The Chimera Charm

by Pearl Goodfellow

  “My pleasure,” Shields replied as they shook hands. He didn’t bother to grasp mine this time.

  I didn’t see any sign of Midnight or Shade as we departed from the spacious room. I tried not to worry. My fuzzy little roommates were veterans of many a break-in. They knew how not to get caught. I just hoped that the sunlight flooding into the room wouldn’t push them into primal cat-mode. We passed the receptionist’s desk, and, sure enough, my magical kitties were sitting politely straight-backed and side by side in the waiting area. David practically gasped “How did you two get out?”

  Midnight held up his right paw, exposing trailing fibers of Shields’ expensive rug, and also a slip of cat drool covered paper; the ‘white thing’ I’d seen He pushed it toward me. “Let’s just say, you can tell a lot about a dude like that just from digging through their trash,” he said.

  I picked up the spit-covered scrap of paper and discovered it was a receipt for the Morningstar Motel; a tourist trap on the southern end of Glessie. A quick scan revealed a credit card number and Shields' name just below that.

  “Tell me, David,” I said as I showed him the receipt. “What would our esteemed governor be doing at a hell-hole like the Morningstar?”

  David took the receipt from me and looked it over. He had just enough time to frown at it when the door to Kramp’s office opened. My mouth fell open at the sight of who just came out of Barnabus’ office.

  Glessie’s Mayor, Sincerity Jones, took a glance at us and looked almost as dumbfounded as we did.

  “CPI Trew,” she said once she found her voice. “What are you doing so far from Glessie?”

  “I could ask you the same question, Your Honor,” David said, deftly tucking the receipt away. “We’re following up leads on the Morag Devlin case.”

  “Ah, of course, so sad,” Mayor Jones said, shaking her head. “Our previous mayor would right now be lamenting how ticket sales for the Mabon Fair dropped on account of that. I personally think it’s far more terrible for Ms. Devlin’s sister.”

  That was Sincerity Jones all over. While she was as wily and practical as any politician out there, she never forgot that her job was serving the people first. Glessie had become a much better place since she had taken over from our previous (and, devious) Mayor, Marty Fog.

  “But seriously, Mayor Jones, what brings you here?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “Oh, just some cross-isle business that I had to handle with Mr. Kramp,” she said with a dismissive shake of her hand. “I would have gone to Governor Shields with it, but I was told he was in a conference. I guess that it was with the two of you?”

  “Guilty as charged,” David said with one of his ever so charming smiles. My friend seemed to come alive somewhat while standing in the company of Sincerity. I felt a pang of unreasonable jealousy creep stealthily into my heart.

  “Well, I imagine you have a lot of business waiting for you back at City Hall, so we’ll not keep you,” I said a little too eagerly.

  Sincerity Jones matched my enthusiasm, by spewing out some rapid-fire goodbyes and left on quick feet.

  David looked at Midnight. Both of them raised their eyebrows at each other. As the door shut behind Glessie’s mayor, Midnight said, sotto voce, “Permission to stalk Her Honor?”

  “Don’t stop until she gets home,” David said

  “Do not even THINK of leaving me out of this, my brother,” Shade added.

  My moggies stalked off after the mayor and David, and I finally turned to Barnabus Kramp’s door. My friend flicked his head back toward the departing mayor.

  “You really think that something’s going on between her and Kramp?” David whispered.

  “What’s your BS detector saying, Chief Para Inspector?”

  “It’s going off like a five-alarm fire,” he replied before opening the door to Kramp’s office.

  Thankfully, Kramp’s receptionist had the good sense not to make any assumptions about what or who I was to CPI Trew. Or maybe someone had taken the time to fill her in. Regardless, she told us to go right in.

  The impression I had gotten from Kramp at the Mabon Fair was even stronger up close and personal. His face looked as if he were snarling. You know those funny, scrunched up lines wolves get around their snouts when they growl? The lines at the side of Barnabus Kramp’s lips imitated this wild expression. His voice was a booming drawl; uberly confident and utterly relaxed-sounding. Kramp’s words belied his IQ. You’d think Barnabus was a hick, but, of course, he was anything but. This offensive man was as shrewd a lawyer as they come. He spoke then.

