A Witchy Bake-off

by Danica Britton

  “Sorry,” I said. “Loretta mentioned something happened in 1824. I think it could be the year she died, so I thought maybe newspaper articles would give us some clues as to what happened. She’s still determined not to talk about it.”

  “Well, maybe you should respect that,” Jess said. “Perhaps she doesn’t want anyone to know what happened.”

  “Maybe you’re right. I just want to help her. She seems so down and out of sorts lately.”

  “Here is the first article,” Jess said, moving aside so I could step closer and read it. “Unfortunately, our newspapers only go back as far as 1900. But you might have some luck in Cherrytown. The library there has a microfiche, and I think they go back quite a bit further.”

  “Thanks. I’ll try them later.”

  I settled down to read.

  It was a pretty gory tale. Eighteen months ago, Stacie Sutton’s husband had been poisoned. He’d been ill in the hospital for two weeks before he died, and a week after his death, Stacie was arrested for his murder.

  The article even had quotes from Leslie, protesting her sister’s innocence.

  I looked up. “Well, she must have been released so this can’t be the end of the story.”

  “Exactly,” Jess said. “This next article is from four months later. I found plenty more because it was quite a big deal in the small town. I’ve made photocopies for you to take home but I thought you’d be interested in this article.” She pushed another book in front of me. This article was about Stacie Sutton’s release from custody and the charges against her being dropped.

  “So she didn’t do it?”

  I looked at Jess. “She was released, so maybe she didn’t do it, but no one has ever been charged for his murder…”

  I thought about that for a moment. There were nowhere near enough details in the articles to say conclusively whether Stacie had killed her husband or not, but it did give me pause. Could Stacie be a killer? But if she had killed her husband, then why would she kill Adele? What would be her motive?

  “Even if Stacie got rid of her husband, maybe for his money, because he mistreated her…” I said, thinking aloud, “why would she stab Adele?”

  I turned to Adele. “Was there anything else between you and Stacie? Any bad feelings?”

  Adele tapped her lower lip with a pale finger. “No, the only reason I got to know her in the first place was the fact we were in the baking competition together. The only possible bad feeling she could have had towards me was that I was some kind of competition.”

  “Which brings us back to the motive being she stabbed you over a cake competition, the same as the theory that got Grandma Grant taken in for questioning. But really, that’s not a very strong motive for murder.”

  “I agree,” Jess said. “There has to be more to it than that.”

  “If there is, I can’t tell you what it could be,” Adele said, lifting her transparent shoulders in a shrug. “I have no idea what Stacie would have against me. I hardly knew her.”

  “And Leslie?” I asked.

  Adele shook her head. “I had even less to do with her. We’d only had maybe a handful of conversations.”

  I stared down at the newspaper article for a moment, and then looked up again at Adele. “Did they ever come round for tea? Or did you visit their property?”

  Adele shook her head. “No, they never came to my home and I didn’t visit theirs. The only time I saw them was in public where other people were around. We never had a private conversation.”

  There was no concrete evidence to suggest Stacie could have murdered Adele. But even so, I couldn’t shake a niggling concern that the sisters behaved very oddly.

  Still, odd behavior wasn’t a crime. If it was, I’d have been locked up long ago.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Since Adele seemed to have brightened a little, I decided to ask her about the teenage girl I discovered in her house trying to steal her thimbles.

  “Franklin and I went to check on your house last night. We thought we might perhaps find the man in the blue baseball cap hanging around, but instead I saw that teenage girl again inside your house.”

  Adele stopped reading over my shoulder and looked up. “She was inside my house?”

  “Yes, it was the same girl I saw in the kitchen shortly before I found your body. She had spiky hair, a tattoo, and—”

  “Oh, I know who that is,” Adele said. “It’s Mia. I’m her mentor.”

  “Her mentor?” I asked, puzzled.

  Adele nodded. “Yes, I’ve been helping her out. The poor child’s been going through a terribly tough time. Her mother’s got a new boyfriend, and Mia doesn’t like him. They don’t get along at all.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t know how to tell you this but she was helping herself to your thimble collection.”

  Adele pursed her lips and began to hover back and forth in an agitated fashion. “Things have obviously gotten worse,” she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she left home again.”

  “I tried to talk to her but she ran off.”

  “Well, she was probably scared you might report her for stealing or breaking and entering.”

  “Technically, she was trying to steal the thimbles.”

  Adele shook her head stubbornly. “No, I’ve actually left those to Mia in my will. She knew that. Olivia was never interested in them and called them a silly hobby, but Mia loved them.”

  I peered at Adele as if seeing her for the first time. I’d had no idea she had this sort of relationship with Mia. I’d always assumed she was self-centered. Shows how much I knew about her.

  She was clearly concerned about someone other than herself. This had really shown me another side of Adele. I quickly conveyed what Adele had told me to Jess.

  “So, she wasn’t stealing,” I said in summary. “I told Mia I was going to tell Chief Wickham I’d found her in Adele’s house and that probably scared her.”

  “Why did you do that?” Adele demanded. “Really, Harper, I would have expected you to show some compassion.”

