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When they arrived at the B & B, the reception was in full swing.
“What an amazing place,” Peggy said, awestruck.
“It’s my aunt’s place. I’m just here to help. I’m a game designer,’’ Viv told her as she led her to the conservatory.
“You mean like Monopoly?”
“No, computer games. Like Bella’s Victorian Grimoire.”
Peggy’s blue eyes lit up. Bingo! “Did you design that?”
“No, do you play it?
“Everybody does!”
“There you are,” Aunt Libby came up to them. “Do you mind taking over cake duties for a few minutes? Who do we have here?” She scanned Peggy.
“This is Peggy. We just met. She was walking along with the man who helped me that day in the cemetery. I asked them for cake. She took me up on it.”
Libby’s eyebrows shot up. She grabbed Viv and hugged her. “Should I call the police?” she whispered. Viv whispered a yes. Aunt Libby extended her hand. “So very nice to meet you, Peggy. Please have a piece of cake.”
She exited the room and Viv took her place at the cake table. Slices of cake were ready on plates on the table. “Which kind do you want?”
“The chocolate, please,” Peggy said.
A small crowd huddled in the conservatory, eating their cake and oohing and ahhing over the beauty of the place. Viv’s heart refused to calm. Here was Peggy, who had just been with the man the police are looking for in connection with the murder. Viv didn’t quite know how to behave. She wasn’t a hugger, but she wanted to wrap her arms around Peggy and tell her not to walk off alone with men old enough to be her father.
“How do you know that man, the one you were walking with?” Viv finally said, after slicing and placing a few chunks of cake onto plates and handing one to a lady who stopped by the table.
“That’s Mr. Paul. He works at my high school. He’s a substitute teacher.” She shoved in more cake.
Viv’s stomach waved. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, I ran into him at the parade. Nice man. He bought me a soda.”
If he was a substitute teacher for the local school, why were the police having such a hard time finding him?
“Does he live in town?” Viv asked.
“I don’t think so. He talks about a farm a lot. I think he’s a farmer.”
There was nothing odd about that. Many of the local farmers had second or third jobs. But it seemed odd for a farmer to be away early in the morning to teach school. Things didn’t add up.
“This cake is so delicious,” Peggy added.
“Aunt Libby is a fabulous baker. She went to culinary school.”
“Very cool,” Peggy said and finished her cake. “I better get going. I told my mom I’d meet her at eleven.”
At least that sounded safe. Viv served more cake, then noticed Peggy heading out to the garden with a man. Her stomach twisted. So much for going to see her mom. Was that Mr. Paul? But then the man turned slightly, and she could see it was Officer Willoughby. Whew. Thank goodness he’d responded so quickly to Aunt Libby’s call.
Aunt Libby entered the room and circled around through the small groups of people, chatting with them, thanking them for visiting. Once again, for a flash of a moment, Viv felt as if she’d stepped back in time. But it wasn’t as weird as what happened to her in that church. She supposed that had been some kind of strange dream. Then another group entered the conservatory, so Viv couldn’t allow herself to dream right now. She needed to focus and find Eliza’s killer.
––––––––
Later, after the Spring Fling was over, Viv peeled herself out of the Victorian dress and corset. Were women expected to function in these things? The dress was heavy; it made a noise when she walked, and what if she needed to run or something? Nah. Not for the first time, she was glad she was alive now, instead of then, and she couldn’t understand people enamored with the Victorian age. Or the Civil War, for that matter. The clothing was uncomfortable.
But as she slipped off her lover’s eye pendant, she gave the Victorians credit for their sense of the macabre.
Her phone buzzed. She answered. “Hello.”
“Hi, Viv. It’s me, Willa.”
“What’s up.” Viv sat on the bed with her phone in her hand and reached for her laptop, setting it on the bed.
“Have you looked at what I sent you?”
Viv propped up the pillows behind her, leaned back. “Nah, we had this big Spring Fling town celebration, and I haven’t checked my email in a few hours. Why?”
“I’ve been investigating. All the items your girl found suggest she was performing the ritual.”
“Makes sense.”
Willa breathed into the phone. “Looks like there may be something she ingested. I mean, if she followed the ritual to a T, then she would’ve drunk the Spirit Potion.”
Viv’s heart raced. “What was in it?”
“It’s hard to believe anybody goes to this trouble for a game. The herbs are to be gathered at sunrise a week before the ritual. Then they’re supposed to brew them the next day and let them sit for the entire week. On the face of it, none of the herbs should be harmful. Herbs like mint, thyme, and dandelion.”
Viv ticked the items off in her head. None of those were poisonous. “That must not be what killed her.”
“But what did? Can you get a copy of the autopsy report?”
“They only give those to family, I should think,” Viv said.
Willa breathed into the phone again. “Seriously? Come on Viv. I know you better than that.”
Well.
“I’ve gone straight. I’m not hacking anymore.”
“Okay, whatever. We hacked for a good cause, remember. Look, I’ve got to go. But try to find out exactly what killed her. You said she looked like she was sleeping. It wasn’t as if she was attacked, right?”
“Right,” Viv said, struggling to follow the thread of conversation after the word hacking. Her heart was racing, palms sweating, and her fingers itched for her keyboard. Despite herself, Viv missed the thrill of hacking. Before she went straight, she’d worked with Willa to give many students deep discounts on tuition and medical expenses—ones their high-priced universities hadn’t intended to provide. At the time, she’d felt okay about it. The schools had charged a king’s ransom. But now Viv wasn’t sure the end justified the means. And she used to be so certain.
After they hung up, Viv slid her laptop onto the nightstand. No computer for her. Not tonight. She wished she’d gotten a chance to speak with Willoughby, but she was busy serving cake and the next thing she knew he was gone. She needed to rest and touch base with the police tomorrow about Peggy.