Meows, Magic & Murder (22 page)

“I imagine so, and I shouldn’t ever tell him the truth. He’s gone through enough.”

Petunia walked over to Pansy and lifted him to the ground, taking ahold of the leash. “Thanks for being honest. It’s getting late now and tomorrow I really need to search my house for those knitting needles. The thing is, I can’t remember even taking them out of the bag, even though I swore that I brought them into the house.”

“Go along home, then. We’re almost done cleaning up and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of irate customers come tomorrow. How is that sneezing thing, Petunia?”

“It’s getting better. I think it’s wearing off.”

“Good, since we don’t have any ingredients left for potions now.”

“Serves you right,”
Pansy said.

Petunia waved to her aunt as she made way for the door, tugging gently on Pansy’s leash to move him along.

“You need to be nicer, Pansy. See, it really was a total accident that I changed you into a cat.”

“Sure. Whatever makes you feel better, Red, but if you never gave me that potion to begin with, I wouldn’t be in this fix. And you can forget about me meeting that Princess, your aunt’s cat. I want nothing to do with her. She’s probably old enough to be my grandmother.”

“I wasn’t thinking about fixing you up with her. She might be able to help you adjust, is my thought.”

“If I’m stuck in this cat body, I won’t make your life easy and I’ll expect steaks more often and not just for me, but your other cats, too. That last time, they seemed very irate at me because I was given a steak and they weren’t.”

Petunia sighed as Pansy walked along beside her. Today certainly was full of revelations, even though none of them were crime-related. Now it appeared that Helen had an ax to grind against her after Helen’s plans to get money out of her aunt failed, but what did it have to do with her murder? It was much different than the murder of Kaye and Charlene that appeared more related to Petunia, more of a direct set-up.

Petunia was a witch, a real witch? Sure, she thought there was something a little odd like how even in high school she’d dabbled in potions, but back then Aunt Maxine never allowed her to look at any of those potion books. Only after her parent’s death did she allow it. Back then, she thought all she had to do was combine whatever plants she could find with a liquid base that simply had only to be mixed and heated. The result ended up with a big fat F for her chemistry experiment. In hindsight, it was no wonder the deputy wouldn’t share anything with her.

Noah was walking Melvin when Petunia passed and she quickly picked up Pansy to not cause Melvin to run off yet again. Even though Pansy did his best at hissing at the pit bull, he didn’t bolt.

“Sorry, Noah.”

“No problem.”

“Did it go all right at your aunt’s shop?”

“Well, she sold out of everything, so I highly doubt she’ll be open tomorrow.”

“I bet everyone in town went there looking for whatever it was that you gave Lucy.”

“Oh, yes. The herbal tea.”

“I’m not sure what you take me for, Petunia. I’m no fool. It would take more than herbal tea for Lucy to feel good enough to run a marathon tomorrow.”

“Sorry, that’s all it was. Herbal tea. Aunt Maxine promised me she’ll try to talk Lucy out of it.”

“That won’t work. She’s dead set on running that race.” Noah smiled. “I suppose you can keep your little secret if you wish. Perhaps we can talk more about it over dinner?”

“I can’t,” Petunia said a little too quickly. “I mean, I’m exhausted after all the leg work we did questioning witnesses.”

“I’ll be over tomorrow to help you find those knitting needles.”

“You don’t need to. I can do that myself.”

“I insist.”

“You can insist all you want. I’m doing it myself. I don’t even know you that well and I wouldn’t appreciate you searching my house like some kind of detective.”

Noah’s eye narrowed, his nostrils flaring slightly. “Where is this coming from, Petunia?”

“I’m sorry. I-I’m past exhausted, really. I’ll let you know if I find them or not, okay. I promise.”

Noah nodded. “Okay. I wasn’t trying to be pushy. I just sincerely wanted to help you, is all I was thinking.”

Petunia felt a pang of guilt. “I am sorry, but we should go to the marathon afterward. To see how Lucy does, okay?”

“It’s a date. I mean, plan.”

“Are you kidding me here. You’re not seriously going to the marathon with him,”
Pansy said.

