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Suzanne stayed a while longer, then went home, telling Maddie she’d see her at Brewed from the Bean in the morning.
Maddie kept mentally going over the suspect list, wondering what had teased the edges of her mind. Had it been something Suzanne had said? Something one of the suspects had told them? She tried to puzzle it out, but couldn’t come up with anything.
She even paged through Wytchcraft for the Chosen, wondering if there was a spell in there – one she hadn’t noticed before, or one that might magically appear just when she needed it, to discover who the killer was – but she couldn’t find anything like that.
She finally ordered herself to stop thinking about it at eight p.m. Her mind felt like mush.
When the phone rang, she jumped, clapping a hand to her chest.
“I’m being silly,” she told Trixie, who had been dozing on the sofa next to the spell book. Trixie blinked awake, staring at the cell phone as a brring brring sounded in the living room. Maybe it was Suzanne.
It was Luke, Suzanne’s brother.
Maddie sank down on the sofa when she heard his attractive male voice. I’m behaving like a teenager, she scolded herself, attempting to sound unruffled as she composed an answer to his question – would you like to go out on Friday night?
“Yes, I’d love to,” she answered, wondering if she’d answered too quickly.
To her surprise, he sounded a little relieved at her answer. They made arrangements for dinner in Estherville, Luke promising to pick her up.
After she ended the call, Maddie realized Trixie had been gazing at her the whole time she’d been talking to Luke.
“He’s asked me out – on a date,” she unnecessarily told the feline. “We’re having dinner.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie nudged her hand in approval, demanding Maddie pet her.
Maddie thought back over the phone call. Wait until she told Suzanne tomorrow! She hugged herself, then Trixie. She had a date with her longtime crush for Friday night!
Maddie and Trixie watched some TV, although Maddie found it hard to keep her mind on the family drama. All she wanted to think about was her upcoming date with Luke!
Finally, Maddie forced herself to go to bed. She had to get up at 6.30 a.m. tomorrow so she and Suzanne could open Brewed from the Bean at 7.30.
She and Trixie curled up in bed, Maddie under the blankets, and Trixie on top, in the crook of her knees. Just as Maddie was about to drift off to sleep, a thought occurred to her, and she jerked upright. Suddenly everything made sense – all the things she’d seen and heard, and her feelings, all combined into one big certainty.
“Mrrow?” Trixie enquired sleepily.
Maddie grabbed her phone and speed dialed Suzanne.
When her friend answered, Maddie blurted out, “I know who the killer is!”
***
AS SOON AS MADDIE ARRIVED at the coffee truck the next morning, she tried calling Detective Edgewater – again. After she’d called Suzanne last night and telling her who she suspected, she’d called the sheriff’s station.
But the detective wasn’t on duty at that hour, although she’d been welcome to leave a message. Maddie had declined, wondering if she was doing the right thing.
She’d tossed and turned the rest of the night, Trixie finally giving up on a peaceful night and curling up on the sofa in the living room, next to Wytchcraft for the Chosen.
“Is he there?” Suzanne asked as Maddie waited for someone to answer the phone at the sheriff’s station.
“I don’t know yet.”
The next second, Maddie asked for Detective Edgewater, to be told the detective was due at the station soon.
Suzanne made a face. “Maybe we should just go to the station and report your suspicions.”
“Mrrow.” Trixie seemed to agree with Suzanne. She sat on her stool, her ears and expression alert.
“Good idea.” Maddie opened the serving window and peeked outside. “Except we have several customers waiting.”
“Okay, after the early morning rush.”
Maddie and Suzanne set to work, Suzanne taking the orders and the money, and Maddie making the coffee. She felt guilty at not hurrying over to the station right away, but surely another half hour before reporting her suspicions either to Detective Edgewater or the deputy on duty wouldn’t hurt?
Finally, when there was only a couple of customers waiting in line, she nudged Suzanne.
“Maybe you should go over to the sheriff’s station and I’ll handle these regulars,” Maddie suggested as she foamed milk.
