Meows, Magic & Marshmallows

by Madison Johns

  “That wouldn’t surprise me. Medea is used to getting her way with everything she touches.”

  “Well, it would seem that’s come to an end.”

  “Are you positive Medea was the one who died today? I’d hate to think it was someone I actually like.”

  “Are you acquainted with Naisha? She’s the one who saw the accident happen.”

  “Aww, she’s so lucky. I wish I was there.”

  “Now, that’s enough,” Noah exclaimed. “A woman has lost her life and whether you like her or not doesn’t matter … she didn’t deserve to die, nobody does.”

  Bunny hopped to her feet. “I’m sorry but I’m being honest and I’d tell anyone the same thing.”

  “Even if the sheriff asks you?” Petunia asked. “I’m quite certain she’ll be questioning everyone who works for the factory and Candyland.”

  “Why not. Sheriff Griffin isn’t all that bad. It wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t look too hard for wrongdoing. She’s been conned by Medea in recent months.”

  “The sheriff has only had good things to say about Medea when we spoke to her,” Petunia said.

  “I suppose it depends on what you’re asking her.”

  10

  “I really could use a break,” Petunia said. “I need to close my eyes for about ten minutes to think.” Or to take another look in the crystal ball, she thought, but did not voice the words.

  “Go ahead. I’ll take a stroll and listen to the buzz in town. I imagine there will be some with an accident happening at the factory. The place is a huge tourist draw.”

  “I expect it to be open tomorrow, to tell you the truth.”

  Petunia parted ways with Noah at the entrance of the hotel. When she walked through the door of her hotel room, it was in total disarray. Petunia panicked when Pansy wasn’t there to greet her. Where was he?

  “Pansy,” Petunia called out. “Where are you?”

  Petunia searched under the bed and encountered a pair of glowing eyes.

  “Is that you, Red?” Pansy asked.

  “Come out here and tell me what’s going on.”

  Pansy darted out and leaped on Petunia, knocking her to the floor. She held Pansy’s trembling body tightly. “That was dramatic.”

  “Not as much as what happened here while you and Noah were gone.”

  Petunia examined Pansy’s paws. She gasped when she found blood on the fur of them. “Are you okay? I swear whoever hurt you is going to pay dearly.”

  Pansy licked a paw thoughtfully. “Not to worry, this isn’t my blood.” Petunia stroked Pansy until he continued, “An old bat came in here and tried to foster off with that glowing globe.”

  “What old bat?”

  “I couldn’t tell you, never saw her before. Classic witch type, no offense … black dress, green skin, oh … and bright red hair that didn’t look a bit real. My guess is a wig.”

  Petunia’s hands slipped to her hips. “I don’t have green skin or wear black dresses.”

  “But you do have red hair.”

  “Auburn. How similar to mine in color was it?”

  “You’re right, it was much brighter and almost cartoonish.”

  Petunia glanced over at the television. “Are you certain it wasn’t something you saw on a TV program?”

  “I’ll have you know I was watching cartoons … Piggly something.”

  “Getting back to what happened … how did the woman get inside?”

  “She had a card key. I heard it click in the lock.”

  “Well, you certainly can’t pick locks in hotel room doors these days.”

  “Nope, had to be a card key. That must have been what she tucked in her pocket.”

  Petunia paced and indiscriminately picked up her clothing from the floor. The closet door was ajar and her suitcase wide open. Whoever broke in here was looking for something.

  “So, the intruder searched the closet.”

  “Yes, and what a mess she made,” Pansy said.

  “I wonder what she was looking for.”

  “Isn’t it apparent, your crystal ball.”

  Petunia rushed over to the dresser where the crystal ball had been this morning. Tears rushed to her eyes and she batted them back. “She stole my crystal ball.”

  Pansy snickered. “You might say that glowing globe made me a little nervous so I … relocated it.”

  “How?”

  “I sort of knocked it on the floor.”

  “Pansy, you could have broken it.”

  “I dragged a pillow over there to catch it. Well, it didn’t exactly happen like that, but it bounced to the floor without shattering so … no harm done.” Pansy licked a paw again. “You should be thanking me. If I hadn’t done that, your globe would have been stolen by the intruder.”

  “So, that’s what the intruder was looking for?”

  “Duh.”

  “How did your paws get blood on them?”

  “I couldn’t let the intruder find the crystal ball now, could I? So, I introduced her to Mr. Claws.” Pansy swiped a paw full of razor sharp claws in the air.

  “And she left just like that?”

  “Not without screaming. I believe she mentioned something about how she should have brought her wand.” Pansy fell to his back. “But by then I hid under the bed.”

  “Is that when she left?”

  “Yes, but she was mumbling under her breath that she’ll be back. Who knew you’d come into possession of a very magical globe that actually works.”

  “I can’t say if it would work for another witch, but it certainly works for me. Where is it?”

  Pansy pranced across the room and meowed as he tried to paw something out of the corner.

  Petunia was on her hands and knees and felt between the back of the dresser and the wall. She could barely roll out the globe.

  “I must admit this is a good hiding spot, Pansy.”

  “I must have rolled it in further than I thought.”

