Witch Way Round (Witch of Mintwood Book 6)

by Addison Creek

  “I expect you want me to go listen in?” said Paws. He sounded resigned.

  I exchanged looks with Greer and Charlie. Sunshine was streaming into the hotel room. We were faced with a beautiful spring day.

  Greer appeared to like the idea of Paws spying on the police, but I thought it was just as likely that she was encouraging it because she wanted to get rid of Paws.

  Charlie looked distinctly less happy.

  “What is it?” I asked her.

  “It’s just that I usually do my own interrogating,” she said. “Listening in on someone else’s lesser interrogation would be one thing, but sending a surrogate and expecting him to repeat the pertinent information is likely to be even less effective. The police can’t possibly know everything I need to know, but having their interrogations relayed second-hand would be even worse.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not offended,” said Paws, pouting. To make himself feel better he brushed a bit more gold into his tail.

  “I suppose there’s only one thing to do then,” I said.

  “Catch the people on the way out and interrogate them ourselves?” Charlie asked.

  I shook my head. “No, the other thing.”

  For a split second Charlie looked confused, then she grinned.

  It took Greer another second to figure out what we meant, and when she did her face fell. “We’ll get in so much trouble . . .”

  “Only if we get caught,” said Charlie, her grin widening.

  “I think we risk it. What are we talking about?” said Paws.

  “The ghost would say that,” Greer argued.

  “It’s really the only way to make it work,” Charlie explained.

  “When did you become such a rule follower?” I asked Greer.

  “Since we went to stay at a resort with my family,” Greer grumbled.

  “Come on, it’ll be fun. We won’t get caught, I promise,” said Charlie.

  “How are you even going to listen in?” asked Greer.

  “Either you’ll know a place for us to hide or Paws can find us one,” I said. “We really have no choice. We have to see and hear what the police are saying.”

  A short while later we were following Greer, trying to look casual as we walked down a luxurious resort hallway.

  If anybody had seen us they’d have thought ants were running over our shoulders.

  “The three of you look like you’re about to break some rules,” said Paws. “That’s an excellent way to get caught.”

  “I can’t help it,” said Charlie.

  “It’s exciting,” I said.

  “Be a little more internally excited and a little less externally excited,” said Paws.

  “This is a bad idea,” said Greer, shaking her head.

  “You keep saying that, and yet we’re moving forward,” Charlie pointed out. “Right or left?” She pointed at the hallway.

  Greer made a sound of resignation.

  The offices were on one of the lower floors. The windows were smaller than in the upstairs rooms since they were basically at ground level. Guests didn’t generally see this part of the resort.

  Greer had said that the office being used for the interrogations was next to an empty one. If she remembered correctly, the two rooms shared a metal grate that might let us hear what was going on as the police interviewed guests.

  We had just rounded the corner nearest to the two offices when we walked smack dab into David, the front desk manager. He looked distinctly angry but brightened when he saw Greer.

  For her part, Greer just looked relieved.

  “It’s great to see you,” he said. “I trust your stay is going along pleasantly enough?”

  There was an unspoken comment there: How could it possibly be pleasant when there had been a murder? But David didn’t explicitly say that, and his question was framed so as to allow Greer to be equally indirect.

  “As usual the hospitality is second to none,” said Greer with a smile. “I’m so sorry about Mason.”

  David’s face fell. “We were together for more than ten years. He’s the one who hired me.” From his tone I couldn’t really tell if he thought that was a good thing or not. “Mason was the hardest worker I ever met. He really loved the place.”

  “I’m surprised the police didn’t close down the Club after what happened last night,” said Charlie.

  “They don’t want anyone to leave,” said David. “It’s such an important weekend, they might as well keep the guests here and entertain them as planned, and that fits in just fine with what the police want. Either way, I’m afraid Goldie will never recover from the shock.”

  He glanced again at Greer and she nodded. “My mom’s spending the afternoon with her, trying to help her as much as she can. But Goldie’s so upset I doubt Mom will be able to do much more than keep her company.”

  “I’m not surprised,” said David. “It’s a sad business.”

  “Do the police know anything else you could tell us about?” Charlie asked hopefully.

  By profession and perhaps temperament the type of man who wasn’t easily ruffled, David shook his head. “If they know anything they aren’t telling the likes of me. I don’t think they have any idea who killed Mason or who he might have been meeting at the Lily Pond.”

  “Who takes care of the Lily Pond?” I asked.

  “We have several gardeners. Ezra’s the boss, and he has a couple of summer assistants, usually college kids. Plus, Eben attempts to help sometimes. Ezra is exceptional. I’m sure he doesn’t know anything about this awful business.” David sounded like his teeth were breaking when he said Eben’s name, but he cheered up again when he talked about Ezra.

  “Where is Ezra now?” Charlie asked.

  “The police just called him to talk to him. He went in after me,” said David. “Afraid I wasn’t much help. I can really only talk about schedules and what a good employee Mason was.”

  “Do you know of anyone who’d want to hurt him?” Charlie asked.

  For the first time David’s eyes narrowed. “You’re that reporter, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. Every conversation I have is a chance for an interrogation,” said Charlie with a slight smile that was meant to be disarming.

