“Stay back a bit,” Kaillie warned. “He already knows we’re trying to prove he stabbed Karen. And if he tried to kill you two already, well, you never know what he’ll do if he sees us following him.”
“He might not even be doing anything suspicious. Maybe it’s his lunch break or something.”
“Yeah, sure. The murderer isn’t doing anything weird. Kaillie, cast an invisibility spell on us. We’re going to need it.”
I could see Kaillie trying to figure out how she could get away with spying on a non-magical person without casting the invisibility spell, but she must have realized pretty quickly that it was, in fact, the best way to spy on someone without them knowing.
“Fine,” she hissed, motioning for us to enter a nearby alley so she could cast the spell without being seen. “Hurry.”
A couple of seconds later the three of us were invisible and we made our way back into the street. He had continued about thirty feet further than when I’d last seen him, but I still spotted Andrew. He was headed in the opposite direction from the recreation center.
I rushed after him, careful to hold out my hands in front of me so as not to crash into one of my cousins. Eventually, he reached one of the local bar and restaurant combo establishments and went inside. Thankfully, the door was a slow-closing one, and I was able to sneak in afterwards, with one of my cousins stepping on the back of my heel as she followed in closely behind.
“Sorry,” I heard Leanne whisper quietly into my ear.
As soon as we were in I took a few steps to the left of the door to have a look around where it was unlikely that anyone would walk into me suddenly. This was a typical-looking Irish pub, with dark walls, dark carpet, warm lighting, and beer on tap. The menus were leather-bound, and a couple of casually-dressed waitresses made their way between tables. About a quarter of them were filled, with everyone here looking fairly casual and plates on most of the tables. After all, it was still ten to noon, so I suspected most people here at this hour were more about the eating than the drinking.
Andrew had gone straight to a booth at the back, in the far corner. I couldn’t see the person he was meeting with, but I headed over there, careful to take a path that would keep me as far as possible from anyone else. I had to be as subtle as I could. I was also taking special care to make sure I didn’t accidentally hit one of my cousins and send us both careening into a table. That would definitely not qualify as a subtle use of magic.
“What are you doing here? I can’t meet you here, in public like this,” Andrew hissed at the person across the table from him. The man looked, well, a lot like Andrew. They had the same eyes and mouth, though the man across from him had a good thirty pounds on the recreation center administrator.
“Relax,” the man replied, leaning back in the booth casually. “Stop looking so suspicious. No one cares that we’re here.”
“I care. I can’t have us meeting like this. The risks are too high.”
There was a nudge next to my shoulder; one of the others was obviously listening in as well.
“You only think there are risks right now because of what happened to that woman.”
“Yeah, she almost died. And people saw me arguing with her a few days before. What if she tells the police everything?”
“She won’t. If she hasn’t done it yet, she’s not going to. Besides, you could always arrange for her to have an accident in the hospital, or something like that. There’s nothing saying she has to come out of this alive.”
“You’re insane. After everything that’s happened she’s bound to have extra security around her. No, I’m not going near her with a ten-foot pole now. I don’t want the two of us to be associated in any way.”
“Did you get the papers from her house, then?”
“Yeah, I found them. She had scans of them on her computer. That’s all the proof she had, so there’s no more. And her husband’s not going to say anything either, obviously. So I’m all good on that front. But I don’t like this. I don’t like meeting you in public, Tony.”
“Why, because your dear old brother has a criminal record and you don’t?”
“No, because my brother is actively involved in criminal activity.”
“And so are you. But the difference is you like to pretend to be better than me, when the reality is we’re exactly the same. The difference is I accept what I’m doing, whereas you just like the money.”
“No, we’re not the same. I do like the money, I will admit that. But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep running bets for you. I keep thinking I’m going to get caught. Karen threatened to turn me in if I didn’t stop. So I’m going to stop. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a good night’s sleep? I can’t handle the stress. I just can’t do it.”
“If you stop doing this for me, I’m going to turn you in for breaking into Karen’s house.”
“You know what? That’s fine. Because even if I have to spend time in prison, that’s better than dying. And at this point, I literally feel like if I keep going this way, my heart’s going to explode, Tony. You’re my brother. You’re supposed to be on my side on these things. I’m telling you, I just can’t.”
“Fine,” Tony said, standing up. “From now on, consider yourself out. I won’t come to you anymore, but if I hear that you’ve gone into business for yourself, I’m not going to be happy.”
Andrew raised his hands. “Trust me, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m out of this business for good. I’m going back to my job. The extra money is in my bank account, and that’s where it’s going to stay. I’ll live with my salary.”
“You better. And the next time you find yourself in trouble, don’t come to me if you’re not prepared to play the game.”
“Sure thing, Tony. No problem. I’ll leave you alone. I learned my lesson.”
“Good. I did you a favor, and you’re backing out on it. And I get it. Really, I do. This lifestyle isn’t for everyone. But I can’t do this for you again.”
“Got it. Thanks, Tony. I appreciate you letting me get out of this without breaking my kneecaps.” Andrew laughed nervously, and Tony grinned at him.
