A Fairy Tale

by Shanna Swendson

  “There are places where the worlds meet,” Amelia said. “Not all fae live in the Realm, and most of those in the Realm don’t venture outside. They meet at the markets, and we attend those to learn what’s going on and attempt to influence events.”

  “You’ll have to come with us to the next market,” Athena said, far too enthusiastically. “We need you to round out our numbers, and I’m sure you’re the one we’ve been looking for.”

  Sophie had hoped that she might have allies who knew what was really happening, but now she feared these two were insane, with just enough of the truth to sound marginally coherent. If they thought they were enchantresses tasked with influencing fairy politics, they had to be touched in the head. Sadly, most people who thought they knew about fairies turned out to be quite mad—or perhaps had been driven mad by the knowledge. Was that her future? She wondered if she could flee without looking rude. “I’m not an enchantress,” she said as firmly as possible.

  “Then what do you think you are?” Amelia asked. Sophie opened her mouth to say that she was a ballet teacher, but Amelia cut her off. “Don’t play dumb. You consort with fairies. Ordinary people don’t do that. You come and go at will from the Realm. Even we can’t do that. We’ve heard Emily’s stories about your uncanny knack for knowing when things will happen or what people are thinking—and for bending people to your will. Even if you’ve never been formally trained in its use, you have power.”

  Sophie was no longer worried about appearing rude. She stood, snapped her fingers to summon Beau, and said, “I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time. Thank you for your assistance.”

  Athena hopped to her feet and ran to get between Sophie and the door. “But we need you! We’re one short.”

  “One short?” Sophie asked, already regretting the question but too curious not to ask it.

  “We usually work in threes—it’s a traditional thing. You know, the phases of woman, maiden, mother, and crone. Amelia’s the mother, and I’m afraid I’ve become the crone after aging out of the maiden role. Amelia’s daughter married and left us years ago. You’re just what we need. You are a maiden, obviously.”

  Sophie felt her face flame. “I don’t see how that’s any business of yours,” she said haughtily as she tried to sidestep Athena to get to the door. If she had magical powers, she would have used them to vanish from this place.

  Athena took her arm in a gesture that appeared to be reassuring, even while it imposed an iron grip to keep Sophie from escaping. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, my dear,” she said soothingly. “It’s just rare these days. That rather complicates staffing for us.”

  If she’d tried to speak, she would have stammered or sputtered, so Sophie kept her mouth shut and held her head up high as she fought to will some of the blood to leave her face. Athena was right, it wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. Besides, her hometown was hardly a target-rich environment for eligible men, and she was related to most of those who were halfway decent. Then there was the fact that most men were utterly terrified of her.

  It wasn’t as though she had time to date, either, not between school and ballet training, and then later her family and civic responsibilities. Even if there had been a man she found appealing who wasn’t related to her and wasn’t afraid to ask her out, she couldn’t possibly have found time to develop a relationship.

  She realized then that she’d been silent for so long that the silence had become as awkward as stammering and sputtering would have been. “I’m only here to find Emily, and then I have to return home,” she said. “I’m therefore not a suitable candidate for the position.”

  She picked up Beau’s leash and turned to leave. Her hand had grasped the door handle when Amelia said from behind her, “Do you think you’ll be able to rescue Emily on your own?”

  Sophie ignored her. “I need to be going. Good day.” She opened the door and ran blindly up the steps and then down the sidewalk. If she’d known Emily was working for people that unstable, she’d have come to deal with the situation much sooner. Two crazy old women like that, responsible for keeping the fairy realm from uniting in order to protect mankind from a fairy invasion? Ridiculous! And they wanted her to join them because she was also an enchantress, with her pitiful lack of a love life a key factor in her qualifications? Impossible!

  She was a ballet teacher in a small Louisiana town. She’d danced with fairies as a child, and as a result she knew a thing or two, but that was all. She certainly didn’t have magical powers.

