by Nova Nelson
“Your secret’s safe with me,” she assured him.
Up the stairs they went until they were, she guessed, even with the rooftops of the buildings below. She couldn’t see the rest of Erin Park, though. Apparently, the Elves didn’t want to be reminded of where they actually were. Instead, Ruby found herself in brilliant sunshine in the middle of an achingly green field. Wind tickled the tops of blades of grass that spread impossibly for miles to her left and right. Whatever magic Liberty Freeman had employed to defy the laws of physics in his own home was in no short supply here as well. But Ruby didn’t have long to appreciate the views. Stu was already jogging down a flagstone road, and she grunted against the pain in her lungs and then hurried to catch up.
The houses came into view suddenly as they turned a bend around a lush copse of trees.
“Houses” seemed like the wrong word, though. They were mansions. Estates.
You’re in Tearnanock Estates, stupid.
Right.
Was it possible for her to retire here someday? Could she get permission? Surely the High Council owed her that, with how much she did to keep the town safe and mostly ghost-free.
Helping to solve the mystery of the jumping elves would also be a step in the right direction.
But before she could do that, she had to face whatever strange thing Bloom had waiting for her.
* * *
Fresh air was always the best thing for someone in Magnus’s state, so once Sheriff Bloom had done a quick soul-level scan for any bodily injury and came up clean, she led him back out onto his front porch and set him down on a rocking chair. As she continued to ask him basic questions and observe his behavior, she heard the peculiarly deep voice of young Stu Manchester call out to her. “I have her, Sheriff. And her hound.”
She turned away from where she’d knelt in front of Magnus, keeping an eye on him, and saw the trio approach. Stu jogged up the steps to the wrap-around porch, appearing red-faced from exertion but otherwise fine.
Ruby, on the other hand…
Hmm. Bloom hadn’t considered what effort it would require to hurry all the way from the Emporium. She herself had merely taken flight and hit the shortcut in the air, the one she was to use in case of an emergency in Tearnanock. She’d put in the special request with Liberty when he was building the place way back when. She hadn’t told any of the current residents that it existed, and she had no plans of doing so.
“Thank you, Stu,” Bloom said, pulling her attention away from Ruby, who’d stopped running the moment she’d spotted the sheriff and could see that continuing to hustle was not absolutely necessary. “Here you go.” She held out a silver coin, but the boy’s hand flew out—to refuse it.
“I can’t possibly take payment for this, Sheriff Bloom.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Just take the dragon blasted money, kid.”
Not one to ignore a direct order from an adult, Stu complied, but he didn’t look happy about it. “Anything else I can do, Sheriff?”
Bloom smiled at him. “Go enjoy your weekend like someone your age should.”
He frowned and murmured, “Yes, ma’am,” before shuffling off with his head hanging.
“What happened?” Ruby panted, after passing Stu at the bottom of the stairs and taking in the sorry sight of Magnus slumped on the rocking chair.
Magnus opened his mouth to speak, but Bloom placed a hand softly on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. You rest and I’ll fill her in.” She turned to Ruby. “Magnus can’t remember what happened. Starting at noon.”
Ruby’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Oh yeah? Another missing memory?”
“So it seems.”
Ruby pressed her lips together. “I reckon he’s safe now. At least until midnight.”
“I was thinking the same.” Bloom checked on Magnus again, and the fresh air seemed to have done him good already. His chest was rising and falling slowly, and his eyes were able to focus on her when she suggested they get him set up in bed.
He agreed, and when the angel returned to the porch, Ruby was sitting on one of the front steps, looking out over the green expanse.
“Do you sense anything?” Bloom asked.
“Yes, but hardly more than an afterglow. If I could have gotten here sooner, I believe it would be much stronger. Either way, it’s familiar.”
Oh, that was interesting. “Familiar as in…?”
“I believe we’re on the same page that we’re dealing with possession?”
