HGM02 A Witchy Mystery

by D. S. Butler

  She looked down at my untouched slice of chocolate fudge cake and shrugged. “Sure. I’ll bring it over.”

  As much as it pained me to leave the chocolate fudge cake behind, I didn’t have much choice. I’d rather leave the cake than be confronted by Brian Constantine.

  The waitress brought the check over, and I quickly fumbled through my purse for enough change to leave a tip, when suddenly my phone buzzed and began to tinkle a familiar tune.

  Oh no. Not again! It was a text message from Grandma Grant complete with the “William Tell Overture.”

  Why hadn’t I changed it?

  Brian looked over sharply and then recognition dawned on his face.

  I shivered. There was no escape now. He clearly recognized me, and thanks to the “William Tell Overture,” he realized it was me who’d been eavesdropping on him last night as well.

  Still, surely he couldn’t do much in a public place. There were other people in the coffee shop…Witnesses. I was safe for now.

  * * *

  I still had half an hour before Smudge would be ready for collection, so all I had to do was sit there and wait it out until Brian left. As soon as he left, I planned to rush over to the vets, pick up Smudge and get home as quickly as possible.

  Unfortunately, Brian wasn’t prepared to play his role in my carefully thought out plan.

  He watched me for a little while and then placed his coffee cup back on the table and stood up, giving me a cool smile as he walked over to my table.

  I gulped.

  “So it was you.”

  “What was me?” My voice cracked as I spoke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  I licked my lips nervously and pushed my plate away from me.

  He sat down opposite me and said, “I heard your phone. You’re that girl from the diner, aren’t you?”

  I was terrified. I could hardly deny it. How many other people in Abbott Cove had the “William Tell Overture” on their phone?

  I decided to try and meet fire with fire. After all, I wasn’t the one who was in the wrong here. I may have been eavesdropping, but that wasn’t as bad as blackmail.

  “I heard you threaten Louise,” I said, clenching my fists beneath the table, to stop my hands shaking.

  I was determined not to let him see I was scared.

  Brian leaned back in his seat and chuckled. “Oh, that.”

  He didn’t seem worried at all, and that annoyed me and worried me in equal measure.

  “Chief Wickham is onto you,” I said.

  I figured it was a good idea to let him know that law enforcement officers were on his trail. If he was thinking of trying to get rid of me, that might put him off.

  “Pah, I can’t imagine he’s going to do much,” Brian said scathingly. “You know what these small town cops are like. He probably doesn’t know how to do anything more taxing than write out a parking ticket.”

  I was outraged on the chief’s behalf. “I’ll have you know that Chief Wickham apprehended a murderer only a few months ago.”

  “I bet they handed themselves in,” Brian said, sounding bored. “He doesn’t strike me as someone with much initiative.”

  I frowned. “Well, you’d better watch out because he is onto you. I told him everything I overheard last night.”

  Brian’s face darkened with anger. “Oh, you did, did you?”

  I nodded and inched back in my chair, trying to get as far away from him as possible.

  “If you killed Yvonne, you won’t get away with it.”

  “What are you talking about? Of course, I didn’t kill Yvonne.”

  “Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you?”

  Brian shook his head. “I know you think you know it all, but I’d be willing to bet you don’t even know why I was blackmailing Louise.”

  It seemed I was the only one in town who didn’t know what dirt Brian held over Louise.

  “Of course I do,” I bluffed.

  Brian raised an eyebrow, and I could tell he didn’t believe me. “No, you don’t. I can tell. You don’t have the first idea why I was blackmailing Louise.”

  “Because you’re a nasty man with a twisted moral compass,” I said, glaring at him.

  Brian scowled. “No, I meant you don’t know what information I have on Louise.”

  I shrugged. “I know you’re a blackmailer, and that’s enough for me.”

  “It’s not my fault,” Brian said defensively. “Louise isn’t an angel, and money has been short since Yvonne double-crossed me and booted me out of the business.”

