A Witchy Valentine (Harper Grant Mystery Series Book 4)

by D. S. Butler

  With Monty hovering beside me, I wheeled my grocery cart up to John and his wife.

  John carried a wire basket full of healthy-looking foods.

  “Hello again,” I said brightly.

  John gave me a nervous smile, and his wife, Lucille, blinked at me as though she’d never met me before.

  That was a little awkward.

  “I’m Harper Grant, I reminded her. “We met the other day when I came to your house to talk to John.”

  Lucille sneered as she remembered who I was. “Oh, yes. I remember.”

  She turned to her husband and snapped, “Don’t be long, John. I want to get home as soon as possible. I can feel a migraine coming on.”

  “Yes, dear,” John said watching his wife as she strode away from us.

  She stopped beside the milk and reached down to pick up a carton.

  “What an irritating woman. I don’t know how John puts up with her,” Monty said as he frowned at John’s wife’s bony frame crouched beside the milk.

  I noticed, despite standing in the chilled section of the store, John was sweating. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand and then smiled again nervously. “Well, it was nice to see you. But I really should…” He gestured to his wife.

  “Before you go,” I said. “I wanted to ask you something. I had a visit from Laura earlier, and she seems very upset. Do you know what could be upsetting her?”

  John studied me closely. “What did she say?”

  “Not very much really. But her behavior was quite odd. She seemed to be afraid of someone…or something.”

  John pondered my words for a moment. “I know she had a run in with Barbara the other day. Barbara can be a little stern, and Laura is quite sensitive.”

  I hadn’t pegged Laura as sensitive, at all. I felt sorry for her because she was obviously afraid of something, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t see how calculating she was.

  “Hurry up, John,” Lucille called out in an imperious tone as she stood at the end of the aisle.

  “Coming, dear,” John replied and then turned back to me. “Don’t worry, Harper. I’ll have a word with Laura and see if I can’t find out what’s bothering her. I will do my best to reassure her.”

  He scampered off after his wife like a little puppy.

  After we had departed the grocery store, I left the bags in the trunk, figuring the groceries would be fine for a while because it was so cold today, and then we finally went looking for Laura. I had so many questions for her.

  But we were out of luck.

  She wasn’t at the beauty salon, and she wasn’t at home.

  Unfortunately, the grumpy old man who lived next door to Laura was home, and he accused me of loitering and threatened to call the Sheriff’s office. I was starting to really dislike him.

  I’d given up hope of finding Laura. We were slowly walking back to the grocery store to collect Jess’s car when a small, red convertible careered along the High Street and screeched around the corner into Laura’s street. I shot the car and the driver a look of irritation but didn’t see much more than a red blur as it passed.

  “That was Laura,” Monty said, whirling around.

  I turned to see if he was right, but the car was long gone. I looked at Monty but didn’t dare talk to him in the middle of the High Street. There were plenty of people around to notice my odd behavior.

  “I am sure it was her,” Monty said. “Maybe she was going home. She was heading in that direction.”

  I turned around and marched back the way we’d come. If Laura had gone home, then I intended to talk to her.

  Monty zoomed on ahead of me, and I tried to walk at a steady pace and not draw any unnecessary attention to myself.

  As we got closer to Laura’s townhouse, I put a hand up to hide my face, hoping Laura’s angry neighbor wouldn’t spot me again. The last thing I needed was for him to call Officer Tardy and have to explain why I wanted to talk to Laura.

  I’d managed to get one over on Officer Tardy the night we broke into Monty’s house, but I didn’t think it would be quite so easy to fool him again. As I followed Monty across the street, I saw that Laura’s trunk was open.

  I thought, at first, she was unloading groceries, but then she appeared at the front door and walked down the steps with a big cardboard box full of miscellaneous items.

  There were a few framed photos, an ornamental vase and a collection of DVDs.

  She saw me before I reached her and a look of panic crossed her face. Ignoring me, she shoved the box into her trunk and then stalked back inside her house.

