Murder, Magic, and Moggies

by Pearl Goodfellow

  “Felis catus,” came her unusual reply. She sniffled and gave her nose an absent-minded wipe with the tissue.

  “Pardon me?” I asked, perplexed. Violet had said Ravena was supposed to be some sort of brilliant biologist. Indeed, she wouldn’t make such a blatant mistake in delivering the scientific name of the Least Tern. She hadn’t even gotten the species right!

  The hairs on the back of my neck started to stand on end. It wouldn’t be the first time in an investigation where things weren’t always what they seemed.

  “I think you mean Sternula antillarum,” I corrected gently, muscles bunching and warily listening for the crackle of the Taser as it enlivened my form.

  Ravena pointed with her used tissue. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shade start to make a face at the mucus-filled rag, but I nudged him gently with my foot. We could investigate without being rude.

  “No, no, I was talking about your cats,” Ravena furthered. “Bombays?”

  Shade lost all vestiges of his prior disgust and suddenly sat just a little bit straighter, puffing his chest out as he did so. Even Onyx, who already always held himself with a certain degree of pride, managed to stretch to a slightly more elevated height.

  The Infiniti, despite whatever magical properties they may have possessed, did seem to resemble the domestic Bombay house cat. With their shiny black coats and golden eyes, most of my little clowder of kitties, with an especially gloomy exception, were relatively sociable cats. Even Eclipse, though picky about whom he let do so, came around at least once a year for a prolonged belly-rub.

  So, when the cats were included in the social niceties of human conversation, they were only too happy to thrive under the attention. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when Onyx stretched his chin obligingly upward as Rowena bent down to give him a friendly scratch.

  “Why, yes,” I replied awkwardly as Shade twisted himself through Ravena’s ankles, purring engine up to full throttle. “I’m sorry about this. They are friendly cats. Just not usually this friendly.”

  Ravena gave Shade a scratch in turn then stood straight, opening the arched door wide to invite passage.

  “Would you like to come in for tea?” she asked. “I don’t have much company, now – sniff – now that Millicent is gone.”

  She broke into a fresh cascade of tears. Loud, hiccupping sobs wracked her frail shoulders as she gestured inward.

  “Are you sure you’re in the mood?” I hesitated. The tears gave me pause, but it was the Taser that kept my feet glued to the stoop. My eyes stayed glued to her electric weapon.

  “Omigosh! Are you worried about this?” Ravena exclaimed as she noticed the hesitation in my gaze. “Gracious, no! I only keep this around for protection. Millicent insisted. It’s so isolated out here.”

  She held the Taser up and gave it a quick crackle or two. A jagged blue spark arced between the contact points. “No one to even hear you scream.”

  I looked around. I guess, even though we were merely ten or so miles outside of Chalice, the location of this humble dwelling was pretty remote. Not another home in sight.

  After seeing the effects electricity had had on Carbon, Shade decided, chin scratch or no, he was not taking chances where electrical currents were concerned. He sat perfectly motionless behind my left calf instead. And, then deciding even this wasn't protection enough, he made his move instead.

  “I’m just gonna, uh, take a stroll, Hat. You know. Take in the sights. Grab a souvenir. Wait out this potentially dangerous situation. Ciao!”

  With that, he melted into the shadows. I sighed. At least I wouldn’t have to listen to any more relationship advice.

  “Please...please, come in,” Ravena urged.

  I exchanged a wary look with Onyx and placed a hesitant foot across the threshold and stepped into what I hoped wasn’t the home of a murderer.

  “It’s very kind of you to come out all this way to visit,” Ravena said graciously as she poured a steaming stream of lemon balm tea into the porcelain cup before me. She also poured herself a cup before settling the teapot back on the serving tray.

  “We...”

  She hesitated before trying again. “That is to say, I don’t get many visitors way out here. Which never quite bothered me before. The solitude has allowed me to pursue my work without being disturbed.”

  A tiny part of me wondered if that “work” included dispatching her late lover.

  “And what sort of work is that, if you don’t mind my curiosity?” I asked.

