Graves and Goons (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 4)

by Constance Barker

  “Who knows,” Celestial said meanderingly before she changed the subject.. “So, anyway, I was looking at this quilt …” The two chatted for a couple of hours, meandering between details about the newest items Meredith had in and some of Celestial’s latest projects. Celestial was relieved Meredith’s attention could so easily be swayed away from the murders. Twilight set in.

  “Well,” said Celestial, “this has been great, but I better get going before it gets any darker outside.”

  She waved her goodbyes to Meredith and Ashley and started making her way home. Thoroughly out of sight of the B&B, Celestial pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Nikoli.

  “Nikoli,” she said as soon as he answered, “I think you ought to look into Reverend James Younger. He was at Jayne’s house the morning of the murders.”

  Chapter 7

  “Did you hear what she said?”

  “I know! She might as well turn herself in.”

  “To do it so blatantly, too. I mean, poison? What an awful way to go.”

  “I agree. I just can’t believe someone like that lives in our town.”

  Once one person had mentioned that Jayne, Jolene, Gladys, and Mariah might have been poisoned, nearly everyone in town took the information and had their own spin on it. The story evolved as it changed hands, as rumors are wont to do, but one detail remained consistent: Sofia poisoned the victims with her special honey.

  Sofia had been released after being in custody and being questioned. The police didn’t have a full case against her but they weren’t accusing her of anything yet. Sofia held her head high, though, confident in her innocence But constant harassment would wear down even the strongest of people--supernatural or otherwise. Luckily not everyone in town was receptive to small-minded gossip and Mikel, the owner of the local bakery, was one of them. The cat-shapeshifting baker knew that he and his supernatural kin were stronger together, and bad press could annihilate a small business like Sofia’s.

  When Sofia entered the bakery on Friday, Mikel pledged to himself he wouldn’t bring up anything related to the LMS or their sudden drop in membership.

  “Sofia, welcome! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing a beauty such as yourself today?”

  “Thank you, Mikel,” Sofia responded, blushing. “It’s lovely to see you. I was hoping you might have some cakes premade? I’m going to a birthday party this evening and it would be absolutely perfect to bring something from the best bakery in the state.”

  “You’re in luck,” Mikel cheerfully replied, confident in Sofia’s complimentary words. He had a well-deserved pride in his work. “I have four cakes made, and you get to pick your favorite of the lot. It’s these, in the case here.” Mikel gestured to the cakes arranged on the racks and began explaining the flavor options.

  “Actually, Mikel,” Sofia interjected, “I’ll go with this one, in the front. It’s absolutely beautiful; the great taste is a bonus.” Sofia and Mikel giggled together. She was happy to be free of accusations for the first time all week.

  Their mirth was quickly disrupted, however, by the obnoxious entry of three women into the bakery.

  “Hi ladies, welcome in,” said Mikel, always a model of customer service. “If you don’t mind, I’m just finishing up with Sofia here and then …” He trailed off: the women smirked and approached the counter, but their attention was solely on Sofia.

  “Well, would you look who it is,” said the fiery redhead in the lead. “Sir?” She spoke to Mikel, but her eyes never veered from Sofia’s. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but you have a criminal in your store. I surely don’t think you want to serve someone so vile.”

  “Now, listen, if you’re going to speak that way then--” Mikel attempted to defend Sofia, but she cut him off before he could get any further.

  “It’s all right, Mikel.” Sofia turned to more directly face her accusers. They all had the nastiest smirks on their faces as if they were royalty, bemused by speaking down to a peasant like her.

  The redhead responded. “See? She might as well admit it. I mean, everyone knows it was her honey that poisoned them.”

  “Actually,” Sofia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know that. I just don’t think Mikel needs to bother with idiotic drivel like this.”

  The redhead’s face fell and the three stood in stunned silence. One of the other women, a thin, bespectacled brunettee, spoke up:

  “Idiotic? Our friends were poisoned. We know they all ate your honey before they died, and we know you fought with them just before. But still, murder? How could you do something so awful?”

  Sofia turned her attention to the brunettee, taking notice of the small diamond cross around her neck. “Yes, idiotic. Why on Earth would I poison anyone with the product I make a living from? If I really wanted to kill someone, I’d be better off using a knife; at least that wouldn’t hurt my business the way these rumors have.”

  A hush fell over the group as the gears in their minds turned, considering the soundness of Sofia’s argument.

  “Listen, ladies,” Sofia broke the silence. “I understand you want someone to blame, but maybe your energy would be better spent on some self-reflection. You might find more sinners in the midst of the Ladies Morality Society than you want to admit.”

  The group, aghast at Sofia’s chiding remarks, scowled before huffily leaving. Sofia returned her attention to Mikel as he inexpertly stifled a giggle.

  “Wow, Sofia,” he smiled, “you handled that better than I ever could have. Maybe your suggestion will open up their closed minds.”

  “One can only hope,” Sofia responded. She’d managed to keep her cool, but that didn’t make the accusation sting any less.

