A Taste of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 1) (15 page)

“Adam?” Liana asked in confusion.  She scrunched up her nose as if she was thinking.  Then the lightbulb went on.  “Oh, Adam Burke – duh!” she grinned sheepishly.  “Hmm, I don’t know, he’s alright I guess.  I barely know him.  I don’t have much to do with him.  His car is rarely at the house – I guess he doesn’t spend much time at home.  Guess that’s why his yard was such a mess, huh?”

“But it wasn’t always a mess, right?”

“No, it used to look fine.  I think his wife moved out a while back,” Liana shrugged.  “I suppose the weeds and stuff got away from him around that time.”

“Do you know anything about that?” Clarissa asked eagerly.

“What, you mean about them splitting up?  I hear bits and pieces around the coffee shop sometimes but it’s all probably the same stuff you’ve heard.  You and I both know how gossip spreads like wildfire here in town,” Liana chuckled.

“How can you stand it?” Clarissa groaned, smacking her forehead.  “You and I both know it’s mostly lies and speculation!”  As a reporter, that drove her absolutely batty.  It always had and always would!

“It’s entertaining,” Liana shrugged.  “Plus the coffee is delicious!”

“You’re addicted, admit it,” Clarissa said, struggling to keep her tone light.

“I freely admit it,” Liana giggled.  “Hey I meant to ask, do you need any new landscaping clients?  I’ve got connections,” she bragged.  “I mean, I even managed to set up an appointment with the notoriously hard to catch at home Adam Burke!”

“With any luck I’ll soon have my hands full with the newspaper.  Thanks though.”

“No problem.  Do you want to meet for coffee tomorrow morning?” Liana asked.

“Sorry, I have an appointment tomorrow – with your neighbor, actually.”

“Investing that hard-earned landscaping money, huh?” Liana smiled.

“Something like that,” Clarissa mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“Well feel free to stop by after your appointment.  I’ll be there all day.”

“All day long, huh?  Your coffee addiction is getting worse!”

“Ha!  The neighbor behind me is building a new fence.  The good news is soon I won’t have to see him outside doing modified yoga for seniors in his barely-there swim trunks.  The bad news is the construction crew makes
so much noise
!”

“Ugh, that’s the worst,” Clarissa said sympathetically.

“Yeah, so I’m planning to take my laptop to the coffee shop tomorrow and work from there.”

“Do you really think the coffee shop will be less disruptive than the construction crew?”

“Probably not,” Liana admitted.  “But on the plus side, I’ll get to people watch and eavesdrop!”

Clarissa sighed.  She had hoped Liana would be able to tell her something useful, but her best friend’s knowledge – or lack thereof – about the Burkes wasn’t proving to be helpful at all.  Under different circumstances idle chit chat would be welcome, but right now Clarissa’s mind was racing.  She just needed some peace and quiet so she could think.

“Is everything okay?” Liana asked.

“Lock your door tonight, okay?” Clarissa said.

“I always do,” Liana replied.  “Are you sure you’re alright?” she tried again.

“There’s a murderer on the loose in Sugarcomb Lake,” Clarissa reminded her.  “I’m positive the wrong person has been arrested.  So be on high alert until the real killer is caught, okay?  Lock your door tonight and don’t open it for anyone.”

Liana looked from Clarissa to the pepper spray and back again.  “You’re not going to do anything dangerous, are you?” she asked anxiously.  “Don’t let your investigation take priority over your safety.”

“I’ll be careful,” Clarissa assured her.  “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.  And good luck with whatever you’re doing!”

“Thanks.”

After Liana was gone, Clarissa locked the door.  Then she walked over to the couch on leaden legs.  As excited as she was to confront Adam Burke, she was also really nervous.  She hoped she wasn’t about to do something monumentally stupid. 

“This is totally, completely, monumentally stupid,” Clarissa grumbled the next morning as she prepared for her appointment with Adam Burke.  She felt like a massive idiot, and the cat’s judgmental staring wasn’t helping matters any.

She was standing at her rarely-used stove whipping up a potion she had found in the book her aunt had given her.  It was supposedly a protection serum that, when consumed, would prevent bodily harm for thirty seconds. 

