Bewitching Boots Read online

  He stopped and stared at me right after we passed the Dutchman’s Stage. “I’m not going to stop training her because you’re jealous. That’s crazy.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tilly and Leo watching and listening. She giggled in her sweet little girl voice and went back inside Peter’s Pub. Leo quickly followed.

  Great. More gossip to add fuel to the fire.

  “I’m not jealous,” I quickly denied.

  “Then what’s the fuss about Katharina? I always train the new jousters and work with the knights.”

  I stopped walking again when we were close to Harriet’s Hat House. “I don’t think you’re sleeping with Katharina, if that’s what you’re asking. I wonder why you didn’t mention that she was a woman. You had to know the Village gossips would be running overtime.”

  He frowned. “You’re right, Jessie. I didn’t think about it that way. It was just another training session to me. I’m sorry.”

  He put his arms around me, and we kissed right out in the open. I heard a whooping sound and a voice called out. “I knew there was nothing really wrong with you two,” Andre Hariot said. “Looks like I put my money in the right place.”

  I’d worked as Andre’s apprentice at his hat shop one summer. He was a famous Hollywood hat maker and a romantic. Of course he’d be on my side.

  Chase laughed. “See? Not everyone in the Village thought I was cheating on you. Andre was smart enough to know the truth.”

  “And bet on it, apparently.” But I was smiling too. “I’m sorry too, Chase. I shouldn’t have listened to the gossip.”

  He held my hand. “You wanted to be the first woman jouster?”

  “Maybe.” I pushed my short hair out of my face as the strong ocean breeze caught it. “A long time ago. Not now. I’m probably more jealous of that than anything.”

  “Thanks!” He grinned.

  “You know what I mean.”

  Chase’s radio went off—bad timing. Detective Almond was in the Village and wanted to see him at the castle. It seemed he’d found some other evidence in Isabelle’s death.

  Chapter Seven

  I really wanted to hear what Detective Almond had to say, but I knew Bill and Manny had already waited a long time for lunch. I convinced Chase to give me a few extra minutes to grab two pretzels and ales for them. I dropped the ale and pretzels off at the museum—to a chorus of unappreciative groans—and we left right away.

  The castle was still closed to visitors, even though the police had allowed the rest of the Village to open. There were dozens of police officers swarming over the castle like invaders. Were they looking for evidence that would link Bill to Isabelle’s death, or trying to find other possible suspects?

  Detective Almond, with his wrinkled shirt and too-tight pants, was on the sunny terrace overlooking the garden. Officers stood back for Chase and me to enter Isabelle’s suite. “There you are, Manhattan! I was beginning to think you’d finally given up on this place and run away screaming like the rest of us!”

  “Not yet,” Chase said. “What’s up?”

  Detective Almond moved to the edge of the terrace near the wrought iron rail and looked down. “The medical examiner found a bit of torn fabric in Miss Franklin’s hand. We think she snatched it from her attacker as she was being tossed over the edge.”

  He held up a plastic bag that contained a small fragment of green material. It looked as though it could have come from a shirt, not unlike the one Chase was wearing. It was standard issue from Stylish Frocks, the shop that created all of the costumes for the Village. They outfitted residents and visitors alike, as well as selling their costumes.

  Chase glanced at me as he took the bag from Detective Almond and held it up in the sunlight. “This could belong to anyone.”

  “But it probably came from a man’s shirt, right?” He nodded toward Chase’s green shirt.

  “No,” I added. “Women wear them too. There are probably a hundred people here today wearing shirts like that.”

  “Well, I might have to check them all,” Detective Almond said. “Or I might find that shirt in Bill Warren’s closet. What do you think?”

  “I can take you there, and we can check,” Chase volunteered. “If you have a search warrant.”

  “Search warrant, huh?” Detective Almond’s perpetual frown deepened. “Since when do I need a warrant to search the Village?”

  Chase shrugged. “Since Adventureland said so. It’s not my rule. You can talk to the king and queen about it.”

