.
“Let’s go and see Joan’s husband. The library should be open by now,” Suzanne said.
CHAPTER 5
“DO YOU REALLY THINK Joan’s husband will be at the library today?” Maddie asked as they walked across the town square to the nutmeg brown brick building.
They’d locked up the coffee truck and had posted a note on the serving window saying they would be back in thirty minutes.
This was the first time they’d left the truck unattended. Maddie hoped it would be the last. Although business was good at the moment, if they kept leaving the coffee truck to go sleuthing, there wouldn’t be a business left!
“I don’t know,” Suzanne replied. “But if he isn’t here, he’s sure to be at home.”
They entered through the automatic sliding glass doors, walls and walls of books greeting them. At the desk, a tall, slim woman in her early thirties, wearing a pair of silver wire-rimmed glasses, her mousy brown hair in a slightly untidy up do, checked in library books. She held a scanner over each barcode, a low beep emitting after each book passed through her hands.
“Can I help you?” She looked up at Maddie and Suzanne.
“Is Mr. Hodgeton here?” Maddie asked.
“No.” The woman shook her head. “He’s taking some personal time.”
“We heard what happened this morning,” Suzanne said, her voice low, matching the librarian’s. “We’re very sorry.”
“Thank you.” The librarian nodded. “I’m not sure when Bri – Mr. Hodgeton will be back.”
“Are you in charge while he’s not here?” Maddie asked. “I k
new his wife—” she hoped she wasn’t flushing at the lie – although she had known Joan, it wasn’t very well – “—and I was told he was the head librarian here.”
“He is.” The woman nodded. “And yes, as the library assistant, I’ll be in charge in his absence. As you can see—” she nodded at the large room “—this is only a relatively small library.”
Maddie spied her white name badge, hidden amongst the white and pale pink floral pattern of her blouse – Phoebe Halpern.
“Are there any other staff besides you and Mr. Hodgeton?” Maddie asked.
“A volunteer comes in two days per week,” Phoebe replied, “but this isn’t one of her days.”
Suzanne peered at the library assistant’s neckline. “That’s a pretty locket.”
“This?” The library assistant flushed, fingering the small gold necklace dangling down, lying against the fabric of her blouse. “It’s just a little something I treated myself to.”
“It’s very nice,” Suzanne said.
“Thank you.”
They both watched as Phoebe tucked the locket inside her neckline.
“More professional.” She smiled at them, but was there a hint of strain in the smile? Or was Maddie imagining things?
“We wanted to pay our respects to Mr. Hodgeton,” Maddie said. “Do you think he’ll be at home?”
“Probably.” The library assistant nodded. “The sheriff’s office was questioning him this morning.”
“They were?” Suzanne asked.
“Yes.” Phoebe shook her head. “As if Brian would do such a thing! They should looking for the real killer, not hounding librarians.” Her bosom heaved, and a flush of indignation spread over her face.
“I hope they do catch the person responsible,” Maddie said sincerely.
Maddie and Suzanne departed the library. Once they were outside, Suzanne turned to Maddie.
“Did you see the initials on her locket?” she asked in a whisper, although there was nobody near them on the street.
“Not really. You were closer to it than me. I noticed you peering at it,” Maddie replied.
“The initials on the locket are the same as Brian’s – Joan’s husband! BH.” Excitement flickered across Suzanne’s face.
“Are you sure?” Maddie demanded.
“Yes. That’s why I had such a good look at it,” Suzanne replied. “Do you know what this means? Phoebe, the library assistant, is in love with Joan’s husband!”
“It could mean that,” Maddie agreed slowly. “Or it could mean that she has a boyfriend with the same initials, or it might even be her mother’s or another family member’s initials and she’s wearing it as a keepsake.”
Suzanne looked at her skeptically. “She works with him and calls him by his first name. You heard how it slipped out. And look how passionate she got about him being innocent at the end.”
“Yeah.” Maddie nodded. “I did think her reaction was a little over the top, but ...”
“I’m sure she’s in love with him,” Suzanne insisted as they walked back to the coffee truck.
“He must be older than her,” Maddie pointed out. “If he’s around the same age as Joan, and talking about retiring early, he must be at least fifteen years her senior.”
“So? Maybe she likes older men.”
“And he’s married.”
“Not anymore.”
“Yeah.” Maddie’s voice held a note of sadness. “Not anymore.”
They reached the truck. There were no customers waiting for them to open.
“Come on,” Suzanne urged. “Let’s go and talk to Brian.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow. “We don’t want to miss the lunch hour rush.”
“I know it’s one of our busiest times, but after seeing the library assistant wig out like that, I really think we should talk to Brian ASAP.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take over the whole investigation?” Maddie asked wryly. “You seem keener than I am to solve Joan’s murder.”
“Sorry.” Suzanne looked apologetic. “It’s just that it was interesting talking to Phoebe, the library assistant, and I think it’s right that we’re – you’re – investigating Joan’s death.”
