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

by Constance Barker

  Celestial felt a warmth spread through her entire body. “So you worry about me do you?”

  She caught Delia’s eye who was obviously eavesdropping on their conversation.

  Nikoli shook his head and laughed. “I’ll pick you up later.”

  “I’ll be ready!”

  This would be a great opportunity to get information on Joseph without having to go by herself and risk upsetting a powerful attorney. She would let Nikoli do the upsetting for her.

  Chapter 13

  Joseph Bennett opened the door less than a minute after the knock. “Detective,” he said, with an appraising look at Nikoli. “I’ve been expecting you.” He stepped aside to let them in. If he was surprised at Celestial’s appearance, he didn’t mention it, only gave her a tight, polite nod as she followed Nikoli into the hotel room.

  The room was nice, with a big plush bed and gilded baroque furniture and trimmings. Celestial didn’t even know this hotel had rooms this nice. It definitely fit with the powerful attorney vibe. Bennett himself fit, too, even just sitting around his hotel room, he was dressed in a pressed gray suit and a blue silk tie. Gold cufflinks winked at his wrists.

  “Expecting us?” Nikoli was looking around, none too subtly. Celestial wondered if he could pick up on anything more than just what she saw--if those wolf senses were helping him to get a read on this Bennett character, or to learn anything important from the small dark leather traveling case that was lying open on the foot of the bed. All Celestial saw was a neatly folded garment bag and a set of dusty-looking books. “Why would you be expecting us?”

  “Please, Detective, you and I are both men of the law. You think I wouldn’t know that relatives of the deceased are always suspects?”

  Nikoli looked sharply at Bennett, who scoffed.

  “It isn’t my intention to be flippant. But I’m sure that by now you’ve discovered I was the one with the most to gain by my sister’s death. Financially, at least. You’re only doing your duty, coming here to check into me. Frankly, I’m surprised it took you this long to come talk to me--I imagine you must be working your way down quite a list. By all means, take a look through my things if you’d like. I only live a few towns over, so I didn’t bring much.”

  Nikoli pulled out his notebook. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me a little bit about your relationship with your sister?”

  “May I be seated?” Bennett asked, gesturing to a nearby armchair. At Nikoli’s nod, he sat primly, almost tensely, at the edge of the chair. Celestial wondered why he bothered; the way Bennett sat, it didn’t look any more comfortable than standing. “I didn’t have anything to do with Jolene’s death, I assure you. To be honest, I had no idea until after she had died, and the executor of her will contacted me, that I was the one named to inherit her millions. We weren’t close, you see.”

  “Oh?” Celestial prompted. Nikoli shot her a warning glance, though not an angry one. Oh right, she reminded herself. If either of us is going to antagonize this character, it should be Nikoli and not me. I’m just here to listen and feel things out.

  “There wasn’t any antagonism there,” said Bennett, eyes lingering on Celestial for a suspicious moment before returning to Nikoli. “Not really. As children, we got on incredibly well. It’s just that our parents divorced when we were young. Jolene elected to remain with our mother, and she assumed I would do so too. But I chose our father. She was upset.”

  “How upset?” asked Nikoli.

  Bennett huffed. “She went so cold on me, you’d think the idea of a boy wanting a masculine role model in his life was tantamount to mutiny. But you mustn’t think we were enemies, or anything so foolish as that.” He waved a hand. “No, that was all long ago, in childhood. The sting of anger faded quickly, as these things do, but growing up separate left its mark. She was my sister, yes, and intellectually I knew that, but it was always cold, distant. I lived so close for so long, but we probably only saw each other once a year this last decade or so. I can’t say I knew her very well, in the end. I always think of the girl she was, but really she could have been any kind of woman, with any number of enemies, and I would be none the wiser.” He lifted one shoulder in a too-casual shrug. “I wish I could be more helpful to you, Detective. I really wish I could.”

  ***

  “These are very thorough,” Celestial said, flipping through Nikoli’s scribbled notes. “How can you write so fast? You never look like you’re writing this fast.”

  “Nothing particularly helpful in it.” Nikoli took one hand off the wheel and plucked the notebook from Celestial’s grip, replacing it in his breast pocket without once taking his eyes off the road.

  They pulled up at the shop again a minute later. Celestial unbuckled her seatbelt and went for her door handle, only to find that Nikoli had somehow managed to leave his seat and round the car in time to open the passenger side door for her. His hand was waiting, expectant, in the air between them.

  It’s that wolf speed, she thought, trying not to be embarrassed when she placed her hand in his and allowed him to gently help her from the car.

  “Thanks for the help,” he said with a smile.

  “So you admit I was helpful--oh!” Celestial said, cut off when Nikoli leaned in and hugged her tight, then pressed his lips briefly but decidedly against her cheek. He pulled away a second later, and indeed there was nothing to the entire exchange that was more than merely friendly--was there?--but Celestial stood blinking at him for an uncharacteristically silent second, lips pursed and cheeks warm.

  “You’re always helpful,” said Nikoli, before walking back to his car.

