A Charming Crime (20 page)

“Darla?” I
questioned hoping I was wrong. Had Oscar really hated my family that much?

“I’m afraid so.
I’m afraid she was murdered.” A single tear fell down Eloise’s cheek. “Did you
get this from Oscar Park?” Her voice was low and steady.

“I found them
under his bed.”

“I’m Oscar’s
aunt. I moved here to find him. I was afraid this was going to happen.” Her
mouth turned down. “My sister was married to Oscar’s father. She was a witch. I
heard they were moving here, and then they disappeared.”

“What about
Uncle Jordan?”

“Who is Jordan?”
She pulled back, looking confused. “I don’t have a brother.”

“Oscar lived in
Locust Grove and was raised by his Uncle Jordan. Oscar told me that his
parent’s were moving here and were killed in a car accident.” I had to get some
answers from Jordan. I was beginning to get a craving for lasagna. “That’s when
he went to live with his Uncle Jordan.”

“I’ve spent all
my life looking for Oscar. We couldn’t find him.” She held the dolls in her
hands, she rubbed them. “I was afraid of this. If a child was raised by a
non-spiritualist, most of the kids become angry and don’t understand their
powers. Oscar was in line to become a sorcerer.” She took the pins out of the
doll. “I’m afraid these are a sign of an evil sorcerer.”

She plopped down
on the step and I sat next to her.

“A murder in the
village is just like an evil spirit.” She put her head in her hands.

“Did you say
evil spirit?” Madame Torres popped into my head. Was Oscar who she was talking
about? There was no way Oscar knew that he was a sorcerer or even spiritual.

Eloise nodded.
The fear was deep-set in her eyes.

“Why would Oscar
want to hurt me or anyone else in the village?” Did Oscar sit in his room and
poke holes in the dolls? What did have against Darla? None of this made sense.
Hell, for that matter, nothing in this entire spiritual village made sense.

“Am I in
trouble?” I spent the next hour telling her about my nightmares and how Oscar
knew everything about me. I told her about all my suspicions about who had
motives to kill Ann and what the evidence was. That included Gerald, Petunia,
Izzy, and even Oscar.

She gave a
tilted smile, leaving room for the worry lines that had formed around her eyes.
“Go about your business for now. I need to cleanse your house. I will have to
wait until the first break of dawn. People can’t see me then.”

“Is that why you
were cleansing the streets in the early morning?” I recalled seeing her and
Izzy.

“Yes.” Slowly
she ascended up her steps. She turned back around and pointed toward my wrist.
“Never take that off.”

“Don’t worry.” I
twirled the bracelet around my wrist. Mr. Prince Charming did figure eights
around my ankles. “I need all the protection I can get.”

It was time for
my lasagna dinner. There were questions I needed answered and I wasn’t going to
ask Oscar.

Chapter
Twenty

I made it out of
the woods without getting lost or killed. Mr. Prince Charming was nowhere to be
found. I circled around the big rock to pick up the bundles, but they were
gone. I could’ve sworn I left them next to the rock. There was no time to
investigate where the bundles had gone. They probably blew away.

Once I reached
the house, I called Jordan and told him I’d be there at six, which gave me
plenty of time to go visit Izzy.

Mystic Lights
was busy and Izzy waved, motioning me to her office in the back of the shop.
She’d be back when she was finished.

I sat in the
chair in front of her desk. There was a faint glow coming through the crack on
the bottom of the door.
Squeak
, the chair groaned as I leaned back and
looked into the shop. The glow was calling me, or so my intuition said, or
maybe curiosity, but I wanted to make sure that Izzy was busy and wouldn’t
notice me snooping around. After all, I had to figure out who killed Ann,
because I knew it wasn’t me.

I tiptoed over
to the closest and slowly turned the knob. As the door opened, the glow got
brighter. And once my eyes adjusted, the crystal ball illuminated with all
yellow, red, orange, and purple lines. The lines parted and a face appeared.
The eyes were gaunt, the lips were rosy red, and the skin was pale.

