by Nancy CoCo
“Oh, Wren, what happened?” She gave me a big hug. She wore yoga pants, a T-shirt, and an open hoodie.
“Stay with her from now on,” Matt said. “Don’t let her out of your sight no matter what. She might have a Fitbit but it doesn’t know why she went where she went, and right now, Wren needs witnesses.”
“Okay, I won’t let her out of my sight,” Josie said.
“I’m still going to open the store,” I said. “I have to make money.”
“I can’t stress enough how important this is,” he said. “Wren will go to jail unless she has an alibi, and the store will be closed forever if she goes,” he warned us both and left the building.
“Well,” Josie said. “Seems like you’ve had an interesting morning. Let’s make some pancakes.” She put her arm through mine and dragged me upstairs. “What costume are you wearing today?”
“I was going to be the Wicked Witch of the West, zombie of course, but now I think I’ll just wear prison orange.”
“Stop it,” she said. “I like the Wicked Witch of the West. Now let’s think this through over breakfast.”
* * *
Two hours later I wore my witch costume with zombie makeup. Josie had talked me down. If I was going to go to jail for a crime I didn’t commit, then I would live my remaining days of freedom like I was truly innocent.
We opened the door and a costumed crowd flooded in. Aunt Eloise came in to help out. She was dressed as a vampire princess. I laughed at her sparkly skin makeup. “What?” she asked and blinked innocently. We both knew how much she didn’t like the sparkly kind of vampire. I handed her a bowl of candy.
“Help a witch out,” I said. We stood on opposite sides of the door ready for the trick or treaters. Lucky for us, a few of the grown-ups stayed to look around and buy things. Porsche wasn’t scheduled to come in until afternoon. She had put in a lot of extra hours, and I was trying to give her more family time. Besides, with Aunt Eloise at my side, I didn’t need a second helper.
“You should put cameras in the shop,” Josie suggested.
“What?” I handed candy to a second grader in a demented bunny costume.
“Surveillance videos,” Aunt Eloise repeated. “You should have them. That way you have proof you are where you say you are.”
“Tired of me already?” I teased Josie.
“If you had put them in earlier, you might have seen who took Everett,” my aunt said.
“You think he was taken.” I thought so, too, but hearing her say it made it sound more definite.
Her mouth became a firm line. “Yes, he is a beautiful cat and smart and well-bred, if I say so myself.”
That made me smile. “You’re prejudiced toward him.”
“I loved his grandfather, such a beautiful cat.”
I left the door and moved to the counter. “I was hoping the cat I rescued from inside the box was Everett.”
“How do you know it wasn’t?” Josie asked
“He would have come home by now,” I said.
“Are you sure it was a cat?” Aunt Eloise asked as she followed me to the counter.
“What?” I straightened.
“Well, locked in a box, it could have been a raccoon or a possum.”
“That’s reaching,” I said. “I heard a cat meow.” It was my turn to frown. “In fact, it talked to me like Everett does.”
“They say that cats talk to their owners,” Josie offered.
“Then why hasn’t he come back?”
“He might have gotten spooked. He’s been gone a couple of days. If whoever took him, put him in that box, then he was probably a little out of his mind,” Aunt Eloise said.
“Wouldn’t you be?” Josie asked.
“Indeed.”
The doorbells cackled and Alicia Lankson walked in, trailed by her photographer, Mitchell, a lanky young man with a straggly goatee. “Oh, good, you’re here,” she said to me. “I understand that you were locked in a shed last night and that the police found arsenic in the same shed. So is that your murder lair?”
“Are you kidding right now?” I asked.
“No pictures without permission,” Aunt Eloise said. She grabbed the photographer by the ear and tossed him out.
“Can she do that?” Alicia asked.
“It’s my property,” I said. “Technically you’re trespassing. I doubt he’s going to press assault charges for having his ear tweaked.”
The door cackled and Aunt Eloise walked in, dusting off her hands. I could see Mitchell through the glass. He was frowning and rubbing his ear.
