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Maddie spent Saturday night wondering what Suzanne and her brother Luke were talking about over dinner. Was it truly about her? Or was her friend so caught up with matchmaking that she was letting that enthusiasm carry her away?
She watched some TV with Trixie, but couldn’t concentrate. Maddie wandered around the house while the cat dozed on the sofa, but she couldn’t think of anything to do. Finally, she ended up back on the sofa, slowly looking through Wytchcraft for the Chosen, but no spells tugged at her, trying to catch her attention.
Should she do a Coffee Vision spell? Maybe it would show her what would happen tomorrow. But she didn’t even feel like making a latte right now. And what if the vision showed her an image of Suzanne’s brother?
She didn’t think she could deal with that.
Maddie ended up going to bed at 9.30 p.m., half of her wanting to know if Suzanne’s brother really was interested in her, and the other half not wanting to know, in case she was doomed to disappointment.
***
ON SUNDAY MORNING, Maddie forced herself not to think about Suzanne’s brother Luke. Instead, she went over the questions they’d asked each suspect. Something still nagged at the back of her mind.
“Do you know, Trix?” she asked the cat, as they sat on the sofa, Wytchcraft for the Chosen beside them.
“Mrrow.” Trixie looked thoughtful for a moment, then slowly closed her eyes.
Did that mean the Persian did know who the killer was? It wouldn’t surprise Maddie if she did. After all, the spell book was real, and so was the Coffee Vision spell and the Truth spell. Only time would tell if the Escape your Enemy spell was real as well.
But if Trixie knew who the killer was, why wasn’t she telling her? Or did Maddie have to learn the cat language in order to find out?
Ding dong. The doorbell interrupted her musing. Maddie and Trixie headed toward the hall, Trixie scampering to the front door.
Maddie peeked through the peephole – yep, it was Suzanne, looking excited.
“You’ll never guess!” She barreled into the house as soon as the door was open wide enough to get through. “Hi, Trixie,” she greeted the feline, as she swept down the hall into the kitchen.
Maddie and Trixie followed.
“I was right!” Suzanne crowed, plonking herself down at the kitchen table. “Luke took me to dinner last night to ask all about you!”
“Really?” Maddie’s face flamed, while millions of butterflies zoomed and whooshed in her stomach.
“Really!” Suzanne grinned. “It’s going to be so good having you as a sister!”
Maddie’s mouth parted as she stared at her friend.
“I’m kidding.” Suzanne lightly punched Maddie on the arm. “Well, only half kidding. It would be so cool if you and my brother got married one day, but I guess I’m jumping the gun a little.”
“A little,” Maddie managed to squeak.
“Sit down.” Suzanne patted the place at the kitchen table opposite her.
Maddie sat, not sure if her wobbly knees would be able to hold her up any longer.
Trixie sat too, on the kitchen chair next to Maddie, her ears pricked and her expression alert, as if she wanted to hear all the details as well.
“We had dinner at that little place just off the town square. I had the pork ribs and he had the steak with Portobello mushrooms. Oh, those ribs were so delicious, we’ll have to go there one night. And then he told me about how he’s been so swamped with work—”
“Suzanne,” Maddie interrupted. “Are you sure he asked about me?”
“I’m getting to it.” Suzanne waved her hand as if she thought Maddie was being a tad impatient. “It’s important to set the scene. So, he was telling me how swamped he’s been at work, but he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you – like, forever! And then he asked me if I thought it would be weird if he asked you out on a date, and what I thought your answer would be. Because he knows we’ve been best friends since middle school and he didn’t want to ruin that, but he said seeing you at the coffee festival and then again last week, just made him realize how much he likes you and—”
“He likes me?”
“Yep.” Suzanne’s tone was smug. “I should be a matchmaker for real. Anyway, I gave him the green light to go ahead and ask you out. And I said to him, “You better ask her out after you’ve been talking about her for a whole hour—”
“He talked about me for that long?” Maddie held her breath, waiting for her friend’s answer.
“Yep.” Suzanne grinned. “Actually, it got kind of boring after a while, because he was telling me things about you that I already know. And I kept thinking, but you don’t know that Maddie’s a witch!” She giggled.
When Maddie and Trixie stared at her, she shook her head, her ponytail swishing vigorously.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t breathe a word! You know I wouldn’t – ever – to anyone.”
“I know,” Maddie replied.
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed.
“It was just fun to think about it when he was going on and on about what an amazing barista you are and he was glad he helped us restore the truck when we were first starting out, and if I knew if you were seeing anyone—”
“What did you say?”
“No, of course.” Suzanne grinned. “I told him he should help you practice for the Seattle competition.”
Maddie shivered with excitement at Suzanne’s revelations. But she cautioned herself not to get carried away. Suzanne’s brother Luke had had plenty of time to ask her out – years, in fact – so why was he only doing so now?
“Hey,” Suzanne said, her voice softer. “I know that pensive look. I asked Luke why he hadn’t asked you out before and he finally told me it was because he thought you were special, and he didn’t want to mess it up. Or make it weird between us – me and him and you and me.” She tsked. “Guys can be strange at times.” Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. “Ooh, I wonder if he saw Ramon at our truck at the festival? That might have finally compelled him to act!”
Maddie crinkled her brow.
“He might have thought Ramon was interested in you,” Suzanne explained.
