A Charming Crime Page 7

  “How do you know Ann hasn’t come back?” So much for not jumping in. I opened the Ding Dong, tore it in half, and offered it to her. The duck jumped out of the kid swimming pool and waddled over.

  “Are you kidding?” She took a bite, inhaled, and closed her eyes. Exactly how they made me feel. She pinched a piece off and gave it to the duck. “This is delicious. But back to Ann. She always made her presence known.”

  Petunia went about her chores of feeding several of the animals, taking time to talk to each one. They seemed to understand her with their responses of purrs, barks, tweets, and nibbles. A long-haired mutt followed her around. He had a long scarf covering his head and a couple different strands of pearls around his neck. Each longer than the other.

  I pointed to him and shrugged. “Does he belong on your leash?”

  “Oh no, Elory was a crystal ball spiritualist in a previous life,” she whispered with the back of her hand covering her mouth. “He refuses to live without his clothes. You think that’s bad, you should’ve known him when he was alive. He wore at least ten necklaces at once.”

  I smiled, not sure how to respond to these animals. She talked to them like they were two-footed humans.

  “Now go on.” Petunia finally shooed the bees away. Quickly, they flew through the store and disappeared through the door she had emerged from. She sat down and used the brush to comb through the Siamese cat’s tail.

  I wished I had another Ding Dong to give her in case she needed a bribe. I made a mental note to pick up an extra box at the store.

  I sat down next to her and picked up the extra brush near her knee. Several dogs ran over to and formed a line. The Great Dane was first in line. Gently, I ran the brush down his back and over his back paws. Petunia brushed a few more before she seemed to remember I was there.

  “Poor Ann. No one deserves to die. At least she doesn’t have to deal with allergies anymore.” She motioned for the next animal in line. The hedgehog. With every brush, it shivered and shook, until it finally curled up and rolled away. “It would be a shame to be allergic to honey.”

  “She was allergic to honey?” I wondered if Oscar noticed anything funny on the autopsy. Or who does the autopsies around here? “Patience and Constance does the autopsies, right?”

  “Um. . .hmmm.” She finished brushing the last animal. Mr. Prince Charming. “He is a very sweet cat.”

  I almost asked her to read his fortune or see if he was someone in another life, but I didn’t want to be disappointed. I loved him just the way he was.

  “Do you think that Constance would give me the low-down on Ann’s autopsy?” I needed more answers. Petunia wasn’t being very forthcoming.

  “Patience. Ask Patience when Constance isn’t around.” Petunia’s hazel eyes had specs of gold that seemed to glow when she concentrated on something. She stared at me intently. “Patience knows everything going on around here.”

  Petunia picked a weed next to her leg. She was in her own little world as she crawled around the grassy floor leaving little piles of crab grass along the way. A goat trotted behind her gobbling them up.

  Mr. Prince Charming and I left and walked next door to A Dose of Darla. It was time to see what was behind the old wooden door. I had the feeling I was unlocking my past.

  When I flipped on the light, my eyes had to be deceiving me. My heart leapt up in my throat, and made my lips turn up into the biggest smile. I hadn’t been this giddy since Mr. Prince Charming showed up with my turtle charm.

  Carefully, I ran my hands along the tops of the items as I danced to the front of the store. Darla was all about presentation, and I knew she wouldn’t disappoint.

  The front room where all the hard work of Darla was on display was filled with all sorts of glass bottles of different shapes and sizes.

  Lamps were scattered throughout the shop on small tables. Each lamp shade was very ornamental and no two were alike.. I vaguely remember playing with the strands of beads that dangled from some of them when I was a child. They made the shop homey, and it felt like I had come home to a place where I belonged.

  There were chalk boards on the wall with the special of the day written in Darla’s handwriting. I took my phone out of my bag and took a photo of each board. Darla might not have believed in picture memories, but I did.

  Tiered display tables sprinkled the shop floor with all sorts of remedies on them. Although the bottles had dust on them, I knew the remedies inside were good. Luckily, I think there was enough inventory to open tomorrow.