  “It’s getting to the point that it might be easier to close this whole place down.” Detective Almond stared down into the houses and shops beyond Mirror Lake and ending at the Field of Honor.”

  “I don’t think it would be as easy as all that,” Chase disagreed. “But you do what you have to do. I follow the regs and work as liaison between you and the Village. I do what I have to do.”

  The tension was much thicker between the two of them than was normal. Usually they worked well together. Was it only because I’d made Chase wait for me? Or was something else up between them that I didn’t know about?

  Detective Almond got on his cell phone and called for a warrant. “It will take about an hour. I’d like you and Jessie to stay here at the castle until it gets here. I want to be the first one to check Bill Warren’s clothing, if you don’t mind. I know you want the shoemaker to be innocent of all this. What I don’t know is how far you’d go to accomplish it.”

  “I wouldn’t do anything to impede your investigation,” Chase said. “Having this hang over the Village isn’t good for us either.”

  “I figure Warren was the last person to see Isabelle Franklin alive. Someone picked her up and dumped her into the garden. She was wearing the slippers he admitted to giving her. I’d say there is something going on besides magic shoes.”

  “Just being in the castle doesn’t make him a killer.” I defended Bill.

  “And you know Bill Warren well, do you Jessie? Because he told me he’s only known the two of you for a few weeks. Good thing he has that elf magic, huh? That takes care of everything.”

  “You can clearly tell by him wanting to take responsibility for Isabelle’s death—however misplaced—that he didn’t kill her.” I was starting to get hot. “A real killer wouldn’t have made up a story about magic if he was accused.”

  “Unless he wanted all of us to think he was crazy.” Detective Almond smiled. “We don’t like the insanity plea here in South Carolina. I just want you to know that. I’m going to get enough real evidence that I don’t need anyone to confess.”

  Detective Almond stepped to the far end of the terrace, cell phone in hand, as he answered a call. “I think one of my officers may have found something,” he said before hurrying downstairs.

  Chase and I stayed on the terrace. We watched Detective Almond collect something from an officer. He put it in another plastic bag and glanced up at us with a smile.

  “That can’t be good,” I remarked. “He looks too happy.”

  “I hope we’re not wrong about Bill,” Chase said. “Detective Almond says he has a gut feeling about him. I don’t like going against him when we’re supposed to be working together.”

  “Is that what’s wrong between you?”

  “No. He offered me a job again when I was at the station with Bill. He was really serious about it—even made a mock-up of a badge with my name on it.”

  I rolled my eyes toward the blue skies above us. “How many times is he going to ask you when you’ve already said no a dozen times?”

  Chase looked deeply into my eyes. “He said the police are going to demand a bigger police presence at the Village in the next fiscal year. He also said that presence would have to be monitored by a real member of the police department. It can’t be me unless I join up.”

  I hugged him. “That’s not what you want to do, right? You could’ve been a police officer anytime.”

  “Maybe this is different.”

  �
�No it’s not. You can give up the job. You can learn a skill or something, and we’ll move out of the Dungeon into a shop with an apartment. It would be great. We’ve talked about it before.”

  “But never seriously.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. He sounded unhappy with the idea of not being Bailiff. I thought it might be a good thing—no calls late at night—or during important conversations. As long as I picked good exhibits for the museum, I was set. Chase could learn to do something else. Maybe carve wood horses.

  He finally smiled and kissed me. “I’m not really worried about it, Jessie. They’ve talked about it before. We’ll see what happens.”

  “Right.”

  We found chairs on the terrace. It was hot up there. On the ground below, police officers were scurrying around like insects.

  “I really don’t think Bill did this,” I finally said, feeling the need to say something. “You didn’t see him with Isabelle yesterday. They were like cream and sugar together. I know he didn’t know her well, and she might have rejected him after he brought her the slippers. But you remember how patient and slow moving he was making the boots when we met him in Tennessee. He doesn’t strike me as someone with a sudden outburst of temper that could kill someone.”

