“Right. Well, good luck with this case,” Meg said.
“A detective can’t rely on luck. Solving a murder case is about finding a way to outsmart the killer,” Connor declared.
“Oh, really?”
Connor nodded. “There’s no such thing as a perfect crime. My job is to find that imperfection that will blow this case wide open.”
Without realizing it, the detective had given Meg a very important tip to keep in mind as she embarked on her mission to prove Lisa McGraw was innocent.
Chapter Fourteen
Before Meg started investigating this case, she had a person to visit first. She did not get the response she hoped for. Meg’s mother, Beth, was unabashed in her opposition to her daughter playing amateur sleuth.
“You can’t do this,” Beth said.
“Mom, you know it’s rare that I don’t take your advice, but I have to do this,” Meg replied.
Beth took a deep breath. “It’s very admirable that you want to help your friend, but you should leave this to the professionals.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not? Connor is back in town. He’s solved plenty of cases like this.”
“I’d love to leave it to Connor.”
Beth smiled wide, looking all too eager to get back to business as usual. “It’s settled, then. Put your apron on.”
Meg wasn’t ready to move on quite yet. She pleaded her case to her mother. “First of all, it’s my day off from work. Second, the problem is, Connor refuses to take Lisa off the suspect list. I can’t take the chance of her being arrested for a crime she didn’t commit.”
Beth played devil’s advocate. “What makes you think you can do a better detective job than the police?”
Meg raised her eyebrow at her mom. “You already know the answer to that.”
Beth grimaced. “That’s what I was afraid of. You’re planning on using your powers then?”
Meg and Beth saw eye-to-eye on most things. The proper time for a witch to use her powers was not one of them. Beth believed a witch should keep their powers secret from the world at large, that spells should be cast sparingly, and that if the residents of Enchanted Bay knew witches lived amongst them, persecution would follow.
Meg knew her mother meant well. Beth had just been burned in the past and had never gotten over it. The first and only time Beth revealed she was a real-life witch to anyone outside the immediate family, it was to her husband. Trevor Walton had as poor of a reaction as could ever be imagined.
Instead of responding with an open mind and welcoming heart to his then-pregnant wife, he completely freaked out. Trevor became absurdly paranoid, believing that he actually hadn’t fallen for Beth naturally, but rather that his wife had cast a love spell on him. Then one day, his paranoia got the better of him. Trevor packed up his stuff and walked out on his wife and unborn child, never to return.
That was thirty-two years ago, but to Beth, the wounds were as fresh as if it had occurred yesterday. Growing up without a father had taken a toll on Meg as well. If anything, not having a father growing up only drew Meg closer to her mother. Her mom and Grandma Penelope were all Meg had. Other than her friends, that was. That’s why Meg was so vehement about making this exception to help out Lisa McGraw.
“Mom, this isn’t like what happened with dad,” Meg insisted.
“You don’t know that. Trust me, it’s best not to get involved. You can’t take the risk of people finding out that you’re a witch,” Beth replied.
“No. What I can’t do is take the risk of one of my oldest friends being arrested for murder. Don’t you get it? I can’t stand idly by.”
“What if people find out what you really are, what you’re capable of? Do you really think the people in this town will accept you?”
“Probably not.”
Beth corrected her daughter. “Definitely not.”
“Mom, there’s one thing you’re not realizing.”
“What’s that?”
“They won’t find out because I won’t let them. I’ll be careful with my powers like you’ve always taught me to be. I’ll only use only minor spells--”
“Honey, I know you mean well, and that you believe every word you’re saying. But if you slip up, even a little, it could mean serious trouble for our whole family.”
“I understand that. Think of it this way; what if you were wrongfully accused of murder? What if the police were close to putting you behind bars? Wouldn’t you want me to do everything in my power to prove you were innocent? After all, what’s the point of having these powers if we can’t use them to help those closest to us?” Meg asked.
Beth was not the type of woman who was short on words. Suddenly, she was speechless. She’d raised her daughter to be kind, caring, and compassionate. That’s what Meg was doing. She couldn’t argue that her daughter’s heart wasn’t in the right place.
At the same time, like all mothers, Beth worried about her daughter. The minute Beth stared into Meg’s eyes; she knew there was no dissuading her daughter.
“No matter what I say, you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?” Beth asked.
Meg nodded, then gave Beth a hug. “Mom, I love you. Know this, I won’t do anything to put our family’s safety in jeopardy.”
Beth forced a smile. “Good luck.”
Chapter Fifteen
After the conversation with her mother, Meg needed a breather. She had a tall task ahead of her. Knowing that, she had to sort through the mess of thoughts that were running around in her mind. She started by running down the list of suspects.
First, there was Walter Carter. He owned “Hard To The Core” gym. Walter and Jack had more than a professional rivalry. They seemed to hate each other on a personal level. Jack didn’t want to just beat Walter; he wanted to crush him. He appeared to be doing a good job of it. Walter looked like he was at wits end last night. When a person had their livelihood threatened, they were prone to do some crazy things. Had Walter resorted to murder?
