“Of course.” He nods.
“Which could only be guaranteed up in Ashleyburg as we, considering…as we all know, word travels fast around Hex Falls and the surrounding small-town areas.”
“Brilliant, just brilliant,” Sotherby coos. “Justice and reason, all wrapped up in one neat excuse.”
“I thought it was good.”
“And you don’t think they’ll go looking for her, once they get out?”
“Oh, no.” I smile. “You see, it just so happens it’s going to appear in the local papers”— I squirrel up an eye—“riiiight about now,” I say, conjuring some sparkling magic between my fingertips with a small bbbbriiiiing, after which, the day’s paper appears in my hands. “Unfortunately, our dear Cynthia has met with a sudden demise,” I tell him. “By slipping on soap, while being forced to scrub the latrines in jail and cracking her head on the iron bars.” I show him the headlines.
He observes the paper. Monstrous Murderer Flushed Out in Jail.
“I think it has a certain pleasing ring to it, doesn’t it?”
“Did that really happen?” He looks up.
“Heavens, no.” I fan the idea away. “But it sounds like a very fitting demise for her, doesn’t it?”
“That it does.” Sotherby shuts the paper and sits back. “As for the ex-Supreme Leader?”
“He’s gone,” I say, hanging my head.
“Now, now…one must uphold their duties. That’s all you did,” Sotherby says, raising a finger. “Besides, I could think of no one more deserving of that punishment than him.”
“I know.” I sigh. “It just still feels so bad, you know?”
“Of course, it does to you. Because you’re a good person, Violet.” Sotherby grins.
I look up at him and smile.
“But it was your only choice. And the appropriate thing to do. Never forget that.” He waggles a finger.
“I know.” I nod. “You know, I knew he was at the fair that night. Did I tell you?”
“No.” Sotherby frowns.
“I sensed him, smelled him actually, then caught a glimpse of him passing by me in the midway, dressed all in black with a bowler hat pulled down over his eyes.”
Sotherby’s back straighten. “So, he was wearing the same outfit the knife-thrower escaped in after the dreaded incident.”
“The very same,” I say. “Seems our Cynthia crossed paths with him earlier, mistook him for The Great Flingzennie, stripped him of his clothes—which she planned to escape in—and was apparently going to kill him, but then realized in the dark of the basement, where she’d dragged him, who he really was and stuffed him in the trunk instead.”
“So, what happened to him was just a case of mistaken identity?” Sotherby asks, looking perplexed.
“Yes. But then sadly, she encountered the real Great Flingzeenie, who she had to kill, of course, to get him out of the way.”
Sotherby scowls, still perplexed. “Why not just kill the ex-Supreme Leader too then? Why leave that snivelling rat alive in a box?”
“Because,” I say. “It is one thing to serve a single life term, as a Medusa-Vampire cross with many lives to spare, for the murder of a fellow paranormal, but quite another to be convicted of the totally unforgiveable act of killing one of our own. Even if he is an ex-Supreme Leader. Which comes with a—until death do you part—term.”
“Oh, I see,” Sotherby gasps, falling back.
“Yes, big difference.” I tap the table, then start giggling.
“What?”
“Just, well, you know...who knew it’d be so easy to overpower the ex-Supreme Leader once you caught him?” I snort. “In hindsight, I did a lot of worrying for nothing.” I tilt my head and laugh.
“True.” Sotherby chuckles along with me.
“You should have seen him, Sotherby,” I laugh harder. “He was literally begging me to rescue him when I found him out in the woods in the trunk. He was like please, please, don’t leave me here! Take me with you! There’s a madwoman loose in these woods!”
Sotherby breaks into snorts. “That’s hilarious.”
“Isn’t it though?” I suck in a breath. “The ex-Supreme Leader, naked and snivelling, trapped in a box.” I snigger hard. “I wish I’d had a camera.”
“Me too. You could have had a field day with social media on the paranormal vibe.”