Alicia laughed. “Sorry to make a fuss, but I have a job to do.”
“Where have you been?” Aunt Eloise asked. “I thought you were one of Wren’s friends.”
“More like frenemies,” I muttered.
“Oh, of course, we’re friends,” Alicia said. “I’ve been investigating the Snow murders.”
“Then you should go,” Aunt Eloise said.
“No, no.” Alicia held up her hands. “I’m on your side. I don’t think Wren did it.”
“Then why did you ask about a lair?” I asked.
“Because that’s the angle the paper wants to take,” Alicia said.
“Who do you think did it?” Aunt Eloise asked.
“Well, if I give that away, then I blow my whole story,” Alicia said. “So why don’t you tell me about your adventure yesterday?”
“My lawyer advised me not to talk to anyone without him,” I said.
“That’s too bad,” she said. “Don’t you want to tell your side of the story?”
“Only if it keeps me out of jail. Right now, I’m not sure it will.”
The door cackled again and the mail carrier walked in. “Love your costume, Wren,” she said.
“Thanks, Beverly,” I replied. Beverly had beautiful cocoa skin and wide dark eyes. “Sorry they won’t let you wear a costume for Halloweentown week.”
She laughed. “My uniform is my costume. I’m a mailman.”
“I won’t say ‘man,’ ” Aunt Eloise said. “There’s no hiding your lovely figure.”
“Aunt Eloise!”
“What?” she asked. “It’s true. I would have killed for a figure like hers.”
I hoped no one would notice her casual use of the word “kill.”
Beverly handed me my mail. “I love you, too, Eloise. Happy Halloween, everyone.”
“Happy Halloween!” we all chorused.
“There’s a story,” Aunt Eloise said to Alicia and pointed toward Beverly. “That woman is an ex-marine. Did two tours in a war zone.”
“I’ve got a story slated for her around Veteran’s Day,” Alicia said.
Half listening, I glanced through the mail and stopped on an envelope with no return address. It was addressed to me care of the store. I opened it and a white powder puffed out. Choking, I glanced up to see that everyone else had frozen in their spots and stared at me with terror.
“Don’t move,” Aunt Eloise said softly. “Alicia, call nine-one-one.”
Alicia took a careful step back. She dialed her phone.
Josie stood closest to the door. “Oh, I know what to do,” Josie said. “We need to evacuate. Sorry, not you Wren.” Josie turned to the room. “Everyone please leave immediately. This is not a drill.” She carefully ushered customers out.
I wanted to say something. I wanted to breathe, but I was afraid. I looked at Aunt Eloise. She reached inside a drawer and removed linen napkins with bee motifs. Then, she slowly went over to the back room and then came back in wearing one as a face mask. She handed me another. I realized it was wet and wrapped it around my head slowly so as not to disturb too much of the fine dust covering me.
The three people inside left with Josie. Alicia spoke to the dispatcher a yard or so away from me. The photographer pushed the door open with concern on his face. “What’s up?”
“We have a mysterious powder in an envelope,” Aunt Eloise said. “Please stay out and don’t let anyon
e in.”
He shut the door, then turned to guard it.
I wanted to tell Aunt Eloise and Alicia to run. To leave while they could. But if I spoke I would disturb more of the powder. My nose itched. My eyes watered.
“Yes, we’ve cleared the building,” I heard Alicia say. “It’s only Eloise, Wren, and me left. We are the closest to the powder.” Her voice was low and careful.
In the distance sirens sounded as I tried to remain calm. It’s hard to slow your breathing and your heart rate when you’re in a deadly situation. I thought I’d close my eyes, but that only caused me to sway.
If this was poison, I’d be dead soon. But if I moved and spread it, then Aunt Eloise and Alicia could be dead, too, and that was something I didn’t want to happen. I simply had to remain as still as I could and hope I didn’t pass out. I had a sudden memory of marching band practice where the band leader coached us all to keep our knees bent to keep us from fainting. I bent my knees slightly and prayed he was right.
