"Hmm," Jareth hummed as he ran his ungloved hands over the window frame in Robert and Karen's bedroom. "There's definitely traces of magic here. It seems someone used magic to open the window and then used a concealment spell to hide in the corner by the closet."

"What about the magic near the head of the bed?" Sarah asked.

He calmly walked over to the bed and placed both hands near one of the pillows. "Dream magic," he replied after a moment. "I cannot tell what the dreams contained, but I can guess that there was hostile intent and possibly used to influence their actions during their waking hours."

"Wait," Sarah's eyes widened. "Do you think a fae may have used dream magic to influence them into dying?"

"It's possible," he nodded as he turned to face the other three in the room.

"A fae killed my parents?" Toby asked quietly. "Why?"

Sarah started to move toward her brother, but Palath was closer. "We don't know, yet, Tobias," he said as he placed a hand on Toby's shoulder. "But I promise you we will find out, and they will be punished for the harm they have wrought."

Toby looked up at his friend and nodded. "Thanks, Palath," he mumbled.

Palath patted him on the shoulder and then steered the teen out of the room. "We'll be in the backyard if you need us," he said quietly before leaving.

Sarah watched them go then turned to Jareth after the door had closed. "I'm worried about him," she mumbled.

Jareth placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "He's going through the grieving process in his own way, Cariad. Just as you are. To be honest, I'm more worried about you than Tobias."

"Me? Why?"

"Because you've been so focused on first organizing the funerals and now solving their deaths that you aren't grieving. You're bottling everything up inside and it's not good for you, my dear."

"Jareth," she stated calmly. "I have watched my brothers and sisters in arms die at the hands of the enemy. I have had to amputate limbs and dig around through someone's intestines to dig out a bullet. My grief process is… a bit different than a normal person's. I've had to change." She leaned forward to rest her head against his chest, tucking it under his chin. Her arms came up to wrap around him.

Jareth returned the hug and kissed the top of her head. "I know, Cariad, and that's what worries me. These weren't your brothers and sisters in arms. These were your parents. It's a little bit different, don't you think?"

"Maybe," Sarah responded quietly. "But that's what I've got you for, right?" She leaned back to see his face.

He gave her a tight lipped smile. "Of course, Cariad." She leaned in to rest her head under his chin again and he held her tightly. However the lines of worry were still etched across his face.

They went down to meet Toby and Palath in the backyard after a few long minutes. It appeared that the centaur had been teaching the teenager how to build a fire. They had a cheerful blaze going in the family's fire pit when Sarah and Jareth came out to join them. "So what are we going to do about the fae magic we found up in mom and dad's bedroom?" Toby asked as they found seats around the fire.

"We're going to wait for Rhihart to find a Scryist," Jareth answered, reaching over to lightly clasp Sarah's hand. They sat close to each other in lawn chairs.

"What will they be able to do?" Toby asked.

"Hopefully they'll be able to read the history of the room by touch and be able to give us a clue as to what kind of dream the spell caster sent."

"And if they cannot?" Palath asked. He stood near Toby, not able to sit in a lawn chair.

"If they cannot, then we find the yacht and hopefully get a reading off of that."

"I could start looking into that tomorrow," Sarah volunteered.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, Cariad," Jareth countered. "If you try to do so by official channels such as the police, it may raise their suspicions of you."

"So then how do we find it?"

"We don't. Someone else does."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I glamour Palath to look like a police officer and he finds out for us."

"Me, your Majesty?!" Palath gave him a shocked look. "I know very little of how law enforcement works in the Aboveground. Would it not be better to glamour Lady Sarah?"

"He's right," Sarah said, turning to look at him. "It will take someone who knows something about Aboveground law enforcement to do it. There would just be simply too much to teach him and too much that could go wrong."

Jareth frowned, but nodded. "I agree. We'll have to do it a different way. Though I am reluctant to send you, Cariad. You may know more about law enforcement in the Aboveground, but if you are found out, it could end very badly for you."

"So I make sure I'm not found out," she challenged. "Let me do this, Jareth," she said quietly.

The Goblin King sighed and relented. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

Sarah smiled. "Deal."

"What about me?" Toby grumbled.

"You are going to be our researcher," Sarah proposed. "I need you to start looking up any mention of the accident in the news."

Toby pressed his lips together, but nodded. "O-okay. I can do that."

Sarah frowned. "It's okay if you can't Tobes."

