Page 50 of The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic & Murder (The Hemlock Saga #1)

“It’s not entirely damning on its own,” Avery answered, looking around. “Though the fact I do not see him present in the crowd at all anymore is…curious.”

“The plot thickens,” whispered Saga, which was when she noticed Mr. Bowen tentatively approach them.

“Excuse me,” he said with a polite smile. “I don’t mean to interrupt you, but—are you Saga Trygg?”

Saga smiled at her name, but the confusion was apparent. “Have we met before, Mr. Bowen?”

“Ah, no, you don’t know me,” said Mr. Bowen. “I am Ms. Goff’s executor. I recognize you from the pictures your grandmother gave us for the funeral.” He scanned the room briefly. “I was hoping to see Saoirse again, but I assume this proved to be too much for her.”

A moment of dread passed over Saga, knowing the conversation that was looming on the horizon. “Did… Do you know her?”

He smiled, genuinely. It was the sort of smile you hope you never see when you must be the bearer of bad news.

“I would not dare to call us friends, but we crossed paths rather frequently—she was helping Eira tie up some personal affairs. After Eira passed she was integral to helping us gather memorabilia and photographs for today. I still have a rather large box full of ones we didn’t quite have room for.

I will need to talk to her next week about Eira’s estate, but perhaps I can send you home with the box for her? ”

“Em…” This made things more complicated. “I can take the photos…”

It did not take strong powers of observation to see the discomfort and dread in Saga’s face. “Is Saoirse all right?”

Saga glanced from the lawyer to the detective at her side. The news of her grandmother’s passing had not broken, but surely it was not a secret, was it? Finding reassurance in Avery’s expression, she took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Bowen, I’m afraid my grandmother passed away.”

He did not speak. He did not move. He was suspended in time with the stillness of a deer too petrified to move. “What?”

“Two days ago,” Saga confirmed softly.

“No.” His back straightened. “No, that’s… That’s impossible. I saw her just earlier this week.” Reese Bowen searched both their expressions as if he’d find proof that this was some strange sort of joke. Finding nothing but sincerity, he only became increasingly upset. “How?”

Saga’s chest tightened as the memory flashed involuntarily through her mind. “Heart attack.”

He looked confused and hurt. Had he known her grandmother more than he’d let on?

His eyes were wide, the whites accentuated by his dark lashes.

“I’m so sorry,” he offered helplessly. He took a few slow measured breaths and then searched the room with a near-desperate look in his eyes.

“There’s something I should attend to…” He nodded his respects, at a loss.

“Again, I am…so sorry.” It felt like more than a platitude of courtesy.

Saga and Avery watched him walk away, stopping abruptly in front of Elis as if seeing him for the first time. They could not make out what passed between the two men, but Reese Bowen’s jaw looked tight and his left hand made a white-knuckled fist at his side before both walked out of sight.

“That was strange,” said Saga.

“Very,” agreed Avery.

“Hearing about Mamó’s death hit him a lot harder than I would think someone with a passing professional relationship would take it.”

Avery only nodded. “He seemed angry just now.”

“You think Elis knows something?”

“Possibly.” Avery turned nonchalantly toward Saga so she could eye the other side of the room from her peripheral vision. “Heard quite a bit about him from Eira’s mysteriously missing young lover.”

“Please don’t use that word,” Saga pleaded. “The woman was practically my surrogate grandmother.”

“If that’s too much for your delicate sensibilities, be grateful you didn’t speak with him yourself.”

“What sort of information did you hear?”

Avery casually glanced over the rest of the mourners. No one else was unaccounted for. She could still see the cousin, the rival, the CEO… “He told me about the mysterious death of Elis’s wife and child, and how he’s been rapidly spending through his allowance.”

“Elis is on an allowance?” Saga couldn’t quite keep the judgment out of her tone.

“Did you miss the part where I said mysterious death of his wife and child?”

“We all knew about the plane crash,” said Saga. “It wasn’t mysterious, it was a malfunction. My grandmother went to the funeral. It was awful…” She stopped, realizing why Avery was focused on it. “Do you think somehow Elis might have caused it?”

Avery gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’m not ready to make conjectures about it, I just know the man had a wife who died from unnatural causes, and he’s made a bit of a reputation for himself by spending a lot of money on a new female companion every week.”

Now that was not hard information for Saga to swallow. “He did literally try to pick me up right before the ceremony.”

This clearly stumped Avery. “Why the dickens would he do that?”

Saga’s attention snapped back to the other woman. It wasn’t as if she had delusions that Avery found her even remotely attractive, but that the other woman would be confused how anyone would find her attractive, stung. “Wow.”

Quick to recognize that she had given offense, Avery frowned. “Wait, I am sorry, I fear I’ve misunderstood something.”

Pick up. Physically lift. Avery thought Saga had meant the man tried to lift her up. “Oh! Yes, um. Picking up. It means to hit on—not striking someone, it…flirt? Does that word…translate? Flirt?”

Avery’s eyes alit with dawning realization. “I see, it’s an idiom. He was attempting to court you, or at least play at the idea of courtship, because obviously, you are a beautiful woman.”

