by Tegan Maher
“Sure,” Scarlett replied. “Although I’m not sure how far and wide the knowledge of the Ruby of Remembrance being here made it just yet. If news only began to spread today, it might have taken a thief from another town longer to find out about it, let alone make a plan to steal it.”
“Hm, that’s a good point,” I muttered, almost to myself.
“My guess is it’s someone local, or at least someone who was in town last night. Heck, it could have even been anyone in the cast and crew, too.”
“There are just too many suspects,” I said, shaking my head, and Scarlett nodded.
“Agreed. I’m glad Chief Enforcer Tyson is trying to figure this all out and not us.”
“I would like to know if the movie is going to go ahead or not,” Pawdrey said. “I really do want it to continue.”
“We all do,” I said. “Hopefully we get a Christmas miracle and the Ruby of Remembrance is found.”
Unfortunately, things weren’t looking too good in that regard.
The following morning, I decided to head down to Charmed Coffee, thinking that not only could I use a nice little pick-me-up before going through the day, but I might be able to pick up on some of the more interesting gossip with relation to the Ruby of Remembrance.
Once I ordered my coffee I looked around for a seat, and my eyes landed on Zayne, sitting by himself at a small chair, typing away on his iPad. I immediately headed in his direction.
“Let me guess: you’re writing an article on the side about the disappearance of the ruby.”
Zayne worked for the local newspaper, the Fairy Falls Ogopogo, and while his current job mainly involved writing articles about seeing the first hummingbird of the season, or explaining how to use different types of mushrooms in potions, his dream was to become the most famous investigative journalist in the paranormal world. As a result, he was constantly writing articles on the side, working to make a name for himself.
“Of course,” he replied as I slid into the seat across from him. “This is a great opportunity. I’ve already sold an article to a major paper just giving them basic details of the theft. I’m working on something more in-depth, but things will go better if the ruby is actually found.”
“I’ll happily do an interview with you if you need it. I was in the room when the ruby was stolen.”
Zayne’s eyes lit up and he instinctively reached for his phone. “Really? That’s amazing. Let me turn on the voice recorder, and then tell me everything.”
I grinned. “Fine, but don’t name me. Pawdrey would probably murder me if I get named as the person telling all the movie studio secrets.”
“You got it,” Zayne replied.
I went through the entire story, and when I was finished, Zayne shook his head, incredulous.
“It’s such a brazen robbery. That’s what gets me. They didn’t wait to sneak into the studio in the middle of the night. They didn’t wait until everyone was gone. They went into the studio in the middle of the day, in the middle of the auditions, blatantly stole it, and then they must have just mingled in with the crowd as they casually left. It takes an insane amount of gusto to do something like that.”
I nodded. “You’re right. And it was so quick, too. It must have taken about five seconds for the thief to get in and get out. I almost wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Or, well, not seen it.”
“What worries me is that a beautiful stone like that is going to be carved up into a whole bunch of smaller rubies to be sold, in all likelihood,” Zayne said sadly.
I let out a small gasp. “Do you really think so?”
“It’s generally what happens to large, famous stones like that when they’re stolen. There’s no way around it. They’re worth so much money, but everyone knows when a famous stone like that has been stolen, so the new owner can’t actually show it off in public the way they’d want to, so the price the thief can get for it is far reduced. Instead, they cut up the stone into much more manageable sized pieces and sell them off individually, and no one is the wiser. There’s no way for anyone to know that it was really the Ruby of Remembrance.”
“That would be a real shame,” I said. “I saw the ruby before it was stolen, and it was beautiful.”
Zayne nodded. “So I’ve heard. I agree. Chief Enforcer Tyson really is on a clock here, though.”
“I hope she finds who it was,” I said. “I’m sure she has all the shifters reporting portal use, so whoever did it must still be in town.”
“Agreed,” Zayne replied. “They won’t risk trying to leave Fairy Falls for a little while, at least. That’s the only saving grace. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the shifters are searching paranormals when they leave town right now. So she has some time to try and figure out who it was, but it won’t be long. As soon as the thief thinks it’s safe, they’ll skip town, and then the ruby is as good as gone.”
“It won’t be good for the town’s new budding business as a movie hub if that happens, will it? I mean, a lot of studios aren’t going to want to shoot in the town when they think their valuable stuff is going to get stolen.”
“Right,” Zayne agreed. “It’ll be best for everyone if the ruby is found.”
I really hoped someone was going to get there, and fast.
5
I spent about an hour with Zayne, enjoying a breakfast burrito and a coffee, until I received a text from Scarlett asking if I wanted to go Christmas shopping with her. We organized to meet a little while later, but before I left I decided to see what he had found out.
“How about you? What else have you got from your investigation?”
“Not much, honestly,” Zayne said, pulling out his notepad and flipping it open. “I knew who was part of the casting crew, who was in the room with you, and did a little bit of research on everyone.”
“Anyone stick out to you as being in dire straights financially, or secretly being kleptomaniacs?”
