Crooks and Crystals (A Hocus Pocus Cozy Witch Mystery Series Book 3)

by Constance Barker

  There was a quiet pop beside her and Athena flew a quick circle around to figure out where she was. “Why on earth are you back here? Didn’t you already almost get in trouble for this?”

  “Key word- ‘Almost’. Take a look at this,” Celestial laid out the two packets on the desk for Athena to examine, careful to remember which powder was from which place. “I got this one from the medical kit, and this one from Samantha’s desk. If they’re both heroin, that’s a solid link between Martin and Samantha. Plus, there’s this…”

  She took the envelope back out and flared the pictures for the dragonfly, blackjack dealer style. It took the familiar a moment in the dark but then she nearly dropped out of the air. The normally iridescent bug turned purple in embarrassment, then a little greener than she usually was.

  “You got those from here? I would say that’s more than solid enough for murder. I mean, that first one is kind of tasteful but it goes…down to skeevy from there.”

  Amused at Athena’s reaction, Celestial slipped the photos back and replaced the envelope, “That’s what I was thinking too. What if Martin threatened to show these to someone? It could ruin Samantha’s career.”

  “Or make it.”

  “Hush.”

  “You’re going to take the packets to Nikoli, right? So, he can figure out what they are?”

  Celestial sighed but nodded, placing one packet in each of her side pockets. “Yeah, that’s the plan. I know he doesn’t like me snooping, but he can’t be too mad at the results, right? I’m even leaving the photos for him to find. It’s a sort of teamwork.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was convincing Athena or herself but the words sounded alright. The dragonfly sat on her shoulder and decided not to disagree. Celestial took a last look around the office, then waved her hands and vanished with a word.

  The witch took the mundane way to the Sheriff’s Department. She probably could have simply popped in on Nikoli in his office, but she wanted the time to think. Make sure everything came out in a productive way rather than in a ‘I can’t believe you broke into another place that’s under investigation, you’re driving me crazy, what am I going to do with you’ way.

  Celestial blew out a breath as she came up to the main doors. It would be best to focus on progressing the investigation. Just blow by how exactly she ended up back in the office at Martin’s desk. She wrinkled her nose and pushed open the doors.

  Nikoli was at his desk, reading through an impressive looking binder. He looked up at her knock and the irritated face was replaced by something like affection. “Celestial. Come in. Everything okay?”

  Sidling into the office, Celestial shut the door behind her to stop anyone else listening in on their conversation. “Yeah, yes, everything is great. Fine, I mean. Don’t be mad. I brought something for you.”

  His expressive face went through a series of changes as she spoke. Concerned, then skeptical, then frustrated and ending on an impatient acceptance. Nikoli opened his mouth to scold her again, then just shook his head. This case was wearing on him. There were too many people with too many motives and almost none of them made any sense with the crime scene. “…Alright. What have you got?”

  A little surprised at the lack of protest, Celestial pulled out each of the white packets. Standing in front of his desk, she blocked the view from the inner windows. “I went back to the office. I found this powder in the medical kit along with a bottle of empty pill cases. And, I found this packet in Samantha’s desk.” She slid the packets over to Nikoli and sat down across from him. “I would have left them for you to get, but I didn’t want anyone taking them before you could get the chance.”

  Nikoli looked tiredly at the packets and absently wrote up evidence stickers for them. “That’s alright. I’ll just back date them. No one else is following this case as closely as I am anyway.”

  Celestial tilted her head and watched him carefully. “Are you alright? I thought, well, I thought you’d be upset with me, but then I thought you would be happy to have something else to go on?”

  The detective let out a sigh and offered her a half smile. “It is helpful, thank you. But we looked through everything when the case started. None of this was in the medical kit or in the desk when we looked. That means that Martin likely didn’t use heroin himself. Someone has placed it there since his murder.”

  “Oh,” Celestial was quiet for a moment then said, “One step forward…”

  “Two steps back, exactly.”

  “There were photos, too. I did leave those for you. Under Martin’s desk. Of Samantha. After hours.” Celestial raised her eyebrows at him, making sure he took the hint.

  He looked confused for a second then a light blush tinged his ears and he cleared his throat. “Of course. I’ll—We’ll look into that as soon as possible. I’ll take these to get tested and let you know what I find out.

  Celestial stood to leave and Nikoli stood as well, coming around the desk to her. He took her hand, “Please be careful. I appreciate your help, I do. But these people are dangerous. We’ve already got one body on our hands. We know they mean business. I know I can’t stop you looking around, but please… just be careful.”

  Chapter 17

  The afternoon was turning to evening when both Tamara and Athena flew into the shop. Both were so excited they couldn’t stop fluttering around each other. Celestial was amazed that they could dip and spin so close to each other without getting their wings tangled.

  “Celestial!” Athena shrieked, her wings buzzing with tension.

  “Celestial!” Tamara cried, flapping low enough to get right in her friend’s face.

  “Guys, you’ll have to calm down before you tell me your news.” Celestial tried to make her tone light, but she was too frustrated. Never with her friends, but with the situation, certainly.

