Page 75 of The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic & Murder (The Hemlock Saga #1)

“Unimportant.” As she scrutinized his eyelashes, she was able to conclude they were indeed thick but did not appear to be made up of more than one row of lashes.

“Thank you. Just needed to check something.” She gave the rest of the room a once-over with the hagstone.

Nothing. No magic. “How well did you know Elis Goff?”

Benjamin did not miss the wording. “Did?”

“Do,” Avery corrected herself again.

“Did something happen to Elis?” There was a rising panic in Benjamin’s voice, and Avery could sense that she was rapidly approaching another dead end when it came to suspects.

“He’s alive, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Benjamin grew even paler, which Avery had not realized was even possible.

There was no more golden rosy glow to his skin, and he had to sit down on one of the overstuffed couches.

“It wasn’t, I mean, I didn’t realize any other possibility than him being alive was an option.

” He wrapped his arms around his stomach and rocked. “Oh God. What happened to Elis?”

“Liver failure.”

“Oh thank Christ,” said Benjamin, visibly relaxing. “I thought you were going to say he’d been killed too.”

“We do have reason to believe that failure was due to outside influences beyond his control,” offered Avery.

This sent Benjamin spiraling again. “What? How? What does this mean? Oh God, am I next?” He was starting to hyperventilate.

Avery missed Saga. She would have been much better at this. “Benjamin,” she spoke his name with deliberate purpose and energy. She eased herself down onto the couch opposite him so she could meet his eyes. “Breathe. Slowly.” She forced magic into every syllable. It was indelicate, but it worked.

The man forced himself to inhale and exhale at a relaxed pace.

“Now,” she spoke more carefully, maintaining eye contact as he continued his slow in-and-out exercises. “Why would you think someone would be coming for you next?”

Benjamin took a minute before swallowing and attempting to speak again.

“Only a few of us were left with anything—the rest of Eira’s things went to charities or a trust or something.

I’m sure that pissed off a lot of people, and not just Carys.

” He closed his eyes. “But I wasn’t left any money, so what would they want with me?

It’s not like I got anything they’d want. ”

“Who are they, Benjamin?” asked Avery.

“I don’t know. Whoever is doing this—whoever killed Doctor Campbell and tried to kill Elis.

” He opened his eyes and focused on Avery, his voice desperate.

“All I got was this apartment, and there’s nothing special about it, Inspector, I swear.

I’m not ungrateful, but no one should be upset they didn’t get this place.

I can’t even sell it—no one would gain anything from harming me for it.

Especially when Eira had so many other properties.

The only reason I benefit is because I had no place of my own and couldn’t really afford an apartment in London on just my paintings. ”

“So you didn’t plan to contest the will based on what Eira left you?”

Benjamin frowned. “Why would I contest it? And on what grounds would I even do so?”

Avery tried to keep her own skepticism from her expression. “Carys seemed to think there was something about your relationship with Eira that neither of you were willing to admit.”

Benjamin’s nose scrunched in disgust and displeasure at the mention of Carys’s name. “What does that dried-up cow think she knows?”

“She claims you two were never affectionate, even in the privacy of Eira’s home.”

“Well, yeah, not in front of anyone. She didn’t want to make Elis uncomfortable. Eira was a lady. She had needs but she didn’t need to flaunt them in front of everyone.”

“Carys also said you didn’t have anyone outside of Eira.”

Benjamin nodded. “My parents disowned me when I came out as bisexual. They’re very closed-minded about what a man should be.

” He rolled his eyes dramatically and waved a hand.

“In this day and age, honestly, I was more embarrassed for them than hurt.” Avery could tell by the insincere strain in his voice and the way he fidgeted that was a lie.

Still, it was a lie that could have extended only to a feigned nonchalance about his parents’ opinion of him.

“Carys mentioned Eira might have cared for you a little more like she might a son.”

That snapped Benjamin’s attention back to Avery. He choked on a laugh. “What? No. Oh God no, that would be —Look. I get it. She was like sixty years older than me, but trust me, she had the stamina of a woman less than half her age. I had trouble keeping up sometimes.”

He was posturing again.

“So you said.” Avery folded her arms thoughtfully. “And the more details you dish out, the harder it is to believe you’re sincere.”

