A Charming Crime (6 page)

Mr. Prince
Charming ran ahead of us. I turned on all the lights as we walked down the old
hallway into the kitchen. There was still confusion about everything that had
happened today. Mostly I was upset because of the way I had talked to Ann. It
didn’t help matters that the snow globe made me feel crazy. And Ding Dong’s
made me feel better.

I grabbed a
couple of extra ones out of the box, one for Mr. Prince Charming and one for
Oscar.

“Thanks.” Oscar
peeled back the foil wrapper, and shoved the entire chocolaty delight into his
mouth. “Mmmm.”

He was still the
same old Oscar as he was when we were ten years old. He introduced me to Ding
Dongs. Oscar’s uncle always had the best junk food, where Darla refused to
bring the “poison” chemicals into the house, much less our bodies.

I’d sneak out
and meet Oscar under the big oak tree on the side of his house, out of view of
Darla in case she got up and looked outside, and we’d eat an entire box. Or I
guess I should clarify, I’d eat an entire box while Oscar laughed.

“I don’t know
about moving to Whispering Falls. Even your uncle doesn’t think it’s a good
idea.” I bit a small piece off, ran my finger along the cream filling and
licked it off. “There is something strange going on in that town.”

“I’m a cop. I’ve
checked it out and everything is fine. There hasn’t been a crime committed
there in years.” Oscar helped himself to a glass of milk. “Uncle Jordan is just
watching out for us because we are like. . .family. We’ve got to stick
together.”

Oscar was right.
We didn’t really have any family, and I didn’t consider Mr. McGurtle family,
even though he seemed to put his nose in my business.

“It’s just so
weird there.” It was hard to concentrate on any conversation with the Ding Dong
in my hand. I savored every bite. “Granted, I don’t make a lot of money at the flea
market, but it pays for what I need.”

Thank God, Darla
had the house paid off. I have no clue how she made ends meet. I always had
everything I wanted and she rarely said no, unless it was unhealthy or harmed someone.
Plus most of her cures didn’t work. Or that’s what I found out after she died.
That was when I vowed to take over and make her remedies better.

“Who is going to
buy my remedies, and how in the world will I ever afford one of those shops?” I
shrugged. Did Darla still own the shop? Or did I now own it?

That was
definitely something I hadn’t thought about.

My thoughts were
interrupted by a knock at the door.

Puzzled, Oscar
and I looked at each other. No one ever knocks in Locust Grove, especially with
the screen door open. Everyone from Locust Grove knew you yell into the house,
not knock.

Meow, meow.
Mr. Prince
Charming greeted the unfamiliar man at the door. His round brimmed hat shaded
his face, but I could tell he meant business by his long black overcoat and the
briefcase he clutched.

“Hello, can I
help you?” I asked the gentleman. Oscar stood behind me. Oscar looked funny in
his uniform. Sort of all grown-up. Regardless, I was glad he was there and was
wearing it.

“I’m Alexelrod
Primrose, a realtor from out of town.” He coughed, and flashed his business
card. I opened the screen door to take it. “And I have clients moving to the
area. This is exactly the house the type of house they are looking for.” He
curled his nose while looking around. “I wanted to know if you’d be interested
in selling.”

He held up a
sheet of paper with a checklist.

I wanted to ask
him if she smelled something funny, but Oscar was too busy asking Mr. Alexelrod
Primrose to come in.

Oscar crossed in
front of me and held the screen door open. Mr. Primrose walked in. Oscar took
him into the family room where Alexelrod made himself comfortable on the couch.

“Last time I
checked, this was
my
house.” I shoved past him.

“This
is
your answer. Our answer.” He moved in front of me, coming nose to chest. A hard
chest.

Slowly, my eyes
followed up to his crystal baby-blues, only to confirm my childhood best friend
had indeed grown into a man; something I hadn’t gotten use to or never took the
time to notice.

