7

Scouts from the Emperor's Coven precinct 128 soon arrived and cordoned off the scene of the murder. After Odalia signed the paperwork on identifying Iphigenia's body, a scout ushered her back out the gate, telling her to wait until someone could collect her statement.

Odalia glanced back toward the garden. The garden itself was walled off with rather high stone walls. The stones were barely visible under a thick covering of vines. She silently thanked the Titan no one else would be able to see Iphigenia like that unless they entered the garden. And there were more scouts outside turning away onlookers.

Speaking of onlookers, most of the party guests had gathered near the gate. It seemed word had spread, though that wasn't a surprise. Murders were extremely rare in Bonesborough. Odalia glanced at her classmates, trying to find someone familiar to at least talk to. To be fair, she probably would be gossiping right now had the victim been anyone else. She spotted the Blight sons near the center of the crowd and came closer to try to discern what they were saying.

Isidor stood next to Alador, pinching the bridge of his nose. "A murder. What else could go wrong?"

A wolf-like guest near Isidor suddenly arched its back and let out a loud growl.

Heavy footsteps sounded.

Alador let out a groan. "Why would you even ask that?!" His speech was no longer slurred, indicating the sobering potion had taken effect.

The footsteps increased in both volume and intensity. A man, dressed in a severe looking black suit and carrying a wooden walking stick, approached. The black clothing in addition to the slight stooping of his posture, made him resemble a cross between a witch and a vulture. He was accompanied by a butler, though the butler trailed a few steps behind.

The man stopped. All the chatter ceased.

The butler took out a silver bugle and blew it. "Honored guests, Emperor's Coven personnel, put your hands together for the Highmost Patriarch of the Blight family: Egon Blight." No one clapped.

Egon lifted his face. It was clear every eye and ear in the immediate area was on him, even the Emperor's Coven scouts who had been guarding the crime scene. His eyes were large, round, and golden like both his sons', yet they seemed to blaze. A gaze completely without pity and mercy. His facial features were also similar to his sons, but age had sharpened their planes. He wore a gold-rimmed monocle over his right eye.

"Who is responsible for this?!" Egon said in a deep, commanding voice.

No one spoke.

Egon paused for a moment, then continued. "If any of you have information on this heinous crime, step forward." Nothing. Everyone looked at each other, then back to Egon.

Egon waited a few minutes. The air seemed to get heavier by the second. "Isidor."

Isidor timidly stepped forward. "Yes?"

"You assured me this party would be a..." Egon paused. "'A harmless little diversion.' Does this seem harmless to you?!"

"No, sir." Isidor kept his hands to his sides.

"You said that nothing would go wrong, and if it did, you would take full responsibility. You gave your word, and a Blight always keeps their word. Do you stand by that?"

"Yes, sir," Isidor said meekly.

"In addition, a host has a responsibility to ensure the safety of his guests at all times. The slaying of this poor girl happened on your watch. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Isidor was silent, looking at the ground.

"Nothing to say?" Egon continued. "I will not soon forget how you have failed today. Nor will the friends and classmates before you now.

Tears fell from Isidor's eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"You shouldn't apologize to me," Egon said. "You should apologize to your guests for this fiasco." Egon turned to address the crowd again. "And if the one who is responsible for this murder and had the nerve to commit it on my property is indeed among you, know this. If I should find you, not even the Titan himself will save you. That is all." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off.

XXX

The next morning, Odalia stirred in her bed. Her bedroom was decorated all in purple diaphanous fabrics and white metal furniture. A feeling like a lump settled in her stomach as the previous day's events came back from pushing past Lilith to seeing Egon Blight to giving her statement to the police and their stupid albeit boilerplate questions. ("Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt your friend?") Realization. Iphigenia is gone.

Odalia peeled back her sheets, revealing her frilly white nightgown. Her green hair was down.

A tapping sound echoed through the empty room. Odalia opened her window, and Iphigenia's palisman Giselle flew in.

Odalia instinctively held out her hand and Giselle hovered in the air a moment, as if considering whether to land. Then Giselle did land.