  “Samantha, Jenna and Morgana are eating together at Helen’s diner!” Tamara shifted, gripping Celestial’s arm and jumping up and down as if she was still flapping.

  “They’re drunk,” Athena said bluntly.

  “You don’t know that.” Tamara retorted. Athena made a little swirl in the air like she was rolling her eyes.

  “Okay so they communed with spirits while they were in liquid form.” Athena amended dryly.

  “What are they doing?” Celestial asked uncertainly. She was trying to imagine all of these women together and finding it difficult. Too much emotion had been thrown around by them over the course of the investigation.

  “Eating.” Athena supplied in a flat tone.

  “Athena.” Celestial snapped. Athena made her little mid-air swirl again.

  “They are eating together, Celestial.” Tamara confirmed. “They look very happy with each other's company, too. They are laughing, joking, talking loudly. They don’t care who’s listening to them.”

  “What are they saying?” Celestial asked.

  “Nothing about Martin. But they are pretty loose.”

  “Are they still there?” Celestial toyed with the idea of going to the diner, even though she wasn’t keen on seeing Helen.

  “No, they left.” Athena flitted up towards the roof. “They said they were going to the bar for drinks and pool. As if they need another drink.”

  “Maybe I should check it out.” Celestial sighed, not looking forward to it. She had put herself out there for Morgana, tried to protect Jenna and extended sympathy to Samantha. It was hard to think that one of them had pulled the wool over her eyes.

  “I don’t know, Celestial.” Tamara was shivering as if she was still in butterfly form and her wings wanted to take off without her. “This could be dangerous. What if it’s all of them?”

  “They aren’t going to attack me in a public place,” Celestial reasoned.

  “No, but they could poison your drink.” Tamara said nervously.

  “As if that hasn’t been tried already.” Celestial’s tone was dull.

  The three looked at each other, Athena’s buzzing getting louder as she f
licked her wings together.

  “Well, I better go, in case I miss them.” Celestial hurried to close up the shop. Tamara shifted and fluttered by Celestial’s head as she started walking towards the pub.

  “How did we end up in the thick of this?” Athena wondered aloud. “It’s like murder itself is stalking you, Celestial.”

  “Aren’t familiars supposed to comfort and aid their witches?” Celestial replied, frowning. Athena dipped over her head.

  “Believe me, if I was physically capable of stopping you, I would. What do I do if you become a ghost? Huh?”

  Celestial grinned, glad to have a moment of humor. “Are you coming in?” she paused at the corner by the bar.

  “No.” Athena fluttered high. “Not me.”

  “I don’t like the smell.” Tamara flew towards a nearby garden. “I’ll just hang out here. Call us if you need us.”

  Celestial turned her back on them, muttering to herself as she pushed open the door. It didn’t do much for your confidence when you were going after a murderer with nothing but a butterfly and a dragonfly as backup.

  She saw the women straight away. It was impossible not to. They had a large corner table and they were very loudly toasting each other with shots of whiskey. Every time a shot went down, they all yelled and cheered, slamming the glasses back down on the table.

  Celestial approached carefully. She wanted to be near enough to hear them but not so close that they would notice her. She sat down at a table nearby and ordered a soda. The waiter gave her a strange look but she ignored him.

  After a few more rounds of shots went down, Celestial turned slowly towards the others. Morgana and Jenna were unrecognizable as the sorry, sad women they had been. Samantha also looked free and happy, not bogged down by the pain of Martin’s betrayal. In some sense, if the women had found comfort in each other then Celestial was happy for them.

  “You guys seem to be having fun,” she said, casually.

  “A monster has been eliminated!” Morgana said triumphantly. She lifted another whiskey shot and swallowed it down, slamming the glass on the table. Samantha and Jenna cheered her on, taking more shots for themselves.

  Celestial frowned, trying to ask her next question without sounding like she was accusing them. Samantha turned to her and shook her head.

  “You don’t know what he was like, Celestial,” Samantha said. “You didn’t trust him with your heart and then watch him do a Mexican pinata dance on it.”

  “And even if he did, he didn’t care,” Jenna chimed in. “He cheated on me with Samantha!”

  “Actually he cheated on me with you,” Samantha said meekly.

  “He cheated on both of us!” Jenna yelled in drunken exasperation. “And now he’s gone and I’m supposed to feel sorry?”

  “A man is dead,” Celestial said slowly as another round of drinks was placed in front of the group. “Doesn’t it seem disrespectful to be celebrating?”

  “He never treated these ladies with an ounce of respect,” Morgana said slowly. “In my book, he doesn’t deserve any.”

  Celestial watched in horror as the ladies lifted their drinks and cheered before tossing them back.

  She watched in horror as they reveled in karmic justice.

  She was about to say something more in defense of Martin, but she didn’t know what she could say.

  Because she knew that deep down, the ladies were right. He was just as bad as they were saying and he was really not a nice man.

  Celestial frowned, trying to ask her next question without sounding like she was accusing them. Samantha turned to her and shook her head.

