“Not to mention those salamanders are used in dark-magic spells.”
Issy gave Enid a startled look. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m old, my dear. Not naïve.” Enid shook her head and smiled indulgently. “You young people think you invented naughtiness, but we had our share of scandal back in the day.” She adjusted the small hat on her head then leaned forward over the counter and waggled her fingers at Issy, beckoning her closer as she whispered, “If Louella was killed because of those salamanders, then whoever killed her must’ve been someone she’d told quite recently, given that she’d just taken those photos and was going to make them public right away. You need to find out who Louella was spending her time with of late.”
To say Issy was shocked at Enid’s up-to-date grasp on Silver Hollow events would’ve been the understatement of the millennium. She’d never known the woman to watch TV or read the newspapers or do anything, really, except tend to her quaint little cottage on the outskirts of town and occasionally drop into town for lunch or a shopping excursion.
“And how exactly do you propose I find that out, Enid?”
Enid gave her an exasperated look. “Easy, my dear. Just take a gander at Louella’s appointment book down at the planning office. I used to work there myself, you know. We all had one. The assistant there, Cindy, used to keep them for us.”
Issy straightened. It was a good idea. A great one, really.
“And now, I need to get home. Becky’s waiting.” She picked up her bag of treats and waved on her way out the door. “Take care of yourself, my dear.”
“Bye.” Issy waved back then crossed her arms. It couldn’t be that easy, could it? You couldn’t just walk into the planning office and demand to see someone’s appointment book—especially someone who was just murdered. No. It was going to take more than a trip to the planning office. It was going to take a little magic.
Issy grinned and picked up her phone to dial Ember’s number. And she had just the right sort of magic in mind.
15
Two hours later, Issy and Ember stood outside the front doors of the lovely 1920s-era town hall. Despite the mundane happenings inside this place, the structure reeked of old-world charm with its stout brick façade and ornate brass nameplates. As close to five p.m. as it was, there was no one else here, but that was what Issy wanted. She and Ember had both closed their shops a bit early to afford them some privacy.
“Are you sure that stuff won’t cause her any permanent damage?” Issy asked her cousin while eyeing the pretty foil and ribbon-wrapped box of chocolates in her hand. “I don’t want to violate our golden rule—do no harm.”
“Of course not, silly.” Ember smiled serenely then cooed to the two small kittens peeking out of the top of her large tote. “I only cast a mild loose-tongue charm on them, just like you asked. She'll be more willing to talk to us and share information she might not otherwise share. Should only last twenty minutes, tops.”
“Okay.” Issy exhaled then pushed open the large entry doors. Inside, the air was dry and smelled musty, like damp paper and quiet despair. Bella wriggled around inside her backpack, the shallow sounds of her excited pants echoing off the paneled walls of the long, off-white tiled hallway. Dust motes twirled in the air, highlighted by the sunlight filtering through the textured glass windows on the office doors. “The planning office is at the end of this corridor.”
They arrived outside the office door just as Cindy, the department secretary, was leaving for the night. Issy exchanged a glance with Ember then gave a loud, disappointed sigh. “Oh dear. Are we really too late?”
“Afraid so, Issy,” Cindy said, juggling the bundles in her arms while trying to lock the door behind her. “We’re closed for the day, ladies. Perhaps you could try back in the morning.”
“Darn,” Ember said. “I wanted to get this new permit taken care of today.”
Cindy glanced over at her. “Permit?”
“Yes.” Ember gave Issy a quick wink. “I’m thinking of running a little food cart on the town square during lunch. You know, to increase sales. I’ll need a special permit for that, right?”
“Um, yes. An outdoor-vendor’s license.”
“And with the Summer Solstice Festival in just a few weeks, she really wanted to be all set to go.” Issy took one of the ready-to-topple bundles off Cindy’s hands. “With all the tourist traffic and all.”
