Pumpkin Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 14) Read online

  “Thirty minutes will be more than enough,” Madam Rose replied with a wave of her hand. The movement caused her bracelets to jingle, but they suddenly stopped as she came to a complete standstill. “Oh, dear.”

  Oh, dear? What in Hades does that mean?

  I wasn’t sure what Madam Rose was referring to, either. She’d even closed her eyes, as if she could hear something that we couldn’t.

  Don’t move, Raven. Seriously, if we stay still long enough, maybe she’ll just go away. Shhhh.

  Madam Rose suddenly laughed, her merriment echoing off the walls. I’m pretty sure Leo’s paws came up off his bed, the same as my knee-high boots came off the floor. Heidi managed to hold onto her disposable cup of tea, though just barely.

  “Heidi, your grandmother wants me to tell you that the necklace you were looking for earlier this morning is in your travel case,” Madam Rose said as she made her way to the door. She stopped long enough to tap Heidi good-naturedly on the arm. “You left it in there after your last trip away to the city. Oh, and she wants you to know that she just adores that state detective of yours. Ta-ta!”

  The three of us remained silent long after the bell above the door had stopped chiming Madam Rose’s exit. To say we were stunned by her declaration was an understatement, and I was pretty sure that mediums ranked high up on Heidi’s no-no list.

  Well, you can tack them on to mine, as well. We can’t do business with someone who talks to the dead or sees the future. It’s one thing to play poker with the grim reaper who escorts souls to the other side, but it’s quite another to carry on conversations with dead people for sheer enjoyment.

  “She’s real,” Heidi finally whispered in awe, still staring at the woman’s retreating back as she made her way back across the street. “Did you hear that, Raven?”

  I was still wondering how Madam Rose managed to appear without Heidi seeing her to begin with, but I suppose she could have managed to walk down the sidewalk when Heidi was making her tea. Maybe Madam Rose was paying a visit to every shop on the main thoroughfare of town.

  “Raven, I was looking for my necklace that I usually wear with this outfit.” Heidi quickly walked over to the check-out counter, setting her disposable cup of tea down on the hard surface. Her blue eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and excitement. “Do you think that Madam Rose really spoke with my grandmother? I mean, how else would she know that I couldn’t find it? And how would Madam Rose know about Jack?”

  Oy vey. Maybe I’m better off being a bachelor.

  “Heidi, don’t get too carried away with this,” I warned with a frown. I had no way to prove or disprove Madam Rose’s abilities quite yet, but I wouldn’t allow my best friend to be taken advantage of in the meantime. “If Madam Rose has been visiting all the shops, she could have easily stopped into the bakery. You mentioned that you couldn’t find your necklace while we were standing in line, and virtually everyone in town knows that you’re dating Jack.”

  All good points, Raven. You’ve got me on board so far. Keep going.

  “And if Madam Rose did stop into the bakery, then you wouldn’t have seen her if she crossed that particular intersection and walked up the sidewalk from there,” I pointed out, feeling somewhat better now that I had an explanation for the things that had happened within the last five minutes. “Remember, it’s very, very rare that a true witch would so publicly display her abilities. She just happens to pay attention to details a little better than the average person.”

  You need to explain this on my off-again soulmate’s level, Raven. Liken the supernatural to finances—which is her niche. Some of her clients who have a healthy bank account don’t prefer others know just how much money they have, while those who have only a few pennies want others to believe they have more than rattling change in their pockets. Once you clarify their—

  “Leo, you might be onto something!” I exclaimed, cutting off whatever else he was about to say in regard to comparing witchcraft to money. “I can’t believe I didn’t catch it before.”

  “Catch what?” Heidi asked as she cast a wary gaze over her shoulder. I couldn’t blame her for being a bit suspicious about what had just taken place with Madam Rose, but Leo might very well have just given us a break in the case. “That all we have to do is ask the psychic who took the pumpkins?”