  “Gideon filled me in on the situation. It’s a darn shame what happened to Morag. She was a really good kid.”

  Something about the way he said that made my hackles rise.

  David either didn’t catch it or was pretending he didn’t. “Governor Shields told us that Morag’s duties are going to be divided between your remaining lawyers?”

  “Yeah, usually it’d go to the next in the bloodline,” Kramp answered. “But seeing as there’s just Infirma left and how she’s no lawyer…” Kramp trailed off.

  “So what can you tell me about all the latest legal motions regarding the Rock Grumlins?” David asked. “I understand that this was Morag’s domain, so can you tell me what she was last working on for the little guys in the mountain?”

  “Afraid it falls under attorney-client privilege,” Kramp said. “In other words, there’s nothing I want to say before those same motions have been processed through the court system.”

  “Do any of your firm’s current legal actions involve Glessie Isle’s, Mayor Jones?”

  Kramp’s eyes twitched to the left at the chief’s question. “No, nothing like that.”

  I tingled at the obvious lie. “Then why was she here?”

  “That’s nothing I want to talk about either.”

  “Is there anything you CAN talk about?” I pressed, feeling my frustration start to spike. “Like, say, your visit to the Devlin estate right after Morag’s death?”

  Kramp dismissed me. “It was just a condolence call…nothing legal about it, so, please don’t waste my time with petty, irrelevant questions.”

  “Then why did you fire questions at Infirma?” David asked.

  “Morag dealt with a handful of, ah, sensitive issues for the Cathedral administration. We needed to be sure that Ms. Devlin hadn’t been careless, or sloppy with her files before her unfortunate accident.”

  “If it’d only been the one visit to Infirma, I might have believed you.” My best friend and true love quipped.

  Kramp smiled all of a sudden, breaking his face into a snarl once more. “You might want to be careful, Chief Para Inspector. You’re edging dangerously close to libel territory.”

  David was unmoved. “If you make any more visits that upset the surviving Ms. Devlin, you’ll find yourself square in the middle of harassment and/or intimidation territory.”

  “Consider me so advised,” Kramp said, standing. “I’m afraid that’s all the time I have for today. My secretary can get you contact information for the firm’s other partners as I’m sure you’ll be asking about them shortly.” The lawyer offered us a curt nod and sat down at his desk to look over some paperwork.

  It took about a minute for the secretary to give us the details of the other partners, which David jotted down in his notepad.

  Once we were outside the office, David said, “Well, this has been a colossal waste of time.”

  “Not necessarily, David,” I said while we made our way to the front door. “The smallest details could still—“

  “Are you talking about that receipt that Shade found? So we now know Shields’ credit card number and that he once visited a nowhere spot on Glessie…so what?” David sulked. “It’s not exactly hard to believe that he might have met a good-time-girl there for a night of slobbering passion.” My friend sneered. It didn’t really seem like him.

  I dug the receipt out and pointed to a detail my friend had evide
ntly missed. “Look at the date. This was a little under a week ago. We could check his schedule and find out if there was any official business going on. You know, either at the Morningstar Motel or in the general area of it.”

  David nodded. “Okay, that’s something.”

  “I’m also wondering why Sincerity was really in Barnabus’ office,” I added. “Since that mouthpiece was being cagey with the answers, hope my kitties can fill in the gaps after tailing our dear Mayor.”

  David rubbed his face and sighed. “One thing I know for a fact is that we’re going to get less out of Kramp’s colleagues than we just did him. He’ll have warned them all by now. At this point, I’m not even sure that little deal you made with that brownie, what’s his name …. Seamus? Yeah, I’m not so certain his work is going to turn anything up.”

  “If Midnight believes that Seamus has a good nose for this stuff, that’s enough for me,” I said. “Just think of Seamus as another informant who has yet to prove his worth.”

  David nodded. “I’ll try, Hat. But we need to find an angle into this case somehow…and soon.”

  I felt my friend’s pain. This was getting frustrating. It felt disrespectful somehow. Her funeral was tomorrow and we weren’t even close to catching the person who had taken Morag’s life so suddenly.

  Chocolate. I needed chocolate.

