A Charming Crime (15 page)

“I
don’t think we’ve met, this time?” A voice broke the night silence, almost
making me tip over into the lake.

In
the shadow of the moon, she stood between us. Her scarlet hair cut close to her
head, and long flowing cape gave her a sophisticated look that I hadn’t seen
anyone, other than Izzy, look like in the entire village, making me think that
she was part of the council.

“I’m
Eloise Sandlewood.” Her emerald eyes light up like the fireflies that flew
around her. “It’s nice to see you again, June.”

“Eloise.”
Relief settled in my heart. She had a lot of answers to my questions about my
past and Darla’s. “Have we met?”

There
was a part of me where I wanted her to embrace me and tell me all about Darla
and their past. But the other part of me wanted to run.

“Long
ago.” Her lips curled into a smile. “You wouldn’t remember me. I’m an incense
spiritualist. I help cleanse things, plus I have a few other odds and ends up
my sleeve.”

“I
saw you in the middle of the street with Izzy this morning.” I gestured. “In
front of the Gathering Grove.”

“Yes,
I was cleansing the shop to help Gerald recover faster.” Her brows lowered. “I
know you didn’t know he was allergic to cedar. He has even more problems than
that.”

My
ears perked up. “What do you mean?”

“I
don’t know. It’s in the smoke.” She pulled a small metal ball out of her
pocket, along with a match. She opened the ball where there were some herbs
rolled up, flicked the match with her fingernail, and caught it on fire.
Touching the match to the ball, the herbs smoked until their flowery scent
reached into the air. She swung the ball back and forth by grasping the long
chain. “Nice to see you, June. If you need anything, you will find my house in
the woods behind the gathering rock.”

“I
do need something.” I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I need to know how
you helped my mom.”

Eloise’s
shadowy figure turned around. The brightness of the moon cradled her face like
a spotlight. Her eyes glowed brighter as she spoke. “Your mother was my best
friend. Do you have a few minutes to visit me either tomorrow or the next day?”

“What’s
wrong with now?” Why wait?

“It’s
a bit complicated and I really don’t want anyone seeing us here.” Her cloak
swooshed when she parted her arms and gestured toward the lake. “I live beyond
the woods, behind the rock. You will rely on your instincts to find me.”

“What
is it
with following instincts?” I rolled my eyes. “That is all the
advice I could find in Darla’s journal that she had for me.
Follow your
instincts
,
June
.”

Eloise’s
eyes drew dark. “She left a journal?”

“Yes.
That is how I knew about you and your little agreement.”

She
looked into the darkness. “We must not talk about it here. If you want to talk,
you must use your instincts to find me.” She disappeared into the black night.

There
were no footsteps, nothing. She was gone. Yes, I would go see her. I had to
find out the big secret behind the arrangement.

I
didn’t bother taking a look at the cement mold. I knew it needed more time to
dry. I had nothing but time. First thing in the morning, I was going to make a
visit to see Petunia. I’d pick up the mold then.

Mr.
Prince Charming trotted ahead of me. With every snap of a branch or swish of
the grass, I jumped. That was one thing about Whispering Falls. You didn’t know
who was watching you at any time.

Eloise
had my mind reeling, making it hard for me to sleep. I grabbed Darla’s journal
off the table and pulled the covers up to my neck. Mr. Prince Charming nestled
underneath the cover in the crook of my arm.

“Eloise
made the funniest potion today. Talk serum. We gave some to Izzy and she
wouldn’t shut up. I had to make her leave before Otto got home or I was afraid
she was going to spill the beans about Eloise. I didn’t want him mad,
especially now since the council approved A Dose Of Darla.”

That
was the last thing I remember reading before I fell asleep.

Turn
around, turn around!
The
hands floated away, and the head bobbled side to side.
Just a little more to
the right.

My
body shook and I woke up in a dead sweat to a banging on the door.

Groggy,
I pulled back the sheet from my damp body, and noticed the clock read nine
o’clock AM. I hadn’t slept that late since I was a teenager.

I
jumped out of bed to see who was at my house. Mr. Prince Charming stretched his
front legs out in front of him, yawned, and then followed me to the door.

“I
hear you are making new friends right and left.” Oscar held up a bag of muffins
from the Gathering Grove.

I
rolled my eyes, moved out of the way, and let him in.

Meow,
meow.
Mr.
Prince Charming made his presence known.

“Not
for you.” Oscar put the bag up in the air a little more, so Mr. Prince Charming
couldn’t bat at the bag. But that didn’t help. He was up on the counter before
Oscar sat the bag down.

“Gerald
called Uncle Jordan, accusing you of killing Ann and trying to kill him.”

“He’s
crazy.” I shook my head. “How was I to know he was allergic to cedar of all
things? Not like he knew Ann was allergic to honey.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean you need to get that autopsy to prove my innocence. When will the Karima
sisters have it complete?” Not only were Constance and Patience the owners of
the funeral home, they were the village coroners. “According to Petunia, Ann
was highly allergic to honey. And Chandra caught Gerald breaking into A Dose of
Darla stealing honey supplements. Why would he steal honey when he could get
real honey from Petunia?”

I
paced back and forth trying to figure out why he’d steal it, when it hit me.

“Supplements
don’t show in the blood stream!” I pounded my fists in the air. I knew Gerald
was up to something. “As a matter of fact, I also heard that Gerald and Ann had
something going on. But Ann got on Gerald’s nerves and he dumped her. She was
chasing him around and he was annoyed with her.”

“That
doesn’t make him a murderer.”

“No,
but he did have tea with her the night before she died. And maybe he gave her
the honey supplement.” My head was beginning to hurt.

