Crystals and Criminals

by Lily Webb

“Believe what?” I asked. Heath froze with his hand on the door and I motioned for him to stay.

  “We just got word from a reporter on the scene that Rowena Norwood is dead.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach. “What do you mean Rowena’s dead?! What happened?”

  “We aren’t sure yet. Her PA, Holly Craft, found her unresponsive in her office. The police have Holly in custody, but that’s all we know so far. I just thought you and Heath would like a heads up before the media goes crazy with it.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Are the police at Norwood Creative now?”

  “As far as I know, yeah. I’m sure if you got over there fast enough you could probably talk to them and maybe Holly before they haul her off.”

  “Do they think Holly did it?”

  “I don’t know, but why else would they take her into custody?”

  “Good point. All right, thanks for letting me know. Heath’s in the room, I’ll fill him in.”

  “Okay. I’ll probably be home late tonight, given all this.”

  “Yeah, me too. I’ll talk to you later. Be careful.”

  “Thanks. You too. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” I said, and hung up. Heath had already retaken his seat across from me without me noticing. “It’s Rowena Norwood. She’s dead. The police are on the scene, and they’ve taken her assistant, Holly, into custody. That’s all we know so far, but you and I should probably get over there quickly.”

  Heath sighed and shook his head. “This isn’t good. Do you think it might have had something to do with the Business Fair?”

  “Hard to say, but it’s probably not coincidental. Only one way to find out. Let’s get moving.”

  Heath nodded and made for the door as I gathered up my things. I’d just caught up with him when a realization struck me like lightning, rooting me to the spot. I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth.

  Heath whirled on me with his brows furrowed. “What? What is it?”

  “Madame Astra. She didn’t just tell me about my parents. Right before I left, I told her I wouldn’t be seeing her again, but she said the stars disagreed. It was Rowena I wouldn’t see again.”

  Heath’s eyes widened. “Do you think that means she knew something would happen?”

  “She must have, but what she told me about my parents distracted me too much to realize it. I’ll have to talk to her too, but she can wait. Let’s start with Holly.”

  Heath nodded once and we stepped out together. “Umrea, with us,” he barked at my gargoyle guard, and she grunted her acquiescence. “Gorloz!” he shouted down the hall to his own gargoyle, and in a fluttering of wings, the massive gargoyle stood before us.

  “What is it, sir?”

  “We’re going to Norwood Creative to investigate a potential murder.”

  Though the gargoyle’s face turned solemn, Gorloz didn’t object. Instead, he fell in line behind Heath and me, and together we strolled out into the afternoon sun to head for Norwood Creative in the heart of the Witches’ Quarter.

  Chapter Five

  The sun had almost set by the time we arrived at Norwood Creative — a nondescript, multilevel office building — but someone had already taped off the entrance and a solid wall of concrete muscle in the form of gargoyles greeted us when we approached.

  A gaggle of reporters from the various publications in Moon Grove had already gathered outside, proving yet again how quickly word spread about pretty much everything in town.

  “Head Witch, Warlock,” a gargoyle with feline-like yellow eyes grumbled, his arms crossed over his bulging coal-black chest. “I’m afraid I have to ask you to stop there.”

  I exchanged looks with Heath. He shrugged, which I took as permission. “Look, you clearly realize who we are, and we already know what happened inside, so why don’t you just cut the pretense and let us by?”

  Instead of answering, the gargoyle scowled over its mountainous shoulder at the reporters and let out a low growl. “They spread rumors like insects spread disease.”

  “Hey, watch it, buddy. I used to be one of those insects.”

  The gargoyle snorted in derision but knew better than to push the envelope any further with me.

  “Zoe!” A familiar voice called from the crowd, and I spotted Marcel right away. His grey skin and otherworldly eyes made it easy to do. He waved from where he stood next to another reporter I didn’t recognize.

  “Hold that thought, Claws. I’ll be right back,” I said to the gargoyle and left Heath standing with him to go meet Marcel.

