George looked shocked and opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it and slinked back over to his work station.
“That’s it?” I asked Xander quietly.
He nodded.
“Yes. Come on,” he replied in a grim tone as he led me out of the restaurant.
Chapter 10
We rode our broomsticks side by side for about ten seconds before I blurted out what was burning at the front of my mind.
“So, he was lying, right? There’s no way. That’s just way too convenient a story. I mean, it’s not all that wild that he’d be home in the morning until work, but the time lines up kind of perfectly to make him look guilty, doesn’t it?”
“How do you figure?” Xander asked, the look on his face telling me he was almost testing me, getting me to back up what I was saying. I paused for a moment, organizing my thoughts.
“Well, if he had work at nine,” I said, holding a hand out as if gesticulating a timeline, “then he probably had to actually be at work about five minutes before then. If he took Tina before school started, that would have given him just enough time to hide her somewhere before clocking into work and avoiding looking suspicious.”
“So, the alibi he gave fits too well with the situation, is that your evidence?”
“What, are you on his side?” I asked, frowning.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” he said with a shrug yet a knowing smile. “If you’re going to be doing this detective thing, you’re going to need to do better than that.”
I tightened my lips and narrowed my eyes at him, but he just smiled back at me until I spoke again.
“Alright, alright. How’s this: he has a record with going after underage girls, and he fled the state to hide out here. Isn’t that both motive and an admission to guilt for something else?”
“For something else, yes,” he said. “Statutory rape is a slightly different issue.”
“It’s rape, though,” I pointed out.
“Yes, absolutely,” he agreed. “But when it comes to motive, the profiles of child molesters and statutory rapists tend to be different. Not always, but there’s a big jump between getting an underage girlfriend pregnant and abducting a six-year-old. And that aside, I don’t think his alibi incriminates him. It’s not solid enough to eliminate him as a suspect, but if he is guilty, he probably would have come up with something a little more solid than that, something that would have put him far away from the route from Tina’s house to school.”
I frowned at him. “I’m not totally sure I agree with all that, to be honest.”
“I’m not sure I do either,” Xander said with a thoughtful sigh. “But it’s one thing to believe something, and a whole different thing to have a solid case to arrest someone for hurting a child. The law is usually complicated and always messy when it comes to this kind of thing.” He smirked at me. “If it wasn’t, then just any old amateur detective could swoop in and start making arrests.”
I narrowed my eyes at Xander, and he grinned.
“So, what’s next on the list?” I asked. “I mean, if you didn’t have your local B&B hostess helping you out, what would you do?”
“In this case, I’d really like to get a statement from George’s baby-mama,” he said. “That would give me a better idea of what kind of guy we’re dealing with in him.”
“Are you leaving?” I asked a little too quickly, immediately hoping he didn’t hear the disappointment in my voice.
“Can’t,” he said. “Not with an ongoing investigation, not a chance. Besides, the spell on the town applies to me as well; I can’t leave any more than anyone else can. So, I’m going to call in a favor.”
“With who?”
“My mom,” he said bluntly, and I stared at him a few moments while I tried to process what he’d said. Then I remembered that his mom had been the town’s head of police until her two children took over. She had been a pretty good one, too, to her my mom talk. “She’s retired, currently travelling, and always looking for new things to do, so an excuse for a trip to Chicago will make her week, trust me.”
Before I had a chance to answer, my phone buzzed in my pocket. “Hang on a sec, I’m getting a call from…”
Our feet touched the ground as our booms came to a halt - flying while talking on the phone was dangerous - and I looked at the screen to see a name I didn’t often see on it.
“...your sister,” I finished, glancing up at Xander. I answered the phone cautiously. “Hello?”
“Arti,” came Morgan’s quick, harsh voice. I didn’t wince anymore, I was used to how she spoke by now. “Are you with Xander right now?”
“Hi. Um, yes.”
Chuckling at my nervousness, Xander grinned and mouthed “She doesn’t bite” at me. I waved a hand at him and turned away to focus on the call.
“Good. Tell him to check his phone. I need him over here on the outskirts of town, and I sent him coordinates. And if you’re still tagging along, you get over here too,” she added, hiding a begrudging tone.
“What’s going on?” I asked, alarmed.
“Found something,” Morgan said. “You’re going to want to see this in person. Get over here as fast as you can, okay?”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, immediately wincing after the word left my mouth, and I heard Xander cracking up behind me. This week was just going to be full of embarrassing phone calls, apparently.
When I turned around, Xander already had his phone out and was nodding. “Let me guess, she needs us to hustle over to these coordinates?” he asked, holding the phone up.
“You got it,” I said.
He gave a sharp nod, and he swung his leg back over his broom and kicked off in one strong, fluid motion that had a kind of force behind it that took me by surprise. I realized my cheeks were burning pink as I watched his figure lift off and zoom northward. Giving my head a little shake, I took off after him.
With the impetus of Morgan’s orders spurring us on, we flew higher than was usually permitted, heading straight for the coordinates Morgan sent us. As we drew close, I could see a small crowd already forming around the area Morgan had directed us towards, and as we got closer, I saw that Morgan was the one holding the crowd back, standing with her arms out and a stern look on her face.