“Who
told you all that?” Oscar questioned.

“People.”
I shrugged.

“I’ve
been working on this case for a couple of days and no one wants to talk to me.”

“They
don’t’ trust you. That’s why Gerald called Jordan.” I didn’t know if that was
true, but it sounded pretty good. “Now, about that autopsy?”

“I
should get it back any time now.” His brows met in the middle. “No you don’t, June
Heal. I know that look on your face. You let me handle this investigation
before you get yourself into any more hot water.” He threatened me and I don’t
take threats lightly.

Oscar
was crazier than half of this town if he thought I was just going to sit back
and let him try to exonerate me. I was on a roll and Petunia was next in line.

“Did
you hear me?”

I
did, and remembered that someone else was going to die, but who?

“June,
are you okay? All the blood drained from your face.” Oscar knew me too well.

I
worked around my new kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee to go with the
muffins.

“Spill
it.” He took me by the shoulders. “Even Uncle Jordan said that you were acting
funny yesterday. He said he stopped by the Cape Cod when he saw the Green
Machine there.”

“I
needed some comfort and you were too busy. That’s why I went to the Cape Cod.”
I didn’t want to tell him, but I knew I couldn’t keep quiet. “I’m having
nightmares again. It’s a different person. The hair is different, but the
killer’s hands are the same.”

Nervously,
I bit my nails. A nasty habit I had broken years ago, but my nerves had gotten
the best of me. I had to make an appointment with Chandra to get them painted.
I wouldn’t bite them if they were painted pretty.

Oscar
ran his hands through his hair, sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, and
propped himself up on his elbows. “Do you think this is your ‘gift’? Can you
see when someone is about to die?”

That
was one ‘gift’ I did not want. But when I thought about it, most of my
nightmares, when I was a child, did come true in one fashion or another. Once I
lost a shoe and had a nightmare about Darla being mad, then another one where I
had lost it. I went to the place I saw in my dreams and it was there.

Another
time I had a nightmare that I fell off my bike and got stitches, only the next
day it happened to Oscar. Darla always said that I had an active imagination.

“Oscar?”
I gasped, thinking he might be right. “One problem is that I don’t know the
outcome until I dream it, and then it is too late. Or at least it was for Ann.”

“Is
there anything else in the nightmare that you can remember besides the head?
Can you look around and see if there are any clues on the hands? Markings?”
Oscar asked some great questions, but how was I going to manipulate my dream?

I
pushed the muffins aside. I’d suddenly lost my appetite.

“So
now what?” I waited to hear my fate. Were they or weren’t they going to charge
me with murder?

“We
will wait until Gerald gets better and the council can meet to discuss all the
evidence.” His appetite wasn’t affected. He stuffed a half of a muffin in his
mouth.

“I
did find a journal from Darla in the shop.” I hesitate for a moment, wondering
if Oscar might want it for evidence, but I continued. “There really isn’t
anything in there but how she moved us to Locust Grove.”

“Really?
Anything else about the village?”

“I
haven’t gotten that far. If there is, I’ll let you know. But nothing earth-shattering.”
Even though there weren’t any mind-blowing events in the journal, it was still
nice to have her journal. Which seemed odd, because Darla never kept anything.

After
Oscar left, I went over the clues with Mr. Prince Charming.

“Chandra
and Ann didn’t get along because Ann took Chandra before the council to sue her
for her back problems.”

Meow
.

I
paced between the kitchen and the family room.

“Gerald
broke into A Dose of Darla to get a honey supplement. Ann was in love with him
and drove him crazy. He had tea with her the night she died. Alone. Only, in
Whispering Falls, we are never alone.”

Meow.

“And
Ann was banned from practicing her spiritual gift.” I wondered what her gift
was. “Plus she lost her shop.” I threw my hand in the air. “Oh! Don’t forget
about Gerald slipping into Gollybee last night.”

The
questions about Ann getting banned were for Izzy to answer.

Now
there were three visits on my list. It shouldn’t be hard to make a quick visit
to each of them since I couldn’t open A Dose of Darla until I hear from the
council. I had some time on my hands, and I was going to use it to prove my
innocence.

Funny,
the council consisted of two of the three people I needed to talk to.

Mr.
Prince Charming couldn’t care less. All he wanted to do was bathe himself.

“Fine.
I’m going to get my mold, and then stop by Gollybee Pets to pay Petunia a
visit.”

As
soon as he heard Gollybee, he ran over and did figure eights around my ankles
before we headed out.

Chapter
Sixteen

I
was careful not to be seen when I picked up the mold at the lake on my way to
Gollybee. At a glance, the cement mold resembled the shoeprint that I had cast
under my bedroom window in Locust Grove. I hid it under my shirt and dropped it
off at the shop on my way to the pet store.

Mr.
Prince Charming didn’t wait around for me. I was sure he was already there.

“What
took you so long?” Petunia was pruning back the limbs on the indoor tree.

“How
did you know I was coming by?” I handed her a mojo bag that I grabbed from the
shop.

“Him.”
She pointed to a very high branch, where Mr. Prince Charming was sitting next
to a chipmunk. “Oh, I love mojo bags. Thanks.”

“You’re
welcome.” I didn’t have a really good way to beat around the bush. I had limited
time before Oscar heard from the council or even looked for more clues. “So
tell me about Ann and Gerald having a fling.”

Petunia’s
expression completely left her face.

“I
heard that they were having a fling.” I acted as though I couldn’t tell that she
was surprised that I knew. I reached up and picked a few of the dead leaves off
some of the branches, petting a few animals as I went.

“I
don’t know anything about that.” There was a slow burn in her voice. “Why would
I care about such silly things?”