  I looked to Jess for help. “Adele isn’t happy that I scared Mia off.”

  “To be fair, Harper didn’t know Mia was a friend of yours. You could have mentioned it when Harper first described seeing her in the kitchen before she found your body.”

  “I didn’t think. I wasn’t expecting to see Mia at the bake-off.”

  “Well, I did tell Joe McGrady about Mia. I didn’t know her name of course but…”

  “Great,” Adele said. “That’s all Mia needs. Now you have the police on her back too.”

  “Once she explains and the police see that she was written into your will, I’m sure it’ll get all straightened out.”

  Adele shook her head. “We have to find her.”

  “How?”

  “If she had another falling out with her mother’s boyfriend, it means she has nowhere to stay, so she’s probably sleeping rough again.”

  “Again?” I asked.

  Adele nodded. “Yes, it’s happened a couple of times before. She stayed with me for a couple of days until she got things straightened out with her mother in the past.”

  I sighed, thinking there went my chance of spending the rest of the afternoon in Cherrytown researching Loretta’s past. It looked like we’d be searching for a homeless girl.

  “So where do we start looking?” I asked.

  “I think I know where she’ll be,” Adele said. “It’s not far from here. We can walk.”

  So we did. Well, I walked and Adele hovered. It seemed so effortless as she glided along in front of me.

  We passed a few people and I nodded to say hello, only to be treated with Adele’s daggers because she wanted me to hurry up so we could find Mia before nightfall.

  She didn’t tell me where we were going, which was a bit annoying, so instead, I just tried to keep up.

  We turned right out of town on the road to Cherrytown when I saw a car parked on the side of the road. It was a black Chr
ysler.

  There was no one else around so I risked a whisper to Adele.

  “I think that’s the car I saw outside your house.”

  As we got closer, Adele inspected it. “I don’t recognize it,” she said.

  We were still some distance away when we saw the man with the blue baseball cap. He was crossing the street and walking towards his car.

  “That’s him,” I said, and at the moment I spoke, he looked up, then securely tugged on his baseball cap to pull it down low over his face and quickened his step towards the car. Adele zoomed along, preparing to intercept him. I jogged along afterwards but I was far too late. He was in the car and had accelerated away before I got to him.

  “Darn it,” I said. “Did you get a good look at him?” I asked Adele.

  Her eyes narrowed as she nodded. “Oh, I got a good look at him all right. That was Cyril. My ex-husband.”

  “Oh, I thought he lived in Boston. I wonder what he’s doing here.”

  “I’m wondering exactly the same thing,” Adele said. “It’s not like he’s come down here expecting to get his hands on an inheritance because he was here before I died, isn’t that right?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I saw him in the diner. Do you think he could have… What I mean is, did you part on amicable terms?”

  Adele shook her head. “Not really, but I wouldn’t have thought he was the type to murder anybody. He doesn’t have much of a backbone. He tends to get by in life by sucking up to people and creeping around. He was never violent during our marriage.”

  “But as you’re divorced, he’s not set to inherit anything so there’d be no motive there for killing you.”

  “Technically, we’re not actually divorced.”

  I looked at Adele in surprise. “What do you mean technically?”

  “Oh, all right then. We’re not. We’re still married. There never seemed to be a point. Divorce is so expensive and we just separated the things out as best we could. I still had Olivia to provide for so he sent some money every month and we just got along like that. It’s one of those things I’ve been meaning to make official, but it’s not like I wanted to get married again.” She shrugged.

  “Do you know what this means?” I asked. Adele raised an eyebrow. “It means, if he thought he would inherit your house and whatever money you have left then, he has a motive for murder.”

  Adele wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I can’t see it myself. I was married to him for a long time. He’s just not the murdering type.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Adele, but I’m not sure anyone’s the murdering type.”

  She shook her head again. “But he’s quite comfortably well-off. He’s not desperate for money… Not like my horrible son-in-law, Damien.”

  I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun had dropped pretty low in the sky. “We better get a move on if we want to find Mia before dark.”

  Adele blinked as though she’d come to her senses and nodded. “Absolutely; it’s just down this road a little further.”

  She zoomed off and I walked quickly after her.

  We stopped beside the stables. The horses were still out in the yard, and in the distance, there were a couple of people milling about.

  “You think she’s here?” I asked, looking around.

  Adele nodded. “I suspect so. Mia loves animals, and she stayed here last time. I suppose the barn, the main stable block, gives her a little shelter from the weather.”

  I shivered. It was spring, but it definitely wasn’t warm enough at night for somebody to sleep out in the open. Perhaps a stable gave a little shelter but it wouldn’t be enough and it would still be a very cold uncomfortable night.

  I followed Adele, hoping no one would stop us and demand to know what I was doing there. It was all right for her; no one could see her.

  There was only one horse in the stable block, a chestnut mare that whinnied as we entered, shying away a little from Adele as she floated up and peered into the horse enclosures.

  When she reached the end of the line, she called out “Mia’s in this one. Poor kid.”

  I followed her, pulled open the stable door, and saw Mia sitting on top of a sleeping bag. She looked crumpled and there was straw in her hair.

