She knew he wanted to ask Zip more about the election, about the situation with Holly's parents, and about the deception that had played such a vital role in forming the ruling body of the town. But, continuing to question him wouldn't help anything. He didn't know anything else, she was certain of it.
“Right,” Don said in a gruff tone. He turned and walked ahead of her, not turning back to look at her until they were a block away from the home. “What do we do with that?” he asked when he finally slowed his pace enough that she could catch up.
“We try to figure out why Holly wanted money—maybe it was related to why she died,” Bobby said, thinking it was a pretty obvious conclusion to reach.
Don stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her. She couldn’t help but notice how his eyes had lightened, the yellow burst surrounding the pupil seeming to overtake the iris almost completely.
She stepped back, frightened. “I’ve never seen you this angry before,” she noted.
He clenched his fists at his sides and let out a low growl. “It’s upsetting,” he said softly.
“The whole thing about the election?”
“What else would be upsetting?” he snapped at her.
“I don’t know, the fact that one of your citizens was recently murdered? Why don’t we focus on that for now?” she replied, her tone matching the harsh, sharp way he had just spoken to her.
“The further we dive into this the worse things seem to get.”
She noted a sense of sadness in his voice. Out of instinct, she reached out and rested her hand on his forearm. “We can handle it, though, right? We’ll figure all of this out.”
He looked down at the place where her hand rested, “I don’t know if I want to figure everything out.”
“You care about the girl, though, right? You want to figure out what happened to her?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Then focus on that for now.” She massaged his forearm slowly, attempting to comfort him. A few more seconds passed before they both noted the odd connection that was passing between them.
The realization washed over both of them, almost simultaneously. She stepped back just as he lowered his arm, moving it away from her touch.
“Right,” he said quickly. “We’ll just focus on Holly for now.”
“So,” She said, trying to refocus herself on the case as well. “What’s our next step?”
Don shifted his weight around, out of nerves or to help his thinking process, Bobby wasn’t sure. The silence that passed between them was slightly uncomfortable, and again, Bobby found herself wishing she could use her ability. He looked at his watch, then up at the sky. His eyes were once again their normal brown with a small amount of yellow bursting through them.
He ran his fingers through his long hair, looking back at her as he said, “we need to figure out why she was asking for money,” Don said.
“We could talk to Barry again,” Bobby offered. “Surely her husband would know about any money problems going on.”
“You just want to interrogate him more,” Don replied.
“Really?” she said throwing her arms out at her sides and tilting her head to the right. “You don’t agree with my point that he would know about the money issues?”
"Of course, he would," Don agreed. "But I know that, despite the fact that he has a solid alibi and no access to the murder weapon, you still suspect him."
“He’s the last person to see her alive,” Bobby pointed out.
“If it was magic, “Don countered, “the person who did it didn’t necessarily have to be with her to kill her. You’re a witch, right?” he asked mockingly, “you do know how this all works?”
She glared at him intensely. “Fine, Mr. Know-it-all, what do you suggest we do, then?”
“I say we have Archer go speak to Mr. Clawson. A fresh insight will be good, anyways.”
“And what will we do?”
“We can talk to her parents,” Don said with a firm nod.
“I think we should have Archer do that as well,” Bobby replied.
“Why?”
“Because you were clearly upset about what Zip said,” Bobby reminded him. “If my working with Barry is compromised because I’m suspicious of him, then you working with her parents is as well.”
“I don’t suspect them on the case, though,” Don pointed out.
“But you don’t trust them right now, do you?”
“No,” he said under his breath.
Bobby felt the urge to defend Holly’s parents. They were the ones that gave up Zip’s name, knowing that it would lead to their discovery of the events of the past election. They didn’t care about that anymore, though. They were only worried about figuring out what happened to their daughter. Still, the way that Don’s shoulders tensed whenever their name was brought up confirmed in her mind that him speaking to them wouldn’t be the best decision in that moment.
“Well, that settles that, then. Archer will speak to Barry and the Lightbenders. And you and I will go a different direction,” she said.
“And what direction is that, Ms. Sparks?”
“I’d like to speak with Holly’s friends. I know you and Archer already took their statements, but I’d like to ask them about more than just the night leading up to her death. I want to know more about her.”
Don pulled out his phone and called the station. After a rather long conversation, filled mainly with waiting and pacing back and forth impatiently, he hung up and turned his attention back to Bobby.
“It’s still a madhouse over there,” he said running his fingers through his long, dark hair again. “The line to give statements is out the door. But, I got the names of two of Holly’s friends, and Archer said that he’ll leave to speak with Barry and the Lightbenders as soon as possible.”
“Great,” Bobby replied. “So, which of these two friends shall we speak to first?”
“As it turns out, they’re roommates.”
“For once, something seems to be convenient for us,” Bobby smiled, motioning for him to lead the way.
Chapter 14: Friends For Life
The girls were both witches and lived in a small house, together. They had been friends since they were children, along with Holly. The Town Square was eerily empty as Bobby and Don crossed through it on their way to speak to the women.