Petunia smiled and walked inside. She removed the leash and Pansy strutted into the kitchen, meowing for food like her other cats. The more time went by, the more cat-like Pansy really was becoming. He no longer complained about the cat food, even though he still requested a steak on occasion. She almost wondered if he was more adjusted to his life as a cat than he let on—or so she hoped. It would ease some of the guilt, at least, for what she had done to him.

Now that she knew she was a witch, she wondered if that would change her life or make it even more difficult. Although she was already a suspect in a three murders, which was already quite bad, how much worse could it get? Of course, she still faced arrest, and what to do about the case against her for Jeremy’s disappearance?

She grabbed a frozen meal out of the freezer, tossed it into the microwave and that was her dinner. It wasn’t long afterward that her eyelids felt as heavy as a Mack truck and she wandered upstairs and into bed. Her mind, although still swirling, didn’t stop her from sleep as she fell fast asleep.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Petunia woke up with light streaming through her curtains. She walked to the shower like a zombie and let the water invigorate her—or at least partially wake her up. Today, she dressed in a comfortable, blue cotton dress, flats on her feet. She dried her hair before tugging a brush through her auburn locks. She was excited about going to the race with Noah. They had been so busy of late with investigating and she was so ready for some downtime.

She walked down the stairs and had to step back, shocked when all four cats were on the cat cushion, limbs entwined … including Pansy! Petunia made a chai tea latte in the machine she bought not long ago. It saved her nearly five dollars by not having to go to Starbucks, now.

Taking a sip, Petunia began going through her kitchen, searching for the elusive knitting needles. There wasn’t a bag on the table or chairs. She then opened the doors to her cupboards, especially the ones that were more cluttered, going through them one piece at a time. She didn’t even find it where she kept her sewing kit.
Wherever could those needles be?
Petunia clearly remembered buying them, just not taking them out of the bag. They must be still in the bag, somewhere.

She moved room by room, trying to trace her movements back from the door.
If I came from here, I must have laid them near my knitting basket.
She looked behind it, but no needles. Since it was near the sofa, she looked under it, even under the cushions. She then checked her bedrooms, dining room, and the bathroom, although there would be no way they could ever be in there. Since she didn’t have a car, she couldn’t check there.

Petunia walked outside and began searching in the bushes all around her house. She spotted Noah looking out his window, coffee cup in hand—wondering what kind of lunatic she was, most likely. Within minutes, he joined her outside.

“No luck?” he asked.

“Nope. I suppose you must think I’m foolish, looking in my bushes for the knitting needles?”

“I’m not sure I want to answer that question. It might get me into trouble with you, but I wouldn’t describe it as foolish, exactly.”

Petunia sniffed. It was not an unpleasant smell, but Noah had definitely put on a very manly cologne. The musky fragrance wafted over to her, making her feel like a sneeze was coming on. She raced into her backyard just as she sneezed, bubbles appearing. She quickly popped them before Noah rounded the corner.

“Where are you off to?”

“Your cologne made me sneeze.”

“Oh. You could have sneezed in front of me, you know.”

Petunia didn’t know what to say as she stared at Cora, who was staring at her from her side of the fence. “Don’t think I didn’t see that, Petunia. One of these days, people will find out what you are, and then you’ll be cooked.”

“They don’t burn witches at the stake anymore,” Noah laughed.

“You’re so not helping her fantasy. She already is trying to oust me from the neighborhood.”

“She can’t do that and you know it. Ignore her.”

Petunia followed Noah back to the front yard, and it was then that she noticed the tee shirt he wore that displayed his muscled upper body, his jeans hugging his narrow hips. She quickly looked away when his eyes met hers.

“Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“No, why?”

“No reason. You look beautiful.”

“Th-Thanks. We should head to the marathon now.”

“Sounds like a plan. After I lock up, I’ll meet you back here.”

Petunia went inside and grabbed a small purse, putting the strap over her head so it crisscrossed. That way, she wouldn’t have to keep putting the strap over her shoulder all day. She also brought out two lawn chairs for them to use to watch the marathon runners.

Noah was revving the engine of his motorcycle. “We can just walk there,” Petunia said.

He cut the engine off. “I thought the marathon started at the Lake Forest Country Club.”

