A Witchy Bake-off

by Danica Britton

  “There!” Adele looked at me and grinned gleefully. “Brilliant observational skills, Harper. Who did you see? One of them is probably the murderer.”

  “I saw two people that I haven’t seen in Abbott Cove before. The first was a man who wore a blue baseball cap, he visited the diner and was acting a little suspiciously. I saw him later, parked outside very close to Adele’s house when I came by with Grandma Grant to discuss the wooden spoon.”

  The mention of the wooden spoon drew a grumble from Grandma Grant.

  “But let’s not get into that now,” Jess said, holding up a hand. “What was it about the man that made you suspicious, Harper?”

  “He just seemed like he was trying very hard not to be noticed, if that makes sense. I also thought I saw him outside the kitchen at the back of the church hall when I was looking for Adele, just shortly before I saw her body.”

  “That’s it!” Adele said. “It’s got to be him. He’s our killer. Where can we find him?”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know. Twice, I saw him in a vehicle that I think was a black Chrysler, but I didn’t get the plate number.”

  Adele gave a huff. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of hotshot detective. Everyone is always going on about how you keep solving Chief Wickham’s cases.”

  “It does sound suspicious,” Franklin mused. “I definitely need to follow up.”

  “You mentioned two strangers,” Grandma Grant said. “Who was the other one?”

  “Oh, well I doubt she was the murderer. It happened when I was looking for Adele and went into the kitchen. I saw a teenage girl helping herself to some cakes and cookies. When I confronted her, she ran off. She was very young, and I doubt she had anything to do with Adele’s murder.”

  “What does she look like?” Jess asked.

  “Well, she stood out because she had tattoos and a piercing. But other than that, she had dark spiky hair and just looked like a normal teenager really.”

  Franklin wrote stranger one blue baseball cap and then stranger two teenage girl on the whiteboard with a line linking them to Adele’s name.

  Franklin looked thoughtfully at the board. “I think the man in the blue baseball cap would be worth following up. So how do we identify him?”

  “A blue baseball cap isn’t much to go on,” Grandma Grant said. “We need some more details about his appearance.”

  “He was in his early sixties perhaps…” I said. “I couldn’t see much of his hair, only his temples, but they were graying, light brown sprinkled with gray. He had quite a ruddy complexion and was about medium height…”

  “Is that all you can remember?” Jess asked.

  “Well, I didn’t realize it would be so important.”

  “Why don’t you try to draw him?” Grandma Grant said. “Give her the pen, Franklin.”

  “Draw him? You know I’m not much of an artist.”

  “Just do your best,” Franklin said kindly, holding up the marker pen.

  I took the pen, took the cap off, getting a whiff of the chemical smell of the ink, and walked around the coffee table to the whiteboard.

  Come on, Harper. Focus. You can do it. This could be the thing that solves the case.

  I started with the nose, remembering it had been his most prominent feature, but the drawing went wrong almost immediately. The nose turned out to be much more bulbous than I’d intended. I remembered his eyes were slightly small and closely set, although I couldn’t remember their color. I drew a pair of eyes that looked prominent and more like fish eyes than belonging to a human. I lowered the pen to my side and took a step back to survey my work so far.

  It looked nothing like him.

  I turned back to the others and shrugged. “It’s no good. I can’t draw. I’m sorry.”

  “Do you have any idea who it could be, Adele?” Grandma Grant said, looking around the room as though she’d be able to see Adele.

  “Not a clue. That drawing makes him look like some kind of cartoon character.”

  “Forget the drawing,” I said. “Do you know anyone who wears a blue baseball cap or is in that age range.”

  “Of course I know men in that age range, that hardly narrows things down, but I can’t say I know anyone who wears a blue baseball cap.” I put my head in my hands. We really weren’t getting anywhere with this.

  Franklin began to pace back and forth in front of the whiteboard.

