A Drop in the Potion

by Constance Barker

  “Forgive me,” Ethan said. “But this is now an active crime scene. I have to ask all of you to leave.”

  Before we could walk out, Mr. Bluth entered. Tall, regal almost, he looked about the room with an almost bemused face.

  “Well, well,” Mr. Bluth said. “No wonder the party seemed a bit subdued. All my guests are up here.”

  “Mr. Bluth,” Ada said. “Could you do us a favor? Would you have Hughes keep everyone in the manor.”

  “I find that unusual,” Mr. Bluth said. “May I ask why?”

  “We have a dead body here, and well, we need to do some investigating,” Ada said. “In which case, we want to interview all the guests. No one can leave.”

  “I’ll see to it,” Mr. Bluth said and left the room.

  As we walked away from the bedroom, we found Mr. Bluth coming toward us. We stopped and let him engage us.

  “Let me apologize,” Mr. Bluth said. “This unpleasantness is most distressing. I hope you're not overly anxious. I assure you that this death is singular in nature, and you are in no danger.”

  “Thank you,” Tessa said. “We feel absolutely safe. And we’ll do what we can to calm the others. But we do hope the process doesn’t take too long.”

  “I’ll do what I can to hurry things along,” Mr. Bluth said. “But I suggest you find a comfortable chair or sofa. The detectives appear to be most thorough. Now, if you'll forgive me, I must join the detectives.”

  “Certainly, Mr. Bluth,” I said. “We will help where we can.”

  We moved along, and as we went, I decided that perhaps, we could use a bit of help. I hadn’t often had the opportunity or need to enchant inanimate objects. But this seemed like a perfect opportunity. As we moved along the hall, I stopped in front of a bust of Edgar Allen Poe, one of my favorite writers of yesteryear.

  “Watch out,” I told Mara and Tessa.

  “Why?” Tessa asked.

  “Just give me a minute,” I said.

  “We’ll watch,” Mara said.

  I moved close to the bust and searched my brain for the spell I wanted.

  “In brightest day

  Or darkest night,

  No one shall escape my sight.

  Ask me when you see me next,

  I will name them without fright.”

  I finished the spell, and the bust’s blind eyes lit up for a moment, just long enough for me to know that the spell had worked. Until I returned, the bust would see and remember anyone who passed. I didn’t know if that would help, but I didn’t think it could hurt. Although, part of me immediately regretted the need to enlist the help. I believed everyone was entitled to their privacy.

  “Do you think Edgar will actually see someone,” Tessa asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But I figure a bust here, a statue there, we’ll gather enough information to possibly help out.”

  “And I’ll start listening,” Mara said. “You never know when someone will let something slip. Maybe we can solve this crime before we leave.”

  Tessa laughed. “Sure, right, not even Sam can solve a murder that fast. Although, Ethan might be able to come up the solution in one night.”

  “You sound like you think he’s some kind of Sherlock Holmes,” Mara said.

  “No, but he can be interesting,” she laughed.

  “Don’t get ahead of yourselves,” I said. “We don’t yet know it’s a murder.”

  I managed to enchant a rather naughty, little statue of Cupid and a bust of Athena before we reached the ballroom where we were immediately beset by Genevive and Allie.

  “What’s going on?” Allie demanded. “We were told we can’t leave.”

  “And it’s still snowing,” Genevive said. “I’m afraid it will snow over Goodsprings tonight too.”

  “Hold your horses,” Tessa said. “Let’s get some punch, and I’ll explain what happened, as far as we know.”

  For a moment, I wondered if the punch had been spiked with some kind of poison that killed Linda Downs. But I quickly threw away that idea. If the punch were spiked, then a lot of guests would be dead by now. We poured ourselves glasses and wandered around until we found a vacant corner in the parlor. The sofa was comfortable, and the girls dragged chairs over. We sipped delicious punch, as Tessa started the telling.

  “First,” Tessa said. “What I tell you stops here. Is that understood?”

  The girls nodded, and I guessed the agreement would last until they found a way to upload a blurb to social media. After all, a murder investigation was as juicy it could get for a teenager.

