Witches and Whatnots: An Izzy Cooper Novel (8 page)

Tim and I rushed to the scene, with Zane right behind us.

There was a crowd gathered at the Ferris wheel, which was exactly where the paramedics were headed.

The first thought that came to mind was that there had been an accident. I loved carnival rides, but I knew carnivals didn’t have the best track record for safety.

“What happened?” I asked Sheriff Bourne, who was walking away from the ride.

“We have another victim. I’ve already called your boss. He should be here shortly.”

Well, that was peachy. Not only was our night going to be ruined by another murder, but now we were going to have a grumpy boss to deal with too.

“Who is the victim?” I asked, slipping into my cop skin, although I didn’t look so much like a cop, as I did a Goth vixen. When I thought about it that way, I guess I couldn’t really blame the sheriff for not contacting Tim or I first. This time anyway.

“Mayor Christensen. According to the ride attendant, he was fine when he boarded the ride, but when it was time for him to get off, he was dead.”

“And he’s shriveled like the rest of them?” Tim asked.

Sheriff Bourne nodded.

“No witnesses?” I couldn’t believe someone wouldn’t have seen something. There were just too many people about for that to be possible.

“The attendant,” he pointed to the shaking - teenage boy who had been running the Ferris wheel. “He says that the mayor was with a woman in a witch costume, but that she wasn’t with him when he found the body.”

“That’s not possible.” I refused to accept that those witches could actually fly, but if they could, this put the murder firmly at their doorstep.

“That’s what he says.” The sheriff shrugged. It was obvious he wasn’t too convinced. “In my opinion, he probably made a mistake. He saw the witch get on with someone else and mistook the person for the mayor.”

“But how could he get murdered … if he was alone.” I pointed out the obvious.

“It could be a disease, like we were considering before.” Tim approached the cart that still held the mayor’s body. “Maybe he was already infected when he boarded the ride.”

I had to admit, the disease theory was starting to make a little more sense, but I still wasn’t going to swallow it. Someone wanted us to think it was an illness, as opposed to murder.

Deciding to put my talent to other uses, I focused on the witness.

“Hello.” I smiled.

He nodded and tried to return my smile, but it was apparent he was still shaken up.

“Can you describe the person you saw get on the ride with the mayor?”

“I’ve already told the sheriff,” he said, obviously upset that he was getting questioned again.

“I know, but could you please go through it again. It’s important.”

His face grew pale. “What if that witch comes back for me?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. It probably wasn’t a
real
witch.” My words were misleading, but I had to comfort him.

“She was blond, and had on a black witch dress … and a black hat. I didn’t get a good look at her face because she was also wearing a mask.”

“Do you think you might be able to identify her if you saw her again?”

He shook his head. “Like I said, she was dressed like a witch, and there are dozens of people in witch costumes tonight,” he paused, as if he were trying to remember something.

“There was one thing strange, though. During the ride, I saw all these sand crabs scurrying around beneath the wheel. I thought that was way out of place and freaky. We are nowhere near the beach.”

That
was
strange but I wasn’t sure how that could fit in with the murder, unless it was some kind of disease spread by sand crabs.

“Okay. Thanks for your help … and just in case, you might want to carry some sea salt with you.”

I had no idea if the sea salt would help or not, but it would probably make him feel better.

As soon as Ayden showed up, Tim and I let him in on what we’d discovered so far. He looked more stressed than usual.

“I saw the mayor at the ball only a little while ago,” I told the boss man. “He arrived with Rayanne … one of the new witches.”

It was the one piece of information I hadn’t shared with the sheriff, or even Tim. I didn’t want to say anything until I’d gotten a description from the witness.

When Ayden ran fingers through his disheveled hair, I noticed that he had some serious bags under his eyes.

I was beginning to wonder if the boss wasn’t working on some top-secret case for that secret society he was involved with.

“Is everything okay?”

“Is it ever?” he grumbled.

Before I could answer, he added, “You guys take this Rayanne into the sheriff’s office for questioning. I’ll work the crowd and see if I can come up with anything more.”

Finally, I was going to get the chance to interrogate one of those shady witches!

Now it was just a matter of finding her.

“You look for her here, and I’ll go back up to the resort,” Tim instructed.

Nodding, I made my way through the crowd, scanning the hundreds of faces for Rayanne or one of her witches. They were nowhere to be seen.

As I made my way around the carnival rides and booths, I had the sudden sensation of hundreds of spiders crawling over my skin. That usually meant someone was watching me.

When I turned, the only eyes I could see watching me belong to a clown - a very creepy clown. His painted on red smile was smeared, appearing to be more of a sneer than a smile. The nails at the ends of his fingers reminded me of talons. This clown was seriously the very essence of creepy.