  “All my experience tells me we should go back to the family. Nine times out of ten, the killer is someone close to the victim. If Adele’s daughter benefited from her mother’s death, then I think we need to look at her closely.”

  “How dare you!” Adele whirled around, glaring at Franklin. “I know my daughter and she would never do such a thing. How dare you!”

  “Calm down, Adele. He’s not trying to upset you. He is trying to think logically about the case. Even if it’s not your daughter, then perhaps it could be someone she knows,” I said.

  “What about your son-in-law? He is always hard up for money, isn’t he?” Grandma Grant said.

  Adele’s lower lip wobbled. “I can’t believe you’re all being so horrible.”

  “We’re not,” I said, getting to my feet and walking over to Adele. “We are trying to help you.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re only interested in all this because you want to get your grandmother off the hook. If it wasn’t for that, you wouldn’t care at all.”

  “That’s not true, Adele,” I said. “Even if Grandma Grant hadn’t been a suspect, I would still have wanted to help you.”

  Adele’s face twisted with sadness. “I don’t believe you.”

  She whirled around and zoomed off.

  “Where are you going?” I called after her.

  “I need some time on my own,” she said, and then flew through the wall.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I suggest we go to Adele’s house now and take a look around,” Franklin said, leaning down to stroke Athena, who purred happily. “With any luck, we might find some clues there.”

  “The man in the blue baseball cap might still be hanging around Abbott Cove, maybe near Adele’s place,” Jess said.

  “He could be.” I shivered. “Let’s go and find out. There’s strength in numbers. Shall we take your car?” I asked, looking at Jess.

  “We can’t turn up there en masse,” Franklin said, looking horrified at the idea. “We need to be discreet in our investigations. The last thing we need is to annoy Chief Wickham.”

  “Any more than you already have, you mean,” Grandma Grant laughed. “You ran rings around him during my questioning. It was heartwarming!”

  “Yes, Harper knows all about upsetting law enforcement. So who do you propose should go?” Jess asked.

  Franklin frowned, thinking for a moment, and then said, “I think Harper and I should go. She has seen the man in the blue baseball cap before so she’ll be able to recognize him if he’s not wearing his cap this time.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. I made a grab for Jess’s keys in the bowl beside the coatrack.

  “Do you mind if I take your car?”

  “We won’t be needing cars,” Franklin said. “It will be much easier to teleport.”

  “But I can’t teleport,” I said. “None of us can.”

  Franklin looked round the room incredulously. “Of course you can; you’re not seriously telling me Priscilla Grant can’t teleport.”

  Grandma Grant flushed. “I used to be able to do it, but it seemed to draw unwanted attention so I stopped doing it a good forty years ago. I’ve grown a bit rusty.”

  Franklin clapped his hands together. “Not a problem. We’ll have a quick practice session now before we set off. I’ll have you all teleporting in no time.”

  My stomach gave an uncomfortable roll. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’m not very good with spells and things.”

  “Relax,” Franklin said. “Trust me, Harper, you’ll pick it up in no time.”

&n
bsp; Jess looked at him doubtfully. “I don’t know. Harper’s got a lot of talents but learning new spells isn’t one of them.”

  “Nonsense. If she is Priscilla Grant’s granddaughter, she will be able to do this.”

  Great. At least I didn’t feel under any pressure.

  Franklin had us gather in a circle and began to issue instructions. “You need to feel where you’re going to end up. Sense your destination. Sometimes you might never have been there before so that’s quite difficult. In that case, you need something strong to lock on to. So, for example, when I teleported here earlier, I focused strongly on Jess’s voice, which was enough to create a magical tether to pull me straight here to Abbott Cove. Now, as you’re very new at this, you won’t be going large distances like me, but you should be able to pop here and there in Abbott Cove without too much trouble.”

  Franklin told us a short spell to recite while we were thinking of our target location.

  “Now, I’d like you to go to the far side of the room and beside that armchair,” Franklin said to Grandma Grant, pointing at a large overstuffed floral armchair in the corner.

