“Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”
Gregg still stood behind Chloe as he peered at Noah.
“Oh, there you are Gregg.” Noah smiled. “I heard one of the investors rehired the former manager of Candyland.”
“It’s true and I’m not sad. I didn’t enjoy managing the amusement park.”
“It probably didn’t help when Bunny thought she should have been given the position,” Noah said.
“That’s just the thing, she is more suited for the position. She worked alongside Reggie for years and for me it was a struggle. I feel bad that I relied on her so much.”
“Hugh told us he’s offering her a position as the concessions manager.”
Gregg’s palm slipped through his hair. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Keep it between us,” Petunia said. “At least until she accepts the position.”
“What about you, Gregg?” Noah asked. “Are you still with the company?”
Chloe nodded. “He’s getting his old job back as the shift manager at the factory. Isn’t it great?”
“I-It is?” Gregg asked with a reddening face.
“Yes, you’ll have more time off. We might actually be able to go out together.”
Gregg’s mouth came open. “We will … y-you’ll go out with me?”
“It’s about time you asked me.” Chloe winked. “It’s the only way we’ll be able to see each other now that I don’t work for the factory.”
“I can put a good word in for you,” Petunia said. “Hugh seems like he has a good handle of the business.”
“Don’t forget Frank is the manager there,” Chloe said.
“And he allowed Medea to treat the employees horribly,” Noah said.
“My sister needs me to work here. Emerald prefers to work at Magical Charms, which is fine by me. I know more about the items sold in this store than her.”
“Maybe things would have been different if you worked the day I came into the store,” Petunia offered.
“Don’t even think about it. You were meant to—” Chloe turned to look at Gregg. “I need to get back to work, Gregg.”
“Oh, right. I can come back at five and walk you home if you want.”
Chloe beamed at him. “That sounds great.”
“What a total goof,” Pansy said, as he sat next to Petunia and watched Gregg stumble outside.
“Be nice,” Petunia scolded him.
Chloe’s familiar Bubbles came out of the back room and hung upside down from the ceiling fan that was off, thankfully. Pansy batted the air with his paws as if he was trying to swat Bubbles.
“We should let our familiars get better acquainted,” Chloe said.
“They seem like oil and water to me.” Noah laughed.
“We spoke with Medea’s butler,” Petunia said. “Coroner Clint confirmed Medea was the victim from the factory.”
“That’s not too surprising. Did you think she was still alive?”
“Actually, yes. I thought she might have skipped town with the money. The money must be somewhere.”
“You better tell Chloe what Winslow told us about Magdalena Harrington,” Noah said. “I’ll wait over there since I’d rather not discuss the matter.”
Petunia sighed as he walked away. “He doesn’t want to admit that magic exists or that it’s part of this case.”
“You think it is?” Chloe asked with a frown.
“No, I don’t, but I do find it quite interesting, the history of the house. Winslow the butler admitted an item was removed from the house after Magdalena’s death. He told us she was a powerful witch.”
“Something my family already knows.”
“Winslow mentioned some even said she put a magical spell on the house to prevent even a wall being removed and then said something about a curse.”
“So, if someone attempted to alter the house they’d die suspiciously?” Chloe asked, as she clapped her hands in excitement. “Although I doubt it would have anything to do with the accident at the factory.”
“She attempted to remove a portion of the wall,” Petunia said. “Winslow assured us that not even so much as a spell book was ever found there, though. Do you think anyone has been searching the house for something like a spell book all these years?”
“I’d have to agree with that. Rumors have a way of spreading in a town like Coven Creek. Did you know Magdalena was the one who named the town when it was constructed by her grandfather?”
“If she was a powerful witch, do you think her family was, too?”
“I don’t know, but it’s certainly exciting to think about.”
“Do you think the crystal ball coming to life really had anything to do with me? I find it hard to believe. It did roll on the floor.”
Chloe took Petunia’s hands in hers. “Believe me, it’s fallen before and it’s never come to life like that. Magdalena meant for the globe to be given to a good witch. Even Emerald knew that.”
“No, she just wanted the crystal ball gone. It’s almost like she was afraid of it,” Petunia said.
“I’ll admit we all were. When something that has been dormant that long suddenly comes to life, what else could we do but freak out,” Chloe admitted. “Do you actually believe Medea’s death had anything to do with magic?”
Petunia shook her head. “Of course not, but Noah and I agree that the accident that ended Medea’s life was no accident at all. It was rigged somehow, but we’re not sure by who yet. We’re trying to catch up with Frank, but Hugh told us he was out of town. How far away is Nathan’s Eatery?”
“About ten minutes.”
Petunia’s face fell. “We’re out of luck then, since we don’t have a car. We took the bus to Coven Creek.”
“You can borrow my car,” Chloe said, as she retrieved her keys from her pocket. “It’s parked out back.”
