A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark

by Harry Connolly

Zoe let her fists fall into her lap. “I knew it!” she screamed, venting her helpless rage. Then she stood and stomped out the front door.

  Marley went to the front window and watched her make her way down the front steps. There was another symbol carved on the top of the window sill. “Albert, please check every window in the house for a mark like this one. Make note of which ones don’t have it, if any. And be thorough; this is important.”

  Albert opened his mouth as though he wanted to talk over the encounter they’d just had, but wisely went to work instead. Marley returned to the bedroom and sat in a chair in a corner, staring at the bed and the circle beneath it, carefully thinking about nothing at all.

  Then, after a long while, she noticed something odd. She moved toward the foot of the bed and got down on her knees to run her fingertips over one of the marks. The floor board beneath it wobbled. Marley pried up a tiny section of floor no larger than a credit card.

  “What have you found?” Albert asked as he returned to the room.

  “I noticed that one of the symbols was different from the others,” Marley said. “The others are protective marks, but this one is for secrecy. And what was it hiding?” From the hole in the floor, she pulled a key ring jangling with at least a dozen keys.

  “Now we can access the Gym Locker... of Doom!”

  “Wouldn’t that simplify things! Of course we’ll have to try every lock in this house first. We’ll also check his office when we get a chance. What did you find?”

  “Every window has a mark,” Albert said, “even the ones in the basement. Every door, too. They’re just below the top hinge, where the door lies flush against the jam.”

  “Thank you, dear.”

  “Does this mean something was after him?”

  “I’m not sure, dear. These marks aren’t fresh. Look at the way the paint is wearing away right there. The marks still retain their potency, but he made them at least a year ago. They’ll need refreshing soon. But he was worried about someone who could do magic.”

  “Is that why Zoe’s whammy-jammy didn’t do anything to us?”

  “Partly. It’s perfectly possible the marks were there to protect him from her. In fact, it seems like the most likely explanation. For now.”

  “So he was in danger from magic, but it wasn’t new.”

  “And he didn’t tell me about it. I must tell you, Albert, this whole affair is annoying me to no end. Scribe gave me warning about your brother’s death—“

  “— Half-brother.”

  “Half, excuse me—if only I’d had the wit to check it. And now I discover that he’s erected supernatural protections without my knowledge. It’s not just my city we’re talking about, it’s my family, too. How can I defend against a danger I don’t know about? And I like to think I would have known, if...”

  She didn’t want to finish that sentence, so Albert did it for her. “If he hadn’t been such a creep.” Marley didn’t respond. “I know. Is it wrong to stand in the guy’s house after his death and talk about what a jerk he was? Because so what? I didn’t like him and he knew it. I’m sure he knew you didn’t like him, either. I’m pretty sure he thought of himself as a great guy, and anyone who disagreed could…” Albert paused and considered his audience. “… could get lost. Truth is, I don’t think that sort of thing mattered to him. He was always good at getting what he wanted from people and he never gave away more than he had to. Just like Mother.”

  “You’re right, dear. Of course you’re right.”

  “But it sure sounds like he had a come-to-Jesus moment just before he died, doesn’t it?”

  Marley went to the window and looked out. For this next part of the conversation, she didn’t want to see Albert’s face. “That might have been my doing. He came to me late Saturday, the night before he died—straight from Inez’s bed, it seems. I told him what I thought about him and he seemed a little startled. Most of us like to think of ourselves as essentially good—even when deep down we know we’re not—and Aloysius must have thought he was fooling the people around him as thoroughly as he was fooling himself. I was harsh with him and caught him off guard, as I meant to. He must have done a little self-examination and resolved to be a better person.”

  Albert was puzzled by her tone. “That can’t be a bad thing, can it?”

  “It is if it got him killed, dear.”