  Pansy set the globe on the dresser and it sprang to life when she touched the glass. She leaned down and saw Medea’s face. The woman was laughing as if she wasn’t dead at all. Petunia could hardly imagine Medea would be laughing if she was really dead. But then, Petunia couldn’t interpret what she could see in the crystal ball so what did she really know.

  “Can you see anything?” Noah said from the adjoining door.

  Petunia turned and said, “I thought I locked that door from my side.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “It’s not like that exactly.”

  “You just feel more comfortable keeping the door locked. I get it.”

  “I bet the woman unlocked the door … I mean, the intruder did,” Petunia said. “Did they ransack your room, too?”

  Noah’s brow furrowed as he glanced around Petunia’s room. “Someone broke into your room?” he asked, as he folded Petunia into a quick hug. “Are you okay?”

  “I wasn’t in the room at the time.”

  “Then how do you know the intruder was a woman?”

  Petunia shrugged. “I figured it might be another witch trying to get her hands on my crystal ball.”

  “Obviously they didn’t steal it,” Andrew said, motioning to the globe.

  “It rolled off the table.”

  Petunia picked up Pansy. “Look, Pansy has blood on his paws. I think he might have attacked the intruder.”

  Noah’s eyes widened as Petunia set down Pansy. “Pansy hardly looks like an attack cat.”

  Pansy walked over and swiped at Noah’s leg, catching bare skin at his ankle.

  “Ouch, you win Pansy,” Noah exclaimed. “We should report the incident.”

  “I’m sure the sheriff is quite busy with what happened at the factory.”

  “I imagine she’s free by now, but it needs to be reported to the hotel, too. Management will want to thwart any other attempts at break-ins at the hotel.

  “Are you certain your room was broken into?” asked Arnold, the h
otel manager, nervously. “Things like this just don’t happen at this hotel.”

  “Well, apparently that’s not the case. I would like you to take a look at the camera recordings of the hallway on our floor,” Petunia said, as she slid her palm across his desk.

  Arnold pulled his tie loose. “I don’t know about that. Are you certain your room was broken into?”

  “My room was ransacked, I assure you. The intruder emptied the contents of my closet and scattered my clothing all over my room.”

  “They might have been searching for money,” Noah suggested. “And I agree with Petunia, we need to take a look at the recordings unless you’d prefer we inform the other guests about what occurred.”

  “It won’t be good for business,” Petunia added. “And here we thought Coven Creek was such a crime-free town.”

  “I assure you that Coven Creek is quite safe and nothing like this has ever happened at this hotel.”

  “What about what happened at the factory,” Petunia said with a shudder. “Horrible.”

  “Let’s stick to seeing the tapes,” Noah said.

  “Wait here and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “But can’t you pull them up on your computer?” Petunia asked.

  “Security has them.”

  “We could go with you.”

  Noah stood up. “I agree that would be better.”

  “I can’t have guests wandering around the security room, it’s unheard of.”

  “Not unless you’re hiding something,” Petunia suggested.

  Arnold sighed. “Come along then, but promise me you won’t breathe a word about what happened with any of the other guests. The hotel will be ruined.”

  “We promise,” Noah said.

  They followed Arnold through a hidden door to the rear of his office and found themselves in a long corridor that led to the security office. Petunia approached the large glass door and stared at the many monitors being watched by the security officers.

  “Wait out here,” Arnold said, as he walked inside.

  Petunia exchanged a look with Noah, who had a slight smile on his face. When she continued to stare at him, he asked, “What? Don’t you think it’s interesting?”

  “I suppose in a geeky kind of way.”

  “The entire hotel is being monitored, as are all entrances,” Noah said.

  “We might be able to see which way the perp accessed the hotel,” Petunia said. “If the nervous hotel manager lets us.”

  “Don’t talk that way about Arnold.” Noah winked. “I think I’m bonding with him.”

  “I noticed.” Petunia folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t think I would have been able to get Arnold to do anything for me.”

  “You could have, but thankfully you’re not that type of woman.”

  The door opened and Noah and Petunia were ushered inside and they sat down at a monitor. A security officer rolled his chair over and gave them instructions on how to operate the cursor as the video played.

  “This might take some time so I’ll leave you to it,” Arnold said, as he departed.

  Petunia focused on the monitor as it played and made suggestions about what time they should start their search.

  “It happened sometime after we took Pansy back to the hotel,” Petunia reminded Noah.

  They watched the recording and Petunia sighed in frustration. This would take all day! Suddenly an image had her on the edge of her seat. A dark figure proceeded up the hallway. “The woman is wearing a hood,” Petunia grumbled. “It’s obvious it’s a woman.”

  “Tallest woman I’ve ever seen, but that’s a good thing. People would remember a woman that tall wandering the hotel.”

  “Except we promised not to mention what happened to any of the guests.”

  “You’re right, but that doesn’t stop us from questioning anyone else in town.”

  Petunia looked back at the monitor and two bright red curls fell from the hood as the woman keyed open the door and walked inside. Pansy was right. She did have a card key.

