by Susan Harper
“True,” Bowman said. “But I didn’t exactly want to be going behind my colleagues’ backs by siding with the council just to get what I wanted, now could I? Tell me, you’re working Chip’s case, aren’t you? Have you gotten any leads?”
“Still a work in progress,” Brian said truthfully, but he cut Bowman off suddenly. “If you would excuse us for a moment.” Brian took Monica by the wrist and led her to a corner of the lobby. “Look,” he whispered suddenly.
Monica followed his gaze, and she spotted Monte the vampire whispering with Zora in a corner. They both looked rather displeased. “Yes, well, I imagine they aren’t too happy to have lost their case once again.” Monica looked around aimlessly. She had lost track of Abigail and Holly and Mona. She imagined that they were with the rest of the team somewhere amongst the crowd.
“It’s Monte that bothers me,” Brian said. “I was reading up on Romp-A-Roo history, and vampires were the very first ones to break the mold in Romp-A-Roo. First non-wizards to play. Why would a vampire be so hellbent on preventing other non-wizards the right to play?”
“I don’t know,” Monica said. “But I agree it’s weird.” She watched Monte for a moment, and he was looking around anxiously. Suddenly, he slipped away toward the exit. “Where do you think he’s going? Trying to avoid having to talk to the press after that nasty loss in court?”
“Maybe,” Brian said. “Only one way to find out.”
Brian and Monica slipped away as well, hurrying out the same side exit that Monte had used. Vampires were not quite as easy to catch up to as goblins, but Monica had practice keeping track of vampires thanks to her Uncle Drac. Monte was slipping in and out of alleyways all through town, like he was worried about being followed. They eventually wound up back at the inn where Zora had been staying.
They kept their distance, and after a bit, Monte disappeared into the inn, likely going to his room. “He sure did get back here in a hurry,” Brian said. They waited around for a while, but he never left his room.
It was when they were hanging around in the hotel lobby that Monica caught sight of something out a window. “He’s leaving the back way!” Monica exclaimed. “And by back way, I mean the window!” She grabbed Brian’s arm, and they hurried out of the building. Monica had seen a large bat, carrying a tote of some kind, flutter by the window.
They looked around for a moment and spotted a shadowy figure scurrying off to some nearby trees. Brian followed Monica, and soon they came across a rather suspicious scene. It was Monte, and he had a shovel. He was digging a hole in the middle of the woods. They stayed back for a moment, just long enough for him to complete his initial task. They watched him toss the tote into the hole and start to bury it..
It was at this point that they made themselves known. “Hey there, Monte!” Brian said, stepping out from behind some tress. Monte nearly jumped a foot.
“Brian, oh, hello!” the vampire exclaimed. “Um… I suppose I should…congratulate you on, er, securing your position as a member of the Wysteria Werewolves…”
“Save it,” Brian said. “What are you hiding out here?”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” Monte declared.
Brian revealed his badge. “I think it is, actually.”
Monte frowned. “Oh, that’s right… They went and made you portal keeper around here. Of course they did…”
Brian approached, snatching the shovel and tossing it aside. Monica pulled out her wand just in case Monte tried anything funny. He didn’t need to know what a terrible shot she was with a wand. It was intimidating enough without her actually using it. Brian pulled out the tote, shook the dirt away, and opened it to reveal a small sack of shimmering goblin gold. “Oh, nice,” Brian said, standing. “That looks bad, Monte.”
“I know!” Monte yelped slightly. “I know it looks bad, but it’s not what you think. It doesn’t have anything to do with Chip. I keep a bit of goblin gold on me. Easy to transport for a vampire, you see, as opposed to silver coins. But I started thinking at the hearing about the gold I had on me and how a bunch of goblin gold was found by Chip, and I started to panic! I thought it might…thought it might look bad if I was searched…”
“Yeah, well, I have to say it looks a lot worse to find you burying the stuff, Monte,” Brian said.
