Chapter Four
It was hardly dawn when Layla, still in her night clothes and barefoot, burst into the suite. She ran over and pounded on the door where Musa and Tecna shared a room.
"Tecna, Tecna, quick! I think I have something!" she shouted.
Normally everyone would be annoyed and moving slowly at such an interruption, but not now. Anything could be important. At the hopeful words everybody sprang out of bed and converged at the door just as it opened.
"What is it?" asked the Fairy of Technology. Musa was right behind her.
"There was an inconsistency between what Flora SAID, and what the vision SHOWED! Get your notebook!" said Layla, almost too excited to speak.
Tecna came out with the computer and they all gathered around the sofa and chairs.
"Show the memory first," directed Layla.
It was hard to bear, but they all watched, committing details to memory so they could discuss it.
"Now play what Flora said," said the Fairy of Fluids.
Now they listened carefully to Flora's words. When it finished, they all looked expectantly at Layla.
"I was right!" she declared, "Did you notice it? The inconsistency?"
"Yes!" said Tecna, suddenly. Her expression darkened. "I have all the data. Why didn't I see that?"
"Too upset to notice?" said Stella.
"I hardly think that theory is correct," answered Tecna. "My emotions are under strict control."
"The memory showed her examining the body and getting blood on her hands, then going to the lake and washing, but she didn't say anything about it!" explained Layla, getting back to the subject.
"So?" asked Musa. "Maybe she just forgot."
"No, listen to what she said," said Tecna.
With a few keystrokes Flora's words were repeated: "Then I went back to the lake and sat down by the basket. Then I woke up with the headache."
"That was a complete statement. No hint at all of anything else happening," said Tecna. "And only one set of events can be correct."
Bloom nodded. "You were right, Layla. Let's see if there are any other inconsistencies."
"I'll pool the datasets. Anything else will show up then," said Tecna, typing away.
"I don't know..." said Musa, "That's awfully thin..."
"Yeah, but right now we don't have anything else to go on," said Bloom.
While Tecna worked, everyone else cleaned up and got ready for a long day ahead. Then she took her turn while the small computer did its task.
It continued to work while they ate breakfast and gave the teachers an update. Both Ms. Faragonda and Ms. Griselda encouraged them to keep at it. Other students asked what was going on, if the rumors were true, but everyone was tight lipped and gave them nothing.
Back in their suite, Tecna found the computer had finished. She reviewed the results and reported that nothing new had come out. Trusting her, they all accepted the report.
"So it all comes down to whether or not Flora got blood on her hands and then washed it off," said Layla.
"Yes," agreed Tecna.
"Then let's go check out the scene," said Bloom.
"A logical next step," said Tecna, approvingly.
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At the clearing the police had put up a magical barrier, but it was the equivalent of the yellow tape used on Earth. It was only to keep animals out and notify any person something had happened here. They went through it with little trouble. Tecna took readings while everyone else used their own specialties to examine the scene.
Bloom didn't see how her Dragonfire could help, so she contented herself with visual observing. She still wasn't all that familiar with what was in the forest, but didn't see anything she thought was out of place.
"There is a magic trace here," said Stella, "But it's faint and I can't say for sure if it's Flora's."
"I'm glad you could sense it," said Musa, "I don't feel anything. No sound-memories either."
"The only blood is right here," said Layla, pointing at where the body had been. The tops of the bamboo had been sawed off to remove the body.
"None in the direction of the lake?" asked Tecna.
"No. Just on the ground and the bamboo," was the reply.
"How can you tell that?" asked Stella.
"Fairy of Fluids, remember?" answered Layla, annoyed, "And blood IS a fluid."
"Blood..." muttered Tecna, and tapped some keys. She studied the results, then she closed the notebook and turned to the other Fairies.
"I need to make a trip to the Infirmary," she told them, "I'll be back shortly. The rest of you continue searching."
"Something wrong?" asked Bloom.
"I'm not sure yet. I need some additional data," she replied. She transformed and flew away toward the school. She didn't want to tell them she had had something as illogical as a hunch, and was acting on it.
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Tecna opened the door of the Alfea Infirmary to find Nurse Ophelia alone.
"OH! Tecna! Have you and your friends found anything yet?" she asked. "I really hate the idea of Flora being a murderer."