"I will be there to help him," Palath declared. "We can do it together."

Toby gave his friend a grateful smile. "Yeah, we can do it. What kinds of things do you want us to find out?"

"Just what they say about the accident and if they mention a cause," Sarah said. "You'll probably have to search several news sources."

"I can do that," Toby said more confidently.

"Good," Jareth squeezed Sarah's hand. "Then in that case, let's enjoy the fire then head to bed. It's been a long day for everyone."

"Are you sure you're ready for this? We could wait until Rhihart's Scryist gets here tomorrow and see if they get any readings out of your parents' bedroom," Jareth said quietly to Sarah who had been glamoured to look like a police detective. Her appearance had been subtly changed: her eyes farther apart, her nose longer, her hair longer and more of a honey gold color, her height a little taller. All in all, it was enough that nobody who knew her would recognize her.

"Yes," Sarah nodded confidently. "The yacht could hold all of the clues we need to figure this thing out. It's better to find it now so we can plan how best to get the Scryist there undetected."

Jareth couldn't fault her logic. If the Scryist arrived and found nothing in Robert and Karen's bedroom, the only other place they had for the Scryist to look was the yacht, and at present, they had no idea where it was. Sarah had guessed that it was probably in an impound lot somewhere if the police were still examining it for clues, but that still didn't tell them where. It could be up near Plum Island where the accident happened or it could be closer to Boston where the couple who owned the yacht had lived. He sighed and relented. "Okay, let me glamour myself and we'll be on our way."

He closed his eyes and visualized how he wanted himself to look before gathering his magic and letting it flow through that vision and into his body. His hair changed to a cool dark black. His skin remained pale, but a rosy tint was apparent at the end of his nose and in his cheeks. His face rounded out a bit so his cheekbones were less prominent. His eyes changed to a rounder shape and took on a warm nut brown hue. Finally, he shrunk a couple of inches so that he and Sarah were near the same height. His clothes also changed so that he wore a dark suit and tie. A detective badge completed the ensemble. He looked down at himself once he was finished and nodded. "This should do."

"Whoa," Toby, who had just entered the living room with Palath halted in the doorway. "Sarah? Jareth?"

"It's us, Toby," Sarah smiled. "What do you think?"

"I think I hardly recognize you," he replied.

"Are you leaving for the police station, your Majesty?" Palath asked.

"Yes, hopefully we won't be too long."

"There's fixings for deli sandwiches in the fridge if you get hungry," Sarah mentioned as she moved toward the door. She stopped to hug Toby though. "Be good while we're gone. Stay in the house or backyard."

Toby rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he grumbled.

"I'm serious Toby," Sarah insisted. "Stay at the house. We don't know what's really happening yet and it could be dangerous for you."

"I will make sure he remains unharmed," Palath reassured. "You have my word."

"Thank you, Palath," Sarah sent him a small smile. "Shall we?" she turned to Jareth who was waiting by the door for her.

"After you, my lady," he opened the door and ushered her out.

They took her father's sedan to the police station and parked out of the way so that it wasn't right in front of the doors. Sarah took several deep breaths before mentally adjusting herself into the same frame of mind as when she was on a tour of duty. Cops and soldiers had a very similar mindset and many soldiers went on to become police officers after they retired from the military.

Her back straightened and her stride became longer and more confident as she led the way into the police station. The officer at the desk, a stout man in his mid thirties, looked up at them immediately. "How can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Detective Connelly and this is my partner Detective Jones," Sarah said as she approached the desk, casually flashing her badge. "We're looking for a piece of evidence from an accident that happened a couple of weeks ago. We were told that this precinct had taken the lead on the investigation."

"Sure, what's the evidence?"

"It's a yacht. There was an accident a couple of weeks ago up near Plum Island resulting in four deaths."

"Yeah, I know the case," the man said. "What do you need to see it for?" he asked as he started typing into his computer.

"We're from the DA's office. They wanted us to double check what forensics had found."

"The DA's office is already involved?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, something about how they want to get a jump on gathering evidence. I don't know. I don't ask questions, just do as I'm told."

The desk officer snorted and nodded. "Ain't that the truth." He searched his computer for a moment longer. "Ah, here we go. Looks like it's being held at a police impound lot up in Lynn. Here, I'll print the address for you." He clicked a few more times then the printer behind him whirred to life and spewed out a sheet of paper with Courier font.

