“Is that the witch that was just here?” I asked, and Ellie nodded.
“That’s right,” Ellie replied. “She comes from one of the oldest and richest families in Western Woods. She went to school with us, and she is the most spoiled, annoying witch I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Luckily, now that we’ve graduated, the only time I ever see her is in the street sometimes. She doesn’t actually work—she thinks she’s way too good for that sort of thing, and because of her family money, she doesn’t need to—and mostly just hangs around town being annoying.”
“Well, depending on how much she likes your food, you might have a new regular customer,” I said with a wink.
Ellie shrugged. “Well, if it means I get even a little bit of that money of hers, I guess I can put up with it.”
I laughed and made my way back out to the main part of the bakery. The customers who had been sitting at one of the tables had left, so I quickly bussed away their dishes and then set about making the store look pristine once more. Using my wand and casting a quick cleaning spell, I got rid of a few crumbs sitting on the counter, spaced the plates displaying the goods a little bit differently to make them look more attractive, and ran a quick spell over the floor to clear up the dirt people had brought in from the outside.
“How’s the day going?” Lucy asked me from her side of the store, and I made my way over to her.
“I think it’s going pretty well,” I said. “We had a pretty solid stream of customers. Ellie says it’ll be a bit quiet until one, maybe two in the afternoon, and then it’ll pick up again for about an hour until we finally close at four. How about you?”
“Oh, it’s been wonderful,” Lucy beamed. “I couldn’t have asked for a better opening day. So many people have come by and admired my pins, and I’ve had more customers than I ever have at the market.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said to Lucy with a smile. She was a nice witch, and I was happy to see her having some success. “I was hoping this partnership between you and Ellie would go well.”
“It definitely has. Thank you again for introducing us.”
“Oh, no problem,” I smiled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check and make sure Ellie doesn’t need a hand with anything in the kitchen out back. Help yourself to any pastries if you get hungry.”
“Thanks,” Lucy said with a grin. I made my way to the back of the shop once more and helped Ellie bring out new plates from the back.
“I think we’ll have to try and make this more efficient somehow,” I said to Ellie as we organized everything. “When we only have a dozen of each item on display at once, it’s just too much moving back and forth to keep the plates full.”
“I agree,” Ellie said. “I was thinking the same thing. I feel as though maybe we could use the storage underneath the counter? Maybe if we took the doors off the cabinet, we could store extras of all the food down there, so that way when we run out of one plate we could simply grab one from underneath and replace it. What do you think?”
“That should work,” I said with a nod. “Good idea.”
“I hope so. Amy is coming back in after her shift, so maybe I’ll get her to cast the spells to do all that. She’s better than me at that sort of thing anyway.”
“She’s better than all of us at that sort of thing,” I laughed just as a couple of customers came through the door once more. It looked like our next busy period was about to start.
Chapter 3
By the time we locked the doors, a couple of minutes after four, I was completely exhausted. I had only just realized that I’d gone the entire day without eating a single thing, and I grabbed one of the two leftover cinnamon buns and rather inelegantly popped way too large a piece into my mouth, waving goodbye to Lucy as she made her way out for the night.
“A little bit hungry, are we?” Ellie laughed, and I made a rude gesture toward her, unable to retort with my mouth full.
“Are you happy with how the day went?” I asked Ellie when I’d finally swallowed. “After all, if nothing else, congratulations are in order. The first day of your permanent location went swimmingly, as far as I’m concerned.”
“I agree completely,” Ellie nodded enthusiastically. “I couldn’t have asked for better. Thank you so much for the help.”
“No problem,” I grinned. “Anything I can do to help make your new company a success.”
Just then, Sara arrived at the front door and knocked on the window. I made my way over and let her in, and she rushed over to Ellie, taking her in a huge hug.
“I’m so proud of you! I walked by here about an hour after opening, and the lineup was literally outside the door. Everyone I told was so excited about getting to try your cinnamon buns again, and they’re all thrilled that there’s finally a decent place to get something sweet in town once more. That said, everyone wanted to know when you were going to get a coffee machine.”
“It’s probably worth considering that sooner rather than later,” I said. “After all, I think it will add to the customer experience to be able to enjoy a nice coffee along with their sweets.”
“I think you’re right,” Ellie said with a nod. “I thought it would be too much to try and add coffee in right away, but I want to make it a priority. So many people asked about it today. I think it will increase the number of people who buy pastries to eat in.”
Just then, Sara’s phone buzzed. She picked it up and frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You probably don’t know her, but Ellie, do you remember Rosa Lynn? From the Academy?”
“Oh, I met her today,” I said. “Ellie told me who she was. She was nice and rude when she came in here and ordered some food.”
Sara looked up at us, her face serious. “Well, she’s dead.”
“What?” Ellie said, her mouth dropping open. “How?”
“I’m not sure,” Sara said, frowning slightly as she typed furiously into her phone. “I just got a text from my mom. She wanted me to hear it before rumors started spreading around town.”
Sara’s mom worked as a Healer at the hospital here in Western Woods.
