The Witch and the Dead Read Online Free PDF

paused dramatically.
    â€œArchie.”
    With a tinge of glee, he said in a rush, “It was Dorothy Hansel Dewitt!”
    My eyes widened. Dorothy? The wickedest witch in the village? “No way!”
    â€œThey were perfectly suited, in my humble opinion. Of course, she was Dorothy Hansel back then, and had left her husband to be with Miles. It was all wickedly salacious. She and Joel Hansel eventually reunited, but their marriage was touch-and-go for a while.”
    Dorothy Hansel Dewitt was a witch I could do without. We hadn’t gotten along since the day I moved to the village. Much of our animosity for each other had to do with my dealings with her daughter, Glinda, which were complicated to say the least. But part of it, I suspected, was simply because Dorothy enjoyed causing trouble.
    Missy let out a happy yip, and I turned to find her racing toward the man walking through the backyard from the direction of the garage on the other side of the house.
    He bent and gave Missy a hello, then glanced up at me and smiled.
    Archie sighed theatrically.
    Or that might have been me.
    I smiled back at village police chief Nick Sawyer.
    He was dressed in his uniform of a black polo shirt and khaki pants, and he also wore a lightweight jacket embroidered with an Enchanted Village Police Department logo on its sleeve. His dark hair was a little longer than usual, curling up at the ends around his ears, and his deep brown eyes never looked away from mine as he strode over to where I stood.
    He cupped my cheek with his warm hand and gave me a quick kiss.
    â€œSto-o-o-p,”
Archie begged. “I can’t take the cute factor. It’s making me nauseated. I might hoik.” He started making gagging noises.
    I laughed. “You should be used to it by now.”
    â€œYou’d think,” Archie replied sarcastically.
    Nick said, “Don’t worry. I can’t stay. I need to track down the village dentist to see if she has any dental records for Miles Babbage. And with that, hopefully a last known address as well.”
    â€œIf it is him, dental records shouldn’t be too hard to match. Ve showed Harper and me a picture of Miles on their wedding day and he has a chipped front tooth. Does your skeleton have any broken teeth?”
    Nick’s eyebrows dipped. “The skeleton does have a broken tooth. There was also a wallet in his back pocket with an ID in Miles Babbage’s name.”
    â€œIt has to be him,” Archie said.
    Nick shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “I think so, too, but I still need to get official verification.” Nick glanced over his shoulder at Ve’s house. “I’m going to need a copy of that picture.”
    â€œI’ll get it before you leave.” I wrinkled my nose.“Any idea of how Miles died? Is it too much to wish that it was of natural causes?”
    Nick said, “You might actually get that wish granted, Darcy. There are no glaring injuries to the skeleton. No bullet wounds. No stab marks. Until we get more information from the medical examiner, the cause of death is a complete mystery.”

Chapter Four
    T
he cause of death.
    The phrase was still foremost in my thoughts a few hours later as I carried a moving box toward my new house.
    In front of Terry’s place, I carefully scooted around a cluster of tourists gathered on the sidewalk in front of Archie’s cage, glad I’d decided to leave Missy and Annie at Ve’s for now. It was hard enough to navigate with just the box.
    Archie was singing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” in appropriately dramatic fashion and winked at me as I passed by.
    Which reminded me that I needed to talk to Evan sooner rather than later about finding Archie some sort of role in the play. Knowing Archie, he undoubtedly wanted a lead. Knowing Evan, he wouldn’t give it tohim, even if it had been a play about a chatty scarlet macaw. The two had a bit of a love/hate