by Jinty James
“Ah.” His brow cleared. “What would you like to know? Although I must warn you that Linda paid me. I told her, “No, Linda, you must not,” but she insisted. Said it was only fair. I booked her in as a client, and in the treatment room—” he gestured to the beaded curtain “—we talked about her hero, a young, handsome but impoverished Spaniard who was in love with the haughty Esmerelda and how he could win her heart.”
“Goodness,” Maddie said faintly.
“She did not tell you about her story?” he asked, his deep brown eyes studying over her.
“She said it was a secret, that she wasn’t ready to share,” Maddie dissembled.
“Linda was a private person.” He nodded. “Unfortunately for me, she was still in love with her husband.” His eyes smoldered. “She is a most beautiful woman.”
“But isn’t she older than you?” Maddie asked, thinking of her elderly customer’s words only a couple of hours ago, that Linda was fifty-five.
“What is age?” He shrugged in a very European way. “If a woman is beautiful on the inside – and in this case on the outside as well – what do I care if she is older than me? I will still love her most completely and together we will share great passion.” His voice dropped to a sexy growl.
“I’ll think about it – about getting you to help with my novel, I mean,” Maddie gabbled, taking a backward step.
“And I shall visit your coffee truck one day.” He smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners, making him look even sexier.
“Oh-kay,” she squeaked, waving her hand in a half wave before turning and pulling open the door.
Once outside on the landing, she fanned herself, then clomped down the stairs, not caring how much noise her shoes made.
Once she was outside on the street, the fresh air brushing against her face, she exhaled loudly.
Man. She’d been so flustered, she’d forgotten the words to the tell the truth spell and hadn’t tested it out on him.
She didn’t know if even Suzanne was ready for this – this – sex god. No wonder Linda had asked him for advice about her romance novel!
If that was the real reason she had gone there ...
Or was Linda having an affair with Ramon, and the romance novel explanation was a cover?
There was only one way to find out.
CHAPTER 9
“DID YOU END UP GETTING a massage?” Suzanne asked as Maddie returned to the truck.
Trixie stirred, lifting her head, as if wanting to hear Maddie’s answer.
“No.” Maddie shook her head. “But I did learn something interesting.”
“What’s that?”
Briefly, Maddie told her friend why Linda had gone to the massage parlor.
“But what if that’s a story she and Ramon have cooked up together?” She fanned herself. “I don’t even blame Linda if she is having an affair with him. The man is smoking hot, and I do mean smoking!”
“Wow, he must be something special if you’re this affected by him.” Suzanne viewed her thoughtfully. “Maybe I should book a massage with him.”
“He might be too much even for you,” Maddie warned.
“In that case, I’m definitely going to visit him.” Suzanne giggled.
Maddie shook her head in mock disbelief, her gaze dropping to the tray of health balls, now almost half empty.
“How many balls did you sell?” she asked.
“Sixteen.” Suzanne’s eyes sparkled. “And the lunch rush is about to start.” She nodded toward the crowd of people streaming into the park.
Maddie and Suzanne barely had a chance to talk for the next two hours as they were slammed with orders. To Suzanne’s delight, the health balls sold out.
“We’ve made an extra forty dollars’ profit!” Suzanne crowed once the last of the customers had departed.
They high-fived, then Maddie became serious.
“I think I should visit Linda and see if Ramon told the truth about her visits.”
“Good idea. What if Joan found out and Linda killed her?”
“Do you think so?” There was skepticism in Maddie’s voice.
“What if Joan threatened to go to Linda’s husband and tell him?”
“Why would she do that?” Maddie frowned.
Suzanne shrugged. “Maybe they had a falling out. Maybe Linda was always cancelling their jogging sessions so she could visit Ramon instead, and Joan got fed up about it.”
“We must never let that happen to us.” Maddie touched Suzanne’s arm.
“Promise.” Suzanne smiled at her.
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed.
