by Tonya Kappes
“You have no option,” I reminded her. I tapped my finger on the Magical Cures Book to remind her of the Demons of Crimson deal she made with Paul.
“June Heal,” she gasped and drew back. Her eyes lowered. “You are a very bad Good-Sider.”
“No I’m not.” I shook my head. “You are protecting your family and I’m protecting mine.”
The words hung between us.
Chapter Sixteen
Petunia was hesitant to give me a leave pass from the village arrest and knew she’d receive some sort of discipline from the Marys for doing it, but she agreed. There obviously were no boundaries, and nothing Petunia wouldn’t do for baby Orin.
We agreed that I would carry on today as if I were on village arrest and meet at midnight when the train for Azarcabam left the station.
My plan was to meet with Mac McGurtle at lunch. In the meantime, I was going to go back to see Patience. The yellow ball was vividly involved in my nightmare and familiars. I had to figure out how Paul and the yellow ball were related.
The street was filled with tourists shuffling in and out of the shops with heavy coats on. Today the snow had stopped, but the air was much colder. The wind had picked up and blew the snow from yesterday around in swirls and curls around the street, giving the illusion of a snowstorm.
I grabbed the edges of my cloak and tugged it around me, shielding me from the wind. I hurried up the steps of Two Sisters and a Funeral. Mr. Prince Charming batted the door, pushing it open a crack.
I pushed it open wider.
“Hello?” I called inside. “Patience? Constance?”
Constance hurried out of one of the rooms. She had on a plastic apron and goggles perched up on the top of her head. She peeled off the yellow plastic gloves and waved me in.
“Get in here before you let that cold in,” she grumbled and headed back into the room from which she came.
I had been in that room once before and wasn’t looking forward to going in there again. Clearly she wasn’t going to come back out and talk to me, so I had to put my fear of looking at a dead body aside.
“Have you found out anything about my crazy sister?” Constance asked when I walked into the room.
The concrete floor had puddles of water on it near the drain underneath the steel table where one dead Paul Levy’s body lay. Constance put the goggles back down on her face, making her eyes appear even larger than they already did in her thick glasses. She picked up some sort of hook tool on the metal tray and did some sort of poking and prodding to the body. I sorta felt sorry for him.
“Here he is.” Constance continued to take samples from the body and stick them in little vials. “And if you think Patience is helping, you’re nuts. She’s out back playing with that ostrich.” She lifted her hand and pointed the hook toward me. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea that you are here since he’s here because of you.”
“I didn’t kill him.” I glared at her, and kept my eye only on her. “You are going to figure out what did kill him. Right?”
“I’ll move much quicker if you fix my sister.” She threatened and glared back at me.
I walked over and looked at the clipboard on the counter with Paul’s name on it.
“Don’t be so nosy.” Constance shuffled over and grabbed it. “His history is none of your business.”
“How did you get it? Is there a next of kin listed?” This was all information I was sure I could use.
“You will have to fix my sister first to get this information.” She hugged the file close to her body. Her eyes lowered.
“Fine.” I jerked around and left the room. I didn’t want to stay in there much longer anyway.
Mr. Prince Charming and I walked back out the front door and down the steps. The sounds of a hissing ostrich lead me straight to the back of the funeral home where Constance said Patience was.
Patience had on an orange cloak. Today her tight curls had little flowers stuck in them all over her head. The ostrich’s neck flung forward as its beak plucked a flower from her. Her body shook like Jell-o as she giggled.
The yellow ball was near her feet.
“Patience.” I smiled when I walked up.
“Oh, you.” She rolled her eyes and turned away from me. “Do you have any answers yet?”
“No, but I think some answers are right here in the funeral home and I need you to get them for me.” It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to bribe her. I pulled out the bag of June’s Gems from my bag that was left over from yesterday and held it out in front of me. “I will give you these treats from Wicked Good if you find out who the next of kin is for Paul Levy. I need you to whisper it into the air so Madame Torres hears it and relays it to me.”
“And you are going to give me those.” Her hand reached out and she snatched the bag.
“And take you to get a caramel apple.” I reminded her about the carnival. I so hoped they were going to have caramel apples.
“Fine.” She tossed her head to the side. The ostrich jutted forward and grabbed another flower from her head. She giggled.
“I need to know if your little ghost friend has always had the yellow ball? Or did you have the yellow ball here?” I asked.
“It showed up the same day he showed up.” She kicked the ball away from her foot, it rolled right back.
“Have you ever tried to take the ball away from him?” I asked.
“He gets mad. Kind of like at your wedding.” She reminded me of his bad behavior that was not something I wanted to recreate.
“Patience! Patience! I need you to help me roll the body!” Constance screeched from the back door. Her eyes bugged out underneath the goggles.
“Roll the body.” Patience’s foot knocked the ball when she scurried off.
The ball rolled after her, but I stopped it with my foot when it tried to roll past me. I picked it up and gripped it in my fist.
“It looks like it’s me and you,” I said into the air.
Rowl! Rowl! Mr. Prince Charming hissed. The hair on his back stuck straight up and he darted off. His disapproval was apparent.