  “I assume Beau called you?” The vampire asked as I approached.

  “He did. How did you know?”

  Marcel glanced at the reporter next to him, a tall, thin blonde with a warm smile. She offered me a hand. “I’m Alexis Lakely with Channel 666.”

  I shook her hand and nodded. “So, you must be the one who alerted Beau.”

  Her smile widened. “Exactly.”

  “Which means you must’ve been standing right next to her when she called it in.”

  Marcel shrugged. “Right time, right place.”

  “Please, I know you better than that. Anyway, do either of you have any new details?”

  “Zéro,” Marcel said, his French accent slipping through. “The gargoyles aren’t playing around with this one, which makes me think it must be serious.”

  “Agreed,” Alexis said. “But it could also just be because of the high-profile nature of the victim.”

  “Likely both,” I said. “And Heath and me showing up won’t help.”

  “It will certainly challenge the MGPD’s ability to keep things under wraps, yes,” Marcel said with a smirk. “But given it’s Rowena Norwood we’re talking about here, I doubt they stood a chance of that in the first place.”

  “Then I guess I’d better weasel my way in there before this place turns into a total media circus. Nice meeting you, Alexis. See you around, Marcel.”

  To my surprise, when I returned to the entrance of Norwood Creative, Berric Mueller, Moon Grove’s police chief, stood talking to Heath. I couldn’t tell if my appearance dismayed the houndlike werewolf or if it was just his usual grumpy expression.

  “Zoe,” he grunted and nodded at me.

  I returned the nod. “Mueller. I’d say it’s good to see you again, but…”

  He scoffed. “Funny. Look, at Heath’s insistence, I’ll let you two in to speak to the victim’s personal assistant, but we’re still investigating the scene, so I need you to promise me you’ll stay in the meeting room where we’re holding her. Deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Good, follow me,” he said and breezed past the gargoyle who’d previously denied us entry toward the towering glass doors. I glared at him and stuck out my tongue as we passed, and he hissed. When I turned back, Heath was scowling at me, but I shrugged like I had no idea what the gargoyle’s problem was.

  We entered a hallway as nondescript as the building itself — odd for a creative ad agency, but I was sensing a theme — and turned left into another hallway when we reached the receptionist’s desk. There didn’t seem to be another soul in the building, which I assumed meant that everyone who wasn’t relevant to the investigation had gotten sent home.

  Mueller came to an abrupt stop outside one of the half dozen or more glass-enclosed offices we passed, and I almost crashed into his back. He turned and hitched up his pants, a nervous tic of his. “I figure I’d better brief you before I turn you loose on the poor woman. So, here’s what we know so far: according to Ms. Craft, the assistant, she hadn’t seen Ms. Norwood since getting back from the Business Fair. She’d been working on various tasks assigned to her earlier in the week, as usual, but when she came to ask Ms. Norwood to clarify one of her instructions, she found her lying face down on the carpet in her office.”

  “Dear Lilith,” Heath groaned. “How is she handling it?”

  Mueller grimaced. “Not well. That’s all we’ve got her to say. She’s spent the last hour in this off
ice refusing to speak. We aren’t sure whether that’s because she’s too traumatized or just doesn’t want to, but the result is the same.”

  “And what have you learned since?” I asked.

  “If this was a murder, it’s one of the strangest I’ve ever seen. There aren’t any signs of foul play, magical or otherwise. Other than Ms. Craft found Ms. Norwood face down, she seems perfectly healthy. For all we know, she could’ve died of natural causes.”

  My stomach twisted into a queasy knot, and for a few moments I worried I might be sick. I exchanged looks with Heath, who seemed just as concerned to hear that news as I was. “I doubt that,” I sighed. “Few people drop dead out of the blue, and given how high-profile Rowena and her business are, I don’t think that’s the case here either.”

  “We can’t rule anything out yet. Anyway, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad you’re here. If anyone can get information out of Ms. Craft, it’s you. You know, with your mind-reading,” Mueller said, his voice lowered like he’d uttered a dirty secret.

