The Book Of Ill Deeds_A Paranormal Cozy Mystery

by Phaedra Weldon

  David abruptly bowed his head and closed his eyes. I put my hand on his shoulder. “You okay?”

  “I think I need to lay down. I’d really like to go home and take a shower. Change clothes.”

  “We can take you,” Mama D said. “There’s not much reason to be here.” She abruptly turned and left the library.

  I said goodbye to Tad and Danvers ran to us as we got to the door. “Don’t forget to come in and give a statement, David. Oh and fill out a report on your car.”

  “Will do.”

  David laid down in the back of the Mercedes, giving us directions to his house. It was just past the library, set off from the town on a back road. It was a nice house and not one I remembered from my youth.

  “You know this place,” Mama D said as she climbed out of the car. Max and Burt jumped and flew out as well and immediately went off exploring. “This is the old Jamerson house.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said as I helped David out of the back of the car. He stood on his own and headed to the front door. I remembered the box in the trunk and retrieved it as we followed the doctor into the house.

  It had a musty smell to it, but then most old houses did these days. But what caught my eye was the decor. Lots of plants. Real plants, not silk ones. Every potted tree was a real tree and every potted flower was a real flower. They were everywhere.

  And even better—David Flanagan loved antiques! The house was full of them. I was no expert—that area belonged to Melody. But I’d seen enough in her store to recognize a few pieces here and there.

  Mama D whistled as we took a look around and David excused himself and went upstairs. “Nice digs for a dead guy.”

  “Granny!” I hissed.

  She shrugged as Burt landed on her shoulder. “There’s nowhere for me to hang,” the bat said.

  “How about up there?” Max lifted up on his back legs and pawed the air at the curtains.

  I looked up and spotted curtain rods. “No. Just stick to granny’s shoulder for now.” I went into the kitchen and stood there with my hands on my hips. The appliances were all vintage. I couldn’t tell you what year, just that they all reminded me of Rachael Ray’s kitchen before the remodel. Everything was avocado green. But it matched the black-and-white checkered tile floor and backsplash at the sink. The cabinets were white with trim in the same color green.

  And there, tucked in the window, was a row of potted herbs. Rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, dill. Interesting that a vampire had herbs. Did vampires eat?

  I pulled the fridge’s handle to the right and opened it. I was surprised to find neatly stored vegetables, meats, cheeses, bottled water, wine and…

  Blood bags.

  “Sorry. It’s sort of…well, a guy’s gotta eat,” David said in my ear.

  I jumped as he slid around me and grabbed a bag from the fridge. “I hope no one minds? I need to refill the well, so to speak. I lost a lot of blood from that bullet. Though your contribution was much appreciated.” He winked at me.

  I thought about my wrist and held it up. There wasn’t a mark on it.

  David had changed his clothing though there’d been nothing visibly wrong with the clothes he’d had on. But I admitted he looked even better in a black button down, jeans, and white socks. His hair was damp so apparently he’d also taken the fastest shower on record. When I take a shower, it’s usually twenty minutes.

  “Oh you do what you have to,” Mama D said. “Mind if I dig around and whip up something for Ginger and I?”

  “Us too,” Max said as he leapt up on the center isle of the kitchen. The isle was made of the white tile and had a sink on the left. I really, really loved this kitchen. Kevin needed to see this kitchen.

  “I got cat food in the cupboard,” David said as he retrieved a green mug from a rack by the coffeemaker. “I didn’t buy it. It was apparently left here by the previous owner.”

  Max lowered his jaw. “You want to feed me century-old cat food? Dude, that stuff’s nasty on a good year.”

  David turned and looked at Max. Then he looked at me. “I like him.”

  “He grows on you,” I said.

  “No, he doesn’t,” Mama D said as she pilfered an orange apron that said, “Love me, Love My Cooking” on the front. She waited for David to microwave his…blood…before she shooed him out of the main flow.

  I poured myself a glass of wine and sat down on a stool on one side of the island. David sat to my left on the side of the sink and sipped his blood. “Remind me never to drink after you,” I eyed the coffee mug.

