Meows, Magic & Manslaughter (Lake Forest Witches Book 2)

by Madison Johns

Chapter Fifteen

  Pansy ran to a door where loud voices were heard. “I found it first,” a woman’s voice said.

  “No, butt out. This is my investigation,” grandfather said.

  Petunia didn’t wait, she barged into the room where she found Joellen and her grandfather facing off, while Cora was in the corner, cowering. Joellen had a flash drive in her clutches, while her grandfather had a pistol trained on her.

  “Grandfather, would you put down that pistol.”

  “Don’t get involved, Petunia. This is CIA business.”

  “And you should know you can’t be pointing a gun at another operative.”

  “She’s no operative. She’s the niece of one of the nurses back at Sunnybrook. She’s an impostor.”

  “She’s posing as a CIA agent operative, because … why, exactly?” Petunia asked.

  “She’s a double agent. She’s working for the commies.”

  Noah laughed. “Here in Lake Forest. Highly unlikely.”

  “You have no idea what kind of corruption is happening here, I tell you, and it’s all on that flash drive.”

  “Where did you find that flash drive, anyway?” Petunia asked.

  “On this desk,” Joellen said. “It has a hidden compartment, see.” She walked over to the desk and pulled out a book and a trap door opened under the desk. “See, what did I tell you.”

  “It could be anything,” Petunia said. “Even sensitive financial documents. I don’t see what this has to do with Florence or her death.”

  “This is the mayor’s room,” Joellen said. “Bonnie put him out of her bedroom months ago when he took up with Florence.”

  “Put that gun down before someone gets hurt, Alfred,” Noah said.

  “Just because you’re dating my granddaughter doesn’t mean you can call the shots.”

  Petunia shook her head. “So, why exactly does the niece of a nurse suddenly have an interest in calling herself a CIA operative?”

  “I’m not calling myself one. I am one,” Joellen said.

  “Prove it,” Petunia said.

  “I’m not supposed to tell anyone who I really am.”

  “But you already did that, without exactly explaining why.”

  “And if she’s a fraud, it might just be a federal offense. Impersonating a CIA operative has to be against the law,” Noah said.

  “But you don’t understand. If I turn this flash drive over to the CIA, they’ll give me a chance and actually give me a position as an investigator.”

  Petunia couldn’t believe it. “So, you’re really not an investigator for the CIA after all?”

  “Well, actually, no, but I plan to be very soon with this flash drive.”

  “Like it’s that easy,” grandfather said. “The process for getting a job with the CIA is quiet extensive. Besides having a bachelor’s degree, you go through an extensive background check and even a polygraph test. If they turned down your application before, the chances are you’ll be turned down again, even with that flash drive.”

  Petunia walked between her grandfather and Joellen. “Hand that over. I think this has already gotten out of hand.”

  “Joellen put the flash drive into Petunia’s hand and frowned. “I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on Alfred and his cronies at Sunnybrook. They were quite clear about the case they’re working on.”

  “So, this is how it all started? Grandfather, put away that gun and tell me the truth. What is really going on here?”

  “Well, I heard Florence tell her grandmother how she had something on the mayor that would ruin his career. Then she mentioned the evidence was on a flash drive. I was sure it had something to do with corruption.”

  “So, you’re not on a case, are you?”

  Grandfather hung his head. “No, but I hoped I’d be pulled out of retirement when they found out how useful I can still be.”

  “The only problem is that you need to face the facts. You’re retired and there are no plots here in Lake Forest or at Sunnybrook. I bet there’s not even anything of interest on this flash drive, either.”

  To prove it, Petunia put it into the computer in the room, but the system required a security code to log in, so she gave up. “I’ll have to check it when I get home. I suggest we all go back outside and act like none of this happened,” Petunia said.

  Her grandfather put away his gun and they went down the stairs, Joellen quickly disappearing. “Seems like she’s worried that she’ll really face arrest,” Noah said.

  They walked out on the patio and it was quite the scene: some guests were expelling bubbles from their mouth as they spoke.