Bloom took a seat next to Ruby. Clifford was roaming the yard, sniffing all he could. “If that’s the page you’re on, then yes.”
The Fifth Wind turned her head to look Bloom in the eyes. “Did Stu summon you away from the play?”
“He did.”
“And how did he manage that?”
Bloom reached in her pocket and pulled out the small, round disk of jet. “Enchanted.”
Ruby took one appraising look at it and said, “Let me guess. Ezra?”
The sheriff nodded.
“Allow me another guess. It’s not technically legal in Eastwind.”
“Ah,” Bloom said, wagging a finger at her friend, “it’s not technically illegal either.”
Ruby almost smiled. “Leave it to the angel to find all the possible loopholes.”
“Please, I know you’re impressed.”
“And what prompted little innocent, law-abiding Stu Manchester to employ a device that he likely had no idea isn’t technically legal to summon the sheriff at a moment’s notice?”
“Oh right.” She stood and dusted off the back of her pants. “You haven’t been inside yet. Follow me.”
She offered Ruby a hand and helped her to her feet, then the two of them entered the giant home.
“It’s elegant in here, no doubt,” Ruby said as they passed through the foyer, heading to the back of the house. “But I don’t see what I’m supposed to get from this.”
“Stu Manchester was watching Magnus through the window while the elf prepared himself a salad for lunch. Nothing unusual there. But what was notable was when Magnus decided to drag the paring knife for the tomatoes across his palm and so he could redecorate his walls.”
“Come again?” said the witch.
They reached the kitchen, and Bloom entered first, but stepped to the side to allow Ruby to pass. It was easier if the Fifth Wind saw this for herself.
It was hard to shock Ruby, but this did it. Her mouth fell open before she breathed, “Sweet… baby… jackalope…”
“Agreed.” Even Bloom felt a roiling anxiety when she looked at the walls and counters on which Magnus had written the same thing over and over again: 5th.
Ruby’s head snapped around to Bloom. “Little Stu saw this happen?”
The sheriff cringed guiltily. “Yeah, sort of unfortunate.”
“He’s going to be scarred for life.”
“Probably.”
“Might make him a good deputy one day.”
“Childhood trauma isn’t required, but it’s preferred, yes.”
Ruby took in the surroundings once more before saying. “It’s settled then. My theory holds fast.”
“And that is?” She thought she already knew, but she wanted to hear it from Ruby’s lips first to verify.
“The entity that caused Bron Danann and Dalora Greyborn to jump from the clock tower, and I do believe it was a single entity influencing them, was the same one who caused Magnus Taerwyn to do a slap-dash kitchen makeover.”
“The calling card is definitely the same.” Bloom gestured at “5th” on the wall nearest her.
“But more than that,” Ruby said, tucking her hands deep into the pockets of the topmost layer of her robes, “I do believe this same entity was the one who attacked me in my bed.”
Bloom nodded slowly. “That’s where you recognize the afterglow from.”
“Precisely.” She twisted slowly in her spot, looking again over the walls. “Each spirit has a unique energy pattern. The more malevol
ent, the more pronounced.”
“Why do you think it went after you?” asked Bloom.
“Because I was trying to stop it.”
The sheriff shrugged. “I’ve been doing the same. It didn’t go after me.”
Ruby nodded. “That’s just proof that it’s an intelligent entity, in more ways than one. Trying to strangle an angel to death is a fool’s errand if I ever heard one.”
“True,” Bloom said. “And I think I already know the answer to this, but how did it go after you?”
“The attack happened at midnight.”
Nodding along, Bloom said. “Midnight and noon.”
“Either the spirit is obsessed with the number twelve, which I feel is highly unlikely since it already seems fixated on the number five, or we have a clear picture of the next location where we must go.”
“I don’t know about you, but the next place I’m going,” said Bloom, “is the healing house with Magnus. I was able to close the wound, but he still lost a lot of blood. Once I take care of that, I’ll meet you there. And I’ll send word ahead to Mayor Periwinkle in the meantime.”
