A Cold Case in Spell

by J L Collins

  Just like that, his general contempt had been pushed aside. There were too many things I wanted to say. But of course there was one thing I couldn’t let him leave without hearing first. Even if he was a jerk.

  “Thank you. For everything.”

  He looked back out into the snow. “Just stay safe. I’ll check in on you at some point.” And with that, he hopped down into the snow and crunched through it until he disappeared.

  I had more questions piling up about the man, and I wasn’t much closer to finding them out than I was when I first got here. Seemed to be a theme lately.

  Never in my life did I have so many unanswered questions racing through my brain.

  24

  Delicacy

  The trip I had to take downtown was made much, much easier with Big Ben fired up. And as sheepish as I felt using the money Ash had conveniently dropped into the bottom of the paper bag last night, it did its job. I was able to pick up some more food for the camper as well as some better fitting snow boots and a nicer coat and gloves.

  At least I was fully prepared for the weather now. I was eyeing the snowshoes hanging up on the wall of the newly-minted outdoor store but didn’t want to use Ash’s money on something like that. If I had my truck and he was feeling merciful, I’d be able to get around Charming Springs without too much of an issue.

  I did buy snow chains for Big Ben though.

  Goldie spotted me from the sky and swooped down to land on a bare tree branch just big enough to hold her. “Morning.” She sounded way more chipper than I usually was at this time of day. But I had a bag of coffee in my arms, so all was not lost.

  I gave her a little wave. “Hey. I’m just picking up some things.”

  “Ash told me I might find you out and about. Ooh, what do you have there? New boots?”

  I’d worn them out of the store without giving it a thought. “Yep. Ones where my feet won’t slip and slide inside of them. Hooray.”

  She eyed me suspiciously. “You were just jail-broken out of the library, but you don’t seem so happy. Is everything all right?”

  I pasted on a smile. The truth was that I had no idea what was up with me today. Maybe it was the lumpy bed, or how I jammed my shoulder in the tiny shower stall. I’d grown a little too accustomed to the library’s space and going back to the small camper almost felt like a downgrade. Which was ridiculous, and I immediately shoved the thought aside.

  “Everything’s fine. I still haven’t had my coffee yet, so I’m a little rough around the edges. What are your plans for today?”

  “A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I just finished up breakfast, so I’ll probably do my daily check in with the Special Council and make sure I’m not needed.” She flew and hopped to the next tree as I started walking down the block to my truck. “What about you?”

  I shrugged. “Not sure yet. I think I’ll work some more on my book.” I paused to lean in closer toward the branch and whisper, “and maybe think of ways to do a little sneaking around at the police station.”

  “Really?” she asked, slowly. The corners of her mouth around her beak shot up. “That sounds like fun.”

  I gave her a wink. “We’re not going to get anywhere if we just give up.” A little further up the street, I spotted some space between two buildings. “Come on.”

  The alley was cramped to say the least, full of not one but two dumpsters full of overflowing trash. Goldie and I wore the same look of disgust.

  “This place smells like a bag of dead rats,” I said, screwing up my nose. I pulled my scarf up to cover it.

  “No, no. I would particularly enjoy that. But this place smells like human baby diapers and I do not like the smell of that. Why are you humans so… gross?”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one talking about dead rats sounding like a delicacy. It doesn’t matter,” I said, setting my couple of bags down on a nearby empty crate. “We need to come up with a plan. I think if we get our hands—sorry, my hands—on their case file, we could check for any extra evidence or even some testimonials from those two gal pals of Beatrice’s.”

  She perched on another empty plastic crate. “Hm. That would come in handy. But how? I’m not saying the Charming Springs Police Department is a fortress, but I think someone would notice you snooping around.”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I mean, these are the hallmarks of a good detective, are they not? If I could just come up with a diversion or something, maybe I could slip in and quickly thumb through the thing. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” My breath hung in the air. “Why don’t we continue this conversation elsewhere? Like maybe the camper instead of this nasty, freezing cold alley. I feel like I’m about to witness a superhero’s tragic origin story or something.”