  I quickened my pace, fearing she was about to slam the door shut and refuse to talk to me, but she came out again. This time, lugging a huge suitcase.

  “I think she’s going to make a run for it,” Monty said. “You have to stop her!”

  And just how was I supposed to do that?

  “Laura, is everything all right? You worried me earlier, and I wanted to come and check on you.”

  “I just need to get away for a few days,” Laura said and slammed the trunk.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea in the middle of a murder investigation. You were a witness. What if Officer Tardy or Chief Wickham want to talk to you? Have you left them a forwarding address?”

  Laura turned and snarled at me. “What’s it to you? It’s none of your business.”

  She turned around and stalked up the steps into her house.

  I let out a long breath and exchanged a look with Monty.

  This was serious.

  I couldn’t let her just leave. I quickly glanced in the front of her car, wondering if I dared snatch the keys and delay her for a little while so I could get help, but they weren’t in the ignition. She must have had them inside the house or in her pocket.

  I pulled out my cell phone.

  “Who are you calling?” Monty asked.

  I didn’t want to make this call, but the way I saw it, I didn’t have any other choice. Yes, it was going to get me in trouble, and I was probably going to regret it. But I couldn’t let Laura escape if she had some important information relevant to Monty’s murder case.

  When the administration assistant answered the phone in the Sheriff’s Office, I asked to speak to Deputy McGrady. It was a toss-up between speaking to him or Chief Wickham, and I hoped Joe would go a little easier on me.

  When I heard Joe’s voice, I immediately launched into an explanation.

  “Now, don’t get mad, but I am outside Laura Carmichael’s house now, and she is packing up, ready to leave. I am sure she knows something about Monty’s murder. You have to get here before she leaves Cherrytown.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment, I wondered whether I’d lost the cell phone signal.

  “Hello, Joe, are you still there?”

  His reply was practically a growl.

  “I don’t believe this,” he said with an icy tone. “What is wrong with you? Why can’t you stay out of police business?”

  “I…um, I know this looks bad...but Laura actually came to find me and—”

  “Enough, Harper. I don’t have time to listen to your excuses. I’m really disappointed.”

  And then he hung up.

  Shocked, I stared at my cell phone. I hadn’t expected him to react warmly, but he’d been so abrupt and cold.

  I gestured with my hand to show Monty we should leave, and with my shoulders slumped, feeling sorry for myself, I walked up the street, heading back to the car.

  “I take it Deputy McGrady gave you quite a ticking off?” Monty asked.

  I couldn’t respond verbally, of course, but I gave Monty a small nod.

  I was fighting a losing battle. All I wanted to do was help, and I just ended up making Joe mad at me. Of course, he couldn’t understand the real reason I wanted to solve Monty’s murder.

  I was feeling pretty miserable when I got home, but Monty tried his best to cheer me up as he chatted away about his fajita re
cipe. I noticed he was better at interacting with solid objects now. He even passed me the vegetables.

  As I chopped the large peppers and the onion, I felt tears well in my eyes. Although there may have been a few tears of self-pity threatening to fall, I dismissed my watery, red eyes as a reaction to the onion.

  By the time Jess got home, we had the fajita spices and chicken sizzling in the pan, and I had to admit it smelled pretty good.

  Jess dumped her bag on the floor and shrugged off her coat before calling out to me.

  “That smells delicious! You’ll have to tell us about any other recipes you know, Monty.”

  I pulled a face. Jess had guessed that Monty had given me the recipe, but I didn’t care. If it tasted good, that was all that mattered.

  After Jess washed up and came back downstairs, we gathered around the table to eat.

  Poor Monty licked his lips as he looked at the chicken fried with spices, peppers and onions.

  I put a dollop of sour cream on top of my tortilla and began to load it up. “Are you seeing Pete for a Valentine’s date tomorrow?” I asked.

