"She knows more than she's letting on," Honey muttered.
Roam nodded. "No doubt about that. But prying it out of her won't be easy."
“But, Roam, I don’t think it’s about Lily. Maybe it’s about the murderer?” Honey thought aloud.
“I guess we’ll have to see.” Roam pulled her along toThe Curious Moonbuilding, which was plastered with outlandish headlines and surreal artwork. Stepping inside, they were met by the overpowering scents of ink and aged paper. Sally Swanton sat hunkered over her printing press, her perfectly kept brown hair neatly tucked in a bun at the back of her head.
"Inspector O'Reilly, Honey." she exclaimed, laying a pair of glasses on her desk. "What a delightful surprise."
Roam cleared his throat, getting straight to business. "We need to ask you a few questions about Lily, Ms. Swanton. We understand you saw her recently."
"Oh yes, this must be a formal visit. Dear me. Let me clear you off some chairs so you can sit down," Sally clucked, her expression turning twitchy. "A terrible loss for our town. She was always so generous, sharing all those wonderful pies. I loved those pies."
Honey's ears perked up at the mention of the pies. "So, you visited the orchard often?"
"Oh, all the time! Those Pink Lady apples make the most delicious pie." Sally chuckled fondly at the memory.
"Did you notice anything strange happening around the orchard before Lily died?" Roam pressed.
Sally hesitated, wringing her hands. "Well, I thought I saw someone lurking about once... but I didn't get a proper look."
Honey leaned forward intently. "Can you describe them at all?"
"Let's see..." Sally tapped her chin. "It was a man, I believe. Tall, broad shoulders, maybe. That’s all I saw. He was in the shadows."
Honey and Roam exchanged a glance. They’d need more than ‘maybe broad shoulders’ to narrow down their suspects and make an accusation. But it seemed everyone says a ‘man lurking about.’
"Let's go over your relationship with Lily," Roam said, his eyes boring into Sally's. "We have reliable reports that you were at her orchard late one night before she died."
Sally tugged at her collar. "Y-yes, I said I paid her a visit one evening, before she died."
"What was the purpose of this late-night visit?" Honey asked. Though Sally seemed harmless, her witch instincts sensed the woman was hiding something.
"Well, you see, I, er..." Sally stammered, smoothing her slicked back hair. Finally, she burst out, "Oh alright! I was going to run an article about Lily's torrid love affair with Dr. Wimpleton. I went to bribe her."
Shocked, Honey and Roam leaned in closer to Sally, who hurried to explain, "I know it was in poor taste, but I have a terrible weakness for gossip. Hence,The Curious Moon. And I may have a tiny crush on the professor myself." She blushed deeply.
"So, you blackmailed Lily to suppress the story?" Roam clarified.
Sally nodded guiltily. "In exchange, she was going to give me her family's apple pie recipe. I do love that pie. But then...she..." Her voice caught, tears welling in her eyes.
Honey's expression softened. "I understand this is difficult. But we need the full story."
Sally blinked through her tears. "I loved Lily, truly, despite my jealousy. She was kind and always shared her pies and apples. I’m just so lonely and that’s not Lily’s fault. But when I saw her and Clive… I mean, Dr. Wimpleton, together it just made me so angry. I mean, how often does a new eligible bachelor move to Cauldron Falls? Never. So, I thought this was my chance. Turns out, it was not my chance. It was Lily’s.” Sally sniffed and her chin quivered. “I just pray you find the real monster who did this."
Honey squeezed Sally's hand. "We will, I promise."
“And you won’t mention the scandal thing to anyone. It would really ruin my credibility, as a journalilst.” Sally smiled a painful smile.
“Sure. We won’t mention that you’re not publishing all the gossip, and can be bought for apple pie.” Roam stood up and headed to the door.
Sally chuckled nervously, “well when you put it that way, it does sound kind of silly. Really, that could be a great story. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure, and what would you do to keep it a secret?” Sally waved her hand across a whiteboard on the wall, as she said the words, and they appeared in headline type.
Honey shook her head, “Thank you, Sally, for your time. We really appreciate your honestly. I look forward to reading that guilty secret story.”
“Sure thing. I’m going to get to work on this nugget of a story right now.” Sally ran back around her desk, pushed her glasses onto her nose and began to type.
The sweet aromas of baked goods and cinnamon enveloped Honey and Roam as they entered Tab’s Café. Tabitha bustled over, her plump cheeks flushing with pleasure at the sight of them.
