Chocolate Truffles and Trouble Read online

  This place could probably comfortably hold at least a hundred people.

  The house was set back from the street a ways, with a huge, rather overgrown lawn that led to a three-, maybe four-story old-style house that had to be at least a century old. It was painted completely black, and honestly, it made me think of vampires. Maybe it was the Gothic-style architecture.

  Looking from the outside, at a guess, the place had to have at least ten bedrooms. It must have been some sort of super-rich paranormal’s house in the past. I wondered how on earth it ended up being a student home. Maybe the former owner died without any heirs, and it passed into the hands of an investor?

  I wasn’t sure, but either way, this was definitely the right place for a student-led memorial. And considering that two or three other people slipped past me while I was gaping and made their way toward the front door, I had a feeling all the space was going to be needed.

  I was right. When I walked inside, the sheer amount of noise almost made me turn around and run back out again. Maybe this was why I had stopped going to parties. Only, the sound wasn’t coming from any sort of stereo system; there were just that many people here.

  They were almost all witches and wizards, but there was the odd shifter here and there as well. They packed the entryway, and I pushed past them, my stomach growling to let me know I’d forgotten about it in the course of the investigation, and that the scent of pizza wafting through the house had brought it back to life.

  The pizza came from The Wily Wizard, a popular place among students mainly because it was cheap but also edible. I could tell just from the smell, and it immediately took me back to my student days, a bit like a punch to the gut.

  But I wasn’t here for the pizza. I pushed my way past witches and wizards I didn’t know until I found myself in the main living room, which was bigger than the whole house I shared with my sisters back in Pacific Cove. Someone had enchanted the words “We love you, Olivia” to float above the crowd as people clustered in groups, having murmured conversations. A few girls were together against the far window, crying.

  I recognized one of them and immediately made my way over. Kelly Rockland and Olivia had grown up together. I couldn’t remember where, exactly, but they had been friends since they were five years old. If anyone knew what was going on in Olivia’s life, it was Kelly.

  She was sitting against the window, nursing a red solo cup that matched her eyes. She stared at the floor.

  “Hey,” I said, coming up to her, and she gave me a wan smile.

  “Hi. Megan, right? I thought you quit.”

  “I did.” I decided to get straight to the point. “I know Olivia was murdered, and I want to find out who did it. Can you help me?” Kelly was grieving, and I didn’t want to intrude on her too much. I didn’t want to lie and say that I had loved Olivia, and I didn’t want to tell her platitudes I was sure she must be tired of hearing.

  The reply I got was definitely not what I expected. “Oh God, please, yes. I need someone to find out who killed Livvie, and I’ll do anything to help. What do you need?”

  Chapter 5

  Kelly was much more open to my investigation than I had expected. “Were you there that night? When she died?”

  “Yes. It was awful. I barely remember any of it, but now I wish I did. I know Livvie got there around nine. She had been studying and wanted to kick back and relax for a while. She had a couple of her potions that she had made earlier that afternoon just for the night.”

  “How did she store them?”

  “In little stoppered test tubes. She kept them in her bag. That was always how you knew you had an Olivia Stone product: she was the only witch who used test tubes to store them.”

  “Could somebody have poisoned the potion before Olivia got to the party?” I asked, but Kelly immediately shook her head.

  “No chance. Olivia was so careful about that sort of thing. What with all of the information about paranormals spiking other paranormals’ drinks and potions, she was extremely careful. As soon as Olivia finished making a potion, she filled up her test tubes, stoppered them, and then dipped the cork and test tube in wax to seal them, and pressed her wax seal on the outside. No, whoever poisoned her had to have done it after she got to the party and opened the test tube.”

  Kelly was a little bit more animated now. It was like helping to solve her friend’s murder was giving her a new reason for being, and she was getting very into it.

  “Olivia got to the party around nine, and she had two test tubes herself,” Kelly said. “She handed a few around to others.”