17
Noah zoomed up the road at a good clip once they reached the outskirts of Coven Creek. It was a gorgeous day and since Chloe’s car was a convertible, Noah had the top down. It didn’t do anything for Petunia’s hair, but Pansy enjoyed the ride. It bothered Petunia that he was sitting on the seat in the back. She thought at any moment he’d bounce out of the car, but thankfully they reached their destination safely.
“You’ll have to wait outside,” Petunia said.
“Duh, tell me something I don’t know.”
Noah held the door for Petunia as they walked inside. They spotted Frank easily. He was seated at a table near the bathroom.
“Hello, Frank,” Noah greeted. “We were hoping to catch up to you today.”
“Hugh mentioned we might catch you here.” Petunia smiled.
“Have a seat,” Frank said stiffly. “Do you have another update?”
“We asked Hugh if he could access Medea’s original application or a copy of it,” Petunia said, “but he wasn’t able to find it.”
“Don’t you find that strange?” Noah asked.
“Not particularly. We don’t keep those on file once the employee is hired.”
“So, you didn’t have anything to do with hiring Medea?” Noah asked.
“I was the hiring manager. It’s one of the extra duties that I don’t mind. It’s important to hire the right employees, especially when they’ll be the manager.”
“What were Medea’s qualifications?” Petunia asked.
“I don’t remember, that was a year ago.”
“Was she qualified to be the manager of the company?” Noah asked. “Some don’t believe she was able to handle it.”
“I don’t know all about that, but I personally wasn’t looking to fire her, although I had misled the board of directors. But I was monitoring her activity.”
“You mentioned the investors,” Petunia said.
“The board of directors are the investors.”
“Is there another reason you brought Medea into the company?” Noah asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You visited Medea quite
frequently, isn’t that right?” Petunia asked. “Every Thursday, from what we learned.”
“Are you certain you weren’t personally involved?” Noah asked.
Frank pushed himself back against his chair, nearly toppling it over. “It was business.”
“Do you normally conduct business after regular business hours?”
“I can tell neither of you have worked for a large company before. Every hour can be a business hour if you have business to conduct.”
“What did you speak to Medea about at her home?” Petunia asked. “Giving her ammunition to fire employees … maybe suggesting some conspiracy theory?”
Frank laughed. “Now, that’s laughable. Believe me, Medea didn’t need ammunition to do that. She was quite good at firing employees.”
“Were the firings justified?” Noah asked. “Or a witch hunt?”
“Why would I care who she fires? I have my own duties to attend to.”
Noah frowned. “I don’t believe you, what are you hiding?”
Frank pounded the table with his fists. “I’m not hiding anything. Why don’t you ask the sheriff if she’s hiding anything?”
“Deflecting suspicion from yourself, is it?” Petunia said. “The real reason you were at Medea’s house has more to do with the fundraiser fraud.”
“Why would I bother with small potatoes like that?”
“Easy for you to say when we don’t have the paperwork at hand.”
“Unbelievable. If you remember, I was the one who confronted Medea about it.”
“So, you have said. If it weren’t for all those visits with her, I might believe you.”
“Look, I’ve been involved with many charities through the years. It’s repulsive what Medea did, which is why I confronted her about it. I threatened to speak to the board about her shady dealings unless she returned the money.”
“Every week,” Petunia said, as she stood. “I still have questions about why you might have wanted to hire Medea.”
“We needed a manager and she was a viable candidate.”
“Even if Hugh didn’t find her competent.”
“If he felt that way, he certainly never shared it with me,” Frank said. “And what does any of this have to do with her death?”
“I think it has everything to do with it and the fundraiser scam is at the heart of it. If Medea was capable of ripping off a fundraiser, what else was she capable of?”
Petunia and Noah left and she sighed once they were back on the road. “I just know something shady was going on between Frank and Medea.”
“He had a point, why would he bother with a fundraiser like that? He couldn’t risk being connected to it. If the other investors found out, they’d find a way to out him.”
“I wonder where the money has gone. Was another account opened?” Petunia said. “Is it hidden at her house?”
“She certainly wasn’t leaving town,” Noah said. “We’re heading back to the sheriff’s department to question the sheriff again. Something just seems off to me.”
Petunia walked into Sheriff Griffin’s office and Noah closed the door as he joined her inside.
“Should I be worried?” Sheriff Griffin asked.
“We’re so close to solving this case,” Petunia said, “but we have a few more question about this fundraiser. Why did you choose to involve Medea? I know you weren’t friends,” Petunia said.
“She gave me a huge donation.”
“How large?” Noah asked.
“Ten thousand.”
“And how much else was raised?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Petunia’s eyes widened as she fell to the chair behind her. “That’s some serious money. Why would you ever bring her in when she’s already the manager of the factory?”
“She couldn’t have much free time. Her butler told us she kept long hours,” Noah added.
“She has a financial background.”
“Are you certain? Did you check her out? Check her credentials?” Petunia asked.
“Frank spoke highly of her and I’ve known him for years.”
“So, you just went with it. You should have had an attorney accompany you. Something like setting up a fundraiser isn’t something either of you are experienced to do.”