  Goldie’s eyes flashed at me. “It was your idea…” She quickly turned her head nearly one-hundred-eighty degrees to look down the other way.

  Something moved at the other end of the alley, closer to the opening that led to the next street over. I flattened against the wall, trading a worried look with Goldie. She silently put her wing up to her mouth to signal me to keep quiet. One of us was a pro predator and the other one was lucky to spot a box of pop-tarts in the wild, so I didn’t make a peep.

  I carefully peeked around the stacks of crates and the dumpster to see what it was. A poof of white hair stood out to me first, followed by the thick coat and mittens. It took me a moment, but the recognition sunk in. Maude, Beatrice’s friend, was throwing what looked to be a solid wood chair into the dumpster.

  She must work around here or something. Maybe even live around here.

  I was half-tempted to go and try to talk to her, especially since she was without Geraldine who I suspected was the go-to between them. But I saw her toss another of chair into the dumpster and I held back.

  I thought about the way she’d shuffled along every other time I’d seen her. Hunched over, out of breath. She didn’t look to be any of those things now.

  “That’s how all earth witches and wizards are,” Goldie said as we walked to Big Ben. “She probably puts it on when she’s around others so they feel sorry for her.”

  I nodded. Nan’s retirement community was full of plenty of people like Maude. I stashed the suspicion away for now.

  “I don’t suppose you want to come have dinner with me after we finish devising our break-in?” I asked Goldie with a grin.

  “What’s on the menu?”

  “Not sure yet. But I managed to find some meat so…?”

  Goldie tucked her face into her beak for a moment. “I might as well. Meet you there.”

  25

  Winter Jasmine

  “Your camper is on fire.”

  I whipped my head back and screeched. “No, no, not now!”

  The dish towel I was just using to wipe down the tiny counter space was currently in flames, dangerously close to melting the plastic blinds of the window next to it.

  I grabbed it and threw it down to the ground, stamping on it like I’d seen done in a million different movies.

  Goldie hopped from the bench seat to the counter space and flipped on the faucet to the kitchen sink. “Are you a witch or not?”

  The fire was out but I tossed the charred remnants of the flower-patterned dish towel into the sink with a sigh. “Look, this is all brand-new to me. I was panicking—I forgot.”

  Goldie let out a huge burp and hopped back over to the bench seat, shrugging when she saw the disgusted look on my face. “You’re lucky I don’t need to cough anything up just yet.”

  “I should be so glad,” I muttered, turning the water off. “Well, at least dinner was a success. Most of it, anyway.”

  The chicken was a little tougher than I would’ve liked but Goldie didn’t have to worry about that, eating it raw. All I could think of when I watched her swallow It down was a wicked case of salmonella, but of course that didn’t apply to her.

  “I’m not complaining. Though I’d m
uch rather eat my dinner on the run.” There was a glint in her eyes as she smiled. Carnivores going to carnivore, I guess.

  We had come up with a plan over food to get into the police department long enough to read over the case file for the murder investigation.

  I finished cleaning up the dishes and putting everything away, satisfied with my first real meal on my own since leaving my apartment. After I left Gavin, I hardly made much of anything other than microwavable dinners or eating raw fruits and veggies. Anything convenient. I was a miserable mess, and it took too much energy to cook for just one.

  But I was a different person then, even if it was only less than three months ago.

  I pulled the notebook back out and spread it and the map Goldie had directed me to draw out across the table. “This is either the dumbest idea I’ve ever had… or the coolest. Maybe both.” Definitely both. Though there was that one time I tried to ride my Grandad’s horse, Daisy, without a saddle and without supervision. I was only nine, and I was lucky she didn’t buck me off. She was a gentle mare who knew me well.