  “How fun, it’s a bubble party,” one lady said.

  “What a novel idea,” another woman said. “How did you do this, Bonnie?”

  “I-I, er ... it’s a secret formula … you understand.”

  “These bubbles taste just like raspberries,” a man said. “I hate raspberries.” He then burst out laughing, trying to pop the bubbles, and the other guests joined in.

  “I think this is just horrid,” the mayor said. “You’ve ruined our party, Petunia.”

  Petunia pointed at her chest. “Me? Why do I get the blame here?”

  “Because you’re the potion maker around here.”

  “I’m certainly not the only one and I didn’t do this. If I had, I’d have told you so.”

  “I, for one, will support you, mayor,” a woman said. “Anyone who does something this original gets my vote.”

  The mayor’s frown certainly turned upside down as his cheeks reddened and the hugest smile appeared on his face, now. “I had hopes that you’d all like this and I owe it all to Petunia Patterson. She’s quite the potion maker, you know, and she sells her wares at Mystical Remedies. You should try out her latest healing salves. I’ve been told they work very well for aches and pains.”

  Petunia had a cockeyed look on her face. It’s like the mayor actually was endorsing her with his commercial-like spiel.

  Aunt Maxine and her witchy friends were bent over in laughter and Petunia rushed over to them, whispering, “What are you doing?”

  “Ju-just trying to liven up the party, that’s all. Have you ever seen such a thing?” Aunt Maxine said.

  “No and I don’t care to. We’ll all be in big trouble over this one.”

  “You worry too much. Even the mayor seems to be going along with the bubble-themed party,” Aunt Maxine assured her.

  “It’s quite temporary,” Wanda insisted.

  “What about the people who didn’t drink the punch?” Petunia asked.

  “So, that’s the reason you didn’t want me to drink it?” Noah said.

  “I wasn’t positive, but I suspected they might have done something. Although I can’t understand for the life of me why they’d do this.”

  “Can’t you whip up an antidote, Petunia?” Noah asked.

  “No. This wasn’t my potion that did this. Aunt Maxine, do something!”

  Aunt Maxine just shook her head. “Now, why would I want to do that when the guests all seem to be enjoying the bubbles? The potion will wear off soon enough.”

  The mayor pressed a hand to his brow. “I don’t know what was in that punch, but I am certainly enjoying the festive atmosphere of this party. I do believe that it’s one of our best fundraisers yet. Did you see most of the guests dropped donation envelopes in the box?”

  “I see. Well, if you’re really pleased about my, err ... bubble potion, I sure could use an ordinance change for my neighborhood and have that five thousand dollar fine go away.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Cora hissed, lurking in the shadows.

  “I think I would dare, since I’m the mayor, after all, and you would do good to not be constantly tattling on your neighbors.”

  “Humph,” Cora spat, walking from the patio in a mad rush.

  “Thanks, Mayor Hopkins. I sure appreciate your help in this matter.”

  “I don’t mind now that I can see witches and potions aren’t all b
ad, like I thought they were. Of course there will be plenty of people in Lake Forest that won’t feel that way.”

  “I can’t agree with you more, mayor,” Aunt Maxine said.

  Petunia made sure the remainder of the punch was poured out and then set to the task of helping the staff to clean up the mess that the bubbles made of the patio. The sticky mess needed a good mopping for one, and it was the least she could do since the mayor had had a change of heart in regards to the ordinance.

  She wasn’t quite as irritated with her aunt as she had originally been when she came back outside, but she was more concerned about what to do with her grandfather. She didn’t have to ponder long, as grandfather said, “I can see I’ve made a mess of things upstairs. Let’s go back to your house and if that flash drive doesn’t have anything incriminating on it, I’ll happily go back to Sunnybrook.”

  Aunt Maxine’s eyes widened, but instead of challenging her brother, she led the way from the patio with her witchy friends in tow. Petunia wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign. Surely her aunt wouldn’t call Sunnybrook—or would she?

