Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates

you.”
    â€œOkay.” I bent, scooped Mungo up, and walked away without looking back at Angie. But I could tell my familiar was still watching her.
    *   *   *
    It didn’t take long for Detective Peter Quinn to interview me. After all, this stuff was getting to be old hat for us, so I ran down what had happened in record time. But then he asked about what Angie Kissel and I had talked about, the expression on his face letting me know he was somewhat peeved we’d talked at all.
    â€œJust this and that,” I told him. It wasn’t like I was going to share what she’d told me about being a witch. Not just a witch, but my little Mungo’s former witch. I’d held him tightly in my arms the whole time Quinn and I talked. Bless his little canine heart, he seemed to understand and hadn’t wiggled once to be let down.
    â€œYou two seemed to know each other.” He’d obviously been watching us.
    I shrugged. “Just met her.”
    â€œYour neighbor seems pretty sure Kissel killed the psychologist,” he said.
    â€œWell, she was kneeling over the body when Margie went in,” I said. “But Lucy told you about the almond smell, right?”
    He pressed his lips together.
    â€œYou can’t smell it either, can you?”
    A sigh, and he shook his head. “One of the techs could, though, so your aunt might be right. We’ll see if it’s really cyanide.”
    Citing my dragonfly confirmation would only make him think I was crazy. I said, “Well, it if was poison, itwas something that works quickly. She didn’t seem at all ill before she went into the back room. How quickly does cyanide kill?”
    Quinn looked grim. “It’s one of the most lethal and fast-acting poisonous substances out there.”
    â€œWell, Dr. Dana was back there by herself for fifteen minutes or so. Er,
presumably
by herself,” I corrected myself. “And you have no idea how she ingested it?”
    â€œNot—” He stopped himself with a grimace. “Listen, Lightfoot. I know you fancy yourself an investigator, but unless you have something to add to the information I have right now, we’re done.”
    â€œHmm.” I thought for a moment. “I’m still kind of reeling from the whole thing.”
    He glanced up at me. “Of course. I sometimes forget you don’t run into this kind of thing as often as I do.”
    I held up a finger. “Hang on.” I told him about the mix-up regarding the bottled water and how the one Croft had mistakenly provided had been open for at least an hour by the time the author arrived. “Her little entourage brought along her favorite brand, though.” I gestured subtly toward the victim’s sister and husband. “That’s what I saw her drink. Of course, it’s possible she sipped from the pre-opened bottle at some point, even after she was such a prima donna about the whole thing. I didn’t see her do it, but I wasn’t watching her all the time.”
    He nodded. “Someone else mentioned that. Don’t worry. We’re sending all the containers to the lab. Did you see anyone touch either of the water bottles?”
    â€œJust Nate and Phoebe and Dana herself. And presumably Croft opened the one that sat behind the podium until they got here.” I snapped my fingers. “And she had a cup of peach sweet tea by her when she wassigning books for people.” I left out that Ben had been the one who’d brought it to her. Quinn had already accused my uncle of murder once, and I wasn’t going to invite him to do it again. “I don’t know if she drank any of it or not, though.”
    â€œOkay. Did Ben tell you I’m sending all your leftover pastries to the lab, too?”
    â€œWhat?” Dread stabbed through me.
    Quinn frowned. “If the victim was poisoned, it makes sense to test everything she might have