A Potion to Die For: A Magic Potion Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

till you see what he’ll be wearing.”
    “Daddy has an outfit, too?”
    “Of course!”
    Now I was getting
really
worried. Especially if his had fringe, too.
    I motioned over my shoulder toward the police tape. “Could you do me a favor and not tell him about what happened here until he gets back? He’ll just worry, and there’s nothing he can do about it now.”
    Mama patted my cheek. “As long as you don’t tell him about this costume if he calls.”
    “Deal,” I said without hesitation.
    Dylan called after us, “I’ll be over later, Carly. Don’t forget.”
    I planned to turn off all the lights and hide in my bedroom with a box of cookies.
    “I still have a key, remember,” he added.
    Dang!
Why hadn’t I gotten around to changing those locks?
    Best I clean out my underwear drawer.
    Just in case.
    • • •
    I borrowed my mama’s wig (she told me to keep it because she had a spare), and made my way around the Ring, along the sidewalk, past the bakery, the candle shop, a book and gift shop, a jewelry store, Emmylou’s Café, and into the storefront next to mine with no townsfolk recognizing me.
    I didn’t think the disguise was all that good, so it must have been the arrival of the coroner that had captured their attention.
    Whatever the reason, I was grateful for the distraction as I pulled open the door to Caleb Montgomery’s law office.
    The picture of spiffy Southern gentlemanly perfection, Caleb himself sat at the desk in the reception area and busted out laughing when he saw me.
    “Wait, wait,” he said. “Let me get my camera.”
    I pulled off the wig and threw it at him. “Do and die.”
    “Homicidal suddenly, aren’t you? I heard you offed Nelson Winston.”
    I sank into a neutral-colored armchair across from him. “I didn’t off anyone!”
    “What about your aunt Marjie? Did she off him?”
    “It was a warning shot!”
    Caleb Montgomery had been one of my closest friends since grade school. These days he was the best quickie divorce lawyer in town. His office was decked out in high style with expensive furnishings and decor. However, he’d yet to find himself a good receptionist—it was hard to live up to Caleb’s high standards.
    Which also might explain his short-lived relationships.
    “Fair enough,” he said. “Marjie could hit a moving target at a hundred feet with her shotgun. If she wanted to shoot someone, that person would be full of shot by now.”
    He spoke from painful experience. Once when he was a teenager, Marjie caught him sneaking into her shed, where (rumor had it) she stored her homemade liquor. She’d gone after him with a BB gun. He still had a pellet or two stuck in his rump.
    I still felt bad about the incident—after all, I’d been the one to start the rumor. “Well, as far as I could tell, Nelson wasn’t full of holes, but he did have a big crack in his head.”
    Caleb leaned forward. “What was he doing in your shop?”
    “No idea. I was hoping you might know something.”
    “Me?” His gray-blue eyes widened. “Why me?”
    “You’re both lawyers.”
    “So?”
    “Maybe he told you something lately?”
    “I can’t speak to the dead, Carly.”
    I sighed. “It would be nice if you could.”
    He ran a hand over his hair to check for flyaways, despite the fact that there hadn’t been a dark hair out of place since grade school. Caleb was the persnickety sort and wasn’t afraid of hair products. Or starch. His white button-down shirt was pressed to within an inch of its life. “Can’t say he had any enemies.”
    Nelson had no enemies I knew of, either. He was about ten years older than I was—just over forty—wasn’t married, had no kids, and lived in a big house overlooking the Darling River. He was popular around town, taking on cases for little to no fee. He gave back to the community and was personable and outgoing.
    “Well,” I said. “Someone killed him. In my shop. Why?”
    “Did you ever sell him any potions?”
    “I