  Back in the shop, Celestial hoped to have some quiet time to think through all she had learned about the mystery. To her irritation, however, she was greeted by Tamara and Athena, who had evidently been watching at the window.

  “That looked cozy!” Athena giggled.

  “Celestial, when exactly are you going to make an honest man of that poor boy? If you wait too long, someone else might snatch him up!”

  “You know, this harassment really is getting old,” Celestial said, trying to sound mature and measured rather than defensive. She crossed to the other side of the shop in an effort to get away from their laughter.

  “We wouldn’t have to harass you if you’d just go out with him already!” Tamara called after her.

  Chapter 14

  Once she had a minute of quiet to reflect back on the interview with Joseph Bennett--away from the confusing presence of certain handsome detectives and teasing friends--Celestial decided that there was something about him that rubbed her the wrong way. Try as she might, though, she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it had been about the man that made her dislike him. Maybe it had been his smug air, the condescending way he’d treated Nikoli, or his gaudy surroundings. Maybe it had been how little affected he seemed by his sister’s death. In any case, she couldn’t set the thought aside, and she decided to take advantage of the quiet stretch of time before her to look closer into the question of the Bennett family.

  “Where are you going?” Tamara, who was tidying a display of miniature hand soaps near the register, asked as Celestial picked up a shawl from behind the desk and pulled it over her shoulders.

  “Out for a walk,” Celestial said, trying to sound innocent. “Keep an eye on things here for me?”

  Jolene’s house was one of those fancy Victorian numbers that just screamed money and tradition, complete with the ivy-twined wrought-iron fence surrounding the yard. Celestial did her best to look casual as she let herself in at the--mercifully unlocked, if slightly squeaky--gate, hoping none of the neighbors would take notice.

  A very little magic helped her with the locked front door, and she locked up again behind herself more by habit than anything else. She found herself in a high-ceilinged vestibule, all gleaming polished wood floors and elaborate hanging light fixtures.

  “They may have grown up apart, but brother and s
ister Bennett had very similar aesthetic preferences,” Celestial muttered to herself.

  Even Celestial’s soft-soled shoes made noise against these ancient floorboards as she started to snoop around from room to room, not sure what she was looking for. If it was evidence of Jolene Bennett’s wealth, well, that was easy enough to find. So, too, was corroboration of Joseph Bennett’s account of how things stood in the family. In room after room, Celestial found one photograph after another, framed and hung or propped on shelves and mantelpieces, depicting Jolene’s childhood, full of Jolene at various ages and often accompanied by a severe-looking woman who could only be her mother. Jolene’s father and brother didn’t appear anywhere.

  “She cut them cold,” Celestial mused. “Then why did she leave her money to her brother, if she clearly didn’t even particularly think of him as family?”

  Upon reaching an elaborate, navy-draped bedroom that could only have belonged to Jolene herself, Celestial felt her attention pulled by an ornate mahogany writing desk, the kind fancy ladies in old-fashioned movies always used for their crucial correspondences. Celestial rifled through a few papers and pulled open a couple of drawers, finding nothing more interesting than innocent letters and bills for her efforts. However, her heart leapt when she tugged at the central drawer to find that it was locked.

  “Eureka,” she said, and bent lower to take a look at the lock.

  Just then, however, a loud clicking sound came from outside the room. At first, Celestial worried that there must be someone else in the house, but when she ran to the top of the stairs she could see down to the front door, where the knob was twitching clockwise and counterclockwise. Someone was trying to get in! Celestial could just make out the suggestion of a person’s shape through the slender window at the side of the door.

  “Oh, no,” Celestial muttered, briefly weighing the pros and cons of being caught in a dead woman’s house versus catching someone else trying to break into a dead woman’s house. Frustrated, she threw up her hands and disappeared.

  “Back so soon?” Tamara asked, not even flinching when Celestial materialized behind the counter. However, something in Celestial’s face must have warned her that she wanted to be alone, because when Celestial huffed out a reply, Tamara only gave her a quick hug and then made a quick excuse to leave the shop. “Just let me know if you need me, okay?” she said, and Celestial promised she would, and then she was finally, blessedly, alone.

  She needed to sort out her swirling thoughts. She was angry with herself for not making more of her time at Jolene’s house, for not finding something decisive that could tell her, one way or another, whether she was right for not trusting Joseph Bennett. But what else could she do? She had no idea who that was breaking into the house, and she also had no way of knowing if she’d be able to go back there again without being caught. Maybe she could track down Jolene’s lawyer, see if he’d let her--or, more likely, Nikoli--take a look at Jolene’s will? That way they could at least cross-reference Joseph Bennett’s story, see if he really was named to inherit. Or else she could have Athena keep an eye on Jolene’s house, try to see who was hanging around there. Give Celestial a heads up when the place was empty, so that she could head back in and take another, longer, and hopefully more fruitful look around….

