“You are most welcome, Mr. Collins. I will see you out.”
Whatever was going to happen with Pastor Collins would end up a disaster. The loose page still rested between my fingers. I looked at it. The paper may have been deliberately removed. It contained dates, times, and names. I examined more closely the names on the date of the last full moon. There were only three appointments. First was Frank Churchill at 5:00 p.m. Right underneath him was Wickham at 7:00 p.m. What was he doing on there? My heart pounded in my ears, because beneath Wickham was yet another name I recognized.
Set for 8:00 p.m. was the name of the man saying his goodbyes at the front of our shop at that very moment.
None other than Pastor Firth Collins.
Chapter 7
Iwalkedintothecemetery, Duchess at my feet and a beach bag full of ingredients slung over my shoulder. I took a long sip of my caramel apple cider. A pleasant shudder moved through me. I loved how the syrupy taste suffused through my body and heated me from the inside out. When I was ready, I set the bag on the ground and placed my steaming cup on the bench before focusing my powers.
And summoned Isabella to me.
She appeared, consternation evident on her face. “You sure are taking your sweet time.”
“I’m sorry. Do you have somewhere else to be?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Someone has found their attitude.”
“Always had it. I simply choose when to let it out.” I returned to the bench and picked up my drink, letting it soothe my chilled hands. “Why did you have Lydia deliver the potion to Frank Churchill?”
She scooped Duchess into her arms and scratched behind her ears. A soft smile lit her face. “Ah, Frank. Yes, he’s a regular and so kind, and charming.”
Of course she liked him. What wasn’t to like? He was all those things and more. A pang gripped my chest as I recalled what she wrote about him in her journal. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“I was going to take the potion to him as usual, but the night before my parents decided we needed to have a family dinner. Frank’s delivery was scheduled at the same time and I couldn’t be late with the full moon coming, so I asked Lydia to deliver it for me.”
I sat on the cold stone bench. “And the wolfsbanepotion that you and Lydia brewed? There wasn’t anything wrong with it?”
She shook her head. “I always double check when we finish and there were no problems with this batch. I’m very careful. It has to be precisely right.” She tapped her chin in thought. “No, the wolfsbane potion was perfect. I’m sure of it.”
I didn’t know whether to be frustrated or relieved. An accident could be written off as just that. I opened my bag, located the book, and took out the loose paper. “I discovered a list of your appointments from the day you died.”
“Oh good! You found my journal. Let’s see.”
I held up the page while she looked it over. “Mhmm, Mhmm.” She squinted. “Hmm, that’s new.”
“What?” I asked.
She pointed to Pastor Collins’s name. “I don’t remember making this appointment. He must have contacted me that day.”
What kind of potion would the pastor need at the last minute from someone like Isabella? “Have you prepared anything for him before?”
“No. In fact, how did Pastor Collins know what I was doing? Many of the remedies I concoct are illegal.”Duchess leapt from her arms and went pouncing after something in the grass.
My hands tightened on the paper. Collins hated the lesser Marked, even though he was nothing more than a low-born fae himself. Could he have taken action to punish Isabella for trying to sell prohibited potions? Perhaps it was all a trap. “Pastor Collins was your last stop on your list that night. And he lives in Fairwood Forest. Is there any reason you might walk out there instead of drive?”
“I always meet my clients on foot,” she said. “Cars are too identifiable. I’m too afraid someone will write down my license plate number.”
“So you’d have walked through the forest?”
“Yes. Why is that important?”
I paused, looking at her. She really didn’t remember. “They found your body in Fairwood Forest.”
“Oh.” She stared sadly at her name that had been magically etched onto her gravestone. Despite her body not yet buried there, the fae had used their power to carve it during the vigil. It readHere lies Isabella Ravenswood, Wonderful Daughter Taken Too Soon.
Pastor Collins had opportunity, means to make it look like an attack through his fae magic, and motive to do it. But I wanted to be thorough. “And are you familiar with this individual? George Wickham?”
