The Girl in Gold: A Vox Swift Mystery (Vox Swift Mysteries Book 2)

by Beth Lyons

  Yeah, but if she’s all business, it’s like the kiss never happened. How do you bring it up if she doesn’t, right? No easy way on this one, Vox.

  Jesskah came in a side door with Finn Hobrook and walked past me without stopping. She was deep in conversation with Finn as they walked by. She probably didn’t see me sitting there. I was early; no reason for her to expect to see me in the lobby. Right?

  I took swig of tea and grimaced. Needed sugar.

  When I walked up the staircase at 8am I was empty handed. The teas sat on the bench. I hadn’t bought three teas and if Finn was going to be there… well, you could bring tea for your girlfriend, the cop, but you wouldn’t bring tea to the paladin you were assisting on a murder. Unless you brought tea for everyone working the case, but that’s kinda strange too…

  On second thought, no more tea. Kiss or no kiss, Jesskah Morningstar has her own complicated situation. And I have enough to worry about without adding one more woman to my life. Face it, Vox you’re barely over Neryssa. You’ve got Marilye to capture, and Even needs your help to reverse the curse that split her mind in two. “Who has time for romance with all that?”

  A female dwarf looked up from her desk. “Can I help you?”

  Flustered from having spoken aloud I said, “Jesskah Morningstar here to— I mean Vox Swift. I’m Vox Swift, and I’m here to see Paladin Morningstar.”

  “Oh. I see.” She straightened some papers on her desk. “Sit over there.” She pointed to a chair by the door, well away from her desk and surrounding cabinets.

  “I’m Vox Swift.” I held out my hand. “Boleian Investigations.”

  “Yes. You already told me your name.” She returned her focus to the file in front of her.

  “Will you let Jes— Paladin Morningstar know that I’m here?”

  “Is she expecting you?”

  Boy, this dwarf is one tough nut. “Yes,” I said. “She is.”

  “Then I don’t need to tell her anything. Have a seat.”

  Jesskah stepped through a far door. “Tundra, I’m expecting— Vox! You’re here.”

  Tundra. Tundra Stonesten. The woman Finn had bragged about. The one who kept the office tidy and free of loose paper which might accidentally fall into a private detective’s hands. “Mizzen Stonesten was just making me feel at home.” I gave the dwarf a big smile.

  “Great. Professor Hawktite should be here soon. Come on in.”

  Jesskah led me to a small room with a table and a few chairs. A large darkened window took up one wall. “You and Detective Hobrook will stand on the other side,” she pointed at the window. “And I’ll cast the spell in here. We’ll have about eight minutes, so I’ll have him run through his statement first and then get to the crucial points once I’ve cast.”

  I nodded, but I was secretly impressed. Eight minutes seemed like an awful long time to hold a spell, especially one this complex.

  Soon enough I stood with Finn Hobrook in the small room next door looking at Jesskah and Nori Hawktite through smoked glass. Several small air vents brought their voices into the room.

  She took the professor through his story of Saturday night, of finding Helena’s body and calling Billows to move her from the house.

  “We talked with the butler already,” Finn spoke softly. “He confirms Hawktite’s story.”

  “Why the Morningstar’s house?”

  “Said it was close and easy. He has a key.”

  “No wonder he slammed the door in my face Sunday when the maid came screaming down the sidewalk. He’s the reason—”

  Finn held up a finger to silence me and pointed at Jesskah who was telling Hawktite about the spell.

  A few moments later I felt a change in the air, or maybe I heard it. Jesskah’s voice rang clearly to my ears as if she were standing right in front of me. “Did you kill Helena Grimwell?”

  I almost answered, but then I realized that of course she was asking Hawktite that question. He answered immediately: “No.”

  “And to the best of your knowledge, what time did you find her body in your house?”

  Hawktite leaned forward as if he needed to be heard. “It was certainly before 11 o’clock. Billows brings me my tea at 11.”

  “What time do you think it was, Professor?” Jesskah’s quiet voice cut through the air.

  The dwarf rubbed his face. “If I had to guess I would say 10:30. Give or take a few minutes.”