  “There was a murder,” Tessa said.

  “We think there was a murder,” I corrected.

  “We’re pretty sure it was a murder,” Mara said.

  “Cool,” Allie said. Tessa gave her the side eye.

  “A real dead body?” Genevie asked.

  “Yes, really dead,” Tessa said. “Did you meet Linda Downs?”

  “The realtor?” Allie asked. “She’s awful. She called me a little twerp.”

  “And me a sniveling rabbit,” Genevive added.

  “Well, she’s dead,” Tessa said. “We don’t know how, not exactly, but we suspect it was murder.”

  “What’s going to happen,” I said, “is that the detectives, Ada and Ethan, will question you. It’s perfunctory, and as long as you don’t lie, you’ll be fine. So. Don’t. Lie.” I looked them in the eyes. “Not about tonight or the murder. Of course, magic is out of the question. While they know about us, it is far better that you don’t offer any information, alright?”

  “Hey, I’m not going to tell any secrets,” Allie said.

  Genevive simply shook her head.

  Mara tilted her head to one side, and I suspected she had heard something.

  “Anything, Mara?” I asked.

  “Some interesting things, but nothing about Linda Downs’ death. And I can’t talk about things I hear that I shouldn’t.”

  The evening began to lag. The music stopped. The food grew cold. Ada set up the interviewing in a small TV room. One by one, the guests answered Ada’s questions, and given the number of guests, the process was tedious and time consuming. Ethan spent the next few hours prowling around the house, looking for any clue he could find. I tried to keep an open mind and not fall asleep, although I needed the sleep. My shop had to open in the morning. I needed to stay awake while the blenders were running. The worst part was that no one was allowed to leave until everyone had been questioned. I had hoped, as had most of us, that we could leave as soon as we had talked to Ada or Ethan.

  Allie and Genevive were called before the rest of us. They didn’t stay long, as they didn’t know anything, and they had no relationship with Linda. Tessa went before Mara, and they both returned after a few minutes. Since they had been with me when the body was found, they were presumed innocent. I was the last of the coven to enter the small TV room. Ethan had joined Ada, and they both looked more fatigued than I felt. I wished we were in town, as I could have blended up some tonics that would give us a boost.

  “This won’t take long,” Ada said. “We’re pretty sure that you had nothing to do with the death, but we must be thorough. If we aren’t, some clever lawyer will dream up a fable where you were somehow capable of murdering Linda Downs. So, let’s start with the obvious. Tell us why you were on the second floor, and how you found the body.”

  “You remember what happened with Lily, correct?”

  Their pale faces twisted with a bit of pain. Lily had almost killed them.

  “Well,” I continued, “we ran into a bit of black magic in the manor, and we were looking around to make sure that had been eliminated. We came to the room where the body was, and we went in. As soon as we discovered that she was dead, we sent for you.”

  Ada nodded. “We thought as much.”

  “If you don’t mind,” Ethan said. “I’d like to show you a bit of surveillance video.”

  “Surveillance?” I asked. “I didn’t know the manor
had cameras.”

  “It’s a new system, and while it’s video only, no sound, we think it’s interesting.”

  Ethan flipped on the TV and hit a button on a remote. A camera shot straight down the hall appeared on the screen. I watched, wondering how I had managed to miss the camera.

  On the screen, Linda Downs appeared, and she walked directly to the bedroom, opened the door, and went in. Ethan paused the video.

  “That’s Linda Downs, and as you can see, she’s all alone. She went directly to the room where you found her.” Ethan hit another button. “I’m going to speed up the video in order to save time.”

  I watched as the time stamp at the bottom of the screen ran through the numbers. Not too fast, but faster than real time. After a few seconds, the coven appeared—Tessa, Mara, and me. We walked to the end of the hall, to the tall doors of the master bedroom. Ethan paused the tape.

  “Just as you said, you stopped at the master bedroom.”

  He started the tape again, showing the three witches coming back to the bedroom door. On the tape, Tessa could be seen saying something. While I knew Tessa was reciting her unlocking spell, I couldn’t let Ethan know that.

