Bewitching Boots (11 page)

“Well, don’t call it boring again.” I had to slow down as he continued walking with my hand through his arm. His tiny little legs couldn’t keep up with my long ones.

“Okay. I get it. You love it here. But you gotta admit the place is a pain in the butt. Too many people and not enough cops. Before you say it, Chase does a great job with what he’s got. He just doesn’t have enough manpower. I’ve suggested to the chief many times that we put uniforms out here. I suppose Chase told you about the job offer.”

“He did.”

“Well?”

I didn’t want to talk to him about what Chase might or might not do. So I changed the subject. “Why haven’t they put officers here?”

He shrugged. “The chief says we lose too many officers that way. You know what’s happened to the officers we’ve put here in the past. I think I have a plan to stop that.”

I laughed. “I know one of them is sailing by us right now as a pirate.”

“Enough of that.” He waved his hand. “What do you think Bill is doing to make those boots of his magic? Drugs? Hypnotism?”

I was glad he didn’t bring up the idea of Chase working directly for the police again. “I don’t know. Nothing was said about magic boots until that woman this morning. Now it’s all anyone can talk about. Maybe you should question her. Bill claims he didn’t hire her to act that way. But maybe he did. It sure helped boot sales.”

“I’ll do that.” He took out a small, mangled notebook. “What was her name?”

“I don’t know. I tackled her and pulled the boots off. I didn’t ask who she was. She bought boots afterward. Maybe you can find her receipt.”

“Funny, Jessie. How many people are here today? How many of them are buying magic boots?”

“Thousands, I hope. You know Adventureland likes a good profit.”

We had reached the entrance to the castle, passed The Feathered Shaft where archers were practicing shooting at targets made of hay. To the right, across the cobblestones, was Merlin’s Apothecary, the Merry Mynstrel’s Stage, and the first aid station where Wanda had once worked.

I saw Wanda’s ghost watching visitors with sprained ankles, skinned knees, and just plain overheated as they went in and out of the station. There was a tent beside it where visitors and residents could walk through a light shower to cool down. The problem was that many of the costumes were expensive and could be hurt by water. That left a large group gulping water and dipping their hands into the fountains around the Village to cool off.

Wanda shot toward us like a speeding blue bullet as soon as she saw me walking up the hill with the police.
Great.
Not only would I have to walk Detective Almond through the secret passages in the castle, I’d have to do so as I ignored her stupid banter.

Two, well-built men who seemed to be dressed like Hercules—wearing only animal skin loin cloths— came out of the cool-down tent, dripping with water, and laughing. Wanda took one look at them and abandoned her quest to follow me.

Thank goodness for partially dressed young men with healthy bodies!

“Let’s walk a little faster,” I urged Detective Almond. “The castle has air conditioning. I don’t know about you, but I’m roasting out here.”

He couldn’t walk as fast as I could, but he managed to put out a little burst of speed. He showed his badge to Gus at the gate, and we passed inside quickly.

I glanced at Gus, thinking again about him being gone from the gate when Isabelle was killed. Not that I thought he would have killed her either—but I was curious about his absence.

Immediately inside the castle was the Great Hall where the King’s Feast is held every Sunday evening. There was no air conditioning here, but the heavy concrete walls made it cooler anyway.

“You ever been to one of these feasts?” Barkley asked Detective Almond.

“Too many. A lot of bragging and Cornish hens. Not much else to see.”

“Not true at all.” I defended the feast. “All of the shops are represented that night. There is jousting and daring horse tricks, swordplay, and chivalry. Not to mention ladies, lords, and jugglers. It’s a great event. I’ll be glad to give you free tickets for the next one.”

Barkley nudged his partner, and they both nodded.

“Could we get back to why we’re here?” Detective Almond demanded as the officers opened the heavy doors that separated visitors from the main part of the castle. “Where do these secret passages start, Jessie?”

“They were created to make all the rooms in the castle easy to reach for the staff. They get calls all during the day and night for food and things I don’t want to think about. The passages start in the kitchen and spread through the whole place.”

