“Hey mom, did you know Philip Vulcan well?” Sara interrupted, evidently trying to get her mother off the topic of me.
“Not well, no. But he worked here up until a few weeks ago.”
“Did you hear he was found dead this morning?” Amy asked quietly, and Heather nodded sadly.
“Yes, we were told.”
“Well, there are people in town who think Tina is one of the main suspects, since she only arrived last night and is new in town.”
“That’s just ridiculous.”
“Exactly. But we wanted to know what you thought about him.”
Heather gave us a curious look. “You three aren’t trying to investigate this murder yourselves, are you?”
Wow, Heather was a very intelligent woman. She had picked up on what we were planning to do straightaway.
“No, of course not,” Sara lied. “We were just curious.”
“Hmmm,” Heather replied, pursing her lips before she replied. “Well, so long as you promise not to go after the murderer yourself and take everything you discover to Aria, I suppose it’s all right. Philip worked here as a general magical task worker. He did things like cleaning, fixing broken light bulbs, that sort of thing. It wasn’t a high paying job, but it also wasn’t the type of job that would have earned him many enemies.”
“What about any general relationships that he had?” Sara asked.
Heather shrugged. “I can’t say that I know of any. Though he did get along well with some of the witch assistants. You should talk to Tim, or Patricia.”
“Patricia Trovao?” I asked, remembering one of the names that Randy had given us.
“Yes, that’s her,” Heather said, looking a little bit surprised. “Why? Do you know her?”
“She was one of the patrons at the bar outside of which Philip’s body was found,” Amy explained. “She left before the body was found, however.”
“Yeah, but if she was the one who put the body there, she could have just killed him and then left,” Sara offered. “Then she could pretend that she hadn’t seen the body.”
I nodded. “If it’s a coincidence, it’s definitely a big one. I think we should talk to Patricia and find out what her story from last night is.”
“All right, I’ll leave the three of you to it. But, be careful. Don’t do anything too reckless.”
Heather left, and I turned to Sara. “Your mom is surprisingly cool about us investigating a murder,” I said.
“It comes with the territory when you’re a disappointing daughter,” Sara replied with a shrug. “If I had been the intelligent young witch my mom had hoped for I’m sure she’d be a lot more concerned about my safety. She says all the right things about staying out of trouble, but she really doesn’t care what I do.”
“I don’t think you’re giving your mother quite enough credit,” Amy said.
“It’s easy for you to say,” Sara replied. “You’re the witch my mother wishes she had had instead of me. You’re the one who knows all the spells and can make them work, and the one who can make potions in your sleep.”
My heart went out to Sara, who evidently wished she was better able to please her mother.
“Anyway, let’s go find Patricia and see if we can get her to tell us what happened that night.”
Chapter 11
Amy and Sara continued to discuss Heather as we walked through the emergency ward, with me following behind, trailing slightly as I looked around at all the interesting magical healing equipment. There were no IV bags or syringes here; instead bottles of various herbs surrounded a number of cauldrons, and mortar and pestles. Despite the primitive look, I was fairly certain that magical medicine was a lot more effective than the stuff we had in the human world.
The three teenagers who had gotten into the fight were now lying in different beds in the emergency room, privacy curtains half drawn. An assistant was going from bed to bed, making sure the kids were okay. I moved past them, and in the next bed over, where the privacy curtain had been fully pulled back, lay the most incredible looking man I had ever seen.
He had to be an elf: the ears gave him away immediately. They were pointed at the ends, and if Lord of the Rings had taught me anything, it was that the elves were the people of the pointed ears. However, he didn’t have the same pretty-boy look as Orlando Bloom. His hair was quite dark, in stark contrast to his pale skin. Instead of long, flowing locks, his hair was cut short, but in a way that gave him a permanent just-got-out-of-bed sort of look. His eyes were blue, almost ice-like. They followed me as I looked in, and I suddenly felt like he was penetrating deep into my soul. I averted my gaze quickly, not wanting to stare, although I had to admit I was curious. I had never seen an elf before, after all.
To my surprise, the elf grinned at me. “Well, if it isn’t the new witch in town,” he said.
I stopped and stared at him for a second. “How do you know about me?”
“Western Woods isn’t that big. A new paranormal in town, now that’s big news. Even in the hospital, that sort of information makes its way to me.”
I suddenly noticed for the first time that his torso was wrapped in gauze bandage.
“Why are you in here?” I asked.
“Got into a fight with a shifter trying to hunt in the human world,” the elf replied casually. “Next time I go to fight a dragon, I’ll have to bring my fireproof suit.” I wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. Honestly, the idea of the fireproof suit seemed completely reasonable in a magical world.
“Oh,” I replied dumbly.
“So, what’s your name?”
“Tina. Yours?”
“Kyran. Short for Kyrandir.”
“And you’re an elf?”
“Wow, you are new, aren’t you? Yes, I’m an elf.”
“And why were you hunting shifters in the human world?”
“Because paranormal law enforcement across borders has been in shambles for years, and many of the bad apples choose to commit crimes in the human world, where they know there will be no consequences.”
