HGM02 A Witchy Mystery

by D. S. Butler

  Yvonne sheepishly avoided eye contact. “I would have told you, but it wasn’t relevant.”

  “How do you know? Something like that could be relevant. And now I’ve found out you have a business partner, whom you obviously don’t like very much. Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

  “I haven’t seen Brian for months. I cut him out of the business. He never did any work. He just sat back and enjoyed the profits.”

  “So he was lazy, but is there any reason he would be angry enough to kill you?”

  Yvonne scoffed. “I very much doubt he would have it in him. He’s not someone who likes hard work. He prefers to cozy up to a successful woman, who is too silly to see through him so she can do all the hard work for him while he benefits from the profits.”

  I raised an eyebrow, and Yvonne seemed to realize she was the silly woman in this scenario, so she hurriedly rushed on and changed the subject. “I suppose he was a little sour about the fact he was going to miss out on the resort deal.”

  I nodded. That was interesting. I turned to Yvonne, “It looks as though we could have a suspect.”

  I couldn’t talk to Yvonne for as long as I would have liked because I had a diner full of customers, so I left her in the back room, promising her we would have a long talk tonight, and went to finish my shift.

  The afternoon shift seemed to drag on forever.

  When I said goodbye to Archie, I was surprised at how tired he looked, he wasn’t that much older than me, although I always thought of him as some kind of father figure.

  I think we were both looking forward to Sarah getting back and easing our workloads.

  I walked along Main Street with Yvonne hovering beside me. We didn’t talk until we left the residential area.

  When we stepped onto the woodland trail and were out of sight, I said, “So, tell me more about Brian.”

  “There’s not much to say,” Yvonne said. “I got fed up with him. I realized I was doing all the work, and he was taking all the profits, so I dumped him. That would have been that, but then he tried to manipulate Carol, and that was just cruel. He bought her flowers and asked her out on a date.” Yvonne shook her head and pursed her lips. “Of course, I forbade it. He was using her to get to me, and I wasn’t going to stand for it.”

  The way I saw it, there were two possible reasons Brian could have been angry enough with Yvonne to kill her. Firstly, she had chucked him out of the business, and secondly, she had ruined his romantic chances with her sister, Carol.

  I turned to look at Yvonne and asked, “Was he very angry?”

  Yvonne shrugged. “I suppose he was. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let him make a fool of my sister.”

  “Could he have been angry enough to kill?”

  Yvonne hesitated before replying. “I suppose. I wish I could remember that night in the cabin, but I can’t remember anything.”

  We were getting towards the end of the trail now, and I shivered. I was wearing a cardigan. I hadn’t brought my jacket, and the evening had turned chilly.

  “Where did you get to anyway? I was worried about you?”

  “You needn’t have been,” Yvonne said. “After all, you were the one who said I couldn’t get hurt since I was already a ghost.”

  I gave Yvonne a sideways glance. “I’m sorry. Can we put all that unpleasantness behind us?”

  Yvonne nodded. “Yes, I suppose so. I should have told you about the payments I’d made to the Mayor. I’m sorry.”

  That took me by surprise – Yvonne Dean had actually apologized to me.

  “So where were you? Did you stay in town?”

  Yvonne smiled, and her eyes gleamed as she said, “I’ve been investigating.”

  I turned to her, surprised. “Investigating? On your own?”

  Yvonne nodded. “Yes, I went back to the cabin, and I found a clue.”

  I grinned. This was very good news.

  “Of course, I couldn’t actually pick it up. Loretta makes it look easy, but I haven’t yet learned how to pick objects up. Anyway, I found some fabric on the window frame. My working theory is that the killer strangled me, locked the door and then climbed out of the window to get away, but their clothing got caught on a piece of wood.”

  Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she told me her theory.

  “Um, was the fabric you found wool by any chance?”

  Yvonne nodded, a puzzled frown creasing her forehead.

  “Was it cream colored?”

  Yvonne was really looking confused now. “Yes, how did you know that?”

  I pulled an apologetic expression. “I’m afraid that’s mine. I looked in the window the morning we found your body, and I caught my sweater on a splinter of wood on the way down. Sorry. It was really Mrs. Townsend’s fault. She forgot she was supposed to be supporting me.”

  All the excitement and enthusiasm seemed to drain out of Yvonne, and I felt bad to be the one to disappoint her.

  “I suppose it’s back to the drawing board then,” she said morosely.

  Chapter 19

  When Yvonne and I got back to the cottage, I was surprised to see that Jess was waiting for us.

  As I walked in, I saw a number of items placed on the table and a feeling of dread overtook me.

  “What’s all this?” I asked nervously.

  Jess grinned. “I’m going to help you learn your spells and potions.”

  I smothered a groan. Jess meant well, but I knew I was never going to be good at casting spells. It would be easier all round if everybody just accepted that.

  “I don’t know Jess. I’ve had such a busy day and –”

  “No excuses,” Jess said firmly, brushing her hands together and then pointing at the items on the table.

  “We’re going to make a potion.”

  That perked Yvonne up. Her mood changed in an instant. A moment ago, she’d been maudlin and depressed because I told her the clue she’d found was actually a fragment of my sweater. Now, she was practically buzzing with excitement.