  “She was making some kind of joke,” I said. “You know Tessa.”

  “Indeed, I do.”

  The coven disappeared into the bedroom, and Ethan stopped the tape.

  “Notice anything odd?” Ethan asked.

  “Not really,” I said, playing dumb.

  “We see Linda Downs go in. Then, we see you three go in. And what we don’t see is someone going in after Linda and before you. So, who killed Linda Downs?”

  I knew Ethan and Ada were stumped, but then, so was I. I had no idea how anyone could have entered the bedroom and murdered Linda. Not from the hall entrance.

  “Wait,” I said. “If no one came down the hall, how about a window?”

  Ada shook her head. “All locked. We checked. We even looked for trick windows. You know, the kind that appear locked but really aren’t. Not a thing. There was no way into that room except through the hall door.”

  I absorbed that information, and it was hard to understand. How in the world was Linda murdered?

  “Thank you,” Ada said. “You’re one of the last. Everyone will be released soon”

  “That’s good,” I said. “Allie and Genevive are napping, if you can call it that. Tessa is getting more short-tempered. Mara is about to slip away when no one is looking.”

  “Just a while longer,” Ethan said. “Tell Tessa.”

  “I’ll pass it along,” I said.

  And I did tell Tessa, who snorted and rolled her eyes. We were approaching the dawn, and tempers were short. I did a quick walk through the first floor, looking for Mr. Bluth. I wanted to thank him for a wonderful party, even if it did turn into a murder. But Mr. Bluth was nowhere around. Before I could wonder about that, Ethan appeared and told everyone that they could leave. He thanked us for our cooperation and ignored the grumbling as everyone filed out.

  “I hope you solve the case,” Tessa said as she passed Ethan.

  “We’ll do our best,” Ethan answered.

  Snow filtered past as we piled into Tessa’s vehicle. It took several minutes to clear the windows, but we hardly noticed. We were too tired. My eyelids wanted to close, but I couldn’t let Tessa navigate the road back to Goodsprings alone. Of course, it was snowing in Goodsprings too. If Genevive had been awake, I would have said a word or two to her. The snow was long past its “best-use” date. For the coven, it was becoming an embarrassment. Other covens easily recognized a spell gone haywire.

  I trudged into my house an hour before I was due to leave. There was no time for even a nap. I showered, changed, and fixed a morning tonic, chock full of energy-enriched foods. As I stepped out my house, the snow had stopped. Yet, a blanket waited for me. My poor bike seemed utterly inadequate. But it had to do. David was waiting for me.

  David was still in his party clothes, as he had not had time to go to his house and change. He was nothing but dependable. I told him that if he made it through lunch, he could leave right after. I didn’t think I would have much of an afternoon crowd. Everyone would be too tired.

  “So,” David said as he readied the blenders. “Is it a ghost?”

  Chapter 10

  “Is what a ghost?”

  “The murderer. Was that woman murdered by a ghost?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “Who’s saying that?”

  “Well, some of the people at the party thought it had to be the ghost of Amelia Windermere who returned to reclaim the manor.”

  “Why would they think that?”

  “Because no one was seen entering the room before the body was found. Only an invisible ghost could sneak into the room.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think it was the ghost of Amelia. I don’t think it was a ghost at all.”

  “I’m just saying what a lot of folks are saying. After all, the manor was sold right after she died.”

  I could have argued with David, but my knowledge of ghosts was limited. Still, I didn’t see where Amelia would have a problem with Linda Downs. Amelia might not like Mr. Bluth much, but I couldn’t see why Linda Downs would be a target.

  David and I blended up a wave of morning, pick-me-up smoothies. Since virtually everyone in Goodsprings had been at the party, they all needed something that would power them through the day. Coffee was one way, but the smoothies were better. I smiled as I served, and they smiled as they walked out. The town had to run despite the party and the snow. Luckily, the sun was shining, which would melt the snow and buoy attitudes.

  “My lord,” Phineas said as he stood in front of me. “This nightly snow is getting tedious. I was hoping for a respite.” Chuckles popped its head from the bag and eyed me, as if it knew the snow came from the coven.

