Liz’s face fell. “So that’s it? There’s no more factory? No more job?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, my heart breaking as I saw the despair in her eyes. “I wish there was something I could do, but there isn’t. Chief Enforcer Lupo has made it very obvious to me that he doesn’t want the factory operating anymore and has threatened to have me arrested if I even step foot on the property.”
“We’re going to get paid for the last few weeks though, right?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “Even if we’re not in charge of the factory anymore, there’s no way the city can get away with not paying you. There are still labor laws to obey. But I’m afraid I’m no longer the person to speak to about that. The city owns the factory now, and I can’t access anything inside of it.”
Liz nodded and managed a small smile. “Thanks for being so kind. I know this isn’t your fault.”
“I really am sorry,” I told Liz. “If there was anything I could do at all, I would.”
“If you hear of any jobs going in town, would you be able to recommend me?”
“Of course,” I said. “If I hear of anything, I’ll let you know.”
Liz left then, and I watched her float off, her fairy wings flapping far more slowly than was normal. I felt bad for her; she was obviously not doing great financially, and even if she found a new job now, it would be a few weeks before her first paycheck. I hoped the city wouldn’t jerk the employees around too much when it came to getting the last of the money they were owed.
Very quickly, however, my mind turned to the job at hand as the other employees began arriving. I was going to have to tell each and every one of them that they didn’t have a job anymore. Telling Liz had already been fairly soul-crushing; the rest of this day was going to be awful.
Still, I reminded myself, it was going to be worse for these people who discovered they didn’t have a job anymore.
After about two hours, I had told all of the employees the bad news and had discussions with most of them. It certainly wasn’t an ideal spot to have a meeting like that, out in the open that way, but we couldn’t do it inside the factory since Chief Enforcer Lupo had banned us from being inside of it.
Most of the employees were understanding, which was nice, and as the last of the people started clearing out, I spotted Chief Enforcer Lupo himself making his way toward the factory.
He was snarling, out for blood. I could tell. Well, bully for him, I wasn’t about to back down. I stood where I was and tried to look casual while I waited for him to arrive. To be completely honest, my heart was beating at approximately a million beats per minute inside my chest. If I had been in the hospital, the Healers probably would have called a code, or something. After all, he had caught us yesterday. We were in Carl Perkins’s apartment, and Tina had unleashed a torrent of water that literally washed him away.
I could definitely understand that he wanted to get a bit of revenge on us. I just wasn’t going to let him have it.
“You,” he snarled as he came up to me.
“Yes?” I asked, trying to look as innocent as I possibly could.
“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”
“Yesterday? Andrea, Ashley, and I visited our parents at the Spellcatraz, and then we came home. After all, it was pretty stressful.”
“And you were there all night?”
“That’s right,” I nodded. “Just a quiet night in, the three of us together.”
“You weren’t at any point in Western Woods? In Carl Perkins’s house, maybe?”
I widened my eyes, hoping I was pulling off looking surprised. “Western Woods? No, of course not. Why would I be there?”
“I was hoping you would tell me. You see, I saw some people when I was in that house, and I could have sworn you and your sisters were among them.”
“Well, it definitely wasn’t us. We were here.”
“And if I check the portal records, there won’t be any record of the three of you coming back into town last night?”
“No, not at all,” I said.
“And if I ask Chief Enforcer King in Western Woods for her records, there won’t be any that show the three of you going there?”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head.
Chief Enforcer Lupo looked at me carefully. “You’re aware that breaking and entering is a serious offense in the paranormal world, right?”
“Of course. That’s why I would never do it,” I said.
“I hope you wouldn’t. But trust me: if I find any proof that you and your meddling sisters were in Carl Perkins’s apartment last night, I will do everything in my power to make sure the three of you join your parents in Spellcatraz.”
“Well, luckily for all of us then, you’re not going to find that proof,” I said with a smug smile. After all, Chief Enforcer Lupo was totally hunting for a confession. The fact that almost half a day had passed meant that he had checked the portal records already and hadn’t found what he wanted. Which meant that now we had the upper hand, because he had no proof that we were there.
I could tell the fact that I wasn’t willing to immediately confess was bugging Chief Enforcer Lupo. He kept snarling and licking his lips, like he wanted to attack me or something.
“I hope you find whoever was in that house, though,” I said cheerily.
“Oh, I will. I know exactly who it was, and I will bring them to justice. You can count on that,” he told me, his eyes boring into mine.
“Well, happy hunting,” I said, giving him a cheery wave and heading back out toward the house. I didn’t look back, but I knew he was snarling after me as I left. As soon as I closed the front door of our house behind me, I burst into a fit of laughter mixed with tears. I couldn’t believe we’d actually gotten away with it! The look on Chief Enforcer Lupo’s face when he realized he wasn’t going to get to lock us all up in jail made almost getting eaten by a seal completely worth it.
