Four-Leaf Clovers

by Samantha Silver

  Good. I was glad someone was willing to talk to Carson who kind of knew what he was going through. If he and Luna really had been in a serious relationship, then he probably wouldn’t have been in the best place mentally right now.

  Looking over, I spotted the other two fairies who had been eating at Hexpresso Bean that morning, Selena and Celeste. Making my way toward them, I couldn’t help but notice that both of them looked like they had been crying.

  “Hey, I just wanted to say sorry about Luna again,” I told them, and Celeste gave me a small smile.

  “Thanks. Thank you for coming.”

  “Of course,” I replied. “Luna seemed so nice. I can’t believe anyone would want to kill her.”

  “Me neither,” Celeste said, her eyes suddenly falling on Bella and Carson. “Ugh, what is he doing here?”

  “Did you not approve of their relationship?” I asked, looking at Celeste and Selena carefully as they answered.

  “It’s not that we didn’t approve. After all, there are so few male fairies around that, frankly, sometimes you have to hunt in a different pond. But why did she have to pick him?”

  “You thought Luna was too good for Carson?”

  “She absolutely was,” Selena nodded. “I don’t totally agree with Celeste, I think that fairies should stick with fairies. But I am a little bit old-fashioned that way. But if Luna was going to go out with a different paranormal, well, Carson Mase was a terrible choice.”

  “Why is that?” I asked, my spidey senses on high alert. If there was something in Carson’s past that could help us solve the murder, then I wanted to know about it.

  “Carson doesn’t have the best reputation among the fairies,” Celeste explained. “He seems to have a thing for our kind, and he’s definitely broken a few hearts along the way.”

  “Oh,” I said, my eyebrows rising.

  “Yeah, remember how he used to go out with Aurora? That was right when he moved to Western Woods. She thought he was the best wizard ever, and that he was so sweet, and warm, since he came from a fire coven. And then she found him cheating on her with Lisbeth about six months later.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “So he’s not the super perfect boyfriend he seemed?”

  “Absolutely not. Oh, he was always subtle about his relationships with fairies. I’m sure most of the community here has no idea just how many of us he dated. He would never go out in public with them for the first few months, for example.”

  “Do you know if his relationship with Luna was going well, or if they were having problems?”

  “Wouldn’t have a clue,” Selena said. “Luna wasn’t really the type to talk about her problems that much. She definitely played things close to the vest. Besides, Carson was her first serious relationship. They’d been together for at least six months, and by all reports they were actually quite serious, unlike his other relationships, although I know that they had kept it quiet for most of that time. I think she was afraid things would fall apart at any second, so she never let us know how things were going.”

  I could definitely understand that.

  “Now look at him, talking to Bella at Luna’s own funeral. What an awful, awful wizard.”

  I was definitely seeing Carson Mase in a new light.

  “Had he been violent with any of his other girlfriends?” I asked, and Selena and Celeste looked at each other.

  “You don’t think he…” Celeste trailed off, and I shrugged.

  “I don’t know. What do you think?”

  “No, I don’t think he would have killed her,” Selena said thoughtfully. “He might have been a total scumbag, but I never heard of him doing anything violent.”

  Alright, that made sense. Besides, it sounded like Carson had managed to break up with quite a few fairies before and hadn’t killed them. Still, it was interesting to note.

  “If he keeps breaking up with everyone, why do all the fairies keep flocking to him?” I asked, and Celeste shrugged.

  “Same reason why anyone goes after a bad boy like that. He’s exotic, he makes a fairy feel like a goddess, and he knows exactly what to say. It’s like he’s got a spell to keep fairies coming to him.”

  “Right,” I nodded. I had definitely seen a few of those men in my time working at the bar; I knew exactly what Celeste meant.

  Still, I couldn’t help but think that Carson didn’t look like a playboy whose latest squeeze had died. Even now, as he spoke to Bella, his eyes looked dim, and he kept looking around like he was trying to get away from the conversation. He definitely looked more like a grieving wizard than a scoundrel.

