The next morning as I lay in bed, I couldn't decide which case to tackle first. The reality of a killer roaming free in Silverlake, just waiting to strike again, was enough to send my anger spiking. But the thought of Silverlake losing its sapphire and all of its magical protection broke my heart. I reached out, grabbed my wand off the nightstand, and flicked my wrist to conjure my bathrobe. I would’ve summoned a cup of coffee, but that meant I would've robbed it from someone else, most likely Aunt Thelma, with how conjuring worked. You see, things didn’t just appear out of thin air. They always came from somewhere else. It was one thing to conjure something you owned and another to conjure something you wanted, which meant I had to shuffle my feet to the kitchen to brew my morning cup of joe.
I was getting ready to do that when Vance texted me and asked about meeting up for breakfast. It sounded like an excellent idea to me, and we agreed to meet at the diner in thirty minutes. Now, you know I love Vance's mom's Montecristo sandwich. She has one even better at breakfast. It has French toast, honey ham, and loads of cheese. Pair that with a strong cup of coffee, and you were sure to be full until well past lunchtime. Breakfast couldn’t come fast enough.
"Morning, Love," Vance stood and greeted me with a kiss on the cheek when I met him at the diner. He had already reserved us one of the side booths.
“There’s my favorite soon-to-be daughter.” Heather stopped by and served me a hot cup of coffee. "You doing okay?" Vance's mom had the biggest heart out of anyone I knew. I was lucky she was going to be my mother-in-law.
"I'm doing all right, thanks,” I replied with a soft smile that didn't quite reach my eyes. I wouldn't feel like myself until everything was put to rights in Silverlake.
“The usual?” Heather referred to our orders.
“Yes, please,” I replied.
“Thanks, mom,” Vance added.
"I talked to Deputy Jones last night," Vance said as we doctored our coffees. "He agreed to have security guard Roger.”
"That's good. Did he say how Roger’s doing?"
"He didn't know much, but I thought we could head to the hospital after this?”
“Good idea. How about we have your mom put in a to-go order, and we can take it up there. If Diane’s still there, she's probably starving."
“I'm sure she is. She said she wasn’t going to leave his side when I saw her last.”
“That sounds about right.” Knowing Diane, she wouldn’t even leave to slip down to the cafeteria for a quick bite.
Vance and I drank our coffees in companionable silence, both lost in our thoughts.
"I didn't tell you. He was here Friday night.” Heather stopped by with a coffee pot. "Refill?" she offered.
I slid my cup forward for her to top it off. Vance did the same.
“Who?” he asked.
“That journalist, Mr. Haggerty.”
I leaned forward. “Around what time?”
"About nine o'clock. I was going to close up early. We were pretty dead with everyone at the high school, but then he came in.”
“Did you talk with him?" Vance asked.
“Only to take his order. He wasn’t in a talkative mood. He did make some snarky comment about my food tasting a small step above the savage’s, whatever that was supposed to mean.”
I looked at Vance. "He was probably referring to the meat-on-a-stick thing."
Vance turned to his mom and filled her in on Terry’s booth.
“Got it. That would make sense, then.” Heather looked over her shoulder and held up the coffee pot. “Be right there,” she said to another table.
“Real quick. Did he have a coffee cup with him?" I asked.
“A coffee cup? Like a mug?" Heather asked.
"No, like a to-go cup from Diane’s,” I explained.
"No, not at all. Why do you ask?"
I kept my voice low. "Because he was found with a pumpkin spice latte in his hand, and it turns out it was poisoned."
Heather shook her head. "No, as a matter of fact, he ordered a cup of coffee here and a slice of pie."
I turned to Vance, unsure of what that might mean. Diane had finished selling coffee by nine o'clock. Her staff packed up their booth right after that, and she was sitting around the bonfire with us.
“One minute. I’ll be right back.” Heather went and refilled the other table's mugs, and I shared my thoughts with Vance.
“When did he get the coffee cup from Diane, then?” Vance asked.
“That’s what I’m wondering.”
“Okay, I’m back.” Heather returned. “Before I forget, I wanted to tell you what was strange about it. You know Dolores Zilinsky?”
Vance and I nodded. Dolores was a retiree who still worked part-time at the supermarket. She always said hello and chatted while ringing up my groceries. She would ask about Aunt Thelma or Vance and genuinely seemed interested in the response. “I like Dolores. She’s always so friendly.”
