Meows, Magic & Marshmallows

by Madison Johns

  Petunia was speechless. “Thank you, Noah, for making me sound like a lunatic.”

  “I was only being honest.”

  “Thank you, Coroner Clint, Sheriff.”

  With as much dignity as Petunia could muster, she walked back up the street, outpacing Noah.

  “Wait up, Petunia.”

  Petunia hurried up and hopped on the golf cart and took off before Noah could stop her. She wasn’t in the mood for Noah’s jokes. She didn’t appreciate how he had just mocked her in front of the coroner and the sheriff. What could he possibly know about witches or magic or curses? Fine, Petunia knew it was far-fetched, but that was the direction the investigation was going now.

  Petunia turned to the side when she heard a noise and landed the golf cart in the mud. She backed up, but there was no hope. She was stuck, no thanks to…

  Noah sat on another golf cart and grimaced as he waved. He strolled over and quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “Oh, is that all you’re apologizing to me for?”

  Noah scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, you mean back there with the sheriff and the coroner? I was throwing them off our trail. We don’t want them to know who we’re questioning next.”

  “You make it sound like I’d rather we solve this case than the sheriff. Honestly, I don’t care as long as it’s solved.”

  “The sheriff already questioned Naisha,” Noah reminded Petunia. “At the time, we didn’t know what we know now. Naisha and Medea were close. She might be able to tell us something of use now that it’s been a few days.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t making fun of me because I believe in curses?”

  “I’d expect you to believe in curses, you’re a witch. What I don’t believe in is that Medea’s death has anything to do with a curse, even if she might have tried to open a wall at the mansion.”

  “I’ll agree that sounds far-fetched, but how about two managers both having deadly accidents at the factory. What do you have to say about that?”

  “Bad luck.”

  “Bad luck is all you have to say?” Petunia asked, as she climbed into Noah’s golf cart. “How did you find this cart so fast?”

  “I might have swiped it from one of the outside vendors.”

  “Now you’re committing crimes?” Petunia gasped. “If you get arrested, what will my Aunt Maxine think when I come back to Lake Forest alone?”

  “You’ll bail me out,” Noah said confidently.

  “Don’t be so cocky, Noah. I don’t believe it should be up to me to bail you out. It’s too bad your family lives all the way in New York. Do you even know their phone number by heart? Not too many people memorize phone numbers these days.”

  “I don’t have to worry about it, like I said, you’d bail me out. But I have a feeling I’ll most likely have to bail you out.”

  “Enough talk about getting arrested. You better return the golf cart after we question Naisha. We might need a car if we plan to head to Nathan’s Eatery, unless it’s closer than I think it might be. Hey, isn’t the factory closed today?”

  “It doesn’t look like it,” Noah said, as he pointed out a tourist bus.

  “I wonder why Wallace told us it was closed.”

  “Maybe he was mistaken, or else the alert that they didn’t have to report to work was an error.”

  “I suppose we’ll find out if we ever catch up with Frank.”

  Noah parked the golf cart and they hustled to the entrance of the factory. When they walked through the door they sidelined the samples and instead walked up to the receptionist desk. “We’re here to speak with Naisha,” Petunia said.

  The brunette woman seated at the desk picked up the phone and smiled as she presumably waited for someone to answer on the other end. She ended the call and said, “She’ll be here in a moment.”

  Petunia wondered why people always said someone would be there in a moment when it was always much longer.

  Noah cleared his throat and Naisha walked over with a forced smile. “This way please,” she said.

  Noah and Petunia followed Naisha up a hallway and into an office that was quite elaborate for the assistant of the manager. The desk had room for the computer and plenty of workspace. A comfortable-looking leather sofa was situated along one wall and blue lights ran along the ceiling, giving the office an interesting glow.

  “So, why did you want to see me?”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. We recently learned that you were quite close to Medea,” Petunia said.

  “Well, I was her assistant.”

  “Some might argue that she had a close relationship with you.”

  “She was just my boss and that’s the extent of it.”

  “We spoke to one of the investors, who told us that you and Medea were quite close. I hardly think he’d lie about something like that.”

  Naisha began to click and unclick her ink pen to the point that it was on Petunia’s last nerve. “Could you please quit doing that,” Petunia finally said.

  “Sorry, it’s a nervous tick.”

  “I tap my foot on the floor and well, even my legs most of the time when I’m nervous. I’ve done a lot of that lately with this case. We just learned that the victim was Medea.”

  “I already told you that.”

  “I know, but we’ve received so much information since then.”

  “Like you having a personal relationship with Medea,” Noah said.

  Naisha’s face went ashy. “I wouldn’t call it that. We had a close professional relationship, but honestly, it was better than to be on her crosshairs. I need this job and it was in my interest to agree with whatever the woman said.”

  “That’s understandable,” Noah said.

  “I know it’s painful, but can you please tell us exactly what you saw that day.”

  Naisha sighed and popped a slice of gum in her mouth. “I came into work early. I always get here at eight. Medea usually doesn’t come in until eight-thirty, but for some reason she was early that awful day.”

