Page 54 of Christmas Mittens Murder

Mia curled her fingers around the cup of soup that Grans had given her when they’d arrived back at the school. The search of the parking lot had come up empty. Nothing. Not a piece of frozen paper pointing a finger at a possible killer. No smoking gun. And worst of all, no mitten to match up with the one that was in Mia’s bedroom safe.

They put off going to coven headquarters. Time for Christina was running out. Mia needed to find that second mitten.

Grans had made them all soup and sandwiches to stave off the cold when they came back to the school. Mia watched as her grandmother sipped the tomato bisque. She looked as tired as Mia felt. The spell keeping Christina alive must be affecting Grans’s energy level.

“Robert came by today,” Grans said as she set the soup cup down.

Mia froze. They’d been working on increasing Christina’s acceptance of a Sleeping Beauty cure. The only man that needed to be here was Levi. Her one true love. At least that’s what Mia hoped was true. Sometimes love took a while to find. Look at her. “But . . .”

Grans held up her hand before Mia could go on. “Don’t worry, I talked to him downstairs on the front steps. Anyway, he said the coven is working on a counter curse for Christina as well. It’s unusual, but several members have reached out supporting our request for help.”

“Several members?” Abigail narrowed her eyes as she set down her soup cup. “I sent in a request, but who else?”

“Robert said he did this morning, but he was told they were already working on it.” Grans nodded at Abigail’s surprise. “Yes, I thought it was weird as well. Robert did too, so he asked who else had contacted the coven. They said it was confidential, but the woman told him that we had Kate to thank for moving this up the ladder so quickly. I guess Robert has some pull with the receptionist who takes the requests.”

“Why would Kate worry about Christina?” Mia picked up her sandwich. “Did she request that the coven help after our meeting this afternoon?”

“Robert was there this morning,” Grans repeated.

“Huh. So the woman who told us she had been sitting in her house watching paint dry since she found out about the death of her husband had actually been alert enough to put out a call for help for Christina? Someone she’d never met. That’s odd.” Mia looked at the other two women. “Don’t you think?”

Grans yawned. “We can’t take Kate off the suspect list yet. She has a lot of money, and the coven responds to money. I’m surprised Sabrina hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Mary Alice, why don’t you finish your dinner and head to bed. I’ll stay up with Christina for a while.” Abigail met Mia’s gaze. “You know the National Office isn’t as time sensitive as we usually need.”

“Christina’s fine. I just checked on her. We should be able to leave her alone for a few hours while we all sleep.” Grans finished off her sandwich.

“Okay, this is an odd question, but if it’s a National Office, why is Sabrina in Italy?” Mia finished her soup.

“Sabrina lives in Italy. The National headquarters is in Salem. They have a very small physical office. Most of the staff work from home.” Abigail waved away the question as if Mia should have known the answer.

“Most witches do a field trip to headquarters while they’re in high school.” Grans put her cup in the sink. “Another reason why I should have raised you. Abigail. You don’t have to stay up and watch Christina.”

“I know, but I’ve got to call Thomas anyway, and that man loves to chatter.” Abigail smiled as she finished her soup. “Mia, you can crash as well. I think you need sleep to clear your head. Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

“Actually, no. Except for our staff meeting, I’m off until Wednesday. I worked last weekend and the start of this week on parties. We have a catering event Wednesday night, but it’s planned out.” Mia rolled her shoulders. “Can I help with the delivery this week since you’re down a person?”

Abigail nodded. “That would be helpful. We’ve got a full delivery slate including several extra orders of treats for the holidays. We’ll be baking cookies all day.”

“Then it’s a plan. I’ll be your Christina for the next two days. Grans, you need to work up a batch of Sleeping Beauty cure, just in case we don’t find the mitten. And Abigail, please don’t tell Thomas how much you’re working. He doesn’t like you doing this in the first place, and I can’t replace you.”

Abigail waved her hand. “Don’t you worry about my Mr. Majors. He’s getting used to having a Sugar Mama. I’m putting all my wages into our retirement fund right now while the stocks are down.”

“When are the guys coming back?” Mia asked.

“Wednesday, unless we need them earlier.” Abigail pulled out her phone and checked something. “Their flight gets in midday, so they should be here by two at the latest.”

Grans nodded. “If we don’t find the mitten by then, we’ll try the Sleeping Beauty cure. But I can’t guarantee its results. The coven is working on a tracking spell for the mitten. Between the two groups, we should be able to bring Christina back to us by midweek.”

“That would be amazing.” Mia wanted it sooner than midweek, but she didn’t want to rush Grans. Magic took time, especially if you wanted it done right.

“Well, I know it’s only nine, but I’m beat. I’m going to bed.” Grans clicked her fingers and Muffy, her dog, came running. “If you need me, just knock on my door. She’s stable, but you never know.”

Mia watched Grans slowly move out of the kitchen and toward the hallway. This week had taken a lot out of her. She looked older than she had in a long time. Mia rubbed her face, thinking about Geoffrey. She looked at Abigail. “Kate wasn’t in town when her husband was killed. But sometime after that, she heard about Christina and asked the coven to step in and help her. I don’t understand why.”

“If I were suspicious, I’d think that Kate was feeling guilty about getting a mortal involved in the death of her husband.” Abigail clarified what Mia had been thinking.

“I’m wondering whether Edward and Kate know each other. It’s odd for me to meet a coven member the day after Christina was hexed.” Mia put her dishes into the sink. “I know Kate feels bad about the death of her husband, but she could have had him killed and still feel bad.”

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