Chapter 26
Grace texted me later, begging off from our lesson, telling me she had a cold. I wished her well, thinking that this was a perfect opportunity to get some chocolates done myself. After all, I knew how to make one type of chocolates. And I could work on some of the peripheral business stuff as well, like getting boxes and a logo, that sort of thing.
Before sitting down in the kitchen, I took my time getting all of the ingredients to make the chocolates and laying them out on the counter. In my training as a Healer, we were always taught that before performing a surgery we had to make sure we had all of our tools out and ready so that we wouldn’t find ourselves rushed or panicked in the middle of a procedure when we realized we had forgotten an essential tool.
This was the same sort of thing. Once I had everything set up, I set about making another batch of the happiness potion. When it was ready, I added it to a batch of dark chocolate in a cauldron. Then I heated up some cream on the stove and poured it in. I began to whisk away at the mixture, enjoying the sensation of the chocolate pushing against me for a bit before slowly melting into a gorgeous, silky liquid. I snuck a little bit of a taste and felt not only the happiness from the potion, but also pride. I was proud of myself for managing to make a delicious batch of chocolate. Maybe I was biased, but if I bought a box like this, I would be very happy with the purchase.
I was definitely pulling this off.
I placed the cauldron full of ganache into the fridge. Now all I had to do was wait a little while and it would be ready for shaping.
While I waited, I pulled out the computer and opened up an image manipulation program. Back when I was at the Academy in Pacific Cove, I had taken an elective course that was all about using these sorts of programs, and graphic design in general. It was there that I learned the basics of design rules and strategy, and I always thought I naturally had a fairly good eye for that sort of thing.
Of course, it had also been so long since I had been at the Academy that I had forgotten quite a lot more than I had hoped. I opened up a stock photo website an
d found a cool-looking picture of a phoenix. It was modern and minimalist, and the perfect picture to use as a logo.
I happily downloaded it, then played around looking at fonts for a while until I found a gorgeous script that fit with my logo perfectly.
I saved my picture, very happy with my work. My new company had a logo, and in a few minutes, the first box of chocolates was going to be ready.
Making my way back to the kitchen, I carefully rolled out balls of now-hardened ganache, taking care to make sure each truffle was as evenly sized as possible. Then I rolled the truffles in cocoa powder and carefully placed them in a Tupperware container before slipping them back into the fridge.
Now that I had a logo for my company, I was going to have to worry about the next thing—boxes and other packaging material.
Of course, if only I’d been allowed into the factory, it would all be easy. I was sure there were thousands of chocolate boxes sitting around, and the name of their manufacturer had to be on them somewhere. But I wasn’t allowed in. I could ask my parents, but I didn’t think that was an appropriate reason to go out to Spellcatraz. Besides, a part of me didn’t want to tell them what I was doing. I wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe I just wanted it to be a surprise when we finally proved that they were innocent of any wrongdoing. Or maybe I was just afraid of failing and letting them down when I wanted my new company to be a success to keep on the family role of chocolate maker.
Whatever the reason, I knew I wasn’t going to go to them for help. I was going to have to do this on my own.
Chewing on my lip, I wondered if there was anyone else at the factory who knew what company the chocolate boxes were made by. After all, my parents ran the administrative side of the business, but there had to be someone else there who knew. I thought maybe Patricia Osis. After all, she worked in the part of the business that packaged up the chocolates, right?
I had seen Patricia that morning when I spoke to all of the employees. She had been very understanding, telling me she understood and that she had already been starting to look for different work, and that she didn’t hold anything that had happened against me or my family.
That was quite nice of her, I thought, and I pulled out my phone to call her. She answered on the second ring.
“Hi, Patricia,” I told her. “Sorry to call you. I was just wondering if you might remember the name of the company my parents used for the chocolate boxes.”
“Oh. Sure. Um, let me think. I saw the boxes they all came in. Magical Packaging, I think it was. Yeah, that was it. I think they’re based out of a paranormal town in China somewhere.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, eternally grateful to her. Having a lead I could follow straightaway was definitely going to make my life that much easier.
“No problem,” Patricia replied. “Good luck with everything.”
I thanked Patricia and hung up, then made my way back to the computer. A quick search found me the Magical Packaging website, where I was able to quickly and easily place an order—the website had some chocolate-company packaging ready to go. My chocolate company was going to be up and running shortly.
One of the cool things about the magical world was that a lot of things that took humans a long time were practically instant for us. About an hour after placing my order, there was a knock at the door, and a deliveryman showed up with a box full of packaging. There it was. My new chocolate boxes, with my new company logo on them, ready for the batch of chocolates that was sitting in my fridge.
I had to admit, as I made my way over and unfolded one of the boxes, carefully placing the truffles in the plastic holder that fit into the triangular box, I was proud of what I’d done. I was definitely doing this, and it actually felt like this was what I was meant to do.
I had found my thing in life. I was going to make chocolates.
