A Hint of Magic (4 page)

Liana was standing over in the corner giggling as a good looking werewolf attempted to juggle three red paper cups.  She, like everyone else inside, was oblivious to the conflict in the backyard.

“Come with me,” Clarissa commanded, grabbing her best friend’s arm as she ran past. 

She dragged a confused Liana outside.  When they reached the backyard, she saw Parker was already out there looking around in confusion.  That was when Clarissa realized there was no fight going on.  That seemed odd considering how violent things had been only moments earlier.

Immediately, Clarissa spotted Amy standing with a group of people. The pirate hat gave her away.  Clarissa ran over and tapped her old high school friend on the shoulder – the shoulder without the stuffed parrot on it. 

Amy turned around.  “Oh hey,” she said, forcing a tense-looking smile.

“What’s happening?” Clarissa demanded.  “We heard a commotion out here.”

“Yeah,” Amy nodded, spilling her drink in the process.  “There was a fight.  You know how people are when they have too much to drink,” she shrugged.  “They went that way,” she added, pointing toward the neighbor’s backyard.

Clarissa and Parker took off running. 

Liana stopped to take off her high heels.  Clarissa couldn’t blame her.  She didn’t know how her best friend managed to even
walk
in those things, never mind run!  Clarissa, thankfully, was wearing unsophisticated yet practical sneakers.

When Parker got to the fence, he immediately reached over to unlatch the gate.  It opened easily. 

“I don’t see them!” he said, peering into the yard.  “Do you think the fight broke up?”

Clarissa tipped her head to the side and listened very, very hard.  She could hear the faint sound of chanting on the wind.  She turned and looked, squinting against the darkness.  She could see a few shadowy figures off in the distance.

“Over there!” she exclaimed, pointing across the street. 

She and Parker ran across the street toward a darkened house.  It seemed no one was home.

It also seemed that a few partygoers had followed the two fighting figures.  Apparently they were getting quite a lot of entertainment out of the brawl.  A few guys were drunkenly hollering, egging them on.  No one seemed to be taking things very seriously, though that may well have been because they were all inebriated – some more than others.

Clarissa noted that one of the figures was dressed as the grim reaper.  The other person was wearing a gorilla costume.  The grim reaper, it seemed, was losing the fight.

“Hey!” Parker bellowed when he was near enough.  “Break it up!”

A few partygoers turned and looked at him in dismay. 

“Mind your own business,” one guy said before resuming his chanting.

“Yeah!” another one chimed in.  “Stop ruining the party!”

“This is ridiculous,” Parker muttered, pushing past the crowd.  Clarissa followed.

When she got near, she saw the fistfight was still in full swing. 

“Stay there,” Parker instructed. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Then, fearlessly, he raced right into the lion’s den.

For a brief moment, Clarissa was hopeful.  When Parker pulled the men apart, she thought that might be the end of the brawl.  But then the other partygoers saw that he was trying to ruin their “fun” as they called it. 

Two of the spectators wrangled Parker into a headlock.  Without him there to break the fight up, the violence continued.  So did the cheering.  These idiots were acting like animals.  Actually, Clarissa would expect better behavior from animals – even her psychotic cat.

Rolling her eyes, Clarissa marched over to the two idiots who were holding Parker hostage.

“Knock it off, Zack,” she said to the bigger of the two guys.

Though he was heavier set than she remembered, she recognized him from high school. 

He was the infamous Zack Bishop, star football player and all around moron.  He had been a bully then and apparently he was still a bully now. 

Except back in high school he had been a star athlete.  Now he appeared to be little more than an overweight, drunken slob with a chip on his shoulder.  And he and his equally dumb buddy were holding Parker against his will!

Zack turned and glowered at Clarissa, trying to stare her down.

She wasn’t about to fall for his lame intimidation tactics.

“Let him go right now or I’ll call your mother,” Clarissa threatened.  She still didn’t understand how an idiot like Zack could have such nice parents.  And she wasn’t above tattling to them if that was what it took to make their grown son stop acting like a drooling Neanderthal.

“Clarissa Spencer, always a wet blanket,” Zack muttered.  But he looked scared.

He motioned to his buddy, who reluctantly released Parker. 

“Hey, we’re missing the fight!” one of the guys behind them bellowed.