  “Wise choice.” He smiled, and I was lost in his eyes for a few seconds. “Thank you…again…for saving me.”

  I blushed. I felt the heat come up from my neck and clobber my face. “Oh…No bother.” I smacked the top of Max’s head when he tried sticking his face in my wineglass. “You got any canned tuna?”

  “I’m already making him spaghetti,” Mama D said. “I suggest we have a talk to figure out what the hell’s going on here. Where is my granddaughter? Who killed Carmine? And how in the hell is the library involved?”

  “Well,” David leaned forward on his elbows. “I’ve been thinking about that.” He sipped his coffee cup. “We know the book was stolen from the Hunters at least a year ago, if not longer. We know a witch named Hardin Winchester contacted the bookseller, Charles Willmington, during his search for the book.” He looked at Max.

  Max nodded.

  “Sometime after that contact, Willmington received emails from Cerysera who also wanted the book, and apparently offered a lot of money for it. Hardin tracked the book here,” He pressed a finger on the tiled isle top. “In Castle Falls, to the library—” David held up his hands. “Does anyone else see the weird thing there?”

  I hadn’t until he pointed it out like that. I sat up straight. If the book was in the library why did this Cerysera person contact Willmington? And how did they know to contact him? “You think Cerysera didn’t know the book was in the library, even though they were using the library to send the emails?”

  “I think a lot of things are possible,” David watched Mama D as she moved around the kitchen like a pro. “Either Cerysera was using the library to mask their real location, like their home computer, or they don’t have one. Library computers are public access. Anyone can use them.”

  “Which seems a bit ridiculous to me,” Mama D said. She turned and gestured with a wooden spoon. It had tomato sauce on the end of it. “Why contact a bookseller about an incredibly valuable book by an unsecured method? I mean—what if that Hunter, that Rush Knight pompous ass, is here not because of a familiar, but because the Hunters were watching and know the book is here too?”

  I looked at Max. He was looking at me with wide eyes. He shook his head slightly. He didn’t want me to tell anyone his name was in that book. At least not yet. But was it possible Mama D’s assessment was partially right? What if the Hunter was here because of Max and Hardin and the book? Were they mentioned in the emails? I could kick myself for not snooping through Willmington’s emails before turning it all over to Danvers.

  “Let’s say both,” David held out his hand. “Maybe Cerysera wanted the Hunters here to confuse things? I mean, look with happened to Mama D—”

  “Stop right there,” I held out my own hand. “How is any of this tying to the murder of three people? Carmine was shot—we know that cause of death. And she was found in my sister’s apartment, in her store. The other two men died of respiratory failure. Any number of things can cause that, least of all magic. I guess. I don’t know. Granny, is there magic that can do that?”

  She didn’t answer me. Instead, she turned back around and stirred a pot. Within seconds I could smell onions, garlic, and tomatoes, basil, and oregano. “Okay… Let’s put that aside. Something killed the two men. Hardin was in your shop, dead. Max can’t remember anything—”

  “I wasn’t in the building when it happened,” Max spoke up. “When I felt him die, the door to the shop opened. I saw a sh
adow and ran inside.” He lowered his head. “I performed the Mourning Cry.”

  “That’s what woke me up,” Mama D said. “Damn cat screeching at the top of his lungs. I found my door open, the place a mess, and the dead witch on the floor.”

  I hopped off the stool and grabbed the box. “I found this in Hardin’s room at the Castle Lake Bed & Breakfast. It’s got his BOS inside and some personal items.”

  “BOS?” David’s brows arched on his forehead. “Book of Shadows?”

  “Yeah. I figure these can be cremated with him.”

  “Anything else in the box?” Mama D said as she dumped the pasta into a big pot of boiling water.

  Max looked at me. “The cards!”

  That’s right! I opened the box and grabbed the set of antique Tarot cards. “Granny, these cards have one of Melody’s stickers on them. Do you recognize this deck?”

  She stirred the pasta in before grabbing a towel and joining me at the aisle. Mama D looked through her glasses as I put the deck in her hand. She turned them over, and then over again before she said, “Are you smoking something? This isn’t a deck of cards.”