“Oh. Right. Sure.” Cindy finished securing the door then adjusted her thick horn-rimmed glasses. She’d always reminded Issy of a prim little bookworm librarian with her outdated bouffant hairdo and drab, somber clothes. If Issy remembered correctly, the woman was only in her late twenties, but the way she dressed and acted, she could easily be mistaken for three times that age. Too bad she never visited Gray’s shop. The guy would have a field day with her. “Well, like I said, we’re closed now,” Cindy continued, her tone clipped as a schoolmarm. “But if you come back tomorrow, I’ll…”
“That’s the thing, though, Cindy,” Ember said, wrapping her arm around the petite woman’s shoulders. “I’ve already closed today a little early just to make it here. So opening late tomorrow isn’t an option.” She made sure to wave the enticing box of Cindy’s favorite chocolates in front of her face. “And this dark-chocolate bark I’ve brought will just go to waste.”
Cindy sighed, her gaze locked on the candy now. “That would be an awful shame. You know, I don’t have to be anywhere special tonight. I suppose if you ladies took all the trouble to get here, I can stay a few extra minutes to take care of your permit for you.”
Issy smiled over at her cousin, and they exchanged a triumphant look as Cindy unlocked the door again and let them inside. Ember’s chocolates did the trick every time. Never mind the enchantments. They were just that good.
“Keep your voices down, if you don’t mind, ladies. There’s still a committee meeting going on back in the conference room, and we wouldn’t want to disturb their important official business.”
“What kind of a meeting?” Ember asked before Issy gave her a “shut up” look.
“Of course, Cindy,” Issy said. “Whatever you say.”
“Great. Have a seat by my desk while I gather the necessary forms for you, Ember.”
Issy strolled over to Cindy’s desk near the corner of the space, careful to peer at each desktop on her side of the large room to see if it had been Louella Drummond’s, while Ember did the same on her side of the room. They met up at Cindy’s desk near the back corner, neither of them having spotted anything useful.
“Here we go,” Cindy said, joining them a few moments later. She handed Ember several forms on a clipboard and a pen. “Just fill those out, please.”
“All right.” Ember set her tote bag on the floor beside her and placed the box of chocolates on Cindy’s desk. “And you, please dig in to the chocolate. I made it especially for you. I know the dark-chocolate bark is your favorite, and I put in extra cashews.”
“Oh my. How thoughtful!” Cindy tore into the candy like a starving refugee. Issy raised a brow and stroked Bella’s head through the open top of her backpack, which now leaned against the side of her chair on the floor. Ember had said the spell wouldn’t cause Cindy any permanent damage, but the way she was shoveling in the sweets, she might go into sugar shock before the incantation could take effect. “I swear, Ember. You make the most delicious chocolate I’ve ever tasted. What’s your secret?”
Both cousins coughed at the unexpected question and looked at each other before Ember answered, “Old family recipe. And love. Lots of love.”
“Mmm,” Cindy moaned around a mouthful of chocolate. “So, so good.”
Streaks of chocolate covered the woman’s lips, and her neat bouffant had now gone slightly askew in her haste to gobble the treats, with a few loose tendrils hanging down on either side of her face. With her eyes closed and her glasses off and her hair a bit wild, she looked younger and happier and… well, more attractive. Issy couldn’t
help but grin. If Ember and Gray ever decided to join forces, there’d be a definite spike in population around little Silver Hollow, no doubt about it.
Cindy popped another candy into her mouth then leaned back in her chair and gave a long, satisfied sigh. At that moment, the conference-room door opened, and out stepped one of the newer town council members, a handsome young attorney named Greg Dawson who’d moved to Silver Hollow from New York City just a year prior, seeking peace and quiet and nature. If Issy wasn’t mistaken, the guy was single too.
He walked out into the main office area and gave a slight nod to Issy and Ember then stopped short at the sight of Cindy. The way she was sprawled back in her desk chair, the picture of utter female decadence, was a total one-eighty from her usual buttoned-up and shut-down self.
“Ms. Taylor, are you all right?” he asked, his voice as stunned as his expression.