  “She stopped in the driveway about the same time the tanker truck arrived. The driver connected the hose like normal, but something went haywire and the chute broke apart near the roof and covered Medea with melted marshmallow.” She dabbed a tissue at the corner of her eye. “It happened so fast and poor Medea didn’t have a chance. I know she’s not well liked but she didn’t deserve that, nobody does.”

  “How competent of a manager was she?”

  “If she made any mistakes I wouldn’t notice. She conducted her business in a professional manner. But she did mention one of the investors was putting pressure on her. Medea believed he was out to fire her, but there’s no way Frank would go along with that. He hired her.”

  “Did she mention why the investor wanted to fire her?”

  “Well, she fired Reggie Talkin. He had been the manager of Candyland for the last ten years. He was well liked and had good numbers.”

  “Did she mention why she let him go?”

  “She wanted to promote another employee as the manager over there.”

  “Gregg?” Petunia asked.

  “That’s him. Unfortunately, he’s struggling to learn the ropes, which is why Hugh is so angry about it.”

  “It would have been better if Gregg had been trained properly before she up and fired Reggie,” Noah said.

  “If it was me, I would have had Reggie show him the ropes and then promote Reggie to another position,” Petunia said.

  “Medea tried that, but Reggie was happy where he was working.”

  “We spoke with Gregg’s assistant, Bunny. She seems to think she should have gotten the job. I believe she thinks it’s time for a woman to be handed the reins.”

  “I can’t say I blame her. She was Reggie’s assistant and I imagine she knows more about being the manager at Candyland than Gregg.”

  “I never thought about it that way,” Petunia said. “I thought she was just bitter for not getting
the promotion.”

  “Anything else you can tell us?” Noah asked.

  “No, I’m afraid not, although if I were you I’d talk to Chloe. She was certainly angry about losing her job.”

  “I still don’t understand what that was about,” Petunia said. “Do you have any details you could share with us?”

  “Medea was convinced she was a corporate spy.”

  “But she worked handing out samples. It doesn’t sound like she had access to other areas of the factory.”

  “That’s not entirely true, she was spotted on the cameras accessing restricted areas. Medea was confident that she was stealing recipes.”

  “It’s no wonder Medea had so many people angry with her. I wonder how many other people she falsely accused of being a corporate spy. It doesn’t even sound like Chloe. Besides, Frank told us the recipes are kept in a safe deposit box at the bank. He even confirmed that they’re still there.”

  “Which they were, of course, since your name has to be on it for you to even look inside it,” Noah said. “I can’t see them allowing Medea access.”

  Naisha worked her bottom lip with her teeth. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

  Petunia stretched. “Did Medea happen to say anything about a certain fundraiser she was involved in with Sheriff Griffin?”

  “Oh, you must mean the orphanage fund. It’s a wonderful charity.”

  “Medea didn’t mention that she robbed the fundraiser?” Noah asked.

  “Robbed it blind,” Petunia added. “Put the bank account only in her name and she closed the account after what I imagine must be a large sum of money was collected.”

  “The sheriff was seeking a case against her and hoping to get enough evidence to arrest her.”

  “That’s just awful. Are you certain Medea did that?” Naisha asked.

  “For someone who only was nice to Medea to keep her job, you’re certainly unconcerned that the orphanage will never be opened thanks to your boss.”

  “Hey, I didn’t mean it like it sounded. I just can’t imagine Medea doing something like that. But I also don’t know why the sheriff would be working on the charity with Medea in the first place. It’s not like they were friends or acquaintances.”

  “Now that’s the one-hundred-dollar question,” Noah said. He slid his card across the desk. “Give us a call if you remember anything else. We’re hoping to wrap up this case before our vacation is over.”

  “Strange way to vacation, if you ask me,” Naisha said.

  16

  Petunia and Noah walked into Hugh’s office.

  “We only have a few more questions,” Noah said. “It’s about the former manager of Candyland, Reggie Talkin. Do you know how to contact him?”

  “I rehired him yesterday morning. I won’t have Candyland go under.”

  “Gregg wasn’t the manager Medea thought he would be?” Petunia asked.

  “You know it. It was a mistake firing Reggie.”

  “What about Gregg?”

  “He’s back to working at the factory as a shift manager. I believe he was happier in that position. I never understood why Medea wanted Gregg to run Candyland.”

  “What about Bunny, where is she working now?”

  “She’s Reggie’s assistant.”

  “Have you ever considered her for a manager’s position?” Petunia asked.

  “She’s quite eager,” Noah said.

  “We could use her as the refreshment manager. It’s more complex than it sounds. I’ll run it past her when I see her.”

  “Do you think rehiring Reggie so soon after Medea’s death was a wise decision?” Noah asked.

  “The sheriff might find it strange,” Petunia said.

  “I don’t care what anyone thinks. I’m making the decisions that benefit the company.”

  “Does Frank know about it yet?”

  “He’s out of town licking his wounds, but he’ll be back. He just doesn’t like it when I make the decisions that he should have made to begin with.”

  “Whatever happened with the last manager who was killed at the factory, Clark Kenning?”

  “It was a horrible accident that cost us plenty in the lawsuit. Kenning wore a loose shirt that day and it snagged on a mixing paddle. Poor sap was gone before we were able to even shut off the machine.”

