Page 32 of Home Is Where the Witch Is
“We’ll be the judge of that,” Emperia told him. “I think we have everything we need for now. We’ll be checking your alibi and forbid you to leave town.”
“As you wish,” Alain nodded, pushing out of his chair. He gave Hella a sneaky wink on his way out.
As soon as the door was closed behind him, Ivy released an explosive breath she’d been holding. “That was insane!”
“What do you mean?” Declan asked, as the Council turned to stare at her.
“Aata could barely contain himself when Alain came into the room,” the medium explained. “Like, he physically wanted to attack the man.”
The Council members looked at each other, no closer to discovering the identity of the killer than they had been earlier that day.
The debate was still continuingsome hours after lunch. Rosie wasn’t sure why they were talking the scenarios out again and again, but she was definitely slipping into a post-lunch haze and her attention was almost non-existent. Emperia and Hella were the ones still discussing the suspects, and Rosie half listened to them while she wriggled her toes to stop herself from taking a table nap.
"There we have it.” Emperia glanced around the room. “Thoughts?”
“They all seem to be know something,” Chaoxiang said unenthusiastically.
“And all of them have a motive,” Hella agreed.
Declan pursed his lips. “Getting Aata out of the running for the Council seat would ensure Tya was elected, and that’s a pretty strong motive.”
“Plus, she knew his secret and threatened to expose him. Who’s to say he didn’t attack her, forcing her to act in self-defense?” Rosie threw Declan a pointed glance.
Emperia shook her head. “Medea just… seems really good for it. Her beliefs make it clear that she thought Aata was sub-human, but is that enough motive?”
“History tells us it is,” Hella said darkly, looking uncomfortable with the turn of conversation.
“Absolutely,” Rosie agreed, glancing around the room. “And Alain! Who would have thought he would be a genuine suspect? Old grudges die hard.”
“That they do,” Dracula nodded. “If I had to go with my gut, I’d say it was Alain.”
“We need more than our guts,” Rosie pointed out, straightening in her chair despite a groan of protest from her lower back. It was definitely time to stretch. “We need to go through what we know,” she added, slowly standing and beginning to move to ease the pain out of her aching muscles. “Tya’s Calling checks out, but we need to check on her brother. Chaoxiang’s gonna handle that. Medea refused the Calling spell, and it’ll be too late to get the results once we can make her submit to it. So we need someone to go and speak to her advisor about her whereabouts during the murder.”
“I’ll go,” Emperia volunteered, making Rosie want to sag with relief. She flashed the Arctic witch a grateful smile before continuing.
“Great! That only leaves Alain. His spells were cleared, too, but we also need to follow up on his alibi.”
“Count me in,” Hella insisted, polishing her manicure on her shirt before fixing the rest or the Council with a coquettish smile. “Got a feelin’ I can learn a lot from that girl… ‘bout a lotta things.”
“Great! Thanks Helz,” Rosie laughed with a shake of her head. “Is there anything we’re missing?”
“Not from a factual standpoint,” Chaoxiang agreed. “What do you have to say, Ivy?”
“Aata had the biggest reaction to Alain, unsurprising, now we know of the feud. He was downright rabid, the way he was trying to reach out and scratch the guy. If he were more corporeal, I’d have been worried about some kind of poltergeist-style injuries.” The medium shuddered.
“Wow, really?” Rosie was surprised the bigger reaction hadn’t been for a certain Greek witch.
“Yeah, it was pretty intense. Luckily Aata’s not bound enough to our plane for any of that. But if that were to change…” Ivy grimaced. “I actually feel like Alain should get a warning.”
“Yikes,” Rosie wrapped her arms around herself subconsciously. “Angry ghosts aren’t something I’d want to have to deal with, personally.”
“Welcome to my world,” Ivy sassed. “But that doesn’t mean AlainkilledAata. By the looks of it, Aata wouldn’t have minded having a go of a bit of homicide himself.” She shrugged.
“The second biggest reaction was to Medea, which is also understandable. It’s not like she’s kept her opinions to herself since she got here, and if her speech and the company she keeps is anything to go by, she’s something of a radical back home.”
Declan pulled a face. “Again, she’s not a nice person, and she’s definitely a bigot. But that doesn’t mean she murdered Aata.”
“Nope,” Ivy agreed pleasantly.
