Chapter 45

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Vic, but..." While bent over the open hood of a Ford pickup in need of a new alternator, Boxy mopped his face with an oil cloth. Clean, thankfully, but I wasn't sure he would've noticed either way. He'd been fidgety all morning.

"But?" I coaxed.

"Bad things often come in threes." He started counting on his fingers. "One, all of Belle's Cove's witches are rats. Two, find out who killed RaeRae by July 3 or else the witches will stay rats. Three... Well, I don't know what three is, but it's probably terrible."

I shot him a wry look. "Thanks, Boxy. I knew I could count on you to shine light on the positive."

"Sorry. It's just I've been around a while. I recognize patterns, and they often come in threes."

"I never would've pegged you for the superstitious type." Slowly, I peeled a Who Killed RaeRae? bumper sticker from the garage window.