  But they had been right about one thing. She wouldn’t be able to rescue Emily on her own, not using her usual tactics. She’d need to be better prepared this time, armed with more than a horseshoe keychain and a bulldog.

  Twenty-two

  The Murray Residence

  Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

  Michael was dozing on the sofa when a knock on the door woke him. He sat up and smoothed his hair with his good hand, expecting the visitor to be Sophie, but then a voice boomed, “It’s Tanaka, I still have a key, so don’t get up.” A second later, the door opened and Tanaka entered.

  He raised a foil pan. “Marisol’s mother sent enchiladas. And Copeland says you’d better get well soon because he doesn’t think he can take much more griping about her mother.”

  “Tell him to get shot. That’s how I got a break,” Michael quipped.

  Tanaka put the pan in the refrigerator, then came into the living room and sat in the chair he’d taken the day before. “I don’t know why Mari’s sending food if you’re well enough to be back at work,” he said, leaning back and crossing his right ankle over his left knee.

  “Back at work?”

  “Yeah, all that legwork you did last night. I told you to take it easy.”

  “I just went to the theater and got a few names. I was trying to help.”

  Tanaka nodded, then said, “It did give me a head start, but now you are off this case for good, you hear me?”

  Michael raised his good hand in surrender. “Loud and clear. I saw the doctor this morning, and I’ve been resting since then. I’ll leave the search for Emily up to you from now on. Is there any news on that front?”

  Tanaka wagged a finger at him. “Ah, ah, ah. There you go again.”

  “Oh, come on, Tank, you only got involved in this because you were worried about me. Aren’t you worried what I might do if I don’t know what’s going on?”

  Tanaka sighed as his shoulders sagged. “Okay, but this is totally off the record. You didn’t hear it from me. I’ve got a memo out to see which of our guys were at the diner that night, and the waitress is meeting with a sketch artist this afternoon. I talked to the friends, and I’ve gotta say, they don’t add up.”

  Trying not to show any reaction, Michael asked, “How so?”

  “They seem surprisingly hazy about events after they left the diner. They didn’t remember any other person joining them—didn’t even remember the guy asking for an autograph, but they remember getting home with crystal clarity. It’s weird.”

  “I was wondering if you’d catch that.”

  “You got the same thing?”

  “Yeah. Do you think they’re behind it?”

  “My gut says no, but I’ve gotta go with the evidence and consider them persons of interest, at the very least. Not only do they not have alibis, but they were with her when she vanished and claim not to have noticed.” He paused, then asked, “Have you talked to your ballerina today?”

  “I had breakfast with her. Why, haven’t you?”

  “Not yet. Haven’t heard a peep from her.”

  Michael wasn’t sure he should say anything, but Tank needed to know, so he said, “I get this strange feeling that she’s not all that interested in the investigation. She flew all the way here, but I had to talk her into calling the police. It was my idea to go to the theater and talk to people. She rolled her eyes at the fliers the theater people were handing out. She hasn’t called you for updates. She seems to care about Emily, b
ut she’s not trying too hard to find her. Not through the normal channels, anyway.”

  Tanaka was too good a detective not to pick up on the way he worded that. “What do you mean?”

  Michael wished he’d kept his mouth shut, but now that he’d brought it up … “I caught her coming in early this morning. She said she’d only been out a couple of hours, but she was wearing the same clothes she had on last night, and she was all scratched up. I think she’s investigating on her own, and whatever she’s looking into, she didn’t tell you about it.”

  “She may have just been going around to Emily’s favorite places, looking for her.”

  “At that time of day? And coming back scratched and bruised?” Michael shook his head. “No, there’s something about her that doesn’t add up, something I don’t get.”

  Tanaka nodded slowly. “I ran her for priors, and she’s so clean she squeaks. Not so much as a parking ticket. I did a quick Internet search, and from the looks of things, she pretty much runs her hometown. She’s all over the local paper. It’s a miracle the place hasn’t collapsed in the day she’s been gone. Otherwise, she teaches ballet and dances with a regional company. There’s some mention of a bunch of international dance awards, which makes it look to me like she way outclasses everyone else in the company, but I don’t know anything about that stuff.”

