"He’s only doing his job," Nick said.
"He should do it better," Ange protested. "Before he wrecks somebody else’s reputation."
"All these things that I have told you are strictly between us, remember?" Nick implored.
"Pinky swear," Ange said. She signaled to me to repeat after her. We all did.
"Pinky swear," we said in unison.
"Sorry, guys, I’ve got to run. I’ve got a lot of patients waiting to see me."
"Good. Thank you, Nick,” I said.
His head disappeared, and the screen went black.
"That’s why you were waiting for me so anxiously?" I asked.
Harper shrugged her shoulders. "I think you’ve been through enough bad stuff without having your found family around you. Sisters from another mister!"
Reina went and hugged her wife. "The big question is, how are we going to get the detective to figure out Pamela’s involvement? Gosh, I still can’t believe she’d do something like that. But then… you don’t actually know people, do you?"
"We know each other," Ange said. "Isn’t that good enough?"
"I think Nick should do the convincing," I said. "They have a working relationship."
Cosmo swatted his paw in a threatening manner. “Ange? Please tell him I appreciate his frankness.” Although the detective could thank his lucky stars, I wasn’t a fully-fledged witch yet, or he’d have spent a few hours as a toad. If that was in the realm of the possible for me.
The nerve of that man, acting nice and considerate, and all along he’d had the toxicology results at his disposal, and harbored vile suspicions against the kindest woman I’d ever met. A woman he’d already had autopsied without my knowledge when he dropped by.
"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble," I muttered under my breath.
Cosmo swiped his paw at me. I stopped. Maybe quoting from Macbeth, aka the cursed play, was not in the best taste. "How about having that coffee now?" I asked.
Reina poured me a steaming mug.
"Cream or milk?" she asked.
"Milk is fine."
"You are surprisingly calm," Ange said. "If I were you, I'd be tearing my hair out."
I shrugged. "I would if I wasn't absolutely sure."
"Sure of what?"
"My aunt will be vindicated. Everything will be just peachy." The longer I spoke, the more convinced I was.
"That's the spirit," Harper said.
"Yeah, you gotta manifest that," Ange agreed. “We all should. We’re the crazy coven!”
Reina quirked her eyebrows but refrained from speaking.
I sipped my coffee and selected a blueberry muffin to go with it. Reina emptied my pastry box onto a large ceramic platter with a dragon motif, hand-painted by herself.
"That's better," I said.
"Yeah, what are you going to do now?" Ange asked.
