Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

“ Saboteurs ?” Ethan asked. “ No , I’m not trying to sabotage anything.”

We all stared silently at him, and he had the grace to blush.

“ Just wanted Daniel gone,” he murmured under his breath. “ It doesn’t count.”

“ Two saboteurs, and two witches at work,” I mused aloud.

“ The one who gave him the potions, and the one who messed with the lights and the trunk?” Key asked.

“ And they also poisoned your friend,” Dru added.

We all glanced at Ethan again.

“ Seriously , it wasn’t me.”

“ It would’ve been dumb to poison someone, then ask a witch to help,” Dru conceded.

Ethan nodded vigorously. “ Exactly . I didn’t poison anyone, I swear.”

Fluffy ambled over and put her paws on my knee. I obliged and moved her onto my lap. “ Do we think the two things are connected?”

“ What do you mean?” Key asked.

“ Do we have two people who want the filming to fail, or is someone using Ethan’s actions to further some kind of agenda and put the blame on him?”

Ethan’s mouth fell open. “ What ?”

“ Maybe someone discovered what you were doing and decided to continue your plan when you stopped.”

“ I was very careful. Nobody saw me.”

“ It’s too much coincidence,” I said. “ Who else would want to harm the production?”

Ethan made a face. “ We all need the paycheck. But , honestly, it’s a miracle the thing is happening at all.”

We all leaned in, sensing tea was about to be spilled. “ Oh ?”

“ There’s been issues from the start. First the production company gave the author right of refusal for director, and it was a pain to get her to accept Parker . Then they discovered the casting agent was getting paid under the table to cast actors from this one agency, so we had to switch casting directors and start the search all over again. Then the guy who was supposed to play Jack Larson backed out last minute and our second choice had already accepted another gig, so we had to get a new actor. Then they wanted to film in another city but the cost was too high, so the whole thing almost got shut down until they agreed to film here.”

Ethan took one last sip of his iced tea before continuing. “ Then once we got here, everything got worse. Someone messed up the requests for equipment, so we had to delay by a week, which meant a whole other thing with the hotels. Then Lydia Lee pitched a fit over her wardrobe because it made her look old or something, so we had to fix that, and she refused to stay in the hotel so they had to find her another place to stay. And don’t get me started on the actor who plays the bad guy. On social media all day, interrupting set up trying to make videos every hour. Oh , and one of the trailers we use on the other set lost the plumbing and now Alice Conway is sharing a trailer with Lee and another secondary and they all hate each other and Parker and Curtis keep having to step in.”

Good Mother Earth , maybe the movie really was cursed, Ethan and witches aside. “ That’s …a lot of problems.”

“ Things were getting better once we started filming stuff, but now… I don’t know. It’s all getting out of control.”

“ Do you think Parker , Curtis , or Lee would want the production to stop?” I asked.

“ I don’t see why. Especially now. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we all get paid.”

“ Maybe to amp up ticket sales?” Key offered.

“ Eh . This is going straight to streaming.”

“ Ticket sales, views, same thing,” I said. “ Could it be done to try to make the movie go viral?”

“ Jason Scott , one of the main actors, already went viral trying to prank one of the techs,” Ethan said with a grimace of disgust. “ There was a petition to get him fired, but we can’t afford to replace him at this point.”

“ Lovely ,” Dru muttered.

“ What can you tell me about the potions you used?” I asked. “ Or about the witch who sold them to you?”

Key sat up straight. “ You think the witch who sold him the potions has something to do with this?”

I studied Ethan . “ If he’s right and nobody saw him use the potions, and we’re right and someone’s using him as a scapegoat, then there was only one person who knew magic was being used to harm the filming.”

“ Could it be someone else sensed the magic?” Shane asked. “ Like you did?”

“ Someone would have to intentionally search for magic, and even if you’re a paranormal, the incidents he described don’t exactly scream spells.” I turned to Ethan . “ What happened to the coffee mug you spelled?”

“ I took it and trashed it,” he said. “ I was scared someone might look into it.”

“ No opportunity for anyone to see if magic was used?”

“ They could’ve dug it out of the trash,” Shane pointed out, reminding me of Ian . Poking holes into theories was Ian’s favorite sport.

I did miss the man something fierce.

Ethan shook his head. “ I trashed it at the hotel, not the set.”

“ Still possible,” I said, “if unlikely.” Unfortunately , “unlikely” was kind of my brand. “ How long between the mug incident and the lights equipment problems?”

Ethan scrunched his forehead in thought. “ Two days?”

“ How did you find the witch shop?” Shane asked.

“ Oh , I posted a request on one of those forum things.”

Another thing I had some experience with. “ What did you ask?”