“Hello, June.
I’ve been waiting for you.” Madame Torres’ green eyes were no longer hollow,
and the red medusa hair flowed beyond the boundaries of the glass ball. The
vision made my heart pound and my skin crawl with fright. There was no mistake,
she had definitely been looking for me.

“Don’t be
scared, dear. I’m here to help.” Her voice lowered, her eyes darkened showing
her power.

I fiddled with
my charm bracelet.
Right now would be a good time for the dog charm to kick
in.
I knew nothing about crystal balls. There was no time to let evil in my
life.

“Yes. You are in
grave danger.”

No joke, tell me
something I didn’t know or dream about.

“Do not take any
remedies for nightmares or it could cost you your life. The village needs you.”
She spoke softly and swiftly. “You must not trust. . .”

The ball went
black.

Clink, clink.
I knew that
sound from Izzy’s heels. The shoes filled the silence in the air. I grabbed the
crystal ball.

“What are you
doing?” Madame Torres voice was demanding. “Put me down!”

Without a word,
I checked all the doors. Damn! Closet. I shut the door. Click, click. Izzy was
getting closer. Please help me find a way out, I prayed opening the last door.
The steps to the cellar looked scarier going down then it had that day when I
was looking up.

“Shh!” I held
the ball close to my eyes so she knew I meant business. “You’re going with me.”

“You’re making
me sick with all this rolling around.” She wasn’t going to be quiet.

I put her in my
bag with the rest of my stuff, including the voodoo dolls.

“Wait! I’m
scared of the dark!” She screamed before I shut the flap. “Who’s voodoo dolls
are these?”

I rushed down
the steps into the cellar. I knew the way out from when I was in there before
the smudging ceremony. I pushed the doors open leading to the back of the
building. There was no time to waste. Izzy was going to know that I took the
ball and left out the cellar, so there was no sense in shutting the doors again.

There was no
sense in coming back to Whispering Falls until Ann’s murder was solved. I knew
exactly what I needed to do and it included Uncle Jordan.

Chapter
Twenty One

I ran as fast as
I could to my cottage. There was no time to waste. I had to get out of
Whispering Falls until my plan was in the works.

I didn’t even
turn around to see if Izzy was following me.

“Mr. Prince
Charming?” I hollered throughout the house when I got there. Of course he was
nowhere to be found. He would find me. That was one thing I could count on. I
grabbed my keys and Darla’s journal off the counter and hopped in the Green
Machine.

The tires
squealed. I was out of there.

I had a couple
hours before I was going to Uncle Jordan’s for dinner. With one hand on the wheel
and the other stuck in my bag, I felt around for my phone.

“Left, left,”
Madame Torres called out from my purse. “The phone is to the left!”

She was right. I
found the phone and called Jordan.

“June, what’s
going on?” Jordan didn’t bother to beat around the bush. “Oscar called looking
for you.”

“Did you tell
him I was coming for dinner?” I needed to get Uncle Jordan’s help without Oscar
knowing.

“No, I didn’t. I
figured I’d give you a chance to tell me why you are running?” There was
concern in his voice. “Oscar said that you had stolen something from one of the
merchants and that you left Whispering Falls when one of the laws clearly
states that if you are accused of a crime you aren’t allowed to leave the village.”

“I know it
sounds like I’m guilty, but I need your help. If I’m wrong, then you can turn
me in to Oscar.” I pleaded for him to help me.

“Okay. And the
only reason is because I care about your family. You are like one of my own. I
will continue to tell Oscar that I haven’t heard from you.” He sighed. “I don’t
get off work for another couple of hours. Go on to the house and I’ll be there
soon.”

“Thank you,
Jordan.” He was my last hope. I had to get him to agree with my plan.

“You’re welcome.
You can pop the lasagna in the oven. I made it last night. It’s in the
refrigerator.” He had comfort in his words.

