Chapter 7 #3
“You know, he never really recovered from the news of his daughter’s death.
Jasmine’s mother.” Olive shook her head.
“Took him a long time to rewrite his will. He didn’t think he could take his dead daughter out of his inheritance without assistance, so I helped him out. I can’t imagine that kind of pain…”
I couldn’t imagine that kind of pain either. “How kind of you. What was she to inherit?”
“Lots of things. Some money, a property somewhere, and the inn,” she said.
“So you knew Cassian would replace Boris?” I asked.
“I did…”
“Did he say why he chose Cassian?” I asked.
Olive smiled. “All he said was that Cassian has the heart for it. I’m sure you know what he meant.”
I nodded, rubbing my chin. “Did you see the rest of the will?”
Olive’s eyes darted to the sink full of sudsy dishes. “No, only the sections regarding his daughter,” she said, heading for her sink again. “Is that all, Officer?” She plunged her arms beneath the steaming water and scrubbed a bowl with a sponge.
“Were you listed on his will anywhere as far as you know?” I asked.
Olive paused and then continued scrubbing. “Someone would have told me by now if I were…”
She was acting oddly, which made me think she knew. She also hadn’t answered the question. “So, that’s a no?” I asked.
“That’s a no,” she said in a singsong voice. Too casual.
“Thank you, Olive. Can I help you with anything before I go?” I asked.
“No, no. Thank you, though.” She threw a smile over her shoulder.
I ducked out of the humid kitchen and into the main lobby.
On the sofas by the fireplace sat a few travelers, but there weren’t nearly as many as there had been yesterday.
My eyes wandered across the room to Cassian, who chewed his nails and glanced around the room until our eyes met.
His eyebrows hopped up, and he beckoned me over.
“What’s the matter?” I asked as I stepped up to the counter.
Cassian leaned across to hiss, “I think the donation loophole isn’t working anymore. Jasmine says we haven’t had a single new customer today. Look how slow it is!” He threw his arm out toward the two people in the lobby.
“Maybe it’s just a slow day,” I suggested.
“I don’t know,” Cassian said, eyes darting around the room again. “Do you think Ezzila might have done something in retaliation?” He looked at me with his big blue eyes, and I almost forgot the question.
“You tell me. Does magic work at long distances like that?” I asked, pulling myself together for the sake of the case.
“Not usually with Faian magic, but…” His eyes widened, and he twisted around to look at the office door, then back at me. “What if messing with the rune stone amplified the effects of the curse?”
I considered it. “That was two days ago. Why would it only change the curse on the day we left?”
Cassian’s fingers slid into his hair until he was gripping the roots, looking terrified at the inn’s closed entryway across from the counter. “This isn’t good, Sterling.”
“Cassian, look at me.”
Cassian fixed his wide eyes on me, still scared.
“Everything’s going to be okay. Even if what you’re saying is true, we’ll fix it, okay?”
Cassian’s shoulders slumped, and he let his hands fall, leaving his hair sticking up all over. “I know. I just…” He sighed. “Things were going so well.”
“It could still just be a slow day. We don’t know yet,” I said.
Cassian shook his head, frowning at the countertop. “Maybe.”
“In the meantime, do you keep a copy of your grandfather’s will here? I’d like to take a look at it,” I said.
“No. His will is at his legaler’s office in Ladiall,” Cassian said.
A legaler’s office? If a legaler was handling his will, there was no way Olive hadn’t been informed. “Why did you say it was your responsibility to tell Olive about her payout if a legaler is handling his will?”
Cassian froze. “Oh shit, Sterling… They told her, didn’t they?”
“They should have. She seemed to know, but she wouldn’t admit she did when I asked if she was in the will.”
Cassian paled. “Are you serious?”
“I’m afraid so.”
He shook his head slowly. “What does this mean?”
“I don’t know yet, but I have to be honest… It’s not looking great for Olive,” I said.
Cassian stood up, holding himself up on the counter while looking me in the eyes. “It wasn’t her,” he said.
“Cassian—”
“I know it looks bad, but it wasn’t her. She has worked here for years. My grandfather loved her, and she would never do anything to hurt the inn. There has to be another explanation,” he said.
I pressed my lips together. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to get him involved. He never took these speculations well.
“Let’s talk to her,” he said, darting away from his chair to get out from behind the counter.
