“Right. I managed to check the living room, bedroom, and bathroom before we left. There was nothing there.”
I frowned. “He’s not that smart. There has to be a way to prove it was him.”
“Well, if we’re going to brainstorm for a while, I want some hot chocolate,” Willow said.
“Oooh, good idea,” I replied, going to the kitchen. After all, it had been quite cold out, and even though the adrenaline was still pumping through my veins, I knew it would soon be replaced by a seeping cold. Making my way to the kitchen, I warmed some milk in a cauldron before adding some chocolate from a pack I’d gotten as a gift from Leda for my birthday a few weeks back. The chocolate came from a company in Pacific Cove called Phoenix Chocolates, and I was very excited to try it. Apparently, the chocolate in their hot chocolate mixes came straight from Belgium; this definitely promised to be a good hot chocolate experience.
The drinks didn’t disappoint. I figured Willow and I had earned a little bit of luxury after our experience that night, so when it was ready, I poured the hot chocolate into a couple of mugs and topped them both off with generous cones of whipped cream.
I handed Willow her mug and sat down next to her on the couch. I took a deep sip of the drink.
“Well, I think I got tonight’s events wrong,” I said. “Obviously, Grandma Rosie killed me and I went to heaven, because there’s no way anything on earth should possibly taste as good as this hot chocolate.”
“I know, right?” Willow replied, looking at me with a stupefied expression. “It’s so good. Where did you get it?”
“Leda got it for me as a gift from a company in Pacific Cove. Phoenix Chocolates.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of them. The owner is the daughter of the owners of Pacific Cove Chocolates, the couple that got arrested a few months back.”
“For making chocolate so good it’s actually illegal?”
“Fraud, or embezzlement, or something.”
“Well, that’s a bit of a bummer. But yeah, this hot chocolate is amazing.”
We sipped in silence for a bit, savoring the taste of our delicious drinks, before moving the conversation back to Jason and how I was going to prove that he had killed Blaze.
“What if Grandma Rosie and Connie manage to find something we missed?” I asked.
“Then we move on. If they find the proof, they find the proof. You can’t worry about them—you can only think about doing the best you can,” Willow replied, and I nodded. That made sense. All I could do was the best I could; I couldn’t worry about anyone else.
I flopped down on the couch, exhaustion suddenly overtaking me. “Ugh. I need to find that proof.”
“Why don’t you focus on getting a good night’s sleep first? After all, if your brain isn’t rested, it won’t be able to find any proof, either.”
“Gee, thanks, Mom,” I teased as Willow got up and put a Sherpa blanket over me. I snuggled deep into it as Willow turned off the lights.
“I’m going home now; I have to work in the morning too.”
“Thanks for everything,” I mumbled with my eyes closed. “You’re the best.”
I could feel Willow smiling at me as she closed the door behind her and left. I didn’t even have the energy to crawl over to my bed in the other room; I woke up the next morning still lying on the couch, one arm hanging off the edge and onto the floor, the side of my face pressed into the pillow.
Chapter 19
After making my way to the kitchen as the memories of last night flooded back to me, I put a pot of coffee on before dragging myself to the bathroom for a shower that might blast me awake. When I stepped out of it ten minutes later, I began to feel vaguely human again, drying my hair with a quick spell before making my way back to the kitchen where the aroma of drip coffee reached my nostrils.
“This is definitely going to be a three cup kind of day,” I muttered to myself as I poured a mug and added a spoonful of sugar. I was leaning against the counter, enjoying the first sip of my coffee, when my phone buzzed, indicating I had a text.
Grabbing it, I saw the text was from Willow.
Anne didn’t show up for her studies today. The other students don’t know where she is. Did she say anything to you?
I frowned as I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Anne the day before. I sent back a quick reply. No, nothing.
I hoped everything was ok. Given the state she seemed to be in, I imagined she would have just taken a mental health day and not thought to give anybody a heads-up, but I made a note to stop in at her place later on today if I could find out where she lived just to check in on her.
As for myself, I didn’t really have all that much to do. I let out an involuntary yawn—it appeared that one cup of coffee wasn’t going to be enough to get me through this day—and then considered my options. I didn’t want to spend yet another day lazing around doing nothing while I hoped proof of Jason’s wrongdoing would just drop into my lap. But at the same time, I also didn’t really know exactly where I was going with this. What was the next step? Should I follow Jason around to see if he went back to the scene of the crime? Maybe I should have checked the knives in his kitchen to see if they matched those of Blaze’s killer. Did I have to break into his home again? Would I be interrupted by my own grandmother once more if I tried?
I wondered if Grandma Rosie and Connie got back safely last night, but then I hadn’t gotten a panicked visit from my mother yet this morning, so I assumed she was none the wiser about her mother’s extra-curricular activities.
Eventually I decided on the tried-and-true method for gathering information and gossip in any small town: checking out the coffee shop. Besides, I was going to have to find out where Anne lived somehow if I wanted to check in on her, and that was also the best way to go.
The fact that I’d be able to eat some scrumptious potion-enhanced goodies to give me the energy to get through the day was just an added bonus.
