A Witch Before Dying: A Wishcraft Mystery by Heather Blake

someone want to kill her?
    Despite what Elodie believed about the Anicula,there might be other motives for her death. I just had to figure out what they were.
    •  
The Anicula (Mr. Macabre)
    •  
Greed
    •  
Love (Jonathan??? Mr. Macabre?)
    •  
Jealousy (Roger, Yvonne)
    I had to admit, I wasn’t very good at investigating yet. First things first. I needed to learn more about Patrice. And the Anicula.
    A rooster crowed loudly beneath my window. Smiling, I looked out. Archie was sitting on the porch roof. Displacing Tilda (she hissed, hopped off the bed, and ran for the door—a sure sign I’d pay for my actions later), I opened the window all the way and leaned out.
    “We saw your window open,” Archie said in a stage whisper. “And thought you’d be awake.”
    If I weren’t, his crowing assured I would be. It had been loud enough to wake the dead.
    On Archie’s back, Pepe clung to bright red feathers. “
Bonjour, ma chère!
”
    “
Bonjour
,” I said cheerfully. Pepe was one of my favorite people—even if he was a mouse. “Do I want to know why the two of you are out so early?”
    Archie puffed his chest. “Morning rounds.” He flew up to the window ledge and then into my room. He landed on the bed—his red, blue, and yellow feathers a vibrant contrast to my white comforter. Pepe hopped off his back and gave me a slight bow.
    He wasn’t your average mouse. Slightly chubby, he wore a red vest with three small gold buttons, round glasses perched on his tiny nose, and his whiskers were manipulated into a Dali mustache. He’d been a familiar for over two hundred years, and had been with Godfrey Baleaux’s family almost as long. Godfrey owned theBewitching Boutique and also happened to be my aunt’s third ex-husband (whom she often referred to as a rat-toad bottom dweller).
    Pepe lived at the boutique and was one of the best clothing designers and tailors around. He was also the town’s historian, something I desperately needed right now. I hoped he could help me fill in some of the missing pieces in Patrice’s case.
    Missy lifted her sleepy head and thumped her tail when she spotted our guests. She leapt onto the bed in one motion and daintily licked Pepe’s face. I pulled her back onto my lap and rubbed her ears.
    “Morning rounds?” I asked. “What kind of rounds?”
    Archie stiffened, slipping into his role as the Elder’s majordomo. “The Elder is concerned about the security in the village and has issued a task force to regain order.”
    I couldn’t help my smile. “And you two are the whole task force?”
    “Your humor is unappreciated.” Archie preened. “Pepe and I are more than capable of holding down this fort, so to speak.”
    Ah yes, I could see it now. Archie could peck the person while Pepe chomped an ankle.
    “But alas,” Pepe said mournfully, “we do not act alone. There are others at the watch. We will prevail in finding this—what did you so eloquently refer to him as last night,
ma chère
?”
    I must have looked confused because Archie supplied the answer. “The ‘Peeper Creeper,’ I believe it was.”
    The Peeper Creeper. The Peeping Tom. Was he the one in the woods last night? Or had it been, as Evan so kindly surmised, Patrice’s killer? I pushed the thoughts aside. “Does the Elder think the Peeper is a Seeker?”
    A Seeker was a mortal who wanted to become a Crafter—a virtual impossibility since the Craft was hereditary.There were ways to be adopted into the Craft family—though marriage, for example—but powers were never included in those unions. So if a Seeker married a Crafter just so they could
practice
magic, he or she was going to be sadly out of luck.
    However, there were ways for mortals to achieve powers. Certain spells could produce magical results—and as it turned out, amulets and charms, as well.
    “Unknown,” Archie said, “but we cannot be too careful. Did the village police discover anything last night? We need to report back