“Oh, couldn’t I?” I snort again, imagining the headlines. Ex-Supreme Leader Schooled by a Medusa. Caught in the Woods with his Pants Down.
“What did those messages we saw written across the sky that day have anything to do with this?” Sotherby asks, stopping the laughter.
“Oh, that. Bronze magic,” I say. “Indicative of Medusa-Vampire hybrids. I should have known, but in all fairness, they’re a very rare breed. Anyway, that was Cynthia making an entrance, warning my uncle, of her plans to do him in. Apparently, it’s something Medusas do to warn their victims, so they at least have a chance to escape. A must-do, as written specifically in paranormal law. Who knew?” I shrug, my shoulders kissing the sides of my cheeks.
“My goodness, they are a rare and violent breed, aren’t they?” Sotherby shudders at the thought.
“Apparently. But they also make very passionate lovers, so I read.” I wink, blushing. “Thus, my uncle’s interest in her, I’m sure.”
Sotherby chuckles. “And the talisman?”
“Belonged to the warlock, of course. He’d dropped it, while inhabiting Jeremy’s body, amidst the big show down in the midway, where Jeremy was struck down. The warlock hadn’t meant anyone to find it and become bonded to him. Much less me.” I feel my cheeks pinking, and look away.
“Ah, and here I thought he was in love with you.” Sotherby playfully tosses his head to one side, and I blush even harder.
“You wanted him to, didn’t you?” He sits straight backed.
“No,” I’m quick to say. “I just— Well, you know…” I blush some more. It’s out of control really. “He is awfully attractive…and smart and dashing and witty and loyal and—”
“Okay, okay.” Sotherby stops me from listing his attributes on my fingers.
“All the things you’ve ever wanted me to find in a man.” I twist my hands in my lap.
“I get it,” Sotherby says, growing sober.
“Funny thing is,” I continue. “I knew it was him all along.” Sotherby scowls. “I mean…” I shrug and smile, bashfully. “I’ve sensed someone lurking about inside of Jeremy that wasn’t Jeremy, for a long time now. But he did an awfully good job of hiding from me.”
“Or maybe you just didn’t want to end the game.”
“How can you say that, Sotherby. It wasn’t exactly fun, you know, being fooled like that for so long.” I straighten the hem of my sleeve. “Anyway, I had apparently picked up on his scent once, at The Bottom of the Cauldron, but dismissed it as coming from the drink he ordered. Just like I picked up on the ex-Supreme Leader scent the night at the fair, but dismissed it over what my aunts said. I remember mentioning to them about the strange smells in the midway, who suggested I was tired, and my magical sense were glitching. Which, if I’m honest, felt right in the moment. So, at the time, I accepted that as an excuse. Turns out, Cynthia had cast a spell on my uncle and his whole family, including me, blocking our ability to sense any other kind of magic, but her spell didn’t work on me. Thank goodness. Likely because of who I am, of course. That explains why no one in my family could smell the ex-Supreme Leader lurking and only I did.” I pause, grinning. “I realize now, the man in the bowler hat passed a second time, when I smelled absolutely nothing. That must have been the real Great Flingzeenie passing—so of course, I wouldn’t smell anything.”
It also explains how I thought I saw him go off in two directions at once.
“Anyway, I smelled magic again, which I now realize had to be Cynthia’s unique brand of hybrid Vampire-Medusa magic drifting past, but I didn’t trust my senses again. Especially not after Hartley, the volunteer, re
turned back with the news, he’d caught up with the man dressed in black, who was simply a performer with the show. Which, he was, of course.
Because he likely spoke to the real knife-thrower before he was murdered. Gods rest his soul.” I cross myself and pray quietly to the ceiling, then look back down.
“So,” Sotherby cocks a questioning brow. “How did the ex-Supreme Leader end up with the Great Flingzeenie’s stage clothes?”
