by Lily Webb
“Because we had no proof other than isolated, incongruent reports from a few students,” Raina said. “But the charges were serious enough that we couldn’t afford to let Nolan remain on the staff, especially not after what happened to Harper and Opal. It was too risky, so I offered him the chance to leave with dignity.”
“Interesting. You know, Seth told me it was an open secret that Delia wanted Nolan’s position,” I said.
“It was?” Raina asked. “Never once did Delia express any interest in becoming Deputy Headmistress to me.”
“That’s not really a surprise,” I said. “If I were trying to get someone fired to take their job, I wouldn’t tell my boss that was my plan.”
“True,” Raina said.
“But now I wonder if being forced out of his job could’ve made Nolan want to retaliate. He would’ve had access to the school and Delia,” I said.
“He was never the type. As much as the students liked to gripe about how mean Nolan was, he would never have harmed any of them, much less another staff member,” Raina said. “Nolan descends from a long line of warlocks and teachers. He has the utmost respect for the profession. Beyond that, he was at Willowvale being treated for his illness the night of Delia’s murder,” Raina said.
That was news to me.
“What kind of treatment?” I asked.
“A transfusion of some sort, I'm not entirely sure. Nolan is notoriously guarded, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to ask for details on his medical history,” Raina said.
"Fair enough, but all that aside, I still wanna talk to Nolan, if for no other reason than to ask him about the book he gave Seth,” I said.
"I understand. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Raina said. “The reputation of Veilside itself is on the line.”
She wasn't wrong, and if turned out to be true that one of the school’s own teachers was involved in Delia’s murder, it might never recover.
Chapter Eight
Mitch was at my desk waiting for me when I got back to the office.
“So, what happened?” he asked.
“Not much,” I lied. Mitch narrowed his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I think you’re one of the worst liars I’ve ever met,” he said.
“You aren’t the first person to tell me that,” I said. I fell down into my chair, all my energy drained from my conversation with Mueller and Raina.
“Are you in any kind of trouble?” Mitch asked.
“No, thank goodness,” I said. “They just wanted to ask me about what I’d seen.”
It wasn’t the entire truth, but it was close enough.
“So, where are you with your story now?” Mitch asked.
“Good question. I thought I had some leads, but they’ve all turned up to be dead-ends so far,” I said. Mitch frowned.
“You don’t have anything else?”
“Well, there’s one lead, but it’s a long shot,” I said.
“Spill it.”
“So, there’s this teacher at Veilside named Nolan Grimm. He was out sick the night Delia was killed, but I heard Delia was gunning for his job as Deputy Headmaster,” I said.
“That’s definitely a lead. But do you really think he’d kill Delia for trying to take his job?” Mitch asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m not convinced he could’ve even if he wanted to try. If he was in the hospital overnight that night, how could he possibly have had anything to do with Delia’s murder?” I asked.
“Are you sure he was in the hospital?” Mitch asked.
“Well, it’s not like I can just call up the hospital and find out,” I said.
“Why can’t you?”
“They wouldn’t tell me. Isn’t that information protected?” I asked.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Mitch said. “I guess it depends on who you get on the phone.”
“Hm, you’re right,” I said, and Robin, the witch who managed to give me access to Phoebe at the hospital, swam into my mind. Maybe she’d be willing to do me one more favor.
“It can’t hurt to try. When you’ve got so little to go on, you have to chase every possibility,” Mitch said.
“True. Would you do me a favor and see what you can dig up for contact information for Nolan? I’ve heard he’s a bit of a loner so it might be difficult to find anything,” I asked.
“You got it,” Mitch said.
“And while you’re at it, can you have Flora start digging on his personal history? Anything she can find, anything interesting,” I said.
“Sure thing,” Mitch said, and left in a hurry toward Flora’s desk, dodging all manner of flying objects along the way.
As soon as he was gone, I picked up my desk phone and dialed the hospital. I had no idea what to ask them, especially if it wasn’t Robin who answered, but I had to try.
“Willowvale hospital, this is Robin speaking. How may I direct your call?” Robin answered, and I almost jumped out of my chair I was so happy to hear her voice.
“Robin, hi, this is Zoe Clark over at the Moon Grove Messenger,” I said.
“Oh, hi, Zoe. How are you?”
“Great, thanks. How are you?” I asked. I didn’t really have time for formalities, but if it would help me in the long run, it was worth a few seconds.
“Same day, different magical disasters,” Robin laughed. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m actually calling to get some information on a patient,” I said.
“I may or may not be able to help in that regard,” Robin said.
“That’s fine, I assumed as much. Whatever you can tell me will help,” I said.
“Okay, go ahead whenever you’re ready,” Robin said.
“I need to verify whether or not you had a patient by the name of Nolan Grimm staying at the hospital on Monday night,” I said. The line went silent for a few seconds, minus the sound of Robin clicking her nails against the counter. After a few moments, she groaned.