  “Maybe,” Jess said mopping up some escaped sauce with her tortilla. “I’m not sure yet. Hopefully, he’ll be feeling up to it, but he hasn’t really wanted to go out in public since his arrest.”

  I nodded. That was understandable.

  I told Jess all about Laura’s strange behavior and the fact that she’d been trying to make a run for it when we arrived at her house earlier. I omitted to mention how angry Joe had been with me, though.

  I was a little embarrassed and felt guilty for letting him down. But I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Either I could do what Joe McGrady wanted and stay out of the investigation, or I could try to help Monty. Maybe all I should be doing was keeping Monty company until he could pass on. No doubt, Chief Wickham and Joe would find the killer eventually. Was I kidding myself to think I could solve it before the professionals?

  I reached for another tortilla as Jess reached for her fourth.

  “Wow. You were hungry. I thought I was going to have leftovers for tomorrow.”

  Jess scowled at me. “I eat when I’m upset. You know that. Besides, why do you need leftovers? Don’t you have plans for tomorrow night? Hasn’t the dreamy deputy asked you out?”

  She was only teasing, but after this afternoon, it hit a bit too close to home.

  I shrugged and put my half-eaten tortilla back on my plate. “I don’t even think he’s talking to me at the moment.”

  “That is all my fault. I really am sorry, Harper,” Monty said giving me an apologetic smile.

  “Don’t blame yourself, Monty. I am always getting into trouble with Deputy McGrady and Chief Wickham. If it wasn’t over this, I am sure they’d find another reason to be mad at me.”

  After dinner, Jess helped me with the dishes and then went off for a bath. I sat by the fire with Smudge curled up on my lap and my spell book open next to me.

  Monty peered over my shoulder, reading the spells and pulling faces.

  “Can you really do this stuff?”

  I shook my head. “No, that’s the problem. I am supposed to be able to do it. Any new witch would be able to cope with the spells, but I just can’t seem to keep them in my head long enough.”

  “I have an idea,” Monty said grinning at me. “For your next exam, I can come with you, and you can scrawl the answers all over my skin.”

  I couldn’t help laughing but said disapprovingly, “Monty, that would be cheating.”

  “I’d like to call it using your initiative.”

  I grinned at him.

  His expression changed then, and his eyes grew serious as he said, “It’s good to see you smile, Harper. I hate to think I’m messing up your life.”

  I shook my head. “You’re not. Not at all. I want to help you, and if that means upsetting Chief Wickham and Joe McGrady, then I am willing to suffer the consequences.”

  Monty smiled at me a little doubtfully and then said, “I wonder if they caught up with Laura.”

  “I hope so.”

  But I knew I wouldn’t hear about it directly from Joe or Chief Wickham.

  I would have to wait for the news to spread around Abbot Cove’s gossip network. Still, I’d done all I could, and hopefully, Chief Wickham and Joe would be able to get Laura to reveal whatever secret she was hiding. Then we would be one step closer to finding Monty’s killer.

  Chapter 27

  I was curled up on the couch with a hot chocolate, and Jess was still in the bath, when I heard a hammering at our front door.

  I’d already locked up for the evening and couldn’t think who would be calling this late at night. Smudge leaped up from my lap and walked casually over to the front door to investigate.

  “It is late for a social call,” Monty commented.

  I nodded, agreeing with him. “I wonder who it could be.”

  Part of me hoped it might be Joe, coming by to smooth things over between us in person.

  But when I opened the front door, I saw Grandma Grant standing on the doorstep.

  She had her hair tied back in its usual bun, but her skin was shiny with night cream, and underneath her heavy winter coat, she was wearing her nightgown.

  I quickly ushered her inside, out of the cold night air. “What’s wrong?”

  Grandma Grant put a hand to her chest. “I had to tell you in person. I only just heard the news myself. I think Abbot Cove’s gossip network is losing its touch. Five years ago, the news wouldn’t have taken this long to reach me.”

