I saw him as a risk taker. "So you were frank with her?"
He squared his shoulders. "I asked for permission to be bluntly honest. I knew I was taking a chance, but Hailey concentrated on the two main points—that I hadn't actually said those rude things and that she had just found out I was deeply attracted to her."
I didn't believe his calm response to Cullen's lies. He must have been furious at Cullen but was able to stifle his anger when dealing with Hailey. He was manipulative like Cullen.
"Let's be realistic. Weren't you incensed that Cullen bad-mouthed you to Hailey, no matter that you somehow seem to think it turned into a positive experience?"
Wyatt breathed in so deeply he lifted his shoulders with the effort. "It wasn't the way I wanted it to be. But for one moment Hailey and I understood each other. Then she turned away from me, shrank into herself. She told me she was bitterly ashamed of her behavior with Cullen."
"That's not true!" Cullen blasted the words out. "I never did anything to make Hailey unhappy. You're making me the bad guy. I'm the one who got killed! You were jealous of me. Petra, he knew I talked bad about him. Hailey rejected him. He must be the one who murdered me!"
Behind us the residents gasped and chattered at Cullen's accusations.
A spasm disfigured Wyatt's face—fear, anger, remorse? "Cullen, I felt sorry for you." Pity had marred his features.
Wyatt and I pivoted at the sound of a crash. A red liquid flowed around pieces of pottery on the wooden floor. Adrian stared in surprise at Xara, who held a whisk in her hand. Xara had beaten a red potion and a bowl to death.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
While everyone took a midafternoon break, I convinced Marco I needed to meet with Ira to strategize about the murders. Although I doubted that Marco saw himself as a Watson, he was supporting me in the investigation. It was probably an invigorating change for him from watching visitors tour. He let us use the office of the former library director. Aside from a metal desk and two visitor chairs, the room contained shelves with real books and an oil painting of Marco. I was surprised at the books because I thought they'd all been removed. The director must have brought the law books with him. Located in the back of the room opposite the desk, the portrait featured Marco looking handsome in a black tuxedo, his hand resting on a gold harp.
Ira and I set our cookies and coffee on the desk and watched as Marco folded himself into the painting.
Marco's dark eyes fixed on us. "You don't have to worry about Cullen. The other ghosts are helping him blow off steam. Go ahead with your discussion. I'll intervene if you need my help."
Since it seemed rude to have our backs to Marco, we arranged the chairs to face him. I hoped he would have input since I could use suggestions.
Life is short, so have dessert first. I broke a chocolate chip cookie in half, and Ira did the same with his frosted sugar cookie. We exchanged halves and munched contentedly. Sipping coffee, we held hands.
Ira smiled. "At least you've stopped frowning. How bad was it with Cullen and Wyatt?"
The pleasure of the cookie break faded. I sighed at the recollection of the frustrating sessions with Cullen and Wyatt and squeezed Ira's hand. "I don't know what to do. I haven't turned up any real evidence. I'll never solve this case. I can't do anything. It's hopeless." I stopped, aghast at how whiny and defeated I sounded. That was not the real me.
Ira moved his chair so close it bumped into mine. "What did Cullen do?"
"The first time I talked to him, he discounted everyone as a suspect but then later got mad at Wyatt and accused him of the murder."
Ira frowned. "You weren't sure about Wyatt at lunch. Did he have a strong motive?"
"Wyatt would never let on that he had a motive. He won't admit anything. He's too tricky." I was disgusted with myself, realizing I'd let Wyatt control the interview, which had ended after the broken bowl incident. "Cullen got mad because Wyatt described him as immature. Wyatt insisted Hailey was ashamed of her relationship with Cullen. That really made Cullen furious."
Ira handed me my coffee cup. "You look worn out. Have some caffeine. You're too close to the problem and under too much pressure."
I gulped coffee, willing it to energize me. "That's just it. I have to work under pressure. No excuses. When will the killer strike again? We have to do something. Let's brainstorm."
I paced the room, hoping to jumpstart my thoughts. Shelves of maroon and navy blue law books lined three walls. These volumes, heavy with the weight of legal authority, stood silent and sober, not telling me how to find the murderer.
