Mimi was very wise for her young age, but certain adult themes still escaped her. Like the fact that Kent had probably felt one-upped by his wife. No doubt it had hurt his ego.
“Kent is definitely a suspect,” I said, “but it looks like he has a solid alibi—he was apparently with clients when Raina was killed.”
“Was the house broken into?” Mimi asked. “I mean, how did the burglar get in?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. I made a mental note to ask Nick if there had been any signs of a break-in. I hadn’t seen any, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. Otherwise, someone could have had the key to get inside—or the real estate code for the lockbox on the door.
“And why wait till now to break in?” Mimi asked.
“Eleta cast a spell on the house,” I explained. “It kept people out, even potential robbers. The spell was broken when she died.”
Mimi’s eyes widened, and then she said, “This village is so cool.”
I agreed.
The front door opened and Noelle Quinlan came inside, smiling wide, and all I could think of was how much she did in fact resemble a horse.
Curse that Dorothy.
“Good afternoon, Harper!” she said cheerfully as she looked right past me and stepped up to the counter. There was a stack of small posters in her hands. “Hi, Mimi.”
“Hi, Noelle,” Mimi said, grabbing a pile of books to be shelved.
“You’re in a good mood,” Harper said. “Did you hear anything about the TV job?”
“Not yet,” Noelle said.
In her early thirties, she looked younger because she didn’t wear much makeup. In truth, she didn’t need it. She had a fresh-faced innocence about her, and I had to admit she’d probably be a good host for the TV show.
“Scott said he won’t make a decision until after the council vote next week,” Noelle added. “I’m on pins and needles, I tell you. Pins and needles.”
“And the development?” Harper pressed, openly being nosy. “Did you sign that contract?”
She beamed. “I’m working on it. Everything’s coming together.”
I wondered if Kent’s meeting with Sylar this morning put him in the running again. I didn’t know how to find out. Sylar certainly wasn’t going to speak to me, and I had no excuse to approach Kent in his time of supposed mourning.
“I just dropped in to see if you have that book I ordered?” Noelle asked. “It was supposed to be in today.”
“Just came in,” Harper said, grabbing a thick hardcover from beneath the counter.
“Great. Thanks.” She reached for her wallet, and one of the posters in her hands slipped out and slid across the floor.
I picked it up. On top of a red, white, and blue background, was printed SY’S OUR GUY.
Someone had updated his campaign slogan, and Dorothy had to have been the wordsmith behind the idea. She was the only one who called Sylar “Sy.”
I handed the poster back to Noelle.
“Oh, Darcy! I didn’t see you there. Thank you.” She looked at the sign. “It’s catchy, isn’t it?”
“Oh yes,” I said. Ve was going to have a fit. It looked identical to hers except for the wording.
“Dorothy roped me into passing these out around the village.” Her long ponytail swung as Noelle cocked her head at Harper. “I don’t suppose you’d hang one of these in your window? Bipartisanship and all?”
“No,” Harper said.
Noelle laughed. “I didn’t think so. You do know that new development can only help business around here, right?”
“I don’t need any help,” Harper said sharply. “And razing that land would be a travesty. An environmental blunder of epic proportions.”
Noelle’s thick eyebrows rose at Harper’s vehemence. “Yes, well, personally I think the pros outweigh the cons.”
My sister smiled sweetly. “That’s because you’re hoping to score a big payday. I’m not. I’d rather earn pennies than see all those trees cut down.”
I dropped my head in my hand at Harper’s lack of tact.
Noelle didn’t seem to mind, however. She took her book and receipt from the counter, tucking both into her enormous tote bag. Smiling brightly, her shiny white teeth were nearly blinding as she shrugged and said, “To each their own! It’s what makes the world go round.”
Fortunately, she turned before she saw Harper rolling her eyes.
Noelle sat next to me on the couch. “Darcy, I’m glad I ran into you. I’ve been trying to reach Calliope but to no avail. Have you seen her since . . . well, you know?”
“As far as I know, she’s at home.”
Noelle nodded, her forehead dipping into a V. “I’ll have to pop over there since she’s not answering my calls and her voice mail box is full.”
“She might be sleeping,” I said. “She had a traumatic morning.”
“Oh, I understand. But I was made aware that she has taken over the sale of the Tavistock house, and I have a bid to present from a new client. Time is ticking! Ticktock!”
Someone else in the running. Great.
“Personally,” she said, “I think the house on Maypole is a better option than the Tavistock place. That house is falling apart, but you just never know when a client will identify with a home so much that they’re willing to spend a small fortune in cash to buy the place.”
A cash offer. Shoot. Sellers almost always accepted a cash offer over someone who needed financing. And wealthy as Cherise was, I didn’t think she had that kind of cash available.
“Is it a treasure hunter?” I asked. A treasure hunter probably wouldn’t mind spending a fortune for the opportunity to discover a bigger fortune. . . .