  Noah fast forwarded the recording and the security personnel assisted them by searching each of the entrances after the intruder left Petunia’s room. The woman was holding her hand as if it had been injured by Pansy’s claws. While her skin didn’t appear to be green, there was a grayish tinge to it.

  “She exited through the back door by the kitchen,” the security personnel said.

  “Thank you so much,” Petunia said. “This is very helpful.”

  Petunia and Noah were led back into Arnold’s office, where he waited with a weary looking Sheriff Griffin!

  “I-I thought it might be a good idea to bring Sheriff Griffin in on this,” Arnold stammered.

  “A minute ago, you wanted to keep a closed lip on this,” Petunia said. “Fat chance doing that now.”

  “I should take a look at your room,” Griffin said.

  “I cleaned it up now,” Petunia gasped. “What I’d like to know is how did that woman have possession of a card key to my room? You can see it clearly on the security recordings.”

  “I haven’t seen them myself,” Arnold assured the sheriff.

  “I’m sure the security officer we were with can tell you all about it.”

  “Did you recognize the woman?” Griffin asked.

  Petunia shook her head. “She was wearing a hood.”

  “Then how do you know it was a woman?”

  “She had the body shape of a woman and,” Petunia paused, realizing this was pointless. “Why don’t you take a look at the recordings. I still haven’t gotten an answer about the card key.”

  “They’re made at the check-in desk,” Arnold said.

  “So, anyone could have made the key,” the sheriff said.

  “I have complete trust in my staff. None of them would ever do anything like this.”

  “They might not have,” Noah said. “They might have found a master card. Could have picked it up from a housecleaning cart.”

  “That must be it,” Arnold said. “I know nobody at the front desk would do anything like that. I’ll do a cross check to be positive, but that will take time.”

  “So, that’s it, then,” Petunia said. “Could we speak to you privately, sheriff?”

  “Keep me updated, Arnold,” Griffin said, as she followed Noah and Petunia from the office.

  “I don’t suppose you have time to talk in my hotel room?” Petunia asked. “I don’t want anyone to overhear out conversation.”

  Griffin’s brow shot up. “I can’t wait to hear what you have to say,” she said.

  Petunia and Noah led the way to the elevator. She had a feeling that the sheriff was mocking her in some way, but wait until she heard what Petunia had to ask her … she’d hit the roof.

  Pansy bounded toward them when they walked into the room. He backed up when he saw that Petunia and Noah had brought company.

  Petunia faced off the sheriff. “I know this might be hard for you to take, but Noah and I have a hand in investigating mysteries in Lake Forest.”

  Sheriff Griffin rolled her eyes. “Please tell me that doesn’t mean you plan to get mixed up in what happened at the factory.”

  Petunia exchanged a look with Noah. “I’m afraid we’d be hard pressed not to at this point,” Noah said.

  “Especially when your name has come up, Sheriff,” Petunia said. “That’s why we asked to speak to you here.”

  The sheriff’s face reddened. “I don’t like your insinuation that I’m in any way involved with what happened at the factory.”

  “So, you don’t believe the victim was Medea Deadsnout?”

  “It’s a little premature to say at this point, don’t you think. It will take time for the body to be identified.”

  “You have a material witness,” Petunia reminded the sheriff.

  “Witnesses have been known in the past to have the details wrong. I need a positive identification.”

  “Then why were you out to Medea’s place earlier?”
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  “Oh, boy, here we go,” Pansy said.

  “Shh,” Petunia told Pansy.

  Sheriff Griffin pursed her lips so hard they turned white and her eyes pinned to Petunia. “Who told you that?”

  “We might have gone out there ourselves.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “We wanted to hear what the butler had to say about Medea’s passing,” Noah said.

  “I didn’t get much out of him,” the sheriff admitted.

  “I suppose not, since you were linked to Medea. I believe in connection with a fundraiser. That must be the reason you were reluctant to question Medea yesterday.”

  The sheriff stepped toward Petunia. “It had nothing to do with it. I just don’t have a habit of grilling a woman on the say so of a former employee.”

  “So, you still believe Chloe lied about fingering Medea for ransacking the shop?”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me. What did she have to say about what happened at the factory?”

  “She was shocked,” Noah said. “Chloe and Emerald were busy with the clean-up of their store.”

  “So, they have an alibi, interesting.” Sheriff Griffin said, as she jotted the information on a notebook.

  Petunia squared her shoulders. “Is it true Medea embezzled money from your fundraiser?”

  Griffin grimaced. “Who told you that?”

  “Medea’s butler.”

  “Strange information for a butler to know,” Noah said. “Of course, he might have overheard Medea telling someone about it.”

  “I’ve been trying to compile evidence against Medea to prove it. I don’t believe she’d tell anyone, especially her butler.”

  “He could have overheard her discussing it on the phone,” Petunia offered.

  “That would mean someone else was involved. Medea doesn’t have any friends and she doesn’t trust anyone.”

  “She must have trusted you.”

  “She insisted on handling the accounting.”

  “So, no friends, how about acquaintances?”

  “None that I’m aware of.”

  “I imagine you were upset when you found out about the embezzlement,” Noah said.