Why would they allow a clown to dress like this at a carnival where there were hundreds of kids?

As creepy as he was, I figured I’d better confront him and find out exactly why he was watching me.

I strolled the twenty feet to where he was hiding in the shadows, next to a hotdog stand.

Folding my arms across my chest, I narrowed my eyes to glare at the spooky clown. “I thought I should come over here so you could take a picture. It might last longer. Why are you watching me?”

The only word I can use to describe his reaction was shock, but that was quickly replaced with amusement.

“I am impressed, Izzy Cooper. Your talent for seeing through the veil is amazing.” His voice was rough, like he was growling his words.

“What do you want?” I asked, now realizing that he wasn’t actually a clown, but some kind of strange creature. He wasn’t even a ghost, at least not a human one.

“Just checking in on my investment.” He smiled widely, revealing rows of jagged teeth that appeared to be chiseled to points.

My phone rang, distracting me.

I took my eyes off the clown just long enough to pull the phone from the handbag that hung from my shoulder; when I looked back, he was gone.

“Hello.”

“I located Rayanne at the resort. A sheriff’s deputy is going to transport her into town for questioning,” Tim informed me.

“Okay. I’ll meet you at the car.”

* * *

Rayanne made a show of studying her long black fingernails as I waited, and not so patiently, for her to answer my question.

“Again … what were you doing with the mayor tonight?”

The little room that the sheriff’s office used for interviewing suspects and witnesses was so stuffy that it was difficult to breathe. I was as anxious to get this over with as the wicked witch sitting across from me.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair. “I don’t really think that is anyone’s business, but if you must know, his wife didn’t feel well tonight, so I took her place.”

Suddenly the mayor was leaning over her and shouting, “Don’t tell her anything more! It would kill Ellen.”

Of course Rayanne didn’t have a clue that she had a ghost shouting in her ear. She might be a powerful witch, but she apparently couldn’t see ghosts.

“How long have you known the mayor … and what was your relationship with him?”

Mayor Christensen had already spilled the beans, so I might as well take advantage of it, especially since I didn’t much like cheaters.

“Don’t do it Ray,” he groaned and covered his chubby face with both hands.

“The mayor was a friend of mine. He was helping me smooth things over with the county … as far as getting the permits to rebuilt at the Dell.”

“Hmm … anything else?” I asked, letting my disbelief show on my face.

“Well you know the game … a favor for a favor. He was having trouble with his
libido
, and I was helping him out with that problem.”

“In more than one way, I’ll bet.”

Rayanne didn’t respond. Not that I had expected her to.

As much as I would have liked to be a snarky bitch and really let into her for being a wicked tramp, I decided to let it pass, for the moment anyway. “If you accompanied Mayor Christensen to the ball, do you know why he was all the sudden down at the carnival, and why weren’t you with him?”

Rayanne shook her head. “He told me he had to meet someone, but that he would be back later.”

“But he didn’t tell you who that someone was?”

Again she shook her head. “It wasn’t my business to ask.”

Switching off the recorder, I fixed my eyes on the mayor. “So who did you meet, Mayor Christensen?”

Rayanne looked at me as if I’d just escaped from a mental institution. It didn’t bother me. I’d grown accustomed to wide-eyed stares when I was communicating with the dearly departed in front of others.

If Rayanne was surprised, the mayor was even more so. “Wait a minute! You mean you really can see the dead?”

I nodded. “So why don’t you make it easy for me and tell me who did this?”

A blank look came over his face. It was the same blank look I got whenever I asked the recently departed what happened to them. Often the recent dead weren’t aware of anything around them at all, and if they were, they were always fuzzy about the moments right before joining the dead.

“I was supposed to meet someone at the carnival, but I can’t remember exactly who it was.” He squinted his eyes, as if doing so would help him recall who had murdered him.

“Nothing at all?” I asked, scrunching my brows together.

“Hey … if you’re talking to the mayor, ask him what I am supposed to do about his end of the deal now.”

“Until you tell me what you wicked witches are doing up at the Dell … you can ask him yourself, and hope you grow a long enough antenna to hear his answer. Besides, I’m not real happy about you hijacking my sister to further your evil ends.”

Rayanne’s full red lips twisted angrily. “You have no idea what you are talking about. I think you must have lost your marbles at the same time you lost your power.”

Well that stung, but only because I thought she might have a point. I had been a bit strange and bitchy since I got my black wings.

Of course, there was no way I was going to get into a debate about that with the wicked witch of Mystique Island.