“Then let’s start here.” He stood back for me to precede him into the kitchen.

The castle kitchen was a large, restaurant-type kitchen with several stoves, dozens of workstations, and long lengths of countertop. There were huge pantries, refrigerators, freezers, and hundreds of cooking utensils hanging from the walls and ceiling. The cooks here made food for hundreds of people every Sunday night. There were dozens of workers running back and forth to do the bidding of the chefs.

Rita was at the center of everything as she coordinated the requests from the people who were staying at the castle along with the residents who lived there. She was a small, energetic woman who seemed to see everything. At least that’s what I’d thought when I worked for her.

“Jessie.” She stared at the three men with me. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking Detective Almond and his officers through the passages.” There was a beautiful ice cream sundae on the counter beside me. I wished I could dive right into it. “They’re looking for information about Isabelle.”

Her face became sharp. “I believe they’ll need permission from King Harold to do that.”

“Excuse me—we already have permission from the king.” Detective Almond sounded impatient. “We’re going through the passages. Please get out of the way.”

Rita jumped in front of the entrance to the passages and spread her arms across the door. “I need to talk to King Harold before you go inside.”

I wondered what was wrong with her. What could she be protecting in the passages? I’d been in there yesterday, and they’d looked like they always did.

Detective Almond signaled to his officers to get Rita out of the way.

Before they could get physical, I asked for a moment to speak to her alone. Maybe if I understood what she was doing, I could help.

“You’ve got two minutes.” Detective Almond grudgingly gave us.

Rita and I went into one of the supply pantries and shut the door. She was still nervous and fidgety.

“He’s going in there whether you want him to or not,” I explained. “Did you kill Isabelle?”

Rita was small, but I knew from experience that she was strong. She could throw fifty-pound bags of flour and sugar into the pantry with no problem. She could probably have managed to throw Isabelle off the terrace.

“Of course not! Why would I kill her? She was mean and petty, but I didn’t want to see her dead.”

“Then what? What are you trying to hide?”

She started crying.

This was going to take way longer than two minutes.

“You asked why I was smoking in the garden. I was . . . meeting someone.”

“Someone from the castle,” I encouraged her to explain quickly. “Who was it?”

“It was Sir Dwayne. I’m worried that he might be accused of killing Isabelle.”

Suddenly I understood. “You and Sir Dwayne were—” I made hand gestures that brought a blush to her face. “
Really
?”

“Why do you say it like that, Jessie? So I’m not as young as I used to be. Does that mean I have to be alone the rest of my life?”

“No. Of course not.”
But Sir Dwayne?

“We met in the garden sometimes when he could get away from Isabelle’s demands. You know how she could be.”

“How does that relate to the passages?”

“He’s been missing since Isabelle died.” Rita twisted her work-roughened hands together. “I thought he might be hiding in the passages. I looked for him, but I couldn’t find him.”

There was a polite rap at the door. “Are you ladies almost finished in there?” Detective Almond asked.

“You have to tell him,” I whispered. “He’s gonna keep sniffing around until he finds out anyway. You’re making yourself look guilty.”

“I can’t,” she muttered. “Everyone will know, and they’ll laugh at me behind my back.”

I took her hands in mine and stared into her tortured eyes. “They already
know
, Rita. That’s the way the Village is.”

The pantry door opened slightly. “I’m going into the secret passages now,” Detective Almond said. “Is there something I should know?”

I pushed the door open. “Rita has something to tell you. Maybe you could come in here for a minute.”

“I’m not hiding in the pantry, Jessie. Whatever she has to say, she can say out here.”

“
Please
,” I whispered. “She’s embarrassed to say it out there.”

He wore a look of someone almost beyond their patience, but he came into the pantry and shut the door behind him. “This better be good.”

After Rita had confessed her secret sins with Sir Dwayne, Detective Almond nodded. “So you haven’t seen Sir Dwayne since Isabelle was killed? Are you sure? You’re not hiding him somewhere?”

“No. If I were hiding him, why would I be worried about what you’d find in the passages?” She held her chin high. “I could hide him in a thousand different places that you’d
never
find.”