“No. Sean and Sandra are brother and sister; they work together on a lot of projects. They’re very well-known in the paranormal world for their casting abilities, and picked Lindsay Villa for the role themselves. Vladimir Yogiescu has a long history of making movies. He was one of the first producers of movies in the paranormal world. Moved over here from Europe as soon as Hollywitch was founded. And then of course there was Lindsay Villa. She’s a famous actress in her own right, although her star has faded slightly over the last couple of years. She’s been involved in a few scandals here and there, but this movie was supposed to be her big break to get back into the limelight. I don’t think she would have done anything to jeopardize that.”
“Plus, she was the most at-risk,” I added. “Since the ruby had to be ripped off her throat.”
“You’re right,” Zayne agreed. “No, I don’t think anyone in that room was involved.”
“That leaves an awful lot of paranormals,” I said. “What about the shifter?”
“Vulpin Manx,” Zayne said. “Of all the paranormals in that room, he’s the only one with a criminal record. As a teenager he was caught stealing a few times.”
“Oh?” I said, raising my eyebrows, and Zayne nodded.
“I looked into him a little bit deeper because of that. He’s not nearly as ingrained into the Hollywitch lifestyle as the others. In fact, he doesn’t even live in Hollywitch. He lives in Palm Rings, and commutes to Hollywitch when needed.”
“Well, that’s not that out of the ordinary, is it?” I asked, and Zayne shook his head.
“No, it’s not. But in an industry where everyone else seems to live in town, he certainly shows himself as being an outsider.”
“What’s his history in the movie business and in casting?”
“He got started in it five years ago,” Zayne replied, his eyes scanning his notes. “Career change. He’s forty-two years old now.”
“What did he do before?”
“Traditional shifter work—construction. I was curious as to what triggered
the change, and I found an interview with him in a magazine about the newest and greatest behind-the-scenes workers in Hollywitch. He said he worked construction, like a lot of shifters did, but it was starting to take a toll on his body. Then one day he was in an accident; he hurt his back. His construction days were over, and he had to find something else to do for a living.”
“Casting for Hollywitch production studios is quite a bit different to construction,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “How did he get into that?”
“He spent a lot of time working in Hollywitch when in his first career,” Zayne explained. “One of the companies he worked for built a lot of sets for the movies, so he got to see first-hand what all the roles were. He decided he liked the idea of casting, spoke to a few paranormals he knew already doing it, and got a leg in that way.”
“But he has a criminal record.”
Zayne nodded. “When he was twenty he and a few other shifters tried robbing a local store. They failed miserably and spent a few years in Spellcatraz.”
“That was a long time ago now, and I know paranormals can be idiots when they’re young, but could it also be a case of him seeing an opportunity and deciding to take it?” I suggested.
“I’ve thought about that myself,” Zayne said. “If that were the case, though, he would have needed an accomplice, right? He would never have managed to do it all himself?”
“Right,” I agreed. “I don’t think he would have been able to jump from his chair, rip the ruby off Lindsay, find his chair again without hitting anybody else on the way and then look innocent. Besides, Chief Enforcer Tyson searched everyone before they left the room. There was no way he had the ruby on him, and it’s not like he could have hidden it anywhere.”
“So if whoever was behind this was someone in the room they would have needed a partner.”
I sighed. “Yeah. That’s the problem, though. There’s no way to even know if someone in the room was behind it, or if it was someone entirely different.”
“Odds are no one in that room was involved,” Zayne said thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll keep digging. If you find out anything that can help, would you let me know?”
“Sure thing,” I replied. “Will do.”
I left the coffee shop to meet up with Scarlett, who was ready to get started on Christmas shopping.
“What do you normally get paranormals for Christmas?” she asked, and I smiled.
“Well, seeing as last Christmas I didn’t know paranormals even existed, nothing,” I replied.
“You know what I mean. People, then.”
“Honestly, I didn’t really have a lot of people in my life that I was close to,” I said with a shrug. “Christmas was more about ordering Chinese food and spending the day inside catching up on work. I’d treat myself by having Hallmark movies on in the background.”
Scarlett gave me a sad look. “Well, we’re going to change that. Christmas is about more than presents and gifts. Christmas is all about love. And since we’re a part of the coven of love, that means Christmas is one of the holidays most suited to us. I’m going to show you how to celebrate it properly.”
I shot Scarlett a grateful look. I had always been worried that people who knew about my childhood—my mother had never loved me the way other mothers did—would judge me for it, or laugh at me for doing things like spending Christmas working. But Scarlett never did. She simply accepted it as a fact of life, and then went on showing me how she did things.
“Come on. What’s the first step to being able to love others?” she asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“Love yourself first,” I answered with a smile, knowing the answer by heart now.
“Exactly. So when it comes to Christmas, you have to have a Christmas experience that will make you happy. Is there anything you’ve ever wanted to do? Something that you’ve seen others do at Christmas and that you’ve gone “I’d love to do that, but I can’t or I don’t deserve it”? It can be anything at all.”