“Whatever!” I rolled my eyes.

“Okay, girls … enough!” Mayor Christensen interrupted. “How about we figure out what happened to me … so I can go wherever it is I’m supposed to go.”

I didn’t want to give him my opinion of where I thought that might be. I had my evil moments, but I hadn’t quite reached that level of wicked just yet.

“So do you think this was a prearranged meeting?” I asked Rayanne.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. He received a text message right before he left. I’m assuming it was from whoever he went to meet.”

I didn’t much like Rayanne, but as much as I was hoping to pick up guilty vibes from her, it wasn’t happening. At least now that we knew he’d gotten a text from the likely killer, we had something to go on. Ayden should be able to trace the number to its owner.

Closing my eyes, I let the spray of hot water wash away the stress that had been building all day. Just as I was beginning to relax, I heard a strange whistling. It reminded me of a little boy whistling as he walked down the street.

“Julius! Is that you?” I asked, rinsing the soap from my eyes before peeking out of the shower curtain.

Julius was leaning against the bathroom wall, patiently waiting for me to acknowledge him. At least he hadn’t stuck his head in the shower and scared the crap out of me like he usually did.

“Why couldn’t you have waited another five minutes until I was out of the shower and dressed?” I snapped.

Julius could really irritate me with his habit of dropping by while I was in the shower, but this time I was actually a bit happy that he had. It would have been nice if he had waited until I was out of the shower and knocked on the front door like a normal person. I supposed expecting a demon to act like a normal person was asking for a little too much.

“What fun would that be, love? Then I wouldn’t get to see your cheeks go red. It’s kind of cute.”

My irritation grew. “So … what are you here for?”

“Because you wanted to talk to me.”

I should have known he would have picked up on that. Julius had a way of showing up at just the right times, mostly anyway.

“Turn around so I can get out.”

As soon as Julius had turned, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me before stepping out of the shower.

“What did you want me for?” Julius asked, still not turning around. It was unusual for him to show so much thoughtfulness.

“I saw some kind of creature at the carnival tonight. It was disguised as a clown, but I think it might have been, you know who?”

Julius chuckled. “I wouldn’t doubt it. The more you draw on the darkness of your nature, the more, you know who’s, interest grows.”

That wasn’t exactly what I’d wanted to hear. I’d been hoping that what had happened with that Black Moon witch would go unnoticed. No such luck.

“Also I saw Mister Grim tonight. Why do you think he was there? I mean, if he were just there to collect Mayor Christensen, why is his ghost still hanging around?”

Julius shrugged. “Maybe he’s checking up on you too. I don’t have a clue how the Grim Reaper works.”

Well, a lot of help he was.

“There is something else,” I told him as I padded across the cold tile floor to the bathroom sink.

I heard Julius turn around, but the wings that I could only see in my reflection, blocked him from my sight.

“Also, I had a strange dream awhile back. In it I was someone else. I think I was someone who died when the Mystique went down. Zane was in the dream, but he was the captain of the ship. I thought it was just a weird ghost dream or something, but then I had visions of the same thing again, but when I was awake.”

Julius chuckled. “You know … degrees in psychology are not required for my job.”

“But still … I thought you might have some idea of what it means.”

“It would seem that you are seeing a time when your vampire friend was known as Captain Beaufort, as to why you are seeing it, I have no idea.”

Frowning, I turned to ask him something else, but he was gone. He was getting into a bad habit of disappearing before our conversation was finished; at least as far as I was concerned it wasn’t finished.

Apparently my thoughts on the matter weren’t important, either that or he was purposely being evasive.

* * *

Strangely enough, I had a great night’s sleep. When I woke the next morning, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the world.

Jumping from the bed, I walked to my bedroom window and pulled back the curtains. The morning sun reflected off a brilliant blue sea. It was breathtaking. Mystique Island had some shadows, but it was still one of the most beautiful places on earth.

How could so much darkness exist in such beauty?

It was a question that had been nagging me for months, since I’d taken a job with the Atypical Crimes Management Unit.

Pushing the thought aside, I dressed in a pink shirt and shorts. Although I was going to have to work today, it was Sunday, which meant I didn’t actually have to look like an FBI agent. Since I was working on my weekend, Ayden could deal with me dressing like a tourist.

Both Ayden and Tim’s vehicles were in the little dirt parking lot next to the lighthouse.

It was a good thing that I’d decided to come into the office or Ayden would have been thinking I was a slacker. My partner and boss were workaholics and figured everyone else should be too.

To be fair, I did want to solve the case as much as they did. I figured if the Black Moon Witches were involved, we could bust them and put a stop to their wicked operation. If they were murderers, I could get my sister out of it, and she couldn’t exactly blame me for interfering.

