He tipped his hat. “Understood. I can respect that, Holly. For what it’s worth, I never thought Cassie had it in her to do something like this. But, as I said, I have to do my job and see it through to completion, no matter where the clues take me.”
I nodded. “I can respect that too.”
He gave a faint smile. “All right, so let’s get down to business then. Your friend, Nick, has shown me the recording. I figure that will clear up most of my questions. But what I want to know is why on earth you came over here to question Gretta in the first place.”
I swallowed hard. I still hadn’t quite worked up an answer for that one.
I glanced behind Chief Lincoln and saw Gretta’s empty coffee cup sitting on the counter where she’d left it to ring up Nick’s purchase. I smiled to myself and looked back at the chief. “Really, Chief, it was just a hunch. Everyone knew that Gretta and Peg hated each other. Heck, I’ve only been here a few months and I knew all about it. They were constantly at one another’s throats. I could probably count on one hand the days that Gretta and Peg didn’t have some kind of squabble”
Chief Lincoln nodded along. Nothing I said so far was earth shattering. He knew the history between the two women, just like everyone else in town.
I licked my lips and continued. “A lot of people don’t know this, but Gretta used to come into Siren’s Song and get coffee but she would always wait for a time when Peg wasn’t around. She’d grumble the whole time about Peg, but still, she’d show up at least a few times a week to get her fix. But she hasn’t shown up since the murder, which felt off to me. So, today, I decided to go over and see why.”
“Interesting.” Chief Lincoln scribbled a few notes across his pad. “But why bring Nick and have him wear the recorder?”
“Like I said, I had a hunch she had something to do with it. But in order to get anyone else to believe me, I’d need proof. Nick agreed to help me out.”
I glanced across the room to where Nick was chatting with the two deputies. Neither of whom were apparently too eager to go book Gretta into custody. Not that I could blame them. Luckily for them, the station wasn’t too far away. They wouldn’t have to endure her backseat tirade for too long. Nick’s shoulders were relaxed and I smiled at the way his posture mirrored the two men he was speaking with. He fit right in.
Chief Lincoln followed my glance. “And he’s just a friend?”
“Why does everyone keep asking about my love life?” I shook my head. “Yes, Chief, just a friend.”
Chief Lincoln chuckled and snapped the leather folio closed over his notepad. “All right, Holly. It was just a question.” He winked and strode across the room to regroup his team.
Nick shook hands with all three officers and they left the shop.
I followed them out and saw that a small crowd had spilled out from the neighboring stores. A buzz of whispers went through the crowd as we all exited. I caught sight of Cassie and Frankie standing on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop. Cassie waved to me and I sauntered over to them while I waited for Nick to finish up.
“What in the world happened?” Cassie asked once I got close enough. “Gretta was just dragged out in handcuffs!”
I looked over at the squad car in the lot and spotted Gretta in the backseat, still ranting and raving. “She just confessed to killing Peg.”
Cassie gasped and slapped her hand against her face to cover her mouth.
“Seriously?” Frankie frowned at the squad car. “Gretta?”
I nodded. “I don’t know how much I can really say, but she confessed and Nick caught it on a recorder.”
“Wow. He must be one helluva PI,” Frankie replied, shaking his head with disbelief.
I didn’t bother to correct him. He didn’t need to know that I was actually the one who had questioned Gretta. It made more sense that Nick was the one to pull the information from her. I didn’t care about getting credit for solving the case. I simply wanted my friend free from the suspects list and the watchful eye of Chief Lincoln. Besides, without Nick there, I might have used Gretta’s trowel trick on her after that crack about redheads.
I smoothed my hand over my ponytail. “I’m just glad it’s over.”
Cassie was still covering her mouth, her eyes wide.
“Cass? You okay?” I asked.
Tears slipped past her thick lashes and rolled over the back of her hand before she peeled it away. She swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m just so relieved. I really thought that I was going to get arrested. I haven’t slept since Peg was killed and they found my shoes in that dumpster.”
