“Thanks,” Scarlett said. “Appreciate it.”
“No worries, have a nice day,” the shifter said, and Scarlett and I headed off toward the lake. It was only a couple of blocks away; I grabbed glimpses of it here and there between the buildings, and when we finally reached the pathway the shifter had mentioned, I gasped.
“Not a bad view, hey?” Scarlett said, and I nodded mutely. The sun shone brightly down on the deep blue waters of the lake that seemed to extend for miles. A couple of witches flew low over the water on their brooms, letting their bare feet dangle in the waves as they moved over the lake. On the other side, the deep forest trees provided a beautiful contrast to the waters, and I found, as I often did when I saw the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, that my breath was taken away completely.
Scarlett and I walked along the path, dotted with thigh-high reed-like grasses and gorgeous wildflowers.
“This view is amazing,” I gushed, and Scarlett nodded.
“No kidding. I’ve never been here before. It’s a popular tourist destination in the summer, and I can see why. It’s gorgeous.”
We continued along the path for about a mile before we reached a crew of workers off to the side of the path getting rid of some overgrown shrubbery.
“Hey,” Scarlett greeted them, and one of the wizards stopped and wiped his brow.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
“Is there an Oliver Farwood working with your crew? The shifter working the portal told me we’d find him here.”
“Well, Oliver sure is popular with the witches today,” a dragon shifter – I was fairly certain he was a dragon, anyway, with slicked back hair and beady eyes – replied.
“He was here, yeah,” the wizard replied. “Another witch came by looking for him, but he took off that way as soon as he spotted her.” He jutted his chin further along the path. “I don’t know where he’s run off to, but he went that way.”
“Thanks,” Scarlett said, and the two of us continued along.
“I wonder who the other witch looking for him is,” I mused, and Scarlett nodded.
“Yeah. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone like that got in trouble with a lot of people.”
After about three or four minutes, we had our answer.
“Stop!” a witch shouted up ahead. She had long, dark-brown hair and a confidence to her that reminded me of Grandma Eva.
“Get away from me, witch,” a male voice shouted in her direction, but he was around the corner, and I couldn’t quite make him out.
“I’ll happily leave you alone if you just come along nicely to jail with me.”
“Not a chance.”
A burst of flame shot out from around the corner, and I gasped, stopping in my tracks, but the witch pulled out her wand and a torrent of water shot forth from the tip of it. As soon as the water came in contact with the flame, a hiss emanated, and a cloud of steam shot up into the sky.
“Stupid witch,” the man called out. Scarlett grabbed me and pulled me aside, into the forest. I followed her path, trying not to trip over roots as I pushed through the low-lying leaves, ferns, and bushes. Eventually, I spotted the man the witch had been after, who I assumed was Oliver Farwood.
His brown hair had a bit of a reddish tinge to it – although maybe that was just a reflection from the flame he was shooting out at the witch – and his dark eyes shone with anger. He had to be at least six foot four, had some sort of tattoo that I couldn’t make out on his arm, and obviously spent a lot of time at the gym. His muscles strained against the fabric of his shirt.
Giving up on his fire spell, he lowered the wand, breaking the spell and killing the flame that shot from it, swore, and ran toward the trees on the opposite side of the path from us.
A moment later the witch who had been following him came around the corner, her wand at the ready.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she chanted, her eyes full of excitement. It was like this was a game to her.
Oliver Farwood darted out of the woods and charged her, apparently deciding to use brute force to overpower the witch rather than magic. At the last second, the witch squatted down, leaned forward, and righted herself just as Oliver reached her.
She grunted from the effort, but Oliver flipped over her and landed on his back on the ground below with a thud, gasping for air as the wind had obviously been knocked out of him.
The witch pointed her wand at him.
“That’s the problem with you fitness buffs, you always think you’re much better at fighting people than you really are,” she said. “Now, get up.”
Oliver struggled to his feet, visibly groaning, but at the last second he reached forward and grabbed the wand from the witch’s hand. He pointed it at her, although she didn’t look too worried, but the next thing I knew Scarlett had pulled out her wand and cast a spell towards him. A second later he froze, completely paralyzed.
The witch spun around as Scarlett and I walked out of the woods and onto the path. “Well, that was handy,” she said. “Glad to have you here, I think. Who are you?”
“We’re from Fairy Falls,” Scarlett said. “We’re looking for Oliver Farwood, who I’m guessing is this guy.”
“That’s right, the one and only,” the witch said. “I’m Ali. I work as a private investigator here in Mt. Rheanier. My client hired me to hunt down a thief and bring him to justice, and that’s why this brute over here has been doing his best to avoid me.”
“A thief, you say?” Scarlett replied. “Well, we’re one up on you. We think Oliver here is a murderer.”
Ali gave us an appraising look. “It looks like we have a lot to talk about then, doesn’t it?”
CHAPTER 14
A li cast a spell that partially reversed Scarlett’s and allowed Oliver to talk. A moment after she cast it, he began yelling at us, though his body below the neck still seemed incapable of any sort of movement.
“You witches are crazy. What is wrong with you? Who even are you? Let me go!”