  I waited for a beat and then asked, “So, what is Louise’s secret?”

  Brian grinned. “I knew it. You don’t know.”

  “Of course I do,” I said. “I just want to double check.”

  Brian laughed at me but then said, “All right. I’ll tell you. She never did pay me off anyway, so I don’t see why I should keep her secret. Louise was arrested for fraud five years ago. She was cashing checks from her old boss’s business account. You can imagine what would happen if word got out. She would never work in the business sector again. Being able to trust your personal assistant is very important. Yvonne shared her bank and financial details with her.”

  “Did Louise cheat Yvonne?”

  I was starting to think maybe I had gotten it wrong. Maybe Brian wasn’t a killer, after all. This certainly gave Louise a very strong motive for getting rid of Yvonne.

  But Brian shook his head. “No, this happened before she met Yvonne. Yvonne knew about her criminal record, but she said people deserved a second chance and hired Louise. I disagreed. In my opinion, once a common thief, always a common thief.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Sort of like once a common blackmailer, always a blackmailer?”

  Brian glared at me, but I ignored him. He didn’t seem so scary now.

  Yvonne had gone up in my estimation. I thought it was kind of her to take a chance on Louise.

  “Well, I bet you don’t feel sorry for Louise now that you know the truth, do you?” Brian asked.

  Actually, I did. It sounded like Louise was doing her best to put the past behind her and was trying to make an honest living. Unfortunately, people like Brian Constantine were determined to make life difficult for her.

  Chapter 23

  I left Brian at the Delish coffee shop and went across the road to collect Smudge. I was a little early, but I couldn’t stand Brian’s company any longer. He really was a horrible man.

  Despite the fact I was early, I only had to wait a couple of minutes before the vet’s assistant came out with Smudge.

  “She’s fine. We think she’s been well taken care of, but we couldn’t find any chip.” Annabel, the vet’s assistant said smiling at me. “We can put the word out locally that you’ve found a cat, but she can stay with you for now.”

  That was the best news I’d had all day.

  “I’ll take her back home, and I’ll put some posters up around Abbott Cove so she can be reunited with her owners if they are looking for her,” I said, even though I hated the thought of someone coming forward to claim Smudge.

  Annabel gave me a few pointers on how to take care of Smudge, but I knew I could handle it as I’d taken care of Athena when Grandma Grant was otherwise occupied.

  I left the vet’s surgery feeling much happier, and on the way to the car, I quickly typed a text to tell Grandma Grant and Jess that I had a new cat and would bring her over to introduce her to Athena later that evening.

  Now I was feeling more positive, I knew there was something I had to do. I owed Louise an apology.

  I took Smudge back to our cottage in Abbott Cove and met up with Yvonne, who agreed to come with me to The Oceanview Guesthouse. She was eager to see Carol again and hoped her sister would be coping better than the last time we saw her.

  I left Smudge with some food and a promise that I would be back soon and headed down to the harbor.

  When Yvonne and I got there, we saw Louise sittin
g on the terrace of The Oceanview Guesthouse. There was a paperback novel on the table beside her and a half-full glass of iced tea.

  As I walked along Main Street, I had been running over the words I could use in my apology, but I still didn’t know what to say.

  How could I apologize without letting her know I was a witch? It didn’t seem possible. Any way I tried to explain it, I would end up outing myself.

  I stood there for a moment, indecisive. Perhaps the best thing to do was just to apologize for my constant questioning and ask if she’d recovered from her nasty stomach bug.

  Finally, I made up my mind. That was the best course of action. I would apologize, but I wouldn’t mention the potion. I climbed the steps up to the terrace and started to walk over to Louise when Carol stepped out of the guesthouse.

  “Oh, it’s you again,” Carol said.

  I smiled. “Yes, I wanted to have a word with Louise.”

  Carol’s eyes drifted to where Louise was sitting. “Oh, she’s asleep. You’d better not disturb her.”

  I nodded. “I just wanted to apologize,” I said. “But I suppose it can wait. Is she feeling any better?”