The shelves framing Marco's portrait contained works written by and about the empathic wizards confined in Pioneer House. I scowled at The Blessings of the Afterlife at Pioneer House (ghostwritten by a famous thriller author). It failed to inspire me.
Was Ira fired up with a brilliant plan? No, he slumped in the chair, scrutinizing water stains in the ceiling. He must have felt my gaze, for he winked and beckoned me over. After he pulled me onto his lap, he called out, "Marco, please play for us." He whispered in my ear. "Relax, don't try to think."
Marco fluttered his fingers over the harp strings. He didn't look at his hands when he played but gazed off to the left, as if the music were written on the air.
The music vibrated through me, the slow melody untangling my nerves. I snuggled against Ira, and he stroked my back. We didn't move until the last note faded.
Ira brushed his lips across my brow. His touch warmed me. I embraced him eagerly, and we kissed, daintily at first then harder. He tasted of frosting. I wanted to spend the rest of the day melted against him.
We didn't draw apart until Marco announced, "I have a plan."
Smiling at each other, we got up and approached his painting.
Marco continued, "Hailey needs to be interviewed again, probed about her relationship with Cullen."
I wasn't optimistic about tackling Hailey. "Marco, so far, I've not had much success questioning these people. They're all hypervigilant if they think I'm trying to get the dirt on them. Hailey did reveal some stuff to me, probably to get her story in first, but she may be wary now."
Ira shook his head. "I don't think you're being fair to Hailey. In REM groups, I've always found her to be very honest, even when it makes her look bad. Actually, I have a meeting with her after dinner. She has a design problem with her wand. Maybe I could get her to talk about Cullen."
"Perfect!" Marco exclaimed, stepping out of his portrait. He beamed at Ira. "Weave in some provocative remarks that will get a response from her."
I thought Ira meeting with Hailey was a good plan. She wouldn't see Ira as an inquisitor since he was helping her, so she might confide in him. "Let's hope you can get her to say something revealing. You could warn her about some gossip going around about her and Cullen. I bet she'll believe all kinds of wild rumors are flying about. Tell her people are saying Cullen threatened to harm himself if she broke up with him. When she denies it, she might disclose something new."
Ira looked at me skeptically. "You want me to lie to her about a rumor I haven't heard?"
"Yes," I said, "Two people have died. This is war."
Marco nodded. "Right. You can use the library. You'll have privacy, since we've been keeping most residents out. Cullen will be staying in the reading room for a session with some of the residents. Jake and Wyatt set up a time for people to say something nice to Cullen."
"I didn't know about it." I was supposed to be Cullen's guardian.
"It was just arranged," Marco explained. "You don't need to be here. Kai has coached everyone to keep calm."
I should be present, since a Cullen love fest could erupt into turmoil. "Why don't I need to attend?"
Marco tapped his transparent chest. "You'll be with me in the library, eavesdropping on Ira and Hailey. We'll be witnesses if she says something important."
"But I'm not a ghost," I objected. "I can't fade into nothingness."
"I'll make you invisible," Marco prom
ised.
* * *
I spent the rest of the afternoon in sessions where nothing happened but magic training. During the exercises I filled in Trevor and Adrian on my interviews with Cullen and Wyatt. We agreed on Wyatt as a hot suspect. As far as the upcoming meeting between Ira and Hailey, Trevor had hopes Ira could get her to say something significant, but Adrian worried about putting more pressure on Hailey. Both were disappointed that they wouldn't be eavesdropping with Marco and me but cheered up when I assigned them the job of keeping a watch on Wyatt.
During dinner, chicken in a creamy sauce on pasta, Trevor and I bombarded Ira with suggestions of provocative things to say to Hailey. He nodded at each comment then finally said he "needed to process our input." I thought that was a polite way to tell us to be quiet.
I felt jittery about his session with Hailey—what if she evaded making any admissions? Even though so far I hadn't been brilliant as an interrogator, I didn't like to delegate tasks. I gobbled the pasta without relishing its taste.
After dinner I followed Marco to the library, where he led me to a floor-to-ceiling walnut bookcase. "See if you can open the secret door."
I tugged at the shelves and knocked on the back of the bookcase. Nothing.
Remember you believe in magic, came Blaze's voice, although he remained on his tattoo.
