“Hopefully, he doesn’t have a second set,” Mr. Butler said, scowling. “Those Phleabottoms … I mean, Aloysius … is slippery.”
Andy jerked up to stand, as if to run outside, but then he flinched and put a hand on his ribs. “If he does, we’ll catch him. I can only do what I can do. Jack picked a bad time to be out of town, Tess.”
I privately agreed, but that wasn’t fair. “Andy, he’s not a cop. And he’s made it clear, over and over again, that he doesn’t want to be a cop or deputy or even FBI agent. I think he put in his time in the war, don’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. He’s just awfully handy in dangerous situations. I hope Deputy Underhill calls me back soon.”
“I hope she’ll still want to take the job, after she finds out her potential new boss in a murder suspect,” Susan muttered.
Andy perked up. “Take the job?”
“I didn’t have time to tell you. We got some … unexpected funding, so we can hire another full-time deputy. I was thinking Underhill would be perfect,” Susan told him. “I won’t hire anyone without your agreement, though. I was going to bring it up tomorrow during our weekly lunch.”
Relief shone in Andy’s eyes. “That would be great! I like her a lot for the job. She’s young, but she has a good head on her shoulders. We saw that at Christmas. And she’s good with people, not a blowhard like some of the temp deputies we’ve had in here.”
“Good. You can hire her when I’m in jail for murdering my aunt.” Susan put her head in her hands, ending the conversation.
The kettle whistled, and I made tea for everyone and put sugar in it for the shock.
Mr. Butler shook his head. “Thanks, Tess, but I don’t care for—”
“I don’t care for one of my best friends to have to deal with dangerous magical objects, bespelled godfathers, evil cousins, or murdered aunts, Mr. Butler. Drink your tea!”
He drank his tea.
Susan grinned; the first sign of light in her personal darkness that I’d seen in a while. “You can be a little scary, Tess.”
“Thank you. Now, what do we do next?”
* * *
Turns out there’s not a lot a civilian can do at a murder scene. The crime scene people and the coroner showed up, then the extra deputies showed up. Andy thanked me for coming, but told me to go home.
“Tess, I really appreciate you, but you’d just be in the way now. And, heck, three of the suspects are all staying in this house, so I don’t have to worry about tracking them down. I’m going to put deputies to watch the house. I’m also going to turn Dead End upside down to find Henrietta Quirksley. If what she told you was the truth, or even a version of it she believes, she just soared to number one on my suspect list.”
Susan broke away from a conversation she’d been having with the coroner and walked over to us. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you. Or how sorry I am for yelling at you today. I haven’t been myself since all this started …”
An epiphany smacked me in the face. “Susan? Is it possible that the magical objects are emanating some kind of evil brain waves?”
“What?”
The coroner—a man I’d never met before—strolled over. “Couldn’t help overhearing. The study of magical artifacts is a hobby of my wife’s. I can tell you for a fact that proximity can cause negative effects mentally, emotionally, and even physically.”
“Does your wife know of anybody who could help me figure out how to destroy this stuff? Or even neutralize it?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask her, but I don’t want my wife anywhere near this stuff. One of our crime-scene techs is attuned to magic, and she’s outside throwing up in your bushes. There’s powerful negative energy in that room, Sheriff. You’d best get rid of it as soon as you can, for your own sake.”
“Believe me, I intend to,” she said firmly.
“Okay, I guess I’m heading home,” I said, curiously unwilling to leave. I wasn’t sure what I thought I could accomplish that all the official people in the house couldn’t, other than make tea for everyone, but I felt guilty, like I was abandoning Susan when she needed me.
Outside, both of us looked to see if Ish’s car was still there. It was. So, whatever he was up to, he was probably still around. I felt bad for automatically suspecting him. It was his mom, after all. Even though they’d had a tense relationship, from what I’d seen, that didn’t mean it would be easy to kill your own mother.
I pushed all thoughts of Aloysius Phleabottom out of my mind. The people with the professional law-enforcement training would figure this one out.
Susan followed me out to my car and hugged me again. “Thank you so much, Tess. And I meant to ask if Jack’s okay. I know he had to leave town.”
“The crystal ball!” I blurted out. “That thing surely has negative magic or vibes or whatever. I need to get it over here and put it inside the salt circle, too.”
