Page 42 of Christmas Mittens Murder

“Dear, you won’t be going as you. I’ll do a glamour spell. You’ll look like Christina. Now, stir that pot and don’t let it burn. We don’t have time to do another one.” Grans disappeared out of the kitchen and into the hallway to her room.

“Sure, send me to the Adamses’ house undercover. You know this is a really bad idea,” Mia said, but there wasn’t anyone there to hear her. Except Gloria, her kitchen witch. And as it was her nature, Gloria giggled.

Mia hated when she did that.

Chapter Three

By the time Abigail returned with supplies and they woke Grans, it was two-thirty. Mia thought about just staying up, but Grans was right. If she had to drive to Boise tonight and back after the party, she needed some sleep. Grans could make up a potion to keep her awake, but she’d have to have one for the drive there and the drive back. And if it wore off before the party was over, she’d be sleeping on one of Mother Adams’s fancy couches. Not a good look for Christina.

Christina and her mother were just starting to have a solid relationship. Mia didn’t want to do anything to set that on the wrong path. She climbed into bed after taking off the party dress and placing it on a chair in her room. Mia closed her eyes and immediately fell asleep.

When she awoke later that morning, she heard voices out in the hallway. She got up and peeked out to see Abigail and Grans with empty buckets outside Christina’s room. “Is everything okay?”

“Good, you’re awake. You can help us move Christina. Just get on some old clothes. This potion can stain. We changed Christina into a white nightgown, so she should be good.” Grans handed Abigail the empty bucket.

“She’s going to have to throw that nightgown away after this,” Abigail said as she took the buckets back into the kitchen. “I’ll be right back to help you move her.”

Mia hoped it wasn’t the new one that Christina had just bought, but she knew, as she got dressed, it more than likely was. She’d just have to explain that it was necessary to save her life. That should be sufficient, right?

Mr. Darcy meowed as Mia pulled on her jeans.

“Yeah, I think she’s going to be mad too.” She stared at the cat. “I just hope I don’t make things worse when I go to her party.”

Mr. Darcy shook his head like he couldn’t believe all the stupid decisions the humans were making, and left her bedroom.

Mia finished getting ready and pulled her hair back into a clip.

Grans’s eyes narrowed when Mia came into Christina’s room. “Isn’t that the sweater I got you last Christmas?”

Mia froze, looking down. She hated this sweater. Every time she tried to wear it and intentionally ruin it, the polyester blend just washed the possible stain away. Not meeting her grandmother’s gaze, she hurried into the room and said, “This old thing? I don’t think so. I’ve had it for years.”

Abigail pointed to Christina’s arms. “You grab the top of her. I’ll get her feet. Mary Alice, you make sure we don’t hit something on the way to the bathroom.”

“Dorian, keep Mr. Darcy out of Christina’s room for a bit. You know that cat loves her to death.” Grans spoke to her ex-boyfriend, who took charge of Mr. Darcy and ran out of the room.

“Sometimes that’s a little freaky,” Mia admitted as she got into position. She met Abigail’s gaze. “One, two, three . . .”

They lifted Christina and carried her into the bathroom. Grans had already braided Christina’s long blond hair and wrapped the braid around her head, attaching it with hair clips. Abigail dropped Christina’s feet into the tub filled with green goop, and Mia gently lowered her friend’s upper half into the potion. Grans pointed to Christina’s shoulders. “Push those down. And put a pillow under her head. She’s going to have a creaky neck once we get her out of there.”

“Is this going to go down the drain, or will we have to bucket it out and dump it somewhere?” Mia pushed Christina’s shoulders into the mess and then made sure her arms were under the surface.

“I guess we’ll have to see. I don’t think this should cause a problem.” Grans didn’t meet her gaze. “But that’s a worry for another day. You two need to go find out what happened to that professor and see if the other mitten was with him. Christina might have just been in the wrong place when she picked up its mate.”

“If Mark has it in evidence, I just say, hey, that’s mine and have him give it to me?” Mia shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. Anyway, why was Geoffrey out there to begin with? He had a driver. Do you think he forgot and went looking for his car?”

“In his state, you never know. I hope Mark doesn’t have the mitten. I could see him thinking it’s not important. Especially if it wasn’t directly at the crime scene. The winds kicked up last night about the same time as the murder. Maybe it went under a car.” Abigail leaned on the vanity, watching Christina. “I think her breath is less labored.”

“Good, then it’s working.” Gran made shooing motions with her hands. “Go into the kitchen if you want to talk. Christina needs to save her energy for surviving, not listening to you guys.”

Mia laid her palm on the top of Christina’s head. “We’re going to save you. Don’t worry. Just stay alive.”

Then Mia went to the kitchen, grabbing a tissue and wiping tears off her face. “The way I see it, we need to go talk to Mark Baldwin and Carl at the hotel. And I’d like to know where Frank was last night. He was supposed to be at the party. Maybe I should call him as a concerned Lodge employee.”

Abigail looked at the clock. “You might want to wait until eight at least. You might wake him.”

“And that’s my problem, why?” Mia opened the fridge, hoping her humor didn’t go undetected. Just to be safe, she added, “You’re right. Let’s make our game plan while I make us some omelets so we’re not investigating on an empty stomach.”

“And food might soak up some of the coffee I’ve been drinking this morning.” Abigail smiled and pulled out a notepad. “One, we know the mittens were used to kill Professor Brewer.”

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