“ I don’t remember exactly.” His eyes shifted sideways.

I reached around Fluffy and tapped the table. “ Oh , I think you know. Out with it.”

Ethan mumbled something.

I put my hand behind my ear. “ What was that?”

He cleared his throat and spoke louder. “‘ Need discreet spells to take down co-worker while filming in Olmeda next week.’”

Dru snorted.

“ Next time you might want to give fewer details,” Shane said with a roll of his eye.

“ I was nervous, okay?” Ethan said. “ It’s the first time I’ve done something like that!”

“ Did anyone else contact you?” I asked.

“ Just that one witch.”

“ One of our suspects might’ve seen the post and decided to use the opportunity to harm the production through him,” Key said excitedly.

“ Looks likely,” I agreed. “ You said you checked out their shop, and it had good reviews. What shop was it?”

Ethan brightened. “ This one.” He swept across his phone several times, then showed me his screen. “ I bookmarked it,” he added proudly.

“ Maybe we can figure out who owns the shop?” On the outside, it only listed a name, and specialty—all kinds of magic potions for sale—and the already mentioned glowing reviews. “ Did you open some kind of account with it?”

Ethan shook his head. “ I sent them my details through the direct messages.”

“ But you made sure this witch was from the shop, right?”

He blinked. “ They said they were. They linked me to it.”

Shane face-palmed. Dru stifled a laugh.

I rubbed my forehead. “ Did you at least use a fake name?”

“ They needed my full name to ship the potion.”

“ You just assumed this person was from the shop but didn’t actually double check? And you sent him your information and real name and everything?”

Ethan paled. “ You think I got scammed?”

“ I’d probably cancel your credit card,” Key suggested kindly.

“ Oh !” Ethan looked like he was about to cry.

“ You can do that later,” I said. “ I think this person isn’t interested in selling your information, just putting the blame on you. What did you do with the vials? The residue from the potions might give us a clue of who made the spells.”

“ I destroyed them right away,” Ethan said.

“ Trashed them again?” Shane asked wryly.

Ethan huffed, offended. “ I washed the vials with bleach and put them in the fire.”

“ That’s some thorough cleansing,” Dru remarked in a tone that said and exactly what a guilty person would do .

“ I hoped it’d stop the accidents from spreading.” Ethan dropped his head to the table and covered his neck with his hands. “ God , I’m such an idiot.”

Shane’s expression all but spelled if the duck quacks…

I reached over and patted Ethan’s arm. “ It’s okay. We all do silly things in moments of stress. What about the boxes used for delivery?”

“ Trashed them,” Ethan mumbled from under the weight of the pile of hindsight and regrets keeping his face glued to the table.

“ Labels ? Return address?”

“ Normal post. Address looked fine.” Ethan sat up. “ I looked it up when things got weird. It’s a random restaurant in Montel .”

“ And you’re sure you didn’t keep anything from the packages? Maybe the packing material? If we could get fingerprints, we might be able to give them to Officer Br? —”

“ Please don’t involve the police,” he begged. “ I’m really sorry about the mess. I’ll help you fix this any way I can.”

Fluffy yipped in concern, clearly moved by the sight of Ethan’s stricken expression at the thought of calling anyone titled Officer . I glanced at Key , but she also had a similar please not the police puppy-eyed thing going.

Shane made a face when I met his gaze. Clearly he wasn’t exactly camp forget Officer Brooks , but he also wasn’t going to go against Key’s wishes.

“ You promised one day,” Key said.

“ That I did.” Plus , it wasn’t like we had any actual evidence to show her. Turning my attention to Ethan , I asked, “ You used the forum messages with the witch?”

“ Yes .”

“ Show us.”

He brought out his phone, then scrolled for a bit. A crease formed between his brows. “ The messages are gone.”

I made grabby hands, and he handed over the phone. The contact— PancakeKingWiz86 —was there, but the message history was blank. Could Ethan have logged onto a secondary account to fake the conversation? Ask us for help in the hopes we’d look for a suspect elsewhere while he resumed his reign of terror? I passed the phone to Key , who also studied it closely.

“ So ,” Shane said after taking a look himself, “you have no way of proving you’re not making this all up.”

“ I swear I’m not,” Ethan said, desperate now. “ I’ll give you access to the set. I have alibis for when your friend was hurt.”

“ You’ll give us a list of everyone working on the movie?” I asked.

“ Sure . Anything .”

“ Great ,” I said with approval.

Fluffy let out a sharp yip and I let her down again. She trotted back to Rufus and rubbed against his flank. He appeared impervious to it, but I caught the gleam of contentment in his black doggy eyes. He couldn’t fool me, and neither could Ethan .