“Okay. Let’s go through the passages. If we find him there, I’ll have to question him like I have everyone else.” He looked her over. “You know this could make you a suspect in this case. Maybe you wanted Sir Dwayne all to yourself and decided to take out the competition.”

Rita snorted. “I know many ways to kill someone with food that your medical examiner would never know. I wouldn’t have pushed her off the terrace.”

Detective Almond wrote her words in his notebook. “Good to know. I’m glad I don’t normally eat at the castle.”

She had made her point, though. He didn’t ask her any other questions about Isabelle’s death. He and I, and the two officers, went into the passage from the kitchen. Rita closed the door behind us.

Chapter Ten

Even though there were lights along the edges of the passage, it still took a moment to get used to the dimness. I noticed that the officers were nervous as we started out. They both held their guns, ready for trouble. I led the way with Detective Almond coming up behind me.

It was much cooler in the passages, a relief from the hot summer sun. I walked slowly knowing that they were looking for clues. Or Sir Dwayne. I hoped Isabelle’s last boyfriend wasn’t using this as a hiding place. The passage was too tight for a scuffle with armed police without someone getting hurt.

“Where are we going, Jessie?” Detective Almond asked as I passed an intersection.

“I thought you’d want to go right to Isabelle’s suite. It’s this way.”

“And all these other passages?”

“They go to the other suites, chambers, and various places in the castle.”

“When were these put in? I don’t remember the castle being like this when I worked here.”

“I thought they were designed when it was built.” I shrugged. “I guess if they weren’t, then I don’t know. Maybe Merlin, or the king and queen, could answer that.”

We all heard a sound. The officers flattened their bodies against the cool concrete wall. Detective Almond put his hand over my mouth and gestured for quiet.

“What is that?” he whispered.

I removed his pudgy fingers from my lips. “It’s probably a TV or something. It could be someone talking. You can hear everything from here. It all depends on where you’re standing.”

We listened a few more minutes until it was clear that someone on the other side of the wall was watching an episode of Star Trek.

Detective Almond nodded. “Let’s move on.”

We were almost to Isabelle’s suite when I noticed something on the floor near the secret entrance. It wasn’t big enough to be Sir Dwayne, but it hadn’t been there the day before.

“What’s that?” Barkley pointed.

“Shine a flashlight over here,” Detective Almond told him.

The four of us looked as the bright beam of light picked up a piece of green material. I started to lift it, but Detective Almond held me back. “That could be where the piece of material came from that was in Isabelle’s hand. We need to bag that before it gets contaminated.”

Officer Barkley put on latex gloves and held up the material. “It’s one of those Ren Faire shirts like they all wear, sir.”

“Put it in the bag,” Detective Almond said. “Is that blood on it?”

Barkley and his partner closely examined the shirt. “Hard to tell in this light. But it looks like it could be.”

They were trying to stuff the large shirt into the small bag when we heard a scraping sound from the other side of the wall. The door from behind the bookshelf opened and light poured into the passage.

“I thought
I
was taking you through the passages,” Chase said. “What happened?”

Detective Almond put together a few nonsensical reasons why he hadn’t waited for Chase. I knew they weren’t true, but I decided not to make a big deal out of it at that moment. I could always explain to Chase later.

I was glad I’d been there for Rita anyway. She might not have been willing to make the connection with Chase that she’d made with me. It was a woman thing.

“Anyway,” Detective Almond concluded. “Now that you’re here, Manhattan, you might as well go through the rest of the passages with us. Thank you for your help, Jessie. I hope you’ll keep what happened here today under your hat. I know how the Village likes to gossip.”

Chase raised his brows in a questioning manner as we exchanged places. I shrugged, hoping he understood that it wasn’t a good time to talk about it.

I was glad for him to finish the rest of the tour with the police. They probably needed me at the museum.

I closed the door and then the bookcase hiding the entrance to the passage. There were still crime scene people and police officers working in Isabelle’s suite. I got out quickly, not wanting to be involved in their investigation.