Chapter 17 Declan #2
“Well, what?” I said, hiding my lips with my wineglass as I lifted it to my mouth.
“Were either of them the murderer?”
“They’re clear,” I whispered.
“Oh, good. I’ve always liked Professor Karmody. I mean, I did. You know, before he chased me through the mansion, blasting spells at me.”
Guided by my memory, I joined a few more groups, speaking with Professors Coolidge, Burgess, Blinken, and Updike, along with a few others. After over an hour, I’d come to the conclusion that most of the staff were in the clear.
“Would you like to have a drink?”
I turned to find a woman of about fifty with a short, blood-red pixie cut. Her lipstick almost perfectly matched her hair.
“Well, hello there.” This fake persona I was putting on was exhausting me. I was not the boisterous type. More the strong, silent type.
“You look like a dashing gentleman,” she said, her breath heavy with alcohol and her eyes half lidded. The lady was drunk as a skunk.
“Art Bryant,” I said, putting a hand out.
She took it, wrapping her long, red-nailed fingers around mine.
“Genevieve Anderson,” she replied. “I’ve not seen anyone so scrumptious in a while. Where do you come from?”
“That’s the academy librarian,” Veronica hissed in my ear. “She sounds hammered. And she sounds like she wants to fuck you. Gross.”
Wonderful, but being drunk did have some benefits. I could be more direct.
“Lovely to meet you,” I said. “Have you killed anyone lately?”
She threw her head back and laughed, running her hand down my chest. The lady must have a thing for chubby bald guys.
“Of course not, silly,” she said.
True.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” I said. “The bathroom calls.”
The woman pouted, but quickly became distracted by a passing tray of champagne.
“She’s clean,” I whispered once I was out of earshot. “I think that was the last staff member. It wasn’t any of them. Time for students.”
“Okay, cool.”
I scanned the crowd. The attendees were, for the most part, split up into multiple factions.
Most covens stayed close together. The Freedman Academy was both a coven and a school.
The students were huddled off on the other side of the room, chatting with each other as well as a few other members of other covens who’d chosen to venture out and speak with new folks.
A small group of students looked promising. A tall young man close to Veronica’s age was laughing with a few people. That had to be Gavin Connelly. The guy looked like the offspring of a male model and the world’s most gorgeous movie star.
“I see Gavin,” I said.
“I really hope it’s not him. He’s such a sweetheart,” Veronica said, and I had to force myself not to roll my eyes.
Moving over, I put on my used-car salesman shtick.
“Good evening,” I said, shoving my hand out to the kid. “You’re a student at the Freedman Academy, correct?”
Gavin turned to look at me, and rather than acting put-out by my abrupt introduction, grinned and shook my hand. “I am, indeed. Gavin Connelly. Wonderful to meet you.”
His teeth were pearly white, his hair perfectly coiffed, and his eyes shone with a joyful gleam. My god, I bet the ladies loved this dude. Though, I recalled what Veronica had told me about him, and realized it was more likely the ladies and men loved him.
“Terrible to hear about what happened to your dean and high priest,” I said. “My condolences.”
The smile on his lips dimmed, a sadness shadowing his eyes. “It was… a shock. A terrible tragedy to be sure.”
I made a hissing sound, blowing air out through my teeth. “Awful. Absolutely awful. Do you have any idea who might have done it?”
The smile fully vanished now. He shook his head. “They have a suspect, but I refuse to believe they’re right. I have no clue who it might have really been, though.”
True.
“Aww,” Veronica moaned in my ear. “Gavin thinks I’m innocent. He’s such a sweetheart.”
“Of course we know who did it,” a voice drawled from behind me.
True.
I spun, finding a man of about twenty with messy brown hair walking up, holding a glass of wine. He shot Gavin a rude look, then glanced at me.
“We know it was that traitor Veronica Paolo,” he said.
Lie.
My breath caught in my throat, but I managed to keep my face expressionless.
Lie? This kid knew it wasn’t Veronica. But he’d also said he did know who killed Balthazar, and my gift told me that statement was true.
My eyes skipped over his face, taking in the glasses, the hair, the bearing.
I knew this kid, but Veronica beat me to it.
“That’s Virgil Tacitus,” Veronica said. “The teacher’s pet. He worshipped Balthazar. Definitely not him.”
