“What now?” Clarissa wondered aloud.
The subtle approach hadn’t worked. She had hoped to collect her aunt and calmly leave to call the police. Unfortunately, things hadn’t panned out that way. Maybe it was time to try a different, more in-your-face method.
Clarissa opened the office door again.
Matilda and Cliff both glared at her. Matilda just looked irritated. Cliff looked menacing.
Clarissa raced into the room, grabbed her aunt’s arm and yanked her to her feet. “We have to go right now!” she ordered, giving Matilda a pointed look. “Don’t argue about it. Just trust me, okay? Please?”
Cliff grabbed Clarissa by the arm and pulled her away from her aunt.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he said firmly. “You’re interrupting us, and your aunt has already made it very clear that she doesn’t want you here. Technically you’re trespassing. Am I going to have to call the police?”
“Yes!” Clarissa exclaimed. “Call the police! Call them right now!”
Cliff rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Get out of my office,” he said.
“Not without my aunt!”
Matilda was giving Clarissa a curious look now. “Maybe I should just go with her,” she told her boyfriend. “She seems awfully upset, and she’s my niece. I’ll go have a chat with her and be right back.”
“Don’t give in to her tantrums,” Cliff replied. “You’re only reinforcing bad behavior!”
Matilda ignored him and exited the office with her niece.
“What’s going on?” Matilda whispered to Clarissa once they were out in the hallway.
“Cliff did it!” Clarissa whispered back. “He killed Miles Connor!”
She was all too aware that Cliff was staring at them from the doorway of his office. The look in his eyes was downright predatory. She could practically see him plotting. All she wanted was to get as far away from him as possible.
“What?” Matilda exclaimed in disbelief. “No,” she said immediately. “That’s not possible. You’re joking, right? You have to be joking. There’s no way Cliff could ever kill anyone.”
“There’s no time to explain, but trust me: he’s dangerous. Please believe me!”
Matilda looked from Clarissa to Cliff and the back again.
It was obvious now that Cliff knew they were talking about him. He began to walk purposefully toward the two women, like he was on a mission. More than anything, Clarissa wanted to run. But she couldn’t leave her aunt. She wouldn’t.
“Please believe me,” Clarissa whispered, her tone pleading. “Please, Matilda!”
Matilda looked like she was caught between a rock and a hard place. It was clear she was conflicted, feeling torn between her niece and her boyfriend. She hesitated. Then she reached for Clarissa’s hand.
“Run!” she yelled.
Chapter 22
Clarissa and Matilda made a mad dash toward the elevator, with Cliff right on their heels. It seemed like the logical thing to do. Clarissa even managed to topple a large plastic trash container on the way. She heard Cliff curse as he tripped over it and fell.
That move had bought the women a bit of time. It wasn’t a lot, but those few precious seconds would hopefully be enough for them to get on the elevator and get to safety.
Then Clarissa saw the sign.
“The elevator is out of order!” she cried out in dismay. She had completely forgotten.
“The stairs are that way!” Matilda told her, pointing down the hallway.
They raced toward the stairwell, both huffing and puffing. They crashed into it noisily, the small enclosed space acting as an echo chamber. Then they began to run down the stairs as quickly as they could, concentrating on nothing but putting one foot in front of the other.
For a moment Clarissa was hopeful that Cliff had given up the chase. Maybe she and her aunt would be able to disappear into the night and call in a tip to the police. But then she heard the crash of the door opening above them, and the killer’s footsteps thundering down the stairs.
“Hurry up!” Clarissa gasped, out of breath. “He’s gaining on us!”
“I can’t go any faster!” Matilda panted.
The two women pushed on, trying their best to outrun Cliff Harrington. Clarissa was running on pure adrenaline. She suspected her bewildered aunt was running on fumes. But it didn’t matter; all that mattered was escaping danger.
For a moment, Clarissa was convinced they might actually make it.
Then their luck ran out.
