“Scout’s honor.” Riley held up a hand.
We made it back to my house, but since I couldn’t bring myself to go inside, I settled on the porch swing, and Riley sat next to me. I started at the beginning, skipping over my theory about Graham cheating since that was all it was—a theory. When I got to the part at the bookstore, I pulled the bag from my purse and showed it to him as I told him about the potion-laced cookie I’d given Graham. “The love potion one would’ve lasted for a week, but the veritas potion was only for a day. It was just supposed to be a way to get some answers. No one was supposed to get hurt.”
He was already shaking his head before I finished. “This isn’t your fault, Kitty.”
I sniffed again, and the swing creaked under us as we moved. “You don’t know that. It could be.” But hearing him say it made me feel better than when Elaine had said it.
“No, it couldn’t. I’m confident you did nothing wrong,” Riley said. “Besides, the police mentioned poison, and you didn’t put any poison in your cookies.”
“You don’t know me, but I have a history of messing up, especially when it matters.” The cool air slithered beneath his coat and whispered accusations against my skin. Another shiver raced through me. “What if my spell somehow went wrong, or I combined the ingredients incorrectly and it caused some sort of reaction that killed Graham?”
Riley handed me a thermos hanging from a strap around his chest. “Here,” he said, handing it to me. “This’ll warm you up.”
I took a small sip and winced. It was plain black coffee, but it was warm, and Elaine’s cider felt like ages ago. I stopped after another sip, not wanting it to make my magic jittery. In the distance, the church bell tolled nine times.
Riley reached for me, hesitated, then put a hand over mine. “I might not know you that well, but your sister does. And Lizzy told me you’re the best in the family at potions.”
My mouth fell open. “She said that?”
He nodded.
I stared down at the bag of cookies in my lap while his words settled around me like a warm blanket. I wanted to accept them, to pull them close and snuggle into their warmth, but what if he was wrong? Was I only trusting him because he was saying what I wanted to hear?
“Even if you made a mistake with this potion, I’m sure it wouldn’t have turned poisonous and killed him.” His serious gaze met mine. “My instincts tell me it wasn’t you, and I listen to my instincts.”
I bit my lip, wishing I’d learned to listen to mine. Then maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess. “There’s no way to prove it wasn’t me.”
“Well, there is one way,” he said. “Let me see that bag of cookies.”
I passed it to him, hope pounding wildly in my chest. “How?”
“Like this.” He reached in and grabbed a chunk of a bat cookie, then popped it into his mouth.
Chapter 4
“No!”IreachedforRiley, but he’d already swallowed a bite of the bat-shaped sugar cookie.
He licked his finger and looked at me. “Good flavor.”
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” My words slipped out in a horrified whisper.
“I’ve proved that you didn’t kill that guy,” he said. “Or I will once I don’t die.”
“No, you ate the wrong cookie. That was the love potion cookie, which isn’t going to prove anything.”
“My bad.” He popped a piece of the veritas-laced ghost cookie into his mouth.
I snatched the bag back, shoving it in my purse. “Why would you do that? You hardly even know me.” I watched him for any signs that something would go wrong.
“Because there’s a story here, and my gut keeps leading me to you. Not because I think you’re guilty,” he hurried to add as I opened my mouth, “but because you’re involved somehow.”
Would he be this open about things if he hadn’t just eaten that veritas potion that was making him be more truthful? Then again, he’d been pretty forthright before. Maybe he was just an honest guy. Not that any of that would matter if my cookies killed him.
“I think you can help me solve this case,” he said.
“I don’t know if I should.” Actually, I didn’t know if Icould. I kicked the swing back and forth, gazing out at the yard where shadows stretched ominously across the ground.
“I believe you’re innocent, but things still don’t look good for you.” Riley took my hand, his calloused palm rough against mine. “The best thing you can do to clear your name is to figure out what happened to Graham, and I think we could be a good team.”