Saga was thoroughly unconvinced of this thickly laid-on opinion. “Uh-huh.”

Avery glanced around briefly, confirming Elis and Bowen were still gone. “What did you say?”

Saga made a face. “I’m not hooking up with someone at a funeral. It’s…icky.” It wasn’t the most eloquent of words, but it was the best she had.

“Does seem distasteful,” Avery concurred. “His mother died, we’re in a church.…”

“I know there’s a psychological link between some people’s grief and their libido, but…at the actual funeral? Who does that?”

“More people than either of us realized apparently,” said Avery under her breath.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Avery dismissed. “But Elis Goff may warrant a closer look. As well as our missing paramour. What did you find out?”

“Elis has a bit of a grudge against Eira’s doctor. He also may be on the brink of liver failure from drinking, based on the conversation I overheard.”

Avery raised her eyebrows.

“I may be new at this but I am fully capable of being subtle.” Saga affected a smirk and gestured to herself with a small flourish. “Even with this hair.”

They shared a smile.

“I also learned Eira’s heart condition was linked to her lymphedema and because she died from an apparent heart attack, they didn’t think an inquest was necessary. So it’s possible that body is missing a heart and no one knows.”

Avery maneuvered out from their row of chairs as more of the mourners began to file out. “Only one way to find out.”

Saga caught her arm and spoke in a hurried whisper.

“You can’t just open the casket and do your bay leaf woo-woo on Eira’s body here.

There’s like fifty people around, and in a few minutes, they’re going to take the casket out to the hearse, and then to the crematorium where any evidence, including straw hearts, will be reduced to ash. ”

Avery squinted at her, a little bewildered, a little amused. “Bay leaf woo-woo?”

“You know what I mean,” she hissed. “Maybe if we find out where the body is being cremated…” Her eyes fell upon the funeral director.

“I have an idea…” She crossed the chapel floor to the woman.

“Hi,” she greeted, wringing her hands a little nervously.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but…” She took a small step closer and dropped her voice.

“We just lost my grandmother a few days ago…”

“Oh,” the woman’s face softened in sympathy. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Saga nodded her head, trying to not linger on the thought. “I’m not really sure how any of this works, but this was such a lovely service. Could I ask which funeral home you’re with?”

“Of course,” she said. “That’s why we’re here. My name is Olivia Heilman, I’m with Harney and Jones.” She opened her binder and produced a small black card. “Here, my work number, our address…”

Saga took it gratefully. So far so good. “Thank you.” She examined the casket briefly, weighing how to ask her next inquiry. “I don’t know if this is an awkward question, but do you do cremation in-house? Or is that a partnership with a third party?”

“Not an awkward question at all,” Olivia assured with a practiced warmth. “We provide that service on-site at our facility.”

Saga nodded. “And is there a viewing room?”

“Yes, we can accommodate up to about fifteen people for a viewing if needed.”

Another bob of the head. “And Ms. Goff’s body? Will that be cremated today?”

“The family has scheduled cremation for tomorrow morning, but that viewing will be closed to a small number, I’m afraid.”

“Of course,” said Saga. She held up the business card with a grateful smile.

“Thank you for this. I will be in touch.” She returned to Avery, who now stood near the casket, pretending to be saying her goodbyes, but Saga recognized the calculating look in her eye.

She handed her the card and spoke quietly.

“Body is scheduled to be cremated tomorrow at that address, so it doesn’t buy us a lot of time, but it does negate the need for any immediate theatrics.

” She reached out and rested a hand on the casket, giving it a gentle pat before they both stepped outside to find Reza and Leigh.

“I assume you have a way of getting to it there?”

Avery turned the card over in her hands. “Not particularly legal ones, but I’m sure Detective Lahiri and I will manage.”

They found the detective and his wife hand in hand, waiting for the procession with a few of the other mourners. Reza pulled Leigh closer and gave both Saga and Avery a look that indicated any findings should wait.

The wind had thankfully calmed since their trek inside the chapel that morning.

It still bit coldly, but it was more of an uncomfortable breeze than anything.

They waited a few minutes, perhaps ten or so, for the rest of the mourners to file out.

Next came the pallbearers provided by the funeral home.

There were only two of them as the casket had been fitted onto a wheeled contraption.

It had been covered with a drape and a flower arrangement placed over it.

Elis preceded the casket, and, after clearing the doorway, dropped back to walk beside it, his hand on the lid as it was rolled through Pearson Square to the street where the hearse awaited.

Mr. Bowen followed behind the casket, a binder tucked under his arm. As the casket was carefully loaded into the back of the car, he leaned over to say something to Elis.

Elis nodded, and then Mr. Bowen departed, walking toward the side street, presumably not joining the rest of the mourners for dinner.

Avery leaned into Reza and said simply, “We’ll need to follow that hearse.”

“Do you know where they’re going?”

Avery held up the card Saga had given her. “The body is being cremated first thing tomorrow.”

Reza turned to Leigh. “Priyotoma…”44

Leigh shook her head. “Go, love. I’ll be fine.” She reached out to Saga, who took her hand. “Hudsons do best together.”

44 Bengali: Sweetheart. Darling.