“Maybe I should come with you,” Suzanne continued. “If Linda did kill Joan, then you shouldn’t visit her alone.”
“Good idea,” Maddie said, a cold shiver running down her spine. “Trixie, we’re going to visit someone.”
The Persian hopped off the stool and padded over to the truck door, waiting to be let out.
“I’ll put up a sign.” Suzanne got out a piece of paper and a pen. “We should be back by 3.30, right?”
“Yep.” Maddie nodded. “And then we better get started on the health balls for tomorrow.”
“Mrrow.”
“MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE contacted Detective Edgewater,” Maddie whispered to Suzanne as they stood outside Linda’s front door. Trixie waited for them in Maddie’s car, her nose pressed to the open window, watching them.
“Too late now,” Suzanne whispered back as the door slowly opened.
“Girls.” Linda looked surprised to see them. “What brings you here?”
“I was thinking of getting a massage,” Suzanne jumped in. “And I heard you go to Ramon in the town square.”
Linda paled, her eyes widening. “You better come in.”
They entered the house, decorated in shades of warm gray and cornflower blue.
Linda led them into a cozy kitchen, a counter with sturdy wooden stools dominating one half of the room.
“Please, sit,” she indicated the stools.
Maddie and Suzanne hopped up onto a stool each.
“How did you find out about that?” Linda took a seat opposite them.
“Someone saw you go in there – yesterday morning,” Maddie replied.
“Oh.” Linda’s face crumpled. “You have no idea how badly I feel about it. If I hadn’t cancelled jogging with Joan to meet Ramon, maybe she would still be alive.”
“Why did you go to see him?” Maddie asked, looking searchingly at Linda. She could see what Ramon had meant when he said Linda was a beautiful older woman. Her short dark hair was stylishly cut, her features had a timeless elegance about them, and her figure was slim.
Linda hesitated. “If you must know, he was helping me with research.”
“Research?” Suzanne asked.
“Yes.” The older woman flushed. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
Maddie and Suzanne exchanged glances.
“We promise,” they chorused.
“Well ... I’m writing a romance novel.” Linda paused, but when they remained silent, she continued, “and one day I bumped into Ramon in the town square – literally bumped into him. He was so charming, and told me that he was a masseuse and where his shop was, that – well – I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make my hero authentic, you know? My book is set in Spain and my hero is a poor, impetuous, handsome man, who pines for the beautiful but haughty Esmeralda, and—”
“It sounds interesting,” Maddie said hastily. So far, Linda’s story tallied with Ramon’s.
“But why keep it a secret?” Suzanne asked curiously. “You’re not doing anything wrong – are you?”
Maddie kicked Suzanne’s calf.
“Ow.” Suzanne rubbed her leg and frowned at her friend.
“No, we weren’t – aren’t – doing anything wrong.” Linda looked guilty for a second. “Except ... I don’t really need to see Ramon for any more background. He’s been a marvelous help, but
... I can’t stop myself going back to see him and talking to him about my novel. He’s such a wonderful listener and – oh, girls, have you seen him? He’s beautiful.” She blushed.
Maddie found herself nodding in agreement.
“And not just on the outside, either. I enjoy being able to talk about my romance novel with someone. Nobody else knows about it – not even Joan knew. I have no idea if it has potential, but I enjoy writing about it and talking over the plot with Ramon. And maybe, someday, I can get it published.” Pink spots of determination stood out on Linda’s cheeks.
“What about your husband?” Suzanne asked, looking at Maddie as if wondering if it was safe to ask the question.
Maddie suddenly remembered the tell the truth spell. Now she wasn’t flustered in a sexy European man’s presence, would she be able to remember the incantation?
A calmness descended as she focused, and she felt like she did when she cast the coffee vision spell. Was it all her? Or was Trixie somehow lending her telepathic support from the car outside?
She could see the words in her mind. Silently, she uttered them, whispering, “Show me,” at the end.