Six floors down, the women came to a locked door. They pushed on it as hard as they could, but it wouldn’t budge. They tried jiggling the handle, but it didn’t do any good . And the next thing they knew, they were face-to-face with Cliff Harrington.
He looked much different now, at least to Clarissa. Gone was the charismatic, put-together professional she had been so impressed with. His hair was dishevelled and his face was sweaty. There was a look in his eyes that was downright ominous. His features contorted into something very ugly as he descended on them.
Alarmingly, Matilda didn’t seem to be afraid. Chances were she still saw glimmers of the man she had been crushing on. Maybe she was skeptical that Cliff could actually be the murderer. Or maybe she was in shock and the truth hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
While Matilda stood there calmly, Clarissa was panicking. She had no doubt in her mind that Cliff wished her harm. In fact, she didn’t like the way his fists were clenched at his sides as he waked stiffly toward her, like some sort of zombie in a slasher movie. She had a very bad feeling indeed.
“Leave us alone!” Clarissa told Cliff. She was trying to sound brave but her voice wavered when she spoke. She was really scared – perhaps even more frightened than she had been while riding a broomstick up to the roof. Her intuition was telling her she was in big trouble.
“You leave us alone,” Cliff shot back. He extended his hand to her aunt. “Come, Matilda. Your niece is clearly having emotional issues. It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t have to ruin our evening. Why don’t you call someone to come pick her up? Then I’ll take you for ice cream.”
Matilda looked at Clarissa. “You’re sure Cliff did it?” she whispered.
Clarissa nodded emphatically.
Matilda appeared to be having an internal struggle of some kind. But then she seemed to make up her mind. She took a deep, reluctant breath. Then she extended her finger and pointed it at Cliff.
Both Cliff and Clarissa stared at Matilda in bewilderment. She ignored their questioning looks. She whispered a few words Clarissa couldn’t quite make out – they may have been in another language.
What happened next was truly shocking.
Right before Clarissa’s eyes, Cliff disappeared. There was a bright flash of light right where he was standing. It made Clarissa jump, but Matilda didn’t seem fazed by it. And Cliff…well, Cliff vanished. One moment he was standing there and the next he wasn’t.
In his place was an ugly, wart-covered toad.
Clarissa blinked, unable to believe her eyes. The toad stared up at her, unmoving. Clarissa opened her mouth and then shut it. She tipped her head to the side inquisitively as she attempted to make sense of what she had witnessed.
Finally, she turned to her very calm, cool and collected aunt.
“D – did you just…?” Clarissa stuttered.
“Did I what?” Matilda asked.
“How do I say this?” Clarissa cleared her throat and then pointed to the toad. “Is that Cliff?”
“Well of course it’s Cliff,” Matilda replied in a tone that made Clarissa feel foolish for asking. “Who else would it be?”
“I can’t believe you turned Cliff into a toad!” Clarissa exclaimed.
“I can’t believe I was dating a murderer,” Matilda sighed.
“What happens now?” Clarissa asked.
“Now you tell me what you know,” Matilda replied.
“Okay…but I mean what happens with Cl
iff?” Clarissa clarified. “Does he stay a toad or…?”
“I’ll change him back before the police get here,” Matilda assured her, pulling out her phone.
“Won’t he remember?”
Matilda shook her head. “I’ll make sure his memories of being turned into a toad are erased.”
“You can do that?” Clarissa asked in awe.
“Oh Clarissa,” Matilda said affectionately. “You have so much to learn.”
“But seriously…you can just turn people into toads at a moment’s notice?” Clarissa pressed.
“Well yes, but it’s not quite that simple. As I’ve told you before, every spell comes with a cost. A spell of this magnitude…well, I expect I’ll probably come down with a nasty flu or stomach virus,” Matilda predicted with a grimace. “There is always a price I have to pay.”
“Magic is dangerous,” Clarissa complained. “The elevator was out of service, so I had to get up to the rooftop on a broom. I still can’t believe I’m not dead! Look at my hands,” she said, holding them out. “They’re still shaking! And I’m still weak in the knees!”
