When they came out in the green dresses, they all looked amazing. There was a slight sideways sweep of fabric across the waist that hid Alice’s barely-there pregnancy and was flattering to the other two. They preened and looked critically at their back views, and then the three of them stood together. “What do you think?”
“I think you all look beautiful.” They did, too. The color flattered all of them and the dresses were simple and classic.
They tried on the other two dresses simply to confirm that the first choice had been the right one, but we all agreed that the green was the winner. There were a few alterations to be done, but they were all slight, and Tara promised the dresses would be ready by Wednesday. That left days to spare before my wedding.
That done, we headed in search of shoes and ended up with silver sandals that Alice picked out and all of us loved.
After that, naturally we went out for lunch. It was nice for Jen to get better acquainted with Alice and Violet, and I was happy to see that Violet was in good form. I suspected she’d needed to feel more a part of the wedding.
We lingered over coffee, and then Alice said she had to get back. Violet had some other shopping to do, so that left Jen and me. “Do you want to go somewhere?” I asked, thinking I could take her sightseeing.
“What I’d really like to do is head to Rafe’s house. Now that we have the bridesmaid dresses picked out, Olivia and I need to choose ribbons and make certain all the flowers and plants still work.”
I loved how seriously Jen was taking her duties, plus I was happy to spend the afternoon at Crosyer Manor. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I was certain William would have questions for me.
I called to let Rafe know we were on our way, and by three, we were pulling into the drive. “Every time I come here, I feel like I’m about to step into a British costume drama,” Jen said, already reaching for Henri’s treat.
We spent a busy afternoon planning things like lighting for the wedding reception when the sun went down, and while William ran over a million details with me, Jen and Olivia worked on décor.
Rafe came in and out, looking distracted. Lochlan came in at one point carrying his briefcase. Rafe had put him in the guest wing, as he was doing business in Oxford and London while he was here.
I finally followed Rafe into his study to find him puzzling over the spellbound alchemy book. “No luck?” I asked. “Maybe the spell has to come off first.”
“But the book’s perfectly legible. My guess is the book works on two levels.”
“Like alchemy?” I asked him. “As above, so below.”
“Exactly.” He pushed the book away. “And this witch’s death is bothering me, too. The police have precious few leads in the case.”
I had an idea. “Rafe, what if we call a special meeting of the vampire knitting club? Not a regular knitting meeting but one where we got a bunch of different brains working on the puzzle of Karmen’s death.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I’m certainly out of ideas. Lochlan’s got a good head for that sort of thing, too.”
I didn’t want to hold it in the back room of my shop as usual, because Mom had a habit of arriving at my place whenever she felt like it. What if she came to call on me upstairs? And I was in the back room with a bunch of vampires, including her own mother? I didn’t think that would go over well. We were getting on so well doing all this wedding planning, I didn’t want to ruin a good thing.
“We’ll have it here,” Rafe said. He looked quite pleased by the idea. “Tonight?”
I put up my hands. “I don’t have any other plans. And Jen will get to meet the other vampires.”
Lochlan and Jen both said they were in, so Rafe organized it with the other vampires. This wasn’t the first time we’d met at his place, and it was easily accomplished. As many as could pile into the Bentley did, and Carlos, the Cardinal College student who had become friendly with Hester, also brought some of the vamps in his car.
Naturally, even though we were here for sleuthing, everybody still had their knitting. Including Jennifer. I had a partially completed winter scarf that I’d left at Rafe’s, so I unenthusiastically pulled that out.
I introduced her to everyone, and she sat next to Gran. They seemed delighted with each other and chatted away until the meeting began.
Lochlan didn’t knit, so he manned the whiteboard. He seemed very accustomed to doing that. I supposed a guy who ran a high-tech firm was pretty used to scribbling stuff on whiteboards—though hopefully, not very often clues to a murder.
He started out by putting the dead witch’s name on the top. Karmen Herrick. “What do you know about her?” he asked aloud, and as we called out ideas, he wrote down in bullet points:
Alchemist, looked much younger than her actual age.
Called the Wicked Witch of Wallingford. (Gran couldn’t help herself.)
Died of arsenic poisoning.
Last words “The book.”
Ran Wallingford Botanicals.
I had printed off the pictures that I’d taken of those stenciled slogans in her kitchen, and we passed them around.
When they got to Jennifer, she looked very closely before saying, “Rafe, do you have any alchemy books? What do the rest of the symbols look like?”
Naturally, Rafe had loads of books on alchemy, probably every one ever printed. He brought her out a selection, including the one he’d mysteriously acquired, and while the meeting went on, I watched Jennifer flip through one after another. I suspected she had something in mind and she’d speak up when she had something to say.
She came at last to that
