Any Witch Way You Can by Amanda Lee[murder] Page B

than I did – but it never hurts to check.
    When I entered the shop, I was surprised to see them anxiously waiting for me.  Thistle was even pacing, not even pretending to do work. They both greeted me excitedly.
    “Is what everyone says true?” Clove asked breathlessly. “Was there a body in the new corn maze?”
    I nodded stiffly and sank down on the couch. Thistle brought me a cup of tea, pushing it into my hand. I accepted it absentmindedly.
    “Who was it?”
    “They don’t know. Chief Terry didn’t recognize him. He doesn’t think he’s from Hemlock Cove.”
    “Why would someone kill an outsider and then bring them here?” Clove asked. “Or maybe he came to the corn maze and was killed here instead?”
    “That’s a good question,” I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how much I should tell them. Chief Terry hadn’t told me to keep my mouth shut – and he knew I essentially told them everything.
    “How did he die?” Clove again. She was understandably curious, which I understood, but she was almost excited by the day’s events. I found that disturbing. This was the biggest thing to happen in Hemlock Cove in, well, forever, though. She wasn’t going to be dissuaded from getting the answers she sought.
    “He was stabbed to death,” I finally said. I still wasn’t sure they needed to hear everything. I knew everything – and I knew I would never be able to forget the details, or the sight of that horrible scarecrow.
    “Someone said his heart was cut out,” Thistle offered.
    “Who told you that?” I guess I didn’t have to worry about shocking them with the gruesome story – they already knew most of it.
    “Mrs. Gunderson. She told me when I went to get donuts.” Of course.
    “How did she know?”
    “Everyone in town knows.” Thistle seemed surprised that I would think this would be able to be kept quiet – even for an afternoon. Nothing in this town ever stayed a true secret.
    “How?”
    Thistle shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s a small town, though. They probably all hooked their tin cans together and spread the word.”
    She was probably right. If I had to guess, Mrs. Little was the source of the leak. She never met a piece of gossip that she didn’t like to spread. This would be like Christmas to her – and she would be the center of attention for curious townspeople.
    “Someone said you discovered the body,” Clove said. She was far too into this story. It was become macabre.
    “Technically, it was Emily.”
    “Who is Emily?”
    “That girl from the inn last night.”
    “The one with all the questions? The one that just got married to that annoying guy who wouldn’t stop talking about himself at dinner?”
    “Yeah.”
    Clove and Thistle realized I was still digesting everything I’d seen, so they wisely backed off for a few minutes. They let me sit with my thoughts as long as they could, but Clove just couldn’t contain herself.
    “Was there a lot of blood?”
    I blew out a sigh. “I didn’t see a lot of blood. I just saw his hand and it had a little blood on it. He had a mask on, though, so I couldn’t see his face. He had overalls on, too, so any damage done to the body was hidden.”
    “What kind of mask?”
    “It was one of those Mardi Gras masks.”
    “That’s weird.”
    This whole thing was weird. The mask was the least of my worries.
    “Did you see a ghost?” Thistle asked.
    I stopped at the question and pondered it for a second. “I don’t think so. I wasn’t really looking for one.” I mentally kicked myself. Why hadn’t I been looking? The boy had obviously died a violent death. If anyone was going to come back as a ghost, it would be him.
    “Maybe all the cops scared him away?” Thistle suggested.
    “Or maybe he wasn’t killed there,” Clove offered. This was the second time she had brought up that scenario. I couldn’t tell if she was hoping that was the case or not. I wasn’t sure if the boy dying in Hemlock Cove would ultimately make much