Chapter 14 #3
“We can’t have that!” he exclaimed. “We must take her out on the town for…well…do you think she would prefer a witchy bonfire or a one-sided conversation with some raccoons?”
Lore chuckled. “Honestly, if you guys wanted to invite her to your wine and cheese night, that would be great. She hasn’t been out much since the baby was born.
I’ve been trying to help her keep hold of the stuff that makes her who she is, but being a new parent can be pretty all-consuming.
I’ve seen it before—her mom was like this, too, but at least she wasn’t having money troubles on top of it. ”
So, Lore was old enough to remember when Stephanie’s mother was a new parent. Arthur made a mental note of the context clue. Maybe eventually he would suss out how old Lore was, but it wasn’t important right now.
“Money trouble?” Arthur echoed. “I thought she was doing well with her soaps.”
Lore gave him a sheepish smile. “I may have exaggerated about her business a little. The festival was her first real sales outing. I figured if I could help her get some regular customers like the D he’d yet to see proof Ambrosia was a witch at all, never mind a powerful one.
“So none of this means Ambrosia is innocent,” Arthur said. “Only that she wasn’t silly enough to keep the deadly brew around.” Whoever the killer was, they’d probably long since gotten rid of the evidence.
“But she was silly enough to keep Lola’s journal?” Sal asked, amused. “The duality of witches.”
“We need to find out for certain if Wilhelmina was a member of the coven,” Arthur mused aloud. “But we can’t just ask them, now.”
“Guess you two have some research to do,” Lore said, disposing of her gloves.
“Yes, indeed,” Arthur replied.
“Oh, does this mean it’s time for a sexy records room heist?” Sal rubbed his hands together in delight, then retrieved his phone. “I have the perfect mood music.”
The James Bond theme song blared from the speakers.