  Monty hovered above my grandmother, looking down at her and frowning. “What is she talking about, Harper?”

  That was a good question.

  I had no idea.

  Grandma Grant kicked off her snowshoes and waddled across to the fire to warm herself. Smudge greeted her by winding her way around Grandma Grant’s ankles.

  “So, what’s the news? It has to be something big for you to come over here in your nightgown.”

  Grandma Grant rubbed her hands together in front of the fire.

  “Give me a minute to catch my breath,” she scolded.

  I pulled back one of the drapes and looked outside. Grandma Grant’s beat up truck was parked a few yards away.

  “It is not like you ran all the way. You drove. Why do you need to get your breath back?”

  Grandma Grant pinched her lips together and then said, “Well, it was quite a shock. I just heard from Melody Simmons that Laura Carmichael is in the hospital.”

  My jaw dropped open, and Monty looked even more shocked than I felt.

  “What happened to her?” I asked at the same time as Monty asked, “Is she going to be okay?”

  Grandma Grant leaned down to pick up Smudge and stroked the cat softly behind the ears. “She has a head injury and hypothermia. She was found washed up on the shoreline a couple of hours ago. Old Bob was walking his Labrador, Tiny, and he found her passed out on the beach.

  I couldn’t believe it. I’d only spoken to Laura a short time ago. “Did she try to harm herself?”

  Grandma Grant shook her head. “I don’t think so. The police are treating it as attempted murder.”

  Monty sucked in a startled breath and then said, “Oh, poor Laura. I had started to suspect she was involved in my murder. I feel terrible now.”

  “Do you know if Chief Wickham or Joe managed to talk to Laura beforehand?” I asked Grandma Grant.

  I hadn’t heard from Joe since I passed on the news that Laura was planning to leave the area.

  Grandma Grant shrugged. “I don’t know. But she is not talking to anyone now that’s for sure. She is in a medically-induced coma because of her head injury.”

  I put a hand to my forehead, struggling to get things straight in my mind. Poor Laura. She’d been so scared and jumpy, and now it was clear she had good reason to be.

  Monty hovered beside me in stunned silence, and the only noise in the room was Smudge purring.

&n
bsp; I stood beside Grandma Grant and stared into the fire. It had died down a little now, but there was something hypnotic and relaxing about looking at the flames and glowing embers.

  “I wonder if John Gastineau spoke to Laura,” I said, thinking aloud. “When Monty and I ran into him at the grocery store, he told me he was going to talk to her.”

  Grandma Grant frowned. “John Gastineau. Isn’t he the henpecked husband?”

  I nodded slowly. “Yes, but appearances can be deceiving.”

  “Do you think John did this to Laura?” Monty asked, frowning.

  I shrugged. “It makes sense. I told him that Laura was acting strangely and panicking… And you were there when he told me he’d pay her a visit to reassure her.”

  Monty pulled a face. “I can’t see John harming Laura. They got on well.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “How well?”

  Grandma Grant waved a hand in front of my face. “I wish you wouldn’t do that. Remember I can’t hear the other side of the conversation.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “Monty thinks it’s unlikely that John would have harmed Laura because they got along well.”

  Grandma Grant nodded and pondered that point for a moment before asking, “Is there any way you can find out if he did go and speak to Laura?”

  I shrugged. “I suppose I could ask Chief Wickham?”

  Grandma Grant grimaced. “I am not sure he’d appreciate that. I think he’d prefer you to stay away from all of the suspects.”

  I knew Grandma Grant had a point, but I was determined to ignore it. “Yes, but I ran into John at the grocery store. That was hardly my fault, and Laura came looking for me at the diner.”

  “I’m not sure Chief Wickham will see it like that.”

  “Maybe you’re right. I’ll try Joe. He’s already mad at me, so how much worse can it be?”

  I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Joe’s number.

  When he answered, I quickly apologized for calling so late.