  “How can you be so sure of the time? Do you have a timepiece in your study?”

  “No. No, I do not. But I am a dwarf of habits, and I had just finished eating a cookie right before I heard the thud. I have two cookies and then the tea.”

  I smiled at that. Cookies and tea. Hawktite was sounding less and less like a murderer.

  Of course, that put a huge dent in my investigations. Thanks to the zone of truth spell I knew that Hawktite wasn’t lying about what time he found Helena. But how could Helena be dead on Hawktite’s floor and about to step on the stage at the Lamplighter?

  Disguise self? Did someone go on stage as Helena and sing?

  But surely people would have noticed. Her sister, if no one else. But maybe the spell worked on your voice, too. Surely it must.

  I needed a wizard, but Boleian went to the Rinchik Range yesterday and who knew when he’d be back?

  No, what I needed was that magic library. I had Underwood’s card. And that silly riddle – What grows when it eats, but dies when it drinks? But that wasn’t an address. I still had to find the place, and I was running out of time.

  “I’m in over my head,” I muttered.

  “Me, too,” replied Finn.

  We looked at each other. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  I turned to face him. “I asked you first.”

  “But you spoke first.” He pointed a finger at me.

  Distinctly aware that Jesskah’s spell was still working I said, “That is true, but—”

  Jesskah rapped on the glass, interrupting our discussion. “Sorry,” I said softly though I doubt she heard me. “Sorry,” I repeated to Finn.

  “Me too, Vox.”

  A minute later Jesskah walked in. “What was that? I’m finishing up with the professor, and suddenly we hear you two. Something you want to share with me? Did you have a breakthrough?”

  “Are you all done, then?” I waved my hand over the space between us. “Your spell is done?”

  Jesskah crossed her arms. “Ready to lie again so soon?”

  “That’s not fair!” I glanced at Finn, hoping he’d jump in. “Finn and I were merely—”

  “I’ll leave you to it.” Finn started toward the door. “I can see you two have a lot to discuss.”

  Jesskah’s expression didn’t change, but I wondered what I’d missed. Moving to safer waters I said, “Hawktite. He’s telling the truth. That blows this case up completely.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “If you have a few minutes, let’s debrief at my desk.”

  As we walked down the hall the dwarf paladin Del Totely stepped out of an office. “Jess? Here’s the Fram report you wanted. Hi Vox.”

  Jesskah took the report and said to me, “Helena Grimwell is really Hobrook’s case, not mine.” She shook the folder that Totely had given her. “Fram is mine. I need to look at this, do you mind?”

  “That’s fine. I have time.” I slid into a chair beside her desk. “Have you found out who rented the place on Treefall yet?”

  “Danet Brookspring.”

  That brought me up short. “The chief of police? But—”

  “Obviously a fake name, Vox.”

  “Right. Obviously.” While Jesskah looked at the report I rolled Underwood’s riddle over in my mind again. What drinks and dies? A fish? No, obviously not. A swimmer? Too literal, Vox. What eats and grows? Spriggans? They grow quickly like saplings. And I’ve never seen one drink. That’s stupid. Think abstract. What’s another word for eating? Feeding? What do you
feed? Animals. Children. Fire.

  But those have nothing to do with each other. Another dead end.

  “Vox, how long ago did Fara begin acting strange?” Jesskah’s voice interrupted my meandering thoughts.

  “I don’t think Even ever said.” I pulled my notebook from my jacket. “What does it matter?”

  “She wasn’t – she’d had—” With each word Jesskah’s face got redder. “Well, she wasn’t…. She wasn’t a virgin.”

  I sat up straight. “Our orphan girl? I would not expect that.” Tapping my notebook against my chin I said, “This case is topsey-turvey. The vivacious nightclub singer is a virgin, and the orphan girl isn’t? Should be the other way around.”

  “This does change things. Do you have time to talk more later?” Jesskah pushed a scrap of paper to me. “My place. Six o’clock. I can make us something to eat, and we can talk. About the case.”

  Chapter 20 The Truth About Fara Fram

  With Jesskah Morningstar’s address in my pocket I walked out of Central feeling like a bag of gold. Before the day ended I’d be sitting in Jesskah’s house, but that was hours away.