  Ravena gave a small smile. “Certainly not. Curiosity is something to be encouraged.”

  “She says to the cat,” Onyx muttered quietly. Not quietly enough, apparently.

  “Fact of the matter, dear kitty, is one of the greatest scientific minds of all time readily admitted that it was not necessarily any great talent that made him successful, but only that he was passionately curious. He’s the reason, in fact, I became a scientist. I positively idolized him.”

  “And who was that?”

  “Albert Einstein, of course!” Ravena said reverently.

  “E=mc2?” I offered, trying to remember something about the man besides his wild, white hair and his mind-shattering equation.

  “One and the same.” Ravena settled back into her chair. “Do you know what Einstein’s equation means?”

  Yikes. Most of my scientific knowledge centered on the realm of botany – my herbs and spices – with an occasional foray into animal and mineral classifications. The extent of what I knew about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was limited to a few episodes of Dr. Who and Star Trek. But what the hell...I gave it go.

  “The ‘E’ stands for energy, right?” I began. “The ‘m’ for mass. And, if I remember correctly, the ‘c’ represents the speed of light in a vacuum?”

  “Top marks, Miss Jenkins. That is, indeed, the core elements of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. And its application in the world of scientific research is immeasurable! It explains how electromagnetism works. It played a part in the development of the first television sets. Some even suggest that it allows for the existence of time travel!”

  Beam me up, Scotty. I was beginning to wonder if Ravena’s electromagnets were short circuiting.

  She pressed on, glad, it seemed, for the scientific distraction from her misery. “In fact, it’s the basis for my life’s work and why I moved here to Cathedral. I needed ready access to the island’s black diamonds.”

  I leaned forward in my chair. “Which is how you came to meet Millicent Pond. But what relevance do the BD’s have in all this?”

  Ravena nodded at my questions and began with, “Well, first off, to answer your question regarding the diamonds, the BD’s are the most profound conductor of electricity on the planet. They also are the fastest transmitters of information. Light, electromagnetism, you name it. Did you know that these gems are being used for all kinds of Military-Industrial applications? This is why Cathedral wants the runway. So, they can ship these mineral deposits at a faster rate. Their uses are beyond imagination, and each of the world's governments wants a piece of them. No doubt for nefarious purposes. With my work in energy, the diamonds play a central role in my experiments."

  Ravena folded her hands in her lap and looked at me calmly as the information seeped in. So much for Violet’s inside info on my hostess being a brilliant biologist. I didn't want to interrupt her flow--I could always ponder this fact later--so I just nodded for her to continue.

  "At the beginning of Millicent's E.R.G. campaign...that's 'Equality for Rock Grumlins,' in case you weren't familiar. Anyway, I came across one of her flyers when I first moved here. I wasn't familiar with her work -- I don't watch much television -- so I foolishly thought she was giving a demonstration on energy. An erg, as you may know, is a unit of energy equal to 10−7 joules. Since my work is mostly concerned with power, I attended her meeting. I felt like an absolute fool when I learned what E.R.G. stood for. I was doubly mortified when it turned out I was
the only person in attendance. Imagine trying to conduct an educated conversation! I didn’t even know what a Rock Grumlin was!”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Ravena let loose a sigh. She reached for a framed photograph on the end table. “Her zeal was contagious.”

  It must have been a really infectious variety, I thought, for the eco-activist to have swayed the pixie-like Ravena’s affections. Granted, I’d first met Millicent when she was dead and deep-fried. But, as this picture showed, Millicent was no looker even in life. It depicted a stout, stocky woman standing on the crags of Burning Peak, a dark, wide-mouthed cave yawning behind her. Steam billowed from fissures in the jet black surface under her booted feet. Gloom would have been to see Millicent’s toenails were covered in this photographic tableau.