  My off-again soulmate does make a good point.

  “Well, no,” I replied with displeasure, especially since it seemed that my advice landed on deaf ears. “Leo, weren’t you the one who just gave me the perfect comparison as to why Madam Rose isn’t authentic?”

  That was me? Oh, yeah. I remember now.

  “Heidi, it’s still highly doubtful that Madam Rose has genuine abilities,” I stated with a bit of exasperation.

  I came around the counter to show my eagerness at what I’d just learned from Leo. He’d made a valid point, and it was something that we could easily check out.

  I am your mentor. It makes sense that you would learn from my teachings. Exactly what did my mental antioxidants succeed at this time?

  “Financial gain,” I explained after having filled Heidi in on Leo’s comparison analysis. It must have worked, because she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder for Madam Rose. “Liam mentioned that Otis and Karen were having a bit of financial trouble.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Heidi said cautiously, snatching up her tea as if she needed a bit of fortification from the direction that I’d just taken this mystery. “You think the former sheriff stole the town’s prized jack-o-lantern and additional pumpkins from the pumpkin patch for financial gain?”

  Well, when my off-again soulmate puts it like that…it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Raven, I’m a sharer. Would you like a taste of my blueberry-filled edibles?

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hear me out,” I said, holding up a hand when both of them wanted to continue to talk. Clearly, they’d taken offense at my accusation impugning our former sheriff’s good name. It just went to show how much all of the residents of Paramour Bay cared about one another. “What if Otis was desperate? What if he thought taking a few pumpkins wasn’t that big of a deal, and that he would somehow pay Virgil and Beau back later?”

  Well, they always say that it’s the last person one would suspect. I’ve got to hand it to you, Raven. You connected dots that I didn’t even know were there, which leads me to believe that you might actually come in handy during the impending squirrelpocalypse. Welcome back to the fold. You’re no longer collateral damage.

  I shook my head at Leo’s thought process, but I guess mine might not be any better.

  You don’t say.

  “The motive is clear, and you’d have to agree with me.” I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter in frustration. “I don’t believe that Otis has a mean bone in his entire arthritic body, though. It could be that he inserted himself into the investigation in order to get a handle on things and give himself time to fix the situation.”

  What is my off-again soulmate doing? Why is she shaking her head like that?

  Sure enough, Heidi had a smirk on her face as she walked back over to the high-top table that contained hot water that I’d put into the pump thermoses around lunchtime today. I’d set a sample of the tea leaves next to each thermos, along with two infusers. She got busy preparing herself another cup of tea. This time, she’d chosen from the cinnamon tea leaves selection.

  “Heidi, why are you grinning like that?” I asked, having learned long ago that it meant she was in possession of some information that I wasn’t. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “Client confidentiality, Raven.” Heidi began to steep the tea leaves that she’d gently place inside the infuser while she gave me a knowing look. “Trust me when I tell you that Otis didn’t steal the pumpkins for financial gain. He has no need. He might be in need of some cash short term for something that I’m not at liberty to discuss, but overall he’s in fine shape.”

&nbs
p; This lifts my spirits, Raven. If my off-again soulmate won’t rat out one of her clients, she certainly won’t rat us out.

  “You’re a good accountant, Heidi,” I praised, relieved to know that she didn’t believe Otis could do something so terrible to Virgil and Beau. “And an even better friend, as Leo just pointed out.”

  “I do what I can, when I can,” Heidi quipped with a bright smile.

  I sighed in resignation as I walked over to the glass entrance door. I wanted to be out and about asking questions and helping Liam solve the case of the missing prized pumpkin. He’d asked for my help, because he thought this mystery was related to the supernatural.

  Or we go back to my theory about my former perfect mate being the culprit. Not sure how this ties her in with the squirrelpocalypse, but that black hair didn’t get mixed in with the crushed acorns by accident.