  David and I looked at each other. “Yes it is,” he said.

  Max lowered his head. “You need glass in your glasses—”

  Mama D said, “Don’t talk about my glasses. Your illusion is wonderful, cat. Was it your idea or Hardin’s?”

  “Whose idea what was? What are you talking about?”

  I looked at Max, then Mama D, then at the deck of cards. “Yeah, what are you talking about?”

  “What are you seeing?” David asked Mama D. “And how are you seeing it and we’re not?”

  She pointed at her face. “Rose colored glasses. Best thing to dispel Fairy Glamour as well as a Witch’s Glamour.”

  I had noticed my granny’s glasses were pink, but I’d never considered they were pink for a reason. So looking through rose-colored glasses was a magic thing? Huh.

  Wait— I approached Mama D and held out my hands. She put the cards in one hand, and the glasses in the other. Truth was, the glasses made everything pink and blurry—except the deck of cards in my hand.

  Because they weren’t a deck of cards. They were a large, leather-bound book. Embossed in gold, glistening letters were the words The Book of Ill Deeds. I gasped and nearly dropped the cards—book. “How—”

  “It’s good glamour,” Mama D said, taking the cards—book—from me. I gave her back her glasses as well.

  Max looked at me. “Is it the book? Can we look inside?”

  “Why would you want to do that?” Mama D said as she stirred the pasta again and turned off the eye. “Besides, I’m pretty sure if you open it, it’ll kill the glamor. And right now that’s the best way to disguise it.”

  David shrugged. “Maybe the book was already under glamour. Maybe he didn’t know he had it?”

  I was pretty sure an exclamation point appeared over my head as a thought invaded my thinking. “What if nobody knew? What if Hardin’s search was right? The book was in the library but everyone else saw Tarot cards?”

  “And Hardin bought it?” David shrugged. “From your sister? Eh…we don’t know how it made its way into your sister’s store.” He looked at Max. “Max, did he tell you he’d found the book? Did he even talk about the cards?”

  “All he said was he bought them for his sister.”

  That made me sad, knowing his sister was a psychopath in a coma and if she ever did wake up, she’d find out her brother was dead. But Mama D and David didn’t know that.

  “I’m going to assume Hardin didn’t know,” Mama D lifted the pot and poured noodles and water into the sink. I hoped she had a colander in there. “So let’s just say…the book was in the library like Hardin thought it was supposed to be, a Fairy saw what it was and used glamour on it and shipped it to Melody.” She put her hands on her hips. “Case solved.”

  “No, Mama D. We still don’t know who killed three people, or who Cerysera is, or if they’re even related.”

  “I’m gonna say they are since this Cerysera’s email originated at the library. And I’m gonna guess it’s—”

  My phone rang, and I jumped. I located my bag on the floor by the door into the kitchen and grabbed it. The ID on the front said Castle Falls Library. “Hello?”

  “Miss Blackstone? It’s Tad. Tad Bishop.”

  “Well hi Tad. I would have thought you were home by now.” I checked the clock on the microwave. It was just after six o’clock. “This call says it’s the library.”

  “Miss Blackstone, they arrested Miss Walker! They charged her with murdering three people!”

  Tad lowered his head. “Can we at least eat before we go?”

  SIXTEEN

  Danvers was not happy to see the three of us, plus two familiars, at the door. Since the station was open twenty-four seven, the door wasn’t locked. But that didn’t stop the Sheriff from standing in front of the gate leading out of the waiting area.

  “Who called you?” He asked with his arms crossed.

  “Tad called us,” I said and held my arms down at my sides, my hands balled into fists. “Why on Earth would you arrest Cassandra?”

  “I’m only following the evidence.”

  “What evidence?” My voice rose a bit. Yes, I was upset. Not just because Cassandra was an old friend, but because I knew he’d arrested the wrong person. I didn’t know who killed all these people yet, but I knew it wasn’t her.

  “That’s police business.”

  “May I ask what forensic evidence?” David held up his hand. “If there’s something I could help with?”