  “Did she have anything she was selling for Las Brujas with her?” I asked, hoping that by being casual about it and not sounding at all judgmental Kelly would be alright with me asking. I guessed right.

  “No. She never did any of that when she was drinking. She always sold their stuff during the day, when she was completely sober. She knew it was too much of a risk otherwise.”

  “Why was she doing it, out of curiosity?” I added quickly, again trying not to sound judgmental.

  Kelly sighed. “I don’t know, really. It wasn’t like her. I mean, Olivia loved to party. There’s no denying that. But selling illegal potions for a gang? I know her family was facing rough times, so I’m guessing she did it for the money. She never wanted to talk about it. She always told me it was none of my business.”

  Ok, so it sounded like maybe Olivia hadn’t been in a similar situation to Professor Oak. Maybe she really did just need the extra money and had done it completely willingly. I had to factor that in as a possibility.

  “Was anyone from the gang at the party?”

  Kelly frowned. “I’m not really sure, to be honest. There are some gaps in my memory.”

  “Who do you know was there?”

  “Well, there was Olivia, obviously. And myself, and Jess. She’s the witch over there, the blonde one talking to those guys. The guys were there, too. Ryan, obviously. I was the one who called the hospital yesterday and got them to take him. I had to snap his wand in half; I was sure he was going to do something stupid to himself.”

  “It was good of you to do,” I said.

  “This is already tragic enough. I didn’t want him to kill himself over it. He was there. He was the one who found her in the morning. He woke up, realized she never got home, and went back to the house where the party had been held looking for her. She was in the yard, lying in the grass.”

  “You said the other wizards over there were at the party, too?”

  “That’s right. There was Ryan’s best friend. That’s him over there, with the brown hair and glasses. Tim. And a couple of other wizards he was friends with, Kevin and Omar, they’re the ones standing with Tim. They were all there. Tim left early, though, right around the time Olivia got to the party.”

  “Omar is studying to be a Healer, but the others aren’t, are they?” I asked, and Kelly shook her head.

  “No. Tim studies witchiology, and Kevin is doing general studies with the intention of becoming a magical fixer when he graduates. They met Ryan in other classes. There’s another wizard in their circle, Tony. He’s the blond one with them. But he wasn’t at the party at all.”

  I recognized Tony; he was also in a number of my Healer studies classes.

  “Have you spoken to the Chief Enforcer here about what happened yet?” I asked Olivia, and she snorted.

  “Right. The Chief Enforcer decided to send the Deputy down, figuring that a simple overdose wasn’t worth his time. So the Deputy Chief Enforcer came and spoke with us, but I got the impression they’re going to try and slide it under the rug as an accident instead of a murder. You know how things are in college towns. You can’t hurt the school’s reputation, so if something goes wrong, they try and make it out to be an accident, even when it’s obviously not.”

  “So that’s why you’re so ok with me looking into Olivia’s death,” I said, nodding.

  “That’s right. She was murdered,” Kelly sai
d violently. “My friend was murdered. Someone took her life, and I know the Enforcers are going to do their best to make sure it’s swept under the rug. She’ll be just another sad Spellford student who accidentally overdosed on a potion she made, and that will be that.” Tears sprung to Kelly’s eyes. “If you find out who did this, you have to tell me. I’ll go to the papers. I’ll make sure everyone knows.”

  “I will,” I told Kelly softly.

  “Good. Now, what else do you need to know? I’m serious. I don’t care who finds out who killed Olivia, as long as it’s someone.”

  “What was Olivia’s relationship with Ryan like?”

  “Oh, so good,” Kelly said. “He was so devoted to her. You can’t possibly think he did anything to her, do you?”

  I shrugged. “You never know. Maybe his breakdown was due to guilt rather than grief.”

  “Absolutely not,” Kelly said, shaking her head. “They loved each other. They’ve been together for three years now. We were all just waiting for the day they’d finally get engaged.”