“Are you sure?” Suzanne peered out of the serving hatch, pinning a smile on her face for the two regulars who waited for their coffee. “What if the—” she lowered her voice “—killer comes while I’m gone?”
“I should be fine.” Maddie hadn’t thought of that. “Trixie’s here, plus there are people coming and going through the square all the time.”
“True,” Suzanne agreed reluctantly. “Got your cell phone on you?”
“Yes.” Maddie stopped in the middle of foaming the milk and checked her pocket, making sure the phone was switched on. “In here.”
“Good. Use it if you need to. I’ll be as quick as I can. And try Detective Edgewater again once you’ve made the last latte.” She nodded to the two regulars patiently waiting for their coffee. “You might be able to reach him before I do down at the station.”
“Yes, boss,” Maddie teased, not wanting her friend to worry. What could happen to her in the middle of the town square in broad daylight – well, eight a.m. anyway?
Suzanne departed for the sheriff’s office. Maddie locked the truck door and watched her friend hurry across the town square before she returned her attention to the latte she was making.
When she gave the two customers their coffees, she sighed with relief. She might even be able to make one for herself before any more customers stepped up to the window.
Just as she was about to grind some more beans, her attention was caught by a male voice.
“Good morning, Maddie.”
Walt, the newspaper reporter, stood at the counter, smiling at her.
“Hi, Walt.” She attempted to sound normal, but wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded. He was the last person she wanted to see right now.
“Hi Trixie,” he called out to the feline. Trixie stood up straight on the stool, arching her back. Then she settled into a crouch, staring unblinkingly at him.
“She seems a bit grumpy today,” he observed.
“I don’t think she liked getting up early this morning,” Maddie replied, hoping Trixie would understand her little fib. She had to act normal! “What can I get you?”
“How about a cappuccino?”
Maddie stared at him for a second, wondering if that was a macabre joke – it would be, if her suspicions were correct and he was the murderer.
When she didn’t answer, he laughed. “Just kidding, Maddie. A large latte would be good.”
“Sure,” she replied, recovering. She finished grinding the beans, relieved to have something to occupy her trembling hands. Casting a glance over at Trixie, she was glad that the cat remained on the stool, although still in her crouched position.
When would Suzanne be back? Hopefully, with reinforcements?
But how could her friend know that she was now making coffee for a potential killer?
Her fingers brushed the pocket of her jeans that held her cell phone. If she could just get to it in time, she could try calling Detective Edgewater again. The burr and hiss of the espresso machine would help conceal the noise of the telephone call.
“I have to stay awake today,” he said chattily as Maddie fiddled with the machine longer than usual, wondering if now was the time to call the detective.
But she noticed Walt’s gaze on her, as if interested in the way she made his coffee. How could he fail to notice her reaching into her pocket and using her phone?
“Oh?” Maddie tried to sound interested while her heart thudded.
“I’ve got an interview at the radio station.” He grinned. “For Dave’s job. Maybe this time I’ll get it.”
“Good luck,” she said politely, adding the foamed milk to the shots of espresso in the large cardboard cup.
“Thanks. It pays more and I really need the money right now. Mom’s heart pills are more expensive than ever.” He grimaced. “Not everyone can afford to pay sky high prices for medication.”
Maddie froze. She forced herself to slide the latte over to him, hoping he wouldn’t notice that her fingers shook. His comment was further proof that her suspicions were right. She watched as he dug into his wallet for a five-dollar bill.
“Thanks.” She was careful not to let her fingers touch his as she took his money.
She gave him change, placing the coins on the serving hatch for him to pick up.
He looked a little surprised, but picked up the coins and put them in his wallet. Then he took a sip of his latte.
“You make the best coffee around,” Walt complimented her. “No wonder you won the competition at the festival. I’ll be sure to be a regular after this.”
Maddie stared at him, aghast. That was the last thing she wanted.
“Was it something I said?” he joked, putting down the cardboard cup on the counter.
“No, it was nothing.” Maddie busied herself with the machine, even though there weren’t any more customers. The town square was fairly deserted, too.