“I know!” Monte said, looking like he was going to vomit from nerves. “I know it looks bad, but I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Chip. Chip was my friend. I just happen to have goblin gold. I know that must look just… I know what it looks like, that’s why I’m burying the stuff!”
“Monica, help me out here,” Brian said. “I am not as familiar with monetary customs in the mystic world. How common is it for non-goblins to be walking around with goblin gold coins?”
“Well, I will say I’ve heard my Uncle Drac say he likes to carry gold coins as opposed to silver because the silver can make him a bit sickly,” Monica said. “He’s a vampire, of course. Thing is, goblin gold itself isn’t too common except in heavily goblin-populated cities, and Wysteria is certainly not one of them.”
“But I’m not from Wysteria,” Monte pointed out. “It’s why I’m staying in a hotel!”
“Where are you from?” Brian asked. “And don’t lie to me because I’m just going to look it up later anyhow.”
“Clavlow City,” Monte said.
“There aren’t many goblins out that way either,” Monica said in a distrusting tone.
“No, you’re right, but I live in the inner city,” he said. “Handful of goblin hordes. Got goblin families on either side of my home. I swear, this is just a terrible coincidence.”
“I’m not arresting you,” Brian said. “I have no way of connecting this goblin gold to what was found with Chip. But I’m going to highly recommend you not try to leave town, and I’m taking this in as evidence until we find out what happened to Chip.”
Monte nodded. “Okay, well… Thank you…”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Brian said. “This looks bad, Monte. I hope you realize that.”
“Yes, yes, I do,” Monte said frantically. “I shouldn’t have panicked, but I did.”
Monica put her wand away. She didn’t trust Monte in the slightest, but Brian was right. They didn’t exactly have any proof that Monte was lying to them, and it wasn’t like she had any truth potion left. She had used quite a bit of it recently, and that stuff took forever to brew. She made a mental note that if her boyfriend was going to be the new portal keeper, she should consider keeping it well stocked.
“Let’s go into the hotel,” Brian said to Monica. “I’ve been meaning to search Chip’s room anyhow. Maybe we’ll find something there. Last I spoke to the innkeeper, Chip’s room hadn’t been touched.”
“Good idea,” Monica agreed, and she followed Brian back to the hotel.
11
Monica and Brian entered Chip’s room at the inn. It was clear he was not exactly the courteous guest. He left wet towels all over the carpeted floor and threw trash in the corner. “A real winner we got here,” Monica muttered as they began rummaging through the room for any sign of what might have happened to Chip. They were hoping to get a better of idea of who he was or perhaps see if they could find out who he had last been in contact with before his murder.
For the most part, they found information on his job lying around—paperwork, mostly. “He traveled fairly light, looks like,” Monica said. “Not sure if we’re going to find anything useful.”
“Wait, I might have found something,” Brian said, and Monica hurried over to the corner where she could see that Chip had made use of the room’s magical safe, but it had been broken into. “This is weird,” Brian said. “Someone broke into this safe, but look. There’s goblin gold in here. It’s been left alone.”
“That is really weird,” Monica agreed. “Just like at the crime scene. The gold was left alone.”
“Because whatever is going on, this isn’t about the g
oblin gold, I don’t think,” Brian said. “There is definitely something else going on other than gold.”
“Wait… I have an idea!” Monica suddenly yelped. “Remember that first case we worked together?”
“Yeah, why?” Brian asked.
“Did I ever tell you how I found that locket in the river?” she asked.
“No, I don’t believe so,” he said.
“A spell,” Monica explained.
“Like, with a wand?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “It was a pretty complex spell involving shadows. I basically reenacted the crime scene using shadows.”
“Well, that would have been a useful spell to know about,” Brian said. “Why not do that at the Romp-A-Roo field?”
“Too many people on and off that field,” Monica said. “But we’re the only ones who have been in this room since Chip. Just like when I did the spell at the river, not a lot of people had been by since the incident.”