"Possibly, but I need some information from your student records," she replied.
"Anything! I want to help all I can!" Was the response.
"Thank you. I need Mirta's blood data," she said, pulling out her notebook.
Ophelia tapped keys on her desktop. "Ready for transfer." Unlike on Earth, the rules in Magix said a nurse could release such data at her discretion.
Tecna nodded and quickly got the wanted information. She stood and watched the computer as it did a comparison with the blood found on the scene. With a beep it indicated a mismatch.
"It isn't Mirta's blood? That's a surprise..." said Tecna.
"I know I sent you the correct information," said Ophelia.
"You did..." said Tecna. "But the differences are so great, I'm not even sure the sample is from a person." She tapped keys. The computer screen flashed as data streamed across it, trying to find a match to the blood sample from the scene. After a minute it stopped with a 'ding'.
"A zogga fish?" said Ophelia, shocked. The nurse had come over and was looking over Tecna's shoulder.
"Yes, the match is perfect," confirmed Tecna. "And if the blood isn't Mirta's, then what really happened? I need to get back there."
"Good luck," said Ophelia as Tecna hurried out the door.
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"A ZOGGA FISH?" the other four said in unison.
"Yes, that's what kind of blood is here," confirmed Tecna. She took a last reading, just to be absolutely sure.
"That doesn't make any sense," said Bloom.
Tecna turned to her friends. "Let's recap. The blood on the bamboo is from a zogga fish. There is no blood away from here, so Flora's spoken memory is the correct version. The inconsistency in Flora's testimony is key. She told us first, then later Faragonda took the visual memory while Flora was asleep and couldn't misremember or lie."
"Flora mentioned several times she woke up with a headache, and that's been bugging me," said Musa. "It sounds like something I've heard of before."
"A memory spell?" asked Bloom. She was grasping at straws, since her experience with magic was less than theirs.
Musa shook her head. "No, memories are altered with potions. It makes physical changes in the brain, and when false or other memories are inserted they settle the neural paths and the subject thinks they are real."
"Which takes some time to happen," added Tecna, "And I've heard the headaches can be terrible."
"That's what I couldn't remember," said Musa, face crumpling in self-disgust, "Memory potions cause headaches. What's wrong with me? I knew that!"
"How do you know about memory potions?" asked Stella.
Musa grinned. "Musicians use them to remember complex pieces so they don't have to rely on sheet music. Too many things can go wrong with a large score on paper, even with magic to keep it steady."
"That explains the headache, her suddenly remembering what happened, and the altered version with more detail from later," said Tecna. "It was inconsistent because the new memory hadn't settled."
"If it's a false memory, would that explain why she couldn't remember what Mirta said to make her mad?" asked Bloom.
"Yep," answered Musa, "That sometimes happens when a long score is memorized; a part is missing. It's a royal pain to correct, too."
"And it's evidence the memories are false," added Tecna.
"Zogga fish do get pretty big," said Layla, changing the subject, "If it was big enough, it would weigh the same as a person. It could fool others if it was physically changed, and the difference would be hard to spot."
"So... some kind of transformation spell was used to make the fish look like Mirta, and it got impaled?" asked Stella.
"I'd bet that's what happened, Stella," said Bloom, "It explains everything else. Good catch!"
Normally at such praise Stella would spend time preening, but not this time. She was too upset even to make jokes. She wanted to help Flora, had set her mind to it, and nothing would distract her.
"What does it all add up to?" asked Bloom.
"To recap events," said Tecna, ticking off points on her fingers, "I can't say what happened to Mirta, but Flora was rendered unconsious, fed a memory potion and new memories. A huge zogga fish was transformed to look like Mirta and impaled on bamboo grown rapidly by a spell. Mirta left or was taken away. Flora wakes up with a headache, finds the body, and thinks she did it."
Tecna looked thoughtful. "We can prove she's innocent if we can find traces of the potion in her system, and the fish's true nature can be exposed."
"But who, and why?" asked Layla.
"I can't imagine Flora having an enemy," said Bloom, "But let's worry about that when we talk to her."
"We just proved Flora is innocent!" said Stella.
"Yes, we did, for all intents and purposes," Tecna replied.
The Winx Club gave themselves a high five, but were very aware of the missing member.