Eight? Well, that was certainly strange. He had gone out just after ten, according to Bridget and the dragon. So what did he spend the entire night doing?
The potion he had taken was listed as a very acute poison. He would have died within minutes of taking it. I recognized the type of potion. It was extremely advanced, and very illegal. My mind turned straight to Jason Oakland—illegal potions were well within his capabilities—but then pushed the thought aside. I knew what was involved in making this potion. Someone who confused silverweed and white hemstail wouldn’t have been able to make a potion that complex, surely.
The potion did make things more interesting, however, in that a witch or a wizard had to make that potion. But who would have hated Blaze that much?
Nothing was coming together on this.
I looked through the rest of the medical file but didn’t see anything that might help me solve the murder. Setting it aside, I looked through the desk and found a charging phone. It wouldn’t be Chief Enforcer Loeb’s; she would have obviously had hers on her. It had to be Blaze’s, so I pulled it from the charger and pressed the home button, grinning when I saw it wasn’t locked.
I immediately opened up his text messages and found the one in question. It was from Jason.
I have a proposition. Meet at my place, now. I’ll make it worth your while.
I raised an eyebrow. What a surprise—Jason had lied to me. Not only was he not asleep that night the way he had claimed to be, but he was the one who sent Blaze that text. He was the one who had drawn him out in the middle of the night. But that wasn’t the most recent text. And it didn’t explain the fact that there was an even newer text message on the phone, from around seven in the morning, just a couple of hours before Blaze was murdered.
The second text was sent by an Anne. It had to be Anne Leavis. She was studying to be an assistant Healer, as far as I knew. I couldn’t think of anyone else in town named Anne, apart from an old witch in her seventies who was convinced Grandma Rosie was out to get her. Given the context of the message, I figured it wasn’t that Anne.
I have to speak to you. Meet me at the usual place? A couple of heart emojis followed immediately after. There was no reply from Blaze, so I wasn’t sure if he had actually gone to meet with Anne or not, but I knew exactly who I was speaking with next.
Before I got a chance to put everything back the way it was and get out of there, however, a sound came from outside the door to the office. I froze, not daring to so much as breathe, as I wondered who was coming in. If it was just the shifter, I was fine. After all, the potion was supposed to last for six hours. I still had plenty of time before it wore off.
But as the door to Chief Inspector Loeb’s office opened, I found myself looking straight into the eyes of Jack Stone, who looked, if it was even possible, even more surprised than I was.
“Ali?” he asked, his mouth dropping open.
“Hey, I was looking for the bathroom, and I think I got lost,” I said, motioning around the office. Jack recovered himself, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at me.
“Looking for the bathroom. Is that right?”
I flashed him the biggest, fakest smile I could. “You know, sometimes you just need to use the little ladies’ room.”
“At almost eleven o’clock at night. Right.”
“To be fair, it’s not like I expected the only wizard who works in this place to be here this late. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Really? You want to question me, now? That’s where you’re going with this? It’s a murder investigation. I thought of something, came to check, and heard a sound in the Chief Enforcer’s office. Now, if you leave here right now without another word, I won’t tell her you were here. But only because I still feel bad about how things ended between us.”
I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Part of me really wanted to know what it was Jack had thought of that brought him here at almost midnight, but even I wasn’t dumb enough to open my mouth when he was quite literally giving me a get-out-of-jail-free card.
I slunk past him and out the door, not even turning back as I slipped out. At least the condition he had attached to my leaving meant I didn’t have to thank him for it. I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to bring myself to do that.
I practically sprinted home when I left the town hall, my heart pounding in my chest. That was insanely unlucky, for the only paranormal who worked at the Enforcers’ office who could have seen me to come by just that second.
At least Jack had let me go without reporting me. After all, I had been snooping in his boss’s office. He really must have felt bad about how our friendship ended.
I snuck back into the cottage and fell asleep, knowing that in the morning, I had a really good idea as to where to go next in this investigation.
Chapter 12
I woke up the next day full of conviction, eager to get going on the day ahead. After all, I now had a solid lead: Anne Leavis had texted Blaze asking to meet him just a couple of hours before his death. I had seen her at the funeral the day before, and I knew she was studying to be an assistant Healer here in town. I wondered if maybe Willow would make an introduction for me. After all, while I knew of her, I didn’t actually know her.
I need to speak to Anne Leavis. Do you know her? I texted Willow as I shoved a slice of toast smothered in jam and butter into my mouth. The reply came a minute later.
Sure. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, but I know her. Swing by the hospital around 11 and I’ll introduce you; the assistant Healers have their break around then.
I smiled to myself. It was just after nine—I had slept in a little bit, since I had gotten home so late the night before, but I still had a couple of hours to kill before I had to meet Willow and Anne. I decided to go out for a bit of a walk around the lake, putting on a warm sweater and some leggings and popping on my sunglasses. It was always a good time when it was cold enough to wear a sweater but still bright enough for sunglasses.
