“Sir,” came a woman’s voice less than a foot from behind me.
“Chloe, can you stop?!” I said, clutching a hand over my heart.
“Oh, sorry Miss Foster,” she said. “Sir, I need to-”
“Not now, Chloe,” said Allen, cutting her off. “I am helping solve this murder and it’s our top priority. Everything else will have to wait.”
“But they figured it out,” she said.
“Figured what out?” he asked. “The construction project?”
“No, the murder,” she clarified.
“They did?” I asked. “Who is ‘they?’”
“The friend of the woman who died.”
Judy did? But how could she have figured it out while I was still piecing things together?
“They are taking the murderer to Eleanor and Darius right now,” continued Chloe. “They requested your presence.”
“Who is it?” I asked. “Who’s the killer?”
“Samantha Burki. The potions lecturer.”
Chapter 7
“This is ridiculous!” said Allen as our group entered a room that doubled as Eleanor’s office. The room wasn’t very large, although there was enough space for us all without feeling too cramped. Eleanor sat at a desk, with Darius standing behind her to the right. Judy stood next to Samantha, with a cloaked man next to the potions lecturer.
“Who is that?” I whispered to Bart.
“Must be an Other agent,” he said, eyeing the man up and down. “He’s probably here to take her away for killing another witch. See the handcuffs?”
I looked closer at Samantha, who offered me a small smile. Her hands were bound together in translucent purple rope.
“That a potions teacher would kill a student?” asked Judy, responding to Allen. “Yes, I think that’s ridiculous, too.”
“How is this even being brought before us?” demanded Allen to Eleanor and Darius. “Zoey and I were the ones investigating on this, and we have determined it couldn’t be Samantha. Are we just going to listen to every single person that wants to accuse someone?”
“Judy has brought us very incriminating evidence,” said Darius, not wavering from Allen’s gaze.
“It’s true,” sighed Eleanor.
“Well, what is it?” I asked.
“They don’t have to tell you anything,” sneered Judy. “You failed at your job. You don’t get to come and stop this, just because you’re mad.”
“I’m not trying to stop it just because I’m mad,” I said through my teeth.
“As a fellow council member, it is my right to hear the evidence,” declared Allen, putting a hand on my shoulder to calm me down.
Eleanor and Judy glanced over to Darius, who nodded with a smile. “He is correct. This is a joint effort between the vampires and witches, so both Allen and I need to be told of the details.”
Bart and I shared an impressed look. Judy, not so much.
“Whatever,” she said. “I’ve already convinced these two, I’m sure it won’t be too difficult to convince one more.”
“Good,” nodded Allen, walking over to stand next to Darius. “Go ahead.”
“This is what I believe happened,” began Judy. “Margot left to go to the bathroom, and Samantha knew it would happen.”
“How?” I interrupted immediately. “How could Samantha have known Margot would need to go to the bathroom?”
Judy glared at me in annoyance.
“That’s a fair question,” said Eleanor. “Please answer it.”
“Samantha and Margot had a short interaction before classes began,” said Judy. “Zoey would’ve known this, if she was actually at the event on time. It’s entirely possible that that potion lecturer slipped something into Margot’s drink. Something that would make her have to run to the bathroom after a certain amount of time.”
“That seems like a stretch,” said Bart.
“Even if that wasn’t the case, Margot is well known for disrupting and ditching classes,” said Judy. “Samantha has had her before, and knows how disruptive she can be. Most lecturers have the courage to kick her out if she goes too far, unlike Samantha.”
“It’s true,” said Eleanor. “Margot does get kicked out of many of our classes. If it weren’t for our low attendance numbers, we probably would have stopped inviting her to the conference. Please continue, Judy.”
“Either way, Samantha would know Margot would be out of the classroom. She could have either followed her to the bathroom, or waited for her there. When poor Margot arrived, Samantha must have jumped her, forcing her to drink a potion, and killing her.”
“That sounds like a very inefficient way to try and kill someone,” remarked Allen. “Why wouldn’t she try to put the potion in Margot’s cup earlier? Why not attack Margot with spells instead? Margot could have easily bucked off the attack, and then told everyone what Samantha tried to do.”
“Look, I don’t know all the specifics,” admitted Judy. “It does seem pretty strange. But, I do know that she had a motive, and she has the murder weapon. Everyone knows that Margot embarrassed Samantha as a lecturer previously. Samantha could easily have wanted to take revenge for that, and what better way than killing her? As for the weapon, I noticed that Margot’s body had an unnatural blue tint to it-”
“Uh, actually I was the one that noticed it, and told you about it,” I chimed in.
“However it happened,” continued an unamused Judy. “I started doing some digging, and I found out that it was the side effect of taking too much of some sleeping potion called Sleeping Spruce. I asked around to see if anyone was carrying any, and of course no one was. I was starting to think I was going down the wrong trail, until I remembered Samantha.”
“She has problems sleeping,” I said. “It’s got to be a coincidence.”
“Oh, so you already knew she had Sleeping Spruce?”
“Of course. She told us while we were in class. You know, where she wasn’t out in the hallway, killing people?”
“Allegedly.”