“I don’t know,”
I whispered and bit my lip. There was something exciting about selling it, and
moving so I could find the answers to all the unanswered questions about Darla
and my dad. I could probably dig around and find out without moving there. My
intuition, which had never pointed me in the wrong direction, told me to go for
it.

“Think about it.
It’s what Darla would call fate.” Oscar reminded me of the free spirit Darla
possessed. When things worked out, she’d call it fate. “She had a store there,
and now you’ve found it.”

“Or they found
me,” I whispered, thinking back to everything Ann had said about Izzy looking
for me. Well. . .that’s what my intuition told me.

“You know,” I
paused, and then peeked in at Mr. Primrose, “you’re right. I don’t have
anything to lose. If I don’t like it, I will move back. Just not in this
house.”

“Whispering
Falls won’t know what happened to them.” Oscar laughed and pulled out a packet
from the inside pocket of his uniform jacket.
No they won’t know what
happened to them when I start snooping around.

“Izzy told me
that we have to fill out a membership form and it goes before their city
council.” He shoved the packet toward me.

I took the
papers.

“We have to
apply to live in Whispering Falls?” Quickly, I thumbed through the papers and
read a couple of the strange questions.

“Izzy said it’s
just a formality and we will be fine.” Oscar nudged me toward the family room.
“Don’t keep Mr. Primrose waiting.”

Before I knew
what was happening, I signed on Mr. Primroses’ dotted line. Not only did his client’s
check list include every single characteristic of my house, it included a real
check for far more money than my house and Mr. McGurtle’s house were worth
combined.

“Bye.” I waved to
Mr. Primrose as he left. I turned to look at Oscar who was still in disbelief
with the offer, and I waved the check underneath his nose. “Mr. Primrose is my
new best friend.”

“He’s mine too.”
Oscar raised his eyebrows when he saw the number on the check. “You don’t have
to worry about not being able to afford anything for a while.”

He was right. I
could really try to make a go of A Dose of Darla in Whispering Falls. There was
even enough money to make a real lab and order new herbs for different cures.

That was going
to have to wait, because first stop on my list was Mystic Lights. I wanted to
get a better look at Madame Torres. Maybe buy her with my new found money.

Chapter
Six

The next couple
days I spent cleaning the house and getting ready for the new chapter in my and
Mr. Prince Charming’s life. All the crazy things that had happened in
Whispering Falls were still fresh in my mind. Several times I resisted jumping
into the Green Machine and heading toward Mystic Lights. I didn’t want to bring
more attention to myself, so I knew I had to wait and fit in before I could
show up and start asking questions.

Sadly, my former
life fit into three boxes. Darla was never one to keep any type of memories.
She said that the best memories were the ones stored in your head and heart,
not on paper or photographs. Though I wouldn’t have minded a photograph or two
of us, a crayon drawing from preschool, or even a report card that showed I was
a straight A student. Or something from our time in Whispering Falls. Anything.

Before closing
up the last box, which was mostly Darla’s, I took out of her collection some
incense and held a few of them under my nose. Those were certainly annoying
when I was younger, but reminded me of Darla. My heart ached. I wondered how
she would feel about me moving to Whispering Falls. Or why had she never
mentioned the town to me? I put the incense back in the box and closed it.

I let out a big
sigh
, three little boxes.
I felt for my lucky charm bracelet. That was
definitely a memory I’d never forget.

“Oh, no.” I
looked down when I didn’t feel it. Panic filled my gut, instantly making me
sick. It was gone. “Oh, no!”

Frantically, I
pushed the three boxes along the floor to see if the bracelet had dropped
between them while I was packing. Dropping to my knees, I crawled around the
house looking for any signs of the bracelet.

I had always planned
to buy a real charm bracelet that fit, but Oscar was so proud when he had given
it to me, it was hard to make good on getting a real one.

I tore into each
box, dumping the contents all over the family room floor, clothing, a few pairs
of shoes, some knick-knacks, incense, and cat toys, but no turtle charm or
bracelet.