“You are going to go with me tonight.” I stuck the ball in my bag and headed off in the direction of The Gathering Grove.
Chapter Seventeen
The Gathering Grove had a line out the door when I got there. The knock on the front window caught my attention. Mac McGurtle had secured a two-top table right in front of the window just inside.
“June, how are you?” Gerald asked when I stepped through the door. He was cleaning off the table near the door. Two women were still sitting there.
“I’m good.” I noticed he had picked up the teacup and slowly moved the cup in a circular motion. “I do want to ask you something.”
Mac McGurtle lifted his hand in the air. I waved back to acknowledge him and gave him the pointer finger I’ll be right there gesture.
“Mmhmmm?” Gerald’s eye focused on the cup. He twirled a little faster. “Interesting.” His brow cocked.
The two women were deep in conversation and didn’t notice Gerald was using his gift to look into one of their futures.
“One second.” He looked at me and bent down to the ladies. He said to the woman who looked to be in her fifties, “Can you please check your phone? I think someone is trying to get in touch with you.”
She gave him a strange look. She put her hand on her cell phone that was face down on the table. She picked it up. There was nothing there, but a second later her phone chirped.
“Look there. There is a text message from my daughter.” The woman quickly swiped her finger across the phone. As she read the text, her lips moved, and then curved into a smile. “She’s pregnant! The medicine worked!” she told her friend.
“Congratulations.” Gerald puffed up. “I just had my own child. Little boy.”
“Congratulations to you.” The woman gathered up her stuff. “We have to go. I have to go see them.”
Before she left, she turned to Gerald.
“How did you know?” she asked, a curious look on her face. “I didn’t tell anyone that my daughter was going to the doctor today to see if the medication the doctor had given her and my son-in-law worked. She hadn’t texted me when you told me to check my phone.”
“I have no clue.” Gerald shrugged. He curled the edge of his mustache between his two fingers. “Here is a gift.” He pulled out a couple of tea leaves from the front pocket of his Gathering Grove apron. “Be sure to have her steep these two leaves in hot water when you see her next. Let her enjoy a cup with a teaspoon of honey.”
The woman’s face was blank and slightly tilted to the side. Softly she said, “I will.”
Her friend grabbed her arm and pulled her close, “I told you this town was magical.”
They scurried out into the chilly day.
“Now what can I do for you?” He finally turned to me.
“Did you know Paul Levy before he approached Petunia to be part of the bazaar?” There was no sense in dancing around the question. I had little to no time.
“I did.” His chin lowered, then lifted. “But I hadn’t seen him for twenty years until he was at The Gathering Rock right before he was found dead in the woods.”
“How did you know him?” I asked.
“He lived in Azarcabam when I did. I had left, as you know.” He gestured around the tea shop.
“You didn’t think to tell anyone that you knew him in the past?” I asked.
“Who would care? You were the one standing over him. Not I.” He lowered his eyes down on me in an accusing way. “Besides, we never had a beef with each other.”
“None?” I asked. He shook his head. “Then why didn’t you think it was a good idea for his traveling carnival to come to the bazaar?” I tapped my finger to my temple. “I clearly recall you and Petunia standing right out there when I babysat Orin for you and you saying it wasn’t a good idea.”
“June Heal, are you accusing me of killing Paul Levy?” He drew his hand to his chest.
“I’m just trying to explore every possibility because I have no reason to want him dead. I didn’t know him. I never met him a day in my life until he waltzed into my shop and disguised himself as a mortal. But you.” I pointed to him. “You knew him in the past and you didn’t want him here. That could be worth exploring.” I asked, “Does Petunia know you knew Paul?”
“I. . .a. . .” He burst out in a cough. His jowls flapped back and forth.
I turned on my heels, leaving Gerald to think about what I was saying.
“Good afternoon,” Mac harrumphed and greeted me when I made my way through the crowded café and sat down. He took his thick finger and pushed the glasses up on his nose. His blue eyes magnified.
“Good afternoon.” I smiled and adjusted my seat closer to the table.
It was lovely to see the small vases on each table filled with Arabella’s new holiday flower, Blood Mercy. Since Gerald was her father, she kept The Gathering Grove so vibrant with fresh flowers daily. I picked one out of the vase and stuck it in my hair. It made a very nice accessory on a dreary day.
“What was that about?” Mac asked nodding toward Gerald, who was rushing over to us.
“Hello. Hello.” Gerald stood over us with a china teapot adorned with little rosettes all over it. He placed two saucers and teacups in front of us. “What can I get for you today?”
“I’ll have the soup of the day.” Mac pointed to the menu.
“I’ll have the same,” I said and took the strap of my bag over my head and hung it on the back of my chair.
Gerald lifted the teapot and poured the steaming tea into the cups. A few leaves fell from the pot. I lowered my eyes and looked in. Gerald’s spiritual gift was a tealeaf reader and he was well known for being nosy. I wasn’t so sure he wasn’t trying to get a little reading off of Mac and me. After all, he probably wanted to know what I had up my sleeve with the information that he knew Paul before.
“I’ll have some water.” I looked up at him and pushed the teacup aside.