"Thanks for all your help," Sarah smiled and nodded at him before leading the way back out.

She and Jareth didn't speak until they reached the car and even then, didn't relax until they were a couple miles away from the station. "Holy cow," Sarah breathed out. "That went way better than I thought. You didn't even have to say anything."

"I am just as surprised as you, my dear. Though now we have to find a way to get into the impound lot with the Scryist." He released the glamor magic as they drove away so that they changed back to their normal appearance.

"One step at a time, Jareth. One step at a time."

When they got back to the house, Toby and Palath were out in the backyard again. Toby had set up a game of horseshoes and was teaching Palath how to play. The centaur, while seeming to grasp the concept of the game, was confused about why horses would need shoes. "To protect their hooves," Toby tried to explain.

"From what? What are you doing to the horses that they need protection?"

"I don't know! It's just to protect them! You know, from the extra weight when we ride them or something," Toby rolled his eyes and tossed his horseshoe towards the stake.

"Actually," Sarah interrupted. Both teen and centaur turned to look at her in surprise. "It's partially to help when they bear extra weight, but also because we have hard surfaces, such as concrete, that they walk on and it can cause damage to the hoof."

"Well that sounds reasonable," Palath nodded. "I would hate to think that you would purposely damage a creature just to provide yourself more convenience."

Sarah chose to remain quiet at that. Humans had a long history of harming animals for their own convenience, but Palath didn't need to know that right now. "It looks like you two managed to stay out of trouble," she said instead.

"Yeah, we got bored and Palath wanted to go outside, so I dug out the horseshoe game. I think we have some cornhole boards in the garage somewhere too, but I don't know where."

"We'll have to take a look later," Sarah nodded. "In the meantime, is anyone interested in where the yacht is?" She waved the piece of paper around.

"Where is it?" Toby asked moving closer to his sister.

"It's at an impound lot in Lynn. We'll have to take a drive up there to see about getting close to it," she replied as she turned to walk back into the kitchen.

They sat around the table to exchange information (except for Palath, who stood). "We also found out that the police don't look too hard at your credentials if you look the part," Jareth mentioned as he grabbed a few cans of orange soda from the fridge and passed them around. He'd become fond of the fizzy drink in the week they'd been in the Aboveground. "I didn't even have to speak, your sister managed to con them out of the information all on her own."

"That is good news," Palath congratulated before opening his soda. "We needn't have worried so much."

"And what did you two find out about the accident?" Sarah asked.

"A lot of the websites we searched just had basic information. It told where the crash was, what time of day, and who the victims where. Aside from that though, there wasn't much," Toby replied.

"Except for one publication," Palath added.

"I was getting to that," Toby grumbled.

"Apologies, young Tobias, do continue."

"Right, so anyway, there was this article in the Plum Island Post that mentioned how the yacht crashed into the rocks with a lot of force meaning it was going pretty fast."

"Okay, but how is that unusual?" Sarah asked.

"Let me finish," Toby reprimanded. "So it crashed into the rocks with a lot of force even though it was fighting against the current. And it crashed head on."

They were quiet for a moment as they digested that information. "So… what? They think it was on purpose?" Sarah asked.

"They did not say so, but it was implied," Palath said. "And there were no other bodies found besides that of your parents and the couple they were yachting with, so there is very little evidence that anyone else could have commandeered the ship or caused the crash."

Sarah felt her stomach tie itself in knots. She wasn't sure what had happened on that yacht, but she was nearly positive now that it had something to do with whatever dreams some fae had been sending her father and Karen. Did the fae make them kill themselves? Did they force them to by threatening them?

"Cariad?" Jareth's voice was quiet next to her and she looked up at him. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine," she mumbled, realizing at that moment that tears had welled up and slipped down her cheeks. "Just fine." She brushed the tears away and took a deep breath. Jareth placed a hand on her thigh and gently rubbed up and down. "When can we contact Rhihart about that Scryist?" she changed the topic.

"We'll give him a call tomorrow morning," Jareth replied. "Until then, I think we all need a little break. Why don't we all go back outside and play horseshoes in teams? Best three out of five games gets to pick what kind of pizza we order and the movie we watch while eating."

Sarah smiled at him. He may not be from the Aboveground, but he knew exactly the kind of therapy the Aboveground could provide to get your mind off of things. "Deal," she said. "Come on, Toby and Palath against you and me."