Clarissa turned and looked to where the brawl had been taking place.  Sure enough, it was over.  In fact, the two men had disappeared.  She exchanged a look with Parker.  Then, wordlessly, the two hurried back to the street.

“Over there!” Clarissa exclaimed when she saw a tall, costumed man running toward the park.  It was none other than the grim reaper himself – well, the guy in the grim reaper costume, anyway.  He appeared to be alone and he appeared to be in a hurry.

She and Parker took chase, but he disappeared into the shadows.

“Huh, so much for that,” Clarissa said, huffing and puffing.  “I hope he’s okay.”

“Me too,” Parker agreed.  “It looked like he was taking quite the beating.”

“He wasn’t limping or anything,” Clarissa observed.  “Maybe it looked worse than it was?” she suggested hopefully.  “The way they were going at it, I was sure there would be broken bones and concussions.”

“It was a nasty fight.  But you’re right – judging by the way he was running, I’d say he isn’t too injured.  But whoever that guy is, I bet he’ll be sore tomorrow,” Parker predicted.   “He took some hard hits.  And some dirty ones,” he added angrily.

“I don’t know why people have to be that way,” Clarissa complained. 

“Yeah, tell me about it.  Good job threatening that idiot back there, by the way.”  Parker grinned.

“I rescued you,” she informed him.

“You did,” he agreed.  “You’re my hero!” he joked.

“Don’t you forget it,” she laughed, comically flexing her muscles.

“So you’re a wet blanket, huh?” Parker couldn’t resist asking.

“According to that waste of space – whose opinion I would take with a grain of salt.  I went to high school with him,” Clarissa explained.  “Zack was a brainless bully then and it appears he’s a brainless bully now.”

“That was the impression I got,” Parker laughed.  “What do you say we head back to the party?”

“Sounds good to me,” Clarissa agreed. 

She and Parker walked side by side toward Liana’s house.

They were so close that their fingers nearly brushed.  Clarissa briefly contemplated whether she should take Parker’s hand, but after the kissing faux pas in the upstairs hallway she was feeling rather timid.  Instead, she simply enjoyed the comfortable silence that had come over them.

“What’s that?” Parker asked suddenly.

Clarissa peered into the darkness.  She saw a figure lying on the grass.  “Is it a Halloween decoration?” she wondered, stepping closer.  Then her heart sank.  It was the guy who had been in the fight – the one who had been fighting dirty!

She hurried over, as did Parker.

“Hello?” Clarissa called out.  “Are you alright?”

There was no response.

When she got closer, she saw the man was facedown in a small pond.

“We’re too late.  He’s gone,” Parker said after checking for a pulse.

“He’s dead?” she asked in disbelief.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Do you think this could be an accident?” Clarissa asked him, her eyes wide.  “Or could it have been self-defence, maybe?  The other guy was getting beaten up pretty badly when we last saw him,” she reasoned.

“It doesn’t look like it an accident and if it was self-defence it went way too far,” Parker replied stoically, still crouched down over the dead man.  He looked up at Clarissa with a grim expression on his face.  “I think this was intentional.  It has to have been intentional.”

He pointed toward the man’s hands.  That was when Clarissa saw they had been tied behind his back with a lasso.  She gasped in shock, unable to believe the man had been drowned on purpose.  But the evidence was right there in front of them.

“Somebody meant to kill him!” she exclaimed in horror. 

Parker nodded grimly.  “I think you’re right.  I’ll call the police.”

Swallowing hard, Clarissa bent down and lifted up the man’s gorilla mask.  She braced herself to see somebody she recognized – Sugarcomb Lake was a small place and it was her hometown, so chances were it would be someone she knew.

She let out the breath she had been holding when she realized she didn’t recognize the man.  His death was, of course, still horrible and tragic.  But even so, the fact that it wasn’t a familiar face under that mask was a relief.

October 31 would never be the same again.

Liana’s Halloween parties were always epic, but usually in a fun, carefree sort of way.  This year’s holiday bash was going to be memorable too, but for a very different reason.  Would it permanently cast a black cloud over the annual get together?  That would be a real shame.

With a sigh, Clarissa looked around.  The tall, dark shadows of trees stared back at her and the cool night air was unforgiving.  The street, though packed full of vehicles, seemed ghoulishly quiet.  It felt like the calm before the storm.

