Crystals and Criminals

by Lily Webb

  A few moments later, after another fancy animation, the answer appeared on the screen: “For the next several months, you might feel unwell periodically. Slow down and take care of yourself because you aren’t the only one depending on your health.”

  It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but like Madame Astra herself liked to say: the stars never lied. The only question remaining was whether I could afford to listen.

  Chapter Eleven

  I arrived at Norwood Creative with Umrea early the next afternoon feeling refreshed, thanks to the great night’s sleep I’d gotten, and the gentle, healthy breakfast of fruit and yogurt Beau prepared for me. Unfortunately for me, my newfound stomach strength diminished slightly as soon as I took a deeper look at the Norwood Creative building.

  Business waits for no one, not even the grieving, and that couldn’t have been more obvious by the look of the building. The police tape, the gargoyles, and the crowd of reporters that surrounded the perimeter before had dispersed — everything was back to business as usual, although it’d only been two days since the CEO of the company died in the building.

  But now wasn’t the time for me to be sentimental, something I reminded myself of as I walked up the stairs to the front door. It wasn’t like I really knew Rowena, anyway.

  “I’m just going to step inside for a few minutes. You can wait out here,” I told Umrea, and for once she didn’t object.

  To my surprise, no one tried to stop me as I walked through the front door. In fact, there wasn’t even anyone at the receptionist’s desk, though I wasn’t sure if that was because they weren’t working or if they’d just gone to the restroom or something.

  It was at that point I realized I had no clue where Carter’s office was inside the building, nor Rowena’s. When I’d visited the first time, I’d only spoken to Holly in a meeting room that didn’t seem to be close to anything important, and that was probably intentional. The last thing the police would’ve wanted was for me or anyone else to contaminate their crime scene.

  Two wings branched off in opposite directions on either side of the desk, and I took turns peering as far as I could see down each. Neither gave me any clues, so I rolled the dice and decided on the right wing since I hadn’t seen it yet. Its walls were as bare and uninspiring as the other part of the office — a fact that still struck me as odd, given the word “Creative” in the company’s name — but I paid it little mind as I continued wandering down the hallway without ever crossing paths with anyone.

  Maybe the employees hadn’t yet returned to work after all? But if that were the case, they would’ve locked the doors, which must’ve meant someone was here, and I hoped it would be Carter; I wasn’t interested in talking to anyone else. I wanted to hear the details directly from the warlock’s mouth.

  Toward the end of the hall, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted police tape covering an office door. It could only be Rowena’s, though it seemed too generic to befit someone as important as the CEO. Maybe that was the way Rowena liked to keep things to avoid any feelings of separation from herself and her employees. I’d never know now.

  A slit of glass carved into the wooden door would normally have allowed me to sneak a peek inside, but the cops had covered every inch with thick black paper to keep the sun and prying eyes like mine out. Though every voice in my head screamed at me not to, I wrapped my hand in my robes to prevent prints and tried the handle. Amazingly, it clicked, and the door swung open just wide enough for me to see light streaming in from the windows on the opposite side of the room.

  I pushed the door the rest of the way open with my elbow and stepped inside on my tiptoes as if the plush carpet beneath me had any chance of giving me away. A large, L-shaped desk in the corner by the window took up most of the space in the room. Two computer monitors rested on each side of the desk, and piles of files filled the gap between them. Whatever else she may have been, Rowena didn’t seem very organized.

  My stomach dropped when I caught sight of the floor beside the desk. Thick lines of white tape stuck to the carpet outlined the shape of her body in the position Holly must’ve found her lying in. A shudder rippled across the back of my neck and down my spine.

  Though I knew I had no business poking around on an active crime scene, I couldn’t resist my curiosity — Mueller and the rest of the MGPD could’ve missed something; it wouldn’t have been the first time I’d noticed a detail they’d passed over — so I pushed the door closed softly with my rear and held my breath until I thought I might pass out just to make sure no one had heard me rummaging around.