The corners of Noelle’s eyes crinkled. “I don’t think this particular buyer cares about the diamonds and whether or not they’re in that house. And for the record, I don’t think they are.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Simple. They would have been found by now.”
Spoken like a true mortal.
Missy immediately came over to investigate Noelle, sniffing around her feet. Noelle absently patted her head and said, “Well, I should be on my way. Bye, all!” She stood up and rushed out as quickly as she’d come in.
I glanced at Harper.
She said, “I need a nap.”
I laughed. Noelle was so full of energy.
“That book?” Harper said, her eyebrows lifting in amusement. “A how-to on becoming a TV celebrity.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I clipped Missy’s leash to her collar. It was time for me to go, too. “She’s a go-getter, I’ll give her that.”
“At what cost, though?” Harper asked, her eyes full of speculation.
“Good question.”
It was entirely possible Raina paid the price for Noelle’s ambition.
Chapter Twelve
I found Nick coming out of As You Wish’s side door as I walked through the gate. Missy happily wagged her tiny tail and leapt toward him, only to be held back by her leash. I bent and unhooked her, and she danced around his feet until he picked her up.
Archie, I noted, wasn’t in his cage, but I did see Cherise’s car parked at the curb in front of Terry’s. Hmm.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I said. “I thought you’d be at the station.”
“On my way there,” Nick said, giving me a kiss that lingered—not that I minded. It had been one of those days. “I was just dropping off a photo of that amulet for you and got caught up chatting with Ve.”
We sat on the porch steps, and Missy wiggled in his arms until he soothed her by scratching behind her ears.
“She’s as happy to see you as I am,” I said, leaning into him. “Though you may have a little competition for her affections.”
Nick said, “Oh?”
; “She’s been sneaking off to see Scott Whiting. Three times this week already.”
He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “As long as he’s not competition for your affection . . .”
“Nick Sawyer, is that a little jealousy I hear?”
“Jealousy? Not at all,” he said, his tone aiming for innocent and falling short. “But I’d have to be blind not to have noticed how women are falling all over themselves for him this past week. I suppose if you like that type . . .”
“What type? Successful, handsome?”
He shot me a disgusted look.
Laughing, I elbowed him. “No worries, the kind of guy I like is sitting right next to me.”
My words didn’t seem to be registering, because he said, “Does he know that? Because I saw him coming out of here earlier. . . .”
“Yeah, he knows that,” I said patiently. I knew exactly why Nick was acting this way, and I was more than willing to let him work it out. “I’ve actually launched a covert matchmaking operation to set him up with a friend.”
“Who?” he asked.
“Evan.”
It took Nick a second for my words to sink in. “Evan?” he repeated.
“Evan.”
Laughing at himself, he finally said, “I can do covert like no one’s business. Let me know if you need help.”
“I will.”
After a moment, he said, “I feel stupid.”
“You shouldn’t.”
He looked at me, his eyes dark and mysterious and haunted. “It’s just that . . . Melina. Just when I think I’m over it, old issues pop up. I should never have said anything.”
I liked that he had. It meant our relationship was solid enough to get these kinds of things out in the open. And I’d had my share of jealous moments when dealing with Glinda in the past. I could cut him some slack. Lots of it. Especially because of what he’d been through.
Melina Sawyer had cheated on him while they were married. They separated and divorced shortly thereafter. It wasn’t until Melina’s cancer diagnosis that they eventually became friends again. He’d ended up taking care of her in her final days.
“Here’s the thing,” I said. “I’d rather you say something than let it fester inside. Good communication is best, right?”
“Right. You’re right.”
“Say it again,” I said, teasing.
He groaned and Missy whined as though feeling left out of the conversation. He held up the dog to look her in the eye. “So you’re sneaking off to see Scott Whiting, are you? Are you vying for the TV host job, too?” She wagged and licked his chin before settling into the crook of his arm as he held her closely. “I’d hire Missy before Dorothy.”
“You heard about that?” I asked.
“Everyone’s heard about it. She’s launched an all-out campaign.”
“As if there’s not enough campaigning going on.”
Laughing, he said, “Truer words have never been spoken. By the way . . . ye?”
“Don’t ask me. It is catchy, though. As is Sylar’s new slogan.”
“He has a new one, too?”
I cleared my throat. “Sy’s our guy!”
Nick laughed. “No way.”
“Dorothy has Noelle Quinlan handing out posters around town.”
“Noelle really wants that contract for the new development, doesn’t she?”
“Yep.”
“She didn’t have an alibi,” he said.
My eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Said she was in her office all morning doing paperwork. Alone.”
“Interesting.”
“Very,” he said. “I’ll question her again.”
“Did you get my message earlier?” I asked.
“Yeah. I called the ME’s office and had them check right away about the possibility of a pregnancy.”
“And?”
“Raina wasn’t pregnant.”
I let out a breath. Thank goodness. “Did the ME’s office say anything else? Has the preliminary exam been done yet?”
