Wisteria Warned by Angela Pepper

Author:Angela Pepper [Pepper, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Bentley’s idea about using the dollhouse to locate the missing woman was a magnificent one. As we set out, I had high hopes. If our plan worked, my daughter would return home from her first day of work to find Corvin waiting to swap adventure stories with her.

The detective and I arrived at Temperance Krinkle’s residence to find no outward signs of trouble at the cream-colored house. The DWM knew how to keep a low profile.

I almost expected to see Temperance Krinkle’s face when the front door opened, but it was a humorless agent in sunglasses. Krinkle was not in the house. According to the agent, she’d been taken elsewhere for questioning, but she was “perfectly safe.”

Bentley explained the reason for our visit. The agent’s lip curled even higher at each mention of magic.

*

After getting the run-around from multiple levels of DWM agents, none of whom I knew personally, we finally got access to the attic around noon.

The attic didn’t look much different from how it had been during our previous visit, except the giant model of Wisteria had been pushed to the side of the space. We squeezed past stacks of boxes to get into the main space, and Bentley tripped over something low and dark—a heavy toolbox.

“Mr. Clumsy Feet,” I teased him.

“Why is there a toolbox right where a person would be walking?”

I sighed. “Why is there always a fluffy cat right where a person would be walking?”

He gave me a puzzled look.

I explained, “Since getting a cat, I’ve become much more aware of the space directly in front of my feet. You could call it my Sixth Sense.”

“Sure,” he said dismissively, and then he went to where the model of the Tate house should have been.

He cursed under his breath.

I joined him and looked down at the bad news.

Unfortunately, the model of the Tate house wasn’t a house at all. It was a pile of pieces.

“What happened?” I asked. “Is this standard WPD procedure? Destroy all evidence?”

Bentley shook his head. “The junior technicians believed the model was a training exercise. They must have decided that dismantling it for hidden clues would get them full marks.”

“I’m giving them an F. Bring those ding-dongs up here and I’ll give them a piece of my mind.”

“What’s done is done. Let’s focus on what we can do.” He sifted through the loose pieces. “Everything’s still here. Run your spell on this.”

I put my hands into the mess and tried, but the energy was all wrong.

I broke the news that we needed to put the house back together to give the spell a shot at working.

We got to work, only to discover we needed glue. And glue was the type of everyday item the crime scene technicians and agents guarding the residence didn’t have. Whatever glue Krinkle had used to make the houses in the first place had been taken elsewhere for testing. What a bunch of ding-dongs!

Off to the hobby store we went, to buy glue.

Then back to the Krinkle residence.

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