  I picked up the feather duster off the counter and shook it in the air. Cough, cough. I fanned the air. There was more dust in the duster than in the shop. A quick surface clean was good enough for now.

  The back room walls were lined with every ingredient that I had ever dreamed of. Bottle after bottle was in alphabetical order. The dried herbs hung from a clothesline around the room. There were burners, test tubes, melting pots, strainers, muslin clothes, cauldrons and much more. There was a couch, desk, and mini-refrigerator that seemed like a good place to rest if I ever needed to.

  There was a cardboard box on the couch. Quickly I rummaged through it. I really wanted to get home and go to bed so that morning would come. I was excited.

  The box contained a few odds and ends. A book was wedged in the bottom and I reached for it. I ran my hand along the old leather binding to clear off the dust. Carefully I opened the leather cover. I didn’t want it to fall apart.

  “Darla’s journal,” I read aloud. Darla had a journal? “Come on,” I gestured for Mr. Prince Charming to follow me. It was time to lock up and go home.

  There was enough time to get home, eat a Ding Dong, and read a little bit of this journal before I had to go to bed. Not only was tomorrow a big day, I was hoping that the journal had some answers to the questions I had been seeking.

  Clink, clink. I turned the old skeleton key and pushed on the wood door to make sure it was locked. Mr. Prince Charming walked ahead of me with his tail high in the air. It waged back and forth and hit a few fireflies along the way.

  Having something of Darla’s temporarily made all the bad feelings of the day go away. I’d never known her to have a journal. It sort of surprised me. Darla had no problems expressing how she felt when she felt it. She was always so positive and reminded me that we were no better than anyone or the other way around. She taught me to see the good in everyone.

  I was beginning to doubt that with everything that had happened recently. Hopefully, reading some of Darla’s journal entries would help restore her belief in me.

  My new bed was definitely more comfortable than the one I had in Locust Grove. Mr. Prince Charming curled up in the fold of my arm.

  “I open my shop tomorrow,” I read Darla’s words aloud. Fun, I was opening tomorrow too. “I’m a little nervous about some of the measurements being inaccurate. Otto said that it was good, but I still have doubt in my mind. I tell Otto all the time how I wished I had his instincts, his spiritual gift. But if I can’t, I hope our sweet little June does.”

  Darla had doubt? Doubtful was one word I would never use to describe her. She always seemed so confident.

  Chapter Ten

  “Turn over, turn over,” was all I could remember shouting out in my sleep just as I saw the hands slowly peel away from the neck. The head tilted to the side and as if it had one final push, the eyes popped opened, staring at me. They shone with fear.

  It was Ann.

  My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. It woke me up. Blinking several times, I remembered where I was. Whispering Falls, and smack dab in the middle of a murder. Oh yeah, and how could I almost forget that I’m a spiritualist?

  “Mr. Prince Charming?” I called out but he wasn’t anywhere to be found. He must’ve found some sort of escape route out of the house, just like he did in Locust Grove. Darla’s journal was lying next to me. I must’ve fallen asleep reading it. “Eloise,” I whispered.

  She was going to have to go to the back
of my mind until I told Oscar about my nightmare. A little too late, but still it was strange for my nightmares to be changing so much.

  I grabbed my cell and dialed him.

  “How did you sleep?” There was concern in his voice.

  “Good, until the body turned over.” I pushed the button on the coffee pot and then looked out the window over the kitchen sink.

  It was the most beautiful view of Whispering Falls. The house sat on top the hill giving a great view of all the visitors that were already walking around.

  Bella was right. The lush green grass that covered the ground surrounding the shops was vibrant. It looked like carpet.

  “What do you mean body?” Oscar asked with caution.

  “My nightmare was different. It wasn’t the same one.” Out the window, in the distance, I could see a little white fur ball galloping toward the house, and it looked like there was something in his mouth. “The hands let go and the body turned over. It was Ann.”