  “Feeling better?” Carol blinked at me.

  “She had an upset stomach this morning.”

  Carol smiled. “Oh yes, I’d forgotten about that. Her stomach isn’t bothering her anymore.”

  Yvonne hovered by Carol’s shoulder, and I was touched by the sad look on her face. I tried to imagine how Carol would feel if she knew that Yvonne was still watching over her.

  “I spoke to Brian earlier. I hope he has been some comfort to you,” I said. I really wanted to warn Carol to stay away from him. I was quite certain that Brian Constantine only cared about himself. Yvonne had been right on that score.

  Carol perked up when I mentioned Brian’s name.

  “You saw Brian? Where was he?”

  “He was in Cherry Town. I saw him in the coffee shop there. Hasn’t he been back to see you?”

  Carol looked distraught and shook her head. “No, he hasn’t been back. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Yvonne forced Brian to end our relationship. I thought that now she had gone…”

  “That must’ve been very hard,” I said.

  Carol nodded and wiped away the tears from her eyes. “Yes, it was. But I understood that Yvonne was just trying to protect me. I miss her. I wish I could talk to her just once more. So she could tell me what to do.”

  Carol began to cry.

  I reached out to take her hand to comfort her, wishing there was something more I could do to make her feel better.

  Yvonne was hovering right beside us and reached out to stroke Carol’s hair.

  “If Yvonne was here now, what would you say to her?” I asked.

  “There’s no point,” Carol sobbed. “She can’t hear me.”

  Yvonne had been quiet up until now, watching her sister sadly, but now she turned to me and begged, “Please, Harper, tell her I am here. Tell her I am right beside her.”

  I shook my head. I couldn’t.

  Yvonne’s lower lip began to wobble. “Please, just do this one thing for me. I’ll never ask you for anything ever again. Look how upset she is… What good is your gift if you can’t bring comfort to people?”

  I shook my head. This was crazy. How could she ask me to do that?

  But Carol was so distraught… maybe it would bring her some comfort.

  I sighed. I couldn’t believe what I was about to do.

  I reached out and put a hand on Carol’s shoulder.

  “You’re probably going to think I’m crazy,” I said before taking a deep breath, “but Yvonne is with us right now.”

  Before I went any further, I wanted to make sure nobody could overhear what I was about to say. If Carol reacted badly, I could always deny everything. But if more than one person heard me admit to seeing ghosts, I could be in trouble. I stepped forward, to make sure Louise really was asleep and wasn’t listening.

  When I got closer, I realized that Louise wasn’t asleep at all.

  I gazed at her in horror.

  Louise’s eyes were wide open and staring blankly at me. Her mid-section was covered with blood, and a knife was buried deep in her stomach.

  Louise was dead.

  Chapter 24

  I’m not sure how I expected Carol to react — maybe to run to the hills screaming, or maybe to run inside and call for help— but I certainly wasn’t expecting her to hit me over the head with the heavy jug that held the iced tea.

  I saw the jug flying toward me from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t move fast enough to get out of the way. There was a sickening clunk as it connected with my skull and then everything went black.

  When I woke up, to my horror it was late at night, and I was surrounded by water.

  I had a killer headache and was horrified to realize I’d lost the ability to move my arms and legs. I panicked and then realized why. I was securely tied to one of the struts supporting the pier.

  The tide was coming in.

  I was sitting on the seabed, and the water was up to my chest.

  I tried to scream, but the rag in my mouth muffled any sound I made.

  I tried to turn, but my movements were restricted by the rope.

  I managed to crane my neck enough to see I wasn’t alone.

  Carol stood just behind me, the water almost reaching her knees.

  “Oh, you’re back with us. I thought you might drown before you woke up. I did give you quite a whack. Sorry about that.”

  She said the words in such a matter-of-fact way it chilled me to the bone.

  I grimaced trying to spit out the rag.

  It was then I saw Yvonne was there, too. She was darting around, trying to remonstrate with her sister.

