I felt good about checking on Kyle before we continued our snooping. After promising Kelly we’d come back, hopefully with news, I hurried after Quinn. He was already striding down the hall with Lowe, who was talking to him about some cauldron. She had also loved the swamp and wanted to discuss that. Luckily for all of us, Quinn was only too happy to talk with her about topics that grossed me out.
We caught the special trolley to the university, but we didn’t speak much on the way. There were other riders, so I wasn’t about to ask about the case. I wondered vaguely how Quinn felt about returning to the university where he’d met Cynthia, but if he was apprehensive at all he didn’t give any sign.
I also wondered what Hannah was going to say at our next Young Witches meeting. She was determined to be successful. She was also determined to get me and my friends maimed, but she was going to be disappointed on that front. Still, I wouldn’t be able to ignore the problem of the Coven Council forever. I was a member, and they were hostile to Rhinestones. If I wasn’t careful, we might just become extinct.
This time when we arrived on campus we knew where we were going. We headed straight to the professor’s lab.
Lowe shrugged. “As a matter of fact we have. We did feel the need to visit. Now we’re coming back to report on our findings.”
“Professor Burger doesn’t see just anyone. I’m impressed that you got her to talk to you,” he said.
“Why wouldn’t she talk to us?” I asked.
“Probably because you have trouble written all over your forehead in large letters,” he said dryly.
I rolled my eyes, but Lowe was laughing. “Just because we like to snoop doesn’t mean we’re trouble.”
“Correct. The fact that you’re trouble means that you’re trouble,” said Quinn.
I groaned. “We already have a cauldron mystery. Don’t play word games with me today.” But I secretly liked his words. Quinn was funny and smart, and it was always nice to have someone around who could turn a phrase. Given that Quinn had promised to follow me everywhere I went, I expected to be getting a lot of that in the near future.
We went up to the receptionist’s desk, where we found the same young man with the same bored expression as last time. Even the sight of Quinn in his uniform didn’t impress this guy.
“Yes?” he said.
I told him why we were there. He sighed gustily as if we had made a terrible choice.
“She said you could return without an appointment?” he asked.
“In essence, yes,” I told him. I just hoped Quinn wouldn’t step in. This was a murder investigation, after all, so he might think he was justified in exercising his authority with the receptionist.
“Fine. I’ll go see what she has available. Lunch hour is over, though,” he said warningly.
He got out of his chair and disappeared into the lab. Looking through the glass wall, I couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot fewer students working on experiments today than we had seen last time.
One of the few individuals I did see while we waited was Professor Burger’s assistant, Gael, who looked up once and met my eyes. A spark of recognition flashed, then her eyes slid to Quinn. Her pupils dilated slightly, then she quickly looked away.
We waited and waited. Gael disappeared from view, her tall and official-looking form disappearing through a set of double doors.
“She’ll see you now,” said the receptionist, sticking his head back through the door. “Follow me.”
Without any ceremony, he shoved the door out of our way and waited for us to come through it. As we trailed after him like a line of ducks, I snuck a quick glance at Quinn. The expression on his face surprised me greatly. He looked thoughtful and determined, as if he’d just come up with a new idea and was considering it carefully.
The receptionist didn’t take us to the second floor this time. Instead he led us around the stairs, where we found a single door propped ajar. Leading us through it, he said, “Come on. This place is so big it takes forever to get anywhere.”
“Where are all the other students today?” I asked. He pretended he hadn’t even heard me.
Through the door the four of us went. Beyond it was a hallway, one wall of which was lined with metal shelves stacked with supplies. The hallway was dimly lit, but at the end of it we came to a sunnier space, at which point the receptionist pointed straight ahead.
“Go there,” he said. “When you’re done, don’t touch anything. Just come back.” With that he turned on his heel again and was gone.
Lowe rolled her eyes. Without wasting a moment, she headed down the hall, Quinn and I following at a slower place. I wished I could have been last in a line, so I could keep an eye on what Quinn was doing. Since he was last, I didn’t dare sneak any looks back. Then I realized how funny it was that I wanted to keep an eye on the sheriff. I had a feeling he wouldn’t find my curiosity as amusing as I did.
Lowe reached the door at the end of the hall and knocked.
A familiar voice called for us to come in.
“Hello,” said Professor Burger. She was sitting at a desk underneath a window with sunlight streaming in. I had never seen a desk so covered in paper in my life.
“Wouldn’t a spell fix that?” I blurted out.
Lowe looked at me, horrified.
Bara Burger just threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t think even a spell would save me now,” she said with a smile. “But maybe I’ll try it sometime. One of my assistants got so sick of the mess that she used a crystal ball to see the desk’s future. She quit the next day.”
Then she glanced at Quinn and said, “I see you brought someone new.” She gave Quinn a scholarly look, which must have been a nice change for him. Mostly he got looks of hot desire or terror.
He stepped forward and extended his hand. After introductions were made, Professor Burger said, “I didn’t realize that the sheriff was involved. Is this to do with that murder at the hospital?” She didn’t sound irritated, just curious.
