Page 52 of Perpetual Potion (Hedgewitch 4)

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’m starting to wonder if that poison was really supposed to be some kind of potion — a love potion.”

She didn’t reply for a few seconds. It wasn’t often that I saw Josie Woodrow flummoxed, but this line of questioning clearly had floored her.

“That’s why you were asking about a secret crush,” she said slowly.

I nodded.

“You’re the only one I know of who does that sort of thing,” she said next. “Of course, there could be someone who’s practicing in secret, and how would any of the rest of us know anything about that?”

Just about what I’d feared, but I’d had to ask. “No one you think might be a more likely prospect than the others?”

Once again, she shook her head. “We’re a conservative little town…but you probably already knew that.” I grinned, and she went on, “If anyone’s dabbling in that sort of thing, they would have done their best to keep their activities hidden. Your being here has put it more out in the open, but that’s different. It’s not like you were born and raised in Globe.”

Didn’t I know it. I had a feeling there were some people who’d continue to point out that little fact to me for the next twenty years.

But I understood what Josie was trying to say. If this really was a case of a potion gone horribly wrong, then the person who’d made it had probably been doing her best to keep her dabbling on the down-low to avoid censure by her neighbors or family or co-workers. The tragic results of her love potion would most likely have made her go even further into hiding.

When I looked at it that way, the whole thing felt impossible. Maybe it would be better to just sit back and let Chief Lewis handle the whole thing.

As soon as the thought passed through my mind, however, it felt completely wrong. Danny had tasked me with finding out who had killed him, and I needed to see this through, no matter what.

Besides, I very much doubted Henry Lewis would even make the connection that this was a love potion gone sideways. I’d recognized the significance of the ingredients in the spilled wine, whereas he was probably still trying to puzzle out how they could possibly be connected.

“Well, thanks anyway, Josie,” I said. “I should probably get back to the store.”

She gave me a sympathetic look. “I wish I could have been of more help.”

“It’s all right,” I replied with a wan smile. “I’ll get to the bottom of this sooner or later.”

“I know you will,” she said.

Her office phone rang then, so I waved goodbye and let myself out as she picked it up.

At least I hadn’t wasted too much of her time.

* * *

The afternoon dragged, but eventually five o’clock rolled around and I was able to lock up and head upstairs to my apartment. I couldn’t even look forward to another evening with Calvin, though, because he wouldn’t be off work until nine at the earliest, thanks to the way he’d started his shift at noon.

Feeling cranky, I changed into my comfiest sweats and turned on the gas fireplace to cheer myself up, even though the day really hadn’t been cool enough to merit that kind of indulgence. My mood must have penetrated Archie’s usual self-absorption, because he jumped up on the armchair after I’d settled myself on the couch and gave me a piercing look.

“You seem out of sorts.”

“I am,” I said. Archie’s might not have been the most sympathetic ear in the world, but at least he was someone to talk to. “I feel like I’m banging my head against a wall trying to figure out who slipped that potion into Danny’s drink.”

The cat’s golden eyes narrowed a bit. “I thought you said he was poisoned.”

“He was…but I don’t think it was on purpose.” Briefly, I explained about the foxglove and how it could have been confused with comfrey during the brewing of a love potion. “But even if it wasn’t made with evil intent,” I went on, “we’re still talking about involuntary manslaughter here. I need to find out who made the stuff.”

“Logic would suggest that whoever was pining for the man must have known him fairly well,” Archie said. “At least, I would think it would be a rare occurrence for someone to go to that much trouble over a stranger.”

“I know,” I replied. “But Josie already told me Danny knew lots of people in Globe — not just because he was born and raised here, but because of his work and all the various organizations he was involved with. It’s not as though he was some kind of hermit.”

Archie licked a paw and then used it to scrub the side of his face. “Maybe so,” he said. “Still, it’s generally people who are around us a good amount of time who develop these sorts of fixations. I had a student once who became so obsessed with me that I had to have her transferred to another teacher’s class.”

“Is that so?” I responded, amused despite myself. Somehow, I had a hard time visualizing a teenage girl developing a crush on someone so fussy and downright annoying.

“Yes,” Archie said, now sounding irritated, as though he’d guessed at the thoughts that had just passed through my mind. “At any rate, I very much doubt that Amelia would have become so obsessed if she hadn’t been in my classroom every day. Make of that what you will.”

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