  “Alright, well, I’ve got to get going. Thanks,” I told the fairies, who told me to keep in touch, and I spotted Ellie, Sara, and Amy a few yards away. I rushed toward them; I wanted them to know what I had found out as soon as possible.

  Chapter 11

  “You won’t believe what I’ve found out,” I said to the others as I made my way over to them.

  “Oh yeah?” Ellie asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “Let’s get out of here first,” I said. “I don’t want to be overheard.”

  The four of us flew back home and settled in the living room, with Amy using a quick spell to start a crackling fire in the fireplace that sent warmth throughout the home.

  I told the others what I’d learned about Carson Mase.

  “That’s interesting,” Ellie said. “I had never heard that about him, but I always did find him a little bit strange.”

  “I don’t know,” Sara replied. “I can definitely understand wanting to leave your family sometimes, and getting a whole new fresh start. I don’t think what he did was that strange.”

  “I know, but I mean, he moved here, and he doesn’t even make an effort to try and become like us,” Ellie replied. “I’m not saying he has to try and become a member of the coven of Jupiter, but he never spends any time at coven headquarters, doesn’t come to any events, or anything like that.”

  “Well, regardless, I still don’t think we really have a motive for him,” I chimed in. “After all, even if he did want to break up with Luna, he could just do it like he had with all of his other fairy girlfriends. I mean, none of them ended up dead.”

  “I find the fact that he dated Aurora interesting,” Amy said. “Especially since she never mentioned it to us, and apparently Luna and Aurora had a very competitive childhood.”

  “Do you think Aurora could have been so upset at them dating that she poisoned her coworker?” Sara asked, aghast. “By the way, I spoke to my mom last night. She said that she heard—and wanted to emphasize that it was just a rumor—that the poison that killed Luna was the seeds of exploding puff.”

  “Exploding puff?” I asked, and Ellie turned to me.

  “It’s a dangerous plant that grows in the woods,” she explained. “I haven’t taught you the poisonous plants yet, but exploding puff looks a lot like the seed puffs of dandelions. The difference is they’re black instead of white. But if you touch them, as the name indicates, they explode everywhere. They aren’t harmful if they just touch your skin, but if you inhale them, they cause your throat to close up so you can’t breathe, and death comes within minutes.”

  “That certainly sounds like what happened to Luna,” I said.

  “Right. If that is what killed her, then it means basically anyone in Hexpresso Bean could have gotten access to it. However, exploding puff isn’t actually that common. You can’t just go out for a casual stroll in the woods and come across it; you have to know where you’re going to find it, which requires a bit of knowledge about botany. Where to find exploding puff isn’t the sort of thing just anyone knows.”

  “Wasn’t Alicia Kralomok a biology professor?” Sara asked, and the three of us instinctively turned to Amy, who nodded.

  “She was, yes. She retired seventeen years ago, but she used to be the main biology professor at the Academy.” Her face blanched as realization dawned upon her. “Oh my stars. Yes, she would know exactly wh
ere to find Exploding Puff.”

  “I think we should go and talk to her sometime,” I said. “We need to come up with a decent reason. Maybe to commiserate with her on how awful it was being there?”

  “Absolutely,” Ellie replied, when suddenly there was a knock at the front door.

  “I’ll get it,” Sara said, jumping up, since she was on the chair closest to the door. When she came back a moment later, she was accompanied by Chief Enforcer King, and her face had gone noticeably paler.

  “Hello, ladies. Sorry to interrupt your morning. Ellie, I was wondering if you might accompany me for an interview at the main City Hall.”

  “Sure,” Ellie replied. “I have nothing to hide.”

  “Perfect, thank you,” Chief Enforcer King said as Ellie made her way over toward her.

  “When can we expect to have her home?” Amy asked.

  “I’m afraid I can’t give you a specific timeline,” Chief Enforcer King said with a polite smile, then she turned and led Ellie out of the house.