She wrapped her arms around herself as a shiver ran up her spine. 

She was standing at a crime scene.  If that wasn’t surreal, she didn’t know what was.  It was still hard to wrap her head around, but it was the truth.  She was staring down at a dead man and his drowning hadn’t been an accident. 

And that meant one unnerving thing:  there was a murderer on the loose in Sugarcomb Lake.

“Meow              !”

Clarissa groaned and kept her eyes shut.  She didn’t want to get up.

She felt four little legs walking none-too-carefully across her body.  Then something sat down with a thud right on top of her chest.  Even though her eyes were shut, she could feel the little beast staring right at her.  It was also probably doing that creepy thing where it didn’t blink. 

Reluctantly, Clarissa cracked one eye open.  “What do you want?” she grunted.

“Meow,” said the cat matter-of-factly.

“Go away and let me sleep,” she begged.  “Just because you’re awake it doesn’t mean I need to be awake.  Why can’t you get that through your head?  Go watch birds from the window or chase your tail for a while.  I don’t care what you do, just leave me alone!”

The cat reached out and defiantly batted at Clarissa’s nose.

She sighed, pushed the annoying critter off of her and sat up.  There would be no sleeping in. 

She should know better by now.  The cat loved nothing more than to disrupt her sleep – and her life.  If she kept her bedroom door shut it scratched relentlessly, marking up the door in the process. If she kept it open…well, if she kept it open then
this
happened.

Clarissa looked over at the clock.  She decided it wasn’t too early to call Liana.  Well, maybe it was…but she was concerned.  Someone had been murdered at her best friend’s Halloween party.  It was only natural to want to check up on her, right?

Liana picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Clarissa said.  “I take it I didn’t wake you?”

“Oh.  No, I didn’t really sleep much last night,” Liana admitted.

“Do you want me to come over?” Clarissa offered. 

“Don’t you have work to do?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Clarissa replied.  “I’ll be right over.”

The newspaper could wait.  Sure, Clarissa Spencer was a workaholic, but there were a few things in life that were more important to her than her job.  Her best friend was one of them.  If Liana was upset and needed to talk, then everything else could wait.

Clarissa threw on her comfiest sweatpants and a ratty old t-shirt from her college days.  She didn’t bother to brush her hair, instead opting to pull the tangled disaster back in a messy ponytail.  It would do.  It wasn’t like she was walking in a fashion show or anything.

After feeding the cat and drinking some orange juice straight from the carton, she got in her car and headed over to Liana’s.

The place looked much different in the daylight. 

Halloween decorations still covered the exterior of the house, but now instead of looking festive they seemed downright ghoulish.  It didn’t help that yellow police tape covered the far side of Liana’s front yard, as well as the next door neighbor’s yard where the pond was.

Clarissa looked over at the spot where the body had been and swallowed hard.

“You’re here,” Liana said, opening the front door before Clarissa even had a chance to knock.

“I am,” Clarissa said, offering a sympathetic smile.  “How are you doing?”

“Okay.  I mean, I’m shaken up but I’m okay.  How are
you
?” Liana demanded.  Then, before Clarissa had a chance to respond, she added, “Parker is here.”

That surprised Clarissa.  “He is?” she asked as Liana pulled her inside.  “Why?”

“Morning,” Parker greeted her from the living room.  He was seated on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand and a notebook on his lap.  He gave Clarissa a guilty, apologetic look.  “Full disclosure:  I’m here as a reporter,” he admitted.  “Big news like this is something the Chronicle needs to cover.”

“I see.”  Clarissa took a step closer, wishing she had worn nicer clothes or at least brushed her hair.  “I just came to check on Liana,” she said as her best friend disappeared into the kitchen.  Part of her wished she could be wearing her reporter hat, but friendship had to come first.

“Look, Clarissa,” Parker said in a low voice.  “You and I are both reporters.  We know what the Sugarcomb Lake police force is like.  Solving homicides isn’t exactly their forte – to be honest, most of them are incompetent.  Liana said they already told her it was probably an accident.”

Clarissa’s eyebrows shot up at that.  “Didn’t they see that the dead man’s hands were bound?” she asked.  “Even if they didn’t see it, I
told
them about it when they interviewed me!” she added indignantly.  “What did they keep us up half the night for if they didn’t even bother to pay attention to our statements?”

