Seven Year Witch

by Samantha Silver

  Chief Enforcer King pondered my words for a while as we walked, then eventually she stopped, crossing her arms, having obviously made a decision.

  “First, you tell me who your main suspect is, and what you know.”

  “We think the cinnamon bun was poisoned while Rosa was in the gym,” I explained. “I have a list of all the clients who were in the gym at the time, but of them, only Leon the lion shifter had any sort of motive, and he didn’t seem to really care that Rosa had fired him not long ago. There was also Kyle, her boyfriend, who wasn’t on the list because he is an employee.”

  Chief Enforcer King raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to ask exactly how you got ahold of that list, but I assume it means the sudden infestation of snakes that was reported there the other day wasn’t some random coincidence.”

  “Well, it wasn’t me,” I replied with a cheeky smile.

  “No, I’m sure it wasn’t, but it does sound exactly like the sort of thing Ellie would have done.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to give me the information I want?” I asked hopefully. Chief Enforcer King thought about it for a second, and then nodded.

  “Yes. But if anybody asks, I will deny ever telling you any of this, and I need you to promise that if you do find out who did it, you will stay as far away from them as humanly possible. Remember, whoever did this is a stone-cold killer.”

  “I absolutely promise,” I replied.

  “In that case, Rosa was killed by a potion. It’s a potion that acts on a delay, so that after a person has ingested it, they feel completely fine for about an hour, and then they drop dead just like that.”

  “Ok, so a witch or wizard had to make it,” I mused.

  “That’s right,” Chief Enforcer King said. “And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you a potion like that is highly regulated and highly illegal. If somebody made it for a shifter, for example, they would have taken a huge risk.”

  I nodded slowly as I thought through the implications. It definitely made it less likely that Leon was our killer.

  “Alright, thanks,” I said. “I’ll let you know if we find the killer. Believe me. I have absolutely no intention of getting any of us in any sort of trouble.”

  “Good,” Chief Enforcer King said. “Normally, I never would have given you this information, but the fact is, Western Woods is not a big town and we don’t have a large shifter community. Two murders in a single week is much more than I’ve ever had to deal with, and we simply don’t have the shifterpower to give both cases the attention they deserve.”

  “Well, I wish you luck,” I said. “Sara said that Diane was a good witch.”

  “All of her professors confirm that,” Chief Enforcer King said. “It’s a very tragic situation.”

  I nodded and said goodbye to Chief Enforcer King, and then made my way back toward The Witching Flour before the afternoon rush.

  Chapter 16

  That evening, I genuinely couldn’t think of anything to do to investigate the case. So, while Ellie was still at work making up batches of dough for the next day’s baked goods, I scrolled through the list of available coffee machines once more.

  One of them in particular immediately caught my eye. It was used, but only a couple of years old. Painted a matte black, it had three heads to make it easier to make lots of coffee at once and was from a brand that everywhere on the Internet agreed was one of the best.

  It was a little bit outside my price range, but I had a feeling I could still make it work. Checking the location, I laughed.

  Riomagia, Italy. I had never been to Italy before, but hey, thanks to portals, the entire world was only a couple of seconds away. Messaging the seller, I waited for a reply while I made my way to the kitchen and began cooking dinner.

  Amy came in a couple of minutes later, and a part of me was tempted to ask her what exactly she had been doing that day, but I knew I shouldn’t. After all, Amy was allowed to have her own secrets, and if she didn’t want us to know what she was doing, then I shouldn’t push.

  “How was your day?” I asked when she came in, and Amy flashed me a smile.

  “Not too bad, actually,” she said. “How about yours? Have you found out anything else about the killer?”

  “Chief Enforcer King actually told me about the potion that was used to kill Rosa,” I said. “It was a potion that’s apparently highly illegal, that’s designed so that the person ingests it, nothing happens for an hour, and then they drop dead. Do you know a potion like that?”

  Amy nodded, which was absolutely no surprise. Of course she would know the potion. “Yeah, I do. It’s a relatively easy potion to make, but it has a few ingredients that are a little bit difficult to obtain. Some of the plants required are definitely rather rare and can be easily mistaken for others. So we’re looking for someone who knows a lot about botany.”

  I frowned. That didn’t sound like anybody that we had run into so far. Ophelia was a magical fixer, which was a pretty prestigious job in the paranormal world, but I didn’t think it came with any particular skills in botany.

  “It feels like every time I think we’re getting somewhere in this case, we hit another dead end. I just can’t think of anybody involved in this who would know anything about plants.”

  “What about someone who knows someone who knows something about plants?” Amy said. “After all, I’m pretty sure Ophelia’s sister works for a major potions company as a plant collector.”

  “Really?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “What does a plant collector do? I mean, I can guess, but why is it necessary?”

