“I guess I don’t feel worthy of this because I didn’t help Bren,” said Nora. “I couldn’t help Celeste. And when we had dinner with Celeste, you three focused on her needs while I snooped around.”
“We didn’t find Bren’s body, and no one left a page full of weird symbols under our doormat. You’re a part of their story in a way that we’re not, so don’t beat yourself up for trying to figure things out,” said Estella.
“Speaking of that book page, Jasper said that the librarian from New York took it back with her.” Hester pursed her lips. “What was her name?”
Nora curled and uncurled her toes, making eddies in the green water. “Roberta Rabinowitz. She goes by Bobbie. She had a hunch about the Potion Page. Let me explain.”
Nora told her friends about the old paper, the fake ink, and the online forum frequented by collectors of occult books and paraphernalia.
When she was finished, June held up a finger. “Wait a sec. Celeste lived with a bunch of artists. People who could paint and draw. Lazarus Harper worked in the school cafeteria. Who’d know more about sixteenth-century paper? Harper or one of the artists?”
“Lazarus Harper is angry enough to commit a crime, but he didn’t kill Celeste. He spent the night in the drunk tank,” said Hester.
“What about before we saw him in the parking lot?” Nora asked.
Hester tapped her wrist where her watch was hidden under the cuff of her sweater. “Harper kicked off his night by pounding beer with tequila chasers at the biker bar. Plenty of people saw him taking advantage of the happy hour special. When he was feeling no pain, he paid his tab. He tossed the receipt in his truck. It has a time stamp. After that, Harper drove to Soothe. His master plan, inspired by beer and tequila, was to park, grab the baseball bat from behind his seat, and trash Celeste’s store.”
“Damn,” Nora murmured. “What stopped him?”
Hester grinned. “You did. He saw you standing in the parking lot next to June’s running car and got spooked. Instead of breaking glass and stomping on gift baskets, he was breathalyzed and tossed in a cell. He also ’fessed up about sending the threatening postcard to Celeste. He did that after learning that his court case was postponed until further notice. Apparently, he doesn’t remember what he wrote because he was drunk then too.”
Estella smirked. “How convenient.”
“As for trashing Celeste’s store, Harper said that he wanted to get even. The bank took his house last week, so he figured Celeste should lose her store.”
“What about Bren? Could he have been involved in her death?” Nora asked.
Hester’s reply was firm. “No. He spent a week or so in Rocky Mount before driving to Miracle Springs. He was visiting a woman he used to work with. Harper always had a thing for her, but she was married back then. She isn’t now. And because this woman loves posting on social media, there’s a detailed and very public record of her time with Lazarus. Too detailed.”
Estella’s brows rose. “Really? Can you give an example?”
Nora wasn’t interested in the particulars, so she chimed in before Hester could be diverted. “So Harper claims that he only planned to mess with Celeste’s shop? There’s no way that’s true. A man who sends a threatening postcard and drives across the state to smash a woman’s place with a baseball bat is a ticking bomb.”
“Sheriff McCabe said the same thing—that Harper’s anger was escalating. If the lawsuit hadn’t been postponed, he might not have lashed out. But if he hadn’t been arrested last night, who knows what he would have done?” Hester looked at Nora. “There’s really no bright side to anything that’s happened, but Harper did tell the sheriff that he knows the man in charge of Still Waters. Everyone in the community calls him Maestro, but his real name is Wolf Beck.”
“Wolves again,” June cried in disgust.
Nora didn’t respond. She was back in Celeste’s bedroom, on the floor with a dying woman. Celeste’s final words had included Beck’s first name.
Twisting to her right, Nora stretched out her arm but couldn’t reach her laptop without taking her feet out of the water.
“I’ll get it,” Estella said, dropping a towel in Nora’s lap. “It’s time for you to dry off, anyway. But don’t put your socks back on. I’m not done with you yet.”
After drying her feet, Nora opened her laptop. As she ran a search for Wolf Beck, she told her friends that Beck was likely the reason Celeste had moved.