Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Ewan and Akif stood at the entrance to the party.
Ewan’s attention seemed to be on the dance floor, and I glanced over to see who he was looking at.
It was Henry and Abigail. He had a sweet smile on his face.
We all hoped Abigail had found her happily-ever-after.
Ewan was a big brother to her, and protected her and Tommy, and Henry obviously met with his approval.
“Where’s Baird?” Isobel asked.
“Waiting for you,” Ewan said. Then he nodded toward the table. She quickly headed over to the sulking man in the lizard costume.
“Akif, you make quite the pirate. Is your family here?”
“Thank you, Doctor. And yes. Everyone was well enough to attend, thanks to you. They are the Disney princesses over in the corner, except my wife. She is Maleficent. She likes the idea of being a bad queen. I think she just wants to scare our children.”
We all laughed.
“Are McClendon and his men gone?”
“Yes,” Ewan said.
“I have so many questions about that guy.”
He and Akif looked at one another.
“I’m going to check on my family,” Akif said and walked across the room.
“You won’t stop until I answer whatever it is you want to ask, will you?”
“Nope.” I smiled. “I need to know if you have evidence that he and his goons weren’t here in town that night. If they are each other’s alibis, how can you believe them?”
“I don’t,” he said. “But they were at a pub that night down the way. Several witnesses, including the barman, who wasn’t a fan of theirs, confirmed that fact.”
I made a face, and he laughed.
“I’m with you. He is the perfect suspect. Except he and the men who follow him around were all there.”
“Doesn’t mean he couldn’t have hired someone.”
“A murder for hire? In Sea Isle?”
I shrugged. “It happens.”
“In television and movies. Not here in my town.”
“Fine. What about her?” I motioned toward the witch who had followed us out.
“Who?” he appeared confused.
“Marigold MacAllen,” I said.
“What does she have to do with anything, other than making my life harder by wanting every aspect of her special witch’s night perfect?”
I giggled.
“What? She’s a menace. And she really thinks she’s a witch.”
“Lots of people do,” I said. “Stop being so judgy.”
“She calls herself a white-lighter,” he said. “I looked it up. They are supposed to be nice. She is not.”
“Ewan,” I chastised. “She’s a strong woman. Just because she doesn’t agree with you doesn’t make her bad.”
“Of course it doesn’t. I happen to like strong women, one specifically.” He gave me a look that was not to be misunderstood. And there I went blushing again. “But she makes life harder for everyone around her.”
“OK. Fine. But in the bathroom, she seemed upset by the first Duncan’s death. She made out that she appreciated his art. I can’t help but think it might have been more than that.”
“She isn’t on the list,” he said. His eyebrows came together.
“Of suspects?”
“Right. But she was there that night,” he said.
A lightbulb went off in my brain as I remembered. “She was one of the actors in the witches room.”
He nodded. “They were on the floor below you.”
“But that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have gone upstairs. Except …”
“What?”
“Abigail and I did several tests. The angle of the knife meant the killer had to be the same height as Duncan, or maybe even taller.”
“What if he was on his knees? You said there was bruising there.”
“Right, but it was from before. He couldn’t have fallen from his knees into the chair where we found him.”
“OK,” he said.
“It would also take someone quite strong to break through the chest plate. It isn’t that easy, even though the knife was very sharp.”
“Still, I should speak to her. I dread it. If I bring her in, it will only make her angrier and our lives even more difficult.”
“Are you afraid of the little witch?”
“No. More annoyed, than anything.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think I have a plan.”
He sighed. “One that isn’t safe, I’m certain. It’s my job to interview suspects.”
“Yes, Mr. Constable, it is your job. But perhaps I could suss her out.”
“Suss?”
“Ask a few innocent questions and get to know the head of the local coven. I’ve always been interested in witchcraft.”
He grunted. “Fine. But be careful. I’m fairly certain she’s a wiz at hexes.”
That made me laugh hard.
Mara was coming off the dance floor with her dentist friend. “Can I borrow your date for a minute?” I asked him. “And great costume.” He was dressed as William Wallace. Face paint and all.
“Thanks, Doc. And yes. I’ll get us some drinks.”
“And desserts,” Mara said. “I’ll meet you at the table as soon as we’re done. Come on Mary.”
The dentist frowned. “I thought you were Mary Queen of Scotts,” he said confused.
“I am. She’s Mary Somerville, can’t you tell?”
“Ah. Yes.” He clearly didn’t. Poor guy. “I’ll get us those desserts and drinks. For you, too, Doc?”
“Sounds great. Thanks.”
“OK, what kind of snooping are we doing?” she asked as soon as he left.