“Brrrr.” Trixie made a low growl in her throat.
Maddie turned to look at the cat. Trixie was still crouched on the stool, staring at Walt, but now there was a look on her face that said, “Back off!”
Did Trixie know that Maddie suspected Walt was the killer? Or did she somehow sense, either with her cat’s intuition, or her possible witch’s familiar intuition, that Walt had murdered Dave?
Maddie started as she realized Walt was peering into the truck from the serving hatch.
“Was – was there anything else?” She cleared her throat.
“You know, don’t you?” His expression was now one of menace.
“Know what?” She cursed her squeaky tone.
“That I killed Dave.” His hands clenched on the counter, as if he were thinking about leaping into the truck.
The hatch wasn’t that big though, she tried to reassure herself. Although he was wiry, she doubted Walt could squeeze into the small space, unless he was a contortionist. But by the ugly look on his face, she wondered if adrenalin could accomplish what normal physics could not.
“Brrr.” Trixie growled again.
Maddie kept one eye on the cat and one eye on Walt. Trixie’s tail swished from side to side.
“I didn’t say anything like that,” Maddie protested.
“I could see it in your face. Right after I mentioned my mother’s heart medication.”
“Dave was killed by an overdose of digoxin and you mentioned heart medication,” Maddie pointed out, hoping her voice didn’t sound as shaky to him as it did to her.
That was what had been nagging her the whole time after their last visit to Walt at the newspaper office. The silver bracelet his mother wore in the photo on his desk was a medical alert bracelet! She’d finally realized what the engraving meant – it was the same kind of design that denoted a person had a medical condition!
“That’s right.” He nodded, still looking menacing. “Despite taking her expensive heart medication, Mom still needs a lot of help with everything.” His face twisted. “I’d been saving to go on a cruise to the Caribbean for three years – three freaking years – but I had to give that up – as well as my apartment. I needed that money to pay for a nurse to help Mom when I’m at work. If I’d gotten the radio job two years ago, the pay rise would have been enough to help pay for her medication and the nurse. And I could have gone on that cruise.”
“But Dave blackmailed one of the station executives to get the position,” Maddie said softly.
“Yeah. If I’d gotten that job, I would be on that cruise ship right now, sipping mai tais and enjoying myself for once.”
“Who would look after your mother?” Maddie asked, trying to keep him talking. She shot Trixie a glance – the feline still looked as if she was ready to pounce any second.
“My aunt in Colorado said she’d come and stay with Mom – she said it would be like a mini-vacation for her, and it would give her time to catch up with Mom as well. She’s a lot spryer than my mother and she would have been able to manage it.
“But I had to cancel all that.” His expression darkened. “And I thought I was okay with it. Until I overheard Dave the night before the festival. I was at the local bar interviewing the owner for another story, when I heard Dave boasting to someone about how he was living the good life, spending all his salary on women and alcohol and it didn’t matter how much it cost because he’d just ask for another pay rise.”
“And?” Maddie held her breath, hoping against hope he wasn’t going to lunge at her through the serving hatch.
“That was the last straw. How dare he! I’ve worked my tail off all my life and now I’m living with my mother and I can’t even afford to go on a vacation I saved up for – for three years!” He gave a humorless laugh. “I could barely afford that latte I just ordered from you.”
Maddie took a step back.
“I took some of Mom’s pills, crushed them up, mixed them with sugar in case they tasted bitter, and waited for the perfect opportunity to slip them to him. And that perfect moment occurred just as he was about to gulp down one of your cappuccinos. Someone called out to him and he put down his cup for a minute, turned around, and bingo! I’d even brought a plastic spoon with me, to make sure the powder was mixed up thoroughly in the drink.” He barked a laugh.
Escape your Enemy! The words imprinted themselves in her mind. She cast a swift look at Trixie – the cat stared at her with glowing turquoise eyes, as if she were the one who had said those silent words and was willing Maddie to hear them.