I slipped on some clothes, checked in the bathroom mirror to confirm I looked more or less presentable—I was erring on the side of “less,” but close enough—and slipped out the front door, stifling yet another yawn.
I inched past my mother’s house, daring a glance through the kitchen window to see her and Grandma Rosie sitting at the table drinking tea together. It didn’t look like my mom had tried to murder my grandmother recently, so I figured Grandma Rosie must have gotten in and out last night without my mom finding out. It was good to see she wasn’t in jail, at least.
Making my way down to The Magic Brewmstick, I turned over everything I knew in my head. How was I going to find proof Jason was the killer? Or was I looking at it all wrong?
I sighed and made my way into the building. I was pleased to see the fairy working the counter this morning was Pyxis. She had worked at The Magic Brewmstick for as long as I could remember, at least ten years, and she was hands down the biggest gossip in town. The problem was, only about one quarter of the things she said at any given moment were actually true, and so whenever one was dealing with Pyxis, the trouble was figuring out if what she was telling you was accurate or completely made up.
“Hi, Pyxis,” I greeted her with a smile. “How are things?”
“Well, if it isn’t Althea Everwood,” Pyxis replied. “How can I help the granddaughter of Mt. Rheanier’s most notorious criminal today?”
I smiled. “I’m guessing you heard about my grandmother being caught in the Enforcers’ office the other day?”
Pyxis shot me a wink. Her light brown curls bobbed up and down slightly as her silver wings fluttered excitedly behind her. “Oh, honey, it’s the only thing anyone was talking about yesterday. Well, apart from the murder,” she added in a conspiratorial whisper, as if the murder of one of the town’s citizens was a secret between the two of us. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“Have you heard anything else?” I asked. “I’ve heard a rumor that he was killed by Jason.”
“Oh, no, no,” Pyxis repl
ied, shaking her head so her curls bounced around her face. “No, that’s not right at all. I have it from a very good source that he killed himself.”
My eyebrows rose. “Is that right?”
Pyxis’s nod was vigorous. “Or at least, that’s what they want you to think.”
“Who’s they?”
“The group of rich dragons who killed him so that they could take over the parents’ inheritance when they died. After all, he was enormously rich, you know.”
“Well, if those dragons are already rich, why would they need more money?”
“Because rich people always want more. That’s what they do. Even if it involves murder.”
“Well, then what about Bridget, Blaze’s sister? Why wasn’t she killed?”
Pyxis looked at me sympathetically, as if she felt bad about the fact that I hadn’t figured out the truth yet.
“Honey, you can’t do two fake suicides at the same time. If you’re going to kill two people at once, you have to make it look like an accident, like they were riding the same broom and fell off, or something. I don’t even know how that would work with dragons. But they’re obviously going to wait before they kill her. She hasn’t been in yet, which is a shame. I hope I get to speak to her and tell her to be careful.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, thanks for the chat, Pyxis. It’s been…enlightening, as always.”
“Oh, no problem. If you want to know anything else about the town’s happenings, let me know. But anyway, what can I get for you today?”
I ordered a coffee and a donut with an energy-boosting crème center, then made my way to the long wooden table in the middle of the room that acted as a de facto town watercooler. It was well-known that if you wanted privacy, you stuck to the tables against the walls or the patio outside. If you were at the big table, that meant you were fair game to talk.
Plonking myself down, I immediately took a bite of the donut and straightaway felt energy beginning to course through me. Much better. A couple of fairies were sitting at the far end of the table, one with gorgeous blonde hair that reached her hips, and the other with a short, black pixie cut that framed her face beautifully. I knew them—I was fairly certain they worked checkout at the grocery store—but we certainly weren’t friends or anything.
“Your grandmother got caught breaking into the Enforcers’ office the other day, didn’t she?” the blonde one said to me immediately. “That must have been quite something.”
“Yes, well, Grandma Rosie has been losing her marbles a little bit the last few years,” I lied. If only I had the excuse that my grandmother wasn’t completely sane when she broke into an Enforcers’ office.
Of course, I supposed I couldn’t really throw all that many stones from inside my glass house.
“Such a shame,” the brunette sighed, shaking her head. “I always liked your grandmother. When I was little, she once caught me trying to steal candy from the convenience store. Instead of turning me in, she distracted the clerk so I could get away.”
I laughed. “That sounds about right.” Helping random children commit petty theft was definitely the sort of thing my grandmother would have done.
“She was trying to find evidence of Blaze’s killer, though, wasn’t she?” the blonde asked, more seriously this time. “I can’t believe how many people are trying to find the killer themselves, thanks to the reward.”
“I think she is, but you’d have to ask her,” I said. I didn’t really want to lie, but I also didn’t want to give away all of Grandma Rosie’s secrets. “Who else is trying to solve it?”
“Well, there’s a witch named Andrea doing it,” the blonde fairy replied. “I saw her the other day, bothering Chief Enforcer Loeb. The Chief Enforcer didn’t look happy.”
I smiled. “I can imagine it’s been rough for her.”
