“Which is why we need to look into Professor Lei’s death,” Ellie said. “I know Amy thinks it’s a terrible idea, but she’s a part of our coven. We can’t let a buffoon who doesn’t deserve to carry a badge run this investigation.”
“It’s true there’s no chance he’ll come across the murderer,” Sara said. “I’m up for investigating Professor Lei’s death when I’m around. We owe it to her, as a member of the coven.”
I nodded. “Same. I’m in. Hopefully, Chief Enforcer King will come back soon – I wonder what’s happened to her.”
“I don’t think it’s good,” Ellie said ominously. “But who knows? I think we should focus on who killed Professor Lei, and let the Enforcers deal with Chief Enforcer King.”
“Good plan,” I said with a nod. “I agree.”
“Same with me,” Sara said. “Now, we just need to get Amy on board.”
“That won’t be too hard,” Ellie grinned. “All we have to do is tell her that because of a murderer she won’t be getting an exam mark for a while, and she’ll be ready to lock up whoever did it herself.”
I hid a smile. That certainly did sound like Amy.
“All right, so where do we start?” Sara asked. “After all, Tina and I have the rest of the afternoon off.”
“Maybe we should see what we can find out about Professor Lei’s day,” I suggested. “We know she went to the town hall that day, maybe we can confirm what she went there to do.”
“Good plan,” Ellie said. “I’ll see the two of you tonight back home.”
With that, Ellie left, I sipped at the last bits of my coffee, and Sara nibbled at a corner of a cookie, looking pensive.
“I want to do right by her, Tina. Professor Lei was one of the few professors I had who actually seemed to care about my mark. Most of the professors, once they realized how bad I was at magic, figured I was a lost cause. They just ended up leaving me alone, since what was the point in teaching me anyway, my spells never worked right. But Professor Lei wasn’t like that. Most of her classes were about theory rather than practical spells, but she still made sure that I had a chance to get a decent mark, and she actually tried to help me a lot more than most when it came to actually doing the spells right, too.”
“Don’t worry, we’re going to find the person who did this,” I said to Sara. “Or at least, we’re going to do our best. Come on. Let’s go see if we can find out what she was doing at city hall yesterday.”
The two of us got up from our table and headed out, ready to start solving this new mystery.
Luckily for us, the main town hall wasn’t too far from Hexpresso Bean, so it was a quick walk in the late-summer sunshine for us. I liked the town hall building. It was a whitewashed brick building, with awesome turrets, and a cute orange roof. Sara and I walked inside, where we were quickly met by a wolf shifter that I’d seen here before, working as a sort of security guard.
“Good afternoon, witches,” the shifter said, looking us up and down. “What are you doing here today?”
“We’re actually looking for the person who might have been working here yesterday,” I said. “Was that you?”
“It was,” the shifter replied with a curt nod. “Why are you asking about that?”
“We were wondering what Professor Lei was doing here,” I answered. “We know she came here, we’re simply trying to discover what for.”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that,” the shifter replied, his eyes moving down the hall towards the office of Chief Enforcer King.
“She was here to see the Chief Enforcer, wasn’t she?” I tried. After all, I was fairly certain that was correct.
“Um, I’m afraid that’s, um, not my position to say.”
“It’s all right,” Sara said with a disarming smile. “Let’s say hypothetically, if Professor Lei had come here yesterday to see Chief Enforcer King, do you have any idea what it might have been about?”
“Hypothetically?” the wolf asked, his eyebrow rising.
“Of course,” Sara smiled.
“Unfortunately, even hypothetically, I wouldn’t have a clue. Hypothetically, if she came here yesterday, she just asked to see Chief Enforcer King, saying it was a private matter. She wouldn’t tell me more. But hypothetically, that’s not the first time.”
“Really?” I said, my eyebrows rising. “She’s come to see Chief Enforcer King before? Hypothetically, I mean.”
The shifter nodded. “At least four times in the last two weeks, that I know of.”
“Interesting. Thanks. And you have no idea where Chief Enforcer King is?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s unlike her to be away for this long without telling anyone. Still, I’m holding my post. I hope she comes back soon, wherever she is.”
“Do you think she might be hurt?” Sara asked. “We hope she’s all right as well.”
“I honestly don’t know. Chief Enforcer King knows how to handle herself, that’s for sure. But at the same time, this is so out of the ordinary for her, I don’t know what to think. She’s not invincible. She might be an incredibly strong and powerful shifter, but still. I know I’m hoping for her to be all right.”
“We all are,” I said quietly. “I hope she’s found safe and sound sooner rather than later.”
“Thanks,” the shifter said with a small smile.
“Do you happen to know what she might have been working on?” Sara asked, but the shifter shook his head.
“I couldn’t tell you if I did know, but the truth is I haven’t got a clue. They always put rookies on the door watch, and I’m not high up in the hierarchy when it comes to being told what’s going on.”
“All right, thanks,” I said, and Sara and I left.