  “You sound like my mother,” said David.

  Charlie gave him a rueful smile but waited hopefully.

  David sighed. “Oh, why not? I certainly didn’t know anybody who had it in for Mason. Of course, before I got here he was said to be a hard-nosed boss.”

  “You mean since you got here he’s relaxed?” Greer asked.

  “Yes, he used to fire people at the drop of a hat, but that made people not want to work here, so it started to be hard to staff the place. He’s gotten a lot more relaxed in the past ten years,” David explained.

  Just then a member of the concierge staff stuck her head around the corner and called out to David about a problem they were having. He excused himself with a slight nod and strode away down the corridor.

  We waited until he was out of view and then made a mad dash to the room next to where the police were interrogating the employees. We were a little late, but hopefully we’d be able to get the gist of what people were saying.

  “Some detectives you three are,” Paws muttered, scampering in after us.

  We slipped into the room as quietly as possible, Greer first, Charlie next, me in the rear. I used the tiniest bit of magic with my wand to close the door silently behind us.

  The room was empty except for a rolled-up carpet in one corner. Light came from a small window that overlooked the gardens. Otherwise the space was dark and borderline chilly.

  Silently Greer pointed to the large metal grate that ran along one wall. Charlie tiptoed over and pulled out her notepad and pen.

  Charlie looked relieved when a man’s voice rang distinctly into the room.

  “When was the last time you were at the Lily Pond?”

  A second man’s voice, much lower and more hesitant, responded, “
Yesterday afternoon.”

  “And was that the last time the Lily Pond was supposed to be checked yesterday?” the first voice asked.

  “Yes, I was just there eating my lunch, I wasn’t doing anything work-related,” said the second man.

  Charlie whispered, “The cop doing the interrogation is Inspector Smith.”

  I nodded once to show I’d heard her. We already knew it was Ezra being interviewed.

  “How many years have you worked here?” Inspector Smith asked Ezra. He had a light voice and kept his tone relaxed, as if he were asking questions of a friend.

  “Going on three,” said Ezra. He sounded very nervous.

  “Did you know Mason Haroldson before you arrived?” Inspector Smith asked.

  “I didn’t, I’d only heard things,” said Ezra.

  “What kind of things had you heard?” Inspector Smith asked.

  “I heard that he used to be a bad boss but now he was a good one and that getting a job here was like winning the lottery,” said Ezra. “I was very happy when I heard I’d been hired.”

  “Did you ever have any problems with your employer?” Inspector Smith asked.

  “None,” said Ezra. “He was a good boss and he let me have the run of the gardens and the grounds. He thought flowers were pretty, but he didn’t know anything about taking care of them.”

  Just then there was a clattering, a mumbling, and a clearer “Sorry about that.”

  “Do you want another glass of water?” Inspector Smith asked.

  Ezra must have shaken his head, because the interrogation continued.

  “Do you know anyone who would want to harm Mason?” Inspector Smith asked.

  Now came the longest pause of the interrogation so far. Eventually Ezra responded, “No, I can’t say that I do.”

  Inspector Smith took a long time asking his next question and I wished desperately that I could’ve seen his face when he finally did.

  “Where were you last evening?”

  “In the gardening shed. With Eben,” said Ezra.

  “He’ll corroborate that?” said Inspector Smith.

  “Don’t know what he’ll do, but it’s the truth,” said Ezra.

  There were a few more questions, but nothing else of interest. Inspector Smith dismissed Ezra and told him to find Freddie.

  There was the sound of the door opening and then closing. Footsteps hurried away.

  It didn’t take long for the boisterous voice of Freddie to be heard through the wall. He didn’t sound nervous at all.

  “How long have you worked here?” Inspector Smith asked.

  “This is my second summer,” said Freddie.

  “Had you heard about Mason before you got here?” the Inspector asked.

  “Everybody’s heard about Mason,” said Freddie.

  “What exactly is it that you do here?” asked Smith.

  Freddie went through an exhaustive list of jobs he’d held. He parked cars, he carried things, he kept watch over things, and he supervised Eben, who clearly couldn’t manage on his own. In short, Freddie did everything and was helpful to all beings at all times.

  “Are you from around here?” Inspector Smith asked. His tone was a little different, a little less friendly, with the charismatic summer employee. Maybe it was in reaction to Freddie taking the situation as some kind of joke.

  “Born and raised,” said Freddie. This was followed by a thud.

  “Get your feet off the table,” Inspector Smith growled.

  There was another thud as Freddie’s feet landed on the floor.

  “Did you know anyone who might have wanted to harm Mason? Did he have any enemies?”

  “Only that Simon fellow,” said Freddie. He sounded like was trying to be serious now. “The entire Club heard them fighting yesterday.”

  “Anyone else?” the Inspector asked. Apparently he had already heard about the little encounter in the breakfast room.

  I imagined Freddie shook his head because Smith then asked another question. “Were you working outside yesterday afternoon?”

  “Yes, most of the afternoon I was parking cars, then I supervised some of the waitstaff as they arrived for last night’s party.”