Griffin wiped her face with a tissue. “I made a huge mistake. I’ll acknowledge it, but Frank had a hand in it, too.”
“He threw you under the bus, just so you know. Told us that you were hiding something.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. I suppose he didn’t tell you about him and Medea, either. That he was a frequent visitor to her house.”
“Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“Because I didn’t think Frank had anything to do with Medea’s accident. I haven’t gotten any information that says this was anything more than an unfortunate accident.”
“Are you saying they were lovers?” Petunia gasped.
“Well, I’m not saying they weren’t.”
“I thought something was strange about all those visits, but Frank insisted it was business.”
“Some people might consider it business.” Noah winked. “Men can be secretive when they’re having a physical relationship with someone who they’d rather not be seen with.”
“It would be unheard of for the president and the manager to become involved. It would be a huge conflict of interest, Petunia pointed out. “But it hardly means Frank would be involved with Medea’s death.”
“Once you figured out Medea had robbed the fundraiser, why didn’t you do something?” Noah asked.
“I was waiting until I compiled enough evidence, I already told you that.”
“Did you set Medea up to take the fall? Were you in this together?” Petunia asked.
“Why would I stick my neck out like that? My name is the one linked to all the fundraising drives. If I was in cahoots with her, I would go down, too.”
“Have you explained what happened in an official statement at least?” Noah asked. “The public has a right to know. They’ll be angry when they realize the orphanage will never be built.”
“They were renovating a house,” Petunia said, bringing Noah up to speed. “It wouldn’t take two hundred thousand to do that.”
“It would if you saw the plans,” Griffin said.
“I’d like to do that, but perhaps another time,” Noah said. “We have a few more things to look into. You might want to do some investigating yourself with the accident. We believe it wasn’t an accident at all.”
Petunia and Noah walked back out to the car and Pansy was snoring.
“So, where are we off to now?” Petunia asked.
“Back to the hotel. I’d like a little downtime. We’ll begin anew tomorrow. I’ll make a few calls to find out if I can get a copy of the OSHA report.”
“I can’t see them just handing that over.”
“It depends on how and who you ask. OSHA is a federal agency and I was once a New York City detective. I know of a sergeant who went to work for OSHA. He has the connections we need right now. Their report might be able to pinpoint the structural problems at the factory.”
While Noah returned the car, he found Petunia and Pansy sitting on the bench outside Enchanted Objects.
“I’m getting used to this town,” Pansy remarked.
“Me too, but I must admit I miss Lake Forest. Nobody here pokes their nose in my business.” She laughed.
“You cannot possibly miss that unless you’re some kind of masochist,” Pansy retorted.
“What can I say?” Petunia smiled.
“Hold that thought, I believe we’re being spied on.”
“Where?”
“Across the street.”
Petunia glanced across the street and caught sight of Bunny, who was hurrying up the street with Gregg!
Petunia sprinted across the street. She didn’t expect to see Gregg and Bunny together. Petunia was quite angry since Gregg had shown interest in Chloe. Wh
y, that little louse.
Vendors jumped out of the way as Petunia pursued the couple, mindless about where she was going. She jumped two ice chests that were blocking the walkway and interestingly enough, Pansy was keeping up.
Gregg and Bunny headed up a dead-end street and into a building and Petunia and Pansy were right behind the couple. Then Gregg and Bunny stopped and disappeared inside a door. Petunia and Pansy followed. Petunia suddenly gasped at what she saw: Gregg and Bunny were locked in a heated embrace.
“Gregg, I thought that was you,” Petunia said. She pretended to be shocked when he moved away from Bunny. “Why are you kissing Bunny when you just asked out Chloe?”
Bunny grimaced. “What?”
“Yes, earlier.”
“Gregg is not interested in Chloe.”
“That’s strange, since he was in Enchanted Objects earlier, falling all over Chloe.”
“I was just being nice,” Gregg said boldly.
The bells and whistles went off inside of Petunia’s head. “How often do you go there?”
“Whenever Chloe works there.”
“After she was fired from the factory, you must mean,” Petunia countered.
“She worked at the store on her days off.”
There was something about Gregg that didn’t ring true. He wasn’t the simpleton he portrayed himself.
“Did you steal anything while you were there?” Pansy asked, as if anyone could hear him.
“Did you steal anything from Enchanted Objects?”
“So what if I did?” he sneered arrogantly.
“Why would you do something like that when all Chloe has done is show you kindness? She still wanted to go out with you even though you acted like you were afraid of the female sex.”
“Believe me, that’s not even close to the truth,” Bunny said.
“And to think I spoke up for you, Bunny, and asked Hugh to consider you for a promotion. But don’t worry. I’ll certainly take back those words.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Petunia crossed her arms. “Try me. Hand over what you stole, Gregg.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“Then what’s behind your back?”
Gregg pulled out a wand. “This will get me a pretty penny online. It’s not every day you can buy a real witch’s wand.”
Meows, Magic & Marshmallows Page 15