“I really wish I could tell you, but I can’t,” Robin said. “I’m sorry, it’s just one of those rules. You know, patient privacy and all that.”
“I understand. Thanks anyway,” I said. If only I could read minds through the phone — and now that I thought about it, reading Robin’s mind wasn’t the worst idea in the world. If worst came to worst, I could always walk down to the hospital and do just that.
“Sure. Is there anything else I can do for you? Or, well, try to do for you?” Robin laughed.
“How’s Phoebe doing? Any updates?” I asked.
“I can’t say anything other than she’s in stable condition,” Robin said. “But if you want more info, you’re more than welcome to swing by again soon. Maybe Healer Killian will make a small exception for you again.”
“I’m sure I will soon. Anyway, I guess that’s all I needed. Have a great rest of your day, Robin, and thanks again,” I said.
“Anytime. Take care, and good luck with whatever you’re working on, Zoe,” Robin said.
“Thanks, see you around,” I said and hung up, deflated. So much for that lead.
Mitch appeared a beat later, and he didn’t look like he’d had much more luck than me. Flora was right behind him, her wings fluttering to carry her to my desk.
“Well? Anything?” I asked. Mitch frowned and shook his head.
“All I could find was an old phone number in the Parapages, but it’s not likely to work. According to the records, it’s at least five years old,” Mitch said.
“Not even a P-mail address?” I asked.
“I found one associated with Veilside, but I highly doubt it’s still active since he resigned,” Mitch said.
“Yeah, good point. What about you, Flora?”
“Other than his general background info — what he studied, how long he was in school, all that boring stuff — no, not really,” Forrest said. “It’s weird, after graduating from Veilside his history seems to just stop like he disappeared.”
“That is w
eird. I wonder what would happen if we tried the number?” I asked.
“One way to find out,” Mitch said and picked up my desk phone to start dialing the number scribbled on the back of his hand. He handed me the receiver, and I held my breath as the phone rang.
After fifteen rings, it was clear no one would answer, though it was interesting that the number was still active – then again, it could have just meant that someone had claimed the number in the interim.
“No answer?” Mitch asked as I hung up.
“Nope, nothing,” I said.
“Any other ideas?” Mitch asked. “The guy was a teacher, he shouldn’t be this hard to track down. Didn’t he have any friends or associates or something we could talk to?”
A connection struck me, one so obvious it was painful. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?
“Actually, I have an idea,” I said. “It’s good to have friends in the business.”
“What you talking about?” Mitch asked.
“Wait and see,” I said, and dug through my bag for my cell phone. Just because we hadn’t been able to find any information about Nolan, it didn’t mean the other news agencies in town hadn’t — and lucky for me, Beau was the lead anchor at Channel 666.
“Give me a second,” I said, waving my phone at Mitch and Flora.
“Whatever you say,” Mitch said, shrugging. I stood and walked around them toward the front door. Outside, I dialed Beau from my favorites, my fingers crossed he wasn’t busy and would actually answer — I needed him now more than ever.
“Hey, Zoe,” Beau answered, and I sighed.
“Hey, sorry to bother you at work, but I have a question,” I said.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“So, I’m trying to track down Nolan Grimm, one of the professors at Veilside, who was also the Deputy Headmaster until recently,” I said.
“Okay, and?”
“Well, it’s proving more difficult than I thought it would be,” I said. “We’ve looked everywhere, and we can’t really find any useful information.”
“And so you thought you’d call me to see if I had anything?” Beau asked.
“Exactly,” I said. “Sorry to use you as an information bank.”
“It’s fine,” Beau laughed. “I assume this has something to do with Delia Frost?”
“Sure does,” I said.
“That’s funny because my team and I are working on the same angle,” Beau said.
“So you think Nolan might’ve had something to do with it too?”
“Hard to say, but there’s not much else to go on. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about all this anyway, so it’s good you called,” Beau said.
“Yeah, maybe we can share information. I’m okay with that,” I said.
“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t really have much to share.”
“I’ll take anything at this point,” I said. “What do you know?”
“So far, the only thing we’ve been able to turn up is an address for a house on Tower Street, but I haven’t sent anyone over to scope it out yet. Given his reputation and the fact Nolan just resigned, I had a feeling sending a reporter to his house so soon wouldn’t be received well,” Beau said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard he can be a bit of a grouch,” I said.
“That’s putting it lightly,” Beau said.
“That doesn’t exactly help his case,” I said.
“No, it definitely makes him seem suspicious,” Beau said.
“Can I have the address? You know I don’t have any shame about turning up on people’s doorsteps unannounced,” I said, and Beau laughed.
“I know that well,” he said. “But I don’t think you should go alone. We could go together after work if you want.”
“I’m okay with that,” I said. “But I don’t want you to think the only time I want to hang out with you is when my life could be on the line.”
“No, not at all,” Beau laughed. “I think it would be better for me to go instead of one of our other reporters anyway. I have a bit more ability to blend in than they do if you catch my drift.”
“Okay, perfect. Any other tidbits?”