I hung up the
phone and put it back in my bag.

“I hate the
dark!” Madame Torres hollered when I slipped the phone in. I would deal with
her once I got to Jordan’s house.

I peered in my rear-view
mirror the entire time. I made sure no one from Whispering Falls had followed
me.

The old Cape Cod
looked lonely across the street from Jordan’s. Or maybe it was me that was
lonely for it. I turned the Green Machine off and took out Madame Torres.

“Pshew.” Her
glow had gone from green to crystal blue. “Thank you for getting me out of
there. Those voodoo dolls are evil, evil I tell you!”

“Now that I have
you in my hands, I need you to tell me who to stay away from.” The ball turned
a flaming red.

Madame Torres’
eyes deepened into a dark green, almost black, her face paled, her lips flamed.
“You have possession of me illegally. I’m just another spiritualist to you. By
law of the village, I cannot read you.” The ball went black and she
disappeared.

I shook it.

“What? Illegal?”
I waited to see if she was going to come back. I shook it a couple more times,
but nothing seemed to happen. I set the ball underneath the seat and grabbed my
bag.

Uncle Jordan was
going to be another hour. I got the spare key from underneath the porcupine
shoe cleaner and let myself in.

There were so
many questions I wanted to ask him. Especially the ones about Oscar being a
sorcerer, which meant that Jordan had to be a spiritualist of some sort.

Exhausted, I sat
down on the couch. It wasn’t long until I heard a scratch at the door. Without
having to think about it, I knew it was Mr. Prince Charming.

“Hey, buddy.” I
opened the door. “Do you miss Locust Grove as much as I do?”

He turned to
look out the door and we both stood there staring at the ole Cape Cod.

“Come on.” I
shut the door behind his wagging tail. He followed me into the kitchen and
watched as I turned on the oven and put the lasagna in.

We made
ourselves comfortable on the couch to wait for the oven timer to go off. Mr. Prince
Charming was nestled in my lap. I took the journal out of my bag.

“Today at the
shop, Ann asked me if I wanted a free manicure. Of course I said yes. It would
be a treat after a long day of work, only it wasn’t. She asked all sorts of
questions about how we feel about June not being a spiritualist. Then she had
the nerve to tell me that our life was going to dramatically change, ending it
by saying, “poor June.” Well, I better stop writing. Otto has gone to work and
I’m very excited about going to see Eloise. She has a new potion for growing
hair. I can just see Gerald now with a full head of hair sticking out of that
top hat. Makes me laugh every time. Plus Mac is going to take June for some fishing
at the lake. She loves spending time with him.”

Hmmm
. . .I looked
over at Mr. Prince Charming. He didn’t seem too fazed by Darla’s revelation. I
read it aloud, “poor June.” What did Ann mean? Too bad she was dead or I’d be
able to ask her.

Was she
referring to the upcoming death of my dad? Was she trying to tell Darla about
it? Or was she talking about us moving to Locust Grove? Either way, I was
probably never going to know unless Darla wrote it in her journal?

Before I knew
it, I was fast asleep.

Turn over, turn
over! Save yourself!
I watched the victim do something that Ann nor Gerald did. The victim’s hands
lifted, and struggled with the killer. I watched helplessly as the struggle
continued. Then all of a sudden I saw it. The dog charm and Celtic knot were flailing
around in the water as the victim struggled.
NO
!

Me! The victim
was me!

Fear gripped my
insides as I propelled myself out of slumber. I had to do something. This time
I was dreaming my own fate. And now fate was in my hands. The crystal ball was
right. There was no way I was going to take a remedy to stop my nightmares.

“I could smell
that lasagna from outside.” Jordan unhooked his holster and sat it on the table
just inside the door.

“How do you
think we feel? Our mouths have been watering.” I hugged him. Mr. Prince
Charming didn’t bother getting up. “Thanks for having me.”