  “Don’t tell me any more until you get an attorney.” He pleaded.

  “An attorney?” Why in the world. . .oh, no. My throat hit the bottom of my stomach. “Are you saying there aren’t any other suspects? Only me?”

  “I’m just saying that no one else had any issues with Ann that I can find. You and she had a public fight.” Oscar was to the point.

  “Fine.” I wasn’t going to argue with him. I knew I didn’t do it. Just because everyone around here had all sorts of psychic abilities, I’m sure they were still human and had fights. I did feel a little tension between Chandra and Ann, as well as Izzy and Ann. Hell, Ann had tried to sue Chandra. And what about the statement that Izzy said the first time I went to Mystic Lights about the fact that Ann couldn’t hold down a job and it was her responsibility. Why was Ann her responsibility?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Madame Torres.

  It was at least worth exploring. I was determined to figure out everyone’s relationship and how they were connected to Ann. If I was a betting woman, I’d say Madame Torres could tell me a thing or two.

  “June.” Oscar stopped me before I hung up. “Don’t go around putting your nose where it doesn’t belong. You need to let the experts do that. Something will turn up.”

  He knew me too well. But not well enough to know that I wasn’t going to listen to him.

  Mewl, mewl. Mr. Prince Charming dropped something near my foot. I hung the phone up and bent down to pick it up.

  “You are a thief.” The dog charm was cute with the two small diamonds for eyes. “You are making us look really bad. It’s not enough that they think I killed Ann and you go off and steal a charm.”

  What was it with this cat? I shook my head. There was no time to waste. I had to get my hands on that crystal ball, plus it was opening day for A Dose of Darla.

  After I got ready, I grabbed a couple Ding Dongs, thinking this could be a stressful day and walked toward Main Street.

  I glanced over at Mystic Lights. No thanks to Mr. Prince Charming, Madame Torres was going to have to wait. I had to get this charm back to Belle.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Good morning.” Bella greet us when we walked in. Her store was so crowded. The customers were trying on all sorts of jewelry. “How did you sleep?”

  “Um. . .you know, new place and all.” I shrugged. Did she really think I slept well? A little thing called murder was on my mind. Plus I didn’t want to give any details of my nightmare, even though I had to wonder if she could read my mind. I took the dog charm out of my pocket and laid it on the counter. “I’m afraid Mr. Prince Charming stole this from you.”

  “He didn’t steal it. I gave it to him and told him to take it to you.” She handed the lady next to me a bracelet with turquoise stones instead of the jade stones.

  “I think I like the jade better.” The woman pushed the turquoise bracelet back towards Bella.

  “No, you will be much happier with turquoise. I promise.” Bella’s eyes twinkled. She picked up the bracelet and put on the woman.

  The woman gasped in delight. She smiled at Bella. “I think you are right.”

  Bella took the woman’s payment, and she left as happy as could be.

  “How did you do that?” I asked in amazement. “How did you know she’d like the turquoise one better?”

  “It’s in her stars.” Bella smiled, leaned over and whispered, “I’m the astrologer of the village. You know horoscope and crystal reader.”

  “Ahh.” I nodded. Whispering Falls definitely had a lot of secrets for me to explore. “Back to the charm. You told him to bring it to me?”

  “Yes.” She picked up a cleaning cloth and cleaned the jade bracelet before replacing back in the jewelry case. “I wanted you to have it. Dog charms help prevent evil spirits from attacking the living. Especially a spiritualist. And I have a feeling someone evil is out to get you.”

  First off, that didn’t make me feel good at all, even though I’d been ignoring my intuition that something evil was lurking. Secondly, Belle’s words weren’t much different than Madame Torres.

  “Out to get me?” I felt a little like Patience repeating Constance. “And what do my stars say?”

  She was a supposed spiritualist, she should be able to tell me my future or if someone was out to get me.

  “Rules of the village, no spiritualist can read for another spiritualist. You must figure your own path.” She floated her hands around in the air.