“There’s that sense of humor. You know, it’s too bad we drifted apart so much. We were actually good buds, and I gotta say, I enjoyed working with you. You brought in a decent amount of money considering the tiny population that lives on this miserable island. I’m telling you, take your earnings and come move to the city. It’s much more fun.”
Andrew shook his head. “Nah. Thanks, but I like it here. The slower pace is way more my speed. I should have known I didn’t belong in your world. I’m better off behind my desk at the recreation center, organizing classes for kids and shooting hoops with them when I’ve got a spare minute.”
He got up from the table, and already looked visibly more relaxed. There was still some obvious tension in his shoulders, but some of the lines on his face seemed to have disappeared instantly.
“Take care of yourself, bro,” Tony called out. “I’m telling you, you don’t need to do anything stupid.”
“Yeah. You’re right, I don’t.”
I only wondered if Andrew already had done something stupid. After all, he had never once in that meeting admitted that he didn’t stab Karen.
Chapter 22
Andrew left the bar and started actually whistling as he walked back down the street towards the recreation center. I looked around for my cousins, but it was fruitless. They were invisible in the same way as I was. But I needed Kaillie to be able to undo the invisibility spell so that we could confront Andrew.
“Kaillie?” I said quietly, hoping she was within about ten feet of me and would be able to hear what I said, but no, nothing. I had no choice but to follow Andrew on my own and hope that I’d run into one of my cousins – quite literally – sooner rather than later.
Of course, I did have the option of reversing the spell myself. I fingered my wand in my pocket, where I always kept it. I had seen Kaillie cast the spell multip
le times, and I was fairly certain I knew the words to it off by heart. But still, what if something went wrong? What if I messed it up? Tina had told me it was completely acceptable to take my time, and to wait until I was comfortable doing things. If I messed up reversing this spell, I could ruin my entire life. What if I paralyzed myself by accident? I’d have no way of letting anyone know what had happened.
I knew I was eventually going to have to use magic in public, and use spells that had a little bit of inherent risk. But I was a beginner, and I really didn’t want to try it out just yet. Tina had told me that was fine, and I was going to go with her advice after all.
“Eliza” a small voice to my right suddenly asked. It was Leanne.
“Hey,” I replied quietly. “Where’s Kaillie?”
“Over here,” my other cousin said. “Come on, let’s go behind this building and reverse the spell. I think it’s safe to say Andrew is going to the recreation center.”
“Right,” I said, and the three of us walked behind the store in question, where Kaillie quickly made the three of us visible once more. I looked at my arms and hands in awe, still not used to the idea of being able to use magic to become invisible, but impressed by it all the same.
“I think we should go confront him,” Leanne said.
“You always think that,” I retorted.
“That’s because it’s always the right answer.”
“It’s definitely not always the right answer,” Kaillie said. “But in this case, I think you might be right. Andrew sounded like a man who’s desperate. If we tell him we know he was taking illegal bets for residents but promise not to tell anyone if he tells us everything, he might actually spill the beans.”
“See?” Leanne said, nodding. “Perfect plan.”
“Well, I don’t have a better idea, so let’s go for it,” I replied.
Five minutes later we were at the recreation center, and Leanne knocked on the door leading to Andrew’s office, near the concession stand.
“Come in,” he said, and as I opened the door there was a smile on his face, but when he saw my cousins it turned to a scowl. “What, are you here to accuse me of murder again?”
“Yes, only this time we’ve got more evidence,” Leanne said, stepping forward. “We know you’ve been taking bets illegally in this town. We know Kyle was one of your customers, and that’s why Karen threatened to turn you in. That’s why you stabbed her, isn’t it?”
Andrew’s face went a deep shade of red, and then almost as quickly, completely white. He started off looking like he was going to stand up from his chair and start pummeling Leanne, but then he changed his mind and sighed, sinking deeper into it, an obviously broken man.
“I didn’t stab Karen. I swear to you, I didn’t. I will admit to the rest. But please, don’t tell anyone. I’m not in that game anymore. I’ve gotten out. I never meant to do it, and I never meant to break the law. But I’m telling you, I didn’t stab Karen.”
“Why don’t you tell us the whole story?” I suggested kindly. After all, we still only had bits and pieces of it, and Leanne had basically guessed the connection between Andrew and Kyle. I wanted all of it, and it sounded like Andrew was finally ready to give it all up.
Andrew nodded.
“Alright. I will, because I want you to know I’m not a bad person. I didn’t stab Karen. About a year ago, I had some financial trouble. Basically, my car blew up at the same time as my fridge, and I couldn’t pay for both. Because of some stupid mistakes I made when I was younger, I couldn’t get a credit card – my credit is completely trashed – but I live on the east side of the island. I also didn’t want to walk half an hour to work and back every day, and I also needed food. I needed some extra cash, so I went to my brother, Tony. He always told me growing up that if I ever needed anything, I should come to him. And I believed him. After all, Tony’s my big brother. So I go to see him, and I ask him for a bit of cash. And he tells me he’ll give it to me, but I have to work for it.”
“What does Tony do, exactly?” Kaillie asked. “He’s a criminal, but what kind?”