“That’s just a consequence of flying too high. I warned you to stay close to the ground, until your magic powers were more developed, remember? I can’t believe you went up on the roof!” Matilda clucked, shaking her head.
“That makes two of us.”
“I want to yell at you for that stunt, but I know you meant well.” Matilda paused, looking upset. Then in a tiny voice she asked, “So…I was dating a killer?”
Clarissa nodded solemnly. “I’m afraid so.”
“Now that I think about it, Cliff got weird when I brought up Miles’ death. He started asking an awful lot of questions about your investigation and how much you knew. I brushed it off at the time as him simply being curious. I guess I didn’t want to see him for what he really was.”
“A cold-blooded murderer,” Clarissa said helpfully.
“Yeah, I guess so. I’m glad you got there when you did,” Matilda said gratefully.
“I’m glad you trusted me,” Clarissa replied, touched to think that her aunt had so much faith in her. “It would have been really easy for you to blow me off, especially after what happened before with the pizza. I wasn’t very nice to you earlier tonight.”
“Maybe I deserved to be scolded,” Matilda shrugged. “You’re right: I shouldn’t cast spells on you without your permission. But, she added with a gleam in her eye, “I think you’ll agree that magic can be very useful in certain situations.”
“Croak!” the toad complained.
Chapter 23
Sirens wailed in the distance.
“Huh, I didn’t know the police would turn on their sirens and everything,” Matilda remarked, sounding a little excited by the thought. “This is like a scene from a movie or something!”
“I doubt those cops are headed here,” Clarissa replied, drawing on her experience as a reporter. “You called to report a tip about a murder. You told the cops the suspect was subdued…I guess that’s one way of putting it.”
“Croak!” the toad wailed.
“Nobody is in immediate danger,” Clarissa reminded her aunt. “I think it’s safe to say the cops aren’t going to rush her with their lights flashing and sirens blaring.”
“Oh,” Matilda said, sounding a bit disappointed.
“When are you going to turn him back?” Clarissa asked, nodding toward the toad.
“When the police get here,” Matilda replied. She looked pale and a little shell-shocked. But considering everything that had happened, she seemed to be handling it like a champ. She was a resilient woman. Still though, it couldn’t be easy to discover one’s boyfriend was a murderer!
“How are you holding up?” Clarissa asked, wishing there was something she could do.
“I’m okay,” Matilda said, wringing her hands. She looked around. “I need to go clear my head,” she announced. “Can you watch Cliff for a moment?”
“I guess,” Clarissa agreed, looking down at the ugly, wart-covered toad with disdain.
Clasping her hands behind her back, Matilda began to pace. No sooner than she had left Clarissa’s side, a second set of footsteps could be heard. Alarmed and on edge, Clarissa whirled around to face whomever was there.
“I recognize you. You’re the reporter,” Nancy said. “What are you doing here?”
“Honestly?” Clarissa asked, too tired to come up with anything that wasn’t the complete truth. “I came here tonight to snoop through your office and try to pin Miles Connor’s murder on you.”
Looking aghast, Nancy said nothing. Then she began to laugh hysterically. “You think I killed Miles? That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard!” she exclaimed. “Oh my goodness, you really must be insane!”
“I don’t think that anymore,” Clarissa clarified, feeling slightly insulted. “And you have to admit, you acted very suspiciously. Every time I asked you about Miles, you got all flustered and started behaving strangely.”
“I did not,” Nancy argued.
Clarissa gave her a silent look.
“Okay, fine,” Nancy sighed. “I probably did act strangely. But it wasn’t for the reason you think. I had nothing whatsoever to do with Miles’ death,” she declared impassionedly.
“I know,” Clarissa assured her. “But what I don’t know is why you acted guilty.”
Nancy bit her lower lip and said nothing.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” Clarissa urged gently. At this point, she was really just curious. Even if Nancy wasn’t the murderer, she was hiding something. Of that, Clarissa was pretty much certain. The snoop in her wanted to know the truth!