“So, you’re like a vigilante?”
“Something like that.”
His casual demeanor was so unlike what I had expected from an elf.
“Are you going to be ok? Dragon fire sounds dangerous.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m just stuck here for a few days. But you’ll see me around, don’t worry,” he added with a wink, and a blush crawled up my face involuntarily. Great.
“Tina! Get over here,” Sara called out to me suddenly from the other end of the room.
“I gotta go,” I said to Kyran.
“See you,” he said with a grin. As I rushed over to Sara and Amy, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit lighter on my feet than I had before.
“Who was that you were talking to?” Sara asked as we left the emergency room and made our way back down the hall. I didn’t know where we were going, but Sara seemed to, so I let her lead the way.
“I met an elf!” I told them. “His name is Kyran.”
Amy and Sara shared a look. “Kyrandir?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, that’s him. What’s wrong?”
“Kyrandir has a reputation in town, and it’s not a good one. He’s the local bad-boy, basically. He’s slept with most of the females in town – regardless of species – and he doesn’t really work.”
“He said he was fighting a dragon shifter in the human world… isn’t that sort of security work normally done by shifters?” I asked.
Amy nodded. “Exactly. No one actually pays him to do anything. He used to have a regular job, hundreds of years ago, apparently. I don’t know what happened – I wasn’t alive back then, obviously, and the stories get changed throughout the centuries – but he’s considered a bad apple now. You should definitely stay away from him.”
That was strange. The Kyran I had met didn’t seem like such a bad guy.
“He didn’t seem that bad to me,” I offered, and Amy shook her head.
“You
need to be careful in the paranormal world, Tina. Most magical creatures are inherently good, but just like in the human world, there are some who aren’t. And you don’t have the magical experience to know who you should stay away from.”
“Fine,” I said quietly, feeling a little bit sad. I supposed Sara and Amy did know this sort of thing a lot better than I did. Still, I wondered what it was that Kyran had done to get himself fired from his job and made an outcast from society.
“We’re here,” Sara said as we approached a desk. Assistant Station – Concoctology was written above the desk on a plain sign.
“What’s concoctology?” I whispered to Amy next to me.
“It’s the official name for the study of potions,” she replied. “Anyone who has a problem that can be solved by something made in cauldron that isn’t bad enough to go to the emergency room comes here.”
“Ah,” I replied, understanding.
“Hi there, how can I help you?” the assistant behind the counter asked with a friendly smile. Her curly, dark-brown hair framed a face with almond shaped eyes and a cute pair of glasses. She had a kind smile, and looked exactly like what I would want a nurse – or, assistant in this world – to look like.
“You’re Patricia, right?” Sara asked.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“My mom, Doctor Neach, told me we should talk to you. Randy Tonner said you were at the bar last night, where Philip Vulcan’s body was found?”
Patricia looked from side to side, then motioned for us to follow her. She stepped out of the Assistant Station and led us into a small break room a couple of feet away which was currently empty. Sitting on one of the chairs, she motioned for us to join her.
“Why are you asking about Philip?”
If Patricia had been one of his friends, I figured honesty was probably the best policy.
“I’m new to town, I only arrived last night. I’ve only just discovered I’m a witch, and because of the timing, there are people in town who believe I killed Philip, even though I didn’t. I didn’t even know him. We’re trying to find out what we can to help Chief Enforcer King find the person who really killed him.”
Patricia looked at the three of us for a minute, and then nodded.
“Alright, I believe you. Especially if Amy Perkins is with you. You have quite the reputation around town for being an intelligent, hard-working witch.”
“Thank you,” Amy said, a blush creeping up her neck. Amy was totally a Hermione.
“Phil was a good man. He might not have been the smartest, and he certainly had his share of issues, but overall he did his best, and he was always friendly, always kind to everyone. Most people here looked down on him because of the work he did, but he was a genuinely friendly person to those who took the time to pay attention to him.”
“You were at the bar with him last night?”
Patricia nodded. “Yes. I was having a drink with Randy and Eric. Philip was there, and he was in a good mood. He bought the whole bar a round. I meant to ask him where he’d gotten the money from. He left sometime around oh, I don’t know, maybe ten? I left about half an hour after he did.”
“And you had taken your broom to the bar?”
“That’s right,” Patricia nodded. “I only had one drink, so I figured I was safe to fly home. I grabbed my broom and left.”
“And you definitely didn’t see anything out of the ordinary by the broom rack?”
“Nothing at all,” Patricia replied, shaking her head. “I heard that was where they found Phil.”
Sara nodded. “Yes, that’s what we’ve been told as well.”
“I can absolutely guarantee you that he wasn’t there when I went out,” Patricia said. “I do wonder why he left the bar and came back, though. I didn’t see a single indication that Phil was around when I’d left, and he had left the bar at least twenty minutes before I did.”
“Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt him?” I asked.