“I wonder why she was seeing Chief Enforcer King so often,” Sara mused.
“Me too. I wonder if Ellie isn’t right about this, and the death and disappearance are linked.”
“We need to find out what Professor Lei was seeing Chief Enforcer King about.”
“It’s too bad we can’t get into her office.”
“No, we can’t. Not with the shifter around.”
“You know where we might be able to go, though? Professor Lei’s classroom.”
Sara’s eyes widened. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“Well, it might be. I mean, we won’t look out of place in coven headquarters; we’re witches.”
“Ok, but I think we should wait until Ellie gets off work to do any real digging in places that might get us in trouble. I don’t know how to do the spells to check for wards.”
“Sure,” I nodded. “We can definitely do that.”
The two of us made our way towards coven headquarters, and I couldn’t help but wonder what on earth was going to come next.
Chapter 7
About five minutes later Sara and I were at the entrance to the coven headquarters. We opened the door to find Amy at the entrance, watching those who entered.
“And what exactly are you two doing here?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
“What, can’t we visit our coven headquarters without getting the third degree from you?” Sara asked.
“Not when I know exactly what the three of you have probably been plotting.”
“You’re right,” I said quickly. “We have actually decided to look into the murder.”
Amy sighed. “I knew it. You guys, that’s such an awful idea. That’s what law enforcement is for.”
“Yeah, except with Chief Enforcer King missing, that means Orson Brown is on the case,” Sara explained. “Professor Lei was one of ours. We can’t let her death go unsolved because of someone who should have been a buffoon shifter instead of a bear shifter being in charge of the investigation.”
For the first time, I saw Amy’s unwavering conviction slipping just a little bit, and I took advantage.
“Sara was telling me what Professor Lei meant to her. She was an important professor here, wasn’t she?”
“Sh
e was,” Amy said.
“And she taught you a lot, hasn’t she?”
“That’s right. A lot more than a lot of other professors.”
“So, we just want to do right by her and her family. And her coven,” I continued. “Come on. Help us make this right.”
Amy sighed. “All right. Fine. But the instant Chief Enforcer King comes back, we’re telling her everything we know and then staying out of it. Got it?”
Sara and I nodded. “Of course.”
“Ok. What are you guys here for?”
“We’re trying to find out what Professor Lei kept going to see Chief Inspector King about.”
Amy raised her eyebrows. “You mean yesterday, when I saw her go into coven headquarters?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t just then,” Sara said, explaining to Amy what we had discovered just a few minutes earlier.
“Interesting,” Amy said, mulling over the new information. “I hadn’t heard about that at all.”
“We were thinking of trying to get into her office to see if we could get any information,” I said. “But we were waiting for Ellie to get off work, first.”
“You’ll have to wait longer than that,” Amy said, shaking her head. “The Enforcers are up there now. They got here about an hour ago. There’s three of them. And I can’t leave here until my shift is over.”
“Didn’t you just do an overnight shift working for Lita?” I asked, and Amy nodded.
“Yes, but I wanted to know if I could do another one. Distract the mind, and all. After all, now I don’t know what’s going to happen with the exam. Will there be another professor brought in who can give it shortly? Will the class be suspended? I have a lot of questions about my marks that Lita says are going to have to wait a few days, so I figured doing double time would be a decent distraction.”
“Of course you’d be that worried about your grade,” I laughed.
“Hey, it’s important,” Amy replied. “I need to get a good mark in that class.”
“If there’s Enforcers all around the office, I guess there’s no real point in trying to get into Professor Lei’s classroom, is there?” Sara asked.
Amy shook her head. “No, definitely not. There are a number of witches here, paying their respects, though. If you go to the prayer room down the hall, you may find someone who knows something.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “Are you coming with us?”
“No, I need to stay here. I am working, after all.”
“Ok. We’ll let you know what we find out,” I said, and Sara and I made our way past Amy and into coven headquarters.
“Is the prayer room what I think it is?” I asked as Sara led me down the main part of the headquarters, towards where Lita’s office was. However, we eventually made a left, towards a thick door with stained glass windows.
“Probably,” Sara replied. “It’s our room specially dedicated to the planet Jupiter, where witches from the coven can go for comfort and prayer whenever they feel the need to do so. It’s also an informal meeting room to come together when there’s a death in the coven. It’s a calming place, where people can pay their respects.”
I nodded. The prayer room did sound a lot like our churches back in the human world. Sara opened the door, and I gasped as I stepped past her and into the chapel.
This was really nothing like a church at all. Some sort of fog-like substance emanated from the ground, hiding everyone’s feet. The walls had disappeared completely; instead we were all surrounded by a vision of space. It was like we were actually standing in Jupiter and its gasses, and were surrounded by space all around us.
I took a hesitant step forward, half expecting to fall through the floor and plummet through space forever, and instead found myself feeling almost weightless. It was sort of like being in the shallow end at the pool. I could still feel something that kind of felt like ground underneath my feet, but only barely, and I kind of half-jumped, half-floated from place to place.