  They searched the house a while longer, but all they found was a small safe in the upstairs office. It had dust on the dial. Albert searched the desk more carefully, finding a slip of paper taped to the bottom of a drawer. The numbers on the slip proved to be the combination. Albert found only one thing inside: a leather-bound journal with a handful of magical symbols and instructions written in a cramped, careful hand. “Here it is,” he said. “Zoe’s book.”

  Marley snatched it from him and shut it.

  “Aunt Marley, I’m guessing we’re not going to be returning that book to her.”

  “Oh my goodness, no. Not with that personality. I think that’s all, Albert. Best we go.” She closed the safe and turned the dial so the dusty side was up.

  Albert led her to the front door and let her out. She slid the key back into the key holder. Albert scanned the surrounding cars and houses, but there was no sign of danger.

  “We learned something here, right?” Albert asked once they were back in the car. “I’d like to think we’re making a little progress as we go from place to place. What’s next on the list?”

  “You have questions for me, don’t you?”

  “I do, but I’d rather be driving somewhere specific while I ask them.”

  “Then let’s go back to the burned house. I want to look at the ruins before I speak with the police about it.”

  Albert started the car and pulled into the road. “What exactly was that circle in Aloysius’s room supposed to protect him from?”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Explanations, Both Official and Not

  Despite herself, Marley was pleased. Albert had shown admirable restraint in waiting this long to broach this subject, and he’d started with a specific question. For the first time in many years, she found herself happy to have this conversation.

  “Aloysius’s circle was there to protect him from things that aren’t real, dear, and things that don’t believe they’re real.”

  “So... nothing? It couldn’t protect him from anything?”

  “No, dear, from things that aren’t real.”

  “But if something isn’t real, it doesn’t exist.”

  “That’s not true. Some of the very best things in the world are not real.”

  “Like my winning lottery ticket and super-hot heiress girlfriend?”

  Marley pretended she hadn’t heard that entirely predictable response. “You can’t put a piece of mercy into your pocket, can you? You can’t hang a sheet of kindness on your wall. You can’t really measure out an ounce of prevention. But despite the fact that they’re not real, they have powerful effects on our lives.”

  “Okay, I guess. But the circle around his bed... would it really have protected him?”

  “Well, yes. It was full of another unreal thing: magic.”

  “So, magic isn’t real.”

  “No, it’s not. And that makes it very powerful.”

  Albert rolled his eyes. “You’re deliberately being confusing, aren’t you?”

  “I’m answering your questions, Albert.”

  He was about to make a joke about one hand clapping, but stopped himself. His aunt had said jokes sometimes reveal the truth, but he didn’t want to risk annoying her. “You’re saying I need better questions.” He navigated traffic in silence for a moment, wishing he was smart enough to see the point his aunt was making. “Are those vampires real? Wait... That’s not what I want to ask. Something about them is fake, but the effect it has on them is powerful. Am I getting this right?”

  “Not fake, dear. Never fake. Simply not part of the real world. Vampirism is a curse, and like an
y curse, you’ll never touch it or see it or measure it in any way. You’ll only ever see its effects.”

  “What about the invisibility potion? And the vial of stuff you made Inez sniff?”

  “I didn’t make her. I asked her. But never mind that for the moment. I know certain tricks to create things that aren’t real. A willingness to help, for one. A keen interest in someone’s own shoelaces, for another. A false version of my own voice on the phone.”

  “And a false voice on the phone can relay important information, right?”

  “Or offer comfort where it’s needed.”

  “So magic is not real but it can do things. The circle around Aloysius’s bed was a pretend barrier with real-world effects.”

  Marley was secretly pleased. “Yes, dear. The problem with Aloysius’s circle, though, is that it tried to be as real as possible, and that made it very weak magic.”

  He didn’t know how to respond to that. They reached a stop sign just around the corner from Marley’s home. Albert looked into the rear view mirror. His aunt seemed very small and he thought about all the doors he opened for her. “Aunt Marley, do you have a curse on you?”

  She smiled at him. “We are all cursed in one way or another, dear.”

  Albert could recognize the end of a conversation better than most. He drove through the intersection and went around the curving road until Marley’s property was in view.