  Millicent beamed a crooked, yellow-toothed smile under the floppy brim of her canvas hat. Tufts of that ridiculous, spiky green hair poked out from the rim like a celebration to Irish porcupines. Her plump, ruddy cheeks were smeared with black dust and dirt. She proudly held up a large, oblong object in her thick, man-like hands. It didn’t resemble much more than an ovoid bit of obsidian and was wholly forgettable when one glanced at Millicent’s companion in the picture. The small, dwarf-like creature standing next to her looked like one of the fissures below had coughed up a dollop of earth and spat it into a squat pile with feet and long, slender, glittering, stone fingers, finely-honed to a cutting edge.

  Shush, shush. Click, click.

  The now familiar sound swished eerily through my memory.

  “Is that a…Rock Grumlin?” I asked. I had never actually seen one of the reclusive creatures before, not even on the news.

  Ravena nodded. “They live in the harsh and dark confines of the caves and fissures of The Glimmer Mountains. Millicent first discovered them on one of her long hikes along the mountain trails. She started making maps to mark where she believed they lived. Queer maps, though, almost nonsensical. I’m pretty sure they didn’t actually point to anywhere. Anyway … the Rock Grumlin’s sharp fingers may appear daunting at first, but they really are quite gentle creatures. When Millicent realized that the Cathedral government was forcing them to mine the black diamond from the depths of the mountains with no pay and deplorable working conditions? Well, she took the fight right to the steps of The Black Diamond Cathedral itself.”

  Ravena returned the photo to the end table. A pickled look soured the expression on her face.

  “And that’s exactly when the trouble started.”

  Onyx leaped to the end table to give the photograph further study, his pink nose nearly nudging the glass.

  “That’s when Millicent went, ahem, sky-clad against your wishes and you broke off the relationship?” I asked.

  “What? Yes. I mean, no. Millicent could have paraded around naked as jaybird all day long if it furthered one of her pursuits. I could have cared less. It was an incredibly effective guerrilla tactic. It was when one of her pursuits started to pursue back that I got upset.”

  I didn’t know what I found harder to believe. That more than one person actually found the gruff and abrasive Millicent Pond attractive or that Millicent actually had a supporter for her naked campaign stunts.

  “Millicent was seeing someone on the side?” I asked with bated breath. Jealousy was a perfect motive to flesh out the murder investigation. I gave a self-satisfied mental chuckle. I didn’t need Chief Trew’s help. I was going to solve this case all on my own. Then maybe, finally, I could get through the beginning, middle and the end of a date with Gideon.

  Eager to discover what Ravena was about to reveal, I prodded for an answer.

  “Who?”

  “Why, the governor of Cathedral himself! Gideon Shields!”

  My jaw dropped, and I fell silent. I looked down at my carefully selected dress and decided right then and there that I'd give it to Fraidy for his luxurious fortress-bed. I couldn't get over the pairing...Gideon and Millicent? Really?

  What was it Grammy Chimera used to call odd couples ‘strange bedfellows’?

  Understatement of the year, in this case.

  Chapter 11

  “What? Gideon was seeing Millicent?” Eclipse shook his flabbergasted furry head. “Not that I want anyone to go without the love of another warm body, but Millicent? Yeesh!”

  I sat at the kitchen table back at the apothecary, head buried in my folded arms. The cats had gathered en masse for a family pow-wow. Or, meow-meow. Well, that and probably to stage an intervention as I threatened to eat the whole of the moist, triple-layer carrot cake Millie had brought to the shop. Who was I dieting for, anyway? I could feel my dress getting tighter as I shoveled yet another lump of cake into my mouth. I didn't care. Not one bit.

  Onyx shook his regal head. “I’m afraid it’s true, brother. When Hattie asked Miss Valley if she had given Miss Pond that ostentatious necklace, she quite agitatedly indicated that she would never have presented such a gaudy bauble to anyone. Ravena told Hattie that when she confronted Millicent about the piece, Millicent explained Governor Shields merely gave it to her to thank her for her diligent work in championing the Rock Grumlins campaign.”