“It very well might,” said Quinn. “I don’t know what these two told you.”
“They told me that the black market might be involved. Of course I said I wasn’t surprised. There’s a huge demand for the right potion ingredients,” she said.
“The Vixens are driving up the price, aren’t they?” asked Lowe.
“What are you talking about?” I said to her.
She shrugged. “The Vixens want ingredients. That’s what’s causing this whole mess. They’re new on the scene. More players but not more stuff to buy.”
“You might be right,” said Quinn.
Professor Burger was nodding. “I have to confess I don’t know a whole lot about the black market. Even when I was a young thing and more daring than I am now, I never went in that direction. That was always asking for trouble. Besides, I always had everything I needed right here at the university. I suppose if I had decided to create more dangerous potions, I might have been tempted.”
She was lost in thought for a bit, remembering her days as a student. Then she came back to the present and got down to business.
“Now, let me see the results of the three experiments. Was Bethel involved? I’m sure she was helpful,” murmured the professor. Lowe put the binder of notes in front of the professor and the three of us sat down in the chairs the professor indicated. There were so many papers that I was forced to move a stack of experimental results dating back to 1987 before I could sit down.
“Humm, very interesting. I see these created results that you wouldn’t normally expect. Humm, very interesting again,” Burger said quietly. She was running her hands along the pages that Lowe had filled out. I glanced at Quinn, but I couldn’t read anything from his expression.
Finally the professor looked up. She was speaking to the sheriff when she said, “I don’t suppose you have the results from the residues found at the crime scene.”
Quinn nodded. “We asked for a rush job on those, but even the sheriff’s lab
is nothing like this. There were some obvious signs though. Orange steam was the clearest.”
“That on its own doesn’t mean anything, unfortunately,” she said. “It’s the most common color.”
“How else would you achieve orange steam?” I asked. If it wasn’t from one of the combinations that she’d had us try, maybe it was something else that might be familiar.
“There are many bases and mixes that result in the orange color,” she said. “Most foods and many feathers. Pearls can take on any color you like, which makes them especially hard to trace. The high quality pearls do that the best. I would have to see the results from the sheriff’s tests. In any event, the orange-producing steam experiment that you did should be sufficient. Just because they’re common doesn’t mean that they happen all the time,” she said.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The office was stuffy and cluttered. Dust particles layered my view of the chairs, the desk, and the people who were in the office with me. I sneezed once or twice, and Bara Burger handed me a tissue without looking up.
The professor spent a long time looking over Lowe’s notes, making comments and asking questions as she went. She was very focused on the process we had followed, wanting to know what had happened minute by minute as we combined the elements of each potion. At a certain point in each process that no longer mattered so much, but in the beginning it was crucial.
When she finished she sat back in her chair. “I don’t think any of this is relevant to be the case. None of it is likely to kill anyone, stun them, or do anything terribly awful.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” I told her.
She smiled ruefully. “I do my best. That’s not to say that some of the ingredients are common. It’s clear that some of the ones you contributed are from the black market, and I must confess that I chose very particular packets for you to try. We’ve been experimenting a lot with this sort of thing, and those are among the combinations we’ve come up with. You have actually given us a crucial bit of information.”
Quinn was watching all of this with interest. “What experiments have you been doing?”
The professor looked at him. “For too long, we happened to miss the fact that the field for black market ingredients has expanded over the past few years. The price for legal ingredients is going up so much that we were actually thinking about making a formal complaint. We had already been talking about it amongst ourselves here at the university, but we didn’t want to bring it to your attention without some sort of proof.”
“Isn’t the increase in price proof enough?” Lowe asked.
The professor shrugged. “There are various explanations for supply and demand. We felt it was necessary to learn more. Most of the ingredients I gave Jade were from black market purchases.”
Lowe and I both blinked. We hadn’t expected that.
Quinn raised his eyebrows. “You yourself have been purchasing on the black market?”
The professor shrugged. “I would say that it’s best if I don’t share with you how I came across such ingredients. Suffice to say that nothing gets in the way of my research. If I need an ingredient I will find it. I don’t care where I have to go or how long I have to look. I also don’t care how legal it is. That’s not something I advertise. I’m only telling you now out of necessity.”
“That’s good to know,” said Quinn dryly
He didn’t look as concerned about the information as I would have expected. He merely rubbed the back of his neck, deep in thought.
“Thank you for your time. We should probably not take up any more of it,” I said.
“I do love to help with these investigations. I hope you’ll come back soon. By the way, the boiling point for the feathers in the potions you tried is very low. I would guess that the same was true of whatever concoction was used that night on your young friends. The boiling point was low. To know that you needed a low boiling point with this potion is the sign of a pro. Somebody who is very good at potions made the one that was used in the woods that night,” she said.
I found myself nodding. I didn’t quite understand everything she was saying, but Lowe looked clear-eyed and delighted with the information; I could tell she knew what the professor was talking about. On our way out we passed the professor’s assistant, who merely gave us an annoyed look and kept going. She didn’t like us bothering her precious professor and she didn’t care if we knew it.