With my first box of chocolates completely ready, I decided to go over to Western Woods and deliver the box to my new friends. After all, if anyone deserved to enjoy the fruits of my labor first, it was them. The shifter at the portal was sitting in the shade and waved at me as I left; I waved back as I stepped onto the driftwood and made my way to Western Woods.
I sent a text to Ellie when I got there, who quickly replied with a makeshift map letting me know how to get to their house. It took me about twenty minutes to get there, and as soon as I arrived, I was greeted by a cacophony of happy witches.
“Oooh, are these your chocolates?” Tina said when she opened the door. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re the best!” Ellie said. “I’m always the one making stuff here, so it’s nice to have this brought over.”
“Oh please, you love baking for us,” Sara said, and Ellie shot her a grin.
“Fine, I do. But it’s still nice to get some chocolates.”
“I just wanted to thank you all for everything,” I said. “It looks like we got away with our little extracurricular adventure, too.”
“I had to sneak into Lita’s office and delete those records myself!” Amy said from the back of the room. “Do you know how much I wanted to confess straightaway?”
“Well, we really do appreciate it,” I said. “Chief Enforcer Lupo came by and he’s sworn that if he can prove we were in Western Woods that night, he’s going to make sure we all get locked up.”
“Was he pissed when he found out he couldn’t prove it?” Ellie asked with a grin, and she cackled with laughter when I nodded. “Good. He was awful, and he got what he deserved.”
“Did he? Because he did catch all of you breaking and entering,” Amy said, crossing her arms.
“Yeah, but it was for a good reason,” Tina said. “We thought your uncle was the killer and we needed proof. I’m just sorry we never managed to solve that crime.”
“Well, it sounds like the world isn’t exactly missing anything with my uncle no longer in it,” Amy said, shaking her head. “I am glad you didn’t find proof it was Uncle Carl, though. Uncle Charles was awful, but Uncle Carl was always nice to me. Of course, I do hope he didn’t do it at all.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” Ellie said. “Maybe we’ve just been thinking about it the wrong way the whole time. Maybe the answer’s been staring everyone in the face, and we just don’t know it yet.”
“Maybe,” Sara said. “I still think it’s far more likely that it’s actually one of the suspects that Megan and her sisters came up with, though.”
“Either way, I hope you figure it out,” Ellie said. “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Thanks, will do,” I said before saying goodbye to my new friends and heading back to Pacific Cove. As I was walking back home along the main road, my phone binged to let me know I had a text. It was from Amy.
These chocolates are delicious. We can’t get enough. Thanks again!
I smiled to myself. My new friends from Western Woods were awesome.
Chapter 27
As I made my way home that night, I couldn’t help but think about what Sara had said. Maybe I did have it all wrong. Maybe instead of Carl Perkins, I should be focusing on someone else entirely. I thought maybe I should look into Charles’s ex-wife some more. After all, Peggy might have had an alibi, but maybe, like Carl Perkins’s, it was false.
When I got back home, however, I saw Deputy Chief Enforcer Ming knocking at the door.
“Hey, I’m just here,” I called out, waving at her, and she began making her way over to me.
“Megan, hi,” Deputy Ming said to me. “How are things going? I hope you’re holding up alright?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. There’s been a lot of, well, disappointment over the last couple of days, though.”
“I can imagine,” Deputy Ming said, shaking her head sadly. “For what it’s worth, I thought insisting that the company be given up and all the assets transferred to Pacific Cove was needlessly punitive. But don’t tell Chief Enforcer Lupo I said that.”
“Thanks,” I said with a small smi
le.
“Anyway, it’s about the factory that I came to see you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I’ve spent the day in there doing an inventory of everything, and there were a few personal items that I felt should be given back to you and your family, since even though they were technically on factory property I really don’t believe we should keep them.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“If you want to come with me, they’re just in a box by the entrance.”
“Sure,” I said, following after Deputy Chief Enforcer Ming as the two of us made our way to the factory that no longer belonged to my family. As we passed through the door and into the building, my heart panged. The smell of chocolate still lingered in the air, a memory of the work that used to happen here. I wondered what was going to happen to all the unfilled orders. I knew it wasn’t my problem to deal with anymore, but I still hoped the customers understood. After all, they hadn’t asked to be thrown into the middle of this mess.
“This is the stuff,” Deputy Ming said, motioning to a box she had filled. “I mostly found it in the upstairs rooms. There are some childhood photos of you and your sisters, and also a monogrammed blanket with the letter ‘A,’ as well as an engraved mug that looks like it belonged to your father.”
“Thank you so much,” I said gratefully, picking up the box.
“No problem. I just thought your family might like having this back.”
“Absolutely,” I said. “I’ll take it home now.”
I left and made my way back to the house carrying the box. By the time I got back, I found my sisters had gotten back from work, and Ashley was in the kitchen assembling some homemade pizza.
“What’s in the box?” she asked.
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