“That’s not normal.” He finished the pizza on his plate, then went back for another slice. “I know Magic Springs isn’t normal, but we have a pace to life here. This seems like it’s coming from somewhere else. The whole murder was set up to highlight that she was a witch, if you didn’t know anything about witches.”
“Could it be about the property? Christina said it’s on a road on the way to her parents’ condo. I assume that’s all high-end property from the way the house looked at her wake.” Mia picked the loose toppings off the box. She wasn’t hungry, but it tasted so good.
Mark brightened as he finished his slice. “This is why I love talking to you about these cases. You hit on a possible normal motive. I’ve heard rumors that a developer wants to buy up two million-dollar lots, combine them, and then build even bigger, ten million-dollarhouses. I wonder where Adam Boyle was on Tuesday night.”
“He’s the developer?” Mia asked for a bit of clarification because she was lost in Mark’s line of thinking. “Wait, is he related to Nathan Boyle?”
“Nathan is his son. Adam mostly works in Boise, or he used to before he started sniffing around Magic Springs.”
CHAPTER17
Monday morning, as Mia waited for Christina, she signed on to her work email and went through the last week and the upcoming one. The wedding had been perfect, according to all the evaluations from the family. Mia loved making someone’s special day just a little less stressful. As she went through her calendar, matching up emails and meetings, she realized for a holiday month, this week was fairly light. Thanks giving was a big buffet day for the Lodge, but without the snow that the weatherman had predicted, the ski slope wasn’t being booked as quickly. And people who had booked were backing out and going somewhere the snow gods had blessed.
Mia figured they’d have another storm or two soon, but she didn’t think it was going to fix Blake’s November numbers. With the weather warming up again—a fake fall, Grans liked to call it—the cross-country trails would turn from snow-packed to mud. If Mia’s test hadbeen scheduled one week later, Suzanne Parker might still be alive. Of course the method of murder wasn’t the motivation behind the deed, so she might still be dead, but by other means.
Had the murder been planned out? Or spontaneous? Anyone who lived here knew that snow didn’t always stay on the ground. Idaho was famous for its late fall summer days, when the sun would melt the snow and tan the few skiers who didn’t mind going downhill in slushy conditions.
Mia pulled out her Suzanne Parker notebook and wrote down what she’d been thinking about:Weather reports, not a local?She wondered if she could talk to the testing department at the National Office and see when this retest was planned. Was it spontaneous too?
As she put down her pen and went back to making sure her planner matched her work calendar, she noticed a meeting invite from Blake. Hesitant to accept, she opened the invite to see what the topic was and if anyone else was invited. Of course other people in the meeting hadn’t stopped Blake from scheduling them to sleep while she played with Mia’s mind.
The meeting was just for two, but the description made her stop. “Meeting with Carl Hagen from National Testing Office re: Suzanne Parker. Mia and a guest.” And it was set to be in Mia’s office. Who had called Blake to set up the meeting?
She wished for a meeting and now here it was? This was getting weird.
Her phone rang. The caller ID indicated the call originated from coven headquarters. “Hello?”
“Gloria said you needed a meeting with Carl, so I set one up for tomorrow. Does that answer the why?” Cleo asked.
Mia knew Cleo from her voice, not that she introduced herself. Grans did the same thing, jumping right into a conversation as soon as someone picked up the phone. Mia looked up at the doll, who was swinging on her broom. “I didn’t realize she was listening to me.”
“My dear, Gloria’s always there. She’s trying to help you settle into your new role, but I admit, if you’re not used to the connection, it can be disturbing. I’ll talk to her about slowing down a little. Why are you interested in the testing schedule?” Cleo shuffled some papers on the other side. “Never mind, it’s all about justice with you humans. I forgot. Look, I’ve got the memos for the last month from the coven to headquarters. The answer on who asked for the retest should be in there. I’d assist, but I’m only allowed to provide materials, not interpret them, so I wouldn’t be much help. I’ll send the package over to your house later this afternoon.”
After Mia hung up with Cleo, Christina came into the room. “Abigail said she’s going to be a little late this morning. I’ve already texted Finn, so I think we can go. Let me fill my coffee and get a muffin for the road.”
“Sure, I’m just finishing up my schedule. Does Mia’s Morsels have any catering events this week? That you know of?” Mia glanced at the kitchen calendar, but besides the deliveries, nothing was scheduled for the entire month. If that was true, Mia would be working at the Lodge a lot longer than she’d expected.
This should be their busy season. Why weren’t their weekends full? Hadn’t James told her that her catering business was busy doing events so he’d miss Finn?
Christina opened her phone calendar app. “Yep. They have a small gathering on Friday night, a holiday dinner for the local charity group on Saturday, and the Magic Springs Quilt Club luncheon on Saturday. Didn’t Abigail send you these to your calendar?”
“What calendar?” Mia turned the page on her planner to show the month view. Nothing was listed besides Thanksgiving at Abigail’s.
“Not your paper one, the online calendar she set up this fall.” Christina leaned over Mia’s laptop and opened a new tab. Then she keyed in the Mia’s Morsels website, went to Staff Only, and opened the calendar app there.
Abigail had the events blocked out, as well as cooking and delivery days. As Mia watched, several invites from Abigail popped up to see if Mia was available to work an event.
“This is amazing. We’re booked through the first two weeks of January.” Mia sifted through the catering events, adding them to her monthly planner.
“You don’t need to duplicate it all, just add your stuff to this one. It will only show you your events, not everyone’s.” Christina keyed in Mia’s work schedule and put it on Repeat for Monday through Friday. “You can connect this one to your work calendar too. No need to check your planner, it will all be here.”
“I like my paper planner. It helps me decide when I’m too busy and when I have time for fun,” Mia objected. Even adding the events to her planner was making her nervous. What if she double-booked herself and didn’t realize it? No, she was definitely keeping the paper version of her life. “Let me just add these events and answer Abigail’s invites. I know I can help Friday night and Sunday for lunch, but Saturday might be an issue.”
“I told her you’d say that, so she’s already hired a few servers. She’ll probably need some prep help in the kitchen Thursday and Friday if you have time.” As she’d talked, Christina had gathered her stuff and now had her keys in her hand. “Ready to go to work?”
Mia finished adding the last December event to her planner. “I’m ready when you are. I think we can make it a half day at the Lodge today and probably tomorrow, so we can help with the cooking then. I was starting to get worried.”
Gloria giggled as Mia tucked everything into her tote. Grans wasn’t up yet, so she left her a note. Muffy had already been fed and taken out.