Right. I passed my hands up and down the shelves and murmured, "Open." The wood creaked but didn't reveal a door.
Marco grinned. Even a civic protester and serious musician involved in a murder investigation could have a little fun. "Nice effort, but you have to press the middle of the fourth shelf and say the magic words 'I mean no harm.'"
After I repeated the phrase, the entire bookcase swung out, revealing a rectangular space big enough to hold two stools. Marco gestured me inside and indicated a handle to shut the door.
At the thought of being closed in, I panicked. "What if I can't get out? Is there enough air?"
"The bookcase has always opened easily." Marco glanced toward the ceiling. "There are vents for air into the hallway. If there's a problem, you can scream. You have a phone. Shut us in."
As soon as I closed the door, Marco provided a light at the end of his finger. It illuminated a knob at eye level that I pulled sideways, moving the back of the bookcase and exposing a screen that allowed a view of the center of the library. I checked my phone. Ira and Hailey should be here in five minutes.
"Marco," I said, "what if Hailey notices the screen?"
"Don't worry." He sounded like he was smiling. "I put a spell on the screen to make it look like wood."
He quieted as Hailey and Ira entered the library. They were across the room from us by the picture of Marco on the counter. I pressed my face as close as I could to the screen, fascinated to watch Ira as if he were an actor on a stage. Wow, he looked good—tall, broad-shouldered, slim-hipped, wearing a short-sleeved shirt that displayed his muscular arms. The snake tattoo on his forearm glittered green and gold. He leaned deferentially toward Hailey as she displayed the claw on the end of her wand.
She moved to one of the chairs set up for Cullen's visitors. "The wand still works. Chair, topple." She flicked her claw-ended wand, and the chair flipped back with a bang. "It's not just that the wand looks unattractive. It makes me feel ugly inside. I didn't consciously create the claw. I don't know how it came about, and that's scary. What if I make something else ugly? I've tried to change the claw back into a star, but nothing happens. Jake tells me you're good at creating artifacts."
Ira extended his hand and wiggled his fingers. When his lips moved, the wand left Hailey's grasp and floated over to him, where it hovered in front of his face. "Do you think the claw appeared because of unusual stress in your life?" After she nodded, he continued, "We're all in turmoil because of the deaths of Cullen and Linc. That alone might've led to the claw."
She pushed her blonde hair back and frowned as her fingers caught in tangles. It was an awkward move for a woman usually graceful and well-coordinated. "I was saddened by the deaths, but that shouldn't have made me create the claw. I'm trained to distance myself from trauma and help others process it. Besides, the claw appeared before the deaths."
Ira gestured at the wand, and it floated to his hand. "Did the claw materialize at a really bad time between Cullen and you? All kinds of crazy rumors are going around, like Cullen threatened to harm himself if you broke up with him."
Her jaw dropped, and so did mine. He'd rushed in to provoke her with a false rumor.
"Who specifically told you that?" demanded Hailey.
Ira looked regretful. "I can't tell you my source."
Hailey's eyes blazed, and her cheeks flushed. She was mad. "That's ridiculous. Cullen was never suicidal. He did make some wild statements when I brought up the idea of breaking up. I felt he was threatening me. I don't want to have to tell you what he said. That was the day the claw appeared."
Ira backed up. As an empath he was sensitive to emotional outbursts. Hailey's agitated condition might throw him off balance. Distancing himself seemed to help him decide what to do. He cupped his hand over the claw. "This misshapen thing didn't go away after Cullen died, when he could no longer threaten you. Were you still mad at him?"
"No," she explained. "I turned my anger on myself."
He nodded. "I get it. I'm good at being mad at myself."
Hailey sidled closer to Ira and wrapped her fingers around his arm, the one holding her wand. She gazed at him soulfully. "Ira, I know people suspect me of being involved in Cullen's death. This claw confirms their suspicions. Can you help me get rid of it?"
Why did she have to get physical with him? And that soulful gaze—Ira had amber eyes, beautiful to stare into. I fidgeted and thrust my nose into the screen. I shouldn't have agreed to have Ira take part in this uncomfortable scene. Calm down, sounded Marco's voice in my head. He's acting. Yes, I knew that, yet I was kind of jealous. I didn't enjoy eavesdropping on Ira when he was involved in an emotional scene with an attractive woman.