“Oh, that’s simple. The Great Flingzeenie always kept more than one set of stage clothes on hand when traveling. That way he could don a freshly pressed costume every act. So, he’d hung them up backstage to be used in a later show, and the ex-Supreme Leader just helped himself to one. He stole them in an effort to disguise himself at the fair, so none of us would notice him.”
“Oh…” Sotherby tutts.
“Devoid of magic, he really didn’t have any other choice, when you think about it.” I hold up my hands. “Little did he know he was setting himself up to be nearly killed by the ruthless Cynthia.” I arch an all-knowing brow, then take a sip of my tea, putting a point on my comment.
“You know what, though,” I add, staring off at nothing in particular over Sotherby’s head. “I should have known, when I think of it,” I say softly, my tone somber and regretful. “I had a hunch from the very beginning that it was my uncle the killer was after, but didn’t say it aloud to Jamie. It felt a bit silly at the time, and I didn’t want to come off as trite. Though secretly I suspected the whole time, the murder was set up for a vampire. It was the wooden stakes.” I look at him, staring back at me, wonder in his eyes. “And her tasting his blood, during that chilling moment I mentioned on stage.”
Sotherby shivers.
“Something inside me, on some subconscious paranormal level, stirred at that moment, and I knew right there and then, there had to be a Vampire connection, but I suppressed it.”
“So, what have you learned from this?” Sotherby looks up, raising up a proud and wise chin.
“I dunno.” I’m taken by surprise by his question and tilt my head to think on that a moment. “That I should…always trust my intuition, I guess?” I smile up at him.
“Precisely.” He nods. “Never doubt your gut instincts again.” He fake slurps his tea and smiles at me wryly, one eyebrow tipped higher than the other, in that way that he does that always makes me smile. “And never trust men,” he adds.
I laugh. “Had to get that one in, didn’t you?”
“Well, we don’t need you getting all googly-eyed over the wrong prospect again, do we?” He glances at me sidelong and fake sips his tea. “Speaking of”—he sets it down—“which will it be, Master Jeremy or Master Jamie; have you decided?”
“As it turns out, neither,” I say, with a cocky toss of my head.
“What?” His eyes grow wide with shock.
“Seems Master Jamie has a girlfriend back home. Quite a serious one, who’s expecting a ring,” I say.
“Oh?” Sotherby says, his voice dropping..
“But he’s going to let me know if that situation changes. Due to certain recent developments,” I blush and twist my fingers.
“I told you he was good-for-nothing, a cad.”
“I believe the word was ne’er de well.” I smile.
“And Master Jeremy?”
I sigh. “Well, as for him,” I pause again to nervously sip my tea this time and hide behind the rim of the cup. How I hate to admit Sotherby was right. But he was right. “I believe that relationship has simply run its course,” I say, not looking at him.
“Really?” Sotherby’s brows perk, then fall, as does his expression. “Ooooh, I’m so sorry.” He tries his best to sound and look genuine, though I see through his façade.
“No need to be. It’s as you said, we’re just not the perfect match, and it’s not fair to either of us to continue with it.”
“When are you going to tell him?”
“Well, not until he’s well.” I flash my eyes at Sotherby.
A small drape of silence falls over us.
“I am sorry. I mean that. I really do,” Sotherby says, breaking the moment. “I know what he once meant to you.” He reaches over and pats my hand, and no sparks fly this time. But I smile and he smiles, and I couldn’t feel more content, filled with a warmth I can’t begin to explain. But it’s welcome. It’s always welcome with Sotherby.
“On that note,” I say. “Shall we get back to it?” I propose, sliding forward in my chair and picking up the three design board choices I made for the parlor. Ones I’d left with him before this all started. They have grown dust through all of this.
“Yes,” he says, placing his tea down and leaning closer, inspecting the boards closely. “After much deliberation, I think I’m partial to the green.”
“You would pick that one.” THE END
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Abracastabra (Hex Falls Paranormal Cozy Mystery # 4) (Hex Falls Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series) Page 19