Page 33 of Seven Secret Spellcasters (Kitchen Witch Mysteries #7)

“Are you alone?” He glanced around the foyer and saw Mr. Darcy sitting on the stairs. She must not have closed the apartment door all the way.

“I’m never all alone, not here, but yes. Everyone’s gone.” Mia stepped back as Mark pushed past her and into the foyer. “Come on in.”

He looked like he hadn’t slept. “Sorry. I need to talk this out with you. The mayor wants this case closed next week. I don’t even know how Howard died.” He hurried over to one of the tables. “I thought we could talk through a timeline.”

“Don’t you want to do this with one of your guys?” Mia closed the door and followed Mark into the reception area.

“And have it get back to the mayor? I like my job, Mia.” He glanced around the room. “Do you have one of those portable whiteboards? Don’t you do staff meetings in here?”

“Yes, sometimes. But Abigail’s been dealing with that.” His question made her think that maybe she should do a staff meeting with the group to set up a vision for the future. “I’ll get a whiteboard.”

When she came back into the room with the whiteboard, he set it up, then taped a chart he’d made.

He turned and pointed to it. “This is a timeline of Howard’s trip here.

This dot is Wednesday, when he flew into Boise.

I left some room at the front in case we have more data points to add or people he might have met who live in the area.

Like Mortimer or Edmund, who, I’m thinking, are the same person. ”

“Trent got an email from the coven saying someone was coming to chat with him. I’ll text him and see what date it had on it.” Mia grabbed her phone as Mark continued.

“Anyway, here’s the flight information I got from the airline. His flight originated in Boston.” Mark stepped back to the table and threw a paper-clipped bundle of papers at her. “I’ve got his itinerary from the airline. And his rental car agreement. And his hotel information.”

Mia read the pages he put in front of her as Mark added points to the chart. She finished the packet, then looked back up at the chart. “You’re missing something.”

He squinted at the points, then turned back. “No, here’s when he left Boston. He hit Boise here, and then the Lodge here. You said he came to the academy on Thursday, right?”

Mia turned around the flight itinerary. “At first, I thought this was a layover. A change of planes, but on Tuesday, he went from Boston to Denver, then to LAX, where he stayed the night. He got back on a plane to Boise at ten on Wednesday. Who was he meeting in California?”

“I didn’t see that layover. Of course, it’s possible that there weren’t flights from Denver to Boise, but that’s a huge detour.” Mark added a line to the timeline. “Good catch, Mia.”

They went through the rest, but nothing else popped out to them. Mark sat down and put his head on the table. “This might be the one where I cave because I can’t find anything to prove them wrong. Maybe the little man in the green suit just had a heart attack as the coven’s autopsy said.”

“From my reading about that type of person”—Mia avoided using the word leprechaun —“it’s unlikely for him to die that young.”

“He was in his late fifties. Sometimes that happens.” Mark held up his coffee cup. “Thanks for the mojo juice.”

“Hold on, don’t give up yet. I need to show you something.” Mia hurried upstairs and picked up the book she’d been reading about magical creatures. When she got downstairs, she opened it to the part talking about hybrids. “Read that.”

He did, and as Mia watched, he blinked a few times, then reread what he’d completed. Finally he turned the book to the title page and wrote down the title, author’s name, publisher, and the year published. “I take it this was published by a house owned by your group?”

“Again, still not ‘my group’, and I’m not sure. It was in my library upstairs. The books came with the property.” She took the book and read the part she’d shown Mark again. There had to be a clue here. She wasn’t seeing it.

While she read, he watched her.

“What?” She glared at him, finally unable to take the quiet.

“Nothing. It’s just that Sarah thought you’d join the coven last night, especially after your test results came back.

I guess all her friends are talking about your score.

That you’ll probably be part of the National Board or whatever before too long.

” Mark blushed a little. Passing on gossip was not in his nature, but what Mia had said surprised him.

She carefully put her bookmark back, then closed the book.

“I’m probably making a mistake, but I like my life now.

I want my career, my legacy, to be this place.

Mia’s Morsels. Not some job where I can’t tell half the people I love what I’m doing.

Besides, I’m going to be busy with my new kitchen witch role.

I’m getting a guidebook and assignments soon.

I’m thinking it will be like going back to college. ”

“You’re a nerd.” He glanced around at the pile of papers. “You don’t think he died of natural causes.”

“No.” Mia had always heard that “no” was a complete sentence. This time, it even felt right.

“I don’t either. So if he didn’t have a heart attack, and the death wasn’t caused by magic, then what else looks like a heart attack?

Can you ask your grandmother? I’ll hit up my poison control contacts and see what they say.

Maybe that will help.” Mark’s energy increased as he started listing off tasks.

“We need to follow up on what he did and who he saw in California too.” Mia had a notebook and was writing down questions. “Oh, and who he had lunch with at the Lodge on his last day. Maybe that’s our Edmund.”

“I’m tracking down fictional characters to see who killed a mythical being. Sure, I can deal with that.” Mark gathered up the loose reports and put them back in his briefcase.

Mia tapped on the leather. “I don’t remember seeing this before.”

“I use it to bring home reports and copies of evidence that I can’t focus on during my normal workday.

Sarah calls it my ‘magic briefcase.’ She’s been helping me understand the coven hierarchy and regulations.

Like how she and Trent aren’t supposed to have magic or familiars.

” He clicked the case shut. “And with this, I can separate the parts of my job that I understand and lock up the parts I don’t.

Like who Alfred Howard was versus finding his killer.

That way I don’t say something stupid like ‘leprechaun’ or ‘witch’ during my staff briefings in the morning. ”

Mia giggled as she gathered up the cups and plates from their work session. “I think you’d be surprised how easy that statement would go over in Magic Springs. I’m sure some of your staff are coven members or at least come from a magical family and understand the language.”

“I don’t want to know,” Mark said as he walked toward the door. “Oh, someone dropped off a puppy at the house. It looks like it has Saint Bernard blood. Sarah thinks it’s for the baby. A protector?”

“I would say yes, but Sarah would know best.” Mia thought about the kittens she’d had dropped off on her doorstep.

They hadn’t been familiars, but she hadn’t realized that until the owner came to collect them.

Now she knew she had one familiar, Mr. Darcy.

Gloria had been an elder all along. Sent to watch over the newest kitchen witch.

Even before her mother had refused the assignment.

She held the door for him and watched Mark leave. “Or the puppy could be just a puppy. You never know until you know.”

“That’s less than helpful,” Mark replied as he got into his truck. “It’s like saying you’re a weatherman because you walked out and found out it was raining.”

It might not be raining, but both Grans and Trent thought a storm was coming. Maybe Elisa Marie’s new protector was another sign from the Goddess of the upcoming conflict.