Frankie turned to Cassie and clapped her on the back. “I shouldn’t have told them they were your shoes. I’m sorry, Cass.”
She shook her head. “No, Frankie. Don’t say that. I wouldn’t have wanted you to lie.”
He inclined his head. “Well, that’s all behind us now, boss lady.”
Cassie sputtered a laugh through the free flowing tears. “Wow. This nightmare is really over?”
I nodded and wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders. “It’s all over, Cass.”
“Thank you, Holly.”
“For what?” I asked, smiling into her hair.
“For never giving up on me. I don’t know how you did this, but thank you, for whatever you did.”
I squeezed her tighter. “You’re more than welcome.”
Commotion broke free behind me and I turned to see Nick talking to Chief Lincoln as he stood, one leg in his car, ready to slide back behind the wheel. His deputies waved, but their smiles quickly turned to grimaces at the sight of Gretta thrashing in the backseat of their squad car. They both groaned and pulled open their doors.
I turned to Cassie and Frankie. “I’ll be back later today to check in. I want to talk to Nick for a minute and I should probably see if Chief Lincoln needs to ask me anymore questions.”
Cassie nodded. “I should go to the station later and apologize to him for being so short with him the last few times we spoke.”
I gawked at her. “Cass, how can you even say that? He’s been stalking you all over Beechwood Harbor and up until about twenty minutes ago, he was investigating you for a murder charge.”
Cassie’s cheeks tinged a lovely shade of pink. “I shouldn’t have been so rude. After all, he was just doing his job…”
I snapped my fingers in front of her dreamlike expression. “Cass? You in there?”
She laughed and batted my hand away. “Go see Nick. Tell him to come by later. I’ll make him anything he wants, no charge!”
Frankie laughed. “Don’t let Phillip hear you say that.”
Cassie hunched her shoulders and looked behind her, letting out a sigh when she realized Phillip wasn’t among those gathered on the sidewalk. I remembered what Gretta had said about Phillip’s history with Peg. No wonder he was in a hurry to get things settled and get out of town as quickly as possible. He probably wanted nothing more than to get away from the place that reminded him of his vicious sister-in-law and their tumultuous past.
“Okay guys, I’ll catch up with you later.”
I broke away from the group and gently pushed my way through the small crowd and stood beside Nick.
“Thank you, Mr. Rivers. This was a job well done and the BHPD won’t forget your service in helping us solve this case,” Chief Lincoln said, offering Nick his hand.
The two shook hands. “Thank you, Chief Lincoln. I hope you’ll remember me when you have other cases and need an outside pair of eyes. Here’s a stack of my cards.”
I smirked at Chief Lincoln’s expression as he took the cards. “Right, of course. And Holly,” he turned his gaze on me and my heart skittered to a stop. “Don’t go poking around in any more murder investigations. It’s not safe. You could have been seriously injured or worse.”
He obviously had no idea about the gargoyle brawl the other night. Besides, the only reason I hadn’t been able to take care of Gretta all by myself was because Nick wouldn’t leav
e long enough for me to stun her into next week.
I set my arguments aside and offered him an innocent, wide-eyed smile. “Yes, Chief.”
He didn’t look convinced.
After a beat, he gave a polite nod to us each in turn and dropped down into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Nick pocketed his hands. When Chief Lincoln and his deputies were both driving down the road, he turned to me. “That was wild. I went over it with the chief at least three times, and I still don’t know if I fully understand what happened in there.”
I laughed and combed my fingers through the end of my ponytail. “Yeah. Me either.”
“How did you get Gretta to talk like that? I mean that was…that was something else.”
I grinned. “Call it magic.”
He laughed. “Might as well have been.”
“Well, your whole gophers bit worked well.” I flashed him a smile. “Although, I wasn’t aware those little troublemakers ventured to second floor balconies.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “How do you know I live on the second floor? You been spying on me?”
I laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself, Rivers. Your condo address is on your business cards. I figured you had them printed before you moved into your new office.”
“Oh.” He looked down at his shoes for a moment. “Right. I should probably get those reprinted.”
“Might be a good idea.” I nudged him with my elbow. “It was a good piece of improv.”
He laughed. “Thanks. But let’s not do that again, okay?”
“Deal.”
Nick considered me for another long moment, an amused smirk twitching at his lips. “So you’re really not going to tell me, are you?”
“Tell you what?”
“How you knew it was Gretta.”
I shrugged. “I told you, there was a witness.”
Nick glanced past me, scanning the crowd. “Uh huh. And are they here now? I’m sure Chief Lincoln would want to talk to them too.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “They wanted to remain anonymous.”
“Hmm.” Nick scratched his jaw. “And how did you find them, again?”
I cocked my hip. “Listen, Mr. PI, there’s nothing to investigate here, so can we drop the twenty questions thing?”
Nick stared at me for a long moment, his ocean blue eyes searching mine fervently. “Fine. Keep your secrets, Holly.”
“Thanks. I think I will.” I started back down the sidewalk. “Oh, by the way, Cassie says to stop by the shop and she’ll make you anything you want. On the house.”
“I just might take her up on that offer. She makes a pretty killer mocha.” Nick laughed and relief flooded over me. For some reason, he was a hard person to lie to.
“See ya later, Rivers.”
He smirked at me. “Bye, Holly.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
IT WAS SHOCKING how quickly life in Beechwood Harbor returned to normal. Or, at least, as normal as it had ever been. Phillip Tanner left Cassie in charge of Siren’s Song and hightailed it home to Idaho. In the week and a half since her promotion, Cassie had flourished, happier than ever without the fear of being arrested for murder constantly hanging over her head. Word on the street was that she also received a large pay bump from Phillip to keep things running smoothly so that he didn’t have to ever come back to town again.
In the end, I pitied the man. He’d lost his wife to a terrible disease after years plagued by false accusations that couldn’t have made their life easy and then likely spent a small fortune in legal fees, battling his sister-in-law for what was rightfully his. Maybe Gretta was right. Maybe Peg really had been all the things she said. Not that I agreed with the way that Gretta had solved the problem.
With my work life back under control, the only thing left to resolve was back at the manor. Which, was exactly what Posy intended to discuss at the house meeting she organized. On a windy Sunday afternoon, Adam, Lacey, Boots and I all gathered in the sitting room and waited for Posy to show up.
To my surprise, Adam and Lacey were actually being civil to one another, and as I shifted in my seat on one of the tufted chairs, I hoped that Posy would arrive before their temporary peace treaty broke loose again. Boots was tucked against my legs on the other side of the wide chair. I glanced down at him. “Boots, can you go up and check the attic?” I asked, stroking his chin.
He blinked his amber eyes at me slowly and then dropped his chin down to rest on his front paws.
“So, that’s a no?”
Adam chuckled and pushed off of his chair. “I’ll go see what the holdup is. Why a ghost would ever be late is beyond me. I mean, it’s not like she has hair to curl or make-up to put on. You know, all that chick stuff.”
Lacey chucked a pillow at his back and I applauded her throw. “Nice shot.”
“Thanks.” Lacey smiled at me. The sight of it was still somewhat unnerving, but surprisingly, Lacey and I had actually had a few meaningful conversations in the week and a half since she called SPA to rat out Gary for me.
Adam laughed and tossed the pillow back before turning to leave the room.
“He likes you, you know,” she said once he was out of earshot.
I squirmed in my seat. Boots grumbled as I shifted against him, voicing his displeasure with a low sigh. I flicked a glance over at Lacey. “Adam St. James likes women. Or was it chicks?”
Lacey laughed but gave me a knowing smile. “I’m just telling you. When he’s not insulting me about my pageant work, he’s talking about you.”
