Without Magic for a Spell

Season 3 Episode 2

Huddled at the Middleton Botanical Gardens, Cassie, Martha and George worriedly examine the now wilting Middleton Merriwick. As they all look on, Daphne arrives and confirms everyone’s worst fears: the Merriwick is struggling to recover from the intentional cutting just days earlier. Meanwhile, Chief Sanders is no closer to finding the culprit. He was hoping to find some evidence on Grace’s camera but for some reason, the camera won’t power up. With no evidence or suspects, Chief Sanders is up against the wall and Martha, who’s invited the tourism council to come see the Merriwick, can only anxiously wait for any sign of good news.

Back at Grey House, as Cassie and Sam make their way into the living room, they bump into Kevin, the new guest staying a Grey House. Cassie introduces him to Sam and two quickly discover that they are both from New York. Kevin tells Cassie and Sam that he works in advertising but before he can say more, Abigail walks in, startled to see Kevin. Kevin turns and greets her but Abigail is in no mood for talking. She tells him she has nothing to say to him. Ever!

The next morning, Kevin heads to the flower shop, hoping for another chance to talk to Abigail. When he walks into the shop, Abigail coldly tells him go away. Kevin persists, telling her that he’s finally seen things though her eyes and realizes how terrible he was to her. He attempts to explain himself but Abigail cuts him off, then succinctly reminds him that he was the one who fired her from the ad agency she started with Kevin and their other two friends. Kevin explains that firing her was not only bad for the business but it also ruined any chance that he and Abigail could have become more than friends. Abigail tries to dismiss him but she can’t deny that at one time, she and Kevin definitely had feelings for each other.

At Bell, Book and Candle, Sam stops in to visit with Cassie. While they talk, a customer comes in looking for something to treat her heartburn. Cassie first suggests ginger lozenges but the woman is allergic to ginger. A puzzled look comes over Cassie’s face and she is unable to come up with any alternatives. Sam immediately responds and offers a few simple remedies but he can’t help but notice that Cassie is not her usual self. Later in the day Martha and Stephanie, in desperate need of advice, simultaneously arrive at Bell, Book and Candle, only to find Cassie closing up shop. As she walks out of her store Cassie tells them she’s not sure when she’ll be open again and, while she wishes she could help, she can’t. Cassie hurries away, leaving Martha and Stephanie helpless.

Out at the Botanical Gardens, Derek continues his investigation into the damaged Middleton Merriwick. As he examines the plant, George walks up and tells Derek that he needs to start with motive. “That’s what Columbo always did.” Derek doesn’t know the reference but he suspects that the motive is personal gain. He’s sure the shears used to cut the plant are the key to the mystery, but he needs to find them first. Later, Sam discovers Cassie in the gardens, keeping watch over the Merriwick. Cassie tells Sam the Merriwick is still struggling, “Unsure if she’s ever going to stand as tall as she once did, and be what she used to be.” Sam recognizes that Cassie’s comments are a reflection not just of the plant, but of her own unexplained feelings.

Across town at the Bistro, Stephanie sits Ben down to talk about an upcoming project. Ben had learned that two of his former clients are looking to buy and restore the old Middleton Movie Theatre. The clients were hoping that Ben would join them and invest money in the project, but Ben doesn’t have access to the money he’d need to make the investment. Abigail had suggested Stephanie just give Ben the money but that idea made both Stephanie and Ben uncomfortable. However, after taking some time to think about the idea, Stephanie has come up with a solution. Instead of putting up money, Stephanie suggests Ben put his work up as sweat equity. The two investors have already seen Ben’s work and the value of his labor is at least equal to the monetary value of an investment. Satisfied with the idea, Ben agrees to talk with the other two investors.

Later in the evening, as she sits reading in front of the fire, Cassie is overcome by a familiar feeling. The next morning, she heads for the botanical gardens to confirm her suspicions; the Middleton Merriwick has finally bloomed. When she arrives she finds Daphne already at the gardens taking notes on the Merriwick. Grace soon follows and, as luck would have it, her camera started working again. Abigail is next to arrive and her timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. Cassie casually asks her cousin how hard it would be to create a hybrid species from a graft of a plant like the Merriwick. Abigail is sure it couldn’t be accomplished without an exceptional knowledge of botany. Cassie also suspects Grace’s camera probably has a few images of footprints around the Merriwick at the time after it was cut. The last piece of the puzzle comes when Cassie notices that Daphne has a pair of pruning shears that look oddly similar to the cut mark left on the Merriwick. As the evidence becomes clear, Chief Sanders arrives and with no other choice, Daphne decides to come clean. She admits she wanted see if I she could make a plant that bloomed with that flower every year. Chief Sanders then takes ahold of Daphne and escorts her from the gardens.

Back at Grey House, Kevin is nervously pacing when Abigail arrives. Apart from apologizing to her, Kevin also needs Abigail’s signature on documents that will formally dissolve their advertising agency. Abigail almost signed the papers but, sensing something was off, she asked Kevin for some time to review the documents. Feeling better, Abigail is ready to sign and asks Kevin if she can borrow his pen. Kevin obliges and hands her a pen with the words “Publicis” printed on it. Publicis is one of the biggest ad agencies in the business and Abigail remembers that she and her friends always dreamed of making their agency as big as Publicis. Kevin tries to play coy but Abigail reveals that she’s made some calls and learned some interesting information. Due to a very important client, Publicis has now decided to buy Abigail’s former company and, if she signs the papers, she’d be completely cut out of the profits from the sale. Kevin makes a feeble apology but Abigail has already seen through the lies. So, instead of signing Kevin’s documents, her lawyer will be sending his own set of documents that ensure that Abigail receives all that she’s owed from the sale of her company.

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