“There’s the negative energy again,” he said.
“That’s only me.”
“Have you at least paid attention earlier?”
“Could you be a little more specific?”
“You snatched the wooden stamp right out of the air. I assume you slowed its fall by at least 20 percent. Which proves you, you heard or noticed something that brings you another step closer to the solution. It weakens the blockage.”
“But what is the clue I found? Unless it’s the plants?”
He blinked at me.
“There are holes where foxglove should be. The Latin name is –”
“Digitalis,” he interrupted me. “Interesting.”
“The problem is, I have no clue how long ago the plants were taken out. Maybe it was Aunt Violet herself.”
“No.”
“But who could have taken them, and why? Jake died first. She’d have noticed her foxglove had gone AWOL and put two and two together.”
He launched himself onto the windowsill, overlooking part of the garden. I had to twist my neck to catch a glimpse of the flower beds from where the plants had disappeared. “Can you go check thecompost heap, to see if that’s where they ended up?” I asked Cosmo. I didn’t really believe it, but I had to be sure.
“You’re not coming?”
“I’d rather write down everything I remember before I forget a crucial part. And you said it yourself I’m running low on energy.” I omitted to mention that the word compost conjured up bad smells in my olfactory memory.
I’d barely finished my notes, when Cosmo returned. His fur stood up. “Not a single stem or stalk,” he said.
I rose and peered out into the back yard. Behind the property line and the fence came forest, that circled around all the way to the lake. Entering the property unseen was a piece of cake with the right footwear, an idea of the geography, and the physical ability to climb over a five-foot split rail fence. Unfortunately, that didn’t cross a single person off our suspect list which now included Cosmo’s masked stranger. Where did I go from here?
Chapter nineteen
"Be careful, Bex," Cosmo said as I prepared to get out into the mean streets. "You never know who's lurking out there."
"Yeah, right," I muttered. "What's the point of being a witch—or a witch cat, or whatever you are—if you can't even figure out who the evil person in our midst is?"
I swallowed. For one pin, I'd have grabbed my suitcase and gotten the hell out of Dodge.
Except that would also mean leaving my friends at the mercy of whoever was out there killing people.
"I understand your frustration," Cosmo said. "And believe me, I'd like nothing better than to wave a magic wand around and tell you the answers. All I can do is support you and help you get in the right direction."
"Unless we get killed first," I said.
"There’s that," he admitted.
"I was joking."
"I wasn't."
I sighed. "Do you have any kind of protective spell that I can practice before I leave the house?"
He shook his head.
"Great."