“We are,” Maddie confirmed. “Okay,” she blew out a breath, “let’s go and talk to Joan’s husband. And then we’re coming back here and serving the customers we have left.”
“Deal.” Suzanne smiled. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 6
MADDIE RANG THE BRASS doorbell.
Ding dong.
The street was quiet. Nobody ran or walked past. The other houses were similar to this one – well-kept brick houses with neat green lawns. In fact, you couldn’t even tell that there had been a murder committed here this morning.
An icy shiver ran down her spine at the thought.
“Do you think he’s home?” Suzanne whispered.
“If he doesn’t answer in a few minutes, we’d better go back to the truck,” Maddie replied, checking the time on her watch. If they didn’t leave soon, they’d miss the whole of the lunch hour, and their customers.
In the next second, the door creaked open. A middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes and a strained face greeted them.
“This isn’t a good time,” he said shortly.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hodgeton,” Maddie said. “We heard about your wife and just wanted to pay our respects.”
The expression on Mr. Hodgeton’s face softened.
“Come in. I can offer you coffee or tea. Or juice,” he added over his shoulder as he led the way into the living room.
“How did you know Joan?” he asked once they’d all taken a seat. Two tan sofas faced each other, forming a conversation nook in the cream and gray accented room.
“We run the coffee truck on the town square,” Maddie said, wondering if he would throw them out the minute he heard they weren’t close friends of his wife’s.
“In fact, she ordered a coffee yesterday,” Suzanne jumped in. “Her usual spiced latte. She always told Maddie how great her coffee was.”
“You’re the coffee girl.” Mr. Hodgeton pointed his finger at Maddie. “Yes, Joanie mentioned your coffee to me, said I had to try it one day.” He looked toward the kitchen. “Would you girls like something to drink?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Hodgeton,” Maddie said. “We don’t want to keep you. I imagine you must be busy with ... everything.” She didn’t know what else to say. What does one say to a man whose wife has just been murdered?
“Call me Brian. Yeah.” He smiled without humor. “A detective questioned me this morning. What was I doing home? Why had my wife cancelled her morning jog?” He drummed his fingers on his knee. “They should be looking for the real killer, instead of asking me ridiculous questions.”
“We met Joan’s friend this morning,” Maddie said. “Linda?”
“She lives next door. With her husband,” he said. “They were – are – good friends. She even has a key to our house, for emergencies, and we – I – have a key for theirs. She and Joan used to go jogging regularly, but Linda called this morning and cancelled. Said she wasn’t feeling well.”
Why hadn’t Linda told them she had a key to Joan’s house? Maddie furrowed her brow.
“That’s what Linda told us,” Suzanne said.
“If she hadn’t cancelled ...” he let the thought trail off, then shrugged wearily. “But who knows? The maniac might have killed Joan while she was out jogging, and maybe Linda, too.”
“We get a lot of joggers buying water from us in the morning,” Maddie said. “But I can’t remember seeing Joan and Linda jogging around the town square.”
“No. They just jogged around the block here a few times,” Brian informed them. “Joan said once she didn’t want everyone to see her looking hot and sweaty.”
“Does the detective think there’s a motive behind it?” Maddie asked delicately.
Brian snorted. “If he does, he hasn’t shared his thoughts with me
. Instead, they treat me like a criminal, just because I forgot to get the meat out for dinner.”
“Oh?” Maddie hoped her tone sounded encouraging.
“Yes. It was my turn to cook dinner tonight, so I’d decided to fix beef bourgignon. But before I left the house, I’d forgotten to get the meat out. So before I could start work at the library, I had to come home and pull the beef out of the freezer, so it could defrost in time for tonight. And that’s when I saw—” he ran a hand over his face. “There was water and roses everywhere, as well as glass. Poor Joan.”
“You went somewhere on the way to the library?” Maddie probed.
“I met with my library assistant before work.” He waved it off as if it were no big deal. “I had an idea for this big charity project that would help the library, as well as kids who can’t read, and I wanted to talk to her about it, see if she would support me, before I ran it past the board of directors. Sometimes it’s so busy at the library, there’s not much time to talk about stuff like that. So I met her before work this morning.”
“Where did you meet?” Suzanne asked curiously.
“At her apartment.” He leaned back in his armchair. “In case you’re wondering, Joan knew about it and was fine about the whole thing. She’s met my library assistant and thinks – thought—” his voice faltered “—that Phoebe is a great girl. Very dedicated to her job.”
“Do you think the charity project will go ahead?” Maddie asked.
“I hope so.” He sounded sincere. “There are too many kids who don’t know how to read. I thought I could get this project going before I retired.”
“Linda said you were thinking of retiring soon,” Suzanne commented.
“Yes.” He sighed. “But I don’t know what’s going to happen now. There’s the funeral to plan—” his voice cracked “—and then I’m expected to go back to work as if nothing happened.” He shook his head. “I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Maddie couldn’t think of any more questions to ask him, and apparently neither could Suzanne, as she remained silent. They thanked Brian, and left the house.