  Celestial was just considering these options when the shop door flung open, and Sofia made a dramatic, sobbing entrance in an incongruously bright purple and green paisley dress. “Oh, Celestial, I’m in so much trouble! I’m going to be arrested any minute now, I just know it!”

  “Calm down,” Celestial urged. “Have a seat. Let me get you some tea.” She got up, already reaching for lavender and chamomile.

  “No tea,” said Sofia, sniffling. “It won’t help. Nothing will help. Everyone knows I was at Jayne’s house just before it happened. Several of the neighbors saw me! And I’ve been hearing… Celestial, and now everyone’s saying they don’t believe the explosion killed those women! They still think it’s the honey--my honey! But I didn’t poison it, I swear, I would never.” She wiped her nose on a bright fuschia handkerchief she seemed to have conjured from nowhere, then blinked shining eyes at Celestial. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  For a second, Celestial was strongly tempted to tell Sofia what she knew about the women’s cause of death. Nikoli would disapprove, of course, but the pressure, judgment, and uncertainty were clearly getting to Sofia, and she hated to see her friend and fellow witch suffering like this.

  No, she told herself. If you really want to help Sofia, you’ll just have to get to the bottom of this. And, in the meantime….

  “Of course I believe you,” said Celestial. “So long as you believe when I tell you that tea always helps. Especially when coupled with a little calming magic.”

  Chapter 15

  Celestial held out at her shop for as long as she could. But after Sofia’s dramatic entrance and her slightly less dramatic exit, all she really wanted to do was get back to Jolene’s house. And figure out what was in the drawer. She had to hope that whoever had tried to follow her into the veritable mansion hadn’t managed to find whatever important thing might be in that drawer.

  Stella and Bella - the ghostly twins entered through the side wall of the shop, talking quietly amongst themselves. The only warning to their coming was the preceding forms of their southern belle gowns which they had never quite been ready to give up.

  Athena had been watching Celestial tap impatiently at the counter and sigh heavily for nearly two hours and decided to get a move on.

  “What are you planning?”

  Celestial blinked at the dragonfly in front of her and refocused to the present. “What? Nothing?”

  Stella and Bella had crowded over to the counter and Stella laughed and waved a delicately gloved hand. “I don’t believe that for an instant, darling. Whatever it is, do let us help.”

  Bella nodded her agreement and Athena buzzed between the twins.

  Giving in, Celestial snapped her fingers and locked the door. “I need to get back to Jolene’s and find out what was in the drawer in her room.”

  “Well, we can keep watch. Make sure no one surprises you,” Bella leaned in, enthusiastically.

  Athena settled on Celestial’s shoulder. “You two go see if the coast is clear. Come right back if it isn’t. We’ll meet you there in five minutes.”

  The twins twittered and vanished abruptly.

  Celestial waited the agreed upon five minutes then muttered a few words and disappeared from her shop.

  Back inside the dark bedroom of the recently deceased Jolene Bennett, the witch went straight for the locked drawer. Athena moved to the hallway and Celestial could hear the twins floating about deciding which art pieces were tacky and which were actually impressive.

  Just when she was about ready to give up and use magic to open the lock, Celestial ran her hand under the drawer and felt a key held by frankly excessive amounts of tape. Perhaps not the most secure of hiding places, but good enough she supposed.

  She opened the drawer carefully, though she knew she was safe in the house this time around. At the top of a small stack of papers were two documents, each held together by a hefty paper clip. Celestial looked through them both carefully and even then it took her a moment to tell the differences.

  In the desk were two copies of Jolene Bennett’s last will and testament. One seemed a little older, worn at the edges and had been signed and witnessed. The other was not yet officially notarized. The in-progress will had no mention of her brother and seemed to leave the bulk of her fortune to the Ladies Morality Society in case of her death.

  When Celestial flipped back to the older document, Joseph Bennett was the sole recipient of the family’s entire estate. She had no husband or children so Joseph was the last of the Bennetts. The witch sucked in a long breath and stared between the documents. Her heart pounded with excited validation. There had been something she didn’t like about Joseph and maybe this was it! Murderous intent
ions were certainly a good enough reason to dislike a person.

  She absently pulled a few more papers from the desk drawer but didn’t find anything more interesting than the duplicate wills. However, as Celestial went to replace the papers, they hit something that blocked them from fitting in the drawer.

  Bending down to look more closely, she saw a short fat stack of envelopes shoved way into the back. The other papers had been sitting on top of them, hiding them from view.

  Athena flew into the room as Celestial unbound the rubber band from the letters and spread them on the desk. “What are those? Find anything good?”

  Celestial nodded and directed the dragonfly to the papers pushed to the side. She pulled out a letter and started to read to herself.

  She only got a little more than halfway through before she returned the letter to the envelope, pink tinging her ears. She moved onto another and skimmed it, then another. Her face maintained a red heat throughout her perusal and it didn’t take long for Athena to notice.

  “Love letters?”

  “Mm-hm. Some very sweet, others…well a little too sweet.” Celestial cleared her throat and pointed to the bottom. “No signature though, not on any of them. Just the letter B.”