“Allegedly?” I laughed. “I was with Samantha the whole time! Clair and I aren’t lying about that!”
“She could have had the cauldron filled with Mind Fusion,” explained Judy. “This would effect anyone that was exposed to the smell of the potion, letting her rewire their memories.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” said Samantha. “But the potion you are thinking of is actually called Memory Lane. Mind Fusion would just have them share my thoughts, of course.”
“Why would she say that?” whispered Bart.
“I don’t know,” I groaned. This wasn’t helping.
“Do you know how to brew Memory Lane, Samantha?” asked Darius.
“Of course,” smiled the potions lecturer. “It’s really quite a wonderful little potion.”
“You’ve used it before?” clarified Darius.
“Once or twice,” nodded the witch.
Bart and I let out a groan. What was she doing?
“My human neighbors came over for supper one evening, and I forgot I shouldn’t use any magic in front of them. When the wife dropped her plate, I cast a simple levitation spell on it, and placed it back on the table. I had been cooking that dish for hours, I wasn’t going to just let it spill onto the floor. I realized I messed up from the looks on their faces, so I quickly brewed up the potion, telling them I was making a delicious dessert so they wouldn’t leave until I was done.”
“She admits she knows and has used Memory Lane, she had a bad experience with Margot, and she carries Sleeping Spruce on her, which will kill and turn the drinker’s body blue if they take too much,” said Judy, a big smile on her face. “I don’t even know what more to say.”
The whole room looked over at Allen. He slouched his shoulders as he looked over at me, not meeting my eye. “That all seems to make sense.”
“You think she remapped my mind?” I asked. I knew this couldn’t be right. If someone tried to mess with my head, there would’ve been s
ome sort of inconsistency in my memories. There weren’t any. “Did you all check the cauldron in her office? Was it filled with the potion?”
“It wasn’t,” said Eleanor. “However, our understanding is that you arrived on the scene of Margot’s body first from the potion’s class, followed by Claire, and then finally Samantha. She could’ve stayed behind to clean it out, having done what she needed to.”
I looked over at Samantha, who nodded in agreement. “If I was using that potion, it would’ve been easy for me to clean out the cauldron in just a few minutes.”
“Was the cauldron empty when you were taking the class?” asked Allen.
“Uh…” I stalled, thinking back to the bubbling container. We never got a chance to discuss what was inside the cauldron, but it was bubbling with something. “I mean, there was something in it, but-”
“There’s your proof,” smirked Judy.
“What was in the cauldron, Samantha?” I asked.
“It was just boiling water,” said Samantha. “I was getting it ready for the breakout session the next day. I just dumped it out after classes were delayed.”
“Surely you agree that sounds a little too convenient?” asked Judy to Eleanor.
Eleanor nodded. “Unfortunately, I am in agreement with Judy. I think all the elements are pointing to her. Now that we know there was something in the container by the time Zoey entered, it means that the potion could’ve been prepared before she even walked in, and she had already breathed in enough of Memory Lane to be effected.”
“With all due respect,” said Bart. “I was with Zoey the entire time. If there were some toxins coming out from the cauldron, I would’ve noticed it.”
“Why is this rat addressing me?” asked Eleanor, looking down at Bart with disgust.
“He’s not a rat, he’s a cat,” I said.
“Does it matter?” laughed Judy.
“I will not take the recommendation of a familiar into consideration,” said Eleanor, shaking her head. “Particularly not one that takes the form of an animal, and who has clearly not done a very good job of training his charge in the ways of being a witch.”
Bart wasn’t giving up. “But that doesn’t change the fact that-”
“Do you wish to be banished back to the Other?” asked Eleanor, raising an eyebrow.
Bart closed his mouth.
“Are familiars immune to Memory Lane?” I asked Samantha.
“Probably,” she shrugged. “We haven’t really done any tests on them before.”
“I’ve never been effected by a potion,” said Bart quietly to me. “Trust me. Even if what they are saying is true, and you were immediately under the control of Memory Lane, I would still have seen everything that was going on.”
“Of course I trust you,” I smiled back.
“If the rat familiar was unaffected, maybe he was working with Samantha all along?” said Judy. “Maybe Zoey was, too!”
“I-I wasn’t!” I said. “And Bart would never do such a thing! He’s my friend!”
“Familiars aren’t really your friend, Zoey,” said Eleanor. “They have minds and wills of their own. That’s one of the reasons most witches your age have long since cut ties.”
“What have your familiars done to you?” I asked, completely perplexed. While he was a bit much sometimes, I loved having Bart around. I couldn’t understand why every witch we bumped into had negative feelings towards them.
“Just because you haven’t outgrown yours yet, doesn’t make you special,” said Judy.
“I’m not saying I’m special, I just want to know why everyone thinks familiars are so bad.”
“You’re just trying to change the subject because you might be involved with the murder of Margot after all!”
“I had nothing to do with it!”
“Oh yeah? Well, what about-”
“Enough!” said Allen, slamming his fist onto Eleanor’s desk. The room fell silent as everyone looked at him again. “For what Miss Foster and her familiar have done for our people in the past, I will not entertain speculation that the two of them had anything to do with this. If they are to be accused, you will need to show me hard evidence and proof that it was them.”