  “I don’t like this,” Amy said, pacing around the room. “I don’t like this at all.”

  “Ellie’s not under arrest, though,” I pointed out.

  “Not yet. But the fact that Chief Enforcer King couldn’t tell me how long they would be makes me think that she’s not certain Ellie is going to come back.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked. “Hire her a lawyer?”

  “Unfortunately, the best criminal lawyer in town was murdered a few months ago,” Amy said. “I don’t know who to trust.”

  “I’ll go find Kyran,” I said. “He’ll know what to do.”

  “I’m not sure I trust your elf friend, either,” Amy said pointedly.

  “Fine, what are you going to do?”

  “I need to go to the City Hall library.”

  Of course the real-life version of Hermione Granger was going to solve her problems by going to the library.

  “Ok,” I said. “Text me if you find out anything that might help. I’ll let you know what Kyran says.”

  “I’ll stay here, in case Ellie comes back,” Sara said. “After all, maybe we’re overreacting. Hopefully Chief Enforcer King will bring her back after an hour or so.”

  “Maybe,” I said, but in my heart, I had a sneaking suspicion that Amy was right, and that Chief Enforcer King was actually interrogating Ellie, thinking that she was the killer. After all, what Amy had said made sense.

  I needed to find Kyran and I hoped that he could lead me to a good lawyer. After all, that was the sort of thing that elves did: they did all of the jobs that required intelligence and training, and even though he was a little bit of an outcast in the Elven community, I was sure he would still know all of the elves who worked as lawyers. I didn’t know how old Kyran was, but I had a sneaking suspicion he was at least a few hundred years old. Elves were weird that way.

  Sending him a text, I started to make my way downtown. I knew that the elves had a club in the woods, but it was a strange place and they didn’t like visitors. I decided I wasn’t going to go there unless I absolutely had to.

  Besides, I also needed Kyran to get me a DVD from the human world to show on Wednesday; I also had to get the word out to everyone in town that tomorrow night was the next movie night.

  I figured Rush Hour 2 was the obvious next movie to show.

  A couple of minutes later I got a reply from Kyran. I can meet you, yes. Where are you?

  I’m in town. I don’t know where we should meet. Hexpresso Bean is closed.

  Hexpresso Bean is too open anyway. Meet me at Two Wizards.

  As my stomach began to grumble, I realized the ’50s style diner called Two Wizards and a Griddle was an excellent choice. After all, it had been hours since I had eaten the cinnamon bun, and while it wasn’t lunchtime yet, it definitely felt like the kind of day where an all-day breakfast would be very welcome.

  I made my way to the pastel-red cottage that housed the diner, and as soon as I entered, I looked around. I couldn’t see Kyran straight away, but a moment later I noticed him waving at me from inside a booth at the very far end of the cottage. He had placed himself about as far away as possible from the view of anyone else.

  Sitting down in the booth across from him, I smiled.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “How’s it going?” he asked.

  “Things aren’t great,” I admitted. “I assume you’ve heard about the fairy who died at Hexpresso Bean yesterday?”

  Kyran nodded. “I heard you were there. It can’t have been a good experience.”

  “It definitely wasn’t,” I agreed. “She seemed really nice. Anyway, Chief Enforcer King came by this morning and asked Ellie to come with her to the station to chat about it. Since Ellie was working when Luna was killed, she was one of the people with the easiest access to the brownie. Plus, she’s really good with plants and things like that, so we’re pretty sure that Chief Enforcer King has taken her in for an interrogation before arresting her for Luna’s murder.”

  “And you’re certain Ellie didn’t do it?”

  “One hundred percent. I’d be willing to bet my life on it.”

  “Alright. What you need from me?”

  “Well, for one thing, I need a copy of Rush Hour 2 before Wednesday,” I said with a grin, earning myself a laugh from Kyran. “But also, I was hoping you could recommend a lawyer. Maybe someone who’s really good that we could hire and send down to the station now to help Ellie. After all, if she is being interrogated, who knows what Chief Enforcer King will get her to say?”

