“That you’ve managed to land in the thick of yet another homicide? It’s come to my ears, via my dad who has it from Ms. Vine.”
“Darn.”
“Don’t worry, she won’t gossip to anyone else and neither will we.” He mimed zipping his lips.
I nodded. I trusted them. It would have been nice to know what she’d told them about my connection to Candice, yet at the same time it felt awkward bringing it up.
“The blanket?” he asked again.
“By all means.” We opened the ratchet straps and unwrapped the chest.
“Beautiful workmanship,” Sam said.
“It’s truly special,” I agreed. I touched the lid, and another heat surge engulfed me, thankfully a gentler one than before. Was my witchy radar trying to tell me something?
Sam noticed my hesitation. He opened the lid. “Nothing spooky here.”
I took a deep breath and let my senses explore. I felt a tiny rush of excitement.
Without me having to ask him, Sam handed me a pair of thin cotton gloves and took a flashlight. “Do you want me to shine the light around so you can take stock of any damage?”
“Thanks.” I also switched on voice recording on my phone, so I’d have a running record of my findings. If we stumbled upon anything connected to my witch radar, I’d have to memorize it. Spells, hexes, auras, and other not so mundane things had to stay strictly between me and Cosmo, or me and my coven, which now appeared to include Ms. Vine as well.
I registered the same chips in the wood, a few dents and a gash in the bottom I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe stuffing Tim inside the chest had left its scars.
My gloved fingers ran across every inch of the bottom and the fabric that covered the sides. At least, that’s what I’d intended when suddenly, my left hand twitched and slammed against the left side. The fabric, which once had been tautly secured, had become a little loose.
Something white slipped out at the bottom; a business card. When Sam looked away for a second, I picked it up and stashed it in my pocket. I’d take a closer look at it when Cosmo and I were alone, to decide if it had anything to do with our case.
“That’s all,” I declared a few minutes later. My recorded list would keep me busy for a couple of days, at least. I’d have to take off all the fabric to determine the condition of the wood, and then Candice had to decide if she wanted it replaced at all, or if she’d rather get rid of the chest.
“That was fast work,” Sam said.
“It comes with experience. Thanks for your help. Can I offer you a coffee, or a beer? And maybe take you out for a pizza at theBlue Moon, once I’ve taken care of this one?” I removed my gloves and scooped up Cosmo who’d started to snore.
“Coffee’s great, and I wouldn’t say no to a bite.” He followed me into the house.
The library was deserted. Ms. Vine had taped a note to the door.“List of returns and borrows on the desk. Decaf coffee needs refill. Chocolate cookies gone.”
I tore off the note. The chocolate cookies were on the baking list anyway, as a non-magical batch. We rotated recipes, so visitors never quite knew what to expect. I also suspected that Cosmo wanted to keep me on my toes and not get complacent, when it came to anything remotely related to magic.
Upstairs, I switched on the coffee maker and whisked up milk with a mechanical frother. Sam chose an alcohol-free beer. He settled with it at the kitchen table.
Cosmo had woken up the second his food hit the bowl and was now devouring it.
“He’s got a hearty appetite,” Sam said. “How old is he?”
“He’s a cat in his best years.”
“A bit like us, then.” He grinned.
“Exactly.” I waited until he’d poured his beer into a glass and taken a deep swig. “Didn’t Tim live in your neighborhood?”
Sam spent most of his nights with his dad, so he could look after Jimmy, but the old man had declined to monopolize his son. He’d asked me a couple of months ago if I could locate a house-warming gift, suitable for a one-bedroom condo.
I’d sourced a book with the drawings Alexander von Humboldt had made in his travel journals in the Americas, over 200 years ago. Cosmo had given me that idea, since the famous explorer was one of the early scientists studying biology and ecology in the field.
I’d never been to Sam’s condo, but I knew the address. In a town as small as Willowmere, only one new subdivision existed with this typeof building, and from what I’d learned about Tim, I was certain he’d been attracted to one of the hyper-modern new places there.