“I’m wonderful, Mr. Dawson. And you?” Cindy’s tone practically purred with pleasure. “Have I ever told you that you are very, very handsome, Mr. Dawson?”
“Um, just running out to my car to grab a document,” he said, backing toward the door, his expression wary. “Be right back.”
Issy leaned closer to her cousin and hissed, “I thought you said it was just a simple loose-tongue spell.”
“It is,” Ember said under her breath. “Perhaps I made it a little more potent than usual. And I may have added an extra dash of rosemary for fun.”
“More potent? Why? And rosemary from Raine’s garden?”
Ember nodded, her smile widening.
“Seriously?” Issy shook her head. “You know what that stuff does to the non-paranormals around here. Remember the town barbecue last year?”
“Do I?” Ember snorted, and Issy glared. “Okay, fine. Don’t worry, I didn’t put that much in, and you said you needed answers, right?”
“Yes, but I also don’t want to start an orgy here at the town hall.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “No orgies, promise. Besides, Cindy’s the only one who’s had any, and she’ll be back to her usual self in”—she glanced at her watch—“fifteen minutes. Better get to asking about that appointment book.”
Crossing her arms, Issy sat back and blinked at Cindy, who’d now taken her hair down completely and removed her glasses and now surprisingly resembled a young Bridget Bardot, despite her drab gray dress.
Cindy grinned and leaned over the desktop toward Issy. “Is Gray dating anyone? I’ve always had the biggest crush on him.”
“Um, I don’t know, Cindy,” Issy said, standing and coming around the desk to prevent Cindy from taking off any more of her attire. Greg the councilman returned from the parking lot and gawked anew at the strangely behaving secretary before disappearing quickly back into the conference room. Once Issy had gotten Cindy somewhat controlled, she crouched beside the woman’s desk chair. “Cindy, do you happen to know where Louella Drummond’s appointment book might be?”
“Oh, poor Louella! So awful what happened to her, wasn’t it? She was a good friend of mine here at the office.” Cindy promptly burst into tears. “I miss her terribly.”
“Us too,” Issy said, patting the other woman on the back and handing her a tissue. “It would really help us to see her appointment book, though.”
“Why?”
Issy glanced over at Ember again. “You’re sure she won’t remember any of this afterward?”
“Not a word.”
“Great.” Issy lowered her voice anyway, still cognizant of the un-hexed board meeting happening in the conference room. “We want to see what her plans were for reporting the salamanders.”
“Yes! The salamanders!” Cindy perked right up again at the mention of the lizards. “Louella loved them, you know.”
“Salamanders?” Issy asked, frowning.
“All kinds of reptiles. Big, small. Didn’t matter. Louella adored them all.”
“Huh.” Issy gave Ember a confused look, and her cousin shrugged. She supposed it made sense, since Louella had always come across as a bit cold blooded herself. “That’s awesome. About the appointment book, though.”
“Right.” Cindy sprang to her feet and kicked off her sensible shoes then padded barefoot across the room to a cluttered desk in the opposite corner. “I locked it in the drawer after everything happened. Didn’t want anyone stealing it.”
“Good thinking,” Issy said, trailing along behind her with her cousin in tow. “Can we see it?”
“Sure. But it has to stay here in this office. Sheriff Owen said he’s going to send someone by tomorrow to pick it up.”
“Got here just in time, then,” Ember murmured.
“Yep,” Issy said.
“Here we are, ladies.” Cindy set a rather dog-eared tome on the desk then stepped back to allow the cousins in. “This goes back to the beginning of the year.”
“Thank you,” Issy said, but Cindy was already back at her own desk, munching on yet another chocolate.
Ember flipped through the pages, tracing a finger down column after column, but Issy didn’t see anything particularly exciting. “Just looks like a bunch of planning-board meetings.”
“Wait, though,” Ember said as she neared the day of Louella’s death. “Look.” She pointed to an entry the day before the murder. “Meet with K. Who’s K?”