  Chase shook his head, his eyes still on what was happening in the garden. “I agree with you about Bill taking responsibility for his elf magic. He really believes he has magic. I talked to him while we were waiting for his last interview at the police station. He even thinks the police not being able to charge him is proof of his magic. When he confessed to killing Isabelle, he was serious. He thinks his dancing slippers ran away with her.”

  “Which might be why Detective Almond thinks he’s pretending to be crazy.”

  He grinned and reached for my hand. “We’re all crazy, or we wouldn’t be here.”

  “That’s the truth.” I linked my fingers with his.

  “I’m sorry if training Katharina embarrassed you, Jessie. But this is Renaissance Village. It’s always going to be something. I didn’t think about the impact it might have on you. I’ll stop working with her, if you want me to.”

  “You don’t have to stop training her. I wish I could have been a knight. Can you imagine me as a jouster? I would’ve been awesome.”

  He squeezed my hand. “You’re already awesome. But there’s no reason you can’t joust if you want to go through the training. I’ll help you.”

  “No. I’m too busy at the museum to train to be a knight.” I smiled at him. “Just a heads-up would be nice next time if you’re involved personally with any beautiful women. That way I’m prepared for it.”

  “Fair enough, but I expect the same courtesy.”

  “Sure. But I never get to work with gorgeous, sexy men. Maybe I should look for a sexy craftsman next time.”

  “As long as you come home to me every night.” He kissed my fingers.

  “So what are we going to do about this thing with Bill? Have you told Detective Almond about the passageways in the castle? Anyone could have gotten in and out after killing Isabelle.”

  “I’m meeting with King Harold later today to discuss that. He doesn’t want the police searching the passages. I think he’ll have to deal with it, but I want him to know it’s going to happen.”

  “There’s something else too, Chase. Yesterday at the museum, Isabelle took down Sir Dwayne a peg or two. I’ve been wondering if he stewed about it long enough and finally flipped out when he saw her with Bill.”

  “That sounds possible, and another angle for Detective Almond to check. Although I’ve never seen Dwayne in anything as ordinary as green cotton. He’s more the silk and satin type.”

  “Maybe he figured everyone knew him that way and changed it up. He might have even dressed differently to try to frame Bill for Isabelle’s death.”

  “Possible.” He pointed to the suddenly empty garden. “Let’s see what else he found.”

  It only took Detective Almond a few minutes to come back upstairs. He was still carrying the plastic bag we’d seen him use to collect evidence. “Looks like we’ve got something else.”

  Chase took a look at the bag. “I think it’s a leather string. Maybe a shoelace.”

  “Something a shoemaker might have, right?” Detective Almond rocked back on his heels. “I’ve got my search warrant, Sir Bailiff. Lead the way to the shoemaker’s house.”

  I followed them out of Isabelle’s suite and through the castle, but as we reached the front gate, Rita Martinez gestured to me. I excused myself, saying I wanted to pay my respects to the king and queen. Chase smiled and said he’d see me later. Detective Almond kind of grunted and kept walking.

  Rita was waiting in one of the downstairs alcoves. It was an area off-limits to visitors, where the king and queen’s private chambers began. There were dozens of rooms in the castle for VIPs as well. With a full staff to look after them, and the best of everything, Adventureland employees were frequently rewarded with a stay here.

  “Jessie, I saw something yesterday while I was in the garden.” Rita’s dark eyes flitted up and down the empty corridor as though she was watching for someone. “It was too long before Isabelle died, but I’m not sure if I shouldn’t mention it.”

  “Did you tell the police?”

  “No. I wasn’t going to tell anyone, but Bill is such a nice man. I hate the idea that he’d go to prison for something he didn’t do.”

  I knew many residents in the Village had secret pasts. Rita could be one of them. She’d been a fixture at the castle for years, probably since it was built from the old Air Force communication tower. She ruled over the kitchen with a firm hand, as I’d found out when I first came to work there.