  Thankfully, no noises other than my hammering heart reached my ears, so I stepped over to Rowena’s desk and raked my eyes over the files without touching them. The ones not tucked into manila folders revealed nothing interesting. Most were raw figures that seemed to be reports on advertising campaigns, which fit perfectly with the business Rowena ran.

  Disappointed, I crouched down on my hands and knees to more closely examine the area of the floor around Rowena’s desk. Though I wasn’t sure what I expected to find — something incriminating that’d rolled underneath during a struggle, maybe — I turned my head nearly upside down and squinted but all I found were the usual dust bunnies and errant paperclips that lived under everyone’s desk.

  A knock on the doorframe jolted me, causing me to smash my head on the underside of the desk. I whirled on hands and knees, massaging the area on my thundering skull where a knot would no doubt form later, and saw through the stars popping in my vision that Carter stood in the doorway.

  He wore a plain white button-down shirt, its arm cuffs unbuttoned, and a disapproving scowl. “Zoe? What are you doing here?”

  “I can explain, I—”

  “Somehow I doubt that,” Carter interrupted, though he smiled. “Unless you became a member of the MGPD since the last time we spoke, anyway.”

  “I’m one head of the government, isn’t that good enough?”

  Carter shrugged. “I’m not sure Chief Mueller would agree with that.”

  “Oh, come on, there’s no need to tell him I was here, is there?”

  “That depends. Why exactly are you here?”

  I used the desk to steady myself as I climbed to my feet, my head still spinning. “Well, it’s funny you should ask. I came to talk to you.”

  “So, you thought you’d find me in my sister’s office? A good guess, but incorrect. Come on. Mine is further down the hall.”

  He left me standing there dumbstruck, so I had no choice but to follow him. “How did you know I was here?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “I just assumed. Lots of people throw themselves into their work after something awful happens to them.”

  Carter turned into another office without replying. Had I gone too far? I hoped not because I still had a lot of questions to ask him, much more personal ones.

  I followed him into the room and found that it looked like a mirror image of Rowena’s, complete with the same L-shaped desk. But unlike Rowena, Carter had bought a fancy leather rolling chair for himself, which he sat down in. A comfortable-looking lounge chair rested in the opposite corner, and since it was the only other piece of furniture in the room, I figured I might as well help myself to it.

  “So, what can I do for you? I assume you’re here to ask me more about my sister, no?”

  “Yes, and no.”

  Carter raised an eyebrow and steepled his fingers together to rest them against his chin. “I see. Well, I’ve already told the police everything I know several times over now, so if you really want to know, couldn’t you just ask them? I have a lot to do, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

  I nodded. “I know you do, so I won’t keep you long. I wanted to talk to you more about Madame Astra.”

  Carter’s raised eyebrow moved further up his forehead. “What about her?”

  “I’m sure you heard about what happened to her shop today, right?”

  He shook his head once, a single, measured movement.


  “Oh. Someone attacked it and stole her crystal ball.” Carter didn’t move or speak, he just sat staring blankly at me while he waited for me to say more. “The thing is, she thinks the attack seemed, er, personal.”

  “What makes her think so?”

  My heart raced for the first time since I’d sat down. Carter must’ve known what I would say, but he clearly had no intention of saving me the awkwardness of saying it out loud. “She told me she’d just come from speaking with you before the attack occurred.”

  Carter chuckled and lowered his hands to rest them on the desk. “Of course she did. As if it weren’t bad enough she roped my sister into her web and got her killed, now she wants to accuse me of being involved in an attack on her little shop? Ridiculous. She’ll do anything to stir up a media frenzy around herself.”

  Well, that was a twist of the narrative. Why did Carter see a link between Madame Astra and his sister’s death? I waited to ask. “She also told me she’d signed a deal with StarForce Technologies instead of with you.”

