Page 43 of Christmas Mittens Murder

“The mittens were used?” Mia paused chopping the peppers for the omelets. “How can a mitten kill someone?”

“I’m not exactly sure of the magic behind the mittens. Some say the curse has been around for years. Maybe back to the beginning of Magic Springs. Basically, if someone wants to use the mittens, they put them onto the victim’s person. I suspect, for the unfortunate Mr. Brewer, the mittens were stuffed into the pockets of his outer coat. I bet he reached in and found the mitten we found and pulled it out. Then the other mitten did its work. He probably threw the mitten he found on the ground and walked away. You saw how far he got.” Abigail stirred some hazelnut syrup into her coffee. “The mittens work fast.”

“So by separating them, by taking one out of the coat and not the other one, it set off whatever spell killed Christina’s professor. Then Christina picked up the mitten that was left behind and it started to kill her?” Mia focused on chopping mushrooms to put into the omelet. Maybe that’s why she loved cooking so much. It didn’t rely on magic to work or for her to be successful. When you believe in the existence of magic, then add in the number of witches in Magic Springs, and poof—you have random magic floating around town, just waiting to be ignited. Or if it wasn’t random, a targeted spell sent to kill one person attacked someone else, who just happened to be in the crossfire. Which led to why her best friend was currently in a bathtub filled with a green protection spell.

Her life was never boring.

“Yes. That must have been what happened.” Abigail met Mia’s gaze. “So our first step is to find out who killed the professor. Then if we find the second mitten, we can put them together and that should stop Christina’s symptoms. According to the story, the mittens have to be together so we can tell them that their work has been done. Otherwise, they’ll continue to fight. And Christina will be in harm’s way.”

“You know how dumb that sounds.” Mia dumped some of the chopped vegetables into the pan to cook.

“All the fairy tales we read to our children are based on a story told from parent to child over the years. Why do you believe in true love or the idea of a soul mate? Because a story we tell ourselves makes us believe it’s true. Kids raised in magic don’t question this process at all. We know that fairy tales might not be the exact truth, but they’re based on a story that was always true.”

Mia sighed. “Which is why Grans told me that Mom should have read me more fairy tales to keep my feet in both worlds.”

“Exactly. First up, we need to find out who killed the professor. Then we can convince the mittens that they’ve done their job. Otherwise, Christina won’t be coming out of that coma, as each mitten will believe it has been set on a path for its owner.” Abigail tapped her pen on the notepad. “Did Christina say anything about Geoffrey that might be helpful? Did he have enemies?”

“Working at a small college in a small Idaho town?” Mia stirred the onion and pepper mix, which made the kitchen smell amazing. Now, that kind of magic was the best. The aroma of food being cooked made houses feel like homes.

“Dear, we live in Magic Springs, which makes Twin Falls look like a booming metropolis. Besides, since he lived here and his wife is a coven member with magical history in her family, I’m not sure you can limit the possibility of enemies just around his job at the school.”

Mia broke two eggs into a bowl and beat them with a bit of water. “Aren’t you always supposed to look at the spouse in these kinds of murders? How was his relationship with his wife?”

Abigail wrote down the idea and Kate Brewer’s name. “That’s something else we need to discover.”

Mia poured the eggs into the pan, making sure the mix of vegetables was covered. Something else was bothering her about last night. She shook her head. It didn’t mean it was connected.

“I see you arguing with yourself over there. What else are you thinking? Did Christina have a fight with someone? Maybe Bethanie? Could the mittens have really been aimed at Christina?”

“I don’t think so. Bethanie and Christina aren’t really friends anymore. They had a falling out. Besides, why kill the professor if they really wanted Christina?” Mia was actually glad their friendship had ended. Bethanie was bad news. She let the eggs set in the pan as she thought about what she knew about the local witch. “Besides, Bethanie’s out of town. She went back east to go to school after her dad was put in prison. She didn’t want any reminders of him.”

“That’s sad.” Abigail got up and took out two plates. “So we think the intended victim was Geoffrey Brewer, right?”

“I can’t see it being Christina.” After adding ham and cheese, Mia flipped the omelet in half and let it set for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Just a little longer. Mia worried about her friend. Grans said she’d be fine, but Mia had seen the worry in her eyes. If they didn’t match up the mittens and take the curse off Christina soon, well, it wouldn’t be good. She slipped the omelet onto a plate, then started a second one for Grans. She’d eat last. The most Mia could do in this moment was make sure people were fed. At least until the world woke up and they could go investigating and find whoever had hexed her friend.

She’d finished half of her omelet when the alarm went off and she saw Mark Baldwin’s truck drive into her parking lot. She put the plate on the counter and hurried down to meet him at the door. The bad thing about living in a converted schoolhouse was that her apartment was located on the top floor, so she went up and down a lot of stairs during the day. The good thing about living in the schoolhouse was that on some days the trips up and down counted as her cardio workout.

She met Mark at the door. “Hey, what did you find out?”

“Not much. Sorry you had to find Professor Brewer. Do you have time to give me a statement? I need one from you, your sidekick, and Abigail Majors. I heard the three of you found him?” Mark had pulled out his notebook and was looking at his notes from a different interview.

“Actually, it was Abigail and me. Christina wasn’t feeling well, so we’d left her at the edge of the canopy and went to get Abigail’s SUV. I didn’t feel right letting her walk out in the snow by herself.” Mia knew that the security video would show all three of them leaving the area, but the bench just on the edge of the valet canopy wasn’t covered by a camera. Mostly because employees liked to smoke there. She didn’t need Mark pushing to talk to Christina. Especially since she was indisposed at the moment.

“Oh, I’m sorry she’s under the weather. Was it a little too much champagne?” He was scribbling in his notebook.

Mia shrugged. “I’m not sure what got her, but she’s still sleeping this morning. Maybe a bug?”

“Don’t say that. Sarah’s already got me changing clothes out on the back deck so she doesn’t get any germs from the outside. She’s determined to give birth to a happy and healthy baby.”

“I’m sure he or she will be fine.” Mia smiled at the soon-to-be mother’s protections. “And you’re right, Christina’s not used to drinking so much. That could have been it. Who would want to kill Professor Brewer?”

Mark took off his hat, ran a hand over his thinning hair, and then put the hat back on. “Now, that is the question of the day. Is Abigail upstairs? Do you want to do this down here or in your apartment?”

“Let’s do it down here. I’ll go call Abigail and have her come downstairs and make us some coffee. Black, right?”

He took his hat off again and stomped the snow off his boots. “That sounds great. Should I set up over at that table?”

“That will work. I’ll start coffee in my office.” Mia hurried into her office and called Abigail on her cell. When she answered, she lowered her voice, hoping Mark wouldn’t hear her. “Hey, can you come down? He wants to ask us some questions. I said we left Christina on the smokers’ bench so she doesn’t have to be interviewed.”

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