  She looked up sharply. “Can’t you just leave me alone! I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I promise.”

  I put my hands up. “I got my wires crossed. You are a friend of Adele’s. I’m sorry I thought you were stealing.”

  Mia looked up at me warily. Her hair had looked spiky the other day, but now it stood on end. She tugged a hand through it and pushed herself to her feet. “Fine. Apology accepted. Now can you leave me alone?”

  “Are you sleeping here?”

  She kicked the sleeping bag away pointlessly, because it was bright blue and stood out against the bed of straw. “No, I just like spending time with the horses.”

  “She is lying,” Adele said softly.

  “Look, I’m sure it’s nice to be around the horses, but it’s no place to sleep. It’s cold now and it’s going to get much colder tonight.”

  “Thanks for the weather forecast,” she said sarcastically.

  Adele chuckled, but I folded my arms over my chest and looked at Mia sternly. I wasn’t going to let her push me away with sarcasm.

  “So where are you staying?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Does the owner of the stables know you’re staying here? Maybe I should go and have a chat with them.”

  Mia glared at me. “You wouldn’t!”

  Adele turned on me too. “Harper, that’s just nasty.”

  “I just want to know you have a safe place to sleep tonight,” I said.

  “I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I don’t even know you.”

  “No, you don’t, but I knew Adele and I think she’d be very upset if I didn’t offer you help when you needed it.”

  She was quiet for a moment, not knowing how to respond. Then finally she said, “I’ll be fine. I’m just crashing here for a couple of nights until I get things sorted out. It’s no big deal.”

  “Look, why don’t you come back to my place. It’s not much, and you’ll have to sleep on the couch, but if it is just for a couple of nights it’ll at least be somewhere warm to sleep and you could get a proper meal tonight.”

  Mia licked her lips, and then looked down at her sleeping bag, then back up at me. “What do I have to do?”

  “Do?”

  “Yeah, do you expect me to go to the police and tell them what I did or… what do you want from me?”

  “Nothing. Look, I did tell Deputy Joe McGrady that I’d seen you in Adele’s house, but we now know that was just innocent and you weren’t stealing anything that didn’t technically belong to you, so although he might want a quick chat, I’m not going to pressure you into anything. I just want to make sure you’re safe and warm. It’s what Adele would have wanted.”

  “Exactly,” Adele said beside me. “It’s what I want. Now get your things together and get a move on.”

  I smiled at Adele for forgetting the fact that Mia couldn’t hear her.

  When Mia still hesitated, I shrugged. “No pressure; just want to make sure you’re all right.”

  “Okay,” Mia said gruffly. She leaned down to start packing up her sleeping bag. “Have you a car?”

  I shook my head. “Unfortunately not. We’ll have to walk. It’s a fair way but I can help you carry your stuff.” As she clutched her sleeping bag in front of her, I grabbed hold of her rucksack and slipped the straps on my shoulders.

  We headed back to Abbott Cove in silence. Mia wasn’t exactly the talkative type and I ran out of conversation pretty quickly. Instead, as we walked along, I started to worry what Jess would say when she came home and found we had a houseguest.

  Chapter Eighteen

  When we got back to the cottage, I fixed Mia some mac and cheese when she confessed it was her favorite. Comfort food
at its best.

  She was delighted to meet Smudge, and as soon as she polished off the mac and cheese, she spent the rest of the time sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with Smudge and spoiling my cat rotten.

  I watched her with an amused smile. I guess she couldn’t be all bad if she was such a big fan of animals. I really had misjudged her.

  Adele seemed very relieved now that Mia was safe. Of course, sleeping on our couch wasn’t the ideal arrangement, and I still had to bring Jess up-to-date on that score. I wasn’t sure she was going to be thrilled with the news.

  But Jess would understand. Though she could be sarcastic at times, especially to me, she had a good heart and would hate the idea of the young girl sleeping in a stable block.

  I passed on the mac and cheese because I’d had lunch at the diner. As I looked through the freezer compartment, trying to decide what to cook Jess and me for dinner, I received a phone call from Grandma Grant inviting us to dinner at her place. She said Franklin was coming with some important news and I agreed to come over as soon as possible.

  “Mia? I’m going to go over to my grandmother’s for dinner tonight. Would you like to come?”

  It would be awkward if Mia was there. Franklin and I wouldn’t be able to speak freely to Adele, and we wouldn’t really be able to talk much about the murder. But I couldn’t in good conscience leave Mia on her own.

  Mia looked up, the happy smile sliding from her lips. “Oh, I’m not very good with people. I prefer animals.” She smiled down at Smudge, who was tapping at her hand to get her attention. “Would you mind if I stayed here?” she asked. “I won’t be any trouble or touch any of your stuff. I promise.”

  “Of course I don’t mind,” I said, but I was wondering what Jess might make of that.

  “Feel free to make yourself at home. There’s a whole case of bookshelves in my room and the TV remote’s just there. There is hot chocolate in the kitchen, as well as tea and coffee, and Coke in the fridge. There are a few snacks in the cupboard if you get hungry again later.”

  “Thanks, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She patted her stomach. “I’m still stuffed from the mac and cheese.”