  At some point during the day there must have been lookiloos on the sidewalk, but it was late enough that they’d moved on. Albert parked the Volvo at the curb and opened the door for Marley. Together they went up the front walk to the gate.

  The air carried the sweetness of woodsmoke, spoiled by the sharp acrid scent of burned plastic. Albert coughed a little as the breeze turned the stink toward him.

  The building had burned down to its foundations. Even the chimneys had collapsed. The sight of it made him suddenly angry, and he clenched his fists at his side.

  Marley laid a hand on his. “Don’t get worked up, dear. It’ll be our turn soon. Let’s get some lunch. That way our blood sugar will be nice and high when we speak to the police.”

  They turned toward their car and were startled to see a man and woman walking toward them. They were dressed in sky blue jackets over canary yellow shirts and pants. The woman appeared to be about forty, and the man about fifteen years older—their shoes and hair styles suggested they had money, but both looked ragged with worry.

  “Excuse me,” the woman said with a slight Arkansas accent. “Are you Marley Jacobs?”

  Marley stepped forward and clasped her hands. “I am. You must be Jenny’s parents.”

  “I am Wu Cheng-Lun,” the woman said. “This is my husband, Wu Huan-Yu.”

  “A pleasure, I’m sure. I’m sorry I haven’t returned your call before, but as you can see I’ve been a little busy.”

  Jenny’s father stared past them at the burned building. “Our daughter did not meet us at the airport yesterday. None of her friends can tell us where she is. The party was supposed to be tonight—“

  “I’m sorry,” Marley interjected. “What was that? A party?”

  Cheng-Lun answered, “My husband has turned sixty. We celebrated traditionally with our family back in Guiyang, but Jenny wanted to throw a birthday party for us here, with all of our old colleagues from the university.”

  “A party!” Marley said, her expression strangely blank. “With university people!” She turned to her nephew and clutched his arm. “Albert. Jenny was going to throw a party but I didn’t know about it.”

  Albert took hold Marley’s hand. “Aunt Marley,” he said in as gentle a tone as he could, “one moment, okay?” He turned to Huan-Yu and Cheng-Lun. “I’m sorry no one met you. If we’d known you were coming, we would have arranged something.”

  Huan-Yu still hadn’t looked away from the burned building. “We called all the hospitals...”

  “Jenny hasn’t been hurt,” Albert said quickly. “She wasn’t even here when this happened.” He waved at the property behind him. “I’m surprised none of her friends told you, but, well, Jenny’s been arrested. For murder.”

  Cheng-Lun gasped and covered her mouth in shock, and Huan-Yu actually staggered as he clutched at his wife’s arm.

  “I’m sorry!” Albert said, cursing himself for his bluntness. “There’s probably a gentler way to give you that news, but... look, it’s just a temporary thing. We know she didn’t do it. It’ll just take a while to clear up.”

  “A party, Albert,” Marley said. Albert was astonished to realize his aunt had entered a strange fugue state. “A party!”

  Albert bent low to speak quietly to her. “Um, Aunt Marley, this particular moment isn’t about you. Hold on a minute, okay?”

  “They can’t do this!” Huan-Yu snapped. “Jenny is an American citizen. We come from China, but she was born here!”

  “Sure,” Albert said, correctly guessing that discussing the subject of Jenny’s citizenship would be unproductive and awkward.

  Cheng-Lun squeezed her husband’s hand. “We have money for her defense.”

  Albert nodded. “My aunt has already… one moment.” He turned to Marley. She was staring off down the street, her gaze fixed on something very far away. “Do you still have Detective Lonagan’s card? Aunt Marley?”

  He touched her elbow and she snapped back to reality. “Oh yes! Yes I do.” She reached into her purse and pulled out the card.

  Albert took it from her and gave it to Cheng-Lun. “This is the officer in charge of the case.”

  “Thank you very much,” she said. “We must go.”