  I planted my elbows on the case and put my chin in my hands. “I want my future to be normal like two days ago. That is what I want.”

  “That might not be in your cards.” She smiled before she went on to the next customer. She pointed over my shoulder, out the door. “I think you have a line at the door of your shop.”

  She was right. A Dose of Darla had customers. Mr. Prince Charming and I hurried out and down the street. There was money to be made.

  I slipped into the back door to get familiar with the shop before I opened it up to the crowd outside.

  With a deep inhale, I unlocked the door. . .into my new life.

  The line of customers was a steady stream. Between answering questions and making up quick remedies, I cleaned all the nook and crannies. Anything and everything that had Darla’s handwriting on it, I tucked into a small box that I had found behind the counter.

  Nothing seemed to bother Mr. Prince Charming. He found a nice comfy spot on the well worn cushion on a chair behind the counter to sleep on.

  It was assuring that I was able to answer questions and mix up all sorts of remedies without consulting Darla’s notebook as I had done in years past. It was all coming naturally to me. Maybe I did have a knack for this spiritual stuff.

  From the back room, I grabbed of couple of ingredients and threw them in a mixing bowl. I could mix and create while I answered questions.

  “Can I help you?” I asked the tall, dark man that had been waiting patiently in the corner of the store as I mixed the remedy to treat hemorrhoids for a waiting customer.

  “I’ll wait until you are done.” He gestured toward my hemorrhoid customer.

  I let the ingredients mix, and added an extra spoonful of witch hazel. I picked out the prettiest bottle to put the remedy in. If my customer had to have such an awful sickness, at least she could enjoy the pretty bottle. Unlike the aluminum tubes you get from a doctor.

  The hour-glass bottle had the loveliest green flowers glued all over it. But the elegant flower glass cork was the added elegant touch.

  “Beautiful,” the woman gasped, gingerly taking the bottle from me.

  “Follow these directions to a tee, and you will never have an issue again.” I assured her giving her a piece of paper that I had scribbled the directions on.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, touching my hand. “I don’t know what it is about this town, but I always leave feeling so good inside.”

  “Village,” I corrected her. “We are a village that cares.”

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nbsp; The mysterious gentleman stepped aside to make room for her to leave, and then stepped forward. He glanced around the room before laying a brown package on the counter.

  “I’m sorry you waited so long. What is that?” I asked.

  He stared at me.

  I closed my eyes hoping some type of homeopathic cure would come to me like it had all day long.

  Nothing.

  I didn’t know what happened. I wondered if my spiritual abilities had been zapped.

  “What is it?” I looked into his deep, dark eyes for an answer.

  Why did I get the gift of knowing homeopathic cures instead of something cool like the ability to read one’s mind?

  “It’s the sweet grass that you asked for.” He unrolled the brown wrapping revealing the long stems, some brown, some green. “I didn’t come all this way to be shafted. We grow a crop for you every year. And when the winds blow telling us you need sweet grass, I bring it.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry. I’m new around here. And this whole spiritualist thing is really something I just found out about.” I picked up a strand and smelled it. Nothing sweet about it. “And who did you say ordered it?”

  “The wind.” He crossed his arms in front of him.

  The wind? Right. I grinned. So the wind had a soul and he could read it? Geez. Now I’d heard it all.

  I looked over his shoulders. There was another line forming down the street and he was holding it up.

  “I have just what you need.” I went to the back and quickly began to mix up bushmaster snake remedy that has a wide range of uses. And not knowing if this guy was crazy, I knew it would help get the chemicals in his mind back to normal.

  “June?” Izzy called out from the front. “Do you need some help?”

  I walked up to the front and Izzy was talking to the gentleman.

  “It’ll be just a moment.” I put my finger up. “Business is good today.”

  Izzy leaned back and gestured to the line of customers. “Business is good every day. I see that the sweet grass is here for the smudging ceremony.” She patted the tall man on the back.