  Noticing her distress, Mikel changed the subject, “So, what’s the birthday girl’s name? Do you want me to write something on the cake for her?”

  ・・・

  At six, Mikel closed up shop and began heading home, but he made a quick stop at Herbal Heaven first.

  “Oh, hi Mikel,” greeted Celestial. “Do you already need more of that frankincense oil? I thought that vial would’ve lasted you at least a month.”

  “Thanks, Celestial,” he responded, “but I’m actually here to talk to you about Sofia.”

  “What about her,” questioned Celestial as she approached from behind the counter.

  “I’m just a little worried about her. She was in the bakery today. These women came in and had the audacity to call her a murderer to her face!”

  Celestial put a hand on Mikel’s shoulder. “It’s super sweet of you to worry. I can’t imagine what she must be feeling. How did she react?”

  “With the grace of a saint,” Mikel praised. “Obviously, she was bothered, but Sofia kept a level head. Instead of being catty back, she suggested the women look inward at themselves and their beloved LMS.”

  “Hmm,” Celestial considered. “Sofia might be onto something. I wonder who in the LMS--or in the whole town, for that matter--might not be as pious and moral as they claim.”

  Chapter 8

  Celestial leaned over the counter and stared at the order book wondering if she had enough rose petals to make another batch of ‘Rosy Cheeks’ face cream.

  Something caught her eye to her left and she stood to see Tamara fluttering in through the window before changing into her human form.

  Tamara smiled and placed both hands on Celestial’s shoulders. “I come bearing news.”

  “Do you mean news or gossip?”

  Tamara took her hands away and shrugged her shoulders. “Gossip that will be news to you!” she said with a laugh.

  Celestial turned to face her. “Go on then, hit me with it.”

  “I was flying around the cemetery as I often do and decided to land on my favourite headstone when I overheard a couple of women talking about the deaths of those ladies from the LMS. Anyway,” she continued leaning in closer, “it seems that our keeper of the moral high ground, Reverend James Younger, was having a fling with Mariah Knight.�
��

  Celestial’s eyebrows shot into her hairline and her mouth formed a perfect O. “You are kidding? Wasn’t Mariah married?”

  “Yes she was. Can you believe it? That pompous oaf who preaches about how we are all sinners was in flagrante with someone’s wife!”

  “So how did that happen? Did they know each other well?”

  Tamara made a face. “I expect they knew each other very well,” she said with a wink.

  Celestial shook her head. “No I mean how did they get close?”

  “Oh, I think she used to help out at the church. They were good friends apparently. Then they were more than friends.”

  “Do you know if Mariah’s husband found out about them?”

  “Oh yes, Mr Knight stormed up to the church last week and I’m not sure how the conversation went as they were the only two there but I do know it ended with Mr Knight punching the Reverend in the eye.”

  Celestial placed both hands over her mouth to cover a giggle. “Oh my goodness; did Mariah stick with her husband?”

  “Yes, apparently they switched to another church.”

  “I can’t believe it. I would love to have a nose around their house. Let’s face it...Mr Knight is going to be suspect number one.”

  Tamara screwed up her face. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Celestial.”

  “I suppose not. He’s probably there anyway.”

  Tamara bit her bottom lip.

  “What? Come on Tamara, what aren’t you telling me?”

  “Well, I did hear them say that Mr. Knight was so distraught he was going to stay at his mother’s house.”

  Celestial smiled and Tamara rolled her eyes.

  ***

  Celestial arrived inside the house in a puff of sulphur-smelling mist, followed shortly by Tamara. They were in the Knight’s kitchen which was very modern with shiny red cupboards.

  “Right,” began Celestial, “I think the best place to start looking is the bedroom and maybe we could sort through all the bins in case Mr. Knight threw away any evidence.”

  Tamara curled her lip. “Can we check the bedroom first?”

  Celestial didn’t bother replying as she was already walking out of the kitchen. “Most people have a secret place they like to keep things. Maybe we can find something that will help with the investigation.”

  They made their way up the stairs which led to a large landing. There were four bedrooms but they decided to search the master bedroom first. It was decorated in a modern style with lavender walls and contrasting bed cover and throw. There was a wardrobe to the left of the bed and an inbuilt cupboard door on the right next to the ensuite bathroom. Celestial chose the cupboard on the right.

  “Tamara I’m going to check in here. Could you check that cupboard and see if there are any loose floorboards under this rug?”

  Tamara nodded and got to work.

  Celestial felt around the inside of the cupboard for a switch. Something brushed the back of her hand; it was a hanging switch. She pulled it illuminating the 5 x 6 foot space. There was a rack of coats along the right wall and a stack of boxes on the floor. To the left was a small rail of dresses and above them a shelf with more boxes. Celestial began opening each box, starting with the one that was pushed to the very back of the cupboard and had a lock on the front.

  She tugged at the lid but it was locked. The box was only made of strong cardboard but she didn’t want to let anyone know they had been there so she held her hands over the lock and concentrated. The lid popped open.