“It’s a date,” Ruby said. “You, me, Clifford, bottom of the clock tower at, say, two thirty?”
“You’re on. Now let’s get the ever-loving hellhound out of this kitchen.”
Chapter Twenty
Mayor Petrov Periwinkle was all niceties when they met a couple of hours later, as planned. He’d even bothered to put on a powder blue suit. Sheriff Bloom knew that meant he was hiding something. And when she shook his hand and looked into his eyes, as much was confirmed. She didn’t love using her powers of judgment on others without their consent, but she’d make an exception for the insufferable mayor.
Unfortunately, the cause of the guilt he held was unknowable. It could have had something to do with the case, but it also could have had something to do with the myriad shady dealings he managed at any given point in time. Or maybe he had plans to cut funding once and for all to Mancer Academy, forcing every family to pay an insane tuition out of pocket if they wanted their child educated. It wasn’t out of the question for him. He was the biggest cheapskate she knew.
Thankfully (and she never thought she would be thankful for the vampire in any way), Count Malavic was the treasurer on the High Council and enjoyed shelling out funds for things… in return for loyalty from the recipients.
As long as children got a proper education in town, though, she wasn’t picky on how it was done. The more educated the town, the less work she had on her plate.
Ruby and Cliff stood to Bloom’s side as they faced the mayor at the base of the clock tower. The Emporium was still rather busy, as it normally was on a Saturday, even during this time of day when most people chose to return home for a nap.
“I’m not clear on what you’re looking for,” Mayor Periwinkle said, wringing his hands slowly, “so perhaps if you enlighten me, I can be of more help.”
“We’ll know it when we see it, Mr. Mayor.” Bloom wasn’t about to let him within arm’s reach of this investigation. She’d made that mistake before, and it’d resulted in the case becoming so entangled in red tape, it’d taken three extra weeks to make an arrest, even though she had plenty of evidence for it. “Otherwise, if you could just answer our questions, that would be extremely helpful.”
He frowned. “If there’s anything wrong with the structure, we would have known right away.”
She could understand why he would be so defensive. After all, not only was the clock a local historical landmark, but it was also one of the hidden entrances into the High Council’s chambers below. If the answer was sitting on top of them the whole time… Well, it wouldn’t help the politicians’ image as complete bumblers.
Good. I hope the answer is not only up there, but gloriously obvious.
It wasn’t the kindest hope, but she was an avenging angel at heart, so she let thoughts like those slide so long as they didn’t start affecting her behavior.
The spiral staircase up the tower was narrow, and while Bloom considered just flying and meeting them at the top, she supposed that show of power wouldn’t sit well with the North Wind witch mayor. So she followed Clifford, taking up the rear of their small group.
When she stepped out into the open air again, she was grateful to be free of the confined space. It wasn’t that she was claustrophobic, but it did make her antsy whenever she lacked the necessary room to spread her wings.
A dozen bells dangled in a spiral pattern from the center of the roof, and below them a yawning circular cavern down into darkness. Sunlight illuminated everything in this portion of the tower, and Bloom looked around, taking in the three-sixty views of Eastwind, obscured only by the pillars at each corner of the square tower holding up the domed ceiling.
The bells ranged noticeably in size, with the smallest perhaps a foot and a half tall and the largest easily four feet larger than Bloom herself. That one hung in the middle of the bell cluster, and was presumably the one that rang each hour, deep and, given the circumstances, foreboding.
The mayor began prattling on about the history of the tower, as if Bloom herself hadn’t been present back when it was first constructed. But perhaps it was for Ruby’s benefit, so she let the mayor continue.
“While Charn is the oldest of the bells, Duna is the real gem.” He pointed at the largest one in the center of the cluster. “That’s the lovely sound you hear chiming out the hours at noon and midnight each day.”