“I don’t know,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “You’re right that he’s a criminal, but I honestly try and stay out of that side of his life as much as possible. I don’t know if he’s hooked up with a gang, or the mafia, or if he works on his own, or what. But he told me he was running book, and he wanted to expand his services, and thought that Enchanted Enclave would be perfect. Plus, he told me I had the perfect job for it. Everyone comes to the recreation center at times. Maybe it’s just a guy dropping his kids off to play hockey, or someone stopping at the gym for a workout after a big day at the office. Either way, Tony said, they’d be able to make a quick pit stop to my office, place a bet or two, and then head on home. It would be super easy money. And he was right.”
Andrew sighed, as if collecting his thoughts for a second, and then continued. “He was so right. Word got around the island, and before I knew it, I was collecting hundreds, thousands of dollars a night in betting money. I would take the ferry over to the mainland and give it back to my brother. My cut alone was more than my entire salary. Within a week I’d bought a new car and fridge. But honestly, it never sat right with me. After that, every cent I earned I stuck in a savings account, and I refused to touch it. I didn’t like how I earned the money. I didn’t like sneaking around. I didn’t like how my chest would seize up every time I spotted a law enforcement official. Chief Ron came into the recreation center one day and I almost had a heart attack. It turned out he was just looking for a teenager whose parents didn’t know where he was, but it scared the crap out of me. I’d never seen Chief Ron anywhere near the recreation center before.”
“So how did Karen come into play?” I asked. “When did she get involved?”
“When she confronted her husband about his gambling and he admitted to her that I was the one who had been taking the bets for him. That was what the argument between us was about. I was trying to get her to keep her mouth shut; I didn’t want her to tell the cops anything. And she wanted me to stop taking bets. She told me it was wrong, and that it was ruining this community. And you know what? She was right. We definitely fought, I’m not going to deny that. But it was my ego doing the fighting. After I’d had a few hours to settle down I realized she was right, and I called her that night. I told her that I’d come to my senses, and that I was going to tell my brother that I wasn’t doing it anymore. She thanked me, and told me that it was the right thing to do. You know, Karen was right about that. You have no idea the stress this was putting me under. I didn’t enjoy it.”
“And that was the conversation you had with your brother today.”
“That’s right. This was the third time, in fact. I called him a couple of other times, but he pushed back a lot harder. I guess he finally realized I was serious about it. Karen was stabbed a couple days after I spoke to her on the phone. The first time, Tony tried to convince me that it was a good thing, that this way I could keep working for him. But I guess he realized I’m serious after all.”
“Hold on,” Kaillie said. “Do you think Tony could have stabbed Karen?”
Andrew shook his head. “No, he couldn’t have. I mean, if he knew who she was, sure. I actually wouldn’t have put it past him. But I never told him who the person I was arguing with was. He didn’t have a name, so it would have been impossible for him to find her.”
“You’re sure you didn’t let her name slip at all?”
“One hundred percent,” Andrew said. I barely mentioned her at all. I wanted Tony to think that it was my own decision, and that it wasn’t really influenced by anyone else.”
“How can we know for sure you didn’t stab Karen?”
“You can’t,” Andrew said with a shrug. “I was in my office until after nine, and there aren’t any security cameras in here. There are a few in the building, but there are also a dozen ways to get in and out of this place while avoiding them. But I’m telling you, I didn’t
do it.”
“You’re the one who broke into her house though, aren’t you?” I asked. I figured if he was willing to admit to that, then maybe he was telling the truth about not having stabbed her.
“Yes, that was me. Karen mentioned that her husband had kept a record of everything he bet, in case I tried to rip him off. When I found out she was stabbed, I figured the police would eventually search her place looking for clues, and I had to get rid of those papers before they did. It took me a couple of days before I was able to build up the nerve to actually go in there and get them, but I did. They were on the laptop. I had to really psyche myself up to do it. I’m not like Tony. I’m not a criminal through-and-through, and I didn’t know what I was doing. I was scared as anything as I left, and I was sure I was going to get caught, but I didn’t. Not until you three came along, anyway. Are you going to tell the cops on me?”
He looked up at us now, a completely broken man.
“I don’t know,” Leanne said. “You say you’re never going to do anything like this again?”
“Never,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “Absolutely never. You have my word.”
“We’ll have to discuss it, but I think maybe we don’t need to let the police know, either. Unless we find out you stabbed Karen. In which case, we’re telling them everything.”
“Of course. But I’m telling you, I really didn’t. I had nothing against Karen. She was just looking out for her family, and I respect that. I didn’t stab her.”
“Ok,” I said, nodding. “Let’s say we believe you. Who do you think did it?”
A pained expression crossed Andrew’s face. “I have no idea. I’m telling you, I barely knew her. Her boys took soccer lessons here, so I knew her to say hi to, but that was it. We weren’t close, and I have no idea as to who would want her dead.”
I was tempted to believe him. Honestly, Andrew had sounded like he was giving us straight answers from the start. Looking at Leanne and Kaillie, I had a sneaking suspicion they thought the same as we did.
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