I left the cottage, and as I walked down the road, I spotted Grandma Rosie and Connie walking together toward town. A part of me was tempted to follow them, just out of curiosity, but then I realized I was probably happier not knowing what they were up to, and I continued on with my original plan. I began by taking the Lakeside Trail, following the same route from that fateful morning just a few days ago. As soon as I reached the intersection with Space Oddity, however, I noticed a difference. The trail was closed, and an Enforcer stood in front of it, stopping any potential rule breakers from getting past.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why is the whole trail closed?” After all, I could understand why they closed off the section where Blaze’s body had been found, but that was still a significant distance away from here. Why close it this far out?
“It’s closed for the safety and integrity of the crime scene,” the wolf shifter explained to me. “With the reward offered by the family, we’ve had altogether too many paranormals trying to gain access to the crime scene, so we have closed the entire trail.”
My eyebrows raised. “Really? How many people are trying to solve this?”
“By my count, half the town,” the shifter said with a sigh. “And a few other paranormals who aren’t local, too.”
I frowned. Obviously, I should have seen this coming. I wasn’t going to be the only paranormal trying to get at that reward money. I suppose a part of me figured it was only crazy people like my grandmother and Connie who were going to take a shot at it, or the completely desperate like myself. But for the Enforcers to shut down an entire trail like that, it was definitely more.
“Plus, security has been stepped up since an intruder made their way into the Enforcers’ office last night,” the shifter continued.
“Oh?” I asked, raising my eyebrows and doing my best to look as innocent as possible. “Who did it?”
“We’re not sure,” the shifter replied. “Whoever it was booked it once the Enforcer showed up
. They only got a glimpse of the criminal. But now security has been stepped up at all Enforcer locations or anywhere related to this case. I never thought this would be the type of place where we had to be this careful about things.”
That was good to know, on two counts. For one thing, it confirmed that Jack kept his word and didn’t tell Chief Enforcer Loeb that I had been the one who had broken into the Enforcers’ office last night. It was also good to know that trying a second time wasn’t a good idea.
I walked away from the shifter, making my way around the lake deep in thought. In a way, maybe this was a good thing. Maybe all I had to do was see what parts of town were now considered off-limits, and I would know where the Enforcers were going with their investigation.
But no, I quickly put that thought out of my head. I needed to investigate this independently, since if I simply followed the Enforcers, they would undoubtedly figure out who committed the crime before me, and that wasn’t going to get me any reward money at all.
Still, it was good to know.
Chapter 13
At eleven o’clock on the dot I was sitting in the little cafeteria at the hospital. Contrary to standard belief, the food here was actually pretty good, and priced for the fixed income of the majority of their clients. That meant even someone in the ranks of the unemployed—such as myself—could treat themselves to a warm bowl of chili to bring the color back to their cheeks after a crisp cold morning walk.
I was halfway through the bowl when Willow walked toward me, followed by a pretty but shy-looking witch in her early twenties, with copper blonde hair, a small nose, and curious blue eyes. Anne sat in front of me, clasping her hands in her lap and looking down at them immediately.
“Hey, you’re Anne, right?” I asked, flashing her a smile that I hoped put her at ease.
Anne nodded in reply.
“Listen, I wanted to say that I’m sorry for your loss,” I said to her softly. “I know the relationship between you and Blaze was a secret.”
As soon as I said the words, I knew my suspicion had been correct. Anne looked up sharply, fear in her eyes. “Don’t worry,” I added. “I’m not going to tell anybody. Your secret is safe with me, but I do need to ask you a few questions, since I think it could help me figure out who killed your boyfriend.”
Anne didn’t answer, so I took that as a sign to keep going.
“How long had you been seeing him?”
“Six months,” Anne said in a small voice, barely more than a whisper. “Just over six months.”
“And you’ve been keeping it a secret from everybody,” I said softly, treading carefully. After all, I was well aware that a relationship between a dragon and a witch wasn’t looked upon very highly by a lot of people in town.
Anne nodded. “That’s right. I think my family would have been fine with it. They’ve always told me that they just want me to be happy. But his family is so old-fashioned. He told me that if they ever found out about it, they would disown him completely. He loved his family. I knew what they meant to him, and I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the relationship he had with them. So we never told anybody. We always met in secret.”
“Did anybody else know about your relationship? Maybe he trusted a close friend?”
This time I got a vehement shake of the head in reply. “Not a chance. I know he didn’t even tell his best friend, Daniel. He was too worried that word would somehow get back to his parents. You know what it’s like living here. When two people know something, it’s not a secret anymore. We were the only ones who knew, and I wouldn’t have told anybody, no matter what.”
“So how did you meet?” Willow asked, jumping in.