Patricia shook her head slowly. “Well, not really. Certainly not to murder him. I know he wasn’t getting along very well with Myrtle. She was upset that he had lost his job at the hospital, since he was always hopping from job to job. But nothing that would get him killed.”
“Why did he lose his job here?” Amy asked. “Did he get into some sort of trouble?”
“To be honest with you, I don’t know. Phil never told me the reason, and I didn’t hear anyone mention anything about it.”
“Thanks for your help, Patricia,” Sara said. “We appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. I do hope you help to find Phil’s killer. He was a good guy, really. He may not have been perfect, but he also didn’t deserve to die.”
Patricia left the room, leaving the three of us alone once more.
Chapter 12
“What do you think?” Sara asked when Patricia left.
“I think we need to find out why Philip was fired,” I replied.
“I agree,” Amy said. “It might help us to figure out who might have had a grudge against him.”
“We should also speak with Myrtle if we get the chance,” Sara said. “Although I’d rather wait a couple of days, since after all, she is now a grieving widow.”
“The funeral should be soon,” Amy pointed out.
“Ok, so for now, we need to find out why Philip was fired,” I said. “Who do we ask about that?”
“Caranthir is in charge of the hospital,” Sara said.
“What type of paranormal is he?”
“An elf, obviously,” Amy said, giving me a you-should-have-known-that sort of look. “Important administrative tasks are the realm of the elves.”
“Right, I forgot about that weird rule about everyone having their place,” I replied.
Caranthir’s office was on the top floor of the hospital, in one of the far corners. A name plate on the door let us know we were in the right spot.
“Why isn’t there a last name on this?” I asked, motioning to the plate.
“Elves only have one name,” Amy explained as she knocked on the door. “Caranthir means sun-god in the elvish language. They don’t do last names, like the rest of us do.”
“Yes?” came a deep voice from inside. We opened the door to find the head of the hospital seated behind a large white desk. In fact, everything in this room was white, from the walls to the bookcase and even the frame which held a certificate of some kind hanging on the wall. The only exception was a large painting of a sunrise, framed against the wall on the right, the only thing in the room that showed any kind of personality, and even it looked relatively cliché.
Caranthir himself was exactly what I imagined when I thought of elves, not like Kyran at all. He had the same pointed ears, but his hair was so light it was practically white, and reached straight down to nearly his waist. His eyes were dark and deep-set; it was almost like looking into space. He wore a loose off-white robe, and if my mother had been here she would have taken one look at his posture and gone “See, Tina? Just like that gentleman is doing, not slouched over like you always are.”
“Sara, Amy, how are you? And you must be the newcomer in town,” he greeted us. I gave a small smile. Elves were weird. How did they always seem to know who I was straight away?
“Hi, Caranthir,” Sara said. “Can we chat for a second?”
“Of course. What can I do for some of the fine witches of the Coven of Jupiter on this fine afternoon?”
“We were hoping you could tell us why Philip Vulcan was fired from his job here,” Sara said.
“Ah. Poor Philip. I heard of his tragic demise this morning. My thoughts are with your coven, of course. I was so saddened to hear that something so horrible would happen to a man so simple. He was not, of course, the most talented wizard to have ever worked in this hospital, nor was he required to be, of course. However, he always did his work well, and I was quite saddened when I came to the realization that I had to let him go.”
“But why?” Sara a
sked again. “What was the reason?”
“That, I’m afraid, I cannot tell you. It would be a severe breach of employee confidentiality.”
“I don’t think he minds anymore,” Amy said, and Caranthir gave her a hard look.
“All the same, Philip still has family in the coven, and they may believe differently. I’m afraid policy is policy, and there is no way that I am able to tell you what it is you want to know.”
Wow, this guy definitely did not use one word when ten could do.
“Alright, well, thanks Caranthir,” Sara said.
“It was my pleasure, witches. Amy, I should let you know that we have an opening for a Healer coming up in approximately eight months. I am well aware that the training to become a Healer ordinarily takes eighteen, but I am certain a witch of your caliber could complete the training on an advanced schedule, should you be so inclined.”
A self-satisfied smile crept up Amy’s face along with a small blush at the base of her neck. She was obviously pleased with the compliment.
“Thank you, Caranthir. I will absolutely consider it,” she replied before the three of us left.
“So you’re going to become a Healer then?” I asked Amy as we left the room and found ourselves back in the hall.
Amy sighed. “No. I would like to. Everyone always assumed I would become a Healer, since it’s the most prestigious position a witch in town can have. You have to be immensely intelligent, and skilled in both spells and potions, which many aren’t – most witches are good at one, but not the other. But the thing is, I’m actually terrified of blood.”
That explained why she looked like she was going to pass out when we had entered the emergency ward.
“Oh. So what are you going to do, then?”
“Well, for now I’m going to continue working for Lita, and I’ll continue my studies at the local academy. I’ll most likely go into academia, and pass on my knowledge to the future witches,” Amy said.
“I think that’s a good plan, anyway,” Sara said. “You’ve got so much knowledge that you can pass on, and frankly, I don’t want a Healer who might pass out when they see my wounds.”
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