Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(35)

I didn’t remember her grandfather—but then, even though I had been coming over to Bedlam since the 1950s for coven activities, I hadn’t ever had much cause to talk to the law.

“Delia, what happened to your father? Who killed him?” While I’d had plenty of chances to talk to her, I really didn’t know her all that well.

Delia paused, then said, “Da was out on a call, checking out reports of suspicious activity on the south side of the island. He radioed in that he was on the trail of something that—in his words—‘looks mighty suspect.’ That was the last they heard from him. When a couple of the detectives went out to check on why he wasn’t answering the radio, they found him dead. No signs of struggle, but it wasn’t of natural causes, either.”

“Did they ever ascertain the cause of his death?”

“Yes, but that led to its own cascade of unsolved questions. The medical examiner discovered that he was poisoned. But even though the doc went over his body with a fine-tooth comb, he couldn’t find any marks to indicate a bug bite or snake bite. The venom was still in his system but didn’t match anything on record. Whatever it was, was highly toxic and would have killed him within seconds of being administered. Da…was just…dead. There was nothing to indicate suicide, and the case is still open and deemed suspicious, but nobody ever found out what happened.”

I wanted to ask if that was why she decided to run for sheriff—to find her father’s killer—but that seemed like prying. If she wanted me to know, she’d tell me.

“Anyway, the reason I’m telling you about all this is so that you’re aware there are undertones to this island. I know you have been coming out here for over sixty years, but Maddy, don’t make the mistake of thinking Bedlam is what it seems on the surface. It’s a wonderful town, and magical and full of friendly people, but there’s always a shadow side.”

“Just like there is to magic,” I murmured. “All right. Find out what you can about Essie and Thornton, and then get back to me. Meanwhile, I’m going to check on Bubba again tonight and start looking through my house for whatever it is that brought the hex in with it. Jordan Farrows said it has to be an object—Dirt Magic needs an anchor.”

As I hung up, my mind was churning. I already knew about undertones and shadow sides, but Delia’s story about her father stuck with me. What could he have found that got him killed?

“Penny for your thoughts,” Sandy said.

“Just musing over something Delia told me. She’s going to do some background checks on Thornton for me, as well as seeing if Essie might be up to anything. Meanwhile, I was thinking. We might want to go down and buy a bug finder—the electronic kind.”

“We might also want to check with Krenshaw’s Magic Supplies. They might have something to find magical bugs as well.”

I stood and stretched. “I’ll grab my keys and we’ll head out. Then let’s take a sweep through the house to see if we can find any eavesdroppers, and maybe—if we’re lucky—whatever is anchoring the hex.”

And with that, we got busy.





Chapter 10





BY THE TIME we had both a wireless bug detector and a magical bug finder, it was almost five-thirty. Of course, we had stopped for a late lunch—and by lunch, I mean shakes and fries. We arrived home to find that Thornton was out. He left a note saying he was on a date and would be home late.

“I’m glad he’s gone,” I mouthed to Sandy as we began our sweep. We silently went through every room, opened every closet, poked under every bed and in every cupboard. An hour later, we were back in the living room.

“Nothing. The house isn’t bugged. That’s one relief. Now I just need to figure out what the anchor is—”

“Anchors work when they’re triggered. Which means whatever it was had to have a point that set it off. Which means either you, or someone in the house, had to have done something that released the magic.” Sandy sat down. “My feet hurt. You sure have a lot of house. I thought mine was big, but the Bewitching Bedlam? Huge.”

My mansion had two stories, not including the attic and basement, and fifteen rooms, not including the bathrooms, the basement, or the attic. Five bedrooms, a maid’s room, the kitchen, butler’s pantry, dining room, living room, laundry, parlor, grand ballroom, office, and the library. The basement had an additional three rooms for storage.

My phone rang and I glanced at the Caller ID. Delia. I answered it as I sat down at the dining room table. “Hello?”

“Maddy? I found out a few things. Brace yourself.”

That didn’t sound good. “What’s up?”

“Thornton was Essie’s favorite boy toy until two weeks ago. He was with her for almost five years. I’m not sure what happened, but he stormed out on her. If she found out that he’s working for you…”

“Yeah.” My stomach roiled. Essie would consider this an act of war, especially if she hadn’t given him the go-ahead to leave. “Crap. Do you know why he left?”

“No, but I do know that once you’re mixed up with Essie, you don’t just walk away. Be careful, Maddy. This isn’t going to go down easy.” She hung up.

I sat back, contemplating my options.