Something in his behavior and actions was too trustingly naive to be part of some elaborate game of smoke and mirrors.

“ What should we do now?” I asked Key .

Shane gave her a toothy grin. “ Yes , boss, what’s next?”

Her mouth twitched, and her cheek gained some color, but she took the question seriously. “ We need to investigate our subjects.”

“ Sanders , Curtis , and Lee ,” I elaborated for Ethan’s sake. The cinematographer, the producer, and the actress. “ What are your thoughts on them?”

He thought about it for a few moments. “ Not sure about Sanders , but the other two, I could see it. Especially Lee .”

“ Did you guys come up with any other suspects yesterday?”

Key and Shane shook their heads.

“ No one obvious,” Key said.

“ Following Sanders and Curtis around was a bust,” Shane added.

“ I think…” Key scanned our surroundings to confirm we were still alone on the terrace and leaned in. “ We need to check the trailers for the actors and crew. See if anyone has potions or ingredients for potions, especially dark magic.”

“ Whoever is doing this must’ve come with their own supplies,” I agreed. “ They wouldn’t chance buying locally and it getting back to them.”

We all glanced at Ethan .

Ethan frowned. “ What ?”

“ Nothing ,” I said. “ So what’s our move?”

“ I’ll search the set tonight,” Key said.

The memory of watching the movie magic happen last night filled me with eagerness to see it happen again. “ I’ll help.”

She shook her head. “ Someone’s going to notice if you keep sneaking in. I have the magic-detecting potion. If I see something weird, I’ll check for spells.”

“ You’ll need backup,” I argued. “ A lookout.”

“ I got Shane .”

Shane smirked. I sent him a warning glare. “ While Shane is great, I think it’d be better if I was at hand.”

Key didn’t look convinced. “ I don’t know. I think three people might be too obvious.”

“ I’ll help,” Ethan exclaimed.

“ No ,” Shane said.

“ But I didn’t do it,” Ethan whined.

Key shook her head. “ It’s too many people.”

It wouldn’t if she only took me. Would bribery work? What could I offer that’d buy me entrance into the set again? Free muffins for a year? But it wasn’t as if I made her pay for them. A good word with the bounty hunter guild? Could I do that?

“ Guys ,” Dru drawled, “nobody’s going to bring evidence of potion making to the place where they want to use the potion. They would bring a vial and that’s it.”

Key’s shoulders slumped. “ You’re right.”

“ I usually am,” Dru murmured while swirling the last of her coffee around her cup.

Key suddenly brightened. “ We’ll search their rooms, then.”

Excellent idea. “ While everyone is busy filming today?”

“ Yes !”

I turned to Dru . “ Does that meet with your approval?”

She shrugged. “ Definitely smarter.”

“ Where are our suspects staying?” I asked Ethan . “ Do you know?”

“ Oh , yeah. Sanders and Curtis are staying with the rest of the crew at a chain hotel. Lee , I told you, she’s staying somewhere else.”

“ Where ?” I asked.

“ Some local bed and breakfast.”

Uh -oh. I had a bad feeling about this. “ Which one? Do you remember?”

“ Dorothy ? Dover ? Oh !” He snapped his fingers. “ Dorsey’s Bed and Breakfast .”

How did everything always end up involving the old biddy?

Dru sat up straight and grabbed my arm. “ Hope and I will take a look around the bed and breakfast and report back.”

“ We will?”

She glared at me, daring me to deny her request. Then it suddenly clicked— Dorsey was part of the PBOA and so had a vote in the future of Dru’s shop.

Dru really knew how to mix paranormal crimes and business.

“ We’ll take a look around the bed and breakfast and report back,” I confirmed, since I was smart enough not to deny her request.

Shane took out some bills and put them on the table. “ Key and I will take the hotel rooms tonight while they’re filming. I’ll find someone to cover for us at the set. It shouldn’t take long.” From the fast glance he sent Ethan , I had a feeling the someone would probably be Alex , and he’d also be in charge of keeping an eye on Ethan . I could get on board with that.

“ It’ll be okay, Hope ,” Key reassured me. “ If someone sees us around the rooms and gets curious, we’ll call Ethan to vouch for us. Plus , people might recognize us from being on set, so they won’t find it weird if we’re at the hotel.”

“ We’ll be fine, boss,” Shane said with all the confidence of a man twice his age. Which , experience-wise, was probably not too far off.

“ How will you get inside the rooms?” I asked.

Key grinned and waved her fingers. “ Magic .”

Her earth magic, I assumed. It worked wonders on metal locks. I grinned back. Key was ready to fly the coop, and all I could do was watch her take to the air and bring out an air mattress in case she crashed.