“And you figure it’s the magical police?” Ren asked.
“Or someone equally powerful. I imagine Oscar Knight and his cronies could pull something like that off. There are always vendettas and conspiracies among the Main Street Mafia.”
Sinda sighed. “Was it really only a few hours ago that we were enjoying a turnover at Whimsy?”
By now, we were nearly at the Beanstalk Café. Somehow, we’d walked almost back to the store, the long way.
“The excitement’s made me hungry,” Ren said, opening the door. “Let’s grab a bite before class.”
Sinda passed in front of Ren. “I’m sure it will be canceled after what happened. The mayor probably knows by now.”
“Let’s call the number on the bottom of the invitation,” I said, waving to the new Beanstalk manager, Valerie Fairchild. We were friends now, after I’d helped relocate a ghost dog whose pranks made her uneasy. Atticus, the gorgeous English setter, had crossed back to join Brianna Peck at her thriving greenhouse operation.
After checking out the daily specials on the chalkboard, we chatted briefly to Valerie and placed our order.
“There’s no way I can focus on a lesson now,” Ren said, turning to scan for an available table. Business had picked up considerably in recent weeks and there was only one to spare. “I admit I’m eager to flip through my library book. I’ll need to be careful not to accidentally turn everyone into frogs.”
I signaled for her to keep quiet. An old man in a trench coat and fedora sat at his usual table doing a crossword puzzle. His name was Norris Strump and he’d helped me out of a sticky situation recently, but I wasn’t completely sure of his alliances. He knew Oscar and Octavia Knight well enough to be welcome at their Thanksgiving dinner table. While I now liked Oscar’s wife, who went by Tavi, I still kept a wary eye on the Knights.
“Wise,” Mr. Bixby said, on the inside line. “Given that Oscar framed you for murder and spawned a nasty delinquent.”
“I’ll never trust Oscar.” My reply was also silent, as I gave Norris a friendly wave. “No one changes that much. And if Mr. Crossword is buddies with them, we need to keep it superficial. It’s a shame when he probably saved my life.”
“You can’t be buddies with everyone,” Bixby said. “Shields up at all times.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t be nice, though,” I said, starting to head toward Norris. “Or at least spoil his crossword puzzle.”
I’d only taken a couple of steps when a movement at the window caught my eye.
There would be no leisurely lunch for these ladies, apparently.
“We’ll take that order to go, Valerie,” I said, turning back. “My friends, we’ve been summoned.”
CHAPTER TEN
Sinda looked around as we left. “Summoned by whom?”
Bixby did the honors by walking over to a planter filled with festive pine boughs and yelling, “Hey, fluff stuff. You can’t just interrupt us whenever you feel like it. Just because we rescued you once doesn’t mean our door is always open.”
The large gray cat peered out from among the boughs and hissed so convincingly that Bixby backed off. He didn’t outweigh Minerva by much and she came equipped with 18 daggers. I was unsure of what Mayor Longmuir’s feline familiar was capable of doing. The job likely required an extensive and impressive skill set.
“Stand down, Bixby,” I said. “We didn’t so much rescue Minerva as correct my mistake. Everything that went down with Angus that day might have been averted if I hadn’t hiccupped this cat out of City Hall and into the waterfall at Withrow Park.” The cat puffed a little and I added, “Once again, I apologize, Minerva.”
If the cat could talk, she didn’t speak to me and I could hardly blame her. Her job as Ruthann’s confidante would require the utmost discretion. But it seemed like she was willing to serve as emissary when needed.
She flitted away now and looked back to make sure we understood the message. Like the invitation earlier, there was no option to decline.
“Why didn’t the mayor just call?” Ren asked, as we started after Minerva. “She’s got your number and has used it before.”
I shrugged. “Good question. Maybe she’s afraid her phone or office are bugged. Remember, when she wanted to speak to me privately, she followed me to Withrow Park. I guess a mayor needs to be super careful when the politics can turn deadly even around a wedding.”
“I feel a little anxious about all of this,” Sinda said. “It’s moving so fast.”
“You’re not in Clarington anymore, Sinda.” Mr. Bixby was moving fast, too, probably to show Minerva he was a contender. “Remember our long tedious days in your old store? Do you want to go back?”
She smiled. “I can’t, old friend. The sale closed. But if I could, I wouldn’t. I’d rather be a participant in my own life than a bystander, even if it means getting poisoned or otherwise accosted.”
“Same,” Ren said. “Looking back, my memories are all in black and white. Since Janny came home and Bijou joined me, everything’s in living color.”
“Including the auras you see,” I said, as we turned the corner and headed toward City Hall. “What did Angus’s show this morning?”
“Smoke. At Whimsy it was light gray, but in the library it was charcoal and dense. Before he passed, obviously.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. That’s exactly what I experienced when I touched him. It wasn’t like that when we met weeks ago. I was reading him through Cassie, and he was hardly rainbows and sunshine, but it wasn’t like this. Something must have happened while he was detained.”
“What’s your working theory?” Sinda asked.
Mr. Bixby finally took his eyes off Minerva long enough to weigh in. “Working theories have a way of misdirecting us. Better to wait for cold hard facts.”
I laughed. “When do we ever get cold hard facts in Wyldwood? It’s all speculation with a dash of intuition. And my gut tells me Angus was weaponized.”
“Weaponized!” Sinda was aghast. “To do what?”
“That’s the real mystery, if I’m right. It felt like he was on a mission and getting that book may have been the first step.”
“But why did he visit Whimsy today if he was on a mission?” Ren asked.
Mr. Bixby beat me to the punch. “To scare Janelle and keep her out of the way of whatever he was trying to do.”