  Grandma Grant nodded confidently, took a deep breath, muttered the spell, and in an instant, she disappeared. I whipped my head around to see her grinning and standing beside the armchair.

  “Wow,” Jess said. “It really worked. Can I try?”

  “Absolutely. Try to do the same thing and teleport to the position by your grandmother.”

  Jess was practically glowing with excitement, as opposed to the dread slowly building in my stomach. I felt sick.

  Jess murmured the words of the spell like they were poetry, and in an instant, she too was on the other side of the room.

  Franklin turned to me expectantly and I felt a lump grow in my throat.

  “Your turn, Harper,” he said, as if it were that easy.

  “I don’t think you really understand, Franklin. I really can’t do spells. I always mess them up.”

  His face softened. “You’ll never know unless you try.”

  “Come on, Harper,” Jess said. “Just give it a go.”

  It was all right for her. She’d always been brilliant at spells. Well, maybe she was only mediocre; she just seemed brilliant in comparison to me.

  As they all stood there staring at me, I realized I wasn’t going to get out of this so I may as well give it a try. “Fine,” I said, and tried to clear my mind. I pictured a spot on the floor beside the chair next to Jess and Grandma Grant, and tried to clear my mind of everything else, but it wasn’t easy. I kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Then, I slowly recited the spell.

  Suddenly, I began to feel very dizzy. Beneath my feet, the floor felt soggy, like a marshmallow, then everything went black.

  Panicked, I blinked. No, everything was still black. Something had gone wrong. Very badly wrong.

  “Harper! Where are you?”

  That was Grandma Grant’s voice. I stared into the pitch black, holding up my hands, and called back. “I don’t know. It’s all dark.”

  As I spoke, my hands connected with some soft fabric and I jerked back. What was that?

  In the next moment, I was flooded with light, and it took me a second to realize that it was because Franklin had opened the door. I’d been inside the cupboard under the stairs.

  Mortified, my cheeks burned as I pushed my way out of the cupboard.

  Franklin’s eyes twinkled and I could tell he was barely suppressing laughter.

  “I told you I couldn’t do it,” I said.

  “Nonsense, that was a very good start. You moved. You left your original position. You just didn’t quite get the location right. Why don’t you try again?”

  “Are you crazy? I could land someplace really dangerous next time.”

  I walked past him, back into the main living area, and folded my arms. I felt like a sulky teenager. “I don’t want to do it.”

  Jess sighed. “You did really well, Harper. It was your first attempt.”

  “It was your first attempt too, and you managed it perfectly!”

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Harper, and try again. You won’t get anywhere with your spells unless you keep trying.”

  It was all very well for them. But they didn’t know what it was like to be truly atrocious at learning spells and casting spells.

  I went to sit on the sofa, feeling very anxious. “I need a break.”

  Athena, as if sensing my distress, sprang down from her spot on the armchair and walked over to brush her warm fur against the bottom of my legs.

  “Maybe somebody else should go with you, Franklin,” Jess said. “I don’t mind going to Adele’s house.”

  Grandma Grant was still staring at me. I could feel the weight of her disappointment.

  “Well, why don’t we give Harper a little breathing room and then try again later. Perhaps another pot of tea?” Franklin suggested.

  As he went off to make the tea with Grandma Grant, Jess suddenly appeared beside me.

  “Did you just teleport onto the sofa?” I asked, blinking at her.

  She nodded and giggled. “It’s really fun when you get the hang of it.”

  “I’m sure it is, but I doubt I’m ever going to get the hang of it.”

  “Of course you will. It’s all like Franklin said; it’s down to practice.”

  Then suddenly, Jess disappeared. I looked around the living room and saw her standing by the window. “Very funny,” I said.

  Jess continued to practice, much to my annoyance, popping up here, there, and everywhere.

  Just when I thought she was done, she teleported right in front of me.

  “Not funny,” I said.