“Well, then, let’s see this spell of yours,” he said.
Monica pulled out her wand. It was rather complex, but she was confident she could pull it off after having already done so once. The spell was cast, and they could see a shadow moving about the room. Because of how dark the room was, it was difficult to tell much about the shape and height of the person. The shadow moved slowly, its head on a swivel, as it made its way to the safe. It played about with the safe for a moment until it pulled something out of the case. It was difficult to tell, as they were only viewing the items shadow. It appeared to be rectangular in shape—perhaps a book or notebook of some kind. Maybe a calendar or stack of papers.
“Interesting,” Brian said, watching the shadow glide across the room toward the door, its head still turning like it was making sure no one was around. “Whoever it was, they were paranoid. Any way to tell when this was? How long ago, I mean?”
“I’m afraid not,” Monica said. “Wait, look…”
The shadow was by the door now, and a slight sliver of the shadow seemed to fall. Monica hurried over, and there on the ground was the real version of the shadow. It was an earring. “Look what our thief left behind.”
“A green earring?” Brian asked.
Monica only had to think about it for a moment. “It’s Zora’s,” she said. “I remember seeing her wear this when she and the other Romp-A-Roo officials came by the fields during tryouts to check out who got put on the team. She had a matching necklace and bracelet too.”
“So Zora, his ex-fiancé, stole something out of his safe. Got drunk after he was killed. They clearly didn’t leave things off on a good note,” Brian said, listing a few things that made her look rather suspicious. “I think she has motive, especially if she was lying about being the one who left him.”
“I’ve had a funny feeling about her since the beginning,” Monica declared. “I don’t know what it is, but she’s definitely lying about something. And I don’t like it. My money is definitely on one of the Romp-A-Roo officials as our potential killer, whether it’s Zora or not. I don’t believe for one second Urrgah did this.”
“And I doubt a woman like Zora would be working with someone like Urrgah,” Brian said. “It would make sense to want to frame him, though. Doesn’t like the idea of non-wizards on the games. Doesn’t like Chip. Kill two birds with one stone—get rid of Chip and make it look like trolls can’t handle a little backlash in the professional sports world by framing him for murder.”
“But what did she take from the safe?” Monica pointed out. “If this was just about getting back at Chip and framing a troll, then what is she stealing from Chip for?”
“I don’t know,” Brian said. “But I think our next step is to go talk to Zora. See what she says about her missing earring, and maybe we can feel her out. See if we think she’s lying or not.”
“Last I heard, she’s still in town,” Monica said. “So let’s go find her.”
12
Zora was not at the inn, of course. She had already checked out of the room, according to the gentleman at the front desk, but she had only checked out moments before they’d come down from Chip’s room after making their discovery. According to the desk clerk, Zora had mentioned that she still had a few things to take care of in Wysteria before heading home. This put a fire under them as they were not certain what sort of things she had to take care of and how long her errands would keep her in town.
Brian and Monica headed out of the inn, and Monica transformed her broom into her motorcycle. Brian sat on the back of her bike, electing not to sit in the sidecar. Since he wasn’t using it, she gave the sidecar a gentle nudge with her foot, and it vanished. He put his arms around her waist, and she caught herself blushing slightly. “You’re cool if I sit up here, right?” he asked.
“Of course,” she said, and she revved the bike’s engine and sent it soaring up into the sky. They flew past the trees surrounding the inn, and she felt Brian grip her a bit tighter.
“Whoa,” he said. “Sorry, still getting used to flying around like this.”
“Mortals have planes. Haven’t you flown on one of those before?” Monica asked.
“Those are different,” Brian said. “This feels like I’m just free flying, I guess. Planes are closed in. You’re not going to fall off one.”
“You’re with an excellent flier,” Monica assured him. “We’re not falling off this thing. It’s definitely safer than one of those vehicles your people drive on the ground.”
“Are you talking about cars?” he asked.
