Chapter 10
Tuney Sluggs answered his phone with a, “Yello?”
“Chief Sluggs, this is Clementine Cooke.”
In the background, I heard his chair squeak. He’d probably just dropped his boots from the top of his desk to the floor. You know, he had to act like he was working every now and then.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’tnotlike Tuney Sluggs, but I didn’t like him, either. He had a penchant for naming situations that clearly appeared to be murder, accidents. So no, he wasn’t the highest piece of chocolate cake on my list.
“Miss Cooke, I heard you had a bit of trouble last night.”
“If you call someone trying to set my house on fire trouble, then I do, too.”
“Now, now, now. Let’s not rush into things.”
I already wanted to kill this old man. “I’m sorry? Then what do you call it?”
“I looked at the fire chief’s report this morning,” he continued. “It appears as if a broken bottle of vodka was found on your property. That bottle could’ve been tossed out of the window by some ornery kids.”
Doubt dripped from my words. “Lit on fire?”
“Could’ve hit the wood and caused a spark.”
“Chief Sluggs, is it going to do me any good to stop by and file an arson report?”
“Depends on what you mean by ‘arson.’”
I raked my fingers down my face. This was why I’d called him. Because I knew that it was too good to be true to think that what had happened at my house would be considered a crime. Sluggs just proved to me that he wasn’t going to investigate, which meant that I was pretty much on my own about this.
“With all due respect, Chief,” I started, “I think I know who’s behind the crime.”
“Who said anything about a crime?”
Anger burned through my veins like lava. “Last night, before this happened, I had an argument with someone. We may have exchanged words. She was so angry that I’m pretty sure that she may have done this.”
“Uh-huh.” He didn’t even sound like he was listening. “And who did you exchange words with, as you put it?”
“Crystal Darsey.”
“That sweet thing?” He practically purred into the phone. I wanted to vomit. “She’d never do anything like this.”
“Chief, we had an argument after she tried to steal business from me.”
“Seems like if she’s got a license, she should be able to run a renovation company, same as you.”
I declined to tell him that she was using the name of my business as well. It wouldn’t matter. From the way the chief talked, it sounded like he was under the same spell of Crystal Darsey that other men had been under. Hence, why the good women of my town ran her out.
Realizing that Sluggs wasn’t going to offer any help, I thanked him for his time and hung up.
Right after, I received a call from Rufus. My heart leaped into my throat.
“Hey,” I answered.
“I’m sorry for leaving so early this morning.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
“I had an idea about where to find a spell and wanted to search it out. But I’m on my way back now.”