  “I’ve never seen someone perform a genuine spell before,” she said. “Oh, it’s so exciting.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked at her. “I wouldn’t get too excited. It is me we’re talking about. I’ll probably find a way to mess it up.”

  Jess, who had seen me turn my head and address thin air, realized Yvonne was back.

  “I take it Yvonne has returned. Is she okay?”

  I moved across to the table and nodded. “Yes, she’s been trying to do a little investigating herself, but it didn’t work out too well. We did have a visit from Brian Constantine at the diner today, though. He was Yvonne’s old business manager, and there was some bad feeling between them.”

  Jess cocked an eyebrow. “Do you think he did it?”

  “I’m not sure. There is something about him that seems a bit suspicious to me, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “What does Yvonne think?” Jess asked.

  I turned to Yvonne, and she sneered. “I still don’t think he would have the gumption to do something like that.” She sighed. “I just wish I could remember something about that night.”

  I turned to Jess and said, “Yvonne is convinced he couldn’t have killed her, but the chief and Deputy McGrady are checking him out and looking into his background.”

  “That’s good,” Jess said. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

  I sat down at the table nervously, looking at the dried herbs and liquids in front of me. “What do I have to do?”

  Jess picked up the large book of spells from where I’d left it on the cabinet and brought it over to the dining table. She opened it and pointed to a spell.

  “I thought this would be an appropriate choice. We are going to make a happy potion.”

  I had to admit a happy potion was appealing. I could do with being cheered up a bit. It was easy to start feeling defeated when you were looking for a killer and had no idea where to start.

  “Right,” I
said, determined to give it my best shot.

  I pulled the spell book towards me and read the little introduction. Like most spells, it had a disclaimer. They all did. The title, “Happy Potion,” was written in large capital letters, and then in small letters underneath, was the disclaimer: “Caution, potion may not actually make you feel happy.”

  The trouble with potions and spells was that they were very dependent on the individual. That’s what separated a mediocre witch from a good one, or even a terrible witch like me from a mediocre one.

  A witch was supposed to make the potion and then chant the spell. You didn’t even need to say the spell out loud. As long as a witch thought the words, that was sufficient to send the spell off into the world. According to the book of spells, that was enough to do the trick. I wouldn’t know. Every spell I’d ever tried to cast had messed up.

  Granted, I hadn’t actually tried very hard previously. That was because I was quite lazy and always took the easy way out. I knew my own flaws. Spells were hard.

  “Let’s make a start,” Jess said, taking charge. “First of all, you need a list of a few items that make you feel happy. Not memories,” Jess warned. “But actual physical things.”

  I nodded and tried to think about things that made me happy.

  I hesitated. It was difficult to be put on the spot. Could I say chocolate?

  “Come on, Harper, it’s not that hard,” Jess said, trying to encourage me. “What is your favorite fruit?” she prompted.

  “Strawberries,” I answered immediately. That was an easy one.

  “Good. And you like the rain, don’t you?”

  I nodded. I found it relaxing. I loved being warm and cozy inside and watching the rain. Jess and Grandma Grant both thought I was odd.

  “Yes, rain, and I like the smell of cut grass and the taste of chocolate.”

  Yvonne made a tutting sound.

  So sue me. I like chocolate.

  Jess nodded. Now we had a list of items, and she sent me outside to collect some rainwater from the garden rain tank and a few blades of grass.

  While I was doing that, Jess chopped up some strawberries.

  When I returned, with Yvonne watching closely, Jess told me to place all the items on an extra-large dock leaf.

  “Why is she using a dock leaf?” Yvonne asked.

  “I suppose we could do it on a chopping board or a bowl,” I said. “It would probably work the same way, but having it on something organic like this maintains a connection with the natural world. It’s thought to work better.”

  Jess instructed me to mix the items together, which I did, and the resulting mixture looked pretty disgusting.

  “Excellent,” Jess said. “Now you need to anoint us with the mixture and then chant the spell.”

  I leaned forward and stuck my finger in the churned up strawberry, chocolate, grass and rainwater mixture and grinned as I streaked it across Jess’s forehead. I did the same to mine and then went through the motions of pretending to do it to Yvonne, but obviously it didn’t work because my fingers just passed right through her. Still, I wanted her to feel included.

  Then I took a deep breath and read the spell from the spell book.

  Although I didn’t need to, I spoke aloud in the steady rhythm that Grandma Grant used to recite spells.

  When I’d finished, I put down the spell book and waited expectantly.

  “How do you feel?” Jess asked.

  I was as surprised as anyone to realize I did feel better, a lot more positive, in fact.

  “I feel pretty good,” I said, smiling at Jess.

  She beamed back at me. “See, Harper. I knew you could do it! It just takes a little effort and some practice.”

  I was starting to think that Jess was right. Maybe this spells and potions lark wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.

  But before I could get too pleased with myself, I heard Yvonne mutter beside me, “Well, it didn’t work on me. I still feel depressed.”