Odalia brought Giselle close to her chest. Wait…! Iphigenia had her staff yesterday! Maybe… "Giselle…"

Giselle peered up, dark eyes meeting Odalia's blue ones.

"Did you see the murder?" Odalia asked excitedly.

Giselle's expression darkened, quite a feat for a black swan. Her neck drooped. She made a few noises.

Odalia knew from her studies that palismen could speak in a fashion, but it was hard for witches other than their witch to interpret, similar to how the palisman could interlock only with their witch's staff. She could make out a few words Giselle was conveying: "Sent away…then pain." There was so much emphasis on the word pain that Odalia immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry," Odalia said. Palismen were quite attached to their witches, and she had heard that sometimes palismen would die when their witch did, even if there was nothing physiologically wrong with them. There were also tales of loyal palismen who would rest near the witch's grave and cry because they missed their witch so much. "I won't ask you about that again. But I promise. I'm going to find out who did this to your mistress." She stroked Giselle's plumage like a Bond villain stroking a white Persian cat even though Odalia had never heard or seen a Bond movie. "Whoever you are, you've made a powerful enemy. Odalia Astrild is coming for you."

XXX

Later that afternoon, Odalia sat in the living room at Iphigenia's house. Iphigenia's mother, and her own personal mother figure to the point of calling her Mama in private, Rue Sulzbach, sat directly across from her. They sipped tea, not a word spoken between them.

Rue's yellow dress was rumpled, as if she had slept in it. Her beige apron was clean, however. She was a mid-ranking member of the Potions Coven and worked from home. When Odalia was young, her mother left her in Rue's care and she spent her days playing with Iphigenia.

Odalia swallowed, unsure how to break the silence. She finally spoke: "Did the Emperor's Coven tell you anything?"

"They won't release her body until the investigation is over," Rue answered. "The medical examiner let me see…her, just to say goodbye after they notified me. It's that…" She bit her lip. "It pains me to ask this, Odalia, but do you know if she had anyone…?"

"She didn't tell you she was dating Adrian?" Odalia asked.

"No, she hardly tells me anything anymore," Rue answered.

"I can relate," Odalia said. "At this point, I barely even see my father. On my birthday, he grants me a special five minutes of his presence. Still kisses my forehead. Ick."

"It's just that…" Rue fiddled with her cup. "Iphigenia was pregnant."

"What?" Odalia asked. "How far along?"

"I'm guessing four months," Rue answered. "She wore a concealment stone to hide it. Do you know who the father is?"

"No," Odalia said. "But it had to be Adrian, right? Mama Rue, do you mind if I look in Iphigenia's room?"

"Sure," Rue said. "But the Emperor's Coven scouts already looked in there."

Odalia went to Iphigenia's room, a weird mix of adult and childish interests: posters of rock bands, stuffed animals, some young adult and romance novels as well as her school textbooks lined up neatly on a large bookshelf. She pushed Iphigenia's wooden bureau several inches to the right. She found what she sought: a wormhole in one of the floorboards. She stuck her finger in the hole and pulled, revealing a hide.

The hide was stuffed with stacks of snails.

Rue stared numbly at the snails. "That has to be at least 10,000 snails! Where did she get all this money?!"

Odalia headed toward the door. "I'm going to go talk to the father." As soon as she left the Sulzbach residence, Odalia summoned Giselle and flew to Adrian's house. She knocked on the door confidently.

A woman of about Rue and Odalia's mom's age opened the door. She had dark turquoise hair and wore a crisp blue dress with a brightly white apron. "Hello?"

"Hi," Odalia put on her best smoozing smile. "I'm a friend of Adrian's. Is he here?"

"Yes, he is. I'm his mom," Adrian's mother said, her voice high and cheerful. "You must be here to offer condolences. That was horrible what happened to his dear girlfriend. Who would do something like that?" She let Odalia in. "Adrian's on the roof, just go up the stairs to your right."

"Thank you, Mrs…." Odalia trailed off.

"You can just call me Mrs. Graye, dear," Adrian's mother said.

"Very well, Mrs. Graye," Odalia bounded up the stairs and opened the door leading to a rooftop terrace. Adrian Graye stood leaning on a balustrade, staring out at the scenery. Odalia smirked, tiptoed toward him, and put him in a headlock.