  If I’d have tried it with Smokey, the draft horse, the outcome would’ve been much different.

  “It could all go very badly. I don’t think they would suspect me too much but if they catch you?” Goldie shook out her feathers. “Let’s just make sure they don’t.”

  “Tomorrow’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure.” According to my watch, it was later than I realized. “You know, I was thinking of maybe—”

  She nodded her head toward the bedroom. “You don’t mind if I take a little siesta in the back room, do you? I noticed you have a nice little cozy space in there to rest. I haven’t slept somewhere warm like this in forever.”

  I saw it in her eyes. She was beat, and I guess so after hardly catching any sleep today. She may have been diurnal as she loved to remind me, but she did do a good portion of sleeping in the afternoon, too.

  “Of course. Mi casa, es su casa. I think I’m going to go out for a bit. I’ll lock up, if that’s cool with you.”

  She nodded, already yawning. “Okay.”

  I left her to it, suiting up to head out and grabbing a few other things I knew I would need. I packed the flashlight, the map, a compass, and a lighter into my heavy coat and stepped out into the early evening.

  “Hm. How do I get to Byers Hill? Looks like I take Knotted Road all the way up, then this access road here.” I squinted down at the map. “Head north. Got it.”

  I warmed Big Ben up until he was just tolerable and took off.

  “See, I told you these chains were a good idea, old boy.” The tires gripped the terrain better than they would’ve without. This wasn’t exactly four-wheel drive.

  I could picture Ash now, watching me drive up to Byers Hill to check out where the small avalanche had begun. He would have a conniption, as Nan would say, and do everything in his power to make sure I stayed put. I rolled my eyes and smiled as I neared the road that led upward to my destination. What Ash doesn’t know won’t irritate him.

  I tried the radio again for the first time since I’d gotten here, crossing my fingers, but no luck. It was still just a bunch of whine and static.

  The hill steepened to the point of me pressing down hard on the gas pedal, willing Big Ben to cooperate. We’d made it this far, what was the sense in turning back now? I ignored the voice laced with sarcasm in the back of my head reminding me this was exactly the same way I got myself into a pickle in Charming Springs.

  I went back over what I knew about the site where the avalanche kicked off. Goldie mentioned Byers Hill being one of the highest accessible places in the town, and that there were rumors of it being haunted. I’d laughed, but then I had to ask her if that was actually possible.

  “What, to be haunted? Really, Indie? Ghosts aren’t real. Everyone knows that.”

  “Everyone knows that talking animals aren’t real but there you sit.”

  The truck shuddered a bit but once the road started to even out more, it relaxed—as did I. Goldie would probably figure out where I was if I got stuck, but I didn’t want to deal with that ridiculously smug look on Ash’s face if he found out.

  “Okay, here comes the access road…” I muttered, slowing down to take the turn. “Not much further now.”

  The sun was slipping behind some of the trees, and I was glad that for once I was prepared. The flashlight I picked up from the outdoors shop was supposed to be pretty fancy. And I wouldn’t get too cold, not if I had my trusty new lighter.

  I have to say, having powers sure makes a girl feel more powerful. Good talk, Indie. Great words.

  I rolled my eyes at myself.

  It only took a few more minutes to make it to the cliff, thanks to some clearing of the access road. I was glad for Goldie to be wrong once—she’d told me it would be tricky to drive through it with it being still buried in snow.

  Hopefully she wasn’t wrong about tomorrow, though. Her job was to distract everyone in the front of the office, while I slipped into the back through a cellar door where they took in deliveries. That was if I could break through the lock using my powers. I was probably going to need some more practicing to make my earth power strong enough to haul a heavy-enough rock at it. But I wasn’t a locksmith so that was about as good as it was going to get.

  I didn’t know how Goldie planned on distracting everyone at once, but she told me to let her worry about it, so I figured she must have had something in mind.