“I wonder what happened,” I mused. “She seemed fine when she was in here. Completely rude, sure, but she definitely seemed healthy.”
Sara’s phone buzzed again, and when she read the reply, her face went pale.
“It turns out Rosa was poisoned,” Sara practically whispered. “And the only thing she had eaten all day was from here.”
The three of us stared at each other in silence. This was not good.
I looked over at Ellie, who looked like she was about to curl up into a little ball and cry.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, is your mom sure?”
“Healers are able to cast spells to tell these sorts of things,” Sara confirmed. “The magic never lies. If my mom says that’s the only thing Rosa had to eat today, then that’s the only thing she had to eat. And if she says she was poisoned, then she was poisoned.”
“Well, that means someone had to have poisoned her cinnamon bun,” I mused. “It had to have been after she left here.”
“Don’t you get it, though?” Ellie asked. “It doesn’t matter when the cinnamon bun was poisoned. The fact is everybody is going to think that she was poisoned because of something here. And remember, this place used to be Hexpresso Bean until an employee was arrested for poisoning a customer. Now, on the very first day of The Witching Flour being opened, the same thing happens again? People are automatically going to assume this place is cursed, and my business is going to collapse.”
My heart broke for Ellie. She had done so much to get this place up and running, and now she was looking at it like it was all going to end any second.
“Hey,” I said, wrapping an arm around her. “You don’t know that’s what’s going to happen. People are going to understand. After all, it’s not like Rosa died while she was here. And the only person who touched her cinnamon bun when she was
here was me. And you, when you made it. Don’t worry. People will understand.”
“No, they won’t. They’re going to think this place is cursed, and as much as they might like my cinnamon buns, they’re not going to eat them if they think there’s a chance they’ll die if they do.”
Tears started streaming down Ellie’s face.
“I’m with Tina on this,” Sara said softly. “It sounds bad now, and it might be bad for a little while. But people are going to forget, and your cinnamon buns are so good that people probably would risk actually dying for one.”
Ellie laughed, and it quickly turned into a barely controllable sob. “I just can’t believe this is happening already,” she said. “I can’t believe it’s the end of the first day and everything is already ruined.”
“Things aren’t ruined yet,” I said. “Besides, we always have one more option.”
“What’s that?” Ellie asked.
“We find out who killed Rosa. After all, it’s not like we haven’t done it before. And sure, Chief Enforcer King definitely won’t like us doing it, but we don’t have to tell her. We can do it in secret, like the other times, and when we find out who killed Rosa and that it had absolutely nothing to do with your business, everything will go back to normal.”
“I think it’s what we have to do,” Sara said, nodding. “After all, not only is that going to be the best way to save the reputation of The Witching Flour, but don’t forget, the two of you are going to be suspects. After all, you were the only ones to touch that cinnamon bun before giving it to Rosa.”
Ellie and I shared a look. To be completely honest, I hadn’t even considered that part of it. I didn’t even know Rosa, and Ellie hadn’t seen her in I don’t know how long.
“Fine,” Ellie said with a nod. “You’re absolutely right. We need to find out who did this, and when we do, people will come back to my store. We have to prove that it’s not cursed, that it’s just somebody who hates Rosa who wanted her dead.”
“And then we clear our own names,” I said. “After all, here comes Chief Enforcer King.” I motioned with my head toward the door, where sure enough, the head of law Enforcement in Western Woods was making her way toward us. She was tall, with long blonde hair tied back in a no-nonsense ponytail. I went to the door and opened it up to let her in.
Chapter 4
“Tina,” she said to me with a nod as she entered. “How are you?”
“Better before I heard the news,” I replied, my mouth a firm line.
“So you know why I am here,” Chief Enforcer King said, and I nodded.
“Sara’s mom just texted us the news. Because Ellie and Sara went to the Academy with Rosa, she didn’t want us finding out some other way.”
“That was kind of her,” Chief Enforcer King said.
“And it was the cinnamon bun that was poisoned?” I said, leading Chief Enforcer King toward the other two witches. She nodded.
“That’s right. The Healer witches confirmed it. There was a poisonous substance inserted into the cinnamon bun. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to both of you individually. Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
“Sure, let me take you to the kitchen at the back.”
Chief Enforcer King nodded and followed after me, where I settled by leaning against one of the stainless steel tables while Chief Enforcer King pulled out her notebook.
“Can you tell me everything you remember about your encounter with Rosa today?”
“Of course,” I nodded. I recounted the entire story, leaving nothing out.
“So you didn’t know who Rosa was when you served her?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I only found out after she had left, when Ellie told me who she was.”
“Did Ellie come out from the kitchen at any point during your interaction with Rosa?”
“Not as far as I know,” I replied. “She might have come out for a second, but if she had come close to the counter at all, I would have noticed her. She did know Rosa had been in to buy, but she could have simply seen her through the window from the back.”
Chief Enforcer King scribbled into her little notebook. “So you never saw Ellie near the cinnamon buns between the time that Rosa entered the store and when she left?”
