Page 23 of Magic Blooms
“So either we’re wrong about the ricin being the culprit, or someone used magic to speed up the process.” Jasmine’s words hung thick in the air.
Now that we suspected both magic and plants were involved, I was looking more and more suspicious. I didn’t want to give my new friends time to doubt me. They needed somewhere else to look, and fast.
“We should ask Art about it,” I blurted out.
Lorraine and Jasmine both looked to me with puzzled expressions. “How do you know about Art?”
“When Joshua and I questioned Gerry, he said Art would know the cause of death. And that if we gave Art a few drinks, then he would tell us whatever we needed to know. And possibly some things we never wanted to know, too.”
“You questioned Gerry?” Jasmine asked with an amused chuff. She seemed entirely too happy about this, and the attention just made me uncomfortable.
“I wanted to protect Lorraine. If Gerry did this, then he needs to be punished.”
Lorraine let out a peal of laughter. “Honey, I don’t need your protection.”
“Your dead guest begs to differ,” countered Jasmine drolly.
The elderly innkeeper glared at both of us. “I don’t like how you two keep throwing that back in my face.”
“Assuming that we’re right about how she died, the better question is who would want her dead? Is it a way to get at Lorraine? Did someone have something against Karen? Or is this related to the other bombshell we’ve been given?” Jasmine pressed her lips in a tight line and widened her eyes.
“Bombshell?” I asked, not understanding the use of this word.
They both glanced to me with unblinking eyes.
Oh, now I understood.
“Me? You think I did this?” I faltered as I took a defensive step back.
“I can say with a good amount of confidence that, no, you did not do this,” answered Lorraine quickly. “But that doesn’t mean this isn’t related to you. We still don't know who sent you here or why. Or whether you were followed.”
“I… But I…” I winced and shook my head. If I told them my theory that I’d wound up here for a reason, that I was meant to help solve this, they’d both look at me like I was crazy. And I couldn’t take that right now. “I’ve already told you that I wasn’t sent here by anyone. This is all nothing but one big accident.”
Lorraine seemed unconvinced, but she still didn’t appear to be blaming me, either. “Okay, hun. Whatever you say.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a deep sigh. I needed to come clean about my plans, so that they knew exactly where I stood and for how long. “I still want to get back home as soon as possible, but I’d like to stay until after we solve this.”
I turned toward Lorraine, begging her to understand the purity of my intentions. “You’ve been so good to me in my short time here. I hate the idea of leaving you alone.”
“I’m not alone,” pointed out Lorraine. “I have guests all the time.”
“You don’t have any now,” said Jasmine with a deadpan expression.
“Would you two just hush up? The police will give me the all clear in a day or two, and then I’ll be accepting guests again. This is a tragedy, no doubt about it, but I’ve got a mortgage to pay. I can’t take an indefinite leave. Of course, I’ll have to let the next round of guests know what happened and offer them a discount. I can’t expect the gossips in this town to keep their traps shut about something so juicy. Still, even if it’s not quite enough, I need to make at least some money somehow. So shut your traps already.” She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling with each new breath.
“When is the full moon?” I interjected, trying to take some of the pressure off from my friend.
“It’s in two nights,” said Jasmine with a distracted nod. “I should have all the ingredients we need by tomorrow. But as a reminder, I’ve never done this particular ritual before. There’s a chance we’ll fail and you’ll be stuck here for another month while I work out the kinks.”
A full month more? The thought wasn’t entirely unbearable, but it wasn’t ideal, either. Already I was changing in ways that no one could have predicted. If I stayed too long, I doubted I’d be able to return to my normal life back home. I was different. I’d continue to get more and more so. Would Dante want a changed Pollyiela? Would my family?
I took a deep breath and locked eyes with Lorraine. “All right then. I guess that means I have two days to solve Karen’s murder. So what do we do next?”
ten
Although Joshua didn’t live far from Fox’s End, the land surrounding his home felt worlds apart. In fact, the ground was so moist that the trees seemed to be melting into it.
The entire region had been claimed by a variety of buzzing and blood-sucking bugs, all of which were only too happy to grab onto me and rest for a while. A few landed bites, too.