In theory, one could be slapped, punched or even shot during those thirty seconds and walk away unscathed.  It sounded too good to be true.  But it also sounded like exactly what Clarissa needed to feel brave during her confrontation with a killer.  With any luck, just knowing she had the potion on her would help soothe her frazzled nerves.

If Clarissa was being totally honest with herself, she was all kinds of nervous about confronting Adam.  She had therefore decided she needed to take every precaution possible.  So there she was, stirring up something awful.

As per the instructions, she had thrown the half dozen strange, smelly ingredients in a saucepan.  Then she had turned the burner onto low heat.  After a few minutes, the concoction had begun to warm up – and that was when Clarissa had begun to have regrets.

Her entire house stunk like perfume-marinated rotting fish.

“This can’t be right…can it?” Clarissa asked the cat.

The four-legged terror abruptly turned around and left the room, likely to go claw at the curtains or shed on the couch.  Apparently the contents of the saucepan were too stinky to endure.  And the worst part was Clarissa was expected to consume the nauseating concoction!  How would she even manage to keep that vile brew down?

In desperation, she found the phone number her aunt had left with her.

Matilda answered on the third ring.

“I figured you’d be calling one of these days,” the black sheep of the Spencer family chuckled.  “Have you been enjoying your newfound powers?”

“I…guess?” Clarissa replied uncertainly.  “I’ve been experimenting with a few of the potions in that book you gave me.  I’m actually working on one right now.  It’s that protection one from page nine,” she began.  It still felt bizarre to discuss magic so casually, as if one was talking about the weather or what to make for lunch.

“Ah yes, that one,” Matilda said knowingly.  “What about it?”

“It’s just…it really, really stinks,” Clarissa admitted.  “I’m wondering if I messed up.”

Matilda laughed airily.  “I remember the first time I made that potion,” she recalled.  “It’s vile, isn’t it?  The good news is that if it smells unbearable, I’m pretty sure you’ve done it right.  But of course, the best way to confirm that is to do a test.”

“Do a test?” Clarissa repeated doubtfully.  “You mean like, drink it?”

“Yes.”

Clarissa looked over at the saucepan on the stove with trepidation.  “Does it taste as bad as it smells?” she asked her aunt, fearing she already knew the answer. 

“Worse!” Matilda chirped brightly.  “But you’ll learn soon enough that sometimes that’s simply the price you have to pay.  After you’ve dabbled with The Magic for a while, you will come to understand that certain spells come with consequences.”

Clarissa swallowed hard.  “Consequences?” she asked nervously.

“Yep – as best I can tell, the universe has a warped sense of humor,” Matilda explained cheerfully.  “I think the powers that be like to look down on us and chuckle at the lengths we go to for magic.  But don’t worry:  the most likely consequence of the protection serum is that you’ll bring it back up.”

“Lovely.”

“Try not to,” her aunt advised.  “You need to keep the brew down for it to be effective.”  Matilda trailed off for a moment, seemingly distracted.  Then she said, “I hate to cut this conversation short but I’m actually about to go teach a workshop.”

“Is it a workshop on witchcraft?” Clarissa asked curiously as she tried to imagine the sort of crowd that might bring out.  She immediately had a mental image of a roomful of eccentrics just like Nora the town weirdo.  The prospect was rather intriguing.

“No, silly,” Matilda laughed.  “I’m a history instructor at Green City College.  Clearly we have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we?  Why don’t you come into the city one night next week and I’ll cook you dinner.”

“You’re not going to serve me protection potion, are you?” Clarissa joked.

“Not unless you need protection!” Matilda replied.  “Everything
is
okay, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I’ve just been dabbling with a few recipes lately,” Clarissa fibbed.  It was a half-truth.

“Promise you won’t rely too much on the potions yet, okay?  You’re still a novice,” Matilda cautioned.  “Don’t drink the protection potion and then go jumping off a building or anything just to see what happens.  Mistakes happen!  Practice makes perfect.”