“What’s going on here?” Xander asked as we touched down behind the police line Morgan had demarcated.
The crowd was made of mostly passers-by, but I recognized a handful of parents from the Academy trying to push forward and get a better look, anxious expressions on their faces as Morgan patrolled the police line with a whistle hanging out of her mouth that she was not afraid to use.
“Base of the tree,” Morgan said curtly, nodding in the direction behind us. “Jogger reported it, and I happened to be nearby. See for yourself.”
A sinking feeling hit my stomach as Xander and I crossed the short patch of grass to the tree, where I recognized the pink and purple shape I was looking at.
It was a child’s backpack, a colorful little plastic satchel with a cartoon unicorn on the front and worn purple straps. It was just sitting there in the brush. Something about the sight of it abandoned gave me a feeling of dread, and I hung back a few steps while Xander stepped forward to crouch down and frown at it.
He pointed to a full water bottle that was visible in one of the side-pockets. “This is full. And I’m willing to bet…” He pulled on a pair of gloves and carefully unzipped the backpack. Behind us, Morgan shouted at a few people who were trying to take out phone cameras and snap pictures of what Xander was doing.
He carefully opened the bag and nodded at what he saw inside. “There’s a full lunch in here that isn’t touched.” He reached further into the bag and pulled out a little notebook, flipping to the front page. His eyes were alight with interest. Is this what Xander was like when he smelled chum in the water? He held the notebook’s first page up to me.
In the corner was a signature in a childish hand in crayon: Tina Frost.
>
“Morgan, have you searched the area?” Xander called back to his sister.
“Yep. No sign of anyone,” she said.
“Do you realize where we are?” I said, looking at the road and the woods around us, then back down to Xander, who raised an eyebrow. “We’re not far from Francine’s house. These are the woods her cottage is up against.”
Xander’s face hardened, and he gave a sharp nod as he put the notebook back and zipped the pack up. “Morgan, can you get this back to evidence once you’ve cleared the area? I need to revisit a suspect. Immediately.”
“Alright, clear out, everyone, show’s over!” Morgan’s brisk voice barked, and most of the onlookers hurried back, cowed by her stern order. While she started herding them back, Xander grabbed me by the arm and we rushed back to our brooms.
“We need to move fast now,” he said in a low tone. “Stay behind me and follow my lead.”
My heart was pounding a mile a minute, and I almost blanked on how to ride my own broomstick as Xander kicked off ahead of me.
Barely a minute later, we came to a landing outside Francine’s cottage, and my heart went to my throat as Xander help up his hand, finger at the ready. I took mine out too, just in case, but Xander was in action-mode. He moved swiftly to the door and knocked on it firmly.
“Francine, this is Chief Forsetti,” he called in a stern but clear tone. “I need to speak with you immediately. Answer the door.”
Silence. We didn’t hear a sound for about ten seconds, and Xander clenched his jaw. I could see his body getting ready to force an entry to the cottage when the sound of shuffling stopped him.
The next moment, Francine’s sheet-white face appeared in the door.
“What’s the matter, officer?” she squeaked, eyes widening when she saw we had our fingers up at the ready. “Oh my God, what happened?”
“Ma’am,” Xander said, not lowering his hand. “We just found your daughter’s backpack on the outskirts of the woods behind your cottage.”
She put her hands to her mouth, and I heard her suck in a sharp gasp. “Oh my God! Have you found her?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Xander said. “I need to search your house. Please, step aside.”
“What?” she asked, incredulous. But when she realized Xander wasn’t joking, she stepped back, holding the cottage door open. I moved inside with Xander, and for the briefest moment, I made eye contact with Francine’s terrified face.
“I swear, I haven’t done anything!” Francine said, her voice on the verge of tears.
“Just stay with me, ma’am,” I said, putting on my best police-voice in the living room. “He’ll be quick, I promise.” I didn’t know if it was a promise I would keep, but like Xander said, someone like Francine was delicate already even on a good day.
She stood there paralyzed with fear as Xander moved through the house, searching each room with his finger at the ready. A few times, I heard him call out, “Tina? Tina Frost!”
“Am I a suspect?” Francine finally asked me, looking genuinely shocked.
I didn’t respond. What on earth could I say?
Xander finally came back to the living room with a frown on his face. “The house is clear,” he said.
“Of course it is, I didn’t take her!” Francine insisted. “Is that what you think this is?”
“We need to be thorough, ma’am,” Xander said. “The sooner we can rule you out, the sooner we can look at other avenues.”
Francine opened her mouth to protest, but before she said anything she saw the truth to Xander’s words, shutting her mouth and nodded silently.
“The town is still under quarantine, so I don’t need to tell you not to leave. We may ask you to come down to the department for further questioning.”
“This is ridiculous,” Francine said, shaking her head. “Why on earth would I take my own child?”
“It happens more often than you think,” Xander said, putting his hands on his hips. “In any case, I apologize for the inconvenience. We’ll be in touch.”
I stepped out of the house with Xander, feeling shaken.
“Does it always go that well?” I asked sheepishly.