Ira smiled reassuringly at Hailey. "I can transform the claw into a star. I can't guarantee the star will stay in place if your emotions are in turmoil."
"I understand. Kai is helping me find my balance."
Ira pressed the wand to his chest. "I need to have you step back so your magic doesn't interfere with mine." When she had moved away, he cupped both his hands over the claw. I tried to read his lips as he mouthed words, wanting to know what spell he used, but couldn't make out anything. A light shimmered around his hands, and he opened them to reveal a silver star at the end of the wand.
As soon as Hailey grasped the wand, the claw reappeared. Ira repeated the spell, but Hailey's touch again brought back the claw. This could go on all night since obviously Hailey hadn't come close to finding her balance.
Hailey didn't ask Ira to repeat the spell a third time. "Ira, I think I know what's wrong. I've been acting like I disclosed everything about Cullen, but I haven't. As long as I keep secrets, my magic won't be right."
"Do you want to tell me your secret?"
"It's something I have to do. When I brought up breaking up with Cullen, he threatened to sue me for malpractice for having a romantic relationship with a client. That terrified me because no matter what happened in a lawsuit, the publicity would be terrible for me. It was bad enough that Cullen threatened me. I made it worse. I panicked and confided his threat to another person. I'm afraid how that person may have reacted."
Wyatt. She probably told Wyatt, giving him an urgent motive to murder Cullen.
Ira studied her. "Was Wyatt the person you told?"
Hailey's eyes widened. "How did you know? Did you use your empathic powers? That was wrong of you." Clutching the claw-ended wand to her breast, she dashed out.
I turned to comment on Hailey's behavior only to find Marco had disappeared. He'd already rushed over to Ira—that's the advantage of being a ghost.
Ira's face turned down. "I didn't mean to upset Hailey l
ike that. I was too abrupt. This cross-examining people is harder than I thought."
I squeezed Ira's fingers. "Don't blame yourself. Hailey was ready to crack. She may feel better now that she's let everything out. She's bound to tell Wyatt. They'll both realize that Cullen's threat gives them a motive to harm him."
Marco held up his hand. "My ghosts tell me that Hailey just now went to the reading room where they're having the session with Cullen. She apparently changed her mind and didn't go in. Wyatt's there, but there's no way she could have a private chat with him. Carlotta asked Hailey to help Vidoc, who's with the residents who didn't want to meet with Cullen. They're watching a movie."
Ira released my hand. "I'll join Vidoc's group. I'd like to patch up things with Hailey, but since she's mad at me, I'll wait and let her make the first approach."
I watched Ira head out of the library, understanding he didn't like the inquisitor role. "At least he can keep an eye on Hailey. How about if we join the group with Cullen so we can observe Wyatt?"
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
In the reading room eight residents sat in a row of chairs facing Cullen. The setup of the room was the same with the ten-foot boundary and Loki perched next to the bust. In the photos on the walls and shelves, the internees watched with bright eyes.
Loki kept his eyes on the participants, who included Dawn, Trevor, and Adrian. Kai, Jake, and Wyatt stood off to the side of the chairs. They were armed with short wands, although I didn't think anything startling had happened so far since I caught Jake stifling a yawn. I lingered behind the row of chairs to pick up the flow of the talk. I couldn't focus on the group because I wanted to observe Wyatt. Marco lurked next to him, so he'd be close if anything happened. The ghosts also had their attention fixed on Wyatt. Rather than listening to the talk about Cullen, I rehashed the scene between Ira and Hailey. Ira had succeeded in getting Hailey to admit that Cullen had threatened a lawsuit and that she had told Wyatt. Hailey was unfair to accuse Ira of mind reading her because without any empathic powers I had guessed Wyatt as the one she told about the threatened lawsuit. Now all I had to do was maneuver Wyatt into saying he'd flown into a homicidal rage. That would not be easy. And Cullen, wasn't he a jerk to threaten to sue his lover? I studied Wyatt, wondering how he would've reacted to Cullen's threatened lawsuit. He might've been unable to stand the thought of the damage to Hailey's life and work. When Wyatt glanced in my direction, I immediately looked away.
Murder Lifts the Spirits Page 17