“I am in agreement,” nodded Darius. “While I am convinced of Samantha’s involvement in the death of Margot, I don’t see a strong enough tie between Miss Foster or Bart.”
“That is fair,” said Eleanor. “However, Allen, what do you make of Samantha?”
“There seems to be too many things pointing to her for it to just be coincidence,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, Zoey, but I think Judy’s argument makes sense.”
“Yes!” squealed Judy, jumping up and down. She realized everyone was looking at her and stopped. “Sorry. I’m just excited to have helped out.”
This wasn’t right. It couldn’t be Samantha. I trusted Bart, and he says he would’ve known if a potion was at work on me.
“Give me until midnight tonight,” I said.
“They’ve already decided,” said Judy.
“Please, don’t send Samantha away until midnight,” I said, looking at Darius and Allen. “Something… something just isn’t right here. If I can’t figure it out by then, go ahead and do it. Just give me a little more time.”
The two vampires and Eleanor leaned close together, whispering quietly among themselves.
“We can go with that,” shrugged Eleanor as Allen and Darius took a step back. “It’s too late to continue classes for this evening, anyway. You agree you’ll consider this matter finished once the time has passed, however?”
I looked over at Samantha, who gave me a small smile.
“I promise,” I nodded. I turned on my heels and quickly left the room. It was getting late and I still had to meet with Drake and my mom. I wasn’t sure how I would do it all, but I knew I had no time to spare.
Chapter 8
I stormed out of Eleanor’s office, trying to keep my mind straight on who I needed to talk to. There were several more witches around that I hadn’t talked to at all, but that wasn’t going to help me with the stupid time limit I gave myself. I needed to follow up on leads I already had.
“Where are we going?” asked Bart.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said, chewing nervously on my lower lip and looking around at the various hallways we could take.
“Who are we going to talk to next?”
“No idea on that one, either,” I admitted. “I think we should probably spend our time on the people that we’ve already interacted with, or people associated with them.”
“Well, Judy and Samantha are both back the way we came,” he said. “Should we go back?”
“No, it’ll just frustrate me,” I said, shaking my head and choosing the main hall to walk down. “Judy might be trying to cover her tracks, but she seems to have Eleanor and the vampires agreeing with her. If I try to confront her without some sort of evidence, it’ll just be a waste of time.”
“What about Samantha?”
“I don’t think there’s really anything else for me to ask her,” I said, opening a door and checking inside. The room was empty and the lights were off. No one to talk to here.
“She needs to really watch how often she admits to knowing or doing things,” said Bart.
“She’s just being honest,” I said, checking another empty room. “I can’t blame her for that.”
“Are you going to investigate your mom more?”
“Oh, I intend to,” I nodded. “However, we’ve got the whole car ride to and from our dinner date with Drake for me to ask her questions. That is, assuming I don’t kill her after we talk with Drake.”
“You really think she’ll do something to Drake?”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” I mumbled. At the very least, she was going to try and embarrass me as much as possible.
While I wasn’t looking to talk to my mom again just yet, Bart had given me an idea. I knew who I wanted to talk to, and I might know where I co
uld find her. Bart followed me as I made my way towards the bathrooms where Margot’s body was found. Sure enough, several people were still standing around, unsure how to pass the time now that the conference was on a delay. I asked one of them if they knew where the transmutation lecturer was, and she pointed me to a nearby room.
I knocked on the door, and a voice from the other side gave me permission to come in.
“Hello?” I asked, walking inside. A short, round woman sat at the podium in the front of the room, haunched over a laptop. The white board was filled with paragraphs of information, all scrunched together in barely legible print.
“Breakout classes are delayed until further notice,” said the woman without looking up from her screen. She reached into a large candy bag, pulled out a handful of pink gummy candies, and shoveled them into her mouth.
“I wasn’t here for the class,” I said, closing the door behind me and moving closer. “My name is Zoey Foster. I’m one of the people on the investigation.”
“Investigation?” asked the woman glancing up at me for the first time. Well, one of her eyes did, anyway. The other eye was now looking down at the ground.
“Yeah… about Margot’s death,” I said, trying my best to focus on the eye that was looking at me.
The woman stared blankly back at me and the floor.
“The witch that died in front of the bathroom,” said Bart, trying to break it down as much as possible.
“Ah, that’s right,” nodded the woman. “A pity, but these things happen, you know?”
“Uh… not really…” said Bart.
“I’m sorry, but I actually don’t have your name,” I said.
“It’s Darla Sprechen,” she said. “I suppose you want to ask me some questions since you’re here. If we could kind of make this fast, I’d appreciate it. I’m in the middle of a stand-up comedy special.”
“Okay,” I said, not really sure how to respond to that. She could just hit pause and play as she wished, so I didn’t really see why she was in a rush. At the same time, though, I had to meet up with my mom soon. “Where were you at the time of the murder?”
“I was here,” she said, gesturing at her podium.
The Wrong Witch: Twistchapel Cozy Mystery Book 6 Page 5