  “Billy,” Mama D approached the gate with her cane and looked up at him. She didn’t say anything else. Just…stared.

  I watched as Sheriff Danvers’ face went from determined, to worried, to downright afraid. “Oh, for crying out loud. Fine.” He buckled and stepped back. “My office.”

  We piled in and he slammed the door. He pointed to Burt on Mama D’s shoulder. “I don’t want no bat guano in my office. Got it?”

  Burt flapped his wings.

  Danvers was not a happy camper as he picked up a few folders on his desk. He handed one to David and then picked up another one. “The email address Cerysera belongs to Cassandra Walker. She created it three years ago. It was used on library computers to contact Mr. Charles Willmington. We verified the emails with what we found on his phone and his computer. And Willmington received calls from library numbers as well.”

  “But Willmington dealt in rare books. It just seems normal he’d have library calls on his phone.”

  Danvers glared at me.

  “Okay fine, but what motive?” I blurted out. “I mean, Cassandra isn’t a witch. She wouldn’t know anything about this book. And how did she kill all three people?”

  “With deadly nightshade,” David said as he looked at the folder. He looked at me. “Except for Carmine. She was killed by a bullet.”

  Mama D and I looked at one another. “I guess that explains how it got into my shop,” Mama D said.

  “How?” I asked.

  “David, how was it given to them?”

  He looked over the folder. “Needle. There were injection marks here,” David pointed to a spot behind his ear at his hairline. “They were missed on Manchester’s body but found on Willmington’s. Dr. Helena did a double check when the toxicology report came back.”

  Mama D sighed. “My guess is Hardin was in my shop when he was attacked. The poison spilled and when you used your magic, it started growing.”

  I made a face. “If you say so.”

  “What are you talking about?” Danvers said. “What started growing? What magic?”

  “Sheriff,” David said. “What other evidence do you have? I mean, how are you tying her to Carmine’s murder?”

  The Sheriff held up his hand. “It’s all neat and tidy. We found deadly nightshade growing in Miss Walker’s garden behind her house. Along with a few other weird plants. And we foun
d a Glock 9mm in her nightstand, registered to her father. It’d been recently fired with four bullets missing from the magazine.”

  That sounded bad. “I still don’t see a motive,” I said.

  “Her father. You do know he’s dying of cancer, right? And his medical bills are in the hundreds of thousands. My guess is she wanted this weirdo book to sell it and make enough money to pay everything off. I mean, you said it yourself, Ginger, the book could be sold to the highest bidder.”

  Everything made Cassandra look guilty. But I knew she wasn’t. I had the book, for starters, hidden in my own version of Hardin’s lockbox spell in one of the upstairs bedrooms of David’s house, thanks to Max’s quick lesson. Under duress, that is.

  “My guess is she shot Carmine first and hid the body in the store and sent those fake notes to Mama Donahue here, about Melody Blackstone taking a sabbatical—”

  “Seminar,” Mama D said.

  “Whatever,” Danvers said. “I don’t know what happened to Melody because Miss Walker insists she’s innocent and won’t say. We did find syringes in her house.”

  “You just said her father is sick,” Mama D said. “It makes sense she’d have syringes. Idiot.”

  Danvers pointed at Mama D. “I’m being straight with all of you. It’s just good police work.”

  I stood up and started pacing. This was wrong. All of it was wrong. “You’re saying Cassandra, a non-witch, found out about this book, found out about Charles Willmington, contacted him to find the book, killed Hardin Manchester because he came looking for the book, by sticking a syringe in his neck while he was in Mama D’s shop,” I looked at Danvers now and stopped pacing. “She then did the same thing to Willmington, but she shot Carmine and did something with my sister.”

  Everyone stared at Danvers. He looked at everyone else. “Well yes.”

  “Can I speak to Cassandra?” I clasped my hands in front of me, trying to take on a non-threatening stance. Inside I wanted to zap this idiot’s butt.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Danvers said.

  “It can’t hurt,” David said as he closed the folder in his hands. “I need to check on a few things. Just let her talk to Miss Walker and then we can leave you alone.”