“Yes, cars,” Monica said, and he laughed. She felt him start to snuggle slightly, his head rested on her shoulder.
“This really is amazing, though,” he said. “You have no idea how glad I am you decided to tell me about this world of yours. You’re definitely the most interesting thing that has ever happened to me. This whole world of yours—it’s amazing.”
“I’m sure the shimmer will wear off eventually,” Monica said. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I hope I don’t,” he admitted just as someone went whooshing by them on a broom.
“Hey, easy!” Monica called as the wind from the broomstick rocked them slightly, and Brian had gripped her like he thought they were going to flip.
“Sorry!” a distant voice called, and Monica recognized it immediately at Zora’s.
“That’s her!” Monica said, speeding up. “Hold on tight!”
The engine of the bike buzzed excitedly as she swooshed through the air in pursuit. “Zora!” Brian called. “Land your broom!”
Zora was incredibly far ahead of them, so they couldn’t be sure if she was ignoring them or just couldn’t hear them. Thankfully, Monica was an incredible flier whether her broom was a broom, a bike, or a motorcycle. She and her broom had spent enough time in flight together to where it practically could read her mind. The thing sped up, and she felt Brian grip her even tighter.
“Starting to wish you had stayed in the sidecar?” Monica teased, having to shout over the wind now whooshing past them.
“Only a little!” he called back. “Just don’t drop me, all right?”
Monica laughed at the thought. The little speck in the distance that was Zora grew in size as they began to catch up to her. Zora glanced over her shoulder. “Hey, beat it!” she called back. “Stop riding right on my twigs!”
“You need to land!” Brian shouted just as Monica pulled up right beside Zora’s broom. Zora was still speeding through the air.
“Why?!” she snapped. “I’m in the middle of something here.”
“Land!” Brian ordered.
“Beat it, mortal!” she called back, and Monica saw the woman’s wand out. A blast of wind sent them flying back, and Brian nearly slipped off the back of the bike.
“Hey!” Monica exclaimed, quickly regaining her balancing and zooming after the woman.
“I’m guessing that’s illegal, right?” Brian asked.
“Very illegal! It’s assault!” Monica snapped.
Monica wasn’t sure what he was planning on doing, but she most certainly did not expect what happened next. As she drew nearer to Zora’s broom, Brian jumped. Monica’s jaw dropped to see the man snag the front end of her broomstick—perhaps the worse part of the broom he could have grabbed onto as it caused the broom to start to descend rapidly. He was dangling below as the broom flew straight down, and as it fell further, Zora flew over the front end. Brian managed to throw himself up on top of the broom just in time and pull up and prevent himself from crash landing as well. He landed in a bush just as Monica landed her bike.
“Broom,” she said, her motorcycle turning into a regular broomstick beneath her. She jumped off her broom in time to see Zora’s broom flying about frantically, smacking Brian in the back of the head once as he sat up from the bush, before flying off in frustration.
Zora was on the ground a few feet away, slowly sitting up and rubbing her head. “You’re crazy!” she shouted.
Monica helped Brian out of the bush, and he brushed himself off. “You should have listened to me!” Brian snapped. “I should drag you off to jail right now. That’s evading an officer and assault on an officer and citizen.”
“First of all, mortal,” Zora said, standing upright. “It’s authority. We don’t call our law enforcers officers here. Secondly, you’re a joke.”
“Whether you think that or not doesn’t change the fact that I’m Wysteria’s portal keeper,” he snapped. “And that means when I tell you to land your broom, you land your broom!”
Zora crossed her arms. “Fine,” she snarled. “You took me by surprise. I don’t know why you two were chasing me, but—”
“To return your earring,” Monica snapped. She hadn’t cared for watching Brian nearly smash his brains attempting to fly a broom. She pulled the earring they had found in Chip’s hotel room and held it out in her open palm.
Zora frowned, reaching up to her left ear and realizing it was gone. “Oh,” she said. “Um… Where did you find that?”
