Chapter 8 #2
I squeezed my eyes shut. I felt better knowing he would visit me, but despite his promises, I couldn’t convince myself we had a serious future unless I went back to Ladiall with him.
But I couldn’t do that. I was stuck at Fibbersnap Inn.
STERLING
The next week passed uneventfully while I waited for a response from the Ladiall Force.
Cassian and I spent all our free time together, but I no longer involved him in the investigation.
I didn’t ask for information either, despite his promise to be honest with me.
He was right; something changed when we visited Dreckle, and Fibbersnap Inn had no new visitors.
I compared the visitor logs from the night Cassian suspected the curse was placed and the day it came back stronger but found no matches between guests. I concluded that a guest was not involved.
Griffin told me where to find the former stable hand, Ricky, so I paid him a visit at his house thirty minutes down the road.
Ricky lived on a small farm with his parents and his two older brothers. He was only fifteen years old. When I asked him about Fibbersnap Inn, he acted disgusted. “They still haven’t given me my last payment,” he said.
“According to the new owner, you’ve received it twice. Once from Boris, and once from him,” I said.
“Twice?!” the boy demanded. “I haven’t even received it once.”
I folded my arms and watched him seriously. “Are you aware that it’s illegal to lie to an officer of the Force about an active investigation?”
Ricky paled at the question, and his mother standing over his shoulder thumped his head. “Ricky!” she yelled. “You’ve got the Force investigating you because you can’t stop lying?! I’m sorry, Officer. How much does he owe Mr. Fibbersnap?”
“I’m actually not here about the money. I’m here to investigate the curse on Fibbersnap Inn. Do you know anything about that, Ricky? Remember, no lying,” I said.
Ricky’s eyes went wide as saucers. He shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t know nothing ‘bout that. I would never do such a thing.”
I watched him for a moment longer.
“I swear on my momma’s grave!” he said.
“I’m still alive, Ricky!” his mother said.
I rubbed my mouth to disguise my amusement. I needed to stay serious here. “Have you ever met with Ezzila in Dreckle?” I asked.
“Ezzila? Who’s that?” Ricky asked. I raised my eyebrows, and he whipped around to look at his mother. “Really, who’s that?”
“The town witch, Ricky,” his mother said.
“I don’t know her! Honest!” Ricky said. “If I wanted to curse someone, I woulda just gone to Griffin’s wife. Willorunia! You know she’s a witch, right?”
“Ricky!” his mother hissed, pulling him back by the shoulders. “Willorunia is a good woman, Officer. She would never accept a job to curse the inn her own husband works at.”
I lifted a hand. “Willorunia has helped me quite a lot with this investigation. I’m fairly confident that she and her husband are both innocent.”
She leaned closer to speak in a lowered voice. “You know, I heard Boris’s grandson Cassian didn’t want to inherit the inn, and he was looking for a way out. That’s why he invited his cousin to help him. Have you considered it might have been him?”
“Cassian contacted us to come investigate. I’m certain he is not to blame,” I said.
She shrugged her shoulders high, closing her eyes when she said, “It would be a good cover.”
As true as that was, I could not bring myself to believe Cassian was responsible. Maybe that made me a bad investigator, but it would’ve been stupid of him to curse the inn and then call the Force, and he was not stupid.
“Thank you for your time,” I said, tucking my journal into my coat pocket. “I’ll be in touch if I need anything more from either of you.”
“I’m not in trouble, am I, Officer?” Ricky asked, on the verge of tears.
“You will be if you keep lying about the dead,” I said. “I highly recommend you return to the inn and come clean to Mr. Fibbersnap. If you keep it up, I might be seeing you again someday.”
Ricky watched his feet as he rubbed the toe of his boot against the wood floor. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled.
His mother mouthed thank you to me, and I gave her a nod and went on my way.
The next day, I made my way to Willorunia’s house. She was not happy to see me.
“Officer Thorndrop,” she said, stepping out of her house and shutting the door. “Where’s Cassian?”
“He doesn’t want to be involved with the investigation anymore,” I explained.
Willorunia crossed her arms. “Am I still a suspect?”
“Almost everyone is, Willorunia,” I said, withdrawing my journal to take notes. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“I only have one minute. I’m with a client,” she said.
“Who’s the client?” I asked.
Her gaze became very serious. “That’s confidential, Officer. If you want me to answer questions of that nature, you’ll need a writ.”
I nodded. “It’s good of you to keep your customers’ information private. I just have some questions about magic for you if you don’t mind.”
“Depends on the questions,” she said. I was beginning to understand why she and Griffin were a good match. They carried the same disdain for nosiness and for the Force.
“I spoke with Ezzila. She tried to tell me you could have altered the diagnosis to prevent your own magic from being traced.”
“That’s not a question,” Willorunia said.
I smiled at her response. “Is it possible to alter a diagnosis to show favorable results?”
“Of course it is. Anything is possible with magic, but I would be stupid to sign off on an official report being sent for further analysis if I did anything to alter it. Alterations are easily found,” she said. “Have you never worked a case involving magic before?”
“Not many,” I admitted as I took notes. “When did you last visit the inn?”
“When I helped with the diagnostic report. I’ve been very busy. Why do you ask?”
“Can Faian magic be done from a distance?” I asked.
Her gaze darkened. “Are you asking if I cursed the inn, Officer?”
“No, I’m asking if Faian magic can be done from a distance,” I said.
“Not typically, no. Especially not a rune stone curse.”
I made a note in my journal. “Not typically?”
“It would take some forethought and detailed planning to strengthen Faian magic at a distance,” she said.
“Hm… Unfortunately, we’re working with someone who’s capable of forethought and detailed planning.”
“Or maybe you’re just bad at your job,” she said.
“Maybe so. Could finding the rune stone and throwing it back in the river strengthen the curse?”
“Possibly.”
“Would the effects be immediate?”
“Yes.”
I tapped my pencil against the page. Her responses didn’t add up.
Ezzila couldn’t have strengthened the curse that day, because we were with her, and Cassian throwing the stone back wouldn’t have been the reason if the curse strengthened two days later.
That meant that whoever was responsible for the curse was at the inn the day we went to Dreckle. Or the night before.
“I appreciate all your help, Willorunia. Truly,” I said, tucking my journal into my coat pocket. “I’m much closer to the answer.”
“I’m doing it for Cassian. Not you,” she said.
“I’m aware.”
“Has Cassian found any of the rune stones yet?” Willorunia asked.
“No. We asked Ezzila if she would uncurse the inn, but her price was Cassian’s most cherished childhood memory,” I explained.
“She is such a snake,” Willorunia said with a heavy sigh, throwing a look over her shoulder at the closed door before eyeing the forest trail behind me.
She rubbed her brow with one hand. “I should’ve cleared my schedule for this…
Cassian and Jasmine are too unpracticed in magic to handle this on their own, and I don’t want my husband losing his job over something I could fix. ”
“Do you think you’d be able to find the rune stones?” I asked.
“I may be able to, but it’ll take some time. Your best bet would be to get Ezzila to admit she placed the curse, because then she’ll be obligated to break it to avoid a prison sentence, and it’s much easier for the person who placed a Faian curse to break than for anyone else to try.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” I said. “I’m waiting on the writ.”
“I’ll try to help in the meantime. Let Cassian know I’ll be down there soon,” Willorunia said.
“Thank you very much, Willo. I’ll tell him,” I said.
“It’s Willorunia,” she said, and then she shut the door in my face.