  Petunia couldn’t be worried about that now, as Cora had the sheriff’s ear when they were ready to leave and he walked over, saying, “More frogs?”

  “Not sure what you’re talking about. As you can see, sheriff, there are no frogs here, just bubbles. Teach you to listen to Cora. You should know that woman likes to cause me problems.”

  “True, but I better not hear about any more spells or I’ll have to find some kind of crime you’re committing.”

  “Of course, sheriff. You won’t find anymore croaking or frogs, not anywhere near me, at least. I just hope that I can say the same for my aunt and her friends,” Petunia said.

  “Good to know, but most of the guests appeared to be having the time of their life at this party—at least judging by the guests who have already left—but you understand how I feel about potions and spells. It’s just not a good thing to do. There is no telling what might happen if one goes awry.”

  “You have that one right,” Pansy said, although Petunia was the only one that heard him.

  * * *

  Bonnie thanked Petunia for her help cleaning up before they left, and Cora was nowhere in sight, thankfully. Petunia couldn’t help but wonder why on earth Cora had brought her grandfather to the party once she found out who he really was. Of course Cora had made it her personal mission to take out her anger on Petunia, causing problems for her with the sheriff, again.

  When they walked back home, Petunia enjoyed the cool breeze as it was getting toward evening, although it wasn’t yet dark since during summer in Michigan, it doesn’t even get dark until nine. Thankfully her aunt and friends had left on their own accord, since she was still a little angry with her aunt for what she had done, although it seemed that it actually worked in her favor on this occasion. At first she had found nothing funny about them making nearly all the guests blow bubbles from their mouth at the mayor’s big fundraiser party. She wrote a check for fifty dollars and deposited it in the donation box for the mayor’s election. After all, he was changing the ordinance in her neighborhood. So far things were on the upswing. Now, if only she could find out who really killed Florence. There was still the matter of her grandfather, who had lied to her about being on a case, but he had left with them. Could it be he actually thought there might be something of use on that flash drive?

  After she was finally home, Petunia put the flash drive into her computer, while Pansy hopped on her desk, and both Noah and her grandfather were peeled to the screen. Instead of incriminating information, there was a series of vacation photos with the mayor and a mystery woman who looked an awfully lot like Connie, the maid!

  She pulled the flash drive and said, “I knew there was something wrong about that maid. She was the one behind Florence’s death, all along.”

  “Are you sure?” Noah said. “This doesn’t really mean anything. You already knew that the mayor had other affairs.”

  “Yes, but this woman is in the perfect position to make Bonnie the fall person. She even told me that Bonnie was already awake when she came to work that day.”

  “She might have been,” Noah suggested. “You can hardly accuse the woman of setting this whole thing up. How would she be able to drown Florence somewhere else and haul her body back to the mansion by herself?”

  “Someone had to have helped her. I wonder if it was the mayor?” Petunia mused.

  “I don’t know for sure, but I’m certainly heading back to the mansion to find out.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, unless you have another idea, Noah.”

  “I think Petunia is right, we need to move now. If the maid is the murderer, Bonnie’s life might be in jeopardy as we speak,” grandfather said.

  “Fine, we’ll leave, but I think Alfred should stay behind. If you don’t hear from us in half an hour, call the sheriff.”

  “Don’t even think about leaving without me,” Pansy said, pacing the desk.

  “I don’t have time to deal with you now, Pansy.”

  Petunia stood up and Noah held the door for her, while Pansy rushed out the door and across the street first.

  “What is that crazy cat doing?” Noah asked.

  “How would I know, but I’m guessing he plans to beat us back to the mansion.”

  “I love how you talk about him like he’s human.”

  He is, don’t you know, she wanted to say, but didn’t. By the time they made their way back over to the mansion, it had gotten much darker and the full moon lurked overhead. The gate was now closed, although Bonnie and the mayor’s cars were parked in the drive.

  “What now?” Petunia said.