“But everything’s going to change,” Walt vowed, baring his teeth. “All I have to do is take care of you and I can start my new life with my own radio show, and hire plenty of help for Mom.” He paused as a thought occurred to him. “Does your friend Suzanne know, too?”
“No,” Maddie replied quickly.
“I bet she does,” he snarled. “I’ll take care of her next.”
He thrust his upper body through the serving hatch.
A sudden calmness descended on Maddie.
“Escape my enemy
Escape this instant
Escape my enemy now!”
Maddie quickly recited the spell three times – thank goodness she’d memorized it! There was no time to find the piece of paper with the words on it.
In the next instant in a flash of smoke and a flare of light, Maddie found herself outside the coffee truck, Trixie safely in her arms. She raced across the town square, as if she could outrun the burning sensation in her feet. Her heels felt like they were on fire! Maddie clutched Trixie to her chest, adrenalin surely making her faster than an Olympic sprinter.
A howl of outrage echoed from the coffee truck, the sound following her across the town square.
“Maddie!”
She cannoned into Suzanne, her friend’s arms going around her, steadying her.
“He’s in the truck,” Maddie gasped, noticing Detective Edgewater standing behind her friend, his breathing rapid. “I was right. He did it!”
“Who?” The detective asked, already on his cell phone.
“Walt. The newspaper reporter.”
“Mrrow!” Trixie agreed, the glow from her eyes slowly fading.
“Stay here,” Detective Edgewater told them, striding over to the coffee truck.
To Maddie’s surprise, there weren’t many passersby around, only a couple of businessmen intent on their way to work, not taking any notice of Maddie’s rush across the green expanse of lawn, or the detective hurrying over to Brewed from the Bean.
“What happened?” Suzanne asked.
Maddie rapidly filled her in, ending with, “And then I cast the Escape your Enemy spell.”
“And?”
“I found myself outside the truck, Trixie in my arms. And I ran.”
“Mrrow!” Trixie said, still nestled in Maddie’s arms.
“So you just said the words and then the next second you were safe?”
“Sort of,” Maddie replied. “There was a flash and some smoke as soon as I recited the words. And my feet,” she said ruefully, twisting around to check the rear of her tennis shoes. Amazingly, they looked normal – no burn marks at all. And, she realized, the singeing sensation had lessened to a pleasant, warm feeling in her heels.
“What about them?” Suzanne crinkled her brow.
“They felt like they were burning as soon as I found myself outside the truck. In fact—” Maddie gave a little laugh “—that feeling made me run as fast as I could.”
Suzanne continued to stare at her with wide eyes. “You know,” she finally said, “maybe that spell is supposed to make you feel like that.”
“Mrrow,” Trixie seemed to agree.
Maddie looked at Trixie and Suzanne. They both appeared to think they knew something she didn’t. And then it occurred to her.
“Oh, you mean during the Salem witch trials? Or around that time? Perhaps the burning sensation is meant to warn the witch that using this spell is a lot better than being burned at the stake?” The spell book could definitely be that old.
“Yeah.” Suzanne nodded, her expression serious.
Trixie snuggled further into Maddie’s arms, as if that were her way of saying yes.
Maddie silently sent good wishes to anyone who had owned Wytchcraft for the Chosen before her, witch or not.
The reason the Escape your Enemy spell had an after-effect was sobering, especially since she hadn’t experienced any with the Coffee Vision spell and the Tell the Truth spell – yet.
“We’ve got him.” Detective Edgewater strode toward them, looking triumphant. “He started confessing as soon as I reached the truck.” Behind him, two deputies accompanied Walt, who was handcuffed. He struggled between the two law enforcement officers, scowling.
“I’ll need you to come down to the station later, Maddie, so you can give me your statement.”
Maddie nodded, holding Trixie a little tighter as Walt passed by them. He stared straight ahead, as their presence hadn’t registered at all.
Detective Edgewater cleared his throat. “I’m afraid your coffee truck is a bit of a mess.” He jerked his head to the car marked Sheriff at the edge of the square. The two deputies assisted Walt into the back of the vehicle. “Walt didn’t seem to like the fact that you’d escaped from the truck, and took his rage out on your coffee supplies.”
