"No."
"Well, hello there." Reina picked up Cosmo, who purred as he snuggled into her arms. "How lovely that you’ve come to see us too."
"Don't keep the woman standing on the doorstep."
I should have known. I grinned at Ange, who had popped up in the hallway.
"Don't tell me you came here because you smelled these," I held up the cardboard box.
"Oh, yum," she said. "I decided a long time ago that elasticated waistbands are a gift from above. That means I can easily eat my own body weight in muffins and nobody’s the wiser."
"You're gorgeous anyway," Harper said.
"Thank you. Nick says so too."
"Smart man," Harper agreed.
"Which brings me to the real reasonI'm here."
We settled down in the living room. The sun poured in through the window. If I squinted, I could make out a woodpecker, busy drilling into one of the trees.
I opened my backpack. "I brought something for you to have a look at," I said. "Do you have any idea how long ago these were broken off?"
Reina held up the first Ziploc bag.
"How long have they been sealed in the plastic?"
"A couple of hours," I said. "But I've taken pictures before I cut them off."
"At a first glance, I'd say more than a couple of days and less than a week. But I'm no expert," Reina said.
"Of course you are. You've got a green thumb—no, make that ten green fingers," Harper said.
"OK, so you think these breakages happened after my aunt died? After Jake died?"
"I'd say so. Why?"
"Because I believe I've puzzled out who committed the murder." It would have been nice to do a proper field test, to see if my witchy powers were at peak level. That would confirm my suspicion. Or did solving the case include seeing the killer arrested? Never mind, I’d find out soon enough, without giving a demonstration on the spot.
Chapter twenty-two
Their complete attention was flattering.
"Wow," Ange said. "That's amazing. Who is it?"
"Who's the most obvious person? The one who stands to benefit? And who's also the one person who hasn't put in an appearance at all so far?"
Harper tapped her foot. “Tell us.”
"What do you know about Jake's cousin Pamela? His heiress?"
"She's nice," Reina said. "A few years older than we are. Adventurous. She used to be a model for a while, but then she decided she'd rather eat proper food, enjoy life, and have fun instead of living on air and cigarettes."
"You seem to know her quite well." I grinned.
"She used to come visit him once or twice a year for the last, gosh, fifteen years or so."
"And do you happen to know her full name?"