The Problem was, I was becoming less convinced the Black Moon Witches were involved. Hopefully, the boss man had traced that cell number and already had a suspect.

Once on the little sidewalk that led around to the back of the lighthouse, I stopped and faced the beach. Closing my eyes, I let myself enjoy the sensation of the cool sea breeze caressing my face.

When I opened my eyes, for just a split second, I thought I saw a clipper ship in the horizon, but when I blinked it was gone.

Those visions of Captain Beaufort were starting to get to me.

Reluctantly, I turned away from the sea and took the exterior stairs that led to the basement, and our office.

When I entered, Tim was on the phone and Ayden was glaring at the door, and then me. “You have a good night’s sleep?” he asked.

“Sure did.”

“I’m glad someone did. You didn’t answer your phone again last night.”

Digging the phone from my pants pocket, I checked for missed calls. Sure enough, there it was at three in the morning. Usually I checked my phone for missed calls in the morning, but this time I hadn’t.

“Sorry,” I shrugged. “I must have been out of it. What happened?”

“The ride attendant, who happened to be our only witness, was found dead in his car.”

I suddenly felt as if I had a band tightening around my throat. The boy had been frightened last night and I hadn’t taken his concerns seriously.

This was my fault.

“The same MO?” I asked, sinking into my desk chair.

Ayden nodded.

Hanging up the phone, Tim stood and stretched his arms. “It’s just as I suspected. The phone that was used to text the mayor was disposable and untraceable.”

Damn! Our witness was dead and our best clue had just fizzled out.

“So now what?” Not that I really expecting either of them to have an answer.

“I’m going to head over to the coroner’s office and attend the autopsy. You and Tim should see what else you can dig up on the mayor. It’s possible that woman from the Dell isn’t the only extramarital affair he was having,” Ayden said before grabbing his briefcase and heading for the door.

“Later boss man.” I waved.

“Isn’t Tina Reston a receptionist in the mayor’s office?” Tim asked.

“I think so. Marsha retired last year. Why … you thinking of paying Tina a visit?”

Tim nodded. “I’ll stop by her house and ask if she knows of anyone the mayor might have been getting friendly with lately. Maybe I’ll have to talk with his wife too.”

Before Tim had even finished what he was saying, the mayor was standing in front of him and fixing a death glare on my partner.

“I don’t think the mayor is too happy with that idea,” I spoke up.

Tim looked directly at the mayor. “Well then maybe Mayor Christensen shouldn’t have been playing around in the first place … or he could just tell us what we need to know.”

“I don’t remember!” The ghost bellowed.

Tim winced a little.

So Tim could see and hear the mayor too.

“Well not that I’m defending the mayor or anything, but maybe we shouldn’t bring this information to her any sooner than we have to. I’m sure Ellen Christensen is going through enough right now,” I said, figuring I would do my good deed for the day. I didn’t
give an iota about preserving the mayor’s reputation, but I didn’t see any need to hurt his wife unnecessarily either.

“I guess you’re right,” Tim sighed, actually seeming to be a little disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to nark off the mayor. Angel or not, he had a bit of mischief in him.

Tim opened the door to leave and caught Dorothy as she was getting ready to knock. “I’m so glad I caught the two of you in. We are having a pumpkin walk at Founder’s Park tomorrow night and I thought you all might be able to help with carving some pumpkins?”

“Sure.’ Tim nodded. “I was just on my way out, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great!” Dorothy smiled. “There is a pile of pumpkins, just inside the door of the gift shop. Stop and pick a couple out. When you’re done, you can drop them at Founder’s Park.”

“Sounds good.” Tim waved and was gone.

Dorothy turned to me. “What about you Izzy? Do you think you’ll have some time to help out?”

“Sure. I love carving jack-o-lanterns.”

“Okay then. I’ll look for you to come by the park tomorrow. If you don’t have time, just go ahead and leave them outside the gift shop entrance.”

Nodding, I waved to her as she left.

When everyone was gone, I turned my attention to something else that had been bothering me. Muriel.

I wanted to know what that weird display the night before had been about.

“Muriel! Come out come out, wherever you are?”

Nothing. Not even any moaning or chain rattling. She was really falling behind on her haunting stuff. Something was going on with her, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.

“Muriel … what’s wrong with you lately?” I called again, but this time not as loud.

The room was quiet and as still as the grave.

Maybe the ghost was angry with me again. If she were upset, it sure wouldn’t be the first time, and I had my doubts it would be the last. Muriel could be temperamental.