  “Even the companies that make potions industrially to sell in grocery stores have to follow potion-making rules. They can’t simply store all of the plants and use them; if a potion they’re making requires fresh pine needles, for example, then they have to get a supply of fresh pine needles. So a lot of companies hire witches and wizards in different parts of the paranormal world to collect the plants they need and bring them to company headquarters so the witches and wizards working there can use them for the potions. It’s nice work for somebody who likes being outdoors, and who works well without having a boss looking over their shoulder. Plant collectors generally receive an email in the morning with a list of plants they’re supposed to find, and they have to have them back at the company headquarters that afternoon. Ophelia’s sister works for a company based in Los Angelwitch.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “So it’s possible that she could have asked her sister for help.”

  Amy nodded. “I would think so. Her sister would definitely know the differences between stickweed and lion’s mane, for example. If you make the potion with stickweed, it won’t work. But the two plants are almost identical; the only difference between them is the color of the thorns. Stickweed has plain black thorns, but lion’s mane has thorns that are black near the stem but turn to a light gray at the tip. It’s a very subtle difference.”

  It looked like Ophelia was back at the top of the suspect list.

  Before I had a chance to think this through further, my phone beeped. I had a reply from the seller of the coffee machine in Riomagia. He ran a used appliance store and would open in just a couple of hours.

  “Hey, Amy, would you happen to have something that can keep me awake through the night?” I asked.

  “Sure thing, why?”

  “I want to surprise Ellie by buying a coffee machine for The Witching Flour. All of the customers we’ve had so far want one, and I think Ellie is a little bit scared that if she buys one and the murder isn’t solved, then it’s just going to be a giant waste of money, since no one will come to her place. I’ve got a lead on a machine that seems perfect, but they’re in Italy, and the store doesn’t open for a couple of hours.”

  “Oh, that’s a good idea,” Amy said with a smile. “How nice of you to think of her that way. It is a little bit crazy to have a bakery in the Pacific Northwest that doesn’t serve coffee. I think I have some potion in the fridge. Take o
ne tablespoon an hour and you’ll have all the energy you need. I will warn you that it will only last for about eight hours or so, so if you’re working tomorrow, you’re probably going to find yourself wanting to curl up on the floor and have a nap if you’re not careful. I do know of a stronger potion that would get you through tomorrow, but I don’t have any made up right now and it takes two days to make. Sorry.”

  “That’s ok,” I said with a smile. “I’m willing to forgo one night of sleep and have a day from hell if it means a chance at getting Ellie a coffee machine.”

  The Thai green curry chicken I had made for dinner was ready, and I grabbed a couple of bowls for Amy and myself and poured some rice into them, topping it with aromatic lemongrass smell of the curry.

  “Sara isn’t coming back for dinner tonight?” I asked, and Amy shook her head.

  “I don’t think so. I spoke to her earlier, and she wants to focus on the competition. I think she’s trying to use it as a distraction to forget about Diane’s death.”

  “I feel really bad for her,” I said. “She wants to win on Tuesday so badly.”

  “I think she will,” Amy said. “She’s gotten so much better at using magic in combination with her broom skills. It’s like she’s a completely different witch.”

  “I agree,” I nodded, digging into the bowl. Murder investigations always made me hungry. “I saw her practicing the other day and she was incredibly impressive. I hope she wins the tournament.”

  “Me too,” Amy said with a grin. “It’s wonderful to see the transformation from the shy witch who was afraid to use magic because she never knew what would happen.”

  “Although if it wasn’t for that witch, we wouldn’t have the giant pool in the backyard,” I joked.

  Amy and I finished eating, and I cast a quick spell to wash her dishes, leaving the rest of the rice and curry out for Ellie when she got home. I sent Kyran a quick text, asking him if he wanted to come for a quick romantic shopping trip to Italy, and he replied that he would be there in just a few minutes.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” I said to Amy as I made my way to the front door.

  “And just where are you going without me?” I heard a voice ask from the doorway. It was Mr. Meowgi, my familiar. “I feel like you haven’t been home at all for the last week. I’m feeling neglected.”

  “Sorry, Mr. Meowgi,” I said, making my way over to him and giving him a quick pat on the head. “Things have just been pretty hectic.”

  “I can make things more hectic with my karate skills,” my cat replied.

  “I’m not aiming for more hectic right now, but thank you,” I replied with a smile. “I promise that in a few days, when we’ve hopefully found this killer, I’ll pay you all the attention you need.”

  “This attention had better involve fish,” he replied.

  “Whatever you want. Maybe I’ll bring you home some salmon.”

  Apparently satisfied with that idea, Mr. Meowgi trotted back toward the bedroom as I spotted Kyran’s form heading toward the house and made my way out the front door to meet him.

  “So what’s this romantic trip to Italy we’re taking?” he asked with a grin.

  “We have to go buy a coffee machine,” I laughed. “So sorry—it might not be quite as romantic as I led you to believe, but I don’t want to go traveling in the paranormal world by myself in a country where I don’t speak the language.”

  “Fair enough,” Kyran laughed. “You’d be surprised at how easy it is to make random trips to Italy romantic, though.”

  The two of us made our way to the portal, and a couple of seconds later, we found ourselves in Riomagia. I stared up at the city from the portal, located on a small island a couple hundred yards from shore.