“Not yet, though the doc on-site this morning said the head wound was enough to kill her. I’ll know more tomorrow morning, but the final report won’t be for weeks, maybe months.”
Toxicology reports took forever to process.
“Was there any sign of a break-in at the house?” I asked, thinking about Mimi’s earlier question.
“No. So either the house was left unlocked or . . .”
“Someone used the lockbox to use the key.”
“Who’d have the code?” he asked, thinking aloud. “Kent. Calliope. Noelle . . .”
“Any Realtor who’s shown the house to a potential client.”
“I’ll start a list,” he said, looking like he dreaded having to follow up that lead. “Did you see Pepe and Mrs. P?”
“Yeah. I mostly got the same runaround Ve and Cherise gave me about the diamonds.” I did tell him what Pepe had said about Eleta’s motivation for casting the spell that hid the diamonds. “And I learned that Andreus is Glinda’s godfather.”
“No way.”
“Yes way. And I’m suspicious that it might have been Andreus’s mother, Zara, who turned Sebastian in to the FBI. I’m going to try to find her. I’d love to talk to someone who was in the thick of things back then, and maybe she knows who Phillip is and is willing to tell me after all these years.”
“Let me know what you find.”
“I will.”
Missy leapt from his arms and toddled across the lawn, sniffing along the fence line. Her ears twitched and she cocked her head as laughter floated across the yard. Cherise had come out of Terry’s house and was giggling like a schoolgirl while he stood in the doorway seeing her off.
Ve may have been onto something earlier when she suspected Cherise wanted to buy the Tavistock house only to be close to Terry. But, if there was a cash offer on the table for the house, I didn’t think Ve had to worry too much about Cherise’s proximity. I just hoped she still had a chance at the house on Maypole Lane. It really had been perfect for her.
Nick nudged me as he motioned to the pair. “What gives?”
“I think Cherise is trying to steal Terry back.”
“Does Ve know?”
“She suspects.”
He whistled and stood up. “I hope there’s not going to be another murder around here.”
Smiling, I rose. “You know Ve’s much more subtle than that. She’d probably buy a hexed charm from one of the Roving Stones that gives Cherise the pox or something.”
“This village,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you later?”
“Dinner here? Mimi and I are headed to the library when her shift is done at Harper’s, and we can meet you back here after.”
“It’s a date.”
I watched him stride off and then turned to go into the house. I kicked off my flip-flops in the mudroom and as soon as I stepped into the kitchen, I heard voices coming from upstairs.
Ve. And the Elder. My heartbeat kicked up a notch as I crept closer to the stairs to hear better.
“I’m not so sure it was a good idea after all,” Ve said.
“It’s not your decision,” the Elder snapped.
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Don’t make me take that tone with you.” More gently, she added, “This plan has been in the works quite a while. The timing is perfect right now with the election and leading into next month.”
I pressed my back against the kitchen wall. What were they talking about?
“I like things the way they are,” Ve said, and I could hear a tinge of stubbornness in her voice.
“This isn’t about you.”
After a long pause, Ve said on a sigh, “I know.”
“And things are going to change after the election.”
“Assuming I win.”
“You’ll win.”
I’d just seen Cherise out on Terry’s front stoop, so I knew for certain that she couldn’t be the Elder. That ruled her out, but there were lots of women in this village it could be.
“You know I couldn’t have done this without you,” the Elder said, a hitch in her voice that had my throat swelling with emotion in response.
“I know,” Ve said succinctly. Pertly.
The Elder laughed, and I stiffened. Goose bumps raised on my arms. Her laugh. I swore I knew it—I just couldn’t place it. It wasn’t boisterous like Mrs. P’s. And it wasn’t bubbly like Mimi’s. It was just . . . happy.
I heard footsteps above me and ducked back into the mudroom and opened the door, then slammed it closed. I noticed the photo Nick had dropped off sitting on the counter and picked it up for a ruse as Ve came down the steps.
“Darcy! I thought I heard someone down here. I thought Nick had returned.”
“Just me,” I said, smiling. “I’m headed over to the library but wanted to drop off Missy first. I saw Nick outside.”
Ve nodded to the picture, concern etched in her gaze. “I took a good look at that photo after Nick left. That charm is no ordinary charm, Darcy. That’s the Myrian amulet. You didn’t touch it this morning when you found Raina, did you?”
Her tone had me worried. “No, why? What’s it do?”
Slowly, a smile spread across her face and lit her eyes, making the golden flecks sparkle. “It’s the most powerful fertility charm in the Craft world. If you’re wearing that charm and having nookie, you best be prepared for a baby . . . or two or three. It’s a hundred percent infallible, even when practicing birth control.”
A sudden image of me pregnant with Nick’s baby popped into my head and filled me with warm and fuzzies. I didn’t mind the notion in the least.
I looked at the charm. Fertility. This made sense considering the changes Evan had seen in Raina—she’d changed her diet, planning to get pregnant. Yet . . . “Raina has been wearing this for at least a month, and she wasn’t pregnant.”
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