Luckily, neither Linda nor Suzanne seemed to notice her murmur.
Linda’s gaze landed fondly on a silver-framed photo of herself and a tubby man of medium height with balding gray hair.
“I don’t know if Fred would laugh at me,” she said. “And if I told him about Ramon, he might be jealous, even though we’re just friends.”
Maddie nodded, knowing deep down that Linda told the truth. Was the spell working? Or her own intuition?
“So who would want to kill Joan?” Suzanne asked.
“I don’t know.” Linda shrugged. “As far as I know, she didn’t have any enemies.”
“Brian was thinking of retiring, right?” Maddie asked.
“Yes.” Linda nodded her head. “But now ... I don’t know. Continuing to work might help him through the grieving process.”
“That’s true,” Maddie replied thoughtfully.
“You didn’t notice any strangers hanging around lately?” Suzanne asked.
“No.” Linda frowned in thought. “But I did notice the assistant librarian visiting Joan’s house last week.”
“Oh?” Maddie snapped her gaze to Linda’s face.
“Yes. I believe it was last Tuesday. I only knew who she was because I’ve seen her when I’ve gone to the library. A pleasant girl, although I don’t know her well. I thought it was a little strange, but she probably had library business to discuss with Brian.”
Ever since Maddie had cast the truth spell, she knew that Linda had replied with total honesty to every question.
She racked her brains, but couldn’t think of anything else to ask the older woman.
Suzanne must have felt the same, because she looked at Maddie and gave her the special eyebrow signal they had invented years ago, which meant, do you want to leave now?
“Thanks for talking to us.” Maddie rose from her stool. “We are sorry about Joan,” she said sincerely.
“Thank you,” Linda replied. “And ... you won’t tell anyone about Ramon and my novel, will you?”
“Your secret is safe with us.” Suzanne smiled. “Don’t worry.” She added, “As long as you give us a signed copy of your book when it’s published.”
“Deal.” Linda’s face relaxed into a smile.
Maddie and Suzanne left the house. Once the front door was shut behind them, Suzanne declared, “I am definitely visiting Ramon for a massage. The sooner the better.”
Maddie laughed as they got into her car.
“Did you catch all that, Trixie?” she asked the cat, who hopped into her lap.
“Mrrow!”
“Did you help me cast the spell?” she whispered in the feline’s ear.
A loud purr rumbled from the Persian’s chest.
“What are you two talking about?” Suzanne asked.
Maddie told her about the truth spell as she started the ignition. Trixie hopped over to the rear seat, a satisfied look on her furry face.
“That’s awesome, Mads!” Suzanne clicked her seatbelt into place. “Now you can do two spells.”
“And we know that Linda is telling the truth – or at least she was for the second part of our questioning.”
“That should help us,” Suzanne said. “Where should we go next?”
“How about back to the coffee truck so we can start making more health balls?”
“And after that, we better visit Phoebe, the library assistant, again,” Suzanne declared.
CHAPTER 10
MADDIE AND SUZANNE took Trixie home, then hurried back to the coffee truck, made the health balls, locked up, and departed for the library.
“Phew!” Suzanne dramatically wiped her brow. “I am definitely going to relax in front of TV tonight.”
“I know what you mean.” Maddie yawned. “Don’t forget, we got up earlier, too.”
“Yeah. But it was worth it, wasn’t it? We even had a couple of customers come back for more treats at lunchtime.”
“It was a great idea of yours,” Maddie admitted.
“Now all we have to do is keep up with demand!”
They arrived at the library.
“What are we going to ask her?” Suzanne turned to Maddie.
“What about Joan’s husband’s alibi? And why Phoebe visited him last week?”
“I’ll sneak a peek and see if she’s wearing her locket today,” Suzanne added.
They walked into the library. Maddie scanned the space, looking for the library assistant. She stood at the far end of the room, putting books back on a shelf.
“Over there.” Maddie nodded at the bookcase.