  “Aphrodite didn’t put it there on purpose, Leo,” I replied with a laugh. I opened the door so that I could get a good look at town square. I could see Liam talking with the mayor. Surprisingly, all of the booths were still standing, and the stage hadn’t been dismantled yet. “That’s odd. Rye and the other workers haven’t taken down anything that had been used at the festival this weekend.”

  “Leo, why don’t you and I go take a walk and find out why,” Heidi suggested, snapping the lid of her tea in place. “We can stop into the boutique on the way back. I saw Cupcake in the window earlier.”

  This is why my off-again soulmate is still in the ex-category. Why would she want to subject me to that cretin while she gets to browse for her favorite accessory? Besides, she already has one tied around her neck.

  Heidi was wearing one of her favorite scarves. Then again, she always maintained that a woman couldn’t have enough scarves, shoes, or jewelry. She probably had chosen the rust-colored scarf because she hadn’t been able to locate the necklace that she’d been searching for this morning.

  “Come on, you handsome tomcat,” Heidi called out as she made her way to the door. “We’ll be back soon, Raven. We’ll talk to Rye first to get the skinny. How much longer do you have until close?”

  She called me handsome, Raven. Even though I’m still wearing my costume, she can see right through the itchy material down to my rugged good looks. My former perfect mate has no idea what she’s missing by going over to the dark side of the acorn.

  I’d been keeping close tabs on the time, and I still had a good two hours before I was able to flip the closed sign over on the door. As for Leo’s claim that Aphrodite had chosen sides in his war on the neighborhood squirrels, I highly doubt that she even knew anything about the epic battles since she was strictly an indoor cat.

  You make a good point, but that doesn’t mean that my former perfect mate didn’t figure out how to sneak outside when that old geezer wasn’t looking. She’s still my number one suspect, Raven.

  “There’s enough time for you to go browse the new selection of scarves that Mindy set up in the boutique,” I replied, deciding that I would look more into the history of the pumpkin legend. If what we knew to be true had anything to do with the missing jack-o-lantern and the smaller pumpkins, then maybe a conversation with Ivan should be in our immediate future. “Let’s go talk to Ivan about any souls that might not have made their appointment with him, if you know what I mean.”

  Heidi pulled a face, but she didn’t say she wouldn’t go with me as she made her way outside. Leo was right behind her wearing his pirate vest, trifold hat, and eyepatch with pride. He wasn’t worried in the least that a malevolent soul might try to take over his body in such a disguise, but that didn’t mean someone else residing in Paramour Bay had the same belief.

  I spent the next hour hovered over my laptop on the checkout counter, searching every site that held information about pumpkin folklore. I’d heard a lot about the Irish myth regarding a man named Jack who’d made a deal with the devil himself, only to find that no one outsmarted the diabolical beast. Jack’s soul wasn’t allowed to cross through the veil at all to either go up or down, so the townsfolk had taken to carving pumpkins to protect them from his roaming spirit.

  There were several other myths related to pumpkins, of course.

  The reason that I was so interested in the Irish tale was that the palm of my hand tingled every time that I either heard or read about it. I had to believe that the myth was connected to this case, which had definitely put Ivan on my calendar.

  Not the other way around, of course.

  I was still rubbing my hand when low and behold Mrs. Marinus entered the teashop. She wasn’t one of my usual customers, though she had stopped in from time to time over the last couple of years.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Marinus,” I greeted, quietly closing my laptop as I hopped off the stool. “What can I do for you today?”

  I’d already given her my condolence on her husband’s passing a couple of weeks ago when we’d run into each other at the bakery. She’d been enjoying her first evening out with her book club since the funeral. We’d had a very nice conversation, and she’d even thanked me for sending her a condolence card.

  “Well, Dottie keeps mentioning that she loves a specific tea blend that you sell called Pumpkin Crème,” Mrs. Marinus said as she walked right over to the shelves containing various tea making accessories. “She made some for me the other night when I dropped in for a visit.”