“I need to question a certain witch, without her knowing what I’m doing.”
“Which one? There are so many here tonight. I’d say it’s the most popular costume.”
“I agree,” I said. “But I want to talk to the real one. The head of the local coven.”
Her eyes went big. “I’d be careful with that one. Marigold can …”
“Throw a hex on me?”
“Something like that.”
“I’m surprised I haven’t had her as a patient. If those are her coven members at the table, they’ve all been in my office at one time or another.”
“Yeah, maybe don’t mention that. She’s into natural healing and herbs and all that.”
“Sometimes those remedies can work,” I said.
“Right, but she thinks she’s some kind of doctor trying to cure the ills of really sick people. I don’t think you’d approve of that.”
“You’re right. Ewan mentioned she can be—difficult.”
She snorted. “That’s putting it mildly. I thought more than once in all the committee meetings about our festivals that he might murder her. She doesn’t like to ever take the easy road. Why is she a suspect?”
“Something in my gut says she dated our first victim.”
Mara snapped her fingers. “I have seen them in the pub together. Usually when we have a band in. You might be onto something.”
“So, you’ll help me?”
“Sure. We might end up as toads by the end of the night but let’s live dangerously.”
We headed to the table. We were lucky that two seats on each side of Marigold had opened up.
When we sat down beside her, she seemed surprised.
“Hi Mari,” Mara said.
“You know I prefer Marigold,” the woman grumbled.
“Uh huh. The good doc was curious about the history of witches in Scotland. I told her no one knows more than you. She had some questions.”
Thank goodness I’d read a bit about the history of witches.
“You do?” She seemed surprised.
“Yes. I couldn’t believe the witch trials they held between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. I’m surprised there were any women left in Scotland.”
“Persecuted they were, as well as non-witches. It was a horrible time.” And she was off. Recounting pretty much everything I’d read, and a few things I hadn’t. She spoke for ten minutes straight.
When she paused, I saw my chance. “Thank you. That is fascinating. I hate to keep you from your date tonight, though.”
She laughed and patted my hand. “Oh, I’m as single as they come these days.” Again, it was how she said, these days. “I hear you and the Constable are canoodling.”
“I—uh.” I coughed.
“Don’t be so uptight, I’m only giving you a hard time. He can’t seem to keep his eyes off you. Watches you like a hawk.”
“He does?”
“Clueless, this one,” Mara joked. “Sad about Duncan, isn’t it?”
Marigold appeared surprised. “Duncan?”
“Yes, I thought maybe you two were—I’ve seen you in the pub a few times.”
“Oh. Right. Yes, lovely man and a bit of fun for a night out. But nothing serious. I do feel bad for his sister. I saw her in the bathroom crying her eyes out. Good thing the doc was there. Poor, poor, thing. Do they know who killed him yet?”
“If they do, they haven’t said anything to me,” I said. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge tonight. We’ll leave you alone.” We stood up to leave.
She grabbed my wrist. “If you’re interested in the craft, all are welcome at our meetings. Last Wednesday of the month at the library.”
“Thanks. I’ll think about it. I’m sure someone has asked, but did you see anyone go upstairs the night Duncan died?”
She blanched. “You mean, did I see a killer?” She cocked her head as if she were thinking. “The police asked us all about that night. There were so many people in that house. I couldn’t say. I’m usually good at remembering things, but we were rushing out to go work on our cauldron.”
It took a moment for me to realize she was talking about the one from the other night. “It was impressive.”
She smiled. “Thank you. It’s kind of you to say so. We should talk sometime. I’m deep into the healing powers of herbs. I could maybe teach you a few things.”
“Interesting, yes. Let’s chat soon.”
She let go of my arm, and we walked away.
“Like she could teach you something. She’s so full of herself.”
I shrugged. “I’m not against alternative medicines or methods. I try to keep an open mind.”
She snorted again. “You’re too nice. That said, she doesn’t seem like she was too serious about poor Duncan.”
“You saw them together. Did they seem closer than she admitted?”
“Not that I can remember. But you know how it is when we have bands, it’s always crowded. Maybe ask Baird. If Duncan was there, Baird was never far behind. Though I think he’s sweet on Isobel. I noticed when they were in the pub earlier that he watches her the way Ewan does you.”
I wasn’t aware of that. Did Ewan really look at me that way? I felt like we’d made more progress in our relationship tonight than we had since we met. We still butted heads, but couples did.
And was I ready for something more serious? My heart said yes. My brain wasn’t as positive.
But I had to put that aside for now.
Tonight, had been fun, but we were still no closer to finding the killer. We only had more suspects.