A teaspoon of honey mixed with pink Himalayan
salt every night helps with insomnia. Mix five parts
of honey into one part of salt and keep in a tightly
closed container.
Chapter 20
“Don’t move,” the guy in the white hazmat outfit ordered. I shot him an evil glare. I hadn’t been moving for what felt like eternity while they tented the door to my shop, suited up, and took Aunt Eloise and Alicia out one by one. I noticed they made them strip and shower. They now stood on the other side of the glass wearing scrubs and staring at me.
I would have talked but I’m pretty sure there was powder on my face, and I didn’t want to move it into my nose or mouth.
“I’m Calvin Holmes, and this is Greg Smith,” he said. “We’re going to collect the dust.” Then he and another hazmat outfitted man used a handheld vacuum to slowly, methodically collect the fine powder. I felt like if I was going to die, I probably would have done it by now. I guess that was a positive way of thinking.
“Walk now,” Calvin said after taking away the makeshift mask and vacuuming off my face. He put the envelope in a collection bag and helped me shamble to the door. My muscles had grown stiff. I stripped and showered the powder off me as best I could. The water was freezing, but I guess when you were in a hazmat shower, comfort was the last thing on your mind. My green makeup dripped down with the water. I sudsed up as told and then let the water rush over me for fifteen minutes.
By the time I was finished, my teeth were chattering. I dried off and they put the towels in separate bags. I stepped through plastic strips, got hit with a blast of air, and finally was able to climb into scrubs and step out into the fresh air.
I took my first deep breath and then was handed off to an EMT, Ritter, who took my vitals. She was all business and I felt both comforted and like she was judging me.
“Wren, how are you feeling?” Aunt Eloise asked as she rushed up. “Do you feel any symptoms?”
“No,” I said and thought about it. “I feel fine.”
“Maybe it was a prank,” Alicia said. “Was there a note with the powder?”
“I think so,” I said. “I didn’t pull it out. I didn’t want to make things worse.”
“It could have been arsenic,” Josie said. “That’s what the killer has been using, right?”
“If it was arsenic, you probably inhaled enough to make you quite sick,” Aunt Eloise said.
“Thanks,” I said. I looked at Ritter, who was listening to my heart. “When will they know what it was?”
“How’s your stomach?” she asked.
“Okay,” I said.
“I’m going to take some blood to see if you have any metal poisoning.”
“What if it was ricin?” Alicia asked.
I looked at Ritter in horror. “Could it be?”
“I can’t make any guesses. If it was ricin, we may not know the extent of your injuries for a few days.” She pulled the stethoscope out of her ears. “Your lungs are still clear so that’s a good sign. Still, you could feel the effects six to ten hours after exposure.”
“Awesome.” A shiver ran through me.
The hazmat guy came out. He was tall, about six foot two, with black hair and copper skin. His hair was wet. They had made him shower after taking off his suit as well. “Initial testing of the substance shows it was powdered sugar.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously,” he said.
“And they made you shower?” Alicia asked.
“I was out before they figured it out,” he said and stuck his hand out. “Mike Hanes.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said. “Wren Johnson.” I shook his hand and he shook Aunt Eloise’s and Alicia’s as well.
“Well, ladies, thanks for the practice. We like to keep our skills up.”
“Does that mean we can go back into my shop?” I asked and hopped down off the ambulance. “I’ve missed about four hours of sales.”
They took down the police tape and Porsche came running up and hugged me. “Oh my gosh, are you okay? Sheesh, I can’t take one morning off without you getting into trouble.”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“It was powdered sugar,” Aunt Eloise said.
“Likely a prank,” Mike said. “The police will take the envelope and try to figure out who sent it and why. Good call on the wet napkins as a mask.”
“That wasn’t me, that was all Aunt Eloise,” I said and hugged my aunt.
“Smart,” Mike said.
“Thanks. I used to be on the city council emergency preparedness committee,” Aunt Eloise said.