  There were different types of infusers, strainers, measurement spoons, and other implements strategically displayed for the experienced tea drinker. I could see from the way that she adjusted her reading glasses that she was intimidated, so I quickly averted her attention to the teabag section.

  “Pumpkin Crème has been a big hit this season, and I have some right here in teabags instead of loose leaves. This way, all you have to do is add water,” I explained, figuring that I would clarify more instructions regarding the easier method of making tea while ringing up her purchase. Her unexpected visit also provided me with the ability to ask some discreet questions about the missing pumpkins. “How are you doing, Mrs. Marinus?”

  “As good as can be expected, dear.” Mrs. Marinus took her reading glasses off, but they were attached to a chain around her neck. She rested them against her chest as she followed me to the counter. “At my age, it’s best to take things a day at a time. My granny always said that deaths come in threes. How right she was.”

  “Threes?” I asked as I slowly walked around the counter. “Mrs. Marinus, I didn’t know that you had more deaths in your family.”

  “I lost a cousin who lived in Ohio around a week before my Stanley earned his wings. And then just last week, I received a call regarding my brother. We weren’t the closest of siblings, but I was sorry to hear about his passing. It brought back so many memories.”

  “I’m truly sorry to hear that.”

  “Well, anyone who grew up here would tell you that my brother could be a difficult man. We certainly had our differences, and that doesn’t change just because he died. He was a greedy man, that one.” Mrs. Marinus had set her purse on the check-out counter as she shook her head in disappointment. “What happened between us after we lost our father was the reason why Stanley and I updated are wills. We weren’t going to have our children fight over our estate the way Norman and I argued after we lost our father. Norman certainly showed his true colors back then, and I doubt they had changed before his greedy heart stopped beating.”

  I had also spent time today putting together tea bags of candy corn to hand out with each purchase leading up to All Hallows’ Eve. Hearing about Mrs. Marinus’ brother had me nonchalantly making sure there were two small helpings of the special treat in her shopping bag so that she wouldn’t think that I was as greedy as her brother.

  Mrs. Marinus slipped her reading glasses back on as she glanced at the cash register for the amount owed on the merchandise. She nodded in what seemed like approval as she pulled out a crisp twenty-dollar bill.

  “Did you have to travel to Ohio for
your brother’s funeral?” I asked, slowly coming to the conclusion that there might not be any malevolent souls roaming about town. My entire theory about why the pumpkins might have been stolen seemed to be going out the window. “I hope the trip wasn’t too hard on your back.”

  Mrs. Marinus always carried along a small cushion-like pillow in her purse, and she would use it when sitting for long periods of time. I’d caught her leaning against it at the diner a few times. Truthfully, the back support appeared quite comfortable. I wouldn’t mind having one of them in my car.

  “Good heavens, no,” Mrs. Marinus replied as she held out her hand for the change that I’d gotten from the cash register. “Norman was sent back here to the funeral home. He didn’t want a service, but I made sure that he was laid to rest in the family crypt.”

  I hadn’t realized that the Marinus family had been residing in Paramour Bay for so many generations. The crypts at the cemetery were for founding families and those who’d arrived soon thereafter. I’d personally been in one of the vaults when a skeleton had gone missing from one a while back, and I could do without ever visiting one again.

  My only issue with the stolen pumpkins was that Mrs. Marinus didn’t strike me as the type to believe in anything so superstitious as to ward her house with jack-o-lanterns. Neither did she have the strength to pick up a ten-pound pumpkin, let alone one that weighed one hundred and eighty-three pounds.

  I made sure to explain to Mrs. Marinus how she should steep the teabag in hot water for three to four minutes without compressing the contents against the side of the cup. A lot of people thought that trick helped produce more flavor, but it only added more acidity to the beverage.

  Tea was a delicate beverage. It had to be handled properly, and the true aficionado understood the intricate manner of preparing a delicious cup of tea.