  Chapter Eleven

  Morag Devlin’s funeral was held the following morning at Cernuous Cemetery; a plot of land owned by Our Lady of Shallot Church on Cathedral Isle. Mourners huddled under respectfully-black umbrellas, as sheets of rain pummeled the graveside spectators. Visibility was minimal; I could barely make out the bedraggled undertakers lowering Morag’s casket into the muddy ground. I looked down at my feet -- there was already a swirling, muddy pool of water collecting there -- at my poor, drenched kitties. Their fur was sodden, and I could see their tiny faces, eyes squinting in a kind Clint Eastwood parody of determination to see this service through to the end. Plump drops of rain fell from their water-laden whiskers. I’ve said it before, but sometimes I just look at my cats, and my heart feels like it will shatter from the weight of the love I feel for them. Fraidy nearly pushed me over the edge. I saw him, in a thoughtful act of tenderness, reach out his paw to wipe away water from Gloom’s eyes. Gloom didn’t move immediately, but just before I pulled my attention back to the ceremony, I saw her tail curl toward her timid brother, and gently wrap around his back. Love. Love. Love. I saw Jet lean his head against Carbon. For braving the great outdoors to attend Morag’s funeral, the Infiniti was thoughtful enough to put their agoraphobic brother in the middle of them all, where he’d feel comforted and safe. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  Reverend Peacefield continued the eulogy. The vicar was out of his parish on Glessie, but it had been Infirma who had requested his ministrations, probably out of loyalty to the gentle pastor. The grieving sister stood next to Thaddeus, sobbing uncontrollably, Verdantia Eyebright stood next to the grieving woman, holding Infirma’s elbow to steady her. Under the cover of a plateau of black umbrellas on the opposite side of the grave stood Cathedral’s legal flunkies. In the center stood Gideon Shields, Barnabus Kramp, looking grim on the governor’s right-hand side. Beside Kramp stood his wife, Zinnie. Her face was morose and a little gray looking. Peacefield continued his peaceful murmuring, and I leaned in to whisper to David,

  “How was Infirma able to get permission to bury the body? What if Maude needs to check over the corpse again?”

  “The coffin’s got a portal enchantment on it,” David explained. He looked pale, and I noticed the dark rings under his eyes. “If Maude needs to take another look, it’ll pull the body straight back to the morgue in no time.”

  “Never heard of that kind of thing…but it doesn’t sound like a standard practice.”

  “It’s not,” David quietly confirmed. “As a matter of fact, the coffin itself was paid for by parties unknown. According to Maude, Infirma was pretty upset about someone stepping in. It took Verdantia forever to calm her down.”

  “Do we have any idea on who the anonymous benefactor was?” I asked, glancing over at the grieving Infirma.

  “Well, they’re kinda ‘anonymous’ so, no, we don’t,”

  Duh, Hattie.

  I elbowed David in the ribs.

  “The Custodians, maybe?”

  “Yeah, that’s how I see it too,” my weary friend said. “What did Midnight and Shade find out about our good Mayor, Sincerity Jones?” he asked, looking down at my rain-soaked guardians.

  Midnight cleared his throat and shook water from his whiskers as he looked up at the chief.

  “Afraid we struck out,” Midnight conceded. “Ms. Jones just went to places any hot-looking lady mayor would go.”

  “Yeah, nothing noteworthy,” Shade said, shaking at least a pint of rain from his furry features. “Seemed to be business as usual,” he finished.

  Midnight gave Shade a tap of the paw in agreement. “All business, yeah. Apparently, whatever Sincerity was doing in Kramp’s office, it stopped at the office door.”

  My eyes found Barnabus and his wife, Zinnie. If anything, their body language here, was even more heightened than it was at the Mabon fair. Barnabus made a play for his wife’s hand, but the latter slapped it away in a fierce and quick motion. Kramp dropped his hand and gave up trying to make a show of good husbandry.

  “What about that mystery item that Morag hid before she died? Any ideas?” I asked David, reaching out to touch his arm.

  His skin was hot. I looked at his face and watched as a sea of red blood vessels flooded his cheeks and forehead. Just as soon as the fierce redness engulfed him, it receded almost instantly. I stared at him, blinking, feeling the skin on his arm cool under my fingers.

