“I think so. I haven’t had a good look at him. I didn’t want to admit the truth.”
Dr Morgan gave me a sympathetic smile and said, “You two stay here. I’ll have a quick look at him.” She threw her shoulders back, lifted her chin in a determined manner and went into the cave.
When she came back out a few minutes later, there were tears in her eyes. “Yes, this is definitely a suspicious death. I’ll take him back to the surgery and have a full examination there.”
“Do you need some help getting him back there? I’ve got my broomstick with me but I’m not sure I’ll be able to fit him on it.”
“No, thank you. Despite being human, I’ve got a few spells up my sleeve which your gran told me about. I’m going to transfer Leonard to my surgery by the medium of magic. I’ll take myself at the same time.” She nodded at the unicorn who was waiting silently at our side. “I don’t need you for the return journey but I insist on paying. Send your invoice to the surgery.”
The unicorn bowed its head, opened its wings and swiftly flew away.
I said, “Would you mind if I took a few photographs before you take Leonard away? This is a crime scene now, and even though there’s not much to see, I might pick up on something later.”
“You go ahead. I’ll stay here and talk to Stanley.” Dr Morgan placed her bag on the snow and picked Stanley up. Stanley must have noticed her sadness because he nuzzled into her neck and let out a series of purrs which made the doctor smile. Stanley had a calming effect on most humans as well as supernatural creatures.
My heart felt incredibly heavy as I returned to the cave and began to take photographs using my phone.
Poor Leonard – just lying there. I walked closer to him and said quietly, “I’ll find out who did this to you. I promise.”
Chapter 12
Once Dr Morgan had disappeared with Leonard’s body, Stanley and I headed back to our log cabin. We flew over the gazebo on the way back and I saw Giovanni standing at the entrance watching us. Some instinct made me turn the broomstick around and head towards him.
As soon as we landed, Giovanni enveloped me in his arms and said, “Something’s wrong. I can sense it. Tell me everything.”
I don’t know whether it was the shock of seeing Leonard’s lifeless body or the feeling of Giovanni’s genuine concern, but I burst into tears. And they weren’t feminine and delicate tears either, there were full-blown cries with lots of noise. Giovanni patted my back and muttered soothing words as I drenched his shoulder with tears.
I soon pulled myself together and told myself it was no way for a justice witch to behave.
I pulled myself free from Giovanni’s arms, brushed my tears away and said, “I’m sorry to tell you, but Leonard is dead. We’ve just found him in his cave.” I heard sobbing at my feet and realised it was Stanley. Before I could pick him up, Giovanni had Stanley in his arms and was muttering the same comforting words to him that he’d just said to me.
Giovanni slowly shook his head. “I had the strangest feeling that something terrible was going to happen today. I kept trying to push it away, but it kept coming back. It was like an unwelcome niggling feeling in my brain.” He gave me a soft smile. “I suppose you felt it too.”
“I didn’t feel anything like that until we reached the opening of Leonard’s cave.” I stroked Stanley’s back. “Stanley, do you want to go back to the cabin now?”
Giovanni said, “Neither of you are going anywhere at the moment. I want to know exactly what happened to Leonard, but before you tell me, I’m going to give you a medicinal drink to deal with your shock. Follow me.”
Keeping Stanley safely in his arms, he led me over to the counter. The gazebo was empty and as I took a seat at the counter, I glanced at the iced area outside and noticed that was empty too. All that was left of the Festival was the row of ice sculptures at the far side.
I told Giovanni how we’d found Leonard and about our previous conversation with the yeti. I asked, “Do you know if Leonard had any enemies? Did he upset anyone recently?”
