Page 56 of Christmas Mittens Murder

Trent was quiet.

Mia thought she’d lost him. “Hey, are you still there?”

“Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about the fact that Christina knew Geoffrey. She knew he was a good man. Maybe she found the mitten because someone wanted her to find it.”

“Someone wanted her to be unconscious?”

“Not quite, but,” Trent continued, “with you all focused on saving Christina, you haven’t had a lot of time to investigate or think about why Geoffrey was killed. I think you need to go back to the first crime. Who killed Geoffrey?”

“Without looking at it with the filter of how to save Christina.” She paused, thinking about his suggestion. “Do you think it will make a difference?”

He paused again. “I can’t promise, but it feels right. Why was Geoffrey killed? If you find that out, you might find the mitten to save Christina. But you can’t focus on her. You need to focus on Geoffrey.”

* * *

When Mia woke up the next morning, Trent’s words echoed in her head. Why was Geoffrey killed? She decided to visit Mark Baldwin first thing this morning before her staff meeting started. Maybe talking to Mark would give her more insight into Geoffrey’s death. And if that happened, maybe it would help save Christina. She got up and made coffee.

Abigail was the first one to join her in the kitchen. “Good morning, sunshine. You look rested. I hope you actually got some sleep last night. I don’t smell a breakfast casserole baking.”

“I haven’t cooked anything yet.” Mia grinned and poured Abigail a cup of coffee. “You look ready to go.”

“I had a great night. Your guest bedroom is perfect.” Abigail sipped her coffee. “It’s nice getting up and already having coffee available. I might just decide to move in with you.”

“I think Thomas would freak out.” She nodded to the paper in front of her. “I was talking to Trent last night, and he said we should be focusing on Geoffrey. Not Christina. He says it’s clouding my filter and I can’t see the answer.”

“That sounds like my son. He’s so good at getting directly to the heart of the matter. With or without his powers.” She dropped her gaze.

“Abigail, you and I both know that Trent’s attempt at transferring his powers to Levi didn’t work. Or at least didn’t work the way the coven thinks it did. Trent’s strong, as is Levi. Their connection is scary sometimes.”

Abigail set her cup down. “I’m just always afraid I’m going to slip and say something to someone in the coven. If they found out, they’d take Trent and study him. I might never see him again.”

“And yet they wonder why I’m not jumping at the chance to join their little club. If you don’t match what they think you should be like, they want to figure out why.” Mia thought about the promise she’d made Edward to attend a meeting. Then she pushed the idea away. “Look, we need to figure out this puzzle first. Then we can solve world peace.”

Abigail nodded, picking up her cup and sipping her coffee. “Okay, so the rumor is that the Brewers had an open marriage. And that he was seeing this Tasha on the side when Kate wasn’t in town.”

“And Kate had her own indiscretions, but Geoffrey didn’t care,” Mia added. “So who would have hated Geoffrey so much to kill him? According to Edward, it wasn’t Kate. She adored her husband. I wonder what Mark has found out about their relationship. Did they have a prenup that would have given Geoffrey more money than Kate wanted to part with if they divorced?”

“That’s a good question. I can mine my coven contacts to see what the rumors are around the money part. You know everyone loves to chat about who gets money or who’s losing money. Geoffrey taught at a small regional college. You know his paycheck wasn’t even paying the utilities on that house we visited.”

“Well, maybe the utilities but not the mortgage.” Mia wrote down another question on her list.

“Either way, he had to be a drain. Maybe she got tired of letting him spend her money.” Abigail glanced at her watch. “I’m going to go down and start baking cookies. What time can I expect you?”

“Ten-ish. The meeting might not go that long. I’m heading to talk to Mark right at eight. The good news is, unless he’s sick, he’ll be at his desk then. Sarah kicks him out of the house just in time to drive to the police station and open it on time. She’s punctual.”

“Controlling would be a better word.” Abigail smiled at Mia’s reaction. “Just kidding, not.”

Grans came into the kitchen. She looked refreshed. A night’s sleep must have recharged her batteries. “You have to be talking about Sarah Baldwin.”

Mia poured her a cup of coffee. “How did you guess?”

“Sarah’s the most controlling woman in Magic Springs. You’d never guess that she gave up her family’s magic to her little sister.”

“Wait, what?” Mia stared at her grandmother. “Sarah’s from a magical family? How on earth does she hide that from Mark?”

“They just don’t talk about the coven in front of him. Sarah chose a mortal life rather than being a witch. She loved Mark and didn’t want anything to get in the way of that. Her family has legacy issues, and I’m sure they wanted her to marry someone with as much power. Her sister married a coven leader from back east.” Grans opened the bag of cookies that Mia had left on the table. “It was a big scandal when Sarah turned down her power.”

“Did Mom have that issue when she decided not to take the power?” Mia had just assumed it was normal for people to choose another life.

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