“We might have more problems than that, Pinkerton. You saw my Aunt Maxine and her friends. They drank the champagne, too. You might have a real problem on your hands.”
“So suddenly it's you and not we?”
“Does it really matter right now?”
“We need to find out how many other victims we might have.”
“You do that while we find out the source of the champagne, Pinkerton,” Noah said.
They searched all of the pedigree division rooms first since the people in there were the ones given the champagne. Petunia knelt down when she spotted one of the victims. This one was known to both her and Noah. “Noah,” Petunia called out. “I just found your father and he doesn't look so good.”
Noah motioned over an emergency worker, pointing out his father.
“I-I don't know what's wrong with me, son. I only had one glass of champagne.”
“Did you drink all of it?” Petunia questioned.
“No, only about half. It didn't taste quite right to me. It was much too sour.”
“I told you not to drink champagne,” Carol said, as she rushed over and hugged her husband. “Please don't leave me, Victor. I know we came here to tell Noah that we're getting a divorce, but I can't live without you.”
Petunia walked over to Aunt Maxine. “Can you please give Noah's dad a swig of whatever you have in that potion bottle of yours? He's been poisoned, too.”
“So that's why my stomach hurt. That's what I get for drinking so early in the day, I suppose,” Victor admitted.
“No that's not what you get, that's not what anyone gets. We found Mr. Calhoun and he wasn't unresponsive. Fortunately, the paramedics were able to revive him, but that doesn't mean he won't die.”
Aunt Maxine pressed the bottle into Petunia’s hands. “Hurry, dear, this is the last of my antidote.”
“Why did you drink it if you didn't know you’d been poisoned?” Petunia asked her aunt.
“Just in case, I suppose.”
“Have you ever been poisoned before?”
“Give Noah's dad the antidote and quit asking all these questions.”
Petunia hurried over and told Victor, “Here, drink this.”
“What is it?” Carol asked suspiciously.
“It's an antidote for the poison.”
“Why is there an antidote? Are people routinely poisoned in Lake Forest?”
“Are you planning on asking me fifty questions right now? My Aunt Maxine is feeling much better since she took a swig.”
“Well, I’m not sure,” Carol said.
“Drink it, dad. If Petunia says it'll help you, it will.”
Phillip took a drink. “There wasn't much in that bottle.”
“Just enough will do it. I need to look to see if there’re any other victims,” Petunia said.
“Take care of him, mother, I need to help Petunia,” Noah said. “We need to get to the bottom of this.”
Chapter 8
Petunia and Noah searched all of the rooms, but didn’t find any more victims. They then returned to Aunt Maxine. “I hope you have more antidote at Mystical Remedies,” Petunia said.
“Wrong.”
“You need to go back home or to the shop then and make more, we might have more victims on our hands.”
“Are you certain Estelle and Maria aren’t involved here?” Noah asked. He scratched the back of his neck. “I mean, they are witches.”
Petunia cocked a brow. “Oh, and I suppose witches go around poisoning people?”
“I didn't mean it like that, but they certainly looked angry for being moved out of this room.”
“Good point, and I know Estelle can be a pain sometimes, but she wouldn't do anything like this,” Aunt Maxine said.
“Perhaps we should look for them and find out.” Petunia insisted.
Petunia and Noah walked into the other room and she secretly was looking out for Pansy, too, since she had no clue where he was.
Everyone in the pets division appeared unharmed, but yet again they might not have been offered champagne. “I don't see any champagne glasses in here,” Noah pointed out.
“I noticed that, but I don't see Estelle and Maria, either.”
Petunia nodded her head in greeting at the other cat owners.
“What's going on in the other room?” a woman asked.
“Apparently there's a bottle of champagne going around. I hope you didn't drink any.”
The woman laughed. “As if they would offer us any. Not that I would drink champagne.”
“I think I saw a few women carrying a bottle of champagne,” a mousy young lady said. “But they walked outside some time ago.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Noah said.
This time Noah took the lead and Petunia had to hurry to catch up with him as he went out the back door. They didn't have to walk very far before they bumped into Estelle and Maria, literally. Both of them were on their knees and from the look of their green faces, they were quite sick.
“Let me guess, you drank the champagne,” Petunia said.
“You did this to us,” Maria insisted. “If we hadn't been thrown out of the pedigree room, we wouldn’t have stolen a bottle of champagne.”
“You can hardly blame me for that, and apparently all the champagne is tainted, or so we think. I was just looking for you now to find out if one of you was responsible for Mr. Calhoun's illness.”
“Of course now we know you weren’t, since you're also sick,” Noah said. “I highly doubt you deliberately would make yourself sick to prove your innocence.”
“You need to go to the hospital with the other victims,” Petunia said.
“Don't they have a poison antidote on them, too?” Noah asked in confusion. “I mean, they're witches, too, right?”
Maria and Estelle now stood up. “How exactly would you know that, young man?” Estelle asked.
“Noah’s my boyfriend and sometimes my partner when a crime has been committed, which appears to be the case here today,” Petunia replied.
“What did the beefcake mean about having an antidote for the poison?” Maria asked.