“Let me get your drinks before I answer you.” Giovanni placed a plump cushion on top of the counter and settled Stanley onto it. He reached for something below the counter and then placed a bottle in front of me along with a two glasses and a little bowl. He said, “Medicinal whisky. It’s safe for animals too. It hasn’t got alcohol in it, but it’s got magical properties. As for Leonard, he didn’t have a single enemy anywhere. Not that I know of. Well, you’ve met him and you know what kind of a creature he was. He never had a cross word with anyone. He was too busy running to stop and talk to most of the residents here.” He poured some of the pale brown liquid into the glasses and bowl. “But, like I told you earlier, Leonard hadn’t been acting himself recently. I wish now I’d be more forceful with him and demanded to know what was bothering him.” He pushed a glass towards me and the bowl towards Stanley. “Drink it all.”
I took a sip of the liquid. It slipped easily over my tongue and down my throat. It tasted like warm honey. I quickly drank the rest of it and the sad feeling inside me dispersed a little. I looked over at Stanley and saw that his bowl was empty. His eyes started to close and I told him to have a short nap while I spoke to Giovanni. Stanley lowered his head on the cushion and closed his eyes.
Giovanni downed his drink and then said, “Do you think Leonard’s death has anything to do with the black magic you told me about earlier? We’ve never had any murders in this area, and it seems a coincidence that it’s happened now.”
“What makes you think Leonard was murdered?”
He gazed into my eyes. “Because you’re here. You were sent here because your gran and Blythe must have had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen. Don’t you feel that it was murder too?”
“I’m trying not to.” I gave him a wobbly smile. “But it does look that way. Dr Morgan will let me know the precise cause of death soon. Part of me is hopeful that it wasn’t foul play.”
Giovanni poured us both a shot of the magical whisky and I started to feel a bit better as the delicious warmth travelled down my body.
I said, “If Leonard was murdered, who do you think did it? You must have some suspicions.”
Giovanni looked over his shoulder before saying, “My only suspect would be Xodia. She disappeared at the beginning at the Festival when you started your judging work and she hasn’t been back since. Her cabin is along that way over there and I noticed there hasn’t been any smoke coming from the chimney. Whenever Xodia is in her cabin, the first thing she does is light the fire because she feels the cold so intensely. No smoke means she hasn’t returned to her cabin in a while.”
I looked towards the cabin where Giovanni was pointing and made a mental note to go and visit Xodia as soon as she returned home. I said, “Where did Xodia come from? Where did she live before? And why does she live here if she hates it so much?”
Giovanni gave me a wry smile. “Those are good questions. I do know the land where she came from. It’s a few towns away and I’ve heard it’s warm and sunny there all the time. I did try to talk to Xodia when she first arrived here about her hometown and family, but she refused to talk about it and she got quite angry. It’s clear she doesn’t like living here and she’s always trying to impose her way of doing things on everyone. You’ve seen how she is. She loves being in competition with others, but we’re not like that at all. When she first arrived, she started going on about how we should have athletic tournaments to see which residents were the strongest. We refused, but she wouldn’t let up. We decided at the last town council to give into her so that we could have some peace and quiet. As soon as we told Xodia that, we wished we hadn’t. She was like a whirlwind of activity and issued orders left, right and centre. I think that’s the time she started to pester Leonard into joining in with the Festival.”
“That’s interesting. But why did she leave her hometown?”
Giovanni moved his face closer to me and I got a whiff
of whatever aftershave he was wearing. It was a nice fragrance. He said, “I’d heard rumours from a group of frost-fairies who said that Xodia had to leave her home because of something terrible she did there.” His face darkened. “The frost-fairies said she murdered someone. But I’m not sure whether to believe them or not because they do like telling tales. It’s obvious that something happened and Xodia doesn’t want to talk about.”
I pondered the facts. “I think it might be worthwhile visiting her hometown and to find out what happened there. It could be relevant to Leonard’s death. Can you give me the directions, please?”
Giovanni nodded and said, “I could go with you. I could hire a team of snow-wolves to take us halfway there in a sledge. It would be quite cosy.” His eyes glinted with mischief and I felt uncomfortable and far too hot. It must be the effect of the magical whisky. I was tempted for a moment to accept his offer of company. I know Stanley would have liked to have him along.