“The only other thing I know is that Nolan spent the night at the hospital the night Delia was killed, or at least according to one of the nurses we got to talk to us,” Beau said.
Well, that was interesting. Who was his source, and could they be trusted? Still, it was more than I had, even with my own connection at the hospital.
“That’s something, at least,” I said. “Did they happen to know or say why Nolan was in the hospital?”
“Blood transfusion,” Beau said.
“So it’s true then,” I said.
“What is?”
“Raina told me Nolan has been fighting some sort of illness and that the treatment requires frequent blood transfusions,” I said. “I was skeptical, but if your source is sure that’s what Nolan stayed there for, I guess I have to believe it.”
“The source was a nurse assigned to check in on Nolan while he was there, so I’m pretty confident in their account of things,” Beau said.
“Okay, I guess that’s where we are then,” I said.
“You don’t have any other information?” Beau asked.
“No. I wish I did. Hopefully, we can scare some things up tonight. Want to meet at the corner of Crescent and Luna after dark tonight?” I asked.
“I’ll be there. Something tells me we’re going to need my nose,” Beau said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said. “See you in a few hours.”
”It’s a date,” Beau said.
“I promise we’ll go on a proper one at some point soon,” I laughed.
“I don’t mind. Any time spent with you is time well spent, Zoe,” Beau said, and my cheeks caught fire. “Even if it means going stalker mode on a sickly, retired teacher.”
“It’s all in the name of the business,” I said, and Beau laughed.
“Anyway, I need to get back to work. See you later,” Beau said.
“Bye,” I said and hung up. It wasn’t much, but Beau’s info was a step in the right direction, and I felt better about going to Nolan’s house with Beau than I would’ve about going alone.
I went back to the office to find Mitch and Flora talking while they waited for me to return.
“Well?” Mitch asked.
“I called Beau over at Channel 666,” I said. “He and I are friends, so I wanted to see if he had any information.”
“Right, they’re just friends. You believe that, don’t you, Mitch?” Flora asked, winking at me.
“Okay, fine, we are more than friends, but I don’t know exactly what to call us,” I said. “But that’s beside the point. Beau has an address for Nolan, and he and I are going to meet up to check it out later tonight.”
Mitch raised his brows at me.
“Be careful, I don’t need the police being called on you for trespassing.”
“No promises,” I said, and winked at Mitch.
Chapter Nine
Just after dark, I met Beau at the corner of Crescent and Luna, the two busiest streets in Moon Grove. Though there were still a few people out and about, most of them paid us no mind — except for the ones who recognized us both.
“You know, sneaking around is a lot harder when you’re trying to do it with someone who’s a local celebrity,” Beau said. He was still in his work clothes, though he’d taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top button on his shirt.
“Says you! You get broadcast daily into every person’s home in this town,” I said.
“Lately, so do you,” Beau said.
“Yeah, but not by choice. Anyway, shall we get this show on the road?” I asked.
“No time like the present,” Beau said. Without warning, he stepped back and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“It’ll look a lot less suspicious if people see you out walking your dog,”
Beau said, winking at me. He tossed his shirt under a nearby bush, reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a leash and collar. What on Earth…?
“You know, I’ve seen a lot of weird things since I moved to this town, but I think this takes the bone,” I said.
“Clever. And here I thought you wouldn’t appreciate my genius,” Beau teased.
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Don’t people know you can turn into a dog?” I asked.
“Some do, but none of them will recognize me once I’ve shifted,” Beau said. “Besides, do you really want to increase your exposure by walking around with a known PV star?”
“I guess you’re right,” I groaned. Smiling, Beau continued to remove his shirt, and it took everything I had not to stare. Even though he and I had been dating for a while, it still felt weird to see Beau without a shirt on — even just for a flash.
“Here you go,” Beau said once he had his shirt off, forcing the collar and leash into my hands. A few seconds later, he blurred from a handsome young man to a shaggy golden retriever half my height. He barked at me, and I looped the collar around his neck and attached the leash.
“I guess I’ll follow you,” I said, scratching Beau under the chin. He barked again, and set off north on Crescent Street toward Veilside. As if he’d lost control of himself like a dog chasing a car, Beau pulled me along behind him, and it was a struggle for me to keep up with his four-legged pace. Clearly, the dog was on a mission.
“Wait up,” I panted.
Beau barked and slowed to a trot, which was a little bit more manageable, but still a bit too quick for my liking. Regardless, we got to the intersection of Crescent and Tower Street, which was just a few blocks before Veilside, in record time. The moon had barely finished rising by the time we got there.
Beau barked and took a sharp left on Tower Street, dragging me behind him. We moved so quickly I didn’t have time to take in much of the details of the houses on the street, but they all seemed more or less the same anyway: old and tiny moss-covered brick huts. Did all the warlocks in town live in this area?
Several blocks down the street, we came to a stop outside of a particularly dilapidated house whose lawn was overrun with weeds. Who lived like that?