  For now I had two cases to solve, and there was something really screwy about the Fara Fram case. I could sense it, but I didn’t know what it was, so I headed to St. Albec’s. Even would have to give me her address; I couldn’t keep dropping by the orphanage hoping to see her. How’d she ever get messages if no one knew where she lived?

  No one outside on the playground at St. Albec’s. 10 o’clock on a Thursday, where was everyone?

  “School assembly.” A girl stood beside me. “You looking for one of the sisters? Everyone is in the auditorium.”

  She wore a plain white top and a brown skirt. “You live here?” I asked. “I’m looking for a friend of mine. Even Weymoor. She—”

  “The healer. Haven’t seen her today. Say, can I borrow, like, 5 silver? I lost my lunch money.” The girl flashed a smile at me.

  “What are you eating? That’s a lot of lunch!”

  “You’re that detective, aren’t you?”

  My turn to smile. “Vox Swift at your service. Do you need a detective?”

  “You’re looking for Fara’s killer? I was her best friend. Ask me anything. I know all about Charles.”

  “Charles?” I gestured to a bench and sat down. “Who’s that?”

  “The killer. Obviously.”

  The girl probably wanted gossip on the case. I doubted that she knew Fara; she didn’t seem all that upset. “Did you tell the police about him?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course. But they said they need to know his last name. But that’s their job, not mine.”

  “You are so right,” I said. Since I was here, might as well talk with the girl. She might know more than she realized. “What’s your name? I want to hear all about Fara and Charles.”

  Teresa Ann Fuller, Tez to her friends, had a lot to say about Fara. Friends for life, confidants, partners in bending the rules of the orphanage at every opportunity. Tez told me that Fara first met Charles at the Lamplighter. Her dream had been to be a singer, and when she turned 18, Fara snuck out one Monday night to check out amateur night at the best club in Thornbury.

  “She was no dummy,” Tez assured me. “She didn’t expect to get discovered right away.”

  “’Discovered’? What does that mean?” I smiled at the girl, touched my face, and hummed a brief charm person sort of tune.

  “By a talent scout, of course. That’s how you get your break. Happens all the time.” Tez shook her head at my ignorance. “The night Fara finally got to sing, that’s the night she met Charles.”

  Too late I realized that I probably hadn’t needed to waste a spell on Tez. She seemed eager to talk about Fara.

  “Did you ever meet Charles?” I asked. “Ever sneak out with Fara to the Lamplighter?” Much as I hated to admit it, the girl was probably right – this Charles was the likely suspect. I felt certain that it was he who had rented the little apartment on Treefall, but I’d bet a gold that his name wasn’t really Charles.

  “I was going to. Saturday. He sent a message to her early Saturday morning. The Lamplighter opening act had canceled, and Charles pulled some connections to get the slot for Fara. She would sing, for money, in front of a real audience.” Tez had a faraway look in her eye. “I wasn’t gonna miss that.”

  Something to check up on – who was on Saturday’s line up? Had the opening act really canceled? Had Fara’s death been an accident, and then this Charles panicked and hid the body?

  “You were gonna go,” I said.

  “Sister Margaret caught me. I tried too late. It’s best to sneak out during dinner. Fara had to leave earlier – to get ready. Charles had a place, she said. He had a sparkly stage dress for her, makeup, sheet music.”

  I could picture Del Totley tracing his finger along a heavily made-up jaw line – I but that was Helena’s body, not Fara’s. The fire damage made it impossible to tell exactly how Fara looked the night she died. But Even did say that there was a lot of makeup at the Treefall apartment. But there was something odd. “We didn’t find any dresses at the apartment.”

  “You’ve been to Charles’ place? Then you know who he is! Why ya talking to me?” Tez waved her hand at me. “Go arrest him or whatever private eyes do when they catch the bad guy.”

  “The police are working on that.” I thought about what Jesskah had said about Fara’s sex life. “About how many times do you think Fara and Charles got together?”

  “There were I dunno, 4 or 5 Mondays when Fara sang.”

