Page 50 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

“Sure,” she said.

I went directly into my back room and wasn’t surprised when Dex walked in right behind me.

“You’ve figured out something,” he said, shutting the door.

There were times him being a psychic came in damn handy. “I think so,” I said, selecting Hattie’s number from my list of contacts.

“Get off your feet,” Dex said, pulling out my desk chair for me.

“Thank you,” I said, sitting down as the call went through.

“Kate!” Hattie answered right away. “Thank you so much for the hydrangeas. They’re a favorite of mine.”

“Glad you like them,” I said, putting the call on speaker so Dex could hear. “Hattie, I have a question for you. It’s going to sound strange, but this is important.”

“Hang on,” she said. “Johnny’s here. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“Hey, Kate,” Johnny said.

“Hey,” I said. “Do either of you know of anyone, a friend, an ex, or even a relative that has a thing for spiders?”

“How do you mean, a thing?” Johnny wanted to know.

“Are they really into them?” I clarified. “Have you ever noticed anyone in your life wearing spider or spider web theme jewelry, or maybe even having a spider tattoo?”

It was quiet for a moment, until Hattie spoke. “Umm, yeah...as a matter of fact we do know someone like that.”

“Who?” I asked, as Dex and I exchanged looks.

“My cousin, Jolene,” she said. “She has a big spider web tattoo on her shoulder. Wears this gothic looking spider necklace all the time too.”

“She’s worn that ugly pendant since high school,” Johnny added.

“In fact,” Hattie continued, “Jolene came to visit me in the hospital to see how I was. She didn’t stay very long though.”

Jolene. I’d heard the name before. “Wait, didn’t you tell me that she was the one who was upset at your bridal shower, about you getting to wear your grandmother’s wedding dress?”

“She was. She and her mom, my Aunt Mae.”

As I was speaking to the couple, Dex pulled out his phone and began searching through Hattie’s social medial profile. When he found the post of Hattie’s bridal shower, he began scrolling through the photos.

“Mae was the aunt who told you the dress was bad luck, right?” I asked her.

“That’s right.”

“Hattie, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Did your cousin give you a gift or leave anything with you at the hospital?”

“No,” Hattie said. “But it was kind of weird. She came in acting like she was going to give me a hug, and stopped, and commented on my necklace.”

“She spotted the Hekate’s Wheel pendant that I gave you?”

“Yeah. You know Jolene started acting all weird about it, and then said she had to go.”

“Did she say anything else?” I asked the couple.

“She did ask Hattie where she had gotten the necklace,” Johnny added.

“What did you tell her?” I asked.