“Renee, yes,” Scarlett said. “I’m sure your boss has nothing to be worried about, but we do need to speak with him as he did have quite a bit to do with her. She did come in here from time to time, didn’t she?”
“Well, yes,” the fairy admitted, biting her lower lip. “I wasn’t really sure why since she worked at your grandmother’s store. She wouldn’t have had any need for security services. But she would come in from time to time and see Simon.”
“What did you think of her?” Ali asked, and the fairy shrugged.
“You’re not really supposed to speak ill of the dead, are you? I can’t say she was my favorite witch in town, but I mean, she wasn’t all bad, you know? I think that boyfriend of hers was a terrible influence.”
“Oliver?” I chimed in. “Did you meet him?”
“Not officially, but one day she left here and he was waiting outside for her. She wasn’t pleased to see him, and they began arguing out on the lawn; I could see them through the window. He shouted at her about how she had to stop spending money, and she told him she had everything under control and that in a few months they’d have more money than Venus herself.”
“Oh,” Scarlett said. “Did she elaborate?”
“No,” the fairy replied, shaking her head. “I figured she had an inheritance coming or something. Besides, I was more focused on the way he grabbed her arm. His grip on her was so hard his knuckles turned white, and I imagine she’d have had quite the bruise for a few days after that.” The fairy shook her head sadly. “I might not have liked her, but no paranormal deserves to find themselves in a situation like that. I was glad when I heard they broke up, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it turns out he’s the one who did it.”
“What about your boss?” I asked. “What is Simon like?”
“Oh, nothing like that at all. He’s tough but fair and very much a father figure. I’d be shocked if he had anything to do with this.”
“Well, if it’s all the same to you, give us ten minutes with him and we can confirm that for ourselves and move on,” Scarlett said with a kind smile. “We really do agree with you that Oliver’s the most likely killer, but we have to speak to everyone who might be involved. I’d rather do it without involving the Chief Enforcer, of course. I’m sure your boss would appreciate that kind of discretion as well.”
“Yes, I’m sure he can fit you in for ten minutes,” the fairy said. “Just give me one moment to confirm.”
She picked up the phone and mumbled something into the receiver. A moment later, she hung up and motioned with her head to a door on the left. “Through there, first door on your right. He’s waiting for you.”
CHAPTER 17
T he three of us followed the fairy’s instructions, quickly finding ourselves in a small but neat office designed with clean lines, white walls, stainless steel and glass furnishings, with a wizard sitting behind the desk looking up at us expectantly. Simon Harwell was a big man; his shoulders were wide, his barrel chest making him look even stockier, and he seemed to be missing a neck. His head was completely bald, a red mustache not unlike Hulk Hogan’s the only hair on his head.
His blue eyes twinkled with good nature, however, and he motioned for us to sit. There were only two seats in front of his desk, and while I offered one to Ali, she motioned for me to take it and leaned casually against the doorframe.
“Hello, what can I do for you witches? I hear you want to talk about Renee. It’s very sad what happened to her.”
“It is,” Scarlett said. “We heard she owed you a lot of money.”
Simon leaned back in his chair and showed us his hands, as if admitting to everything. “Yeah, she did. I don’t know how you found out about that, but it’s true.”
“From her ex-boyfriend, Oliver. Did you know him?” I asked, but Simon shook his head.
“No, I never met the wizard. Sorry. I heard he wasn’t great for her, but I didn’t have any right to intrude. He never came up when we spoke, and I never met him. I don’t think he was from here, though.”
“Alright, so how much did Renee owe you?” Ali asked.
“A quarter of a million abras,” Simon replied, pressing his lips together in a firm line. “I guess it’s a good thing I mentally wrote that money off a long time ago since there’s no chance I’m getting it back now.”
“That’s an awful lot of money to lend to someone you barely know,” Ali said, and Simon sighed.
“I know. But Renee promised me she was going to get it back to me. It was an investment in her new beauty business. She convinced me she’d learned so much working at The Love Shack that she was ready to branch out and start her own company. She was going to use Instagram to become a witchfluencer, you know, the witches that have a ton of followers who will buy anything they do to be like them.”
I nodded. New York City had its fair share of influencers, and it sounded like the practice was equally alive and well in the paranormal world.
“And yet the business never materialized,” Scarlett said, and Simon shook his head.
“No, it didn’t. Eventually I caught on and asked for my money back, but Renee said she’d spent it. I don’t know on what, but she was always well-dressed, so I imagine my investment went toward her wardrobe.”
“You’re awfully calm for someone who just lost a quarter of a million abras,” Ali said, but Simon just shrugged.
“What’s it going to help if I go around kicking and screaming about how she ripped me off? The poor witch is dead now, and that’s a bigger tragedy than me losing a bit of money. I have a lot more where that came from, and I’d much rather she still be alive.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked.
“Three days ago,” Simon replied without skipping a beat. “She came by here and told me she had news. She said she had found a way to get me my money back and that I could expect it by the end of the week.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Did she say how she was going to manage that?”