Next on the list was Robert Nelson. Robert had a serious bone to pick with Jack Jensen and wasn’t afraid to air his dirty laundry with the world. He claimed he was the real inventor of the Dance Bandit fitness program. He’d come to Enchanted Bay in search of the money he thought he was entitled to. When Jack refused, did Robert’s anger drive him to kill?
Carla Adamson was also on the list. As one of Jack’s clients, Carla had more than fitness on her mind. She was having an affair with Jack, one that made her husband fly off the deep end. Had Jack promised to leave his girlfriend for Carla, then gone back on his word later? Or, had things become even more dire after their affair had been exposed. A woman who was comfortable cheating on their spouse was already treading on moral quicksand. Would she sink as low as committing murder?
Steven Adamson made the suspect list as well. Not only was he Carla’s husband, but he just found out his wife was having an affair last night. Murder was often a crime of passion. No one took the news of their spouse cheating well, but just how poorly had Steven reacted? Did the discovery of his wife’s infidelity turn deadly?
The suspect list continued with Kayla Maxwell. She was Jack’s ex-girlfriend, and also the mother of his illegitimate child. Kayla had come to Enchanted Bay with dollar signs in her eyes. If Jack spurned her again and didn’t pay up, had she gone to deadly extremes to get even with him?
Finally, there was Nancy O’Connor. She was one of Jack’s employees at the gym who was fired by him for stealing from the company the same day he was murdered. Even more, she had not taken her newfound unemployment in stride. Instead, she showed up at the fitness DVD launch looking to stir up trouble. Nancy already had theft on her resume, had she added murder to the mix as well?
Meg had a long list of questions but was short on answers. There was only one way to get the truth. She had a lot of work to do, so she decided to get right down to it.
Chapter Sixteen
Meg began her investigation with a s
top at the scene of the crime. She never thought setting foot at Jack’s gym could feel so eerie, but as she approached the yellow police tape cordoning off the rear parking lot, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the terrible crime that occurred just twenty feet away. A shiver went down her spine as she looked out at the chalk outline of Jack’s body.
Meg knew the police had done a thorough sweep of the whole parking lot for evidence, but she wanted to give it a once-over of her own just in case they missed anything. She knew the odds were long of finding any pieces of evidence that were left behind, but she had to give it a try.
She was by and large one of the most law abiding citizens she knew, so the idea of crossing the line of police tape gave her pause. But sometimes, desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, if there was something in this parking lot that could help prove her friend’s innocence, it was worth the effort. Meg scanned the area, making sure no one was watching. She then ducked under the police tape and started investigating.
Much to her surprise, twenty minutes later, she found something. Meg saw a little lapel pin next to the front wheel of the dumpster that was sitting beside the back door of the gym. The pin had a pinwheel design on it and featured a rainbow of colors. Meg hadn’t seen a pin like this before.
Had it fallen off the killer last night shortly before the murder? Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall offhand if any of the female suspects had worn pins with their outfits last night. It would be interesting to find out.
That wasn’t the only thing that intrigued Meg. Judging by the chalk outline of the body, Jack was killed beside his car, a good twenty feet away. Yet the pin was just outside the back door of the gym. Did Jack have an argument with the killer by the dumpster, only to walk away and get strangled at his car?
One thing was clear; this pin couldn’t have belonged to just any of the party guests. All the foot traffic at the party came and went from the front door of the gym. Meg didn’t recall any of the partygoers using the back door, which meant this pin most likely belonged to the killer. The question was, whose pin was this?
Chapter Seventeen
Meg decided to pay a visit to Kayla Maxwell first. It was clear Kayla was from out of town. As word spread around of Jack Jensen’s murder, most likely Kayla would try to skip town. Meg hoped she could track Kayla down before she headed out.
Enchanted Bay only had four hotels. Meg knew Kayla had to be staying at one of them. There was an easy way to find out which one.
Meg called up each of the hotels with the same pre-planned conversation.
“Hi, I have a friend staying at your hotel, but I forgot her room number. Her name is Kayla Maxwell,” Meg said.
With the first two hotels, the front desk clerk replied with bad news. “I’m sorry, there’s no one here by that name.”
When Meg called the third hotel, her luck changed.
“We can’t give out her room number, but we can take a message for her,” the clerk replied, over the phone.
“Thank you very much,” Meg said.
There it was, the break Meg was looking for.
***
Meg went to the Bayview Inn and waited in the lobby. Soon she saw Kayla walk by outside the big glass window and followed her. Kayla walked into room 112. Meg knocked on the door.
After receiving no response, Meg knocked on the door again. This time, she got an answer. Kayla opened the door with a blank look on her face.
Meg knew she didn’t have a lot of time to work with. Kayla could slam the door in her face if things got too uncomfortable for her. That meant Meg had to maximize her words.
“Can I help you?” Kayla asked.
“I sure hope so,” Meg replied. “Do you recognize this pin?”
Meg held up the pin she’d found at the crime scene.
Kayla furrowed her brow. “No. Why?”
“I just found it and was wondering,” Meg replied.
“Well, it’s not mine.”