I thought for a few minutes while I considered Scarlett’s question.
“I’d love to have a big family dinner,” I finally admitted. “You know, the kind with turkey, and mashed potatoes, and stuffing, and all the fixings. And then pumpkin pie and egg nog for dessert. I’ve never had that before, and I’d love to experience it.”
“Well then, we’re going to make it happen,” Scarlett replied. “We’ll have a big family dinner. Of course, our family isn’t huge, so there won’t be thirty people there, but we’ll make it work.”
“Honestly, even just a few would be amazing,” I replied. “I feel so silly, thinking of it. But that’s always what it looks like on TV, and I’ve never had that.”
“It’s not silly to want to experience something that you’ve seen that looks fun,” Scarlett said to me, her voice all serious. “Just because you saw it on television doesn’t make it any less valid. Your wants and desires are very real, and deserve to be met.”
“Thanks,” I said to her. “You’re the best, you know?”
“I do know,” she replied. “Now, let me guess: you’ve never bought yourself a Christmas present, either.”
“You’re right on that point,” I said with a laugh.
“Well, what do you want for Christmas?”
I was at a loss. “I… I genuinely have no idea.”
“In that case, we’re going to go around and have a look, and we’re going to find something perfect for you. And you’re going to find something perfect for me, and for Grandma Eva, and for anyone else that you think deserves a Christmas gift.”
“Ok,” I said, nodding.
“The thing about gifts is they don’t have to be expensive. They don’t even have to cost any money at all. Showing someone you love them through gifts doesn’t necessarily mean spending a lot. It can mean buying them a little something that can help them in their lives that they never would have thought about or bought for themselves. It can mean baking them something special, and showing that you care through your cooking. Putting thought into your gifts is more important than putting money into them.”
“Right,” I said. “I think I’ve got it.”
“Good,” Scarlett said with a smile. “Now, let’s go shopping. We’re going to see what you like, and what you don’t like.”
I completely understood what Scarlett meant about being thoughtful over spending money. Her spending the day with me like this was worth more to me than being gifted the Ruby of Remembrance would be.
6
Four hours later, the two of us stumbled back into the house, our arms laden with bags.
“I hadn’t planned on buying this much, honestly,” I said with a giggle.
“It’s ok,” Scarlett replied. “Some days, you just have to treat yourself.”
“And how come no one ever told me egg nog lattes are so good?” I asked, taking a sip of the take-out coffee Scarlett and I had picked up on the way back. “I live for pumpkin spice lattes in the fall, but the idea of egg nog always sounded gross. I figured it would be too thick and syrupy, but no, this is amazing.”
“Right? It’s the perfect combination, I think. The egg nog adds a hint of sweetness and festive cheer to the coffee,” Scarlett replied.
In the end, most of the things I had bought today were going to be used to make Christmas gifts for the people that were important to me. Scarlett had been right: more important than the cost was the thoughtfulness of the gift, and I decided to use my newfound potion-making abilities to make some personalized gifts for the important people in my life.
For Pawdrey I was going to make cat biscuits infused with the potion from the local cat spa that rendered her fur shiny and silky smooth.
For Scarlett I planned on making brownies with an added potion that rendered even the most awkward paranormal into a slick-tongued sweet-talker in the best possible way, that she could take one when meeting with film executives while auditioning. I was also going to sign her up for an acting class taught by a l
egend of the silver screen here in the paranormal world, which would be the surprise of a lifetime for her.
My Grandma Eva, however, was going to get the most personal gift of all. I was going to travel back to the human world, and see my mother, who I hadn’t spoken to in years, to get all of my baby photos and mementos. I knew there weren’t a lot—Mom hadn’t exactly been the sentimental type—but whatever I could find was going to go in a scrapbook for Grandma Eva, so she could see how her granddaughter had grown up.
I really hoped she would like it.
I had also splurged for myself a little bit and bought some Christmas-themed bath bombs that I planned on making excellent use of.
As I settled into the kitchen to make a big batch of chili for dinner, for the very first time I began to feel the true meaning of Christmas.
Scarlett and I were eating at the dining table and discussing the case of the ruby, while Pawdrey sat at my feet begging for bits of meat from the chili.
“You know, I was thinking about the ruby,” Scarlett said thoughtfully. “What if it’s much simpler than we all think?”
“Oh?”
“I mean, think about it. We’ve been going through all these conspiracy theories about how they’re going to get the ruby out of town, that sort of thing. It’s all very complicated. What if it isn’t complicated at all?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I guess I’m overthinking it. But what if the ruby is still in town?”
“Zayne and I think it is. I spoke to him this afternoon. Whoever took it won’t dare to leave town with it until it’s safe.”
Suddenly, everything clicked. My eyes widened and I jumped up from the table.
“What is it?” Scarlett asked.
“I know who stole the ruby,” I said. “We need to find Chief Enforcer Tyson.”
“Who did it?” Scarlett said as we walked to the Enforcer’s station.