  Then I blinked again as Grandma Grant had teleported in front of me, holding the tea tray. “Ha ha,” she said. “It worked!”

  “You should really try again, Harper,” Jess said.

  I shook my head stubbornly. “I’m perfectly happy to walk or drive places I want to go, thank you.”

  “You know you want to try again really, Harper. You can’t let fear of failure stop you.”

  As Grandma Grant poured the tea, I reluctantly got to my feet.

  “Fine, I’ll try again.”

  This time, I made an extra effort to clear my mind of any negative thoughts. It wasn’t easy, and they kept trying to worm their way back into my head, but I focused on the kitchen. I pictured everything quite clearly, a spot right by the sink. I could see it perfectly clearly in my head. Once I was sure I’d pictured everything, I took a deep breath and murmured the spell. I felt the same dizzying sensation and the soggy sponginess under my feet, and then suddenly I was in the kitchen!

  It had worked! Well, sort of. I was actually crouching in the kitchen sink so perhaps I paid too much attention to that particular detail. But at least I got the room right! I hadn’t managed to get inside a cupboard.

  “It worked!” I called excitedly.

  Jess, Grandma Grant, and Franklin rushed into the kitchen.

  Grandma Grant asked dryly, “You thought it was a good idea to teleport yourself to the kitchen sink?”

  I climbed down awkwardly. “Not the sink, but I got the room right. Maybe I just thought about the sink too much while I was focusing on the location.”

  “I declare it a huge success,” Franklin said. “Well done, Harper.”

  Okay, so it hadn’t been perfect, but I was pretty pleased with my attempt.

  After we went back to finish our tea, Franklin looked at me steadily and asked, “So, Harper, are you ready for a big test of your new abilities? Can you picture Adele’s house?”

  I gulped. teleporting to the kitchen was one thing, but getting all the way to Adele’s house without causing a disaster? That was quite another thing entirely.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Ouch!”

  I looked down and saw I’d landed right outside Adele’s back windows on top of an extremely prickly bush.

  Gingerly, I tried
to pick my way out of the shrubbery and minimize the scratches.

  “Harper?” Franklin called out in a loud whisper.

  “I’m round the back,” I called, hoping none of the neighbors were home. “I landed in the garden.”

  In a flash, Franklin was standing next to me and held out his hand to try and help me out of the prickly leaves.

  “How is it that you’ve never even been to Adele’s house before and you teleport perfectly outside the front door, yet I land in the garden?” I asked grumpily.

  “This is still a very new technique for you, Harper. I took a look at the house on Google Maps. Your grandmother showed me. From the satellite picture, it was easy enough to latch on to and I teleported.”

  Modern technology and magic working together. I had to admit I was impressed.

  I brushed myself down, trying to get rid of the little leaves and ignore the stinging pain from the scratches all over my legs.

  “So did you see anyone suspicious out the front?” I asked.

  Franklin shook his head. “No. I did look out for a black Chrysler but there wasn’t one along the street and no sign of a man in a baseball cap unfortunately. In fact, the street was pretty quiet.”

  That was probably a good thing, considering we were planning to go snooping around in Adele’s house.

  I straightened up and brushed my hands together. “Right, so I suppose we need to try and get inside.”

  Franklin cleared his throat. “Naturally, I can’t go inside.”

  I turned to him in astonishment. “What do you mean? I thought that was the whole point of us coming here.”

  “I’m here to help you. I’ll keep a lookout to make sure nobody comes along but I can’t go in myself. I could lose my law license!”

  “Oh, so it’s perfectly fine for me to get caught inside?”

  Franklin looked a little abashed. “You don’t have as much to lose, Harper.”

  I huffed under my breath. At least when Jess and Grandma Grant came with me on these sorts of wacky missions, they didn’t let me go in on my own.

  I turned away from Franklin to look at Adele’s back door. It was white painted wood. I looked around on the patio, taking in the plant pots.