“Okay, I promise not to jump off any buildings – until I’ve practiced more,” Clarissa vowed with a snicker.  She couldn’t imagine ever wilfully jumping off a building.  She didn’t even like climbing onto the second rung of her stepladder to change burned out lightbulbs!

“Gotta go, call you soon, bye!” Matilda blurted out quickly.

“Bye,” Clarissa said to the dial tone ringing in her ear.

The cat wandered back into the room and looked up at her curiously.

“What, you came in here to watch me drink the potion?” Clarissa asked accusingly.

If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the cat was smirking at her.

Clarissa grabbed a spoon out of the silverware drawer and approached the bubbling brew on the stove cautiously.  Dipped the spoon in, swirled it around a few times and then took a deep, reluctant breath. 

As the cat looked on with great interest, Clarissa raised the spoonful of pure grossness to her lips.  She blew on the putrid brownish-gray guck until it cooled.  Then she opened her mouth wide…and gagged as the rancid fumes invaded her nostrils.

“This is crazy,” Clarissa declared, dropping the spoon back into the saucepan.

The cat looked disappointed.

“I’ll take it along with me,” Clarissa decided.  She retrieved a coffee thermos from the cupboard and carefully poured the potion into it.  She grimaced before screwing the lid on.  “I’m probably going to have to throw this thermos out, aren’t I?”

“Meow,” the cat yowled.  It was sitting in front of the door now, scratching at the wooden frame.

“Hey, stop!” Clarissa scolded her furry roommate.  “That’s what your scratching post is for!”

When it had become apparent that the cat wasn’t leaving, Clarissa had scrounged up every spare penny she could find.  Then she had purchased the essentials:  a litterbox, a scratching post and a few cat toys.  She had even sacrificed buying a few packages of cookies in order to make the ungrateful critter as comfortable as possible.

No good deed went unpunished.

The litterbox was rarely used.  The good news was that it didn’t require cleaning very often.  The bad – and disgusting – news was that the cat preferred to leave “presents” for Clarissa outside in the garden.  Apparently the cat considered the flowerbed to be one giant litterbox.

The scratching post had
never
been used.  Instead, the cat had taken to scratching up various pieces of furniture.  Clarissa hated to sound paranoid, but she very much suspected the cat was doing that to assert its authority over her.  Stupid psychopathic felines…

Like the scratching post, the cat toys had basically been ignored.  The cat had, however, enjoyed the packaging they had come in.  Apparently there was nothing more exciting in the world than brown paper bags and empty boxes. 

Clarissa had decided to consider that a partial victory on her part. 

She would take what she could get.

The cat scratched at the door even more insistently. 

“Oh no, I’m going to be late!” Clarissa gasped suddenly.

There wasn’t even time to brew up a magical potion of some sort to grant her extra time.

She grabbed her keys, purse and the thermos of protection serum.  Then she raced out the door and hopped into her car.  She would have to drive
very
aggressively to make it all the way to Green City in time for her appointment.  Whoops!

“What good is being a witch if I don’t even get to fly around on a broom?” Clarissa grumbled under her breath, mostly joking.  “Isn’t that a thing?” she wondered as she tried to recall everything Saturday morning cartoons had taught her about witches.  She still had no idea how much of that was fact and how much was fiction.

She glanced at the house as she was backing out of the driveway and saw the cat in the window staring at her.  She waved.  It knocked over a potted plant in response.  It didn’t seem surprised by the dirt that had spilled everywhere, so the move had probably been deliberate.  What a brat.

The drive to Green City seemed to fly by.  It probably didn’t hurt that Clarissa tended to have a very heavy foot when it came to her gas pedal.  Thankfully, she managed to make it to the city without getting pulled over for speeding. 

As she sat in the parking lot outside Black & Burke Investors, Clarissa felt her anxiety build.  She stared up at the office building with a knot in her stomach.  She had no idea what was going to happen.  She felt like a sheep about to walk into the lion’s den.  She hoped she wasn’t about to be slaughtered!

“It’s show time,” Clarissa said with determination.  Then she got out of her car and prepared to confront Adam Burke face-to-face about the crimes he had committed.