  Petunia swallowed hard. “What a horrible thing to happen. I imagine it put a dark shadow on the factory.”

  “For a time, we were under the spotlight of OSHA, but they were satisfied with our plan of action in regard to safety. We replaced the mixing machines to ones with safety shutoffs.”

  “We bumped into Wallace earlier; you know, one of the tour guides. He told us Frank sent out voicemails to all the employees and told them not to report for work today. Imagine our surprise when the factory is open.”

  “Frank jumped the gun on that, but Wallace really isn’t needed today. We have other tour guides. I called in the essential employees.”

  “Don’t tell him that.” Petunia laughed. “He’s a little territorial when it comes to conducting tours.”

  “Thank you for your time, Hugh. We’re doing our part to solve this case,” Noah said.

  “And prove there was more to it than an accident.”

  “I hope we’re going to Candyland now. I have a hankering for a corn dog and cotton candy,” Petunia said.

  “We’re going there to question Reggie, remember? Of course, I rather like the idea of watching you eat cotton candy. It will make your kisses so much sweeter.”

  “How about now?” Petunia asked, as she puckered up.

  Noah laughed before pulling her into his arms and planting a warm kiss on her trembling lips.

  “You know, I think we really better hurry up and get to Candyland before it gets any hotter today,” Petunia said, trying not to get any more worked up over that kiss!

  Petunia led the way into the office that apparently no longer belonged to Gregg.

  A short Hispanic man sat behind the desk and smiled at them as they approached.

  “Are you Reggie?” Petunia asked.

  “I sure hope so.” He grinned.

  “We’re here to speak to you about Medea,” Noah said. “Unless you’d rather flirt with my girlfriend.”

  Petunia gasped. “I don’t mind if he flirts with me … you know, like the last time we spoke to Bunny and she nearly jumped over the desk and on your lap. Besides, I hardly think Reggie was flirting with me.”

  “You sound like you’re married,” Reggie said. “Me and the Mrs. were like that when we first got married. I’m really glad Hugh hired me back.” He frowned. “It’s hard to believe Medea is dead, though, even if she canned me. I hope she wasn’t murdered.”

  “How could it be murder if the chute came loose?” Petunia asked.

  “Screws can be loosened is all I’m saying.”

  “Do you have any inside information you can share?” Noah asked.

  “I hardly would be the one to ask.”

  “And here we were hoping you would have some insight.”

  “I wish I could help you,” Reggie said, “but honestly, it could be nothing more than an unfortunate accident.”

  Noah frowned. “We believe otherwise. Anyone who worked in the factory that day is a suspect.”

  “I still think it would be hard to set up,” Petunia said.

  “Unless she was lured in that day,” Noah said. “I don’t suppose you could tell us where you were that day, Reggie?”

  “Well, you can just take me off the suspect list. I was at the doctor with my wife and no way would I be able to come back here after I was fired. Medea doesn’t allow any former employee on the grounds. I didn’t harbor any hard feelings against Medea. I’ve had offers to take a position at Disneyland on more than a few occasions. I’m just glad that I don’t have to move to Florida now.”

  “I don’t suppose you could tell us where we could catch up with Gregg?”

  “He was given the day off today. He
’s probably paying Chloe a visit. He’s pulling for her to be rehired, as well. I think he has a thing for her.” Reggie laughed.

  Noah helped Petunia get her golf cart unstuck and he hastily returned the one he had basically borrowed without the owner’s permission! To be perfectly honest, Petunia didn’t think that anyone had even noticed it was missing.

  When Petunia entered Enchanted Objects, she picked up Pansy and snuggled him against her cheek.

  “Blah, yuck!” Pansy wailed. “Have you lost your mind, Red?”

  “I missed you.”

  “Well, I didn’t even notice you were gone,” Pansy said, as he licked a paw thoughtfully after Petunia set him down.

  “Liar.” Petunia glanced around the store. “Where is Chloe?”

  “Talking to some poor sap who thinks she likes him. It’s really pathetic.”

  “Where?”

  “In the back room, but make sure you let her know you’re here, just in case I’m wrong about the bozo.”

  Petunia would have reminded Pansy that he was being mean, but what was the point, she figured.

  “Noah, Chloe is in the back room.”

  Noah nodded as he plucked a ceramic frog off the shelf and examined it.

  Petunia rolled her eyes and cleared her throat, calling, “Chloe, are you back there?”

  Chloe hurried to meet Petunia on the sales floor, with Gregg closely following.

  “Gregg, I was hoping we’d see you here. We had a few questions for you,” Petunia said.

  Petunia glanced over at Noah, who continued his observation of the frog. She shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s up with Noah.”

  Chloe promptly walked over and removed the frog from his hands. “It’s very entrancing, isn’t it? This frog is a favorite among people who suffer from anxiety. It also works great to help you sleep.”

  Noah’s brow shot up. “It’s just a figurine. How can it possibly do that?”

  “It’s quite mysterious, isn’t it?” she gushed. “I know you find it hard to believe in magical items and the such.”

  Noah shook his head as if to remove the cobwebs from his brain.