He hurried off in the direction of the counter that was backed up.
“You have him flustered.” Mac smiled. “And if I know you, which I do, you know something.”
“First you tell me what you know.” I encouraged him. It was more important to me to see what he had uncovered in my defense.
“I am still waiting on the report back from the Karima sisters on the autopsy.” Mac started out telling me something I already knew since I had just come from there.
I should probably let Mac know all that I have found out, but then he’d keep a close eye on me, hindering me from going to Azarcabam at midnight. And that was something I was determined to do.
“Well, I did find out something very interesting.” It was a teaser for him to go and chase a lead that I knew was a dead end. “Paul Levy and Gerald knew each other years ago. I’m not sure if they were friends or not or how they knew each other, but they did. In fact, I knew Gerald was not happy Paul wanted the carnival to come to the bazaar and where I come from, if you are friends you want to help them in business. Not Gerald.”
He gasped. His eyes grew even bigger under his thick glasses.
“How did you know this?” He grabbed his briefcase from the floor. It shook the table when he plopped it down between us.
“I asked him.” It wasn’t brain surgery. Mac looked over his glasses at me. “And Paul was engaged to Eloise.”
“How do you know this?” he asked again. More dumbfounded than before.
“The morning of the murder, I saw Eloise give an extra cleanse to the village.” I conveniently left out the part that tied Magical Moments with Azarcabam. Not that Magical Moments was involved with Paul’s murder, but that was how the spiritual world worked. We got clues and we had to put them together, which led me to Eloise and the tie between the two worlds. “I couldn’t help but go and ask her about it after I had been put on village arrest.”
“Any clues on why she did the extra cleanse?” he asked.
“No. She said that she was just the vessel for the incense and wind to do her spiritual job.” I sucked in a deep breath and hoped Mac would take my lead and run with it, ignoring me for the rest of the day. “She had no idea about the murder and when I told her and said his name, she became very pale and that was when she told me about her past with him.”
“This is very interesting.” He looked up at me before he bent his head back down to the folder he pulled out of the briefcase and began writing down what I was saying.
“I also remembered something.” I stopped talking when Gerald came over and put the soup down in front of us along with my glass of water. When he left, I said, “When Paul was in the shop, I found him looking at my wedding photo. He did ask about Eloise and if she was a mother to Oscar or me. I told him who she was and he seemed to be taken aback.”
He scribbled faster and faster. I didn’t tell him about how I watched Paul leave and the interchange between him and Petunia. I needed Petunia’s story all to myself because I had to keep her close to me, at least until midnight.
“I know you don’t want to believe Eloise could do any harm, but the facts remain.” Mac put the folder aside and picked up the spoon in his soup. He took a couple of sips. “Dark-Siders are from an evil side. If this Paul was a Dark-Sider and had a tie here, maybe he was here to see her. And maybe they had an exchange in the woods, where Dark-Siders mainly live and she accidently killed him.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head. This was not going as planned. I didn’t want Eloise to be charged with murder. I only wanted Mac to research the lead of Paul and Eloise until I could get some solid answers without him on my back. “I think maybe she can give some insight to who he is. I don’t think he knew she was here until he saw the photo of my wedding.”
I did the best I could to get Mac to buy into the fact that he needed to stop watching me and focus on other possibilities.
“This definitely needs to be given to Colton
and looked into.” Mac slurped his soup. “I’ll leave Oscar out of this since it’s his aunt.” He took another slurp before jumping up.
“Wait.” I stood up, knocking my chair over. My bag skidded across the floor. “I didn’t say she needs to be looked into by the police.”
“Are you kidding me?” Madame Torres’s voice was a high-sonic stiletto only I could hear. “If you don’t get this crazy yellow ball out of your purse, it’s going to drag me all over this village!”
My mind was jumbled trying to get Mac and my bag to stop, both going in different directions.
“Stop it!” Madame Torres yelled. “Stop bumping into me!”
“Mac!” I screamed out. The entire café fell silent. All eyes were on me.
At least Mac stopped shy of the door.
“Ahem, are you okay, June?” Gerald cleared his throat. His lips tipped into a nervous smile.
Our eyes met for a split second. My bag dragged across the floor. A collective gasp blanketed the café.
“I told you this village was magical,” the woman next to me whispered to her friend.
“Magical?” I tried to play it off. “Oh no.” I shook my head and giggled nervously before running over to the bag, stomping my foot on the strap. I bent down, picked it up and stuck my hand inside, pulling out the ball, but first noticing Madame Torres was lit up with words.
“I dropped my bag and the ball just kept rolling.” I held it up in the air for everyone to see. “No magic here.”
With bag and ball in hand, I turned around to confront Mac. He was gone. The door left slightly ajar.
“What can I get you?” Gerald’s voice broke the silence of the café.
I looked at him. Gave him a weak smile and took a deep breath of appreciation.
“Look!” The woman who had whispered to her friend pointed at me.
The ball exploded out of my hand and shot out the door like a rocket.
Chapter Eighteen
“Get back here!” I darted in and out of the crowded streets after the bouncing ball. “I’m not kidding!”