  Located right on the coast of the Mediterranean, in the region of Liguria, Riomagia was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen in my life. Picturesque, brightly colored terra-cotta houses rose up the cliff from the sea, with the upper echelons of the hills covered in vineyards and olive trees. No wonder the portal was located here; every visitor’s first glimpse of the city looked like a postcard.

  A gold-colored wooden boat came up toward Kyran and me, and Kyran held out a hand to help me get in. I was getting used to this magical transportation that didn’t seem to be powered by anything but magic, and as soon as the two of us were safely sitting on the seats in the boat, it magically headed off toward shore, dropping us off at a large pier surrounded by other boats, waiting for other travelers.

  It was early in the morning in Italy, and the local fishermen were just coming to shore with the day’s catch. They called out in musical Italian, selling their wares as Kyran and I walked past and made our way through the small, narrow streets.

  “We still have half an hour before the shop opens,” I said, glancing at my phone.

  “That’s the perfect amount of time to enjoy a coffee then,” Kyran said, guiding me toward a hole-in-the-wall café with a couple of tiny outdoor tables that overlooked the water. We sat down, and a waiter immediately came out to take our order.

  “You can’t come to Italy and not try the coffee,” Kyran said with a grin.

  “I keep forgetting how easy international travel is in the paranormal world,” I said. “The view here is absolutely incredible.”

  “It really is,” Kyran replied. “The human-world equivalent of this place, Cinque Terre, is a huge summer destination. Here in the paranormal world, it’s not quite as popular, but it’s just as gorgeous.”

  The waiter arrived a moment later with our coffee, and I took a delicate sip of the creamy latte, my eyes widening as I tasted it. The amber-colored liquid was rich and thick, with a strong coffee aroma but no burnt taste whatsoever.

  “And I thought the Pacific Northwest had the best coffee,” I said in an almost hushed whisper. “This is amazing.”

  “I mean, we definitely have the best coffee in America,” Kyran laughed. “But even I’m not going to pretend it’s better than what they do in Italy.”

  It was strange, watching the sun rising over the hills above the town. After all, to my internal clock, the sun was supposed to be setting. But here, the next day was just beginning. The two of us sipped our coffee in silence, enjoying the company of the other and the sounds of the sea, until finally it was time to go to the shop and check out the coffee machine I wanted to buy. Kyran had been right. This was a romantic trip after all.

  Chapter 17

  After we left the coffee shop, Kyran and I wandered up the streets as I tried to find the place we were after. As it turned out, street signs weren’t exactly a priority in Italy, and the small, winding streets all began to feel quite a bit labyrinthine after a while. My head was spinning and I wasn’t quite sure where I was, but we did eventually find the place: a small shop on the ground floor of a three-story building painted white with bright green trim. The small window display had a couple of coffee machines along with a few other items. I went inside and was greeted by a youngish wizard with black hair and a warm smile.

  “Good morning,” he said in heavily accented English. “You are the American witch I spoke to, are you not?”

  “That’s right,” I nodded, looking around the shop. Every single inch of the walls was covered in shelves lined with various service industry appliances. There were not only coffee machines, but industrial microwaves, mixing bowls that reached up to my hips, and a few other things I didn’t recognize. I was used to that by now; they were probably magical.

  And while I spotted the black coffee machine I was after immediately, the one next to it caught my eye even more.

  It was the same make and model as the black machine, but it was a gorgeous pastel pink color, lined with silver. “Oh, this one just screams Ellie,” I marveled, letting my hands brush lightly over the glossy exterior.

  “That one is a brand-new machine,” the man explained. “It is top-of-the-line, and if you want to make a real espresso, the way we do it here in Italia, that mach
ine will be the one to do it for you. Assuming you have good-quality, fresh beans, of course.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I said. “How much is it?”

  “One hundred thousand abras,” the man said, and I recoiled involuntarily. Great. That was way outside of my price range. The used version of the machine I was looking at was only fifty thousand.

  “And this is the same machine, but a different color?” I asked. After all, with Amy’s skills, I was sure we could buy the black machine and have her cast a spell on it to change the color completely.

  “Oh no, it’s not,” the man replied, shaking his head. “While they are the same brand, the pink one is from the Extractor 5000 line. That’s the best machine on the market, the kind you would find used in the paranormal international coffee making championships.”

  That was a thing? Wow, people took coffee making much more seriously than I had ever realized.

  “Ok, well, this black one is the one I was looking at,” I said.

  “It is an excellent choice as well. The value for money makes it well worth it. And have you already got a coffee grinder as well?”

  “A coffee grinder?” I asked, a little bit embarrassed. The man gave me a knowing smile.

  “You are not a barista, are you?”

  “I’m afraid not. I was hoping to surprise a friend.”

  “Well, in that case, I will tell you that you need the machine, and you need a grinder in order to cut your beans to the correct size. You will also need a tamper for the beans, but I can give that to you for free.”

  My head spun. The coffee machine alone was already outside of my price range, and now I was going to have to add a grinder as well?

  “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to come back another time,” I said, hurrying out of the shop with Kyran following after me.