“Cassian, wait—” I said, chasing after him, but he was already halfway across the lobby. “Wait, stop!” I couldn’t catch him before he burst into the kitchen, followed closely by me.
Olive jumped and turned around, splashing soapy water on the floor. “Cassian!” she said, eyes darting from him to me. “Is everything all right, sweetheart?”
“You’re in the will, Olive,” Cassian said.
Olive’s eyebrows shot up. “W-what?”
“Grandpa left you 5,000 gold. I should have told you, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit I didn’t have the money. As soon as I have it, I’ll get it to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Olive frowned at him, scooping her loose hair out of her face and over her head. “Cassian… I know that, honey. You don’t owe me anything.”
Cassian shot me a look that said I told you so, but I didn’t know how to shoot him a look that said she could be lying.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew?” I asked.
“I didn’t want Cassian knowing I knew, because I didn’t want him to feel obligated to pay me. I don’t want the money. I want nothing to do with it,” Olive said.
“I knew it!” Cassian said.
“Sorry to bother you, Olive,” I said, sliding my hand around Cassian’s back to lead him into the lobby again. “Cassian,” I said seriously as soon as she was out of earshot, “you can’t be so reckless. That could have been dangerous.”
“Dangerous?! She’s like family!” Cassian said. “I am 100 percent certain she is not to blame.”
“You can’t be 100 percent certain about anyone. For all you know, I could have cursed your inn,” I said.
“Did you?” he asked.
“Of course not.”
“Then I’m 100 percent certain it wasn’t you.”
I shut my eyes and sighed, squeezing his shoulder gently. Cassian was good with people, but he would have been a terrible investigator. He took everyone at their word. “Let me handle the questioning in the future, okay?” I asked.
“Who are you going to question next? Jasmine? Me?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“Yeah, maybe!”
His jaw dropped. “Sterling!”
“That’s my job. It’s why you contacted me.”
“I didn’t think you’d investigate my family!” Cassian said.
“Who else would I investigate?” I shrugged in a gesture around the nearly empty inn.
“Ezzila!” he said, throwing his hands up as if it were obvious.
“I tried. She won’t let me talk to her, so I have to wait for the Force to send me a writ. Can you wait until then?” I asked.
“How long will that take?” he asked.
“A week at most. In the meantime, I can only speak to the people around us, okay?”
Cassian frowned at me, sighing heavily. “So who’s next? Griffin again? Willorunia?”
I paused. He was getting defensive about the suspects. Maybe it was a mistake to let him help me. “You know, it might be better if you stayed out of the investigation from now on. I think this is harder on you than you realize,” I said.
“It’s not hard on me. I can handle it,” Cassian said.
I placed my hand on his arm, rubbing his shoulder. “Let’s take a break from questioning for a while, then.”
“We can’t take a break. The inn is losing business,” he said.
“You take a break then. I’ll go talk to that Ricky Marshall kid. Where does he live?” I asked.
“Come on, Sterling. It wasn’t Ricky,” Cassian said.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “Cassian…”
“I know, I just really don’t think it was him,” Cassian said. “He’s only fifteen.”
I didn’t know what to do about Cassian. He was becoming more of an obstruction than a help. “You’re probably right, but I wouldn’t be a good investigator if I didn’t at least talk to him.”
“There’s no point, though. He’s not guilty,” Cassian said.
“So tell me, what do you want me to do? I’m here to investigate, but you don’t like that I’m investigating. What should I do?” I asked.
“Talk to Ezzila. I think it was her,” Cassian said.
“I have to wait for the writ, remember?”
“Fine, then. Let’s take a break. You don’t need to talk to anyone else.”
I sighed. He didn’t know that everyone we’d spoken to was still a suspect.
I couldn’t just take Griffin, Willorunia, and Olive at their word.
I needed solid evidence to make a compelling case against someone, and I had nothing.
In fact, because of what Ezzila had said about Willorunia, I wasn’t sure I could even trust the diagnosis.
I almost felt like Cassian was leading me astray, but he wouldn’t do that.
“Cassian, there is a high chance someone you know is to blame for this, and your insistence that everyone is innocent is hindering my progress,” I said.
Cassian crossed his arms. “I’m just trying to help, but I’m sorry for bothering you, Officer,” he said, and then he turned to walk away.
If I hadn’t liked Cassian so much, I would have thought he was up to something himself.
That was a problem.