Was this what being in space felt like?
I took a second to look at the walls around. Yes, this room was definitely designed to give the impression that we were floating through space. I could see Saturn, surrounded by its large rings, to my left, and a tiny Uranus over to my right. Wow.
“Are you ok?” Sara asked, leading me deeper into the room.
“Are we actually on Jupiter?” I asked, and Sara laughed.
“No. We’re still very much on earth. But this room is enchanted to make us feel as though we’re on our home planet, floating in the clouds of gas that make it up. It’s calming, isn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that,” I muttered. This was way too weird to be entirely calming.
“Well, maybe if you were in the equivalent prayer room from your own coven you’d feel more comfortable,” Sara replied. “Now come on, let’s find some people to talk to.”
Looking around, I noticed the other people for the first time. I’d been so focused on the fact that I literally felt like I was floating in space that I hadn’t even realized there were about thirty people in this huge space.
A few witches were standing towards the edge of the fog, sadly tossing handfuls of flower petals into the void. The petals floated away into space, and there was something oddly comforting about watching them. Others stood around the witches, watching the ritual.
To my right were some witches and wizards, standing together in a tight circle. They seemed to be speaking urgently about something, so I began to make my way towards them, trying to be subtle about it so I could maybe overhear what they were talking about.
Unfortunately, I completely forgot about the strange gravity in this room, and I quickly found myself careening towards the group, floating towards them in slow-motion but unable to stop myself.
“Excuse me, sorry!” I ended up calling out at the last second as I realized I was about to stumble straight into them. Most of the group got out of the way in time, but I hit an older wizard who didn’t quite seem to have heard me in time. The two of us fell slowly into the fog, and a moment later I felt a hand around my elbow helping me up.
“Oh dear, you must be the new witch in town. I imagine you’re not quite used to the gravity in here,” a friendly-looking witch with curly dark blonde hair said as she helped me up.
“That’s right. Thanks for the help. Sorry about that,” I said to the older wizard, who was being helped up by another wizard.
“Watch where you’re going next time, will you?” he harrumphed, scowling at me.
“Come on now, Elias. This is obviously that new witch in town; I’m sure this is her first time in a prayer room like this. It’s Tina, isn’t it?” the witch asked, and I nodded.
“That’s right. I’m sorry about that. You’re right, I’ve never been in anything quite like… this,” I said, motioning around with my hands.
“Oh it’s quite all right,” the witch said. “I can only imagine how new this must all be for you. I’m Alex, one of the coven professors. And these are Elias, and John, two of the other professors as well.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “Although I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances.”
“As are we,” John said. He was tall, but rather on the stocky side. I would have expected him to be more of a rugby player or something than a professor. “Mai was a wonderful witch, and we’re all going to miss her very much.”
“I’ve only heard good things about her, and I hope whoever did this to her is found quickly,” I said. The three professors exchanged glances.
“So it’s making the rounds that she was murdered,” Elias said quietly. “That poor witch, and her poor family. I can’t imagine why anyone would have wanted to hurt her.”
“Neither can I,” John said, shaking his head. “Her poor family.”
“I spoke to Andy this morning,” Alex said, turning to me. “That’s her husband. He and the girls are just distraught.”
“Do any of you know why she might have g
one to see Chief Enforcer King yesterday?” I asked. After all, maybe Professor Lei had told some of her colleagues about her visits. But, the expressions on all three faces told me right away that no, they had no idea.
“I can’t see why she would. She hadn’t said anything to me about having problems with anyone.”
“She had been acting a little bit strangely the last few weeks, though,” John said pensively.
“Oh?” I asked.
“Yes. Going out a little bit more than usual. And at all hours; she was doing it in the middle of the day sometimes.”
“That’s right. She asked me to take over one of her classes last week,” Alex said. “She told me she had to visit the Healers for a health issue she was dealing with.”
That was interesting. Heather hadn’t mentioned anything about Professor Lei needing a Healer, but maybe she didn’t know? I made a mental note to talk to Sara about it.
“That was what she told me as well, when I asked,” John said. “When I heard she’d died, I assumed that whatever she was dealing with was a lot more serious than she wanted anyone to know about it. But now that it’s murder…” He trailed off, shaking his head sadly.
“She was a good witch, though,” Elias said. “She deserves better than to have been killed in her own classroom. I do hope they find Chief Enforcer King sooner rather than later, and that she takes over this investigation, because there isn’t a hope in Hades that Orson Brown will get anywhere.”
“That’s for sure,” Alex muttered. “What an absolute disaster.”
“I just hope Chief Enforcer King is all right,” Elias said. “She’s been the Chief Enforcer here for fifteen years, and she’s always been reliable. She’s much better than her predecessor was, that was for sure.”
“And she’s not afraid to ask for help when she needs it,” John added. “Shifters can be so stubborn, but King isn’t like that. I like her, and I hope she’s found shortly as well.”
“I do too,” I said. “Well, I should get going. It was nice to meet you all.”
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