An image of the snow-spirit flashed into my mind along with Leonard’s still body. If there was a murderer out there, I didn’t want to put Giovanni in danger. I said, “No, thank you. It’s better if Stanley and I go on our own. But thank you for your offer.”
“Are you sure about that? I don’t mind.”
Again, I was tempted to have his company on this investigation, but I couldn’t do that to Giovanni. I’d never forgive myself if something terrible happened to him.
“No, thank you.” I looked towards Stanley who was snoring gently. “I’ll have to wake him up soon. I’d like to find out what happened to Leonard as soon as possible.”
I reached out in readiness to wake Stanley. I was stopped by Ravette dashing into the gazebo in a hysterical state.
She waved her arms in the air and yelled, “Boris! Have you seen him? He’s been missing for hours. Have you seen him? Tell me you’ve seen him!”
Giovanni immediately went over to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. “No, I haven’t seen him since he ran away from his broken ice sculpture earlier.”
Ravette said hoarsely, “That’s when I last saw him too. I ran after him but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I saw his little footprints for a while, but then the snow came down and covered them up. Where can he be?”
I went over to Ravette and said, “Which direction did he go running off in?”
“He headed towards the mountains where Leonard lives. Where could he be?”
I shared a look with Giovanni. There was a murderer on the loose, and now little Boris was lost somewhere near the crime scene. This wasn’t looking good.
Chapter 13
Giovanni took the shaking Ravette over to the counter and poured a shot of the whisky. He handed it to her and said, “Drink this. It will make you feel much better.”
Ravette shook her head and said, “I’m not a drinker.”
Giovanni insisted, “It doesn’t have any alcohol in it and it’s good for shock. It’ll help you think more clearly.”
Ravette gingerly lifted the glass to her lips. Giovanni gently leaned towards her, put his hand on the bottom of the glass and tipped it up so that Ravette had no option but to drink it all.
Ravette emptied the glass and gave it back to Giovanni. Her voice was stronger as she said, “Thank you. I do feel a bit better now. I’ll go back out there and look for Boris. I’m sure I’ll find him soon.”
I went to Ravette’s other side. “Stanley and I will look for him. I can use a revealing spell to locate him.” I didn’t tell her that Leonard had been killed as I didn’t want to worry her any further.
Stanley’s head suddenly popped up from the cushion and he declared, “What was that? Who’s talking? Where am I?” He looked around and blinked. “Oh, I’m here in the gazebo with lovely Giovanni.” He noticed Ravette and turned his face to me in question.
I quickly told Stanley that Boris had been missing for a while and that we would look for him.
Stanley padded over to me and sniffed my hand. He said, “I can smell Boris’ scent on you from when he licked your hand. I should be able to pick up on his scent outside. You might need to use a spell on me to increase my sense of smell.”
Ravette placed her paw on the counter and said, “I thought we’d be safe here. I thought Boris would forget about being a vampire bear here. I thought he would be happy being a vegetarian like me.” She looked out of the gazebo. “He’s out there somewhere doing goodness knows what.”
I said to Ravette, “What do you mean by that? You mentioned earlier that Boris had become uncontrollable. What’s been going on with him?”
Ravette sighed heavily and said, “Boris changed a few weeks ago. He often used to go out on walks with his friends into the forest and he always came home with his coat pockets full of berries and fruit. But one day, he came home with empty pockets and the smell of meat on his breath. It was incredibly strong and I picked up on it the second he came into our home.” She gazed into the distance and said quietly, “It smelled good; really good.” She snapped out of her trance. “It doesn’t matter whether it smelled good or not, meat is forbidden. Boris shouldn’t have been eating it. He denied it, but the smell was definitely there. Since that first time, he keeps disappearing for hours on end and when he comes back I can smell different kinds of meat on him. I’ve no idea where he’s going to get the meat as all the residents around here know not to give him any. It could cause a change in him and bring out his vampire side. I did try to follow him a couple of times, but he’s very nippy for his size and I soon lost him. I’m worried that he’s got in with the wrong kind of bears.”