Benjamin frowned. His shoulders slumped and his chest caved inward as he crumpled over himself.

“Okay,” he said much softer now. “On that, you’re right.

I’m overcompensating. But it’s not what you think.

” He took a breath, digging his nails into his knees, taking a few deep grounding breaths.

“I feel like if I’m crass and making other people uncomfortable, then I don’t have to be uncomfortable, you know?

” His voice cracked and he took another deep breath.

“I did love her. I do love her. I’m not saying she was the love of my life, or my soulmate, or even the person I expected to be with for more than a year or two, but she was special. ”

Avery could hear the way the emotion crept back into his voice, tightening his throat and forcing him to try to clear it a few times.

“We really connected—intellectually, I mean. Physically, sure, but that wasn’t really what made it what it was.

I could listen to her talk about classic art for days—and she really believed in my work, and made me feel beautiful and talented, and like I was something.

” Benjamin sniffed. “And now she’s gone.

Just like that. And while I had no delusions about our life together, I’m struggling to accept that.

” A small sob fought its way out of him and he laughed at it bitterly.

“It hurts, Inspector, is that what you want me to admit?” He wiped at his nose and sniffed a few times.

“It fucking hurts, and it’s easier to focus on a crass comment that will make someone squirm and not look too closely at me than to let myself hurt. ”

Avery spoke her next question very softly. “Would you bring her back if you could?”

The absurdity of it caught Benjamin off guard. “What kind of question is that?”

Avery shrugged. “We’ll call it a hypothetical one.”

Benjamin stared at her through glassy eyes, uncertain of what sort of game or angle this was.

His face gave him away, every thought translated into expression.

He wasn’t just confused, he was frustrated, he was indignant and thinking ‘what possible information could a detective glean from such a hypothetical question?’ “No,” he finally said.

“I wouldn’t bring her back if you paid me. ”

It was the utter certainty that made Avery’s eyebrows raise. “Interesting. Why?”

“She wouldn’t have wanted it,” said Benjamin simply.

“Eira was very… pragmatic about death. It was like she was planning a trip. She wasn’t sure when exactly she would catch her flight, but she was looking forward to it.

She wasn’t scared, she was…ready. Ready to meet Heath on the other side or whatever awaited.

” He sniffed hard. “As much as I loved hearing her talk about art? I loved hearing her talk about Heath even more. It made me believe in love. Like the kind they sing about. I couldn’t bring myself to take that away from her, no matter how much I missed her. Not even hypothetically.”

“As surprised as I am to say it… I believe you.” Avery leaned back into the cushion, realizing she’d hit another dead end.

“But it does leave me at a bit of a loss.” She chewed her lower lip and sat forward again, propping her forearms on her knees.

“Can you think of anything that seemed strange with Eira in the weeks leading up to her death?”

Again, Benjamin’s face clouded with confusion. “Don’t you mean Doctor Campbell’s death?”

“No.”

Benjamin tried to read Avery’s expression but was unsuccessful. “Are they somehow related?”

Avery said nothing.

“How?”

“I can’t talk about potential evidence on a case, surely you know that.” She leaned a little further forward. “But I am running out of time, and have hit my last dead end. There’s a piece missing, and I have to believe it happened before Eira died.”

Benjamin considered this. His eyebrows drew closer together in thought, causing his perfectly smooth brow to crease.

“There was one thing, I guess, now that you ask.” He hesitated.

“But I could be wrong, I mean, I don’t have a clue what it takes to settle an estate, especially not one the size of Eira’s. ”

Avery sat up a little straighter. “What about it?”

“She was meeting with that lawyer twice a week—sometimes more.”

Immediately Avery felt that hope fizzle, and her shoulders slumped again. She sighed and shook her head. “Not unusual at all, especially when you feel like you’re approaching the end of your life.”

“For the past three years?” asked Benjamin.

Avery let this information sink in. Now that was odd. “She was meeting with her lawyer two to three times a week every week for the past three years?”

Benjamin nodded. “I mean, that is weird, right? Doesn’t he have other clients? Why would they need to meet that often?”

“No… They wouldn’t.” Avery mulled this over. “You never let curiosity get the better of you? Never stayed just to see what it might be all about?”