  I lifted my head. “But when Millicent refused to take it off, despite Ravena’s repeated requests, Ravena began to suspect something else was going on. Especially when Millicent’s behavior started to change. Millicent would disappear on long hikes for hours at a time. That, in itself, wasn’t the odd thing. But she started making maps. Or, rather, she’d try to. Tons and tons of odd, screwy maps. With weird, foreign, or even nonsensical words scrawled on the bottom. Like she was trying to find a place that she’d lost. ‘I have to find it again! The spot is the key!’ she'd rave to Ravena. The latter would ask her about it, but Millicent wouldn't elucidate. Other things started slipping, too. She started forgetting meetings. Dates, obligatory conferences, etc. According to Ravena, the last straw was when Millicent seemed to forget their anniversary completely. It was as if she was forgetting EVERYTHING and her brain was turning to complete mush.”

  Jet, who had just helped himself to a generous slice of the carrot cake (for my sake, he argued), shot a querulous look at Eclipse.

  'Clipsy threw up two padded paws in defense. “Hey, don’t look at me, bro! That sounds like one lovers’ triangle that’s more trouble than Bermuda! I had nothing to do with this.”

  My mind-wiping cat looked indignant. Even with cream cheese icing on his nose, his seriousness had to be respected.

  “Ravena suspected Millicent was sneaking out on trysts with the governor,” I continued. “She tried to tell Millicent that Gideon was just using her. That he was trying to win her over so he could get his way with the mining campaign and the runway proposal.”

  “And?” Carbon asked, whose warm proximity to the cake was melting the icing.

  I shrugged. “And Millicent ignored her. She’d just laugh it off. Said the notion was ridiculous. That she was just going for long walks on the beach.”

  “Which is where we found her,” Fraidy shuddered.

  I nodded. “But without the Black Diamond necklace.”

  Before the cats and I could ponder the levity of that little fact, the back door burst open with a loud bang.

  “Seraphim Joyvive Jenkins!”

  My full, God-given name exploded from Chief Trew’s mouth. The sudden outburst sent the cats scurrying in a million different directions. And me? Let’s just say I would have preferred a zap from Ravena’s Taser.

  I shot, rigidly straight, every muscle in my body shocked to painful attention. I couldn’t help it. The mere utterance of the weighty name my parents had shouldered me with still made me instinctively cringe. It didn’t matter that recent events -- specifically a conversation with our own Portia Fearwyn -- had revealed my innocence in the tragic and mysterious death of my parents. I still bore the guilt. Plus the Chief didn't use that name as a general rule. I would have to be in some kind of trouble if those words tumbled from his lovely lips.r />
  Seraphim. It was a name derived from the angels. Those heavenly beings charged with the protection and guardianship of the human race. Human race? Forget that. I hadn’t even been able to muster enough magic to protect just my parents. I had failed to live up to the name. “Hattie” carried a lot less baggage.

  But, like so many of life’s issues, it seemed impossible just to ignore the problem in the hopes that it would magically just disappear. Nope. It certainly looked as if “Seraphim” ( the ultimate guardian angel) was here to stay. Especially now that Grammy Chimera’s ancient wand, Uirgae Malum, had resurfaced. Part of me wondered if the old Fae bough was connected to the string of mysterious happenings throughout the Coven Isles. Happenings that kept landing me in the middle of police investigations.

  To the Unawakened, Uirgae Malum looked like a cute piece of carved folk art. But, to anyone with even a lick of magic blood in their being, the thin milky-white wand practically vibrated with energy. However, the latent power of the wand was secured by five wards; magical symbols inscribed along the length of the apple wood, a series of magical locks of sorts. Only if one who could surpass the challenges each ward entailed could they correctly use the wand. The Fae believed, that in passing all of the tests, a single human could, as a race, be capable of enlightenment and become worthy enough to join in protective custody of the world and its inhabitants. If not, then…

  Great, I thought. No pressure.

  Grammy, powerful witch that she was, had been unable to unlock all five wards and master the full power of The Apple Wand. I myself had only managed to open two of the strange symbols.

  When I had saved David from being poisoned to death by Amber Crystal, I had managed to unlock the Protection Ward. The intricate carving of intertwined swans had come alive, making the wand seem like a living, breathing entity.