Meg could tell that Kayla had zero interest in this conversation. Kayla already looked ready to close her door.
Meg had to think fast. “Quick question. Do you happen to have an extra bar of soap in your room? The maid didn’t leave enough in my room.”
Kayla didn’t even bother peering over at the bathroom in her room. She shot Meg down outright.
“No. Why don’t you go to the front desk? I’m sure they can get you more soap.”
“Right. Of course.”
“Anyway, I have some packing to do. Goodbye.”
Uh oh. Things were rapidly slipping away from Meg. She made another push to keep Kayla from closing her door.
“Leaving town so soon?” Meg wondered.
“Why do you care? I don’t even know you,” Kayla said.
Meg had to turn up the heat. She knew just the thing that would get Kayla’s attention.
“Is your son in there?” Meg asked.
Kayla stopped cold. She looked wildly confused. “Wait a minute. Who are you, and how do you know I have a son?”
“You mentioned him last night, at the Dance Bandit DVD launch party.”
Kayla tensed up. Her hesitation gave Meg the opportunity she was looking for.
Meg continued. “Let me guess, Jack skipped town on you without paying child support. So when you saw an ad for his new fitness DVD launch, you decided to pay him an unexpected visit last night to try and collect those missed payments, with a little interest thrown in.”
Kayla became highly annoyed. She kept her voice down to not draw attention to herself but gave Meg a firm and icy cold response. “I don’t know who you are, but this is a private matter, and it’s one of your business.”
Oh, no. Meg wasn’t going to let Kayla go that easily.
Meg forced the issue. “It was a private matter until Jack was murdered last night.”
Kayla tried to close the door. She wouldn’t get the chance to.
Meg whispered “adhaesit, adhaesit, adhaesit” under her breath in Latin.
Just like that, the door became stuck.
Spell accomplished.
While Kayla thought the door was stuck because of a few sticky hinges, the spell Meg had just cast was what had jammed it. Kayla kept pushing on the door while Meg ramped up her questioning.
“Where did you go last night after the party ended? Or, did you stick around, waiting for Jack to walk out to his car--”
Kayla cut Meg off before she could finish her sentence. “I left the party and came right back to my room.”
“Is there anyone that can verify that?”
“What are you suggesting, that I killed the father of my child?” Kayla snapped.
“Did Jack hand over that child support you were after?”
Kayla didn’t answer. Instead, she shot a glare Meg’s way, then tried pushing the door closed once again, but couldn’t due to the spell.
Meg followed up. “It’s heartbreaking to be in love with someone, to give birth to their child, only to have them leave town and not take any responsibility for raising their own kid.”
“What would you know?”
“I grew up without a father. My mother raised me all by herself. And whenever my father’s name even got brought up, I could see the heartbreak and pain in her eyes. You know what they say about hell having no fury like a woman scorned.”
“I didn’t kill Jack.”
“You had plenty of reasons to want him dead,” Meg argued.
Kayla shook her head. “No. What I wanted was for Jack to keep his promise. For my son to have a real father, not just some deadbeat dad.”
“Clearly that wasn’t ever going to happen. With Jack out of the picture, you wouldn’t have to be reminded of the heartbreak anymore, and your son may even be able to lay claim to Jack’s fitness empire.”
“Stop it.”
“What’s the matter, is this all hitting too close to home?” Meg asked.
Kayla snarled. “This conversation is over.”
“I
just want to know the truth. If you’re innocent, you have nothing to be afraid of.”
Kayla took a different tact. As she was still not able to close the door, she decided to yell at the top of her lungs.
“Help. Someone’s trying to break into my room.”
Kayla had yelled loud enough to draw plenty of attention from the neighboring rooms and even the front desk staff. Kayla’s room would soon be the epicenter of plenty of attention, just what Meg didn’t need.
What a cunning woman Kayla turned out to be. Suddenly, Meg was stuck with no confession and would soon have the spotlight on her. Knowing that Meg didn’t want the local police to get wise to her undercover sleuthing, she decided to make a hasty retreat.
Chapter Eighteen
Meg decided to pay Nancy O’Connor a visit next. Thanks to some cyber-sleuthing, Lisa McGraw was able to track down from social media that Nancy was paying a visit to a local employment agency.
That was a perfect situation for Meg. As she’d learned from her favorite detective show, confronting a suspect in public was ideal. People were less likely to cause a scene in a crowded place, especially a murder suspect.
Meg drove over to the employment agency and waited for Nancy to exit the building. The wait gave Meg time to formulate her plan of attack. It was hard enough drawing information out of people, but to do it with such a limited amount of time to work with made for a real tough crunch. Meg just wished she had more leverage. With the first interview, she felt like she was throwing darts in the dark.
Maybe this interview would go better. After all, sleuthing was an all-new thing for Meg. Perhaps she just needed to get into the swing of things. She didn’t have to wait long to find out.
A few minutes after Meg arrived, Nancy made her way out of the employment agency. That’s when Meg made her move.
The Witches Of Enchanted Bay (Witches Of Enchanted Bay Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 5