“I think her patience is wearing thin. I heard three werewolf shifters were arrested in town the other night, too. They were stalking around, looking for people acting suspiciously. And then there was a witch who was caught trying to sneak over on a broom to the lookout where he was found. The dragon shifter guarding the lookout had to shift into a dragon to catch her.”
I shook my head. “That’s insane. I haven’t heard of any of that.”
“I know Chief Enforcer Loeb wants to keep it on the down low,” the brunette said. “She’s worried that if people find out about this, all it’s going to do is cause more people to try and solve the case themselves. But you know how word gets around.”
“I do,” I smiled.
“But the thing is, no one really knows who could have done it. I mean, it’s Blaze we’re talking about! If ever there was a shifter who didn’t get into a single spot of trouble in his life, it’s him.”
“I’ve heard a few people talking about how he got into an argument with a wizard, but I’m not sure who,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, Jason Oakland,” the blonde fairy replied. “We heard about that as well. Apparently some people were scoping out his place the other day, but they got away before the Enforcers got there.”
“Oh?” I said, my eyebrows rising. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the night my grandmother got herself covered in paint.
“Apparently Pyxis saw him walking down the street by himself the morning Blaze was killed, though,” the blonde added. “So most people have moved on from that theory. At least from what I’ve heard.”
My head spun to the counter where the fairy was leaning in toward someone, obviously giving them some more top-secret information. Was it true? Had she really seen Jason right around the time of the murder? If so, that meant he was innocent. But he couldn’t be innocent. Everything pointed to him.
And at the same time, Pyxis was the least trustworthy fairy in town. I mean, sure, when her gossip was good, it was excellent. But it was also wrong more often than not.
I couldn’t help but wonder.
“Anyway, we have to go to work,” the fairies said to me. I said goodbye to them, rather distractedly, my mind elsewhere.
Then another thought struck me. What if the fairies were lying to me? After all, they’d just finished telling me all about how multiple paranormals were trying to solve the murder. What if they were two of them, and they figured I was their competition?
I decided to get the info straight from the source. When Pyxis found herself free again, I went up to see her.
“Hello, honey, looking for a refill on that coffee?”
“Not yet, although I might get a second donut,” I said, thinking about how little money I had left and how spending a good chunk of my current net worth on a donut probably wasn’t the smartest play. I ended up justifying it by telling myself it would be worth it if the extra energy kicked my brain into gear and I found the proof I was after.
Was I counting my chickens before they hatched? Definitely. But I was also very much craving that second donut.
“Did you see Jason Oakland the morning of the murder?” I asked Pyxis as she came back with my donut on a plate a second later. I tried sounding casual about it, but I was pretty sure I’d failed.
“I did,” Pyxis replied, her eyes widening. “It was that morning, just before nine.”
Yup, that fit in with my timeframe for the murder. “Are you sure about the time?”
“Absolutely. My shift here started at nine, and I was on my way. I walked through the door here at 8:55, about two minutes after I spotted Jason.”
“So he was here, in town?”
“Just down the street,” Pyxis confirmed. “Walking, muttering to himself, looking completely out of it. I thought he was high, to be honest, but it wasn’t even nine in the morning. A bit early to have taken some of your own potions.”
“Yeah,” I said to myself, deep in thought. If Pyxis was telling the truth, did that mean Jason was innocent? Or did she have the time wrong? Or maybe Jason flew to meet Blaze at the outlook a few minutes after Pyxis saw him.
“Did he have a broom with him at the
time?” I asked, and Pyxis nodded.
“Sure. He did, yeah. Just a normal-looking one. I remembered thinking I should call the Enforcers; there was no way he was in a state to fly, but then he was only walking around, not flying, so I supposed there was nothing they could have done.”
“Thanks,” I said. Then another thought popped into my head. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the witch Anne Leavis lives, would you?”
“Of course. She lives in the small block of apartments behind the grocery store. She shares a two-bedroom apartment with some of the other assistant Healer students.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the donut. I scarfed it down quickly and then made my way back outside, heading toward the grocery store.
Chapter 20
I looked up at the ominous-looking sky as I walked along, wondering if I was going to have to pull out my wand to cast an umbrella spell on myself sooner rather than later. I loved fall, but regular torrential downpours were a fact of life during this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, and the dark gray clouds above certainly looked like they were ready to open up any minute.
Picking up the pace a bit, I made my way toward the grocery store. It was on the outskirts of town, closer to the woods, and I knew the apartment building Pyxis meant. It was an older building with cheap rent, the sort of place that was perpetually inhabited by young paranormals who wanted to leave home but didn’t have careers that could afford them a nicer place.
I hoped to be able to afford a place in there so I could move out of the adapted shed I was currently living in sooner rather than later.
It wasn’t really the shed that was the issue. The shed was fine. Small, but fine. It was more the proximity to my family that I was opposed to.
As I approached the building, I furrowed my brow slightly. There were more people around here than I had expected; what was going on? It was the middle of the morning, not exactly grocery store rush hour, and most people weren’t heading toward the store—they were making their way to the same building I was.
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