  “We’ll do what we can to help,” Albert said, but Jenny’s parents glanced at Marley before they turned away. They were not impressed.

  “Albert,” Marley said urgently, tugging at the lapel of his jacket. “Albert, Albert, she betrayed me. Jenny betrayed me. A party, Albert! Full of university people! Do you know how interesting university people can be!”

  “Aunt Marley—“

  “Not just because they’re experts in their fields, which is wonderful, but because they’re also the pettiest, bitchiest, most vindictive back-stabbers in the world. I love university parties, Albert; they’re so diverting!”

  “Aunt Marley, I’m sure—“

  There was no stopping Marley, not on this subject. “But Jenny organized a party and she didn’t tell me. I invited her to every party I ever threw—and that’s no small number—but she left me out! Why would she do that, Albert? Why?”

  Marley looked up into Albert’s eyes, and he realized, instinctively, that this was not a question he should answer. Not ever. “I have no idea,” he lied. “Maybe we should talk to her about it after we get her out of jail. We are still going to get her out of jail, aren’t we? And find Aloysius’s real killer?”

  Marley took a moment to think about that, then she sighed. “Yes. Of course, yes, we’re going to do the right thing. Of course.”

  He offered her his arm. “Are you all right?”

  She slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. The honest concern in his voice helped her regain her composure. “It must seem perverse to you that I’m so upset about this, but losing my home was not one-tenth as painful as finding out that Jenny.… Those social engagements are important, Albert. Sometimes I think they’re the only thing that keeps me going. But never mind. Of course we’ll get Jenny out of prison, and of course I will do everything for her that I promised. Of course I will.”

  Albert let her into the back seat of the car and got behind the wheel. They drove in silence, while Albert tried to decide whether he should apologize for hiding in his room the previous Saturday night.

  They had lunch at a little Italian restaurant near the local elementary school. Marley ran into some friends of hers, which meant Albert ate a plate of cheese ravioli at the counter while his aunt and her friends chatted and laughed over inconsequential things. It was a mini-party all on its own. Just as the bill was coming,
an elderly couple wandered into the restaurant and asked Marley about the fire.

  That was the end of the fun. Marley’s lunch companions were shocked, but Marley assured them that everything was fine, no one was hurt and she didn’t need any help. She lingered just long enough to put them at ease, then stood to leave. Albert took his cue and led the way to the car.

  “Ah, well,” Marley said once they were safely in the car. She was almost back to her old self. “It was fun while it lasted.”

  The visit to the police station was shorter but more contentious than before. Frederika was already there. Marley insisted that it was “unnecessary to the point of silliness” to have a lawyer present for this, but Frederika refused to leave. Albert strongly suspected they were putting on a little show for the detectives, mainly because his aunt gave in. Of course he was right.

  There were different detectives this time, and the questions were pointed but polite. Marley explained that the men had broken in, that she and Albert had escaped from the house, and that they’d only found out the next day that it had been burned down. No one had been hurt and she didn’t know if anything had been stolen. She didn’t keep much money in the house, although she did have art and books worth thousands of dollars. Yes, it was all insured and the insurer will fax over a list. No, she didn’t have financial issues, quite the opposite, here’s the business card for the firm that handles her investments and such.

  What she didn’t have was a list of enemies to give them. Frederika was outraged at the suggestion that the home invasion and arson was somehow Marley’s fault, or that she might have done something to deserve all this.

  That derailed the conversation for several minutes as detectives insisted these were routine questions and they had to be asked. Marley assured them she understood completely and to just go right ahead with whatever they wanted to ask. She was sure she’d heard worse in her time.

  Next they began to ask questions about Aloysius: Had he asked Marley for money? Had he seemed nervous or distracted lately? Had he brought new people to the house?

  Frederika became increasingly aggravated, pointing out that Marley had already gone through all of this only the day before. She wanted to know if the police ever shared notes, and why did they have to cover this ground yet again, and what exactly was Marley being accused of?