  “I hear you and agree,” I said. “It is worse than tedious. It’s getting dangerous. What will you have, something filled with energy?”

  “I certainly could use that, but I’ve done so well on wheatgrass, that I’m loathe to change. So, Wheatgrass, it is.”

  Phineas took his smoothie and his rooster to the back of the shop. I knew both of them missed the patio. I did too. But the snow was just too much.

  Four out of the next five customers mentioned Amelia’s ghost as Linda Down’s murderer. I tried my best to reason them out of that opinion, but they were convinced. If no flesh-and-blood human had entered the room, how else could the woman be killed? It made sense, in a blinkered sort of way. The fifth customer didn’t agree with the other four. The fifth claimed the murderer was a...

  Vampire.

  “What?” I said. “A vampire?”

  “Figure it out,” the woman said. “No one shows up on the video. Why? Because vampires don’t appear in mirrors, or photos, or videos. They’re invisible. So, it had to be a vampire.”

  “There are no vampires in Goodsprings,” I said. “If there were, don’t you think you’d find some bodies drained of blood?”

  “I’d say he hasn’t been here long enough to leave many bodies.”

  “Who?”

  The woman smiled and whispered. “Mr. Bluth.”

  By lunch, I had heard several discussions where people argued ghost versus vampire. People were choosing sides, and that wasn’t a good thing. Half of the people touted Amelia, the ghost, while the other half backed Mr. Bluth, the vampire. I didn’t like how things were going. I needed help to ward off the arguments and the mobs they could energize.

  “I’m going to run to the grill,” I called to David. “Can you handle things?”

  “Don’t be too long. I’m starting to run dry.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  The grill was only half-full. I guessed people were too exhausted to eat. Tessa stood behind the counter, and she looked ready to keel over. I could barely see her eyes.

  “Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”

  Tessa shook her head. �
�About what?”

  “About the murder. Have you been listening?”

  “I have. And I say it’s a ghost-vampire.” Tessa shrugged.

  “That’s not funny,” I said. “We need to nix this sort of talk. It can’t be good for the town or us.”

  “I agree. I’ll do what I can. But most of my customers are hard headed. Not sure where that comes from.”

  Yeah, me either.

  “You’ll call Mara?”

  Tessa nodded. “If I can keep from yawning.”

  “Good. Let’s get it done today. Let’s put out this fire before it burns us.”

  As soon as I returned to my shop, I sent David home. He had reached the point where he nodded “yes” to anything that was said to him. Punch drunk. After he left, I waited around for any after-work demand. One person stopped in, and he seemed woozy. I closed up early. I, too, had reached the point where I was doing the same thing over and over. My brain simply slowed. It needed sleep.

  I walked my bike home. As I passed the protective hedge, I felt a relief that I found hard to describe. I didn’t bother with dinner. My bed called to me. I promised myself that things would be better the next day. I was certain that the citizens of Goodsprings would be completely sane after a good night’s sleep.

  And I was completely wrong.

  About the arguments.

  Not about the snow.

  Which greeted me with a fresh coating as I stepped out of my house. My consternation almost made me scream. What was Genevive DOING?!

  DAVID MET ME WITH A smoothie as soon as I walked into the shop.

  “I am so close,” he said. “Try this.”

  The smoothie looked on fire, all red and frothy at the top. It looked like something from the fourth ring of hell. But it didn’t taste all that bad. In fact, it has a smooth texture and a hint of mint.

  “Not bad,” I said. “But the color?”

  “There are tradeoffs,” he laughed. “But it’s closer.”

  “Indeed, it is.”

  If I thought the vampire versus ghost battle was winding down, I was sadly mistaken. It seemed the ruckus grew by the minute, and I had no way to predict how each good neighbor would vote. The only person who seemed above the fray was Phineas, whose complaint was about the weather, not the murder. I was in full agreement, but the weather would have to take a back seat to the killing. I needed to solve that before the town drew a line down Main street and relegated people to left or right, depending on their opinion. It was time to take some control.