  Of course before we did any of that, I’d brought up Maude. I wasn’t sure I was suspicious of her exactly, but I thought I might make some more headway with her if I caught her off guard and by herself. The first part of the plan was for Goldie to find her and tail her until we knew where to approach her. Then I could chat with her about Beatrice. Maude seemed slightly more cooperative than her halfling counterpart.

  I nearly missed the spot with my head in the clouds, and I stopped and carefully backed up. I doubted anyone else was up here and if they were, hopefully they didn’t come flying around the bend. In a vehicle or otherwise.

  The wind picked up and sent my scarf whirling behind me as I hopped out of the truck and took a good look around. Regret thrummed in my chest. This was the first time I’d been up here. Why I hadn’t thought to come up sooner, I had no idea. I guess I was too busy with everything else.

  The guard rail overlooking the spot where the snow had shifted and caused the avalanche didn’t seem to be damaged. I stood looking down the sharp ravine, shuddering. If Beatrice had started here then it was a long way down and out to my camper. Full of trees, bushes, all sorts of stuff that could easily knock a person out.

  I sighed. “But why are they so sure you were killed? It could’ve been an accident,” I whispered as if Beatrice could hear me. This would be where the case file notes would come in handy.

  I bent down to better inspect the guardrail, shifting the snow around the beams of it to see if I could find anything.

  Was it rude and a little patronizing to assume the Charming Springs Police Department would’ve easily missed something that I would have no problem finding? Yes. Did I care? Nope.

  Nothing was out of place though. All that was underneath was the edge of the road and a bit of rock that…

  Wait a minute. I hopped back up and looked over the edge some more. The path of the avalanche was still there, the slick, glittering crest of iced-over snow hadn’t moved since it first slid down into the trees weeks ago. My and Goldie’s theory was that it had to have been a water witch that caused the avalanche. But feeling around underneath the snow, something seemed… off.

  The edge of the road around the bottom of each of the nearby guardrail beams was jagged. The ground itself was missing in spots. If I wasn’t careful, I could very well overstep and fall off the edge.

  I carefully scooted myself closer and dug at the snow until a bigger swath of missing ground was clear. It was as if it had been scooped away from the side of the hill.

&nb
sp; Someone had messed with the hillside. But why? It had to have been an earth witch or wizard—they were the only ones with the capability to do it.

  Had Beatrice shown up here before or after the earth had been moved? My mind was taking leaps from one thought to the next.

  So we were potentially looking at earth witches and wizards instead. My hunch on Geraldine was wrong… but that left someone else.

  I stood up to dust the caked-on white stuff from my pants, glad to be off the frozen ground. The snow crunched behind me and I was startled to see Maude standing about thirty feet away. She looked just as confused as I did.

  “Oh uh, hi there. I didn’t realize anyone else was up this way,” I said, my voice wavering. “Are those for your friend?”

  In her hands was a bouquet of flowers. It looked like a bunch of winter jasmine.

  She looked down at them and back at me. “Yes. I guess you do know where she was killed. I came to bring her these. She hated jasmine.”

  I quickly shook my head, not sure of where to go with this. “I only just found out. I thought I could pay my respects.”

  She frowned, the corners of her wrinkled jowls turning down. “They always say that the killer goes back to the scene of the crime.”

  “No, you’ve got to believe me! I didn’t kill your friend. Honest to god, I didn’t,” I said, panicking. My gut must have been wrong, and now I was going to have to deal with whatever verbal tirade Maude was about to dole out. She’d have some tale of a story to tell the chief for sure. Maybe she’d even paint me as a cold-blooded killer.

  I wasn’t expecting her to walk over with the flowers. She paused and looked out over the ravine, then dumped the bouquet over the edge of the guardrail, both of us watching as it came apart on the way down into the sparse trees.

  My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “That is uh…”

  “I believe you,” she said, stepping back a few paces.

  “Really?” The way she said it though, didn’t exactly leave me feeling warm inside.