“Are you ready?”
Oscar hollered through the screen door.

We had made a
pact to leave Locust Grove together.

I didn’t answer
him. I couldn’t. In fact, I opened my mouth, but nothing came out by a god
awful cry. If I didn’t know better, I thought my heart had stopped.

“I told you to
pack your stuff and I’d be by this morning.” Oscar shook his head in disbelief.
“I can’t believe you haven’t packed yet, June. What is wrong with you?”

Slumping down on
the old couch, I buried my head in the cushion. There was no way I was going to
be able to leave without finding my bracelet. There was a knot in my gut. My
intuition told me there was something wrong. . .definitely wrong.

“Don’t tell me
you’ve changed your mind?” Oscar sat down next to me. He didn’t touch me, but
for the first time I needed to be comforted. At this point, I’d even let Mr.
McGurtle comfort me. “It’s going to be good. You sold this house, furniture and
all, and you will really get to work on your remedies.”

As if he knew
what I needed, Mr. Prince Charming jumped up and dragged his tail under my
nose, causing me to giggle from the tickle.

Meow
, his rough
tongue licked the tear that ran down my cheek. In that moment, I knew
everything was going to be okay.

“What’s with
him?” Oscar asked.

“He’s letting me
know everything is going to be fine.” I dangled my arm in the air. “I lost my
bracelet, I’m having nightmares, and Mr. Prince Charming has been getting out
of the house at night.”

The past couple of
nights I’ve been waking up and finding him on the porch, like he was keeping
guard, which was nothing like him. I was sure I had put him in bed with me, but
my nightmares were getting more and more graphic.

“Same
nightmare?” His deep blue eyes dripped with worry. “Drowning or something?”

“Yeah, something
like that.” I really tried to see the face of the person who was being
strangled under the water, but I’d wake up just as the body would turn.

“I will leave a
note for Mr. Primrose to tell the new owners to look out for my bracelet.” I
put my things back in the boxes, and was ready to leave.

I paused when we
made it to the front porch and I glanced over at Mr. McGurtle’s place. I hadn’t
seen him since I told him I was leaving. He made it clear he wasn’t happy when
he said he had promised Darla he’d watch over me, and my leaving town wasn’t in
Darla’s plan.

“Plans change.”
I shrugged him off and gave him what few details I had about Whispering Falls.
He’d actually heard of it through Darla and seemed a bit taken aback when I
told him that Darla had a shop there and I was going to take it over.

Granted, she
hadn’t been there for years, but I was ready.

Izzy, as Isadora
liked to be called, had gotten me in touch with Bellatrix Van Lou, the owner of
Bella’s Baubles, the only jewelry store in Whispering Falls. She had a small
house I could rent until I found something to fit my needs.

On the way into
the village, I motioned out of the Green Machine’s window for Oscar to go
ahead. He was going to start his police duties today, and I was going to give
Bella my first month’s rent.

Bella’s Baubles
was like all the other stores in Whispering Falls. A quaint cream cottage with
a pink wood door that was adorn with different colored jewels. The sun hit each
jewel just right, showing its brilliant color.

I got out of the
El Camino. Before I could tell Mr. Prince Charming to stay put, he was already
doing figure eights around my ankle.

The store hours
were painted on the sign that dangled from the stone casing.
Morning to
night.
I was definitely morning.

“Come on,” I
told him and walked up to the store. The door was incredibly heavy, I had to
push with both hands.

Once inside, there
was a small entry way that led to two other doors. One of them had a mailbox on
it and the other had Bella’s sign on it.

Ding, ding.
The bell above
the door swayed back and forth.

“I’ll be right
with you.” The voice came from the woman who was bent behind the glass counter.
I could see her hand working in the case. She laid out pieces of jewelry by
color. “I just got some new charms in and I wanted to get them out before the
rush.”