  “See, she doesn’t add up,” Michael said.

  “Last I heard, lack of ambition wasn’t a crime.”

  “Can you really imagine her lacking ambition? She’d see world domination as an achievable goal.”

  “I checked with the airline, and she’s on the passenger list for a flight leaving Shreveport early yesterday morning. She was in the air at the time Emily didn’t show up for cast call at the theater. Unless she hired a hit or is part of some conspiracy, she couldn’t have been involved in her sister’s disappearance.”

  Michael shook his head. “No, I don’t think that. I just feel like there’s something very important—crucial even—that she hasn’t told you and that she’s doing on her own.”

  Both men flinched guiltily when there was a knock on the door and a voice called out, “Detective Murray? It’s Sophie.”

  “Come in,” Michael said.

  She burst into the apartment, looking nearly as frantic as she had when she left the night before, then skidded to an abrupt stop when she saw Tanaka. “Oh, Detective Tanaka, hello. I didn’t realize you were here,” she said. After a pause, she added, as though just then thinking to ask, “Has there been any progress in the investigation?”

  “I’ve been following up on the leads you two got last night,” Tanaka said.

  She nodded. “Good, good. That’s good to hear.”

  “Was there something you needed?” Michael asked.

  “Oh! Yes, I was wondering if you have a skillet I could borrow. Preferably cast iron. You can’t make proper corn bread without it, and Emily doesn’t have a very well-equipped kitchen.”

  Michael was starting to get used to Sophie’s non sequiturs. “Actually, I have Emily’s skillet. She usually cooks in my kitchen because it’s bigger than hers.”

  “If you have an Easy-Bake oven, you’ve got a bigger kitchen than she does. Do you mind if I take the skillet?”

  “Be my guest. I’m not using it.”

  She went into the kitchen and emerged seconds later with the skillet, holding it by the handle and hefting it like she was preparing to brain someone with it. “Sorry to have interrupted,” she said, heading toward the door.

  “I’ll see you at the vigil tonight,” Tanaka called after her.

  She stopped and turned around, frowning. “The vigil?” Then the light dawned in her eyes. “Oh, yes, that. You’re planning to attend? That’s very considerate of you.” There was the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

  “It’s actually very cynical of me,” Tanaka replied with a grin. “You’d be surprised by the number of kidnappers and killers who can’t seem to resist showing up at these things. And, you never know, I might find more witnesses.”

  “I’ll see you tonight, then, Detective,” she said with a forced smile. Pointing at Michael, she added, “And you should rest. I think yesterday was too strenuous for you.” She escaped rapidly enough that neither of them had a chance to say anything else.

  Tanaka stared after her for a moment, then he turned to face Michael and the two of them exchanged a look. “Okay, you’re back on the case, but only for this one thing,” Tanaka said. “See if you can find out what she’s hiding. But don’t do anything stupid or dangerous. Talk to her, see if you can get her to open up. If you find anything interesting, let me know.”

  Twenty-three

  The Theater District

  Thursday, 6:00 p.m.

  The shrine to Emily had grown to include laminated posters of reviews and newspaper articles, photos of Emily in costume, her headshot, and several pictures of her with friends. Banks of flowers surrounded the posters. Sophie took a picture of the shrine with her phone because she knew Emily would want to see it. Olivia, Will, and other cast members wearing show T-shirts handed out candles with little paper holders, like the ones used for the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. The sun was still up, which made candlelight seem pointless, but the news truck parked beside the theater explained why they’d chosen this time—it was the perfect time to appear live on the evening news.

  Olivia saw Sophie and came over to her. “Oh, good, you’re here!” She turned to the others and said, “This is Sophie, Emily’s sister.”