“Well, my Aunt Maxine has one, so I just assumed you did, too.”
“What are you waiting for? Tell your aunt to come here, pronto,” Estelle said.
“I'm not sure we can trust them. You know Petunia’s potions don't always work out for the best,” Maria exclaimed.
“Since we don't have an antidote for poison, we’ll just have to trust them, Maria.”
“I hate to tell you that Aunt Maxine doesn't have anymore potion,” Petunia informed them.
“That’s certainly not what I wanted to hear. We really need your help, Petunia,” Estelle said. “I know we don't exactly get along with you, but surely you won't let us suffer like this.”
“All I can tell you right now is that Aunt Maxine intends to make more antidote. I believe she plans to give it to all of the victims. She already had to use a portion on herself, and of course on Wanda and Hazel. We found Mr. Calhoun nonresponsive but fortunately, the paramedics were able to revive him.”
“This certainly has gotten out of hand and I hope you and Mr. Handsome figure it out,” Estelle said.
“Do you swear you have nothing to do with this?” Petunia pressed.
“My dear girl, I’ve done things in my life, but I have no interest in making people sick. We're good witches most of the time,” Estelle reassured Petunia.
“If I did anything,” Maria said, “it would only affect you.” She groaned. “When I feel better, I’d be happy to help you find out who did this to us, if only so I can get my revenge.”
“Do you feel strong enough to walk to my car?” Noah asked Estelle and Maria.
“We could give you a ride home unless you’d rather I call an ambulance.” Petunia added.
“No need for that, we’ll find a way to get home on our own,” Estelle assured her.
Petunia walked back inside with Noah. “I can’t believe
Estelle and Maria's won’t accept our help, but we better find out who did this and make sure the person gets locked safely in jail. If there's anything in this town we don't need, it's two witches seeking revenge.”
“I'll agree with that. You might as well go home at this point since most people are either being questioned by the sheriff or sent home. Besides, I'd like to go to the hospital to check in on my dad,” Noah said.
“Under the circumstances I'm not leaving without my cats.”
Petunia walked back to the kennels and found each of her cats had been fed, watered, and their doors secured with a lock.
“Here's the key to open the locks,” Melanie said. “Your cats will be perfectly fine here overnight.”
“The cat show was merely postponed until tomorrow,” Tracy added.
“Thanks, but I’d feel better taking my cats home tonight.”
Noah took the key and put the cats into their carriers. It was then that Petunia noticed Pansy’s cage was still empty and he was nowhere to be seen. “What did you do to my black cat? He's missing!”
“That can't be right,” Melanie said. “I watched these kennels the whole day. I would've noticed if someone took off with your cat.”
“Maybe he just wandered away,” Tracy suggested.
“We need to search the premises,” Petunia insisted. “I'm not going anywhere without my cat.”
Sheriff Pinkerton walked up to them. “We’ve finished the questioning for today, but we’ll be back tomorrow. I have a feeling that in all the excitement, some people left.”
“Is it possible to search for my cat Pansy?” Petunia asked.
“I'm sorry but I don’t have time for that, maybe you should call animal control.”
Petunia sighed and proceeded to move fabric and search under the tables to no avail. Pansy had simply vanished into thin air. Surly if he was able, Pansy would have found her.
“Take another look around, Petunia, but if you can't find him he might've wandered off. That's what cats do.” Noah tried to appease her.
She hurried around, calling out, “Pansy, where are you?” She searched everywhere, finally joining Noah in the car. Petunia was near tears at this point and when she looked in the back seat, all she saw was Merlin, Gem, and Sassy.
“I’m an absolute wreck without Pansy. What if someone stole him? I can’t bear losing him.”
Noah squeezed her hand. “You need to calm down. I assure you that he’ll show up.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded, changing the subject before she blubbered like a fool. “I think someone is trying to sabotage the cat show,” Petunia finally said.
“That's what it's looking like, but why?”
“If I knew why I wouldn't be so confused.”
Noah braked at Petunia’s house and helped her carry the carriers inside. After Petunia quickly let her cats out of the carriers, they went berserk. Instead of whining for food, they split into separate directions and hid.
“I can't say I blame them,” Aunt Maxine said as she walked from the kitchen. “I think today's activities traumatized them.”
Petunia wrinkled her nose. “What is that pungent smell?”
“Well, it's not cookies, I can tell you that.” She laughed. “You knew I was planning to make more antidote for the poison.”
“I thought you were planning to do that at home or at Mystical Remedies?” Petunia said.
“Oh, I was, but I decided it would be better to make it here. You never seem to worry if there's a mess in your kitchen.”
“That's not true and you know it. It's more like you didn't want to get your kitchen dirty.”
“If you say so, dear.”
“Did you happen to see Pansy after all the excitement at the cat show?” Petunia asked.
“I'm afraid I was too sick at the time and the only thing I was worrying about was drinking my antidote.”
“If you have an antidote for poison, how come Estelle and Maria don’t have one?” Noah asked.
“Since when do you want to hear about Magic and spells, Noah? From my understanding, your parents are at the hospital.”
“That's where I was planning to go, but I wondered if Petunia wanted to ride along.”