“Everyone is either frightened, locked away to gossip, or down at the police station,” Don noted.
“It’s only been a few days, but there’s already such a stark contrast from when I first arrived,” Bobby observed.
It was true and hard to deny. When she first arrived in Pinecreek she was amazed at the feeling of blissful innocence that hung in the air—the smiling faces and the warm greetings. It was as if she had not only stepped into an alternate world but into an alternate time. A time that never really existed, except for in old TV shows. The happy, idyllic world where everyone was pure of heart and slow to anger, where children ran in the streets and parents looked on with smiles on their faces and peace in their hearts.
But now it was as if the town had been turned upside down. It wasn’t wholly apparent on the surface, but Bobby could sense it. It was as if everyone was glancing sideways at everyone else. They were all rummaging through their thoughts and recollections, looking for any and every little piece of dirt they could drudge up on the people who were once their closest friends.
When they reached the front door of the home, Don promptly knocked three times. Bobby paced back and forth as they waited. The woman who came to the door was about 25 years old. Her face was round and her hazel eyes were puffy and red.
“We’re here to speak to Ms. Ruby Willow and Ms. Jennifer Caster,” Bobby explained.
“I’m Ruby,” the girl said with a sniffle. “Jen is upstairs.”
“Ruby,” Bobby continued, “we’d like to speak to you about Holly. I’m Bobby Sparks, and this is…”
“I know who he is,” Ruby cut her off. “He�
��s the Sheriff. I figured you’d be back to speak to us again.”
Although her words were direct her tone was soft and weak.
“May we come in?” Don asked.
Ruby pushed the door open and turned to yell up the stairs for her roommate. Bobby and Don pushed their way into the house and waited by the door as another woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She was the same age as Ruby and Holly. As she walked slowly towards them, her short red hair bobbed at her shoulders and her light green eyes filled with tears.
“Are you here to talk about Holly?” she asked Don when she reached them.
“Yes, Jennifer,” Don replied. “We’d like to speak with both of you.”
Jennifer and Ruby led them to a small sitting room. The couch let out a soft whoosh as Bobby lowered herself down. Don sat next to her, and the girls sat in recliners across from them.
“We can clearly see that you’re both hurting,” Bobby said.
The two girls nodded their heads slowly. Ruby sniffled and Jennifer buried her face in her hands.
“It’s still so hard to believe she’s gone,” Jennifer said.
“We’ve known her all our lives,” Ruby continued. “It’s always been the three of us.”
“That’s why we came here,” Bobby continued. “We know you were close with her, and we would like to know more about her.”
Don leaned forward and spoke softly, “is there anything you can think to tell us? Can you think of anything out of the ordinary going on with her in the last little while?”
The two girls exchanged looks and Jennifer let out a low sigh. “A few months ago,” she began, “she started to change.”
“Change? Change how?”
“It’s hard to explain. Holly was always such a happy person. She was hard-working and determined. She had a temper on her like no one I’ve ever known,” Ruby said. “But she was always happy. A few months ago, that changed.”
“How?” Bobby and Don asked in unison.
“She just seemed tired all the time. She went from her usual feisty, fiery self to a short-fused, angry person who only spoke to complain or mumble under her breath to herself.”
“Did she ever say what happened to cause her to change so drastically and suddenly?” Bobby asked, reaching into her purse for her notepad.
As she flipped it open, the girls thought.
“No,” Jennifer said.
“We asked her, but she never wanted to talk about it,” Ruby added.
“Do you think it could have been related to money?” Don asked the question that was sitting on the tip of Bobby’s tongue.
Jennifer shrugged, “I don’t know why it would be. The shop was doing well, and Barry makes a decent living at the butcher’s shop.”
“She never said anything about needing money or having financial problems?” Bobby asked.
“No,” the two girls answered together.
"Why?" Ruby asked. "Should she have? Were she and Barry having money problems?" The girl once again burst into tears and sobbed, "we would have given her money! Was that what this was all about? Did she kill herself because of money? Did someone kill her because of money?"
Bobby stood up and crossed the room quickly. Both girls now had their hands over their faces and their shoulders shook, almost simultaneously as they cried.
She reached out and rested her hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Don’t let your mind do that to you,” she said softly. “Don’t let your mind torment you about what you could have done. We don’t know if money had anything to do with this.”
Ruby looked up at her, her eyes filled with tears and her face blotchy. “I just don’t know how this could have happened.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Jennifer added. “Everyone loved Holly. And this whole nonsense about it being a health problem? Holly was not sick! She worked out, ate healthily—it can’t be that.”
“Let’s change the topic, just a little,” Bobby said, taking a step back and sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of them. “Why don’t you tell me about Holly before this sudden change? That’s what I’m really interested in.”
Jennifer sat back in her chair. “She was spunky,” she said. “She always had a little bit of a rebellious streak in her.”