They trod lightly on the carpet, as if in silent agreement. We don’t want to spook her.
Once they stood behind her, Maddie cleared her throat. She didn’t want to give the woman a heart attack by startling her.
The library assistant whipped around.
“Can I help you?” She frowned, as if dimly recognizing them. “Oh, you came in yesterday, didn’t you?”
“That’s right, Phoebe,” Maddie replied. “We’re friends of Joan.” The more she asked people questions, the closer she felt to Joan. It wasn’t really a lie, she told herself.
Phoebe nodded as if remembering.
Today, she was dressed in a droopy black skirt and lavender blouse, trimmed with lace around the neckline. Dark circles under her eyes indicated she hadn’t been sleeping well.
“We were wondering about the charity project Joan’s husband told us about,” Maddie said. “Is it still going ahead?”
“Oh – yes, I think so,” Phoebe replied. “But maybe not as soon as Bri – Mr. Hodgeton hoped for. We might have to put it on hold for a while now because of what happened.” She lowered her voice to a whisper.
“We understand,” Suzanne said. “But ...”
“Yes?” Phoebe looked around as if checking anyone else needed help, but apart from a couple of senior citizens dozing in armchairs, there weren’t any other patrons.
“It sounds like it’s a very big undertaking,” Maddie put in smoothly, silently wondering at her new found confidence in asking potential suspects questions.
“Yes.” The library assistant vigorously nodded her head. “It’s going to be huge. There are so many children who go to school but are failing in literacy. Some of them can’t even read simple words such as cat and mat.” She sounded shocked. “Brian and I are – were – going to work on it together.”
“He came over to see you yesterday, didn’t he?” Suzanne asked, peering intently at the other woman. “To talk about it?”
Library assistant suddenly looked flustered. “Why yes ... he did.”
“That was the morning his wife was killed.” Maddie didn’t have to fake the sadness in her voice.
Library assistant looked discomfited. “Yes, that’s right.”
“And you went over to his house the week bef
ore, didn’t you?” Suzanne blurted out.
“Yes, but – hey, why are you asking me all these questions?” Phoebe scowled at them. “The detective has already asked me about Mr. Hodgeton’s whereabouts that day, and I told them. What has my visit to my boss’s house got to do with anything?”
Maddie was taken aback by her sudden vehemence and since Suzanne was silent, she guessed her friend was too.
Phoebe drew herself up to her full height of five foot eight.
“For your information, I was at Mr. Hodgeton’s house talking about the charity project. It’s quite complex, and we don’t have enough time to talk about it during work hours. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
She wheeled the cart of books right past them, almost squashing their toes in the process.
“Wow,” Suzanne breathed once she’d departed. “Do you think we hit a nerve?”
“Definitely,” Maddie said. “Something we said certainly made her jumpy.”
“We just have to work out what it was.”
“SHOOT. I FORGOT TO cast the truth spell,” Maddie grumbled as they made their way back to the truck. She kept her voice low so the occasional passerby wouldn’t hear.
“I’m sure she wasn’t telling the truth about something,” Suzanne remarked. “It’s a shame Trixie wasn’t with us – maybe she could have sensed what was up with that woman.”
“Yeah.” Maddie smiled at the thought of her pretty cat strolling into the library with them. “I wonder if they have a no cats policy?”
“Hey, is there an invisibility spell in your book?” Suzanne asked as they unlocked the coffee truck. “Maybe you could make Trixie invisible, and she could accompany us everywhere, no problem.”
“I don’t think there is.” Maddie wrinkled her brow as she thought about the spells she’d studied in the ancient tome. “But if there is, I wouldn’t be able to see where she goes,” Maddie pointed out. “What if she got bored and wandered off?”
“She’d probably know exactly how to find you,” Suzanne said as she checked on the trays of health balls they’d made thirty minutes ago. “Just like she did the first time she walked into the coffee shop, and made you instantly fall in love with her.”