Issy’s heart flipped in her chest. With Silver Hollow being as small as it was, there weren’t many paranormals with names beginning with K living there. Even fewer who’d been there at the time of Louella’s death. Issy took a seat and exhaled slowly. “Karen.”
“Karen? You mean Karen Dixon, the dark witch?”
“I’m afraid so. I can’t think of anyone else in our paranormal community whose name starts with K, can you?”
Ember leaned back against the windowsill and wrinkled her nose. “Not off the top of my head, no. That’s bad news for you, though, cousin. After what happened.”
“Tell me about it.” Issy rubbed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was battle another dark witch and lose. Her weakness had cost her the life of her beloved familiar, a bulldog named Luna, who’d been the most loyal, the truest, and most trustworthy animal Issy had ever known. As if sensing her despair, Bella yipped from her backpack across the way.
If anything ever happened to precious little Bella, Issy didn’t think she could survive.
Dread oozed through her veins like sludge. Even though Karen had sworn she didn’t do dark magic anymore, Issy knew better than to believe someone who practiced the dark arts. Nothing had ever been proven about Karen, but what if those rumors of her dabbling on the dark side were true? If Issy hadn’t been powerful enough to defeat one dark witch, what was to say she’d be any better prepared this time?
Questioning Karen Dixon wasn’t at the top of her want-to-do list, but if it would solve this case and get the FBPI off her and her family’s backs, then that was what she’d have to do. Just not alone. For that she was going to need the support of her cousins.
16
Ten minutes later, just before Cindy’s loose-tongue spell was due to wear off, Issy and Ember left the planning office and headed back down the town-hall steps outside. The sun was setting over the tree line now, lending a golden glow to everything.
“Well, at least we got something out of that visit, right?” Ember said, reaching into her tote to pull out one of her new kitten familiars. “When are you going to talk to Karen Dixon? Want me to go?”
“Not tonight. That’s for sure. And yes, I want you to come. I’m going to call Raine too. I think strength in numbers is the way to stay safe.”
“Stay safe from what?” a masculine voice drawled. Sheriff Owen stood near his squad car. He tipped his hat to them then strolled over, more as if he were at the beach waiting to catch his next big wave than investigating a murder. “I’ve been looking all over for you, Issy.”
“You have?” she asked, setting her backpack with Bella in it inside her truck. “What for?”
&nb
sp; Owen pushed the brim of his hat higher with his index finger and narrowed his gaze, his expression hovering somewhere between apologetic and accusing. “Following up on those jack-in-the-pulpit plants your cousin’s been raising. Coroner confirmed they could’ve been used in Louella Drummond’s poisoning. Same type of toxins found in her body.”
“And what’s that got to do with me?” Issy raised a brow at him, doing her best to appear relaxed, though her heart was slamming against her ribcage so hard she feared it might fall out.
“Well, Issy, here’s the thing.” Owen stepped closer and crossed his arms. “Seeing as how you were the last person to talk to Louella before she died, and seeing as how Louella threatened to have the board of health shut down your pet store, and seeing as how your cousin just happens to run a landscaping company that just happens to sell unique jack-in-the-pulpit plants…”
“That’s an awful lot of ‘seeing,’ Owen,” Issy said, hating the slight quiver in her tone.
He sighed. “Raine got any of those jack-in-the-pulpit plants sitting around?”
“I have no idea,” Issy said. “I haven’t been to her shop in days.”
Ember moved in beside Issy in a much-appreciated show of solidarity. “Surely you don’t think Issy or any of us Quinns had anything to do with Louella Drummond’s death, do you?”
Scowling, Owen shook his head. “I’m just doing my job, ladies. Please don’t get all defensive on me, okay? I’ve got the FBI breathing down my neck, and I need to be as thorough as possible with this investigation, all right? I’m not accusing anybody of anything at this point, and if you’re innocent of any wrongdoing, then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Bella growled from inside the truck, and Issy reached in to soothe her. “Don’t worry, baby. Everything’s okay.”
A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Page 10