"Right, which makes her behavior toward Mr. Haggerty so odd. It might not be anything, but the two shared a look. I got the feeling there was more there, especially after she requested the rest of her dessert to go and left promptly after. Might be worth looking into."
Vance and I shared a look. We'd be heading there shortly. “She lives in the duplex across from Loretta Johnson. The one with the scarecrow in the yard.”
I shuddered at the scarecrow reference. I never liked them to begin with, but now they gave me the chills ever since I saw one come to life one Halloween. That sort of image tended to stay with you forever.
Thankfully, Heather knew Diane and Roger’s go-to breakfast order and was more than happy to put it together. "On the house," Heather said as she handed the bag over. “Tell Diane to give me a call if she'd like lunch, too.”
"Will do," I said as we left the diner and made our way around the lake to the community hospital.
I used to say one of the nicest things about living in Silverlake was that you come to know a lot of people in the community, and everyone really cared for one another. Well, that’s the way it used to be. With the theft of the sapphire and Mr. Haggerty’s death, I really wasn’t sure anymore.
It turned out that Luke's sister, Sally, was Roger’s nurse. The twins’ mother was coming out of his room as Vance and I were approaching it. Deputy Lopez was sitting outside the door.
She smiled at us, and I replied with a head nod.
"I'm so glad I ran into you.” Sally used the hand sanitizer on the outside of the door. “The girls told me about what happened last night with the jewelry. I'm so sorry!”
"Oh, it's not your fault. I should have described the sapphire better or something." If I had been thinking, we would have practiced the summoning charm on something close by, something that we could all see, so the girls could see the way the spell worked. I clearly hadn’t been thinking straight. "On the bright side, they haven't lost their iPad since.” Sally smiled. "I should have taught a summoning charm to them years ago. Would've saved me time finding their electronics all these years.”
“How’s Roger doing?” Vance asked.
“He’s resting now, but Diane’s in there.”
“Can we talk to her?” I asked the question to both Sally and Deputy Lopez.
“They’re good. I can vouch for them,” Sally directed her comment to the deputy.
“Go on in,” Deputy Lopez replied.
“Thanks.” I waved bye to Sally.
Vance slowly opened the heavy wooden door, and we slipped inside.
The hospital room’s lights were off. The only light coming in was from the room’s window, which Diane was staring out. Her back was to us, and her arms were folded across her chest. She appeared lost in thought. Roger was asleep, and I was careful to keep my voice low. "Hey, is this a bad time?"
Diane turned at the sound of my voice. "No, come in," her voice was merely a whisper. "He just fell asleep."
"Brought you guys some breakfast, complements of Heather.” I placed the bag on the counter.
“Do you want to step out in the hallway?” Vance offered. I knew what he was thinking. He didn’t want to wake Roger.
“I’d rather not, if that’s okay.” Diane looked back at Roger.
"How are you doing?” I asked.
"I'm okay. Still in shock a bit. Can't imagine why someone would want to burn down the flower shop."
“We can. It turns out that poison used to kill Mr. Haggerty comes from a black orchid that Roger had,” Vance explained.
"We think that whoever the killer is, they either bought the flower from him or they stole it, and your cameras caught the transaction,” I continued.
"Which is why the fire started in the back room with your security equipment," Vance added.
"The evidence has been destroyed?" Diane asked.
"Afraid so. We are hoping that when Roger wakes up, he might remember if he sold an orchid to anyone." I looked over at Roger who was still resting comfortably.
"I would wake him, but he barely got any sleep last night. Sally gave him some medicine a little bit ago to help settle him."
"No, let him rest. But will you ask him when he wakes up?” Vance asked.
"Absolutely. I'll call you right away."
“Did he by chance say anything about the fire?” I asked.
“No. The only thing he remembers is locking up. The person attacked him from behind.” Diane looked distraught. No one needed to point out the person started the fire and left Roger for dead.
“We’ll find out whoever did this. I promise.” I reached over and gave Diane’s hand a squeeze. "You make sure to take care of yourself, too. Eat something," I motioned to the food on the counter.
"And my mom said to call her for lunch,” Vance added.
"Thank you, both of you. I'll call you once Roger is awake."