“He hurt himself while volunteering with Keith,” Anne explained. “He came into the hospital during one of our classes and offered to let one of the students fix up the cut for him. The professor told me to do it, and I was so nervous that I messed up the spell, and instead of sealing the cut, my spell sealed his mouth shut instead. He couldn’t speak, and everyone laughed at me. I was so embarrassed I ran out of the hospital. I was so close to quitting, but Blaze came out and found me, told me that the spell was easily reversed, and told me not to worry about it. He was so nice, and we ended up chatting. The next thing I knew, three hours had passed and the sun had started to go down. He kissed me then, and it felt so right. He told me he wanted to see me again, but that it had to be in secret. We would always meet at the first lookout on Space Oddity.”
My eyes widened and I tried not to show it, but I obviously failed as Anne sighed. “That’s where he was killed, isn’t it? That’s what everyone is saying.”
“That’s where I found his body,” I said softly. “I don’t know if he was actually killed there or not.”
Anne nodded. “Well, a part of me hopes it was there. That was our happy place, and we had so many good memories there. I’m sure if he had to pick a place to go, that would have been it.”
I decided to tackle the sensitive subject of the text she had sent the morning of the murder.
“The morning he was killed, you texted him asking him to meet you at your special place,” I began, but Anne’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Are you sure? I saw his phone, and around eight in the morning the day he was killed, there was a text from you asking to meet him.”
“That’s impossible,” Anne replied. “I was here that entire morning; I arrived at six. It was a hands-on day, where we went around and practiced our skills on all the patients in the hospital, so there are something like fifty people who can confirm that I was here that entire time. I never would have gotten a chance to slip away and meet Blaze, so there was no reason for me to send him a text.”
She pulled out her phone and handed it to me, showing me the text messages between her and Blaze. The last one had been sent early in the evening the night before his death, a simple heart emoji. The text I had seen in the office on Blaze’s phone wasn’t there at all. Of course, I knew just how easy it was to delete a text from a phone, but something still didn’t add up.
“Anne was here that day,” Willow confirmed. “I saw her multiple times as I did my rounds.”
Now that really was strange. Something was going on here, and I just wasn’t entirely sure what. I couldn’t really imagine Anne to be the killer; she seemed to really have loved Blaze. And if Willow confirmed that she was here when Blaze had been murdered, well, I trusted Willow more than anybody on the planet. There was no way Anne could have done it.
Still, Anne would have had the skills to make the poison that killed Blaze. Something wasn’t adding up here, and I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.
“Can you think of anybody who would have wanted him dead?” I asked, switching tactics. “Did he mention an argument he was having with anybody about anything?”
“He asked me about Jason Oakland,” Anne said after a minute’s pause. “I had a feeling he wasn’t happy about something Jason was doing. I think it might have had something to do with the illegal potions that Jason was selling. A few dragons have ended up in the hospital the last few months after taking them and having adverse effects.”
“Oh?” I said, looking at Willow, who nodded in confirmation.
“That’s right,” Willow said. “Blaze was never one of them, though. His best friend Daniel was. But that was a couple of months ago. We didn’t know who was behind the potions until just now when we found out it was Jason; none of the dragons have ever been willing to tell us, and to be honest, our job is to make them better, not to force them to give up the people who have been supplying them with illegal goods.”
“Yeah, Jason confirmed it to me the other day. Blaze found out that Jason’s sister had been taking the stuff and told him to stop.”
Willow raised her eyebrows. “Wow, that’s definitely news. I knew he was a scumbag, but I didn’t know he was the one responsible for making all of those bad potions. When Anne told us, I was very
surprised.”
“Did Bridget ever end up in the hospital?” I asked.
Willow shook her head. “Not as far as I know. She must have never gotten a bad batch.”
I frowned. I still thought Jason was the most likely culprit for this murder. But things just didn’t add up. Where did the text from Anne that wasn’t on her phone fit in? If Jason had wanted to kill Blaze, I figured he would have just texted him himself. After all, Jason wasn’t smart enough to cover his tracks like that, I didn’t think. Besides, Jason had texted Blaze the night before asking to meet him. Why wouldn’t he have just killed Blaze then?
There were just so many questions left that I had no answer to.
I thanked Anne for speaking with me, and she nodded. She got up to go but stopped as soon as she stood up.
“Please find the person who did this,” she told me. “I know Blaze’s family put up a lot of money to find the killer, and I know that’s probably why you’re doing this, but out of everybody who’s been hanging around trying to get information from the Healers to see what they can find out, you’re the only person who has found me. I want you to get to the bottom of this, for his sake. He was a good dragon, and I miss him already. I don’t have any money to offer, but I hope that you get the reward if you find the killer.”
“I’ll do my best,” I said earnestly. “And your secret is safe with me. No one is going to find out about your relationship from these lips.”
Anne nodded. “I appreciate that. We always knew that if we were going to get more serious, we were eventually going to have to tell everybody. But it never got to that point. I think it would have. I’m not sure how to handle that, but now that he’s gone, I would be happier if no one found out.”
“I understand completely,” I replied. Anne gave me a small smile and headed back into the depths of the hospital to continue her classes.
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