  Inside the box was a newspaper cutting of when Mariah was little and had won an award at the science fair. There was a diary, which Celestial flicked through but realised it was Mariah’s dairy from when she was a teenager. Then she saw them, tucked under a swimming certificate – a bunch of letters tied with a pink ribbon.

  Her heart was beating loudly in her chest as she opened the first letter and read the first line. My dear Mariah, It has only been a day but my heart is struggling to beat without you . . .

  Celestial skipped down to the signature, it read: yours always, James.

  There was a thud in the bedroom.

  “Tamara is that you? Are you alright?” Celestial opened the door a little wider so she could see. Tamara had fallen over trying to lift the heavy rug to check the floorboards.

  “I need help with this rug,” she said before noticing the letters in Celestial hand. She stood and placed her hands on her hips.

  Celestial looked down at her hand. “Oh, sorry, yes I’ve found some letters from the Reverend to Mariah. Sorry.”

  Before Tamara could say anything, Stella and Bella’s heads appeared through the bedroom door.

  “Get out! The Rev is at the front door checking under the mat!”

  Celestial looked at Tamara. “He must be looking for the letters,” she said frantically switching off the cupboard light.

  The next thing they heard was footsteps on the stairs.

  Chapter 9

  Tamara and Celestial slid into the bathroom and hid in the laundry closet. It was incredibly tight so Tamara morphed back into her butterfly form and perched on Celestial’s shoulder.

  Luckily, the cupboard was made of slatted wood so they could just see part of the bedroom as they hadn’t had time to close the bathroom door.

  The bedroom door opened slowly and in walked Reverend James Younger. He had a habit of picking at his beard whenever he was in a stressful situation. Celestial had seen it many times when watching him give sermons on the street or if he was ever challenged.

  Celestial caught sight of him rifling through every drawer in the dresser by the window. “He’s wearing gloves,” she commented to Tamara.

  “How creepy. I’m not sure what The Pope would think of his behavior,” Tamara whispered.

  Celestial stifled a giggle. “I don’t think he reports directly to The Pope.”

  They continued watching as the Reverend checked the underside of each drawer.

  Celestial turned her face towards Tamara on her shoulder. She kept her voice low, “Either he’s done this before or he’s been watching a lot of cozy crime mysteries on TV.”

  Tamara sniggered. “He does seem to know what he’s doing. Bit scary really. Look how carefully he puts everything back to cover his tracks.”

  They watched as the Reverend carefully replaced the contents of the drawer he’d just rummaged through. He then got down on the floor to look under the bed before checking between the mattresses. He found nothing.

  He stood, breathless; his face red. He took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the bottom of his shirt as he looked around the room. His eyes landed on the cupboard where Celestial had found the letters. He replaced his glasses and walked over to it.

  There were shuffling sounds as he checked the boxes.

  Celestial tried to straighten up as her cramped position was making her uncomfortable. She bent her torso to the right to try and stretch her left side and something on the small shelf behind her moved. She froze. Tamara took in a sharp breath as she realized what was about to happen. A box of tissues slid off the shelf and dropped to the floor.

  The shuffling outside the bathroom stopped.

  “Who’s there?” demanded the Reverend.

  Celestial and Tamara were getting ready to disappear but the Reverend quickly switched off the light and shut the cupboard door before running out of the bedroom. They heard his heavy footsteps run back down the stairs and out of the house, locking the front door behind him.

  * * *

  Once back at Herbal Heaven, Celestial made tea for herself and Tamara while Stella and Bella hovered around the kitchen table. The letters were laid out in date order.

  “Hurry up with the tea y’all,” said Stella. “I for one cannot wait to hear what the oh-so-moral Reverend would write to his secret lover.”

  Celestial handed Tamara a mug of tea and sat at the table. She took the first letter and opened it.

  Bella began bobbing about
the kitchen excitedly. “I bet he’s more Jane Austen than D. H. Lawrence,” she said holding her hand up for a ghostly high five.

  Celestial looked up at her with a furrowed brow. “D. H. Lawrence, was he like the E. L. James of the eighteen hundreds?”

  Bella held her hands up in frustration. “He wrote Lady Chatterley’s Lover the most risqué novel of all time.”

  Tamara looked up at her. “Of all time?”

  “Well of our time then. Anyway get on with it, Celestial.”

  Celestial opened the letter and began reading. The prose was incredibly romantic in the first couple of paragraphs which had Bella sticking her fingers down her throat pretending to be sick until the second half of the letter.

  “Oh my,” said Celestial as she pre read the next paragraph.

  Tamara, Bella and Stella moved in closer.

  Celestial’s cheeks colored and she cleared her throat before continuing. “The taste of your pure flesh on my tongue, salty from our lovemaking . . .”

  “Yes!” exclaimed Bella. “Now we’re getting to the juicy bits.”

  Celestial took a sip of her tea before continuing. “I love that you know how to . . .”

  Celestial choked and took another sip of tea then looked up at the three eager faces staring at her; eyes wide in anticipation of what was coming next.

  “I don’t think I can read that aloud,” she said, dropping the letter onto the table as if it was covered in something nasty.