As he went on to explain the process by which goblins had forged Duna, Bloom caught Ruby’s eye. The psychic showed no signs of interest in what the mayor was telling her. Instead, she nodded toward a bell in the middle of the size range, one the mayor hadn’t assigned a specific name.
Bloom inspected it. Nothing stood out. What was Ruby seeing that she wasn’t?
It wasn’t until she let her eyes wander to the other bells that she noticed.
It was older than the rest.
“That one,” Bloom said, cutting off the mayor as she strode forward and pointed to the bell in question.
The mayor shot her a sharp look that carried venom, but she didn’t care.
“Is this one Charn?”
The mayor strolled over. “No. That’s, let me see…” he pointed at a few in turn, no doubt running through some mnemonic to refresh his memory. “That one’s Twilie, I believe. That one is Charn. I just explained that, but it seems you weren’t paying attention.”
“I was paying plenty of attention,” Bloom shot back. “Charn is the oldest bell here, right?”
He blinked. “Yes.”
“Then how come Twilie looks so much more ancient?”
She hid her pleasure when Mayor Periwinkle scurried over to inspect it and saw that she was correct. “That is strange. We just had the bells cleaned and restored two weeks ago. Twilie shouldn’t be in that rough of a condition.”
Bloom’s eyes quickly found Ruby’s.
“What does that entail, cleaning and restoring the bells?” Bloom asked.
“Oh, just someone coming up here, removing the bells one-by-one, filling in any cracks or damage, polishing them, and then putting them back on their hooks. The High Council makes sure it’s done every few years.”
“And who actually performs the work?”
He shrugged. “The lowest bidder for the project.”
Of course.
“And who was the lowest bidder on it this time around?”
He pulled off his glasses and wiped them off on the sleeve of his suit. “Oh, I’m not really sure. It’s not extremely technical work. You just have to have a tuning fork and an ear for tonality to make sure the bells aren’t altered through the process.”
“You don’t know who was hired?” Bloom both could and couldn’t believe the incompetency of Petrov Periwinkle.
He bristled. “I’m sure the Parchment Catacombs have the receipt for services somewhere.”
“I’m sure they don’t,” Ruby muttered.
> The mayor clearly heard her and shoved his glasses back onto his nose to give her a proper glare, but before he could say anything, Bloom jumped in again. “You should ask for a refund, Mayor. Whoever it was that performed the service completely skipped this bell, both polishing it and repairing it.” While no chunks of it were missing that she could see, a few hairline fractures were easily visible down the side of it. “Did you speak with the hired labor at all?”
“Of course not,” he snapped. “I have an assistant for that.”
“I hope you pay her well.”
“Oh, I do.” He seemed to realize the trap he’d just walked into and tried to backtrack. “I mean, a reasonable amount. Not anything exorbitant that would take away from other budgets.”
Clifford, who had been glued to Ruby’s side since they’d ascended the stairs, stepped toward the bell, as close as he could get, and sniffed it. After a moment, Ruby’s head tilted slightly, and she patted the hellhound on the head.
He had something. Some scent. Well, thank Heaven for that.
“Ruby, you have any questions for the mayor?”
“Oh, plenty. But none regarding the case at hand.” The Fifth Wind smiled innocently, and a deep crease formed between Periwinkle’s brows.
They left the bell tower then, and Bloom thanked the mayor for his valuable time once they reached the bottom and were back in the fresh air.
“If you can find out anything about who the contract labor was, please let me know.”
“You think this has something to do with the two elves jumping?” he said.
“Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Couldn’t say. To me, it just seems like a boring case of two elves who have it all simply losing the will to live.”
Bloom nodded along. “Yep. That’s why I’m the sheriff and you aren’t, sir.” She turned to Ruby. “Come. I think we have quite a bit to discuss.”
The Fifth Wind bowed her head. “I’ll put on a kettle.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“He recognized the scent, didn’t he?” Sheriff Bloom asked as she sipped a strong black blend in Ruby’s parlor.