“Yes, but I always watch from in front of the government building. It’s near the finish line.”

“Won’t Mayor Hopkins and Florence McHenry be there?”

“Yes, and your point is?”

“Just that it’s apparent that neither of them care for you.”

“I know, but the mayor’s wife, Bonnie, will be there, too,” Petunia said. “I haven’t seen her in a long time.”

“I hope you don’t plan to tell her about her husband’s wandering ways. She doesn’t need that.”

“I’d never do it, even though I think she has a right to know about Florence and her husband.”

“Don’t make life for yourself even more difficult, is all I’m saying. Don’t forget, you’re a murder suspect.”

“I know. Believe me, how could I forget?”

Noah took the lawn chairs from Petunia and walked alongside her as they crossed the park until they were at the government building. The mayor’s wife motioned Petunia over. “Here, put your chairs next to me.”

Noah set the chairs up and they sat next to Bonnie Hopkins.

Bonnie looked over to where Noah sat. “Who is this, Petunia?” she asked.

“My new neighbor, Noah Becker. He just moved to Lake Forest from New York City.”

“Why would you move from an exciting place like that to Lake Forest?”

“I wanted a change.”

“He’s planning to run for sheriff in the next election,” Petunia explained.

“Are you, now? How nice. It’s been a long time since Sheriff Pinkerton has been challenged for sheriff.”

Petunia admired Bonnie’s blonde hair that she could well afford to keep looking nice. She came from a very well-to-do family—or old money, as it was called. Her grandfather had made good investments through the years that set his up family for generations. Most of the money was put into trusts so that nobody would be able to mismanage it and lose everything. That way, all of his descendants would benefit from his savvy business skills—or so Aunt Maxine had told her.

Mayor Hopkins and Florence made their way over to them. When Florence spotted Petunia, she said, “Wh-What are d-doing here?”

“No need to stutter, girl. I asked Petunia to sit with me,” Bonnie informed her nicely as she arched a brow. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“N-No, not at all. I should check on the water station.”

Florence quickly strutted away at a near-sprint herself. She should have entered the marathon, too. She could win the race by imagining Bonnie chasing after her with a lethal weapon. Well, it sounded good anyway.

“Can I get you a glass of lemonade, dear?” the mayor asked his wife.

“Don’t dear me. Check on your girlfriend before she messes everything up. She’s not known for her organization skills.”

The mayor left without a word, but a very red face.

“Y-You know about—” Petunia quickly clamped her mouth shut. “Sorry.”

“Yes. Our marriage was never a happy one, but I’m comfortable with my role as mayor’s wife. All the money is mine, so he knows better than to leave me, unless he wants to be dirt poor again. He’d never have had the money for his campaign for mayor without me. He had better be discreet before people in town start gossiping. If they do, I’ll have to give him the boot anyway. I can’t have anyone knowing I allow his dalliances.” She gave Petunia’s hand a squeeze. “Of course I know I can trust you not to say a word, Petunia.”

“Neither will I,” Noah said.

“I’m sorry for the way I hear people are treating you in town. I, for one, know you’re no murderer. If you’re ever arrested, just give me a call. I’ll hire an attorney for you.”

“I couldn’t do that. It’s not your problem. It appears to be mine.”

Bonnie squeezed Petunia’s hand again, this time whispering, “All you have to do is whip me up a batch of whatever you made for Lucy. It must be a miracle cure. I have bad knees and I’d love to forgo an operation.”

“But the salve was only for arthritis. I hardly think it would help your knees if they’re truly bad.”

“Salve?” Noah said. “I thought it was herbal tea?”

“It is. I used herbs and tea leaves to make the salve.”

Noah gave Petunia a look that she knew meant he wasn’t fooled by her story.

Sheriff Pinkerton meandered past, stopping and saying, “Any luck with finding those knitting needles, Petunia?”

Before she had a change to respond, Bonnie said, “Really, Sheriff? Can’t the lady enjoy her day without you grilling her at ever turn?”

“It’s my job, remember?”

“Of course, but not right now. I’m so enjoying her company today.”

“Noah, would you care to take a walk with me?”

Noah stood. “Why not. It doesn’t look like any of the runners have made it here yet.”