I focused on my gut as I cut in. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a local person. It appears that he was killed in Cannon Hill and only shipped here.”
Skye’s brush slipped a little, smudging a leaf. “Dang.”
“I like it like this,” Ange said. “I’m a professional glassblower. It’s the imperfections that make art more real.”
“Thanks. I know a lot of people who use stencils and templates, but that’s too robotic for me.”
“Is there much demand for your work in Willowmere? I’d have thought that a bigger place offers a lot more promise,” Ange mused.
“I like Willowmere just fine.”
“You’re not a fan of Cannon Hill?” Ange asked.
“I wouldn’t say that. I haven’t been there for ages. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really have to be laser-focused.”
We let her finish the henna tattoo in silence. Ange admired the result and added a hefty tip to the bill. “That’s so pretty.”
“And it’s totally organic. If you follow the instructions, it’ll last you a good two weeks. The most important thing is the skincare.” She handed Ange a leaflet.
Outside, Ange wiggled her eyebrows at me. “That was brilliant. She’s a real talent.”
“She is.” We strolled to the car.
“And we know a lot more about our victim. Not a nice man, but I don’t think she killed him.”
My skin prickled. “I’d agree, if she’d told us the truth.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at your hand and the smudge. She was nervous. I want her to be innocent as much as you do, but my witchy sense tells me she lied to us. The question is, why?”
Chapter 13
Ireturned home to Cosmo with more questions than answers. Ms. Vine had again been doing book maintenance in the library, so I decided to swing bySweet Surprise, our local café, and select a few goodies that we could enjoy over a cup of coffee and a chat.
My mouth watered at the sight of a black forest gateau, with its rich creamy filling and thick chocolate shavings. Alas, something less rich was better suited to both the hour and a library environment.
Vonda, the senior waitress, waited patiently for me to pick something. She’d served the tables and now stood behind the glass counter with its pies, and cakes, cream-filled meringues, cookies, and sandwiches.
I noticed a tray with cocoa-dusted brown balls in mini cupcake wrappers. “What are those?”
“Rum-soaked mini truffle cakes. It’s an old recipe that we discovered in a treasure box that used to belong to the chef’s grandmother. It had slipped behind the lining of the bottom. Would you like to try abite?” Without waiting for my response, she cut one of the balls into quarters and popped one into her mouth.
I did the same. To my surprise, there were no crumbs sticking to my fingers, and the dense sponge base carried only a hint of the rum it had been soaked in, with chocolate and almond the main flavors.
“That’s good,” I said, reaching for another quarter. “Give me four of those and two rose water and pistachio macarons each.”
“Sure thing.” Vonda filled a small pink cardboard box matching her pink uniform with my treats. “Here you go. And if you see Bert, tell him, if he and his missus need anything, I can get it dropped off.”
“Bert and his wife? Is anything wrong with them?”
“Oh, sweetie, haven’t you heard? They’ve taken it mighty hard to have their barn become a crime scene.” Vonda leaned a little closer. “Chopped into pieces, the dead man, from what I’ve been told.”
She obviously knew that I’d been on the scene. It would have been a miracle otherwise. Cosmo was right. All the town’s grapevine ran together in a small hub and spread out from there again.Sweet Surprisewas a big part of the gossip distribution system.
Shutting down that route would be churlish. The same went for pointing out that Vonda was obviously angling for information. I decided on a dramatic shudder. “That’s exaggerated, but it was horrible to find him stabbed to death. I hope you’ll never have to go through anything like it.” Another shudder ended my performance.
Vonda gave me a concerned pat on the hand. “I’m so sorry, sweetie, I’m sure you want to forget everything.”