Maddie closed her eyes, just imagining what she, Trixie, and Suzanne would find.
“Don’t worry, Mads,” Suzanne murmured. “By the time we’ve fixed it up, Brewed from the Bean will be good as new.” Her eyes lit up. “And I bet my brother will come and help us.”
“Maybe there’s a spell in the book I can use,” Maddie whispered in her friend’s ear.
“Mrrow.” Trixie looked at her approvingly, as if she’d heard the whispered words.
“I’ll be down at the station.” Detective Edgewater nodded to them. “We were looking at Walt as a suspect – we’d found out that he applied for the same job as Dave Dantzler two years ago. It’s just our good luck and—” he grimaced “—your bad luck that he broke down at your coffee truck.” He looked at them searchingly. “You didn’t invite Walt to visit your truck, did you?”
“No!” Maddie and Suzanne spoke together.
“Mrrow!” Trixie sounded cross.
“Good. This is the second murder you girls have gotten yourselves involved in – I just hope it will be your last.”
“Me too,” Maddie replied, not wanting to remember the look on Walt’s face when he’d realized she knew he was the killer.
Maddie and Detective Edgewater both looked at Suzanne.
“We can’t help it if suspects talk to us,” she declared. As the detective frowned at her, she added, “But as soon as Maddie realized who the killer was, she tried to contact you. And so did I.”
Maddie nodded. “But you weren’t at the station,” she told the detective.
He flushed. “Next time leave a message and ask them to contact me straight away. I don’t want anything to happen to you two—” he looked over at Trixie “—three.”
“Us either,” Suzanne put in.
He furrowed his brow as he looked at Maddie. “How did you and Trixie get out of the truck, anyway? When the deputies got there, they had to force the door – it was locked from the inside – to reach Walt.”
“Magic,” Suzanne said airily, waving her hand in the air.
“Yeah, right.” The detective shook his head as he walked toward his vehicle. “Come by the station this afternoon to give your statement, Miss Goodwell - Maddie.”
The three of them watched the vehicle pull away from the curb.
“Suzanne,” Maddie scolded her friend, “you can’t tell anyone—”
“I know.” Suzanne smiled. “And that was the only time I’ve ever mentioned the M word to anyone, apart from you – and Trixie. But it worked, didn’t it?”
“Mrrow,” Trixie agreed, nudging Suzanne’s arm.
Suzanne obliged, stroking the cat held securely in Maddie’s arms.
“Detective Edgewater will be too busy to wonder how you got out of a locked truck, and you’ll be too busy to do anything else apart from preparing for the Seattle competition next month, dating my brother, and seeing if there are any other spells in the book you can cast – like a tidy up spell for the truck. That would be awesome!”
“And what are you going to do while I’m busy with all that?” Maddie asked.
“Having another massage with Ramon, coming up with new health ball recipes – and oh yeah, making sure you win the big Seattle competition next month.”
***
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED reading this mystery. To discover when the next Maddie Goodwell mystery will be released, please sign up to my newsletter at: www.JintyJames.com
Have you read:
Spells and Spiced Latte – A Coffee Witch Mystery – Maddie Goodwell 1
Magic and Mocha – A Coffee Witch Mystery – Maddie Goodwell 3
Enchantments and Espresso – A Coffee Witch Mystery – Maddie Goodwell 4
Familiars and French Roast - A Coffee Witch Cozy Mystery – Maddie Goodwell 5
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PLEASE SIGN UP TO MY newsletter to discover when I have a new Maddie Goodwell mystery! www.JintyJames.com
Jinty James grew up reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven mysteries, as well as all the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden books. Later on, she graduated to mysteries written by Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, and many other authors. It was her dream to one day write her own cozy mystery, and now she has, with plans for many more.
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MAPLE MACADAMIA HEALTH Ball Recipe on the next page, in US and Metric measurements.