  “So there were no issues between them?”

  “No, none. I mean, sure, they might have little inconsequential spats about nothing, but everyone has those. Overall, they were happy. No major problems. They had even planned to go back to Olivia’s hometown and work together once they graduated. Ryan wasn’t close to his family and had never really clicked in his hometown, whereas Olivia loved hers, so they had it all worked out.”

  “What about anyone else? Were there people Olivia might have had problems with?”

  Kelly shrugged. “Not really. I mean, she’d had a bit of a spat with one of the other witches in the program a few days earlier, but that was it.”

  “What was the spat about?”

  “The other witch—Jasmine Sky—accused Olivia of copying some of her work in one of the witchiology electives they were taking. Introduction to Witchiology.”

  I nodded. All Healer students were required to study a little bit of everything—apparently it tended to make us more well-rounded as Healers and people. So all the Healer students simply took introductory classes for most electives, since they gave a decently broad overview of the subject and tended to be significantly easier than the classes people actually studying the topic would have to take.

  “Oh?” I said, raising my eyebrows. I wondered if Charlene had heard about this at all.

  “Yeah. She was actually at the party the other night, too. I remember that. She was avoiding Olivia like the plague.”

  “Do you think she could have killed her?”

  Kelly shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought so. But then, what do I know? My best friend is dead and I have no idea why. I don’t know anyone else who might have done it.”

  “It could have been someone from the gang, though. But you said there were no gang members at the party as far as you know?”

  “That’s right,” Kelly confirmed. “I don’t think it was them. Olivia was making them too much money. Surely they wouldn’t have killed her.”

  If Olivia had wanted to stop selling for them, they might have. I didn’t voice that thought; Kelly was obviously upset enough already. I was going to have to figure out how to get in touch with them.

  “Thanks, Kelly,” I told her. “I’m going to go chat to Ryan’s friends now and see if there’s anything else I can find out.”

  “You are going to find out who did this, right?” Kelly asked, grabbing me by the arm. “I know the Enforcers here won’t do anything. You need to do it. You need to get justice for my friend.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I promised. I really wanted to do right by Kelly. That seemed to console her, and she nodded.

  “Good. Olivia’s bedroom has been sealed by a ward; I don’t want any of the people here going through her things. But you can come by another time, whenever you want. Let me swap phone numbers with you. If it’ll help you find Olivia’s killer, I want to help.”

  “Thanks,” I said to Kelly, pulling out my phone. “Take care of yourself, ok?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” she said glumly. “Just find who did this to Livvie.”

  Chapter 6

  I nodded, gave Kelly’s hand a quick squeeze, and made my way toward the group of Ryan’s friends standing in a circle together, looking rather somber. They weren’t talking or anything like that, just taking solace in each others’ presence.

  I slid my way into the circle, and they all looked at me somewhat expectantly. I wasn’t entirely sure how to introduce myself, but luckily, Kelly came over as well and took care of that for me.

  “Guys, this is Megan. She used to study here. She’s trying to find out who killed Livvie, since no one else is going to. Can you tell her whatever you know?”

  “Sure, Kell,” Kevin said. “Neptune knows someone has to find out what happened to her.”

  “You were there at the party that night?” I asked, and three of them nodded while Tony shook his head.

  “I was there, but I wouldn’t have seen anything useful,” Tim said. “I had an exam the next day, so I wanted to get home and get into bed early. I said a quick hello to her, but that was it. I left right after that.”

  “Yeah, Tim left a couple minutes after Olivia showed up,” Kevin confirmed. “Omar and I were there all night, though.”

  “I had family obligations,” Tony said with a shrug. “I’m afraid I won’t be any use at all.”

  “Can you think of anyone at the party who might have wanted to hurt Olivia?” I asked, and Omar scowled.

  “Yes, Jasmine Sky.”

  “The witch who accused Olivia of copying her work?” I asked.