  “David, are you o--”

  “I can think of two other places to look for this hidden ‘thing,’” he interrupted, changing the subject immediately. I played along.

  “Where?”

  “The time capsule at Cagliostro School where Morag was present for the burying of said capsule.”

  “And?”

  “And the bell, or bell tower, at Saint Pendragons. I mean, Morag was due for the ribbon cutting ceremony the day after her death. She also spent a lot of time there at St. Pen’s.”

  “Plus Saint Pendragon’s is notorious for its safety charms on its Avalon Vaults. Maybe it would make for a great hiding place, given that its vaults are known to be impenetrable. Maybe nobody would think to look even in the vicinity of the church?”

  “My thoughts too,” David said, rubbing his hands over his face.

  “I am a little less than convinced that this ‘thing’ is, in fact, the motive for Morag’s death,” Onyx opined.

  “Yeah, I figured you’d think that made too much sense,” Gloom sniped.

  “Whatever it is,” I said, bowing my head to look at my kitties. “Morag apparently didn’t want anyone to find out about it. So, even if has nothing to do with her demise, we have to assume that it’s at least very important.”

  Reverend Peacefield’s funeral oration came to an end, trailing off in soft murmurings from the small gathering. Infirma’s side of the grave formed a line so they could toss their white roses onto the casket. But Shields headed them off, and he stepped squarely in front of Infirma. Gideon arrogantly took the show in his hands, and flicked his wrist with a dramatic sweep of his arm and dropped his flower into the watery grave. Shields’ goons followed the governor’s lead and dropped their own offerings into the earth, leaving a rather shocked Infirma to finally deliver her own rose to her dear departed sister. Infirma wept, her tears instantly washing away in the lashing rain. Shields clocked David and I staring at him, and halted his departing course to wait for Infirma instead. Now the creep has an audience he has a show to put on.

  David, the Infiniti and I crossed the sodden earth toward Infirma, but Shields and his legal mutts gathered around the grieving sister. Verdantia, at Infirma’s elbow, swept a willow
y arm in front of her, warding off the goons somewhat to give Infirma and her faery guardian some space. We couldn’t see from where we were what kind of smarmy, false condolences Cathedral’s governor was proffering to the sickly woman, but they kept it short. We crossed Gideon and his cronies path as they departed the cemetery. Shields nodded briefly to David and me, Gloom hissed, and the Cathedral administrators squelched through the grass back to their waiting limo.

  We walked to Verdantia and Morag’s grieving twin.

  “Hattie, David I’m so very grateful for your attendance.” Infirma stuck out a frail and shaky hand. Verdantia smiled and nodded at us. Even as drenched as she was, the fairy greengrocer still embodied a living goddess.

  “And, little kitties,” Infirma half stooped to Infiniti level as she surveyed my drowned rat-cats. “Why, you are true little troopers. Don’t think I don’t know how much your kind don’t like water.”

  Gloom arched a rain-heavy eyebrow. “Understatement, perhaps?”

  I nudged my grumpy kitty’s wet rump with my foot.

  “Infirma,” I said. “Let’s get you out of this rain. Shall we meet you back at your estate?” I suggested.

  “Please, yes. I’m chilled to the bone, I’ll admit.” She turned to the Elven greengrocer. “Verdantia said you’d be coming for tea, so she has already kindly prepared a high-tea service for us all.”

  “We’ll be there,” David said, and we each left a rain-sodden Cernuous Cemetery for the dry comfort of Morag and Infirma Devlin’s rambling estate.

  By the time we touched down at Infirma’s, the sun had broken through the thick gray clouds, extending its radiant arms to the earth in a warm embrace.

  “Hopefully our tricky little buddy, Seamus, is around, so we can see if he found any of those ‘spore’ artifacts.” Midnight said as we landed close to the front porch.

  “Bast! I hope that sneaky brownie found something. We need a break in this case.” Carbon said, clicking his useless fire-starting paws under the cover of the entrance. His toes did a wriggling tapdance on the dry flagstone floor, but it was a vain attempt at producing a flame. From what I could see only water seeped between Carbon’s furry toes.