Stanley moved closer to Ravette and said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but why are you vegetarians if you’re vampire polar bears?”
Ravette reached out and stroked Stanley’s head. “I was born in a town a long way from here and I was brought up as a vampire bear. I never quite enjoyed,” she paused and looked down at the counter, “the killing part of things, but it was expected of me. When Boris came along, I could see that he was of a sensitive and artistic nature, and I couldn’t stand the thought of my precious little cub having to go out and hunt wild animals. His father disagreed with me, and we had many fights about it.” She looked up from the counter and I could see the pain in her eyes. “Boris’ father was out on the hunt one day but some vampire hunters caught up with him and slaughtered him. I heard from my siblings that these vampire hunters were on the increase and they were on a mission to wipe us out. That was the turning point for me and I took Boris away immediately. As soon as I came to this town, I knew it was the best place for us as everyone accepted us straight away. They’re aware of our vegetarian status and support us. This is why I’m so worried about this new meat issue. I’m scared Boris is going to get a taste for it. Who knows what will happen to him then?”
I thought about the snow-spirit and decided it was a good time to mention her as it could be relevant to Boris’ disappearance. I quickly told Giovanni and Ravette what had happened when we came into contact with the snow-spirit earlier. They were both shocked.
Giovanni said, “Malicious creatures like that are not allowed in this area. How did she make her way here? What is she after?”
Ravette stopped stroking Stanley and began to twist her hands together. “Boris! That horrible snow-spirit must have given him meat and has now got him trapped somewhere. He’s too little to defend himself against that kind of creature. I have to look for him immediately.”
She made as if to turn away, but I put my hand on her arm and said, “You stay here. Stanley and I will find Boris. I’ll use whatever magic I can to make sure we do.”
Ravette shook her head wildly. “But you’re little and feeble; you won’t be able to do anything.”
Stanley said proudly, “Cassia is a strong witch. She knows many spells. And I’ll help her too. We’ll find Boris. I promise.”
Giovanni handed another shot of whisky to Ravette. “You need to trust Cassia, she knows what she’s doing. Here
, drink this.” He gave her a bigger glass of the liquid.
While Ravette turned her attention to the whisky, Stanley and I sneaked out of the gazebo with a small wave at Giovanni. It was already getting dark outside, and I wanted to locate the little polar bear before it was too dark to find him.
We headed towards the path that led to Leonard’s cave and went through the dense trees. I cast a protective spell over Stanley and me as we walked along. I wasn’t going to be caught in lethal frozen breath again.
My heart kept forgetting to beat as we slowly walked along the snow-covered path and under the dark canopy of the trees. I kept expecting some evil being to leap out at us.
Stanley’s whiskers began to twitch and he said, “I’m getting a scent. I think it belongs to Boris. I don’t think my sense of smell is strong enough. Would you mind doing that spell on my nose now, please?”
“Of course,” I replied. I aimed my fingers at Stanley’s nose and sent a small amount of magic to it to increase his abilities.
His whiskers twitched again and he gave me a little nod. “That’s better.” He turned to the right and said, “He went through this gap in the trees here. I can’t see any footprints in the snow, but I’m definitely getting his scent.” He went through the gap.
I had to jog to keep up with Stanley who was now running across the snow. When I caught up with him, he was standing at the side of a frozen waterfall.
In the darkening light, I squinted at the frozen feature and said, “That’s a peculiar waterfall. The water has frozen in lumps and bumps at the far side.”
Stanley said quietly, “Those are not lumps and bumps. Those are arms and legs. Boris is frozen inside that waterfall.”
My eyes adjusted to the terrible sight in front of me and I instantly sent as much magic as I could into my fingertips. Stanley and I moved towards the frozen water and I aimed my magic at Boris’ little body. There was a sizzling sound, and the ice around Boris melted instantly. My hands shot out and I caught Boris just as he was freed from the ice. I took him over to an area away from the waterfall and sent more magic into my hands. I waved my hands over his fur in an effort to warm him up.
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