Free Ax to Grind by Amelia Morgan Page B

always know how to make me feel better.” 
    “Although to be fair, I’m not a hundred percent the same person as when you left town.”
    “You mean because you’ve stubbornly taken up amateur sleuthing?”
    “I meant because I’m in a good relationship for once.  But yeah, the sleuthing is a new twist, too.”
    “It makes you wonder what else could change about you, me, or Liz Donnelly for that matter.  The fact is, you don’t know what someone is capable of until they’ve been pushed to the brink.”
    “After the way the other suspects have behaved so far, you really still think Liz could have done this?”
    “That’s the point I’ve been trying to make.  A couple months ago, I never thought there could ever be a murder in Enchanted Bay.  A couple minutes ago, I never thought I’d see a vegan entrée on Al’s menu.  Yes, I’ve never thought it would be possible for Liz to murder anyone.  At the same time, I seem to keep getting proven wrong.”
    Meg shook her head.  “You won’t be proven wrong about that one.  Trust me, Liz didn’t murder anyone.”
    He sighed.  “I hope you’re right.”
    “Now, I guess the pressing question is, can I interest you in a vegan entrée?” she joked. 
    Connor grimaced.  “Pass.”

Chapter Twenty
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    As Connor and Meg came out of the diner, Meg got a fascinating text message from Liz Donnelly.
    Meg stopped in her tracks.  “Interesting.”
    Connor turned to her.  “What is?”
    “Liz Donnelly recognized the earring we found at the scene of the crime.”
    “Who does it belong to?”
    “Daphne Scott,” Meg revealed. 
    “No wonder we’ve been having a hard time tracking Daphne down today.”
    All signs seemed to be pointing to Daphne Scott.  Once again, Meg got the urge to cast a locator spell.  This time, she was going to do just that.  Not in the open, of course.  Instead, Meg came up with an idea. 
    She pretended she had to go to the ladies room, excused herself, and then headed back into the diner.  Once she was in the restroom, she locked the door behind her.  Finally, she was free to cast a spell in peace. 
    Meg closed her eyes, then whispered in Latin.  “Invenio, invenio, invenio.”
    Like that, the spell was cast, and Meg had Daphne Scott’s current location.  This was a whole new ball of wax suddenly.  If the break about the earring belonging to Daphne wasn’t enough of a twist, her location was even more intriguing.  Of all places in town for Daphne to be, she was at Sebastian Brown’s house. 
    Meg smiled to herself.  Things were getting more interesting by the moment.  Unfortunately, this was a secret she’d have to keep to herself for now.  Connor would learn of it soon enough, especially as Meg nudged him to head over to Sebastian’s house next.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
     
     
     
    When Meg and Connor arrived at Sebastian Brown’s brown Craftsman-style house, she prepared herself for some emotional fireworks.  Connor immediately spotted two cars in the driveway and became curious. 
    “Looks like Sebastian has company,” Connor said. 
    Meg played dumb.  “Let’s find out.”
    After a few knocks on the front door led to no answer, Connor wondered if he was going to do things the hard way.  Sebastian could ignore the knocks all he wanted, Connor and Meg weren’t going anywhere. 
    “Sebastian Brown, this is detective Connor Smith from the Enchanted Bay police department.  I’m not leaving until you answer my questions,” Connor said. 
    Half a minute later, they still received no response.  This was going nowhere fast.  Meg didn’t have the patience to wait for Sebastian to come out on his own.  She wanted to speed up the process.  She knew just how to do it too.  
    Meg turned to Connor.  “Keep trying.”
    Connor furrowed his brow.  “Wait a minute.  Where are you going?”
    “Around back.  I want to make sure he’s not trying to slip out the back