“I need to find my cats and make sure they're fed whenever they come out of their hiding spots.”
“We can take care that,” Aunt Maxine said.
“I might as well go, since you’re stinking up the place. That's actually the worst part of making potions.”
When Noah and Petunia reached the hospital, they took the elevator to Victor's room.
“I'm surprised he has a hospital room already,” Petunia said.
“I’m certain that the hospital was put on high alert that poison victims would be arriving.”
“You're probably right. I'm just glad that my Aunt Maxine had enough potion for your father.”
When they walked into Victor's room, Noah's mother Carol was sitting on the bed.
“What's going on in here?” Noah asked.
Noah’s mother stood up, smoothing down her dress. “Nothing that you care to know, but at least we're not headed for divorce now.”
Noah plopped into a chair. “What is this talk about a divorce? I've always thought you were happily married.”
“We were, or we are. Marriage can be quite complicated at times. You won't know that yourself unless you get married to this young lady here,” Carol said.
“We're only dating,” Petunia insisted. “Unless you have something you're not telling me, Noah.”
“Not at all, but you should know how parents can be, or family. Your Aunt Maxine insists I’m the one for you.”
Petunia laughed. “Which is really surprising, since my Aunt Maxine has never been married.”
“Were you two able to find out who poisoned the champagne?” Carol asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Noah said, “but we plan to continue the investigation tomorrow.”
“The cat show has been postponed until tomorrow,” Petunia quickly added. “Although I'm not certain I'll be able to find my cats to take them tomorrow. They all hid when I came home.”
“I can't blame them. I was shocked when I saw all those cats in kennels and carriers,” Carol said. “I can’t imagine cats are used to that sort of thing.”
“Mine certainly aren’t and I wasn't able to find one of them. I'm hoping that my cat Pansy shows back up tomorrow. You might say he's one of my favorites.”
“You might say he is your favorite,” Noah added.
“How much do you remember about today, Victor?” Petunia asked. “Did you get a good look at who was passing out the champagne?”
“Pretty blonde dressed in a knee-length skirt, pretty blue eyes.”
“Leave it to your father to notice what a woman is wearing or if she's a blonde. At least he knew what color her eyes were.”
“I briefed glanced at the woman today, but I certainly couldn't recall those details. I'm hoping we can get her name tomorrow,” Petunia said.
“What do you remember about her, Noah?” Victor asked with a wink.
“To be honest, I was too busy helping Petunia with her cats.”
“Good save,” Carol said. “I do have a question, though. How was it that your aunt happened to have an antidote for poison on hand?”
One of Noah’s brows raised slightly, as Petunia quickly said, “My Aunt Maxine dabbles in chemistry. If she was younger, she'd probably have a job at a pharmaceutical company.”
“So, you gave a concocted form of medicine to my husband?”
“It's more of an herbal remedy. She owns a shop call Mystical Remedies near where we live.”
“Mystical as in magic?” Carol asked and then laughed. “Never mind. I don’t know why I said that, although there are certainly some crackpots in this town. We met a woman today who insisted there are witches in Lake Forest.”
Petunia was getting a headache. What was she supposed to say to that?
&nbs
p; “It sounds like you ran into our neighbor, Cora. She insists that witches are running amuck in Lake Forest,” Noah said. “What a crackpot, but we're expecting to run into her before the day is over.”
“Yes, one of my cats got stuck in her tree,” Petunia explained.
“So I had to cut down the branch,” Noah added.
“You two certainly live in interesting life,” Carol said. “Are you still planning to run for sheriff?”
“No, I changed my mind about that. I'm a private detective now.”
“Yes, whenever there's a crime in town, Noah and I are on the case.”
“That hardly sounds like a dependable job,” Carol commented.
“Would you leave those two alone, Carol? I happen to think it's a good thing that someone cares enough about their town to solve cases. You’ll let me know when you find out who poisoned the champagne, won't you, son?” Victor asked.
“I can imagine most people in town want to find out.”
“I hope we can solve this case before people take the law into their own hands,” Petunia said.
“You two can run along now,” Victor said. “As you can see, I'm quite fine. The doctor told me I might even be able to go home tomorrow if my lab work is okay.”
When Noah and Petunia were back in the car, Noah said, “Thanks for not telling my parents that your aunt is a witch, although dabbling in chemistry isn't something most people do.” He laughed. “At least they think Cora is a crackpot.”
“Do you think she'll show up today?”
“You can put your money on that one.”
Noah suddenly came to a screeching halt in front of Petunia’s house, a black cat frozen in his headlight beams.
Chapter 9
Petunia’s heart nearly leapt out of her chest. She jumped out of the car and yelled, “Is that you, Pansy?”
“It’s about time you come home, Red. I'm actually happy to see you, or relieved might be the better word. I can't believe someone tried to snatch me.”
“I wonder where he went off to?” Noah asked.
“Do you think someone would actually poison the champagne just to make off with the pedigree cats?” Petunia asked, since there was no way she could tell Noah what Pansy had said to her telepathically.
Meows, Magic, & Mayhem (Lake Forest Witches Book 4) Page 6