Chapter Five
"This is excellent detective work, all of you," said Ms. Faragonda. The Winx girls were in her office, and had just explained what they had found and the true events.
They grinned at each other at the headmistress's praise.
"But before you start celebrating, there's one problem," interjected Ms. Griselda. When she had everyone's attention she continued, "To absolutely prove her innocence you have to find the evidence you claim, AND find Mirta."
THAT brought them down with a crash.
After a long silence Bloom said, "Let's go to the police and see what they say about it."
She stood up and headed for the door, followed by her friends. Unseen behind them, Griselda and Faragonda exchanged a brief smile.
When the door closed, Faragonda sat back with a sigh.
"They'll be all right, and now I won't have to make calls I really don't want to," she said.
"I'm glad," said Griselda, "I don't believe Mirta's behind this. Do you?"
Faragonda shook her head. "No, she's a sweet girl, and would never deliberately hurt Flora. This kind of deception is Lord Darkar's forte, but somehow I don't think it's his work. It wouldn't help him in acquiring the Codex."
"Some Witch at Cloud Tower, wanting revenge, then? Should we tell Griffin?" said Griselda.
"No... not unless they reveal themselves. Maybe Mirta will know. Excuse me, I need to finish these reports," said the Headmistress.
Quietly, Griselda let herself out.
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The five Fairies caught the bus to Magix, and once there the shuttle to the central police station where Flora was being held. Inside they were directed to the detective in charge of the case. His name was Kinfeld, and he was tall and prematurely bald. He didn't look particularly pleased to see them.
"Mr. Kinfeld, we have evidence that will clear Flora of the murder charge," said Bloom.
"Oh? And what evidence could you kids get that we missed?" he asked. "Besides, she confessed. Several times." Looking at their upset faces, he added, "She really is sorry, and that fact will weigh in her favor when she's sentenced."
"Tecna?" said Bloom, gesturing to the detective's desk.
The Fairy named put her notebook on the desk and tapped keys. When the revised timeline appeared above it, she spoke. "This is a timeline made from Flora's account and the memory spell Ms. Faragonda used. As you can see there is an inconsistancy of events. Layla discovered it, and that was the wedge needed to find the truth."
She typed some more, and the blood sample comparison appeared. "The blood data on the left is from the murder site, and on the right is from Mirta's school records. Notice there is a mismatch. Further investigation discovered the blood was from a zogga fish. We think the body is that fish transformed to look like Mirta."
"Go on," said Kinfeld, intrigued. These girls were apparently on to something.
"An examination at the molecular level will determine the truth of the theory," said Tecna.
"We have the equipment to do that," said the man.
"On another subject, the inconsistancies in Flora's statements, coupled with the headache she mentioned, leads to the conclusion that a memory potion was administered to her, and false memories inserted to convince her she had commited the crime."
"And if that's true, we need to do a test before the potion is absorbed completely," he said. "I'm starting to agree with you. Something is going on here."
He stabbed a button on the intercom. "Ponsik, there is possible new evidence in the Alfea murder case. We need a blood test on Flora to look for a memory potion."
"I'll do it right away," was the answering voice, "Where is she?"
He looked at the girls. "I'm going to bring her to an interrigation room so she can meet with her friends. You can do it there."
"I'll bring the equipment right away, Kinfeld." The com went silent.
"Thank you," said Bloom. All of them were relieved.
He grinned. "I'm not your enemy, and my goal is to find the truth. What you've shown me is compelling enough to warrant more investigation." He stood up. "Go see the secretary, and she'll take you to a room. I'll be there with Flora in a few minutes."
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When Flora came into the room she looked surprised, then happy, then her face clouded. "What are you doing here? I don't want to see you!" She turned her face away from them. She was still wearing what she had been, and on her wrists were metal shackles with a foot of chain between them.
"Why am I here? Why are they here?" she addressed Kinfeld. "Isn't my confession enough? Just put me where I won't hurt anyone ever again!"
These words caused the girls to tear up. Flora couldn't really feel like that... could she? They could all tell she had been crying.
"Go sit down, Flora, "Said Kinfeld, who was behind her.
Flora obeyed, and the detective took the middle of the chain and locked it in a loop on the table there for that purpose.
"What's that for?" asked Layla, indignantly.
"Until she's cleared, I have to follow procedure," he explained. "Besides being a Fairy, she's confessed to murder. Her movement has to be restricted for safety reasons."
"I'll get used to it," said Flora.
Bloom reached for her, but the Flower Fairy cringed away. "Don't touch me! I might lose control again."
"Flora, we have evidence you didn't kill Mirta," said Tecna.
Surprised, Flora looked at Tecna. "Really?"
"Really. They are going to do a blood test to see if a memory potion has been given to you," said Musa.
Just then a technician, apparently Ponsik, came into the room. He drew some blood, and put it in an analyzer. Always interested in technology she hadn't seen before, Tecna watched it work and asked questions, a few of which Ponsik could not answer.
"I realized I was given false memories a few hours ago," said Flora, quietly. She rested her folded hands on the table. "The health potion I took for the headache prevented them from covering up my real ones."
"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Kinfeld.
"It's subjecive, not proof of my innocence. I don't want to take the chance of hurting anyone again. Better if I'm locked away," she replied.
Bloom hugged her from behind, ignoring Flora's attempts to struggle away. "Flora, we'll never let you take the blame when you didn't do anything."
"Let. Me. Go." said Flora, "You haven't proven anything yet."
Reluctantly Bloom did as she was told. She exchanged a sad look with Stella.
After a few minutes the machine dinged, and the readout lit up. Ponsik studied the results, scrolling through them until he stopped. "There it is!" he pointed at a particular line. "There is a memory potion in her! We were lucky to have found it at all. A few more minutes and it would have become undetectable."
Kinfeld looked at Tecna. "Well, one part of your theory has proven true. But we still have a body in the morgue. Let's go check it out."
"What does that mean?" asked Flora.
"We think it's not Mirta, but a transformed zogga fish," answered Stella.
"You go on, I'll stay here and explain it to Flora, and keep her company," said Bloom.
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In the morgue a skin sample was taken and put in the analyzer. While it worked, the others looked at the body.
"The magic trace has faded beyond detection," said Stella, "There's no way of telling what spell was used, or what kind of magic."
Just then the machine dinged. "This IS a zogga fish," said Ponsik, "If I had been ordered to do an autopsy, that would have come out."
"Why weren't you?" asked Tecna.
"It seemed pretty cut-and-dried to the detectives," he replied, "So they didn't see the need."
"And almost condemned a Fairy to death," said Stella.
"What? No, she would have been sent to prison," said Kinfeld.
"She's the Fairy of Flowers," said Stella, "Without plants around her, she would die in short order."
"She didn't say anything about that," said Kinfeld.
"I would conclude that, in her current emotional state, that's what she wanted," said Tecna.
"I hate to say it, but that sounds like Flora," said Stella, "She would rather die than hurt anyone."
"Huh," said Ponsik, "The clothes aren't cloth, but part of the fish."
"Wow, that would be a very advanced spell!" said Musa. "That kind of detail is high-level stuff!"
"What about it, Mr. Kinfeld?" asked Layla.
"This proves her innocence," he replied, "No body, no murder. Let's go free her."
A few minutes later the entire building was startled by the sound of celebration.