  “What are you doing? Carol, you can’t do this to Harper. Untie her. Now!”

  Unfortunately, Carol was completely oblivious to Yvonne.

  I finally managed to push the rag out of my mouth and asked, “Why are you doing this? You don’t need to kill me. I won’t tell anyone.”

  Carol laughed cruelly. “I’m not that stupid, Harper. I’m afraid I can’t spare you now that you’ve seen Louise’s body.”

  I had been an idiot. Carol’s grief had fooled me. I’d never seriously considered her capable of murdering her own sister.

  “Why did you kill Yvonne?” I asked.

  “I couldn’t take it anymore. My whole life I had allowed her to boss me around, but then Brian came along. He loved me, really loved me. We were supposed to be together, but Yvonne couldn’t stand to see us happy. She made Brian leave me. I wasn’t going to stand for it…. He was my one chance at happiness. I couldn’t let Yvonne ruin that.”

  “So you killed your sister over a man?”

  “He wasn’t just a man. He was my one true love.”

  “Your one true love?” Yvonne laughed. “Oh, please. You have always been a little slow on the uptake, Carol, but I didn’t think you were that stupid.”

  Yvonne wasn’t helping. I needed her to help me talk her sister out of this. Somehow I had to persuade her to untie me before the tide came in. Ridiculing her wasn’t going to cut it.

  “Yvonne loved you, Carol. She didn’t do it to make you unhappy. Why don’t you untie me and we can talk things through? You’ll feel better when you get it all off your chest.”

  “There’s no time for that. Brian will be here soon.”

  “He’s coming here? Have you spoken to him?”

  A frown flashed across Carol’s face. “I don’t need to speak to him. He’ll come for me. It’s meant to be.”

  Yvonne’s eyes widened, and she looked at me. “She really is bonkers.”

  “Uh-huh,” I said. “Well, I’m pretty sure Brian would want you to untie me, Carol.”

  Carol tittered. “You’re trying to manipulate me. Well, it won’t work. You know, I was a little worried when you kept hanging around and asking questions all the time, Harper. I though
t you were on to me. But you weren’t. You didn’t have the first idea.”

  “Carol, stop this now. Untie these ropes.”

  Carol shook her head.

  I tried another approach. “Yvonne is okay. She is a ghost. She is actually beside you right now.”

  Carol burst out laughing. Her laugh was high-pitched and tinged with hysteria. “Oh, to think I actually thought I needed to worry about you, Harper. You’re just crazy, aren’t you? I should have listened to the gossip. Everyone says the Grant family are a sandwich short of a full picnic.”

  I furiously tried to free my arms from the ropes. Carol had murdered two women and imagined a passionate love affair with a blackmailer, and she had the cheek to call me crazy!

  “Yvonne, please, tell me what to say. She’s your sister!” I shouted as the water lapped around my shoulders.

  Yvonne was wringing her hands. “I don’t know what to say. She’s lost it. She has never acted like this before.”

  “You’ve killed two people already, Carol. Don’t make it even worse,” I said. “You won’t get away with it.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Carol said. “I’ve gotten away with it so far.”

  Then she turned and started to walk away.

  “Wait! Where are you going?”

  “I need to go and wait at the guesthouse for Brian. I have to tell him that now Yvonne is out of the way we can be together just like we planned.”

  She began to walk away again, and I screamed at her. “Wait! Please don’t leave me like this!”

  Carol turned back, and despite the darkness, I could see a horrifying grimace on her face, and I knew she wasn’t going to let me go.

  Without answering, Carol crept away. I could see the lights from town, but I was so far away I was sure nobody would hear me. I screamed until I was hoarse anyway.

  As the cold water crept up my body, I shivered. “Please, Yvonne, you need to get help.”

  “I can’t! No one can see me, and I can’t lift anything. I haven’t learned that skill yet.”

  I turned to face her. “Please, Yvonne. You’re my only hope. If you don’t help me, I’m going to drown.”