June looked at Estella. “Celeste said that her grow room was full of fresh herbs. She made her own soap, shampoo, and household cleaners. Does wolfsbane have a practical use?”
Estella’s eyes scanned over lines of text. After a few minutes, she said, “Some people use an ointment made from aconite. It’s supposed to help with joint pain, but it could also damage the heart. Doesn’t sound like it’s worth the risk. In the past, people used wolfsbane for hunting and warfare. I’d say the answer is no, it doesn’t have a practical use.”
Nora remembered Celeste’s pale, slack face. The spittle leaking from her mouth. Her dilated pupils and the feel of her limp hand. Her final words.
“She said ‘wolf.’ Before she died, Celeste said ‘wolf.’” Nora stared at Bobbie’s text message. “I was freaking out, and I asked too many questions at once. What happened? Who did this to you? Was it the same person who hurt Bren? And Celeste said ‘wolf.’ And then, she said it again. ‘Wolf’ and what sounded like ‘bay.’”
June’s face lit up. “Not bay. Bane. She was telling you that she’d been poisoned. With wolfsbane.”
“By Wolf Beck,” Hester added. Sounding a little breathless, she continued. “That’s why she said the word twice. She answered your questions, just not in the right order.”
Nora picked up her phone. “I’ll call the sheriff. If we’re right about wolfsbane being the cause of death, there’s going to be a target on Beck’s back the size of the Death Star.”
“Good,” said June. “I don’t condone the hunting of wolves. But if a wolf walks on two legs and murders women because they don’t give him what he wants, then I say bring him down.”
Nora acknowledged June’s anger with a nod. “To catch a wily predator, you need to bait a trap with something it can’t resist.”
“But the Potion Page is in New York, which means the sheriff doesn’t have the right bait,” said Estella.
“Beck wants more than a single page. He wants the whole book. Celeste’s book.” Nora pulled up McCabe’s contact card and held her finger over the call button. “And I think I know where it is.”
Chapter 16
Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never thought to look.
—Jodi Picoult
The next morning, Nora wiped off her moped’s dew-covered seat and headed for the Pink Lady Grill.
The town was just starting to stir. The sun had barely cleared the mountains. Only the tallest peaks glowed with a lemonade light. Darkness still clung to the slopes and wooly shadows pooled around the trees. The air was nighttime cold.
It was a morning for sleeping in. A morning for soft slippers and heavy sweatshirts. Steaming cups of coffee and bowls of hot oatmeal drizzled with maple syrup. The crackle of wood in the fireplace. The sigh of newspaper pages.
Other than the occasional jogger or dog walker, Nora didn’t see many people on her way to the diner. She was having a breakfast meeting with Sheriff McCabe, and since he was short on time, she’d offered to pick up food and take it back to his office.
Jack Nakamura had her takeout order ready and waiting at the counter.
“I added two fruit cups, free of charge. Estella said you might need brain food. Blueberries and strawberries with orange slices will do the trick.” Jack tapped the side of his head and grinned. “I don’t need brain food. Why try to be the smartest guy in town when you’re already the luckiest?”
Though Jack had been in love with Estella for years, he never thought he stood a chance with her. Estella had always been very vocal about wanting to leave Miracle Springs, the town she’d lived in all of her life. She wanted to travel to distant cities and have flings with exotic strangers. She wanted to escape the ghosts of her childhood—to shuck off the memories of poverty and emotional abuse like a snake shedding its skin.
Year after year, Estella talked about the places she wanted to go, but she never packed her bags. As long as her father was incarcerated nearby, she wouldn’t leave. He’d killed a man to protect Estella, and she felt indebted to him for as long as he was behind bars.
In the past, Estella had a tendency to overshare the details of her love life with the other Secret, Book, and Scone Society members. But when it came to her relationship with Jack, she was close-lipped. The charismatic Japanese-American cook had won her heart, and, perhaps for the first time, Estella was in love.
Nora thanked Jack for the fruit and refused his offer to carry the beverage tray out to her moped. The diner was filling up, and he’d soon be needed in the kitchen. The other cooks were good, but they couldn’t replicate Jack’s airy pancakes or pillowy omelets.