  They all took a step backward, but Sophie didn’t let her smile drop. What had Emily been telling her friends about her? They’d have to talk about that when Emily was safe. “Thank you all so much for doing this,” she said.

  “We’ll do anything to help find Emily,” Olivia assured her. “Have a candle.”

  Sophie stood beside the shrine, holding her candle and feeling rather silly. A couple of cast members handed fliers to tourists on the sidewalk. The vigil began with Olivia saying a prayer. Sophie stayed on the fringes of the group, keeping watch for the silver-haired fairy she’d caught the day before. So far, there was no sign of the fae here. There was, however, a police presence, as she noticed Detective Tanaka standing to the side, observing the vigil participants and bystanders.

  A young woman sang a song Sophie didn’t recognize but that she assumed was from the show, based on references in the lyrics. Others picked up the tune as Will lit his candle and touched it to the candles held by the people beside him. The song swelled as the light spread around the group. The ritual was strangely affecting, and Sophie was surprised to find her eyes stinging with tears. She’d been so busy dealing with the situation that it hadn’t occurred to her to miss her sister, and now she suddenly felt the absence acutely.

  The news crew moved through the crowd, filming as the candles were lit. Olivia approached Sophie and took her by the arm. “Come on, they want to talk to you.”

  The last thing Sophie wanted to do was make a spectacle of herself. She let the tears that had been welling up in her eyes brim over and trickle down her cheeks. “I–I don’t think I can,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  Olivia gave her a hug that squeezed the breath out of her. “Oh, you poor thing. I’m sure they’ll understand. Do you mind if I talk to them?”

  “Please do. Thank you.”

  Sophie gave a sigh of relief as Olivia headed back to the news crew, but then she noticed Detective Tanaka watching Olivia standing in front of the camera and talking into a microphone. Michael had been suspicious of Olivia and Will because their stories didn’t add up. Olivia taking the spotlight wouldn’t look good. Publicity might count as a motive for an actress. Now Sophie regretted letting Olivia do the interview. She knew Olivia and Will were innocent, and she couldn’t let them become prime suspects.

  She edged her way around the crowd until she reached Tanaka, then said, “Oh, Detective Tanaka!” as though she was surprised to see
him. “Thank you so much for coming tonight. Have you noticed any suspicious characters yet?”

  “Nothing extraordinary,” he said, his attention mostly on Olivia.

  “It was very kind of Olivia to speak for me,” she said. “I just couldn’t face the camera. It was too much for me.”

  That got his full attention, and he raised his eyebrows, as if to say he couldn’t imagine anything being too much for her. “You’re not a fan of publicity, I take it?”

  “Does something like this ever help an investigation?”

  “We sometimes get leads.”

  “How many of them pan out?”

  “Not many,” he admitted.

  “I suspect it’s like a funeral,” she said. At his look of surprise, she explained, “Not because I think Emily’s dead, but because the event is more for the benefit of the ones left behind. It lets them feel like they’ve done something, even if it does no practical good.”

  He nodded slowly. “I never thought of it that way, but you may have a point.”

  “You suspect her friends, don’t you?” she asked as his attention drifted to the news crew.

  He jerked his head back to her. “What makes you think that?”

  “You’re watching them like a hawk ready to swoop down on a field mouse.”

  “That obvious, huh?” He scratched the back of his neck. “Their story doesn’t add up. They didn’t mention the guy who left with them, and although they claim Emily was with them in the cab, I tracked down the driver, and he said it was only the two of them.”

  “I’d think if they were up to something, they surely would have mentioned another person who made a better suspect, and why do you believe the driver over them? Not that the driver is lying, but he may not have noticed.”

  “All good points, and I haven’t arrested anyone yet.”

  Sophie pressed on. “Neither of them has anything to gain from Emily’s disappearance.”

  “I checked out the understudy who’s had to step into the role. She has a good alibi. But for those two, well, I’ve never met an aspiring star who didn’t want publicity.”