  “Or maybe she’ll just be more comfortable talking to another witch instead of a grouchy old werewolf.”

  Mueller grumbled and hitched his pants up again. “You might have a point. Anyway, she’s all yours, so long as you promise to share anything she might tell you. It’s important to our investigation.”

  “That street travels both ways. Are you going to tell us anything else you learn?”

  “Of course,” Mueller said, though he didn’t seem thrilled about it.

  “Good.” I turned to Heath. “Look, it might be a good idea for me to go solo on this one. You know, less intimidating for Holly.”

  Heath nodded. “Absolutely. I’ll make a statement to the press in the meantime and get them to clear out.” Mueller opened his mouth, but Heath raised a hand to silence him. “Don’t worry, Mr. Mueller. I know how to do this the right way. I have plenty of experience. Good luck, Zoe.”

  “Thanks, same to you,” I said and entered the office where Holly sat in a rolling chair at the head of a large roundtable.

  “Hi, Holly,” I whispered, and she jolted and looked up at me like a frightened, cornered animal. Her eyes were red, wet, and puffy, and she clutched a thin blanket around her shoulders like she feared it might disappear if she let go. She looked nothing like the pretty professional I’d met at the Business Fair just a few hours earlier.

  “Oh, Ms. Clarke, I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said and hurriedly wiped her eyes on the fringe of the blanket.

  “To be fair, I didn’t expect to be here,” I said and offered her a warm smile that I hoped would put her at ease. I gestured to the rolling chair nearest her. “May I sit with you?”

  She nodded and sniffled. “Yes, of course.”

  As soon as I sat, Holly relaxed. “I’m sure you’ve already been over a lot of this with the police, but I wondered if I could ask you a few more questions about what happened to Ms. Norwood.”

  Holly gulped back her reluctance and nodded again. “If you think it will help.”

  “Thank you. Chief Mueller told me you were the one who found Ms. Norwood. Is that right?”

  Her lower lip trembled, but she bit it and gathered herself. “Yes. It was awful. I hadn’t spoken to Rowena since we got back to the office, but that’s not unusual. We’ve been even busier than normal thanks to the Business Fair and Rowena’s negotiations with Madame Astra, so I was just taking care of things that’d gotten overlooked in the rush.”

  She paused as if she couldn’t bring herself to say what happened after. Still, so far, so good; everything lined up with what she’d told Mueller. I nodded to encourage her to continue.

  “But there was a typo on the task list, and I couldn’t make sense of it, so I went to her office to ask her what it meant, and that was when I-I…” She trailed and shook her head as a fresh round of tears appeared in her eyes.

  I reached for one of her hands wrapped around her chest and rested mine on top. “It’s okay, take your time.”

  Holly took a few deep breaths. “That was when I found her lying face down by her desk. Her arms… Her arms were splayed out like she’d tried to stand up and tripped or something. I ran over to her and shook her, but…”

  My stomach lurched again, and a feeling of lightheadedness made me feel like I might pass out myself. I squeezed her hand. “That’s all I need to hear.”

  “Thank you,” she said and dabbed at her eyes with the blanket.

  “Was there anyone else who stopped by Rowena’s office before you?”

  Holly shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s possible. Like I said, I’d been busy all day with the Business Fair, but after that was over, we came back here, and I dove right in.”

  “Who has access to her office, besides you?”

  Holly squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate. “Um… Well, obviously Carter, her brother you met earlier today. The cleaning staff does too, but they’re not here during business hours. But there’s no one here who’d want to hurt Rowena. She’s an amazing witch. Everyone loves her.”

  I knew from experience that people’s perceptions of others’ likability were flawed. No one could truthfully claim everyone liked them — no one. But I knew better than to say that to Holly.

  “The police don’t think I had anything to do with this, do they?”

  I didn’t know how best to answer that question. “Don’t take it personally. It’s too early to rule anyone or anything out.”