  “She did, and good riddance. She came waltzing in here like she thought I’d beg and plead with her to reconsider — and offer her more than StarForce, obviously — but I didn’t bite. Rowena was a fool to get involved with her in the first place.”

  I winced despite myself. It wasn’t every day I heard the brother of a murder victim speak so poorly of their deceased relative, but then again, Carter didn’t seem like the type to mince words. He said what he meant and meant what he said, which probably served him well in business.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Look, I know Madame Astra is a talented Seer — Lilith knows Rowena believed it — but I never saw the revenue potential in her application that my sister did. We never would’ve found a sustainable way to monetize it, not even by selling metadata to third parties.”

  I nodded like I had any idea what he meant. My brain tuned out when someone invoked numbers and business terms. “Why do you think Rowena felt otherwise?”

  Carter scoffed and shook his head. “Rowena frequently made decisions with her gut rather than with her brain. Madame Astra enchanted her — and I don’t mean that literally — and something convinced Rowena we could do big things with her help. I mean, to a certain extent it made sense — what advertiser wouldn’t want the ability to predict a potential buyer’s future? — but I just didn’t think Astra was worth the trouble. She’s got an ego.”

  I’d noticed. “Is that why you thought there might be a link between her and Rowena’s death?”

  “How couldn’t there be? Since our father passed away and willed the business to us a few years ago, Norwood Creative has run with no scandals or drama at all. To be fair to Dad, there wasn’t any during his time either, but Rowena literally dropping dead mere weeks into negotiations with Madame Astra when everything was perfectly fine before that can’t be a coincidence.”

  I sat up straight and gathered my courage. “So, let me get this straight: are you saying you think Madame Astra might’ve done something to Rowena?”

  Carter sighed and slumped back in his seat. “I don’t know, honestly. I can’t say for sure, but I can’t think of anyone else who would’ve had a reason. Did you know the police haven’t found a single sign of foul play? There wasn’t a struggle, there wasn’t any foreign magic in her blood or anything. It’s bizarre, Zoe, even for this town. Rowena was perfectly healthy. I know because we higher-ups all have to go through routine checks. You know, just in case we need to plan for a leadership shakeup.”

  That wasn’t uncommon, a fact I knew from my time working at a local newspaper before I’d come to Moon Grove. It was the responsible thing to do for the long-term health and stability of a company. Still, the revelation raised more questions than it answered.

  “Did you notice anything different about Rowena before she died? Any suspicious changes in behavior or anything like that?”

  Carter locked eyes with me, his gaze intense. “The only thing that changed was the time she spent talking about Madame Astra. Nabbing Astra and her app obsessed Rowena. I think Dad passing away really messed with her. She never said it, but I think she wanted to know everything about the future so it wouldn’t ever surprise her again.”

  Based on what I’d learned about my own parents recently, I couldn’t blame her for that.

  “Anyway, since I feel you’re beating around the bush to avoid asking me, let me be clear: I didn’t attack Madame Astra. Why would I want to do that after I’d spent all that time trying to help Rowena buy her out? It makes no sense, and more than that, it implies I had something to do with Rowena’s death too. Frankly, I resent the implication.”

  I gulped and nodded. Even if I could’ve broken into his thoughts without getting sick, I didn’t think it was necessary. I’d never seen someone speak so convincingly. “Right. Got it. Sorry.”

  Carter sighed again and shook his head. “I’m sorry to be so firm. I know you’re just covering the bases, but I don’t want that line of questioning going any further because it’s insulting. Is there anything else you want to know? I have a lot of work to do, and I’m the only one left to do it.”

  I considered asking him about his visits to Derwin — and what Derwin had told me about Rowena’s alleged plot to oust Carter from the company — but after what he’d told me about Rowena’s pursuit of the future, I had a feeling Carter probably had similar motivations for seeing Derwin.

  “Actually, that reminds me. Where is everyone else? Why are you here alone?”