“It’s such a terrible thing to happen, especially after last night,” Porsche said.
“What happened last night?” Mike asked.
“I got locked in a shed,” I explained.
“Wow, you must really be on the kids’ hit list this year. What happened? Did you fire a teenager?”
“No,” I said.
“She found Agnes Snow dead,” Aunt Eloise said.
“And my life has been crazy ever since.”
“Wait,” he stopped and stared at me. “You’re the serial killer?”
“I am not a serial killer.”
“So you only killed one of them?” he teased, his brown eyes twinkling.
“I’m not a killer.” I put my hands on my hips. It was then I noticed that Porsche was wearing pink hair and a witch’s costume. “Oh, man, my costume is ruined.”
“You can go as a freshly scrubbed poison survivor,” Mike suggested.
“Right.” I noticed that they were cleaning up all the heavy-duty plastic and hauling away the gear. “Guess you have to go back to work.”
“It was nice to meet you ladies,” he said. “Next time, try not to open any odd envelopes.”
“Deal,” I said. The EMTs closed up the ambulance and drove off. The last of the firefighters left as well. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
“Feels weird,” Josie said as we walked back into Let It Bee. “Less than an hour ago we thought we were dead. Now it’s business as usual.”
“Maybe,” I said. “There are a lot of people on the street, but no one’s coming in.” I looked out at the busy sidewalk.
“It’s early yet for Halloween,” Porsche said. “It looks like they cleaned up pretty well. Why don’t you folks go get changed. I can handle things from here.”
“After I get my own clothes back on, I’m going to hit up the police and see what they know about the envelope,” Alicia said. “This is a story for tonight’s paper.”
“It was a prank,” Aunt Eloise said.
“Maybe, but they broke a federal law,” Alicia said. “I have to tell you, I’ve never been so afraid in my life. That means I’m going to see they find whoever did this and sue. Think about it. If one of us had been older and had a bad heart, they could have murdered us.”
“I guess you can kill someone with powdered sugar,” I said without sarcasm.
; “Listen, I’m going to head home and put my own clothes on,” Aunt Eloise said. “These scrubs they loaned us are paper thin.”
Josie and I went upstairs, leaving Porsche to run the shop. For good measure, I showered again and blew out my hair. If I wasn’t going to be wearing a costume on Halloween, then I might as well not look like something the cat dragged in.
“I’m glad you packed a bag,” I said to Josie. “Now you can shower, too. I hope to never feel water as cold as what we showered in outside ever again.”
“It will be nice to use my own products. They are certainly less harsh.” She went into my den to gather her things. I put on a kettle to make calming chamomile tea. It was dark out and the trick or treaters filled the streets, even though it was only 5 p.m. The wet weather and fog helped create the fall darkness.
I opened the window and stuck my head out. The fire escape was large enough to sit on. One of the old owners designed it to be more of a balcony that ran the length of the building. Everett and I often climbed out through the window onto the platform. It was nice because we could see the beach from there. Hear the waves. When the fog came in, it wrapped us in a chilly blanket and made me feel safe.
The sound of children running through the streets and calling out “Trick or treat!” made me smile. I’d been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, but it didn’t stop me from loving the holiday. I heard a sound that made me turn to my left. Meow.
“Everett?”
Meow.
“Oh, my kitty,” I called as he ran across the fire escape to my window. I picked him up, brought him inside, and gave him a cuddle. “Are you okay?” I asked as I carried him into the kitchen. “You must be starving.” I found a can of tuna and opened it. He paced, rubbing up against me and telling all about what happened while he was gone. I put the bowl down on the floor. “Don’t ever do that to me, again, okay? I was so worried.”
He jumped down and gobbled the tuna. I petted him while he ate and then drank water from the bowl. The teapot whistled. I had forgotten I’d put it on. I grabbed two mugs and put herbal tea bags in and poured the water to let them steep until Josie came out of the shower.
Everett weaved between my legs. He had not stopped talking since I brought him in. I picked him back up. “Was it you in that wooden box?”