Simon shook his head. “No. And I didn’t ask. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t really believe her. How was she going to get the money? I was fairly certain she was just trying to buy time, as always, so I wrote it off in my head as just another one of those things.”
“And you never saw her after that?” I asked.
Simon shook his head with a sigh. “No. No, I’m sad to say that was our last conversation. It was too bad. She was a good witch.”
“Where were you yesterday from say one to two o’clock?” Scarlett asked.
“I was here,” Simon replied. “I’m always here. I’m married to the job. You can ask Cassiopeia out front if you don’t believe me.”
“Ok, thanks,” Scarlett said, standing. I did the same thing, but Ali stepped forward.
“Just one more thing,” she said. “How come you don’t mind answering our questions? We’re obviously not Enforcers.”
Simon gave her a wry smile, the first time his face had formed one since we’d entered the office. “No, you’re obviously not Enforcers. But I’ve heard that Scarlett and Mina here are among the main suspects in the case, so I imagine you’re trying to clear your names by solving the case yourselves. And frankly, I don’t care if it’s you or if it’s Chief Enforcer Tyson, I just want Renee’s killer found. As I said, she was a good witch, and I don’t like knowing there’s someone wandering around out there among us who has the capability to do something like this.”
“Alright, thanks for your time,” I said, and Simon nodded.
“Good luck.”
The three of us walked back out to reception where we found Cassiopeia still at her desk, staring off into space.
“Was he any help?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Yes, he was, thanks. We just have to ask though: was Simon here at the office yesterday between one and two?”
“Oh yes,” Cassiopeia replied. “He was here. He was already here when I came in at eight-thirty, and he was still in the office when I left
at five.”
“And there’s no way he could have slipped out without you noticing?”
“Well, there’s the back door, but it’s alarmed. Emergencies only. If he’d gone out that way, the whole neighborhood would have heard it.”
“Alright, thanks,” Scarlett said, and the three of us went out onto the street.
“Thoughts?” I prompted, and Ali chimed in first.
“There’s something weird about him. He’s too calm about the money he lost. I mean, your family is rich as crap, what would you do if you lost two hundred and fifty grand?” she asked Scarlett.
“I’d probably cry myself to sleep for a year,” Scarlett admitted. “But also, I don’t have that much money. So I’m probably not the best person to ask. That said, I know Grandma Eva lost that much a few times, and she was much more upset than Simon was.”
“Exactly,” Ali replied. “No one is that calm when they lose a ton of money. And your grandmother would have way more of it than the guy running a decent-sized local business. This idea that it’s just water off a duck’s back doesn’t fit at all.”
“So you’re thinking if he was lying about that, what else was he lying about?” I said, and Ali nodded.
“That’s right.”
“Well, how could he have gotten out of the building without the receptionist noticing?” Scarlett asked, and Ali grinned.
“Please, that one’s child’s play. The door might be alarmed, but he’s a wizard. He could have easily broken the spell, especially since being the company owner he’s probably the one who cast it in the first place. And even if not…”
Ali trailed off and motioned to the side of the building where three large windows took up a good chunk of the side wall.
“Right,” Scarlett said. “He could have easily sneaked out, seen Renee, killed her, and then come back without anyone being the wiser.”
“Exactly,” Ali said. “That said, I still prefer Oliver as a suspect to Simon. He seems like a decent guy, overall.”
“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” I mused. “Why give someone like Renee money to start a business? I mean, she didn’t even have a business. That’s a lot of money to give someone to become an influencer, especially since there really isn’t that much outlay required to start that kind of business. That’s why so many people do it. At least, in the human world they do.”
“It’s the same here,” Scarlett said. “Especially a few years ago it seemed every witch our age wanted to become a witchfluencer. You’re right, though. It’s not like you need a ton of investment capital to take cool-looking pictures of yourself. Even phones these days take pictures that are totally fine for that sort of thing.”
“Right. I think we can all agree that something fishy is going on here,” I said. “Although I’m not entirely sure what it is.”
Ali’s phone binged, indicating she’d just received a text, and she glanced at the screen quickly.
“Well, we can figure that out later. Right now, we need to get back to Mt. Rheanier. Apparently there’s a bit of drama happening at the Enforcer station, and drama is the perfect time to get more information.”
CHAPTER 18
T he three of us headed quickly to the portal and found ourselves back in Mt. Rheanier, speed-walking toward the town hall. I took the stairs two-by-two and entered the Enforcer station where, sure enough, something was going down.
A tall, black-haired man with gray eyes and pale skin wearing a three-piece suit complete with a gold watch hanging on a chain stood in the middle of the room. Oliver Farwood was thirty feet away, being held back by Jack and another wizard.
“You’re wrong,” Oliver screeched. “I didn’t do it. Anyone who says I did is a liar. Why don’t you believe me?”
The man – in fact, after a second look I was almost certain he was actually a vampire – looked bored.
“The video evidence is clear. This is the wizard who broke into my home and stole from my safe. I would like not only the money returned but I would also like to see him charged. He must spend time in prison to make up for what he’s done to me.”
