Hexes & Hush Money: Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Hazel Caraway

Author:Hazel Caraway [Caraway, Hazel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Willowspoint Press
Published: 2025-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The morning after the chaotic town meeting, Gran’s kitchen was transformed into a veritable investigation headquarters. A large, beautifully illustrated map of Havenwood Harbor was spread across the table, anchored at the corners by mugs of steaming coffee. We were a strange but determined team: me, a witch running on caffeine and fury; Gran, the operation's unapologetic spymaster; Sage, the calm, logical anchor; and Betty and Harold Gable, our eager, if unconventional, field agents.

“Right,” Gran said, tapping a long, elegant finger on the map. “Let’s mark the poison.”

One by one, we placed small, red-headed pins on the locations where the Pike’s Pennies had appeared: my café, the harbormaster’s office, the lumberyard, the bait and tackle shop, the town clerk’s office, and finally, the Mayor’s desk at the town hall.

Once they were all in place, the effect was chilling. It was a spider’s web of greed, with the threads radiating outward from the marina where Pike had planned his monstrous condo development. The pattern was undeniable.

“He was systematic,” Sage observed, her brow furrowed in concentration. “These aren’t random threats. This is a targeted campaign to acquire or control every key piece of property and political influence needed for his project.”

“The coins are showing us his path,” I murmured, the ghost’s words echoing in my mind. “They’re lighting up his trail of corruption.”

“So what’s our next move?” Harold asked, his earlier "Crossword Crusader" energy now channeled into a more useful, if equally enthusiastic, focus. “Do we warn the people he might target next?”

“We do better than that,” Gran said, a cunning glint in her eye. “We listen. Betty, you have your knitting circle this afternoon at the church. A coin appeared in their collection plate. The gossip will be flowing like holy water. I want to know everything.” Betty nodded, her needles already tucked into her bag, ready for action. “Harold, you’re on dock duty. The fishermen know things. They know who was in debt to Pike, who was meeting him in secret. Find out what they know.”

My own task felt more nebulous. I needed more information on the coins themselves. My meeting with Professor Blackwood felt like a lifetime ago, but the knowledge he’d offered was now more critical than ever. He had offered to share more of his research, and I, driven by the desperate need to understand the tools of my enemy, had agreed to meet him again.

I found him at the library, surrounded by a fortress of dusty, leather-bound books. He greeted me with that same charming, easy smile, though today I saw it through a new lens of suspicion. He seemed almost too perfect, his presence on the island too coincidental.

“Ivy, wonderful,” he said, clearing a space for me at his table. “I was hoping you’d stop by. I’ve found something I think you’ll find immensely interesting.”

He slid a heavy, centuries-old tome across the table. It was a collection of regional folklore, and he had marked a page with a slip of paper. The chapter was titled, “Objects of Truth and Curses of Conscience.

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