Nancy hesitated. “I shouldn’t.”
“It might feel good to get it off your chest,” Clarissa told her encouragingly.
“Maybe you’re right.” Nancy was silent for a moment. “I knew Miles had a reputation,” she finally confessed. “I mean, I knew he could be flirty but I figured the rumors about him hitting on students – and everyone else – were greatly exaggerated. Then I found out they weren’t.”
“Is that why you two stopped seeing each other?” Clarissa asked.
“Yes,” Nancy nodded. “But that’s not the whole story,” she admitted.
“What is?”
“I’m not proud of this,” the guidance counselor sighed. “Hannah Woods came to my office. It was after her very public confrontation with Miles and she wanted to talk. She told me he had been acting inappropriately toward her.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Nancy admitted tearfully. “I brushed it off because I didn’t want to admit I had been dating such a creep. I minimized what she told me. I convinced her she was stressed about her grades and overreacting because of it. I feel terrible about it.”
“Is that why you acted so nervous whenever I mentioned Miles’ name?” Clarissa guessed.
“I should have done more,” Nancy said tearfully. “I should have reported Miles’ behavior. I should have been there for Hannah. It’s my job to be there for students! I failed her. I owe her a huge apology.”
“Thank you for being honest with me,” Clarissa said earnestly. “I appreciate it.”
“Thank you for listening,” Nancy replied gratefully. “I’m glad I got all that off my chest. I’ve been bottling it up for so long; it’s been keeping me awake at night.” Then she furrowed her brow. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to a dark figure lurking in the shadows.
“Oh no,” Clarissa groaned, her heart sinking. “Cat!” she hollered. “Get away from Cliff!” Then, because she knew the bratty feline never, ever listened to a word she said, Clarissa raced over and rescued the petrified toad.
“You named that toad?” Nancy asked, looking amused.
“Um…yes,” Clarissa replied, hoping there wouldn’t be any follow-up questions.
“And the cat’s name is Cat?”
“That’s right,” Clarissa nodded.
“Now I’ve heard it all,” Nancy grinned.
“Meow,” Cat chimed in, anxious to bat the toad around some more.
Clarissa glanced over at her aunt, who was still off pacing in the distance. Then she looked down at the toad she had rescued from the cat’s clutches. If life didn’t soon calm down, she would have an entire zoo on her hands!
Come to think of it, some days she felt like she lived in the zoo…
Chapter 24
“How did you figure it out?” Parker asked the next morning.
After a long night of giving statements to the police, Clarissa and her aunt had met Parker for brunch. They were at a quaint little outdoor patio in the heart of Green City. With its white picket fence, checkered tablecloths and big red awning, it was like a taste of small town life in the big city.
It was exactly what Clarissa needed to unwind after a very long and stressful evening.
Of course, Parker had questions. He was a reporter, so it was only natural for him to be curious about the details. But Clarissa didn’t mind. Actually, Parker’s fascination with her detective work was pretty endearing.
“I was suspicious of all the wrong people at first,” Clarissa admitted. “I was actually on campus last night hoping to find some dirt on Nancy Donoghue. She had certainly acted guilty, but something wasn’t adding up.”
“What?” Parker asked.
He was hanging on Clarissa’s every word. In fact, he hadn’t even touched his scrambled eggs and bacon. Instead he was gazing across the table at her with an awed expression on his face, like he could hardly believe how brilliant and amazing she was.
“I didn’t think Nancy was strong enough to overpower Miles,” Clarissa explained. “I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, though. Even if she had been physically capable of overpowering him, why would she want to?”
“I feel out of the loop. I’ve been so busy at work that I don’t know all the details of this case,” Parker admitted. “Did Nancy not have a motive?”
“Well she did, but not a good one,” Clarissa said. “She had gone on a few dates with Miles. They had parted ways. It sounded amicable enough. So unless she was super psycho, I couldn’t really understand why she’d have it out for him.”
A Drop of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 3) Page 13