  “That’s what she told you?” I paused. “You never got to see her sing at the club. Maybe she didn’t always go there when she snuck out.”

  Tez leaned toward me, an odd expression on her face. “You think she was sleeping with Charles?”

  Playing cool I said, “Crossed my mind. Two people brought together by—”

  “No-no. Charles was, like, old enough to be her dad!” Hugging her arms tight around her body Tez said, “Fara wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t risk losing her shot at fame by getting, you know.” Tez patted her tummy.

  “You’re telling me that Fara was…?”

  “A virgin,” Tez whispered. “She’d hate for me to tell you that. Fara always wanted to be mature, mysterious. But I know the truth. She was my best friend.” Tez’s composure suddenly crumbled. “I told her to go! She was nervous about singing to a Saturday night crowd, but I pushed her to go.” Tez buried her face in her hands. “I killed her!”

  I knew I wasn’t hearing a confession. The poor girl had lost a friend, and she was trying to make sense of a story too big for her. I knew the feeling all too well.

  Patting Tez’s back I said, “You’ve been a big help. We’ll find Charles. Don’t you doubt that.”

  “Find him.” Tez’s tear streaked face was inches away. Her eyes held me for an eternity. “Stop him before he does this to another girl.”

  Two blonde girls trying to make it in show business. One a wannabe singer hanging around the Lamplighter, the other the perpetual little sister. Two girls desperate to wear sparkly gold dresses and hear the applause of the crowd. Could the same person have killed both Helena and Fara? But why? What connected them?

  ###

  I gave Tez Fuller a silver wort and my card. I hadn’t needed to give her any money, but I felt like Tez deserved it. I didn’t quite know how yet, but thanks to my conversation I knew there was a chance that the murders were connected.

  But why kill two girls in one night? How do you do it? Logistically speaking how do you get it done in such a short window? Not even mentioning possibly adding in magic to make it seem like Helena was alive and on stage singing.

  One man could help me sort this out. But was Boleian back from his trip east yet?

  Distant bells tolled 12 o’clock as I arrived at Boleian Investigations. Murmuring voices on the other side of the door told me that Boleian must be back, but I stepped into a darkened of
fice, and before I could move toward the closed blinds, a scuffle and a moan from Boleian’s office made me stop mid-stride.

  If I’d been smart I’d have turned around and run for help. Chances were good that I used the last of my magical energy for the day in charming a schoolgirl who, on reflection, hadn’t needed any encouragement to talk. The middle of a fight would not be the time to find out if I had any juice left, besides what offensive spells did I really know?

  But I knew that any delay might mean more trouble for the person who’d moaned. Chances were good that either Boleian or Even was in trouble so I stepped further into the darkened office.

  Elves see quite well in low light, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I called out, “I’m a 4th level wizard! Come out slowly. Don’t make me summon my, um, magical attack dog.” I groped behind me where Boleian usually left his staff.

  No response from the intruder and no staff. On the plus side, no staff meant Boleian wasn’t here, hurt or in danger. On the negative side, that meant Even or some unknown third party was in trouble.

  A cautious step toward Boleian’s office showed a hunched figure in red reaching toward a mound on the floor.

  “Hey!” I really hadn’t meant to yell. No weapon, no spells, alone against an unknown opponent, not my finest moment.

  The figure charged toward me, and I tried to judge when to sidestep, but he barreled into me all the same.

  We went down in a heap and rolled. I could see he was male and human, bald head, no beard. I tried to tell him that I didn’t want to hurt him, and that’s about the time he got his hands around my throat and began mumbling under his breath.

  By luck I got my hand on his face and jammed my thumb up his nose. That stopped the chanting right away but didn’t do anything to stop his hands from blocking my airflow. I could feel his fingers digging into my neck.

  Twisting my head I saw the mound in Boleian’s office rise. Great, another attacker? But as he gained full height I saw Boleian, not a stranger.

  I had to focus on the attacker again and leave Boleian to do whatever he could. Pushing my thumb deeper into the man’s nose made him groan. Good sign. With my palm flat against his cheek I strained to push him away. We stared into each other’s eyes as we struggled.