I sighed. “Bat wings…”
She laughed again, the sound like icicles tinkling together, but before she could add anything, Adam pushed the door open again. He was grinning from ear to ear and I sat up straighter, wondering what in the world had him so happy.
Posy appeared through the door a beat later and solidified as she settled to the left of the mantle on the large, brick fireplace.
Adam lowered back into his original seat, still smiling like a fool.
I arched a brow at him but he didn’t look my way.
Posy cleared her throat to get our attention. “As you all know, Gary got into some trouble with the SPA and was removed from our home a little over a week ago.”
“Thank goodness,” I mumbled under my breath.
Lacey added her agreement.
Posy continued, “SPA agents have already cleared out his belongings and have located a new tenant to take his room.”
I glanced over at Lacey. “Wow. That was fast.”
Adam laughed. “There’s never a shortage of misfits in the supernatural world.”
“Apparently not…” I scoffed.
Posy glared at us. We were clearly stealing her thunder.
“Sorry, Posy,” I hurried to add. “Please continue.”
She gave a thin-lipped smile. “Your new roommate is a witch, like Holly. Her name is Evangeline Loren.”
The doors flapped open of their own accord and a wand-brandishing witch with raven black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a rosy pout came striding into the room. She was dressed in a long sleeved black dress made of carefully crafted lace that showed off a startling amount of skin but strategically covered all of her essentials.
I shot a dirty look at Adam. So that’s what had him grinning like an idiot.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” the witch said, stepping into the center of the room. She smiled wide and revealed a set of perfect, white teeth and it hit me right in between the eyes that I had seen her before.
Evangeline Loren was the star of The Wednesday Witch, an insanely popular supernatural soap opera.
I resisted the urge to bury my face in my hands.
Adam jumped up from his seat and practically tripped over his own feet to get to her. “Let me be the first to welcome you to the Beechwood Manor. I’m Adam St. James. Shifter.”
I glanced over at Lacey, expecting her to be revolted by Adam just as much as I was. Instead, I found her
practically falling out of her chair to race over to Evangeline. “Oh my stars! You’re really her!”
Evangeline smiled warmly, holstered her wand in the sleek leather belt around her waist, and extended her hand to Lacey. “I’m assuming you’ve seen my show.”
“Every episode! At least twice!”
I rolled my eyes and pushed up from my chair. I was ready to make my introductions and get off the welcome wagon. I was all for another witch in the house. Just not one that had a famous TV show. Or that made Adam smile like he just won the lottery…
Was that really so much to ask?
“Nice to meet you, Evangeline. I’m Holly Boldt. I’m also a witch.” I jerked my chin over my shoulder to the chair I vacated. Boots was already sprawled out over the entire cushion. “That’s my familiar, Boots. As you can see, he’s harmless.”
Boots looked up at me with narrowed eyes. I could almost hear him remind me of his part in taking down Gary.
Evangeline laughed, the sound a perfect, melodic string of notes.
Of course.
“My familiar is out flying right now. He’s a hawk. His name is Flurry.”
“Flurry,” I repeated. “Kind of sounds like an ice cream sandwich or something.”
Adam laughed at my joke but Lacey and Posy both shot me cold glares. I shrugged. Can’t win them all.
“I have to get going. But welcome to the manor.”
“Thank you, Holly. I’m sure we’ll find time to chit chat soon enough.”
I nodded, snapped at Boots—which he ignored—and then left the room without him or any of my dignity. A witch that couldn’t even control her familiar. I’m sure Evangeline was thoroughly impressed.
That night, after a long day spent out in the greenhouse, I came inside long enough to shower, change into my favorite hot pink and pineapple pajama set, and trudged to the kitchen to find something to eat for dinner. Boots was standing guard outside, his furry face twisted into an impatient scowl. He yowled as soon as he spotted me.
Murder's a Witch: A Beechwood Harbor Magic Mystery (Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries Book 1) Page 19