Parker sighed and shrugged his shoulders.  “I wish I had an answer for you.  All I know is I’m going to do everything I can to get to the bottom of this.  I presume you are too, right?  I mean, I know the deceased is someone you went to high school with…my condolences, by the way.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I was surprised too,” Liana chimed in as she returned from the kitchen.  She handed Clarissa a steaming hot cup of coffee and sat down in the chair next to Parker.  She motioned for Clarissa to take a seat beside him.  Then she asked, “Do you remember Greg Klassen?” 

“Um, the name sounds familiar…”

“Chess club,” Liana offered helpfully, trying to jog her friend’s memory.  “Skinny little guy with a speech impediment, braces, horn-rimmed glasses, always wore button up dress shirts to school.  Does that ring any bells?”

“Yeah, it does.  But what does Greg Klassen have to do with this?  I haven’t seen him in years.”

“He’s the guy that died.”

Clarissa looked confused.  “He can’t be.  I saw the dead man.  He looked nothing like Greg!”

“I’ve been asking around about him,” Liana explained.  “Apparently he underwent a massive transformation after high school.  He moved across state, started working out and got really ripped.  He got a spray tan, competed in bodybuilding competitions and everything.”

“Whoa,” Clarissa exclaimed.  “That’s unreal.  I
never
would have recognized him!”

“What happens now?” Liana asked, looking to Parker.  “Is there anything more I can tell you?”

“I can’t think of anything at the moment,” Parker replied.  “You’ve been really helpful.  The list of names you gave me was great, thanks.  I’m going to follow up with all the people you mentioned,” he said, gesturing to his notebook.

“Okay,” Liana nodded.  “Good luck, you two.”

“Wait, what?” Clarissa interjected.

Liana stared hard at her.  That only meant one thing.

Inwardly, Clarissa groaned.  Trust her best friend to try to play matchmaker, even in the face of a murder!  At least Liana was consistent.  And, Clarissa supposed, it was nice her best friend was giving her permission to put on her reporter hat and go do some investigating.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes.  Now go,” Liana urged, taking Clarissa’s untouched coffee from her. 

After Liana shooed Clarissa and Parker out of the house, they stood there on the front step looking at each other uncertainly.  It seemed both of them were unsure about what their next move should be.  Or rather, they were unsure about how to interact with one another.

At one time, Clarissa had considered Parker her arch nemesis in the reporting world.  After all, they worked for different publications so they were, in a way, professional rivals.

But they were also kind of sort of dating in a very casual way.  That left Clarissa completely confused.  The boundaries were so blurred!

Apparently Parker was thinking the same thing.  As if reading her mind, he suggested, “I was thinking we could do a collaborative investigation.  We share all information with each other and we each report our findings in our respective newspapers at the same time.  That way neither one of us gets the upper hand and there’s no competition.  What do you think?”

She hesitated.  His proposal wasn’t half-bad.  Actually, it was pretty decent.  It made sense.  “I’ve never collaborated with anyone before,” she admitted. 

“I suppose there’s no time like the present, huh?” he interjected.

“What if I say no?” she asked, wondering what she might be getting herself into.  “No offence, but I’ve always worked alone.  I’m
good
at working alone.  It’s what I know and what I’m the most comfortable with.”

“Liana seems to think we should collaborate,” he shrugged.  “After all, she gave
me
a list of witness names,” he said, waving the notebook around.  “So what do you say?  I’ll share my information with you if you share your insider connections with me.  Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal,” Clarissa said, simultaneously wanting to kiss and slap him. 

“Excellent,” Parker replied, flashing that perfect smile of his.  “Should we take my car or yours?” he asked.  “I’m parked over there,” he added, pointing out his shiny red sports car that had probably cost a small fortune.

“Mine,” Clarissa told him through gritted teeth.  “That is, unless you want me driving yours.”

He laughed at that, but nonetheless looked a bit scared.  “I’ve ridden with you before,” he reminded her with a grimace.  “If you’re going to insist on driving, then we’ll take your car.”

Clarissa grinned to herself as they walked over to her beat up old clunker of a car.  She kind of liked that Parker Tweed was slightly terrified of her – or at least of her driving.  It, in some small way, gave her the upper hand.  That felt good.

Maybe working with Parker Tweed wouldn’t be so bad after all.  One could hope, anyway.