  “That’s the one,” Omar nodded. “As soon as Olivia came in, she stomped over to her and started accusing her again, telling her she was going to pay for what she did. There’s no way Olivia copied her work.”

  “What did Olivia do?”

  “She tried to reason with Jasmine, initially. Olivia told her that she hadn’t copied her work, that the two of them had come to the same conclusion about things separately. The essay was about the most important war between witches and wizards in the history of the paranormal world. And I mean, there’s only been, like, what, three wars that fit the bill. It’s really not that much of a stretch to imagine that two witches would choose the same war and come up with the same historical significance for their essays.”

  “Oh, so that was the whole accusation?” I asked. “That the idea was the same, not that the words were the same?”

  “That’s right,” Kevin replied with a nod. “After she finished telling Jasmine off, Olivia moved away, but Jasmine kept coming after her. She told Liv she was going to pay for what she’d done, and that she wasn’t going to get away with it. Olivia, for her part, simply ignored Jasmine, and after a minute or two Jasmine left. She was obviously pissed, though.”

  “Who do you think killed Olivia?” I asked. “Do you think it was Jasmine?”

  Kevin nodded. “I do, yeah. She was drunk, and really annoyed. I could see her making a bad decision under the influence of alcohol.”

  “I don’t know,” Omar said slowly. “It seems like something petty to kill someone over. Even though she was drunk, I’m not sure Jasmine would have done it. Heck, I’m not sure she could have done it. She was definitely wasted and would have had to get the poison into Olivia’s test tube without her noticing.”

  “I agree with Kevin,” Tim said. “I think Jasmine might have done it and just got lucky that she wasn’t seen.”

  “Who do you think could have done it?” I asked Omar. “Who would have had access to the test tube after she unsealed it?”

  “Well, anyone who was near her, I guess,” Omar said thoughtfully.

  “Olivia got to the party just as I was leaving,” Tim said. “I said a quick hello to her. She pulled out one of her test tubes and told me she was trying a new flavor, but she didn’t unseal it. I saw her picking away at the wax as I was leaving, when Kelly came up to her.”

&nbs
p; “That’s right,” Kelly nodded. “She opened up the test tube a minute later and immediately drank all of it. So it couldn’t have been that one that killed her.”

  Maybe not, but I couldn’t help but put Kelly on my list of potential suspects. After all, she would have had access to the test tube. I didn’t think she had killed her friend, but I couldn’t be certain.

  “What about after?” I asked.

  “She came over and spoke to Ryan and me,” Kevin jumped in. “She had another test tube out, and she opened it, but she didn’t drink it for a while. After a couple of minutes, Ryan went to the bathroom, and that was when Jasmine saw her and came over.”

  “So Olivia had the open test tube around Jasmine?” I asked, and Kevin nodded.

  “Absolutely. I saw her drinking it slowly after Jasmine finally left. Then Olivia was good and wasted, and I don’t think she drank anything else the rest of the night.”

  That made sense; a lot of the potions made by witches and wizards for a good time were so potent their effects lasted for hours. It wasn’t like alcohol where you had to keep drinking constantly.

  “Do you know who else came by when Olivia was drinking that potion?” I asked. So far, Kelly, Ryan, Kevin, and Jasmine seemed to be the four people who had had access.

  “I did,” Omar said. “I went over to make sure she was ok after the Jasmine incident. She was still drinking the potion then. Ryan came back a minute later, and she hung out with him for a while as well. She had to convince him to leave Jasmine alone; Ryan wanted to go confront her and tell her to leave his girlfriend alone. She also spoke to a couple of other people. I’m just trying to remember who. After all, I wasn’t exactly stone-cold sober myself.”

  “There was Alex Gill, one of the other Healer students,” Kevin said. “I walked past her and Olivia at one point; they were complaining about one of their professors. Something about how she wouldn’t let them use magic to chop ingredients for potions, that sort of thing.”