Don’t be so quick to judge.
Virgil stepped forward, joining the group. I noticed several folks melting into the crowd at his approach, leaving only him, Gavin, and myself.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Virgil,” Gavin said.
Virgil snorted a derisive laugh and drained his glass. “She returned to the scene of the crime, with her whoever her fuckboy accomplice is, to boot.”
Veronica gasped. “Did he just call you a fuckboy?”
I let the slight roll off my back; I was too busy watching this Virgil kid.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I said, waving a hand between the two men to get their attention. Virgil glanced at me in a bored sort of way.
“Yes?”
“Sorry,” I said, giving him a simpering smile. “I was talking to this young man a moment ago about the murder of Balthazar Freedman. I’m trying to get my head around this. You say you do know who killed him?”
“He has a theory,” Gavin spat. “Nothing more.”
“It’s good enough for the coven to believe it. All the teachers believe Veronica murdered him. So do I.”
Lie.
“You’re out of your mind,” Gavin said, shaking his head. “Balthazar recruited Veronica. He gave her a new life after her pack was decimated. She loved that man like we all did. No way. I won’t believe she did that, and I refuse to believe she kidnapped Wendy.”
“You sound like my brother Percival when he was younger,” Virgil said, sounding disgusted. “Always so trusting and gullible. It’s why he ended up turning into the pathetic creature he is now.”
Gavin gave Virgil a withering look. “I’m sure he’s not the worst in the family.”
This brother of Virgil’s sounded intriguing, but I pushed that tidbit aside to listen to the back and forth between these two men. Things were getting interesting.
Virgil made another dismissive sound. “That kid’s dead for sure.”
Lie. Holy shit. This guy knew Wendy was alive. That was both good news and shocking. Virgil Tacitus knew far more than anyone else at this party. More than he had any right to know.
“I think they took her for ransom. You don’t kidnap a girl from a family that famous and kill her for no reason,” Gavin said.
“It’s almost a certainty,” Virgil said, reaching out and grabbing a canapé from a passing tray.
“You know quite a bit about this, it seems,” I said, unable to help myself. “If you were the killer, how would you have done it? If I may be so bold as to ask. I’d love to hear your interpretation of events.”
Gavin made a disgusted groan, but Virgil popped the food into his mouth and smiled.
“Simple. If I’d been Veronica, I’d have gone to his office under the pretense of getting help with some assignment or other school issue.
While he was unaware, I’d have slipped the blade in, right in the heart to make sure he had no time to cast a spell before he was incapacitated.
A few more thrusts would finish the job. Easy-peasy.”
True, true, true, true… my gift screamed at me over and over again like an alarm bell.
It was him. This was the killer. This scrawny-ass kid? Seriously?
“You’re disgusting,” Gavin said. “I’m out of here.”
The tall man turned and vanished into the crowd.
“What was your name again?” Virgil said. Without his classmate around, I’d become the main object of his interest.
“It was lovely talking to you, but I need to step outside and take a call,” I said.
Virgil smirked. “Now that you mention it, so do I,” he said, sliding his hand into his robes and retrieving a phone.
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I didn’t like the way he was eyeing me. Quick as I could, I hurried away.
“Who are you going to talk to now?” Veronica asked.
“No one,” I hissed. “I know who killed Balthazar and kidnapped Wendy.”
“Excuse me?”
“It was Virgil Tacitus,” I said.
There was a long pause on her end as I strode toward the doors. When she finally spoke, she sounded shocked and flustered.
“There’s no way. It…it can’t be. He was Balthazar’s favorite student. He…you’re sure?”
“My gift never lies,” I said, turning the corner and walking back into the foyer.
“But…Virgil?”
“He had to have had a reason,” I whispered as I stepped out into the night air. “Maybe he didn’t like some—”
My words were cut off by the sound of breaking glass and Veronica screaming in my ear.
“Veronica!” I was far enough from the door that I was able to speak freely.
As an answer, all I could hear were the muffled sounds of male voices, Veronica shouting and grunting, and the rattles and thuds of a struggle. My skin went cold and my mouth dry as I sprinted for my car, my heart thundering against my ribs.
“Veronica!”
There was no response.
I leapt into my car, started it, and sped off into the night to the sound of squealing tires.