Wanting to discuss the case on the way home, I tried to summarize. “We know that this was a black market deal gone bad. We also know that a potion with a high degree of difficulty was used. Henry must have seen whoever was doing the deal. That’s why the Vixens killed him. Kyle probably saw them as well, so there’s a good chance that his life is in danger even now. But I still don’t see how we’re going to find out what else happened.”
“The investigation is far from over,” said Quinn.
“How can you say that?” asked Lowe, who had been visibly reluctant to leave the lab. I figured there was a good chance she’d end up under the tutelage of the professor one of these days. If Bethel would allow it, that is.
“There are still a lot of strands to pull,” said Quinn. “We know this and that about the black market. In fact, we have a lot of information. On top of that, Kyle is safe, and he’s going to wake up eventually. When he does, we’re going to ask him what happened and who exactly he was dealing with. I’m starting to think there was a middleman. Or a middle woman,” he said.
“What makes you think that?” I asked.
“The Vixens have gone to a lot of trouble to stay out of the way. They are not visible. They could be evil, and yet we’d still know their names. Instead, they’re evil and silent. That’s an important distinction. I have a feeling they hired someone to make these deals, and that the people making the deals on their behalf also don’t even know who they are. If the Vixens are staying hidden, someone else must also be involved. The Vixens don’t need to kill Henry if Henry doesn’t know who they are.”
“Maybe Henry did find out who they are. Maybe when they met up with him they were wearing masks, and he pulled one of the masks off, or something like that,” I said. It sounded far-fetched even to my own ears.
Quinn was nodding absently. I could tell that he’d heard me but didn’t necessarily agree. Anyhow, his story did in fact sound plausible. Maybe the Vixens had gone to the hospital to kill Henry on someone else’s behalf. I had a feeling that if Kyle had known any of the Vixens’ identities, he’d already be dead. That, of course, was one of those theories I was never going to share with Kelly. She was worried enough as it was.
I wouldn’t be seeing Kelly again until the next day, when another Young Witches meeting was scheduled. I just hoped I could get through it without yelling at Hannah. My patience with that particular witch was running thin.
I was not expecting Quinn to escort us all the way home; he was a busy man. But he did just that.
“Don’t you have to get back to the hospital?” Lowe asked.
“Yes, I do. Right after I make sure you two get home safely,” he said.
Lowe gave me a sidelong glance, but I just shrugged. He was taking this keeping track of me thing seriously.
“I don’t know what else you think we could do. You already came with us to the lab,” I said.
“Maybe I think you’ll visit Michael and find out more about feathers,” he said.
Low choked. We hadn’t told him about visiting Michael.
“How did you know?” I demanded.
He shrugged. “I have my ways. Don’t ever doubt it.”
“How could we ever,” I grumbled.
We saw various townsfolk on the way home, but each time we kept going after brief greetings with those who wanted to say hello. Residents of Twinkleford seemed to fall into two groups when it came to the sheriff. Some wanted nothing to do with him. Others wanted to complain or highlight problems. They always thought he could help, and he always listened attentivel
y, never appearing bored or frustrated, and definitely never rude. I certainly wouldn’t have had that much patience.
“I don’t see how you do it day in and day out,” I told him.
He looked at me in genuine surprise. “Do what?”
“All of your duties. Every time you walk half a block, someone wants to say something to you. You must be the most well known person in town,” I said.
He shrugged. “I think we can definitely agree that the most well known people in town are the Carlisles.”
“For better and for worse,” I grumbled. Quinn nodded.
Having dropped us off at our doorstep, he didn’t linger. Part of me wanted to go back to the hospital with him. After all, what if Kyle had woken up? Another part of me knew that Quinn wouldn’t appreciate that. He had his own investigating to do.
After watching the pixies and fairies duke it out for a bit, Lowe and I made our way inside, where we found Bethel reading.
“You two come on out to the kitchen and help me with dinner,” said my grandmother. “Take one night off this silly snooping. Tomorrow you can go to your Young Witches meeting and get back to normal,” she said, nodding at me. “Lowe, you can help me in the garden.”
Then she paused and looked back at me sternly. “And you tell Hannah she needs to give you a more realistic assignment.”
“I don’t think Hannah is going to listen to you, much less me, but I appreciate the support,” I said.
Bethel sniffed disdainfully. “That girl doesn’t know how to respect her elders. I can’t say I’m surprised. Her mother didn’t respect her elders either. It must run in the family. Sad.”
We spent that evening quietly, and for me, a bit broodingly. I had started to worry more and more about my sister, whom I hadn’t seen for a while now. I knew she was all right, because if she hadn’t been I was sure I would have heard something. Still, there was an ache deep in my chest that would only go away when I saw Ethel again, and the dreams I’d been having made me restless. Something told me I’d see her soon. That intuition made me all the more eager to get to bed.
The Rhinestone Witches Omnibus: Books 1-3 Page 42