“Rebellious?” Bobby asked. “How so?”
“Well, I’m sure you know about the big to-do that went down between her and her parents when she announced she was marrying Barry,” Ruby said.
“We know that her parents weren’t thrilled about her marrying a shifter,” Don said with a disgusted grunt.
Bobby knew that Holly’s parents were getting higher and higher on his hate list. Between the blatant prejudice and rigging the election, there wasn’t much more they could do to upset him.
“They’re just old fashioned,” Ruby said defending them. “They really are good people. They believe in this place, in living in peace with each other. They just wanted their daughter to marry a warlock. Did you know that their family used to be one of the most powerful in the old realm?”
“Lightbender,” Bobby said, letting the realization wash over her. “I knew that name sounded familiar for a reason!” She turned to look at Don, her eyes wide. “How did I not make that connection sooner?”
“I don’t know what connection you’re talking about,” he replied dryly.
It made sense that he didn’t. The Lightbender family was known only in the Witch and Warlock realm. They rose to power during the time of sorcerers and wizards—their kind’s ancestors.
They fell from glory, as most great lines do because they got too big for their own good—too proud and too powerful.
“They haven’t been in a position of authority for hundreds of years, though,” Bobby said turning back to the girls.
“And it’s not like Holly’s family was hoping to regain any form of authority,” Jennifer said. “They simply wanted to keep their family line pure. It’s silly, and a rather outdated way of thinking, but that’s just how they are.”
“And Holly rebelled against that?”
"She and Barry started dating at the very beginning of freshman year when they were only fourteen," Ruby remembered. "They kept their relationship a secret for a while, but eventually the secret got out—like they all do around here."
“Her parents didn’t take that well, I imagine?” Don said.
“Not at all. They threatened to take her back to the other realm. They told her that if she didn’t stop seeing him, they would send her to live with her grandparents, or something like that,” Jennifer said.
“That obviously didn’t work,” Bobby said.
“Not even close. If anything, it just spurred her on even more. She liked the feeling of the forbidden love. It was exciting for her. They continued to see each other, being more careful and more secretive until our senior year. That’s when she told them everything, and promptly informed them that she was planning to marry the man they hated so much,” Jennifer added.
"They didn't get married right away, though," Ruby chimed in. "They waited for a while. Holly went to school, studying to improve her specialty. Barry worked full-time at his family's shop. They wanted to be smart about what they were doing. They wanted to create a firm foundation for the rest of their lives. They wanted to make sure that when they did get married, Holly's parents wouldn't be able to say anything about it."
“And did they?” Don asked.
“Did they what?”
“Did they gripe at their daughter or support her? Did they guilt her or did they stand by her?”
Bobby noted the aggressive tone in Don’s voice, as did Holly’s friends. An uncomfortable tension suddenly filled the room, and Bobby turned around to shoot an accusing glare back at her partner.
“I think what the Sheriff means to say is, how did her parents respond once they were officially married?” Bobby asked as she plastered a smile on her face and turned to face the girls again.
“Actually, we were all surprised th
at they seemed to get on board with it,” Ruby said. “They even paid for the wedding. Holly had to fight a lot with them for it, but in the end, she and Barry got their blessing.”
“See?” Bobby asked, looking back at Don. “They gave their blessing.”
Don shook his head as if dismissing her comment. He leaned forward in his chair, resting his weight on his elbows and knees. "Getting back to the matter at hand," he said, "is there anything else you can think of to tell us about Holly?"
“No,” they answered together.
“Like we said, she was fine until a few months ago.”
“How was she the last time you saw her?” Bobby asked.
She knew her question would bring to the surface another wave of tears from the girls, but she had to ask.
Ruby stifled a sob and Jennifer bit her bottom lip.
“Actually,” Jennifer said, “she seemed normal again.”
“Really?” Bobby asked, making a quick note in her notepad.
“Yeah,” Ruby agreed. “She seemed happy again—out of nowhere, really. It was a good night,” she said as the tears streamed down her cheeks.
“It really was. It was like the old times,” Jennifer agreed.
"And she went home afterward?" Bobby asked, leaning forward ready to write.
“Yes. We watched her unlock the door to the shop and go inside,” Ruby confirmed.
“I think that’s all we need, girls,” Bobby said snapping her notebook shut and standing up quickly.
Chapter 15: New Leads, Renewed Focus
As they walked out the front door, Bobby was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of frustration radiating out of her partner.
“Why are you so upset?” she asked as she skipped to keep up with him.
“I never said I was upset,” he said over his shoulder.
“No, but you are,” Bobby replied, talking to the back of his head.
He stopped and turned to look at her slowly, the question written across his face.
“I’m getting my powers back!” Bobby said excitedly.
“Your powers?”
“I can read emotions,” she said, smiling proudly.
Don’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t speak.
Bobby Sparks Witch Detective: Pet Shop Puzzle ( A Paranormal Cozy Mystery) Page 9