  “Did you see anything strange at the Lily Pond?”

  There was another long pause as Freddie appeared to think. “Now that you mention it, I did see something kind of odd, though I didn’t pay much attention at the time.”

  “And what was that?” the Inspector suddenly sounded interested.

  “The lily pads were all down on one end. I couldn’t figure out why. I went down there to check them out, but it just looked like the wind had blown them that way. Funny thing was, I didn’t remember there being a lot of wind yesterday,” he explained.

  “I don’t suppose you told Mason about this?” Smith asked, sounding less interested.

  “No, I didn’t think it was that important,” said Freddie defensively.

  “It’s always good to have more information rather than less,” said the Inspector.

  Freddie didn’t have much else to say, and after that he was quickly dismissed.

  As he closed the door I could hear him whistling.

  “He’s definitely not taking this seriously,” Charlie whispered.

  The last interrogation of the afternoon was of Eben. It made me realize how much we had missed, including perhaps the Inspector’s talk with Goldie. But I told myself that if she was as upset as Greer had said, he was probably going to go to her and not make her wander around the building looking for him. Maybe we hadn’t missed anything much after all.

  There were a couple minutes of silence in the other room, then a scraping of chairs, the dropping of something heavy, and loud and out-of-breath panting.

  “I’m Inspector Smith,” the policeman said.

  “I’m Eben. Sorry I’m late,” said the other voice.

  “How many summers have you worked here?” the Inspector asked.

  “This is my first summer,” said Eben, still breathing hard. Freddie must have told him to hurry.

  “How do you find it?” the Inspector asked.

  “It’s a jolly good time. Everyone comes here on vacation, but I get to be here all the time,” said Eben. “This is a really well-run ship. Mason, I mean Mr. Haroldson, did a great job.”

  “How did you find him as a boss?”

  “I didn’t see him often. Mostly Freddie tells me what to do,” said Eben.

  The Inspector didn’t sound surprised by that.

  “Did you ever work with Ezra?” he asked.

  Charlie made a face, impressed with the Inspector’s innocent-sounding question.

  “Sure, sometimes. I like the garden. Easier to understand. I was helping him last night, as a matter of fact. We were cleaning the shed,” said Eben.

  Just then my phone buzzed and I froze. I’d forgotten to put it on silent before we started eavesdropping on the police.

  Charlie and Greer looked at me in horror as I fumbled in my pocket and silenced the phone. Paws shook his head as if I was a great disappointment and an incompetent detective. Again.

  “You have spies next door or something?” Eben asked Inspector Smith, but he got no response from the other man, and a prolonged silence followed.

  Greer closed her eyes tightly and waited. There was no way out of this room, so if the Inspector decided to investigate the noise, we were done for.

  As the silence lengthened, I thought there was a good chance they’d come and investigate just because of how hard my heart was beating.

  After what felt like an eternity, the Inspector’s voice carried through the grate again.

  “What exactly is it you do here?”

  “I mostly carry luggage,” said Eben.

  “You aren’t trusted with any other duties?”

  “No, Freddie says I have to earn all that,” said Eben. The tiniest bit of resentment had crept into his voice.

  “Did you see anything strange at the Lily Pond yest
erday afternoon?” the Inspector asked.

  “Can’t say I was really looking,” said Eben.

  The Inspector didn’t seem thrilled with that answer, so Eben tried to elaborate.

  “You know, I was outside and I was thinking that it was hot out and then I was thinking how much I’d like dinner . . .”

  The Inspector must have made some sort of motion, because Eben suddenly stopped talking.

  We snuck out of the eavesdropping room and made our way down the corridors and up the stairs. We were just thinking that we’d gotten away with something when we rounded a turn and walked smack dab into a very curious-looking Hansen Gregory.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Hi, you all. Going somewhere?” Hansen asked.

  “Yes, lunch,” said Charlie. She tried to hold Hansen’s attention while Greer and I caught our breath, but he noticed that we were winded anyway.

  “I was just looking for Inspector Smith,” Hansen said, raising one dark eyebrow. “Someone at the front desk said he was down this way somewhere, the way you were coming from.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that. Good luck, though,” said Charlie, trying to pass him.

  Usually Paws enjoyed yelling at Hansen when Hansen couldn’t hear him, but not now. The ghost cat desperately needed to get back to the room and had already had enough adventure for one sunlit day. He yowled goodbye and trotted off, saying something about his makeup melting. All I could hope was that he’d be more help once the sun went down.

  Hansen coughed and said, “This investigation would go a lot better if you weren’t so secretive.”

  “Look, we’re on opposite sides. I’m on the right side,” Charlie explained.

  “I guess I won’t tell you what I found, then,” said Hansen with a shrug.

  Charlie stopped dead. This wasn’t the first time Hansen had done this; he liked to work together, whereas she liked to treat him as her sworn enemy. He knew that offering her information was an effective way to call a truce, because Charlie loved nothing more than information.

  She spun around to face him and was just about to say something when another voice caught her off guard.

  “Hi, Charlie,” said Andy, strolling up to us with his girlfriend.