“Not until you answer some questions and then spend some time in jail.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Well that’s funny because the security camera footage from my client’s home shows you breaking in, going into his safe, and taking hundreds of thousands of abras worth of gold from it.”
“What kind of self-respecting paranormal has one of those human-world setups, anyway?” Oliver grumbled. “Who knows what he might have done to alter the footage? I can’t say for sure that any of it is accurate.”
“Well, that’s going to be for the courts to sort out, isn’t it?” Ali replied. “My job is to deliver you to the Chief Inspector, and once I’ve done that, I can collect my fee. But first, it sounds like robbery might be the least of your issues.”
“You had to have heard the news by now that Renee was murdered in Fairy Falls yesterday,” Scarlett said, taking over the conversation.
“Yeah, so? We weren’t together anymore. I had nothing to do with that.”
“It’s funny you say that because we have a witness who says you swore to Renee that she’d never find anyone else and you’d make sure she was sorry for leaving you.”
“So?”
“So, she turned up dead three days later, genius. Do you really think you’re not going to be a suspect?”
“Hey, I had nothing to do with that. So I said some stuff in the heat of the moment. Renee was the worst. She was a nagger like you couldn’t believe. We got along fine until we moved in together.”
“And you found out she wasn’t going to clean up after you like she was your mommy?” Scarlett said.
“Hey, that’s what witches are for. They’re supposed to take care of their wizards.”
“Wow, we have ourselves a real twenty-first century wizard here,” Ali remarked. “How’s that attitude working out for you so far, Oliver? I’m sure the guards in Spellcatraz are going to be real pleased when you tell them you can’t clean up after yourself
because of your anatomy.”
Oliver scowled at her in reply. “It’s just the way things are, you know? It’s how it’s always been. Anyway, Renee was going to come crawling back to me. It was just a matter of time. She knew I was way too good for her, and I was willing to teach her what her place was.”
I was suddenly hit with the urge to throw a pinecone as hard as I could at Oliver’s face. He obviously had some terrible, old-fashioned opinions about women’s roles in society.
“Boy do I hope you killed Renee because I would be more than happy to watch you rot away for the rest of your life,” Ali said, and I nodded along in agreement. Oliver glared at her.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t do it. I already said that.”
“Fine, where were you yesterday around one in the afternoon?” Scarlett asked.
“At home, sleeping,” Oliver replied.
“So if I ask at the portal in Fairy Falls there won’t be any reports of you having gone into town yesterday?” Scarlett asked, and Oliver paused for a moment, as though trying to think of what to say next.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot I went there for a while,” he muttered. “But I didn’t kill Renee.”
“What were you there for, then? If you weren’t together, there was no reason for you to be there,” I said.
“I went to ask her to take me back. Stupid witch. I loved her, you know? I wish she wasn’t dead. She belonged with me; she should have been with me.”
“Obviously she disagreed,” Ali said with a smirk.
“It doesn’t matter what she thinks. I loved her,” Oliver shouted. “Stupid coven of Venus is supposed to be all about loving people.”
“Yes, and if you love someone, that means understanding that they have the right not to love you and to allow them to make the choices in life that make them happy. Because if you love someone, that’s the most important thing, that they are happy,” Scarlett replied.
“No, if you love someone, you should do whatever it takes to make them yours.”
“Not how it works, genius. Forcing someone to obey you isn’t love. That’s called abuse,” Scarlett said.
“What would you know?”
“Anyway, you’re not giving us any good reasons to believe you didn’t kill Renee. So if you don’t give us something in the next ten seconds, we’re dragging your butt back to Chief Enforcer Tyson,” Scarlett added.
“And that’s in addition to getting thrown in Spellcatraz for the theft,” Ali added, and my cousin nodded in agreement.
“Fine, fine. Look, I didn’t kill her. I went back to Fairy Falls to talk to her. I wanted to try and get her back. I found her leaving that place where she always ate lunch, The Wand and Frog or something, but she didn’t want to listen to me.”
“Tell us the whole story, exactly,” Scarlett said.
“I was walking down Main Street, heading to The Love Shack, where she worked. Then I passed the bar, and she was just coming out of there. She looked mad, so I paused, and I almost decided not to go see her, but then I changed my mind. She was obviously pissed, and I’m not going to lie, she was even madder when she spotted me.”
Oliver sighed, then continued. “I grabbed her by the arm when she walked away from me. You know, just to try and get her to stop. I only wanted to talk to her. I wanted to tell her that I still loved her and that she should reconsider. But she wasn’t having any of it. She told me I was too immature to be in a serious relationship and that I needed to sort out my issues with witches before she’d ever consider taking me back.”
“And what did you think of that?” I asked.
“It was bull. I don’t have issues with witches. I was so mad, I lost it a little. I tried to shake her to make her see reason, and that only angered her further. She took her wand out and told me she’d hex me if I didn’t leave her alone. I thought she was bluffing, but then she cursed me, and it… wasn’t pleasant.”
He muttered the last couple of words, and I kind of figured Renee had given Oliver exactly what he deserved.
“I left her then and went straight to the hospital. That’s where I spent the rest of the afternoon, and when I was discharged, I found out Renee was dead. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I swear.”