"You son of a bitch!" Odalia said. "You got her pregnant!"

"What are you going on about?" Adrian asked, seemingly more perturbed than alarmed. "Who are you exactly?"

"You got Iphigenia pregnant, and you killed her," Odalia snapped.

Adrian yawned. "The Emperor's Coven already asked me about that. I'll tell you what I told them: I was at the annual Illusion Coven Jamboree the day of the party. I hadn't even seen Iphigenia in three days. And besides, why would I have killed her? She was a perfectly serviceable girlfriend. Prime eye candy, didn't bore me with talking about her problems…" He glanced at Odalia again. "Oh, I remember you now. Iphigenia's dorky friend."

"I'm also your worst nightmare," Odalia said. "If word got out you sired an illegitimate child, wouldn't that destroy your chances of being a Coven Head someday?" She reluctantly released him from the headlock.

"Perhaps," Adrian admitted, taking out a hand mirror and comb to fix the hair that had been messed up. "But only if I were the father, but I assure you I'm not."

"You sound awfully sure about that," Odalia countered.

"I know it for a fact," Adrian said. "I couldn't be the father."

"What, are you impotent?" Odalia sneered.

"Oh, that's funny," Adrian replied sarcastically. "I'm laughing on the inside. No. It's more like my seed is…" He gave the parallel hand rocking slightly gesture. "Kind of…meh." He looked at Odalia in irritation. "You know what I mean?"

"I don't," Odalia said.

"It's kind of…eh?"

"I'm getting tired of this guessing game," Odalia said. "You can't expect me to read your mind."

"Aren't you an oracle track student?" Adrian asked. "Isn't mind reading part of your job?" When he received no answer, he elaborated. "I have a disorder that makes me sterile. Happy now?"

"Not really," Odalia said. If Adrian didn't sire Iphigenia's child, who did? And is that why she was killed? To cover up…? "You could be lying about that, though."

"Why would I?" Adrian asked. "It's not something to be proud of."

"Fine," Odalia said. "But if I find out you're lying, I'm going to rip your stupid tail out." She made sure to slam the door on her way out. She walked past Adrian's mother on the way to the front door. "Oh, Titan, he's such a prick!"

"What else is new?" asked Mrs. Graye idly.

Odalia turned to face her. "You know how much of a jerk your son is?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mrs. Graye answered. "But I have to put up with him, lest I end up in a nursing home when I'm old and feeble."

XXX

Odalia returned home and let herself into her house. She flicked on the crystal ball to have some background noise while she made her dinner.

"Breaking news: The Emperor's Coven released a statement that they have arrested the prime suspect in the Iphigenia Sulzbach murder case."

Odalia blinked. "What?" She turned up the volume on the crystal ball.

The ball showed an image of Iphigenia's father between two beefy Emperor's Coven guards in wrist shackles.

Odalia shook her head. "No. He would never!" She called Giselle's staff form and rode as fast as she could to Iphigenia's house. She bounded up the steps and banged on the door.

No answer.

"Mama Rue!" Odalia yelled, banging some more.

Still no answer.

"I know you're in there!" Odalia snapped, kicking the door for good measure. "Let me in!"

The door finally opened a small crack. Rue peeked out the crack. "Odalia, please. Leave."

"I'm not leaving until you talk to me," Odalia said.

Rue sighed and stepped outside, closing the door behind her. "Why are you here?"

"I saw the news," Odalia said. "It can't be true. Why would your husband possibly kill Iphigenia?"

"He was angry that she got pregnant," Rue said tonelessly, as if reciting.

"You liar!" Odalia answered. "That would be quite an accomplishment, since you didn't know Iphigenia was pregnant until after she died! Someone put him up to it, didn't they? Was it the Emperor's Coven or the Blights? Both? Someone else?"

Rue exhaled. "If you were smart enough to figure that out, don't be stupid enough to be caught asking the wrong questions." She gave Odalia a pained look. "I already lost both my daughter and husband. I don't want to lose you too." Her voice took a more authoritative tone. "Leave. And don't come to see me anymore. There is nothing you can do."