“Me? Done to you? Please. You’re a vampire. You’re almost a thousand years old. We both know you didn’t get that money by doing anything good. For all I know, you were a pirate in the seventeenth century in the human world. Or a crusader. Or any of the other myriad of ways you could have stolen that money. And now you’re accusing me, an honest, hardworking member of the community here, of theft? Vampires are scum. Scum!”
“Alright, mate, why don’t you calm down before we have to cast a spell on you?” the other wizard with Jack said, his accent Australian.
“Yeah, you don’t want me to curse you again, do you?” Ali asked, waving her wand around, and Oliver let out an angry string of curse words.
“Who let this witch back here?” he shouted. “Keep her away from me.”
“I’m here because my client asked me to be,” Ali said, smiling at the vampire who nodded sagely at her in return.
“Thank you for coming. I have learned from the Enforcers here that the video evidence of the crime is not likely to be sufficient to get a conviction.”
“Good because I’m innocent,” Oliver shouted.
“Seriously?” I asked. “There’s video evidence and it’s not enough?”
Jack shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned, it should be. But the paranormal world has some strange ideas about a lot of human-world technology like security cameras, and I’ve been advised by the prosecutor that, for now, we have to let Oliver go. But I’m not going to do that until I’m sure he isn’t going to attack Athan here.”
“I’m not going to,” Oliver shouted. “I was told I was being let go, and now you’re still holding me back. And yeah, I’m pissed at this stupid vampire accusing me of stealing from him. But I didn’t steal from him, and attacking him in front of some Enforcers would be pretty dumb, don’t you think?”
“Well, to be fair, no one thinks you’re the sharpest knife in the drawer,” Ali replied.
“If I was going to attack anyone here, it would be her,” Oliver said, and a somewhat crazed smile appeared on Ali’s face.
“Oh you have no idea how much I’d love to see you try,” she replied.
“Do you really have to antagonize everyone you come into contact with?” Jack asked with a sigh. “Fine. We’ll let you go, Oliver, but if you make any sort of a move to attack either Athan or Ali here, we will use spells to restrain you.”
“As an innocent person, I’ll prove to you that even when provoked, I can be a law-abiding citizen,” Oliver snapped. Jack and the other Enforcer carefully let him go, and I couldn’t help but notice that as soon as they did, both their hands flew to the wands in their pockets. Oliver carefully raised his hands, glared at everyone in the room, and walked out without another word.
“So that’s it, is it?” Ali complained. “You just let him back out onto the street?”
“Trust me, I’m as unhappy about it as you are,” Jack replied. “The problem is, the prosecutor is right. The paranormal world doesn’t trust human-world technology as much as humans do, and all Oliver needs to argue is that the footage was altered to make it appear as though it was him. It would be a lie, we all know that, but it would result in him being acquitted.”
“Well, it’s bull,” Ali muttered.
“The justice system isn’t perfect,” Jack admitted. “But it’s the one we’ve got.”
“So what happens now?” I asked.
“Now we go back to square one in the investigation. We know who did it; we just need to find proof of it. I’ll apply for a warrant to search his apartment, and hopefully we’ll find some proof there and he’ll go right back to jail.”
“And what if he decides to run off?” Ali asked. “He knows he’s a suspect in a murder investigation now.”
“Then we’ll find him. Oliver Farwood isn’t the first paranormal who’s had to be let go from custody and then re-arrested when we go
t more evidence later. Things will be fine, I promise.”
“I hope so,” Athan said. “I would like to recover the money that was stolen from me if at all possible, and on top of that, I would like to see the perpetrator brought to justice. I have seen a lot of criminals get away with what they did over the years.”
“I understand,” Jack replied. “We are doing everything we can to have your money returned. I’ll be in touch as soon as I know anything. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to go and get that warrant so we can search Oliver’s home.”
Athan nodded. “Alright, I expect to hear from you soon.”
He turned and left, and the three of us followed after him.
“Would you be willing to continue working for me in the search for the evidence that would get Oliver Farwood convicted?” Athan asked Ali, and she nodded.
“Sure, of course. I want to see him locked up as much as you do.”
“And who are your two friends here?” he asked.
“They’re from Fairy Falls. Oliver is a suspect in a murder that took place there yesterday.”
Athan inhaled sharply. “So this wizard is not simply a thief, he may be a killer as well. Yes, please do find him, and do your best to find the money that he stole from me as well. I’ll continue to pay you at the same rate, if that’s acceptable to you?”
“That’s fine,” Ali said. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best. I don’t want this wizard on the streets any more than you do.”
“Good,” Athan replied. “And if you should happen to find evidence that he is also a killer, please offer that to the Enforcers as well. That goes without saying, but I hope there is justice found for the witch in Fairy Falls.”
“Will do,” Ali said.
Athan gave each one of us a curt nod then turned on his heel and left.
“Wow, vampires sure are a different breed, aren’t they?” I asked when he was out of earshot.
Hex Over Heels: A Witch Cozy Mystery (Fairy Falls Mystery Book 2) Page 10