  “I get that, but it’s just ridiculous to me. I mean, they’re the police, don’t they know everything Rowena’s done for me? I don’t know how they couldn’t, and if they did, then there’s really no way they can say with a straight face that I did this.”

  “I didn’t know you and Rowena had a history.”

  “You don’t? Well, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I’m not exactly proud of what led me to her,” Holly said as she shifted in her chair, which squeaked underneath her.

  “Anything you can tell us will help.”

  Holly sighed, her shoulders slumping. “It’s not a story I tell often, but Rowena literally saved me and my kids from the streets.”

  I wasn’t sure which was more surprising: that Holly had kids or that she’d almost been homeless. Neither suited her based on her appearance. “Oh… I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

  “It’s okay, it was years ago. You probably don’t know this either, but I’m originally from Starfall Valley. I ended up here after I lost my job as a personal secretary for Leland Marth. You know, the CEO of Starforce Technologies?”

  I nodded like I had any idea who and what she was talking about, if for no other reason than to keep her talking. “What happened to your job, if I can ask?”

  A flash of scarlet appeared on her face while she hesitated to answer. “Mr. Marth fired me after he learned I’d been using magic to steal money from the company. You have to understand, my ex-husband and I had just been through a nasty divorce and money was tight, so I did what I had to for my kids.”

  I couldn’t judge her for that; I didn’t know what I would’ve done in the same situation. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Holly chuckled. “Well, that wasn’t the worst of it. When Starfall’s Council got wind of what I’d done, they snapped my wand and exiled me from the city.”

  “Dear Lilith, that seems severe.”

  Holly shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, we moved here, and I applied for a job at Norwood Creative, and when I told Rowena my story during the interview, she hired me on the spot to be her personal assistant instead of the front office secretary position I’d applied for. She insisted that we women had to stick together and take care of each other. If it weren’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be.”

  I sat in stunned silence while her words washed over me.

  “Now do you see what I mean? There’s no way I’d ever do a thing to hurt Rowena, much less this,” she said and waved her hand in the empty air. “Besides, I’m
sure the police already told you. When I-I… Found her, she didn’t look like anyone had touched her at all, and I can’t use magic, so how could I have done it? It makes no sense.”

  I agreed, though I knew better than to tell her that. Still, just to be sure she was telling the truth, I focused my gaze on hers and concentrated. A sound like the waves in a seashell began in my ears, but the harder I concentrated, the worse I felt. My stomach flipped, and just before I broke eye contact, I worried I might throw up.

  “Ms. Clarke? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks. Just a little bout of nausea. Happens now and then,” I lied. Truthfully, I had no idea what happened — I’d never felt sick while trying to read someone’s mind before, not even those who’d cast protection spells on their thoughts.

  To deflect, I swerved hard in another direction. “Anyway, when was the last time you talked to Rowena?”

  Holly’s expression slowly changed from sad to apprehensive. “Right after we got back from the Business Fair. She called me into her office, and at first I thought she had something new to assign to me, but I could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “What did she tell you?”

  “Madame Astra had given her a private reading during the Business Fair. She told Rowena that she would die soon, but she couldn’t divine when or why. Rowena thought it was silly and tried to brush it off, but that would bother anyone, you know? And now, well… I don’t know what to think.”

  My heart crashed into the pit of my stomach, and it must’ve shown on my face because Holly picked up on the shift in my demeanor immediately.

  “Ms. Clarke? Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

  I nodded, though my head was spinning. “Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just… Well, Madame Astra said the same thing to me about Rowena during the reading she gave me.”

  Holly’s eyes shot open. “Do you think she knows more than she’s letting on?”

  I couldn’t imagine any scenario in which a killer would tell multiple people that they intended to kill a prominent witch — much less me, the Head Witch — but even if Madame Astra hadn’t done the deed herself, she could very well know more about who or what did. She’d been right on multiple accounts, including that we’d be seeing more of each other, much to my dismay.