  * * *

  The following morning, I was back at the diner for the early shift. I was in a pretty good mood after my successful spell casting last night, but Yvonne was still moping, and I couldn’t really blame her. We were no closer to finding her killer. I could only hope that Joe and the chief were closing in on a suspect. Right now, the only suspect I could think of who had any merit was Yvonne’s ex-business partner, Brian Constantine.

  When Yvonne and I entered the back room of the diner, Loretta immediately joined us by floating through the wall. She appeared to be in an even more excitable mood than the other day.

  “You should have been here last night,” Loretta said. “Brian and Louise were here together.”

  I shrugged off my jacket and frowned. “Brian and Louise? I thought Brian had been interested in Carol, not Louise.”

  I turned to Yvonne to see what she thought of this news.

  She looked pensive and confused as though the news puzzled her as much as it did me. I had a feeling we were missing a piece of the jigsaw, and even Yvonne didn’t know the full story.

  “Do you think you could have got it wrong? Maybe there was something going on between Brian and Louise rather than Brian and your sister?” I asked Yvonne.

  Yvonne shook her head slowly. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Loretta was annoyed at the distraction. “You didn’t let me finish,” she said. “It didn’t appear to me like they were enjoying their conversation if you know what I mean.”

  Loretta waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “No, I don’t know what you mean,” I said.

  Loretta shook her head as though she was very disappointed in both Yvonne and me. “They weren’t getting along well. He was being very demanding, and she was upset.”

  “What were they talking about?” Yvonne asked.

  “Well, I tried my best to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t hear their entire conversation. Something about a secret, and he told her she was going to be sorry.”

  “Sorry? What did he mean by that?” I asked.

  Loretta was rapidly losing her patience. “I thought you would be grateful. How am I supposed to know why she’s going to be sorry? I just know what he said.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Loretta. Carry on.”

  “Well, the main thing that got my attention was the fact they were discussing some secret. Obviously, that’s very significant.”

  “Did they mention the murder?” Yvonne asked.

  Loretta turned to her with a deadpan expression. “Funnily enough, no, they didn’t start to talk about how they killed you when they were sitting in the middle of a busy diner.”

  I ignored Loretta’s sarcasm. I was used to it by now, and it rolled off my back.

  “Yvonne, what do you think? Could Brian and Louise have been working together?”

  Yvonne shook her head. “Brian is a devious snake, and Louise was a rubbish assistant, but they wouldn’t have killed me. For a start, Brian is an opportunist. He waits for other people to act, and then he takes advantage.”

  Yvonne had known both Brian and Louise a lot better than Loretta and me, so we were forced to rely on her instincts.

  But if they weren’t referring to Yvonne’s murder, then what was the secret they were discussing?

  I sighed. There was something about this whole situation that seemed to get more complicated with each passing moment.

  “Do you know what secret they were referring to?” Loretta asked Yvonne.

  Yvonne hesitated for a moment and then shook her head rapidly. “No, of course, I don’t. Why should I?”

  Loretta raised a pale, ghostly eyebrow and said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

  I had to agree.

  * * *

  Despite the fact I pestered Yvonne for the rest of my shift, she refused to reveal what the secret was. She insisted she didn’t have the first idea, but I’d known Yvonne long enough now to realize she was lying.

  It was infuriating. I couldn�
�t help thinking how much more progress we could have made if only she’d trusted me from the start. What other things would turn up out of the woodwork from Yvonne’s past before we were through?

  After work, instead of going directly home, I went to the Lobster Shack to pick up a crochet pattern for Grandma Grant from Betty.

  On our way back, with Yvonne chatting inanely on about how Betty could improve her hairstyle, I paused beside the alleyway next to the ice cream parlor.

  “It’s almost dinnertime,” Yvonne said, sounding scandalized. “You can’t possibly be thinking about buying an ice cream cone now?”

  I put a finger to my lips, not because I was afraid of anyone overhearing Yvonne as nobody else could hear her nagging, but because I thought I could hear someone else talking.

  Voices were coming from the bottom of the alley.

  Urgent whispers.

  I took a couple of steps along the alley, creeping closer and catching fragments of conversation.

  There was a man’s voice and a woman’s. Both sounded familiar.

  It was still daylight, but the alleyway was narrow and didn’t get much sun. I stuck to the shadows, my back against the wall.

  “Harper, hang on. Be careful,” Yvonne said, trying to grab my arm and pull me back. Unfortunately for her, her fingers floated right through me.

  There was no way I was leaving now because I’d recognized the voices.

  It was Louise and Brian, and they were having a very heated discussion.

  Brian’s voice was loud and clear, “I’m sure you wouldn’t want people to find out.”

  Even though I couldn’t see him from where I stood, I could hear the cold, callous tone in his voice, and it made me shiver.

  Louise sounded tearful as she said, “You’re a nasty man! It’s blackmail. It’s against the law.”

  Brian laughed. “So sue me.”

  “How did you find out? It was Yvonne, wasn’t it? I trusted her. She promised me she wouldn’t tell.”

  “I don’t reveal my sources, babe,” Brian said, sounding like a bad villain in a B-movie.

  I didn’t quite catch what they said next because Yvonne was talking right in my ear.