  “What did you see?”

  “It was one of Isabelle’s ladies arguing with her on the terrace.” Rita checked the corridor again. “I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Isabelle liked to belittle people who worked for her. I don’t know why anyone chose to be part of her retinue.”

  “I never understood either,” I agreed. “But she didn’t deserve to be killed.”

  “There were days . . .”

  “I know. You’ll have to tell the police, Rita. They won’t want to hear it secondhand.”

  “I can’t. I’m not exactly who you think I am.” She smiled, but her lips trembled. “Before I came here, I went through a rough patch. I can’t tell them who I am, or it would take over my life here too.”

  I was exceedingly curious. I wanted to ask more about her secret life. But I could see she was upset, so I tabled the discussion. “Let me think about it. Maybe there’s some way for me to say it. I want to tell the police about Isabelle shaming Sir Dwayne at the museum too. I can tell Detective Almond about that, and maybe mention her relationship with her ladies.”

  “The ladies, definitely,” Rita drawled. “Sir Dwayne has always been good to her. I’ve never heard him say a cross word to anyone.”

  That didn’t fit my image of Sir Dwayne who had struck me as being a bully at the museum. I was sure Rita had her own reasons to defend him.

  Rita hugged me. “Thank you, Jessie. Please try to keep my name out of it.”

  “Just one thing—why were you smoking in the garden? I thought everyone smoked in the courtyard.”

  “Just for a change. I don’t know. Sometimes I sneak out there to enjoy the greenery.”

  She thanked me again and scurried away.

  I sighed when I thought about finding Detective Almond. Manny needed a real break. I convinced myself I should take care of that first and then tell the police what I’d heard and seen.

  The Village was filled to capacity despite the hot summer day. Of the thousands of visitors, a large group was wearing the red nametags that identified them as possible replacements for the Village. Jugglers, bubble blowers, men and women dressed as cows and horses, passed me. There were several unicorns with flowered harnesses and painted hooves. I really liked a singing troubadour wearing red satin. H
e had a wonderful voice and was nice to look at too. I marked him down in my book.

  There was still a line waiting to get into the museum. That was exciting since the refreshments and music were long gone. It looked as though my shoemaker was going to draw the largest crowd ever.

  “Thank goodness you got back,” Manny said after I had fought my way up the stairs. “I’m parched, and that pretzel only left me hungry. What happened at the castle?”

  I gave him the fifty-cent tour, which brought him up to speed. As we spoke, I watched Bill with the visitors. They were spellbound by him. His hands moved slowly across the leather as he worked. He kept up a dialog about his elf ancestors that seemed to captivate his audience.

  I sent Manny off for an hour. I’d have Bill take a break when the museum wasn’t so busy.

  A pretty, young woman wearing a green snood lifted her skirt so Bill could look at her foot. As with Isabelle, he went into raptures over the beauty of her instep and her toes.

  “Please sit here and I’ll fit these boots on you, my dear.” Bill got up from his chair and took the woman’s hand. She giggled as she sat in his spot, crossed one leg over the other, and held up her foot.

  Gallantly, Bill got down on one knee with a boot in his hand. Cameras clicked and flashes illuminated the museum as visitors took plenty of pictures. I wished I could take a picture too, but the Royal Photographer was gone already, and residents weren’t allowed to have such devices. I could only hope Bill had put on a good show while the photographer was still there.

  He tickled the girl’s foot. “What do you want to do in these boots?”

  She smiled and hid behind a pretty green fan. “I’d like to walk quickly and comfortably everywhere I go.”

  Bill lowered his head as though he were whispering to the boots while he laced them on her narrow feet. “There you are. Try them out—but beware. Others have been taken over by the magic I put into them. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you.”

  The young woman in green and gold got to her feet with his help. Suddenly, one of her feet started jumping around as though she’d lost control of it. “Oh! What’s happening?”