  Kyran nodded. “Good. Yes, Ellie definitely needs a lawyer if she’s a suspect. One thing I’ve learned from growing up surrounded by lawyers is that you never talk to enforcers without one. As much as Chief Enforcer King is a good shifter, and a good enforcer, they still make mistakes, and you need your friend to be defended by someone who knows what they’re doing.”

  “So can you recommend one?”

  “Sadly the first one I would go to is dead,” Kyran said.

  “That was our thought, too,” I said.

  “There is no one in Western Woods good enough right now,” Kyran said. “Come with me. I know one who will help, but we’ll have to go see him in person and convince him to come back to Western Woods.”

  I looked longingly at the menu, and Kyran grinned. “You can get some food first,” he said. “But maybe ask for it to be takeout.”

  I nodded and grinned. Finally, a man who understood my constant hunger perfectly.

  Chapter 12

  I sent Amy a quick text, letting her know that I would be back as soon as possible with a lawyer for Ellie, but that we were leaving Western Woods and I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take. She didn’t reply; I figured she was knee-deep in books right now, although what she was researching, I had absolutely no idea.

  Ordering a breakfast bagel to go, I munched away as Kyran and I walked through town to get to the nearest portal.

  “Are we going to go use the portal at the the oak tree, and see Drake?” I asked through a mouthful of delicious egg, bread, spinach, and tomato.

  “No,” Kyran replied. “There’s another portal on the other side of town that I prefer to use for privacy reasons.”

  I didn’t ask him to elaborate, but my eyebrows did rise a bit at those words. I had a feeling this wasn’t exactly an official portal that everybody knew about.

  As we walked, Kyran kept looking around, as if he was expecting to be followed. I couldn’t help but notice that most of the people we passed averted their eyes, avoiding looking at my elf companion. Kyran was a little bit of an outcast in town. Okay, a lot of an outcast. I felt bad for him, and couldn’t help but think about Carson Mase and how he might have been in the same situation back in his home coven.

  “Through here,” Kyran said as we reached the woods on the far end of town. We walked along the trail for about five minutes, and when we reached a certain tree, Kyran took a hard left into the woods.


  “We’re not far now,” he said to me, and I nodded. About three minutes later, we reached a small pond in a small clearing.

  “Here it is. This pond is the portal; if you say the name of the town you’re trying to get to while you’re touching the water and jump in, it will take you there. I highly recommend jumping in feet first, or you’re going to end up with a pretty sore neck when you get to the other side.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked, looking at the pond. I could definitely believe that it was magical and a portal; even though it was a little bit windy and I could feel the breeze on my skin, the pond water was completely still, totally undisturbed.

  “We are travelling to Isisopolis,” Kyran explained. “If you want, we can go in together. Just hold my hand, I’ll say the name, and then we jump.”

  “Yes, please,” I said, nodding my head enthusiastically. I still wasn’t super used to travelling between paranormal towns, and that was at the normal portals that were guarded by people who actually knew what they were doing and could make sure I wasn’t doing anything dumb. Coming here, to a portal that obviously only Kyran knew about, to a town that I had never heard of, was definitely intimidating.

  “Okay. Ready?”

  I nodded and slipped my hand into his, hoping my palm wasn’t super sweaty from the nerves. And I didn’t just mean the nerves of travelling through this portal.

  Kyran dipped the end of his toe into the pond, which didn’t even ripple at his touch.

  “Isisopolis,” he announced, then nodded at me. I took a deep breath and the two of us jumped straight into the water.

  I had expected the water to be freezing cold—after all, any sort of natural water in the Pacific Northwest was pretty much unswimmable after August—but I didn’t feel the water at all. In fact, I didn’t even feel wet. Instead, I felt the familiar sensation of travelling through a portal, and a moment later, I opened my eyes and found myself staring at white sand and turquoise-blue water.