“But he’s not,” Maddie pointed out, knowing of her friend’s interest in the sexy masseuse.
“I know that – I think. I mean, it’s hard to tell with Ramon, he’s just so, so—”
“I know.” Maddie nodded in agreement.
“Mrrow,” Trixie put in.
“But Luke doesn’t know that. And,” Suzanne added, “I might have told my brother that you were thinking of getting a massage with Ramon.”
“Suzanne!” Maddie gasped.
“Well, you are, aren’t you?” Suzanne looked satisfied with herself.
“Y-e-s,” Maddie admitted, wondering if she’d ever be brave enough.
“So it wasn’t a lie. Sometimes my brother needs something to be spelled out to him, even if it’s right under his nose. And he’d promised he’d call you and ask you out.”
“Really?” Maddie sank back in the kitchen chair, the hard wooden back digging into her shoulder blades.
Trixie looked from Maddie to Suzanne and back again, an inquisitive look on her face.
“Really,” Suzanne confirmed. “And all you have to do is say yes.” She paused. “You are going to say yes, aren’t you?”
“Mrrow!”
“Yes.” Maddie and Trixie spoke at the same time.
“Good.” Suzanne grinned. “You like my brother, don’t you, Trix?”
“Mrrow.” Trixie looked as if she were saying yes.
“Just call me Suzanne the Matchmaker.” The two of them laughed, Trixie joining in with a happy, “Mrrow.”
“Now that’s out of the way,” Suzanne became serious, “we better go through our list of suspects and see who we’ve got left.”
“Okay.” Maddie rose and grabbed the list from her purse.
“But first—” Suzanne’s gaze cut to the coffee machine on Maddie’s kitchen counter. “I’d love a coffee.”
Smiling, Maddie made them both a latte from her fancy espresso machine. It was smaller than the machine she used in the truck, but just the right size for home use. And since she made most of her caffeinated drinks at Brewed from the Bean, she didn’t need the most expensive appliance to make a decent cup of coffee at home.
Trixie continued to sit at the table, watching as Maddie brought the cups over.
“Let’s see.” Maddie scanned the list as she sipped her latte. “We’ve already crossed off the middle-aged couple that Detective Edgewater cleared.”
“That’s right.” Suzanne put down her cup on the table with a small thunk. “And it looks like the judge didn’t do it. He doesn’t take the right heart medication.”
“I know you thought he might have been involved or that the killer thought he knew something after he had the car accident,” Maddie replied. “But then Detective Edgewater told us that the judge’s brakes failed because of natural wear and tear, nothing to do with someone tampering with them – or even the judge tampering with them because he was the killer and wanted to divert suspicion from himself.”
“Right.” Suzanne nodded. “So we should cross him off, too.”
Maddie slashed a line through the judge’s name.
“And there’s no way Jill or Bob could have done it.” Suzanne insisted.
Maddie hesitated. “Just because someone is nice doesn’t mean they’re not a killer.”
“I know, but I can’t see Jill killing Dave. And you said Bob didn’t do it.” Suzanne sipped her latte, closing her eyes in appreciation. “So good. Just make one of these for my brother every day and he’ll be yours forever.”
“Suzanne!” Maddie blushed, aware that Trixie was looking at her with interest. Was the Persian taking Suzanne’s words literally? “She’s just teasing, Trix,” Maddie murmured to the cat.
“Teasing, foretelling the future, who knows?” Suzanne winked at Trixie.
“If we could get back to the list of suspects.” Maddie cleared her throat. “I’ll put a question mark next to Jill.”
“Okay.” Suzanne looked disappointed, then peered across the table at the suspect list. You didn’t put Ramon on the list, did you?”
“No.” Maddie shook her head.
“Good. Now, what about Claudine? I wish she was the guilty one, but she’s not.” Suzanne winkled her nose.
“Yeah.” Now it was Maddie’s turn to look glum.
“So that leaves Walt.”
“Uh-huh.” Maddie’s pen hovered over the newspaper reporter’s name. Something still nagged her about their conversation with him yesterday, but she couldn’t put her finger on it – yet.
“He certainly had motive,” Suzanne said.
“Yes.”
“What was Trixie doing digging in his wastepaper basket while we were talking to him?” Suzanne asked curiously.
“I have no idea.” Maddie turned to the cat. “Trix?”
But all Trixie said, was “Mrrow,” with an inscrutable look on her face.
Suzanne sighed. “I think we should leave him on the list for now.”
“Just what I was going to suggest.” Maddie put down the pen.
“So that leaves the two radio execs to interview tomorrow,” Suzanne said. “We could go after the lunch rush, maybe.”
“Okay,” Maddie replied slowly. “But do you really think it’s going to be one of them?”
“What if Dave wanted a huge salary increase and the station couldn’t afford it?” Suzanne suggested. “And he threatened to reveal the executive’s secret, which is why one or both of them killed him.”
“Maybe,” Maddie said, adding, two radio executives on the suspect list.
Suzanne blew out a breath. “But if it’s not them, then who could it be? And we need to find out somehow if they’re on heart medication or have access to it.”
Maddie’s pen clattered to the table. Something her friend had just said jogged her memory. What was it? She furrowed her brow but it remained tantalizingly out of reach.
Then she sighed. It was gone.