  Carter cleared his throat and straightened up in his chair like he was about to give me a poor employee review. “Since Rowena’s death, the company’s stock has plummeted. Apparently, not as many people believe I have the same capability as my sister to run a successful business, so I’ve had to let some people go.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear it,” I said, though it was news to me that Moon Grove had a stock market. Even after nearly a year of living in town, it still surprised me. “Wait, I didn’t see anyone else. Does that mean you fired them all?”

  Carter smirked and shook his head. “No, most are still on leave after Rowena’s death. So far, I’ve only had to let some non-essential staff go.”

  “Like Holly?” I asked, thinking there probably wouldn’t be a need for Rowena’s personal assistant anymore — a thought that made my heart hurt for Holly and her poor kids who’d already been through so much.

  The muscle under Carter’s right eye twitched. “Unfortunately, yes. It broke my heart to do it, but hers was a special position. Now that Rowena’s gone…”

  “I understand. Well, thanks for the chat, Mr. Norwood. I’ll let you get back to work,” I said and pushed myself up out of the chair.

  “No problem. But you know, if you want to speak to me or take a poke around Rowena’s office again, you can just ask. You don’t have to sneak in next time.”

  “Got it,” I said and showed myself out of the office before he had the chance to change his mind and report me to Mueller.

  Still, as I walked outside and nodded to Umrea to follow me, I couldn’t shake the feeling of frustration growing in the pit of my stomach. It seemed like every time I found a shred of evidence that pointed in one direction, I found another that pointed in the opposite.

  Madame Astra herself had warned Heath and I that we were dealing with something much larger than any of us realized, and the more I dug into Rowena’s case, the more I believed her.

  It was time to find out exactly how much Madame Astra knew — she’d obviously neglected to tell me everything — so I hopped back on my broom and set off for the remnants of her shop in the middle of the town square.

  Chapter Twelve

  I knew there wasn’t much that could keep Madame Astra from her shop, even without her crystal ball to scare people. She’d already cleared away the charred curtains and scorched trinkets that used to make up her shop — probably not without help from the gargoyles.

  As Umrea and I
lowered down to street level, she glanced up and the slightly depressed look on her face shifted to cautious curiosity. “Ah, Ms. Clarke. I had a feeling we’d meet today.”

  I pulled my broom out from between my legs and slung it over my shoulder. “That’s impressive without your crystal.” She scowled at me, and I winked back. “Relax, I’m kidding.”

  “Judging from your direction, I’d guess you came from Norwood Creative?”

  “Bingo.”

  A self-satisfied smirk split her face and her eyes flashed, making her look like a fox on the hunt. “Very good. And what did you learn?”

  “Probably not much you don’t already know, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Then why are you?”

  “I need some clarification. Not everything you’ve told me adds up.”

  She straightened in her chair and shook her hair out of her face. “Oh? I promise you, child, I’ve told you no lies.”

  “Omissions aren’t the same thing as lies. Why don’t you come with me back to my office so we can try to sort this out once and for all?”

  “Is that really necessary? I have a business to run.”

  I glanced over both of my shoulders and made a show of the lack of waiting clients. “Really? Doesn’t look like you’re all that busy right now. I’m sure you can spare a few minutes.”

  After all the commotion that’d happened here yesterday, I couldn’t blame anyone for avoiding Madame Astra now. If someone hadn’t made off with her crystal ball, I suspected she might’ve skipped town now that the spell she’d cast over Moon Grove seemed to have broken — a lucky break for me on both counts.

  Madame Astra opened her mouth to object, but a low growl from Umrea silenced her. The gargoyle stepped forward, crossed her hulking arms over her chest, and fixed the unsettling slits of her pupils on Madame Astra.

  Madame Astra cleared her throat. “If you insist.” She stood slowly, never taking her eyes off Umrea, and stepped around the edge of the table. Her oversized purple robes trailed behind her, dragging across the cobblestone street as she headed for the Town Hall.