  “Don’t. Just don’t start. I know you think we did it. We didn’t. That doesn’t stop us from being happy he’s dead. Just leave us alone.”

  Celestial pushed back her chair, ready to do just that. As she stood up, she heard the telltale flutter by her ear that told her Athena was landing on her shoulder.

  “I thought you weren’t coming in?”

  “Couldn’t help myself.” the delicate insect whispered. “They look guilty as sin though, don’t they?”

  “I don’t know about guilty…”

  “You’re just too nice, Celestial. That Samantha, she’s hateful. She might have been protesting innocence, but it sounded full of venom to me.”

  “To me, too.” Celestial said thoughtfully. She left the bar, somewhat more clueless than she went in.

  Chapter 18

  Celestial opened her eyes and yawned. Shards of sunlight shone through the gap in her curtains making her squint as she reached out to turn off her alarm.

  She pulled back the covers and padded across the wooden floor to the bathroom. A vision of Samantha shouting in her face the night before came into her head. She didn’t like confrontation unless it was absolutely necessary but Samantha had been right; she still had Helen and Samantha down as suspects and, if she was honest, she hadn’t discounted Morgana completely.

  The warm water of the shower felt soothing as it warmed her body. As she gently washed her fair skin with her own coconut soap, another face popped into her head: Nikoli.

  An unconscious smile spread across her face as she thought about his masculine jawline and his expressive eyes. Even when he was in his wolf state, she found herself shivering when he came near and it wasn’t from fright.

  Once dressed and ready for the day, Celestial boiled the kettle and made herself some jasmine tea and decided to call Nikoli. He needed to know what went on in the bar last night. It may not mean anything but he did say he wanted her to ‘keep him in the loop’.

  She selected his cell phone number and stabbed ‘call’ but he didn’t pick up. She looked at the clock; it was past eight so he would normally be at work. His answer phone message began and she hesitated about leaving a message and hit ‘end call’ and dialed his office phone. It rang five times before she hung up.

  Celestial took her tea and placed it on the counter in her store then swapped the ‘closed’ sign on the door to ‘open’. She briefly looked around for Athena or Dakota; they would often pop in early to see her. Although her store was much tidier for not having Dakota apparating into the contents of her baskets, racks or shelves. Celestial figured he was MIA on one of a number of things that could have captured his interest. That guy really needed to focus more. She laughed at the thought and was about to get back to her tea when the sound of the door opening caught her attention. It was Helen.

  “Oh, good morning, Helen,” Celestial said with the best smile she could muster. This was one person she wasn’t expecting to come into her store today.

  “Morning, Celestial,” said Helen evenly. She barely glanced up and began wandering around looking at various products.

  Celestial couldn’t help wondering if she was here for some sort of confrontation. Helen was not known for her timidity. But she was just browsing like any normal customer.

  Celestial’s eyes followed her around the room. The silence was thunderous...she had never noticed it before. Maybe some music playing in the background would be a good idea in the future.

  “Could I help you find something?” she asked.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Helen replied.

  Celestial shuffled some leaflets on her counter top. “Well, just let me know if you need any help.”

  Helen looked up from the label she was reading and nodded in her direction.

  Whenever Celestial wanted to think, she would wipe down the bottles and tubs or rearrange her displays but she had completed both those tasks the other day so she decided to stuff some more bags of pot pourri. The warm scent of roses drifted into the air as she scooped the dried flowers with her hands. She looked up and smiled at Helen who walked past her to the hair products.

  Celestial looked after her. The last time Helen was in her store, she was bitter and made no secret of the fact that she was not happy to find out Samantha was also sleeping with Martin. In fact, she remembered her squeezing Samantha’s face and warning her to
watch her back. So what happened between then and last night when they were all celebrating with each other?

  She slapped her forehead. Of course! They were all in it together. The altercation between Helen and Samantha could have been an act. Although if Samantha was acting she should be awarded an Oscar as she genuinely looked shocked and scared.

  Celestial pondered this new idea as she continued to stuff the dried petals into bags. All four of the women from last night had a reason to want Martin dead and if they all worked together, solving the case would be so much harder.

  Helen was now humming softly as she opened a sample of body cream and began rubbing some into the back of her hand.

  She would be the main instigator, thought Celestial. Only she would know how to perform the spell. Maybe Samantha was the one who organised the drugs; she did find that powder in her old desk, and Morgana and Jenna could have found a way of getting him to the woods without a struggle? It would be easy enough for any of them to get some pig’s blood.

  Or there was, of course, the chance that Martin’s death had nothing to do with his complicated love life and all four women were innocent. If that was the case, and there was a completely different motive for someone murdering Martin, that person was still out there. He or she could be on the hunt for victim number two which would mean that other people in the town could be in danger.

  Celestial was picturing the crime scene and another thought entered her head about the pot that contained the blood when Helen walked over to her.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” she said tilting her head slightly to look into Celestial’s eyes.

  “Oh, sorry, I was zoned out for a moment. I’m sure any thoughts I had were not worth a cent,” Celestial said, the pitch of her voice higher than normal.