Skeptic in Salem: An Episode of Death (A Dubious Witch Cozy Mystery—Book 3)

CHAPTER ONE

Mia Bold plastered a green tea mask on her face. She was

still

trying to get the grime out of her pores after yesterday’s excursion, tramping through the Hockomock Swamp. Her Border collie mix, Tandy, and her white kitten, Rose, watched her curiously, not sure why their mistress had green goo all over her face.

“It’s just a pore cleanse,” Mia explained. “Ten minutes from now and I’ll look normal again, I promise.”

Tandy looked at her skeptically, not sure what the ritual meant exactly.

Yesterday, Mia and Tandy had gone location scouting for her podcast, possibly soon-to-be cable show,

Bell, Book, and Candle.

They drove an hour and a half south of Salem, Massachusetts, to tramp through the tangled area known as the “Devil’s Swamp,” part of the infamous Bridgewater Triangle and a hotbed of paranormal activity. A half dozen electromagnetic readings later, Mia and Tandy had headed home, covered in mud and bug bites and slightly sunburned even though the weather was cool. Even with all the discomfort, it had been a great day.

Now, Mia was back at her apartment on Essex Street wrapped up in a terry robe, skin flushed from a steamy shower, hair knotted on top of her head, and the green-tea mask tingling on her face. She imagined she could feel her pores tightening. Mia made her way to the kitchen, grabbed a coffee, and headed for her desk, stepping over files and weaving around the stacks of books peppered across the living room floor. This was research week and her usually tidy apartment looked like a hurricane had passed through. There was also the fact that she and Tandy had tracked muddy paw and boot prints everywhere after their day in the swamp. She’d finally given Tandy a bath while Rose watched from a safe distance, leisurely cleaning her pink kitten nose and white whiskers as Tandy was scrubbed down vigorously, leaving a ring of dirt and debris in the tub. But there was no time to clean the apartment. She had to finish her research before M-day turned her life upside down!

Mia looked at the calendar above her desk, where a giant “M” was scrawled in red marker. Tomorrow was the day her family, the Middletons, were due to arrive. Once that happened, they would undoubtedly distract her with a million questions and activities. Today was the last day she had to complete her research in time, since the production meeting to discuss the next show was also scheduled for tomorrow.

Thanks, guys! Great timing!

As soon as she had her research done and felt prepared for the meeting, she planned to dive into tidying the apartment. In its current state of chaos, the place would give her mom and stepdad a fit.

Mia sighed and looked over at her map of the Devil’s Swamp, spread over the coffee table and covered in sticky notes. Each sticky marked sightings of Mothman, Bigfoot, an infamous red-eyed swamp beast, and various ghosts. But even though the swamp was a dream location, in the end she’d decided that the show would need more people and equipment to film that rugged area than

Bell, Book, and Candle

could afford. That was okay though; she had already come up with a great list of other sites.

In most cities and towns, haunted places were a rarity, but not in Salem. Ever since Mia moved to the small town with a spooky reputation, the sheer number of hauntings was astounding. It seemed like everyone in town had a story about a haunted encounter. She had been inundated with so many myths, stories, and ghost sightings, she could barely keep up. In fact, her inbox was so out of hand, she was going to have to ask Will the intern to help her answer mail soon.

She settled back at her desk and typed an email to her producers, Graham Stone and Ollie Cooper:

RE: Locations for next Episode

After visiting a dozen sites, I have narrowed my top 3 choices for our next episode to the following locations:

The Joshua Ward House in Salem

Dungeon Rock in Lynn

Fort Sewall in Marblehead

I also want to discuss as a possible future location should the series be picked up: Hockomock Swamp, Bridgewater Triangle.

Talk to you soon.

She pressed

Send

and smiled to herself. That should hold them off for a while. A little teaser before the big meeting. Even though she had decided against the Devil’s Swamp for now, she hoped to do a show there in the future. Now, she just needed to prepare for the inevitable questions from her producers and crew about each location. She needed to review lighting, terrain, ghost sightings, the history of each place, and other random details. Maybe she was being overly cautious, but she hated being caught off guard. Another full day of research would make her feel calm and confident.

The fact that a cable network was interested in their show was so exciting! Mia thought. According to Graham, the network

loved

their last episode. And Ollie had said the cable network was considering a full run of episodes. Both producers were pushing everyone to turn out a great second episode of the show.

Mia had to admit, her career was going really well. Up until recently,

Bell, Book, and Candle

was just a podcast. Now, after filming a single episode, they were under consideration to be a cable show. Mia had never imagined she would host a TV show, but that was exactly what was happening. And though she was easily putting in twelve-hour days, she loved her job. And now she was even earning a salary. It wasn’t much yet, but it was an upgrade from working for free!

Mia looked at the clock. Her best friend, Sylvie, who lived down the hall, would be waking up soon. She was the

Bell, Book, and Candle

sound engineer and editor. They always had a million things to discuss, from boyfriends to camera footage. Today, they were planning to head down to Café Noir, their favorite local restaurant, owned by Hugh Wolfe, the sexy, six-foot-tall chef Mia was dating. Well,

one date

so far. But they had both been dancing around the idea of a second date. The thought of handsome Hugh Wolfe gave her butterflies in her stomach. Maybe today he would ask her for a second date over some delicious French cuisine. All in all, this promised to be an excellent day!

Tandy put his paws on Mia’s lap and tried to lick her mint-green face while Rose curled up in a growing patch of sunlight and purred. Mia had found the small abandoned kitten in the street. Now she was growing and fast becoming a silky cat with faint silver stripes under her white fur.

Mia made a note to herself to talk to Will about installing the cat run kit she’d ordered. Her landlord, Tom Hatter, had given the project a green light, even though he claimed white cats in Salem were bad luck. The box was tilted against the wall by the kitchen.

There was a loud knock at the door.

Finally! That would be Sylvie. Time to wash off the green goo and get ready for a delicious breakfast. And to see sexy Hugh Wolfe, of course.

“Come on in,” Mia called out, stepping over a stack of papers.

As the door swung open, Tandy jumped up and barked loudly.

That’s weird,

Mia thought. Tandy rarely barked and never at Sylvie. Then a horrible sinking feeling hit Mia. She realized what was happening, but it was too late.

“Oh no,” Mia said as she saw who was standing at the door.