  “We’ll have to find another way in.”

  “How are we going to do that? There’s an iron fence all along the property, don’t you know.”

  “We’ll see about that. I have a friend who works at a security company. I bet he can remotely open that fence.”

  Petunia doubted his word, but after Noah made the call, there was a beeping sound and the gate was easily pushed open. It seemed that Noah was a handy man to have around. Who was this friend of his, really?

  They ducked when they moved into the yard and that’s when they noticed the dogs were sprawled out on the ground. Since they were snoring, they had to have been given a knock-out drug. That spelled trouble for sure, since the mayor, Bonnie and even the maid would easily be able to control the dogs, so this indicated that someone not known to this household must have done it.

  When they got to the front door, it was locked, so Petunia made way past the window of the kitchen, peering inside, but could only see minimal movement that seemed to be coming from another room. Noah managed to pick the lock of the gate leading to the backyard and they came up from the back, sneaking through the patio door unbeknownst to anyone in the house.

  They hid behind a wall as Petunia heard loud footsteps in the next room, followed by muffled noises. She peeked around the corner before Noah pulled her back, but not before she saw that both the mayor and Bonnie were tied and bound. Connie was also in the room, smoking a cigarette, while a yet-unidentified male paced with his face turned away from Petunia.

  At first Petunia didn’t know who it was, but then she thought back to everyone she had interviewed today. Who would have an interest in framing Bonnie and the mayor? Well, Connie was definitely having an affair with the mayor, or had been, but why were both the mayor and Bonnie trussed up?

  “There’s no other way out of this now,” Connie said. “That nosy Petunia Patterson won’t let this go. She’ll keep poking in this case until she finds out the truth.”

  “She won’t after the murder-suicide of the mayor and my sister. It makes perfect sense. My sister kills her cheating husband, who murdered his former lover to appease her, and then she kills herself. It will be quite simple and nobody would ever suspect anything else. There’s even been reports that the mayor was seen with Florence the day b
efore she died, driving in the direction of Lake Forest where he drowned her and then brought her back here,” Tony explained.

  Petunia was shocked that Bonnie’s brother Tony was behind Florence’s death, but it made perfect sense. She suddenly had to put a finger against her nose as she felt a sneeze ready to cut loose and she just couldn’t allow it. But she was too late, the sneeze ripped out of her and bubbles burst from her nostrils and trailed from where she was hiding to the other side of the wall, where they would be quite discovered.

  She pressed her back to the wall as the pounding of feet moved in their direction. When she looked up, Petunia was staring down the barrel of a gun. “Hello there, Tony. I came back to ask you if you’d like to have a drink with me,” she said and laughed nervously.

  “Then why did you bring Noah?”

  “It’s getting dark and I didn’t want to go alone?”

  He motioned with his gun. “Get moving, you two.” Petunia tiptoed toward the patio door. “I meant in the other room. Unless you’d like a dip in the pool.”

  Petunia gave this a thought and moved into the room where Bonnie and the mayor were trussed up. “I found out that Connie was having an affair with the mayor, but I had no idea that you were involved, too, Tony. Was it really necessary to become involved with Connie to kill the mayor’s former lover?”

  “I had hoped that it would be enough to put the blame on my sister, but I can see that just wasn’t going to happen and I’m getting desperate. I really need her money,” Tony said. “Connie was more a means to an end.”

  “What?” Connie said.

  “You didn’t think that Tony would leave you alive, did you, Connie? He doesn’t want to share the wealth and if his plan goes awry, he’ll blame it all on you,” Petunia insisted.

  “I can speak for myself,” Tony said. “I had planned to leave town right after the funeral of the mayor and my sister, but yes, you could say I don’t plan to share the wealth. Did you know my sister Bonnie inherited the lion’s share of our parent’s estate? And here I’ve been bidding my time. I even paid Florence to become involved with the mayor, hoping that Bonnie would at least divorce him, which would give me the fortune. I’m sick of waiting. It’s time to take drastic measures.”