“That was pretty smooth, all things considered,” Xander replied. “I hope you understand why I had to do that, though.”
“Oh yeah, no, totally,” I said. “It’s just a shame it had to be her.”
“I’m not ready to count her out just yet,” Xander said. “Just because Tina isn’t at the house doesn’t mean Francine doesn’t have her hidden away somewhere else. It’s sad when this kind of thing is a possibility, but being desperate and feeling cornered makes you do crazy things sometimes.”
“I feel that,” I said with a long breath, running my hand through my hair as we crunched through the snow back toward the road, brooms in hand.
“But with the quarantine spell in effect, she’s not a flight risk, so I’ll just make sure that between me and Morgan, one of us is keeping an eye on her place at all times. Trust me, I want to believe she’s gone straight-edge, but when there’s a kid involved…”
“You’ve got to take all precautions,” I finished, nodding. “I get it. I’ve just never busted into a place like that before.”
“You held your own against that guy who tried to kill you a few months back,” Xander said with a reassuring smile.
“Yeah, but that was self-defense,” I said, returning a feeble one. “Anyway, is there anywhere else around here that might be suspicious?”
Xander shook his head. “Not really. There’s a florist and two berry farms down the road, but that’s it.”
The word berry sent off an alarm in my head, and I looked up at the setting sun.
“Oh, crap!” I blurted, and Xander nearly jumped. “I’ve got to get back to the B&B and fix dinner for my guest!”
“Oh-” he started to say, but I was already mounting my broom.
“I’ll be quick!” I said, rising up off the ground and calling back, “And don’t worry, I’ll be ready in time for our d-dinner!”
Nice save, Arti.
I swept up into the air with my hair whipping behind me as I raced back home to entertain a guest who was staying for free.
Well, it beat breaking into nervous mothers’ houses.
Chapter 11
I flew home in a hurry, already feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Today had been one heck of a long day, and it wasn’t even over yet. I arrived back at the B&B with my thoughts scattering all in different directions, like a box of cereal I had just dropped unceremoniously on the floor, and I scrambled to pick up the pieces before they got crushed underfoot and lost forever. I needed to quickly figure out what to cook for Daphne and Lara for dinner, what to wear to my dinner with Xander, how to remember to breathe at my dinner with Xander, and how not to embarrass myself… at dinner with Xander.
What were we going to talk about?
Moon help me, I had no idea. I reminded myself hastily that he had said we were going to talk about the case at hand. But what if that didn’t last the whole time? What if we ran out of suspects to consider, evidence to pore over, and scenarios to run through? What if we just sat in awkward, tense silence and stared at each other the whole time?
I gulped hard as I opened the front door and ran inside. I hoped I could hold my own tonight. I couldn’t recall the last time I went out on a date with a human man. How was I supposed to remember how to talk to one? Of course, I had been talking to Xander off and on all day, but that was different. When we were working alongside one another, there was the constant comforting presence of the case dangling between us. It was almost as if the mystery itself was a third member of our party, taking up space and energy to keep us talking, to keep us busy. But once that happened to run dry, what would be left? What, really, did we have in common?
“Breathe, Arti,” I muttered to myself. “Just breathe.”
“Talking to yourself again?” A sassy voice piped up from across the r
oom. I glanced over with a smile to see Luna and Lucy both perched on the back of the sofa, sitting in identically-prissy poses, their tails twitching. They looked as though they had just been engaged in an intense conversation. I wondered what they talked about.
“Oh good, you’re back,” I said as I shrugged off my jacket and hung it up.
“Well, you said to be back by dinner, and I listened,” she replied.
“I see that, and I’m impressed,” I told her honestly. I had half-expected her to ignore my instructions as she so often did. I hovered around for a moment, unable to resist eavesdropping on the half of the conversation between the cats that I could comprehend. That is, to say, the half that Luna was carrying.
“No, I didn’t find what I was looking for,” she said quietly, with a sigh. “I looked all over this boring neighborhood and didn’t find a single clue. I don’t know how the humans do it.”
Lucy mewed a response and Luna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I would never admit that to any of them, of course. Are you crazy, Lucy? I can’t have her thinking we’re clueless or whatever.”
The white cat meowed and Luna looked angry. “Okay, yes. I suppose I am, in this case, literally clueless, as in without a clue, if you want to get pedantic about it,” she conceded grumpily. I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from snickering.
Lucy mewed and my black cat just groaned. “You know what? I don’t have to put up with your sass, you know. This is my house. You’re just a guest here. Don’t get too comfortable, missy, because we could easily toss you and your prim-and-proper movie star out on the streets if you don’t show us respect!”
Another meow in response. Luna made a sound very close to a human gasp. “Lucy! Do you talk to Lara like this? Huh? Does she know how much of a potty-mouth you are?”
Meow.
“Uh-huh. Sure. Maybe that kind of attitude might fly in some grimy city like Los Angeles but up here in Moonlight Cove, we have just a little bit more class, alright? Besides, you’re the one who was lounging around here like a spoiled brat while I was out patrolling the streets, trying to make my town a safer place. Yeah! That’s right. Luna gives back to her community. What about you?”
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