“What was the curse Renee put on you?” Ali asked with a grin, but Oliver shook his head.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Yeah, he had deserved it, for sure.
“Ok, was there anyone else around when you were leaving?”
“How would I know?” Oliver replied, surlily.
“I don’t know, but maybe it’ll keep you out of jail for murder,” Scarlett replied, obviously getting annoyed by Oliver’s complete and total lack of help. “That is your goal, right?”
“Yeah. I keep telling you I didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Then help us prove that, genius,” Scarlett continued. “Was there anyone around when you left Renee?”
“Let me think,” he said, closing his eyes. “I wasn’t really focused on the people around me, you know? But yeah, there was someone. I remember someone being there.”
“Do you know who it was?”
“No,” Oliver replied, shaking his head. “I didn’t get a good look. Just saw him out of the corner of my eye, you know? I’m pretty sure it was a male, but I don’t even know what kind of paranormal. He was tall, though. That’s why I think it was a guy. Could have been a wizard, shifter, vampire, or elf, though. And I don’t even know if he was headed for Renee.”
“And you’re sure there was no one else?”
Oliver nodded. “Yeah. That was it. Just that one guy.”
“Ok, what about Renee’s life?” I asked. “According to her friends, she was acting cagey about something over the last few weeks. Do you have any idea what that might have been about?”
“No clue,” Oliver replied, but the way he averted his eyes told me he was lying.
“Are you sure? Because remember, us finding the real killer is the difference between you spending some time in jail and you spending the rest of your life in jail,” I threatened.
“Yeah, I’m telling you, I don’t know what it was about. I didn’t notice anything wrong with her.”
“We were told Renee had some debt,” Scarlett said. “She had expensive tastes. Is that true?”
“It is,” Oliver replied. “She always liked the finer things in life. I think that’s what attracted her to me.”
The creepy smile that crept onto Oliver’s face made me want to puke more than anything else.
“Yeah, you’re a real catch,” Scarlett said. “So she had debt. Do you know how much?”
“Nah,” he replied. “But it was bad, I know that. She had a bunch of people coming by trying to collect on it. I asked her once. She wouldn’t tell me. It’s why wizards should be in charge of finances. Witches just don’t have a good handle on money. You let them spend it and they’ll just waste it on stupid stuff.”
“Wow, every time you talk I’m tempted to make sure you accidentally hit a tree on the way back into town,” Ali muttered. I had to agree with her.
“Look, I’m telling you, I didn’t have anything to do with her death.”
“How can we find out who she owed money to?” I asked. “Do you have any idea?”
“I know at least one paranormal. Simon Harwell. Lion shifter, lives in Fairy Falls.”
“He runs a security company in town,” Scarlett said, nodding.
“That’s the one. Renee used to work for him, and he had a soft spot for her. He loaned her a bunch of money. She told him she was going to use it to start a business.”
“And let me guess, she spent it on designer clothes,” Scarlett said, and Oliver nodded.
“That’s right. She swore to him she was going to pay him back, but he came by to see her a few days before we broke up. I heard them arguing. He told her that if she didn’t get him the money back soon, he was going to press charges against her, and she swore she’d get it to h
im soon. But that’s all I know.”
“Alright, lover-boy,” Ali said. “Time to go to jail.”
“Seriously? I helped you with this murder. Can’t you give me like twenty-four hours or something and come after me then?”
“Sorry,” Ali said. “If I don’t bring you in, I don’t get paid. And I like money a lot more than I like you. Then again, I like my goat Vinnie’s turds a lot more than I like you, so it’s not really a high bar to clear.”
Oliver scowled at her as she pointed her wand at him and muttered something under her breath. A second later, he rose in the air a few inches, following Ali’s wand. She guided him forward, and the three of us fell into step behind him on the narrow path.
“What do you think?” Ali asked. “Is he your wizard?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I replied. “He was obviously a crap boyfriend, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was abusive. In the human world, statistically a woman is more likely to be killed by her boyfriend or ex than anyone else, so that would fit the bill.”
“Agreed,” Scarlett said.
“I can still hear you,” Oliver complained.
“Not for long you can’t,” Scarlett said, pointing her wand at him. “Venus, goddess full of beauty, make this man deaf so he can no longer hear me.
“Problem solved,” she added with a grin.
“A woman after my own heart,” Ali replied. “Anyway, I agree with the two of you. I think he’s a pretty good suspect, and on the bright side, his address for the next twenty years or so isn’t going to change. But you might want to check out the guy she owed money to.”
“For sure,” I said, nodding. “Totally agree.”
“Actually,” Ali mused, “if you’ll have me, I’ll come help solve this murder with you. It sounds interesting, and with this case finished, I don’t have any more clients right now.”
“Sure,” Scarlett said. “Sounds like you’ve got some experience with this sort of thing.”
“Just a little bit,” Ali said with a mischievous smile.
CHAPTER 15
T he three of us headed into town where we had to drop Oliver off at the police – er, Enforcers’ – station.
Hex Over Heels: A Witch Cozy Mystery (Fairy Falls Mystery Book 2) Page 8