“No. It would have been impossible for her to get near the cinnamon buns without me seeing her, and I definitely did not see her.”
“Ok,” Chief Enforcer King said. “What about when the cinnamon buns were being made? Were you with Ellie then?”
I shook my head. “No. As far as I know, she was here by herself when she was doing all the baking for today.”
I felt bad admitting it. After all, I had just given Ellie half an alibi. But I couldn’t lie to Chief Enforcer King and tell her I was there when Ellie had been doing the actual baking.
“You can’t think Ellie or I committed this murder,” I blurted out, and an amused smile flittered onto Chief Enforcer King’s face.
“Why do you think I suspect the two of you?”
“Well, we had access to the cinnamon buns,” I replied.
“That is true. But on the other hand, you had no idea who Rosa was before you served her. So unless you’re a raging psychopath—and I think I know you well enough by now to confirm that you’re not—then you had absolutely no reason to kill her.”
“That’s right,” I nodded. “And neither did Ellie.”
“You do realize that I need to investigate the murder objectively, regardless of who I think might and might not be a suspect right now, right?” Chief Enforcer King asked.
“I know. But things are already rough enough for Ellie right now. This was the opening day for her store. Now, not only is she having to deal with the fact that somebody was poisoned with her items on the first day, but she’s a suspect in that murder as well? It’s definitely not an ideal situation.”
“I realize that,” Chief Enforcer King said in a quiet voice. “I don’t want to cause more trouble than I need to for Ellie, but I do have a job to do. No matter what happens to Ellie’s business, a witch was murdered, and not only do her friends and family want justice, but for the sake of the entire community, I need to find out who killed her. We can’t have a murderer running around town willy-nilly. But I’m not a monster; I’ll be sensitive to Ellie’s situation. I’m guessing you have no idea who might have wanted Rosa dead?”
I shrugged. “None whatsoever. As I said, I didn’t even know who she was when I served her. She wasn’t exactly the most polite customer I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving, but that’s all I can say about her. And I don’t think anybody has ever been murdered because they didn’t say thank you to the person at the counter.”
“You’d be surprised,” Chief Enforcer King said wryly. “Anyway, thank you for your time. If you think of anything else that might help me find out who did this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Could you send Ellie back here so I can have a chat with her as well?”
I nodded and said goodbye to Chief Enforcer King, making my way back out into the main part of the store.
“She wants to talk to you,” I said to Ellie, who nodded. She looked worse than she had that morning, her face a strange combination of pale and green. Her hair somehow looked like it had flattened in the last five minutes, and I could’ve sworn there were new bags under Ellie’s eyes. I really felt for her. She had put so much time, money, and energy into this business that for this to happen on day one would have been absolutely crushing. I couldn’t begin to imagine how she was feeling right now.
“This is not good,” I said to Sara as Ellie passed through the door and into the kitchen at the back of the bakery.
“It’s really not,” Sara said, shaking her head. “We have to find who did this. Otherwise, people are just going to think this place is cursed. I don’t want to say it in front of her, since she already feels so terrible, but I think Ellie is right. People are going to stop coming as long as the murderer is still out there.
In the name of Jupiter, this is just absolutely the worst luck I’ve ever seen. Poor Ellie.”
“You would have known Rosa as well, right? After all, you and Ellie went to the Academy together.”
“That’s right,” Sara said. “And if you want my honest opinion, I’m not the least bit surprised that somebody decided to off that witch. She was a nasty piece of work, and while I’m not glad she’s dead, if I had to pick somebody from Western Woods to get murdered, she would be pretty close to the top of the list.”
I raised my eyebrows. Sara wasn’t normally one to speak ill of anybody, so I knew there had to be something in her past that explained why she felt so much animosity toward Rosa.
“It was back when I was at the Academy,” Sara explained, obviously noticing my expression. “As you know, I wasn’t particularly good at casting spells. Rosa and her little gang of rich witches were constantly making fun of me, mocking me for being unable to cast basic spells properly and saying that if it wasn’t for my red hair, there would probably be rumors that I wasn’t really from the Neach family after all.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said with a grimace. “I didn’t realize Rosa had bullied you at the Academy.”
“Absolutely. And with more than just words. Whenever we would practice a spell, Rosa would have hers “accidentally” hit me, and she would also cast spells that I couldn’t reverse. Once she cast one that turned my hair into snakes. I almost had to go to the hospital, but luckily Amy knew the counter-spell. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Amy, I don’t know how I would have gotten through it. Amy was always there to undo whatever damage Rosa and her friends did.”
“I’m glad you had such a good friend,” I said, placing a hand gently on Sara’s arm.
“Me too. To be completely honest, a part of me is happy to let the killer get away with it. But I know that if that happens, Ellie’s business is just going to go down the tubes, and we can’t let that happen. Of course, there are no guarantees. Even if we find the killer, it might get a reputation as being a place for people to get murdered, what with Bella having killed that fairy, but you never know. We at least have to try and give The Witching Flour a shot.”
Seven Year Witch Page 2