Paul reddened. ‘Oh. Yeah. I forgot I hadn’t told you my latest theory.’

  ‘What theory?’

  ‘The theory of just why Sixteen likes you so much. Y’know how I said I couldn’t figure out why Sixteen had decided he was in love with you? Well, I went back over his early conversations with Max, and … yeah, the recordings kind of revealed the reason.’

  I felt a mixture of confusion, dread and something else. Something a little hard to admit, even to myself. ‘What em … what do you mean?’

  Paul sat down, sighing. ‘Max probably told you he was okay with Sixteen having his face?’

  I nodded.

  ‘Well,’ Paul went on, ‘he was so okay with it that he helped me out with a few more things. Helping Sixteen develop his personality and his sociability. He and Max would chat and hang out quite a bit. I used to leave them to it, but I’d record their sessions. Max’s emotional response to what he was saying versus how Sixteen reacted. Y’know. Obvious stuff.’

  ‘Sure. Obvious. Because I know all about how to make a robot have a personality.’

  Paul let out a faint laugh. ‘Yeah, sorry. Look, I’ve known this for a while and I’ve put off telling you. But now I think it might be time. Max and Emily aren’t good together. But you and Max … you really could be.’

  I felt a rush of heat. ‘What are you talking about? That’s crazy talk, you mad wizard.’

  ‘Is it? When Sixteen and Max had their sessions, Max always talked about you. If they were watching a film together, listening to music, talking about the weather … it didn’t matter. No matter what they were doing, Max would always find a way to bring the conversation around to you. And when he did, his readings went haywire. Elevated pulse, heartrate. Shortness of breath. Perspiration. And happiness, Wanda. Max got excited every time he so much as mentioned your name. And Sixteen recorded those readings. He took them on. They became a part of him. Or at least that’s my theory.’ He sank into a stool, sighing. ‘On the other hand, it could just be a mysterious glitch.’

  I sat across from him, staring down at Sixteen. I sincerely hoped that it was just a mysterious glitch. Didn’t I? Of course I did. I mean, I had Will. Well … I almost had Will. Once he figured out how to break the spell that tied his father’s life to mine, we’d be a couple. If Sixteen’s crush on me was because Max had helped to build his personality, well then that was just …

  That was just a very good reason for Emily to hate me as much as she did.

  Even so, this was a step too far. No, this was a million steps too far. Emily’s grasp of right and wrong had left the building, the planet, and quite possibly the solar system.

  ‘Oh my stars,’ said Paul, leaping out of his feet and rushing to the radio, turning up the volume. ‘Did you hear that?’

  I focused on the voice coming from the radio. ‘ … was discovered a short while ago by a Witchfield guard. As yet, the Wayfarers have not released a statement as to who killed Kilian Berry, or how …’

  As the voice carried on talking, I stood up, touching my face, my hair and my arms. ‘I’m … I’m alive,’ I said. ‘But how?’ The Queen had been so sure that Will couldn’t break the spell, so shouldn’t I have died along with Kilian? I pinched my arm a few times. ‘How am I still alive?’

  Paul frowned. ‘Are you all right, Wanda? Hey, I was thinking of making myself some cheese on toast so I can get my head straight before I report what Emily’s done. My girlfriend’s got some of that weird non-dairy stuff in the fridge. Want to join me? I em … I think you could probably do with a meal. You’ve gone white as a ghost.’

  ‘Probably,’ I agreed, as I gave him a quick hug. ‘But … I’m not a ghost. I hope. I have to go, Paul. I’ll see you later, and I’ll hopefully be less crazy by then.’ I bent down and kissed Sixteen’s forehead. ‘And hopefully I’ll see you later, too.’

  ≈

  A few seconds later, I stood on my doorstep, realising that I had no idea what I was going to do next. Did I call Finn? Or Will? Did I phone Will’s mother to make sure she was still alive?

  So much was happening – the stolen book, Bess’s murder, and now Will’s father’s murder, too. Had all of this happened even a few days earlier, Max would have been supporting me. Just having him to talk to … that would have been enough to make it seem surmountable. But right now, what was going on with Max seemed like the most worrying thing of all.

  In my pyjama pocket, my phone began to ring, and instead of answering it, I just stayed right on standing there with my key in the lock.

  ‘Wanda?’

  I spun in my slipper-clad feet, finding myself looking at Will. He was walking towards my front door, wearing jeans, a shirt, and a cardigan. And this time, there was no moustache on his face.

  ‘Will,’ I said hoarsely. ‘Shouldn’t you be … I don’t know … anywhere but here?’

  He beamed at me, his dimples looking better than they’d ever looked before, and reached out for my hand. ‘This is exactly where I want to be,’ he said softly. ‘I have the best news for you, Wanda. I did it. I mean, it took all night and it was a bit scary at times, but I’m pretty sure it worked.’ His smile widened. ‘Do you get what I’m saying? It worked, Wanda. I broke the spell. My dad’s life isn’t connected to yours and my mam’s anymore.’

  I looked down at his hand, tight around mine, then stared into his eyes. No tears. I mean, sure, there hadn’t been any love lost between Will and his father, but I would have expected more of a reaction than this. ‘I know you broke the spell,’ I said. ‘I have no idea how, but I know that you did it. Otherwise, I’d be dead right now.’

  His forehead scrunched in confusion. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘You really don’t know, do you?’ I pulled my hand from his and stroked his cheek. ‘Oh Will, I’m so sorry. I only just heard it on the news. Your dad, he’s … well, he’s dead. Hasn’t anyone called to tell you?’

  He began to blink, then his knees just seemed to go out from under him. My heart filled with sympathy and I put an arm around him, clicking my fingers to take us to my living room. I could hear Emily and Max chatting in the kitchen, and upstairs I heard Melissa giggle and say, ‘That was a super slobbery lick, Wolfie. Thanks for that.’

  In the living room with Will, though, all I could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall.

  ‘My … my mam … she’s been trying to call me,’ said Will after a minute or two, his voice heavy with shock. ‘But I figured she was just nagging me again. My dad is really … he … Well, what happened?’

  I sat next to him, ignoring the buzzing of the phone in my pocket. ‘I have no idea really. I’ve got a few missed calls to return myself. But Will … you should go home now. Be with your mam. She might not have gotten along well with your dad this last couple of years but … he was still her husband.’

  Will ran a hand through his hair. ‘Yeah. Yeah I guess I should.’ He turned abruptly in his seat, staring at me. ‘But Wanda, before I go … I need you to know that I had nothing to do with this. Everything I’ve done these past months has been for you, and I know you wouldn’t want me to kill my father. Do you believe me?’

  He looked so sincere right now, and he’d been genuinely surprised when I told him. ‘I believe you, Will. But you have to get home to your mother now. She’s going to need you.’

  He nodded wordlessly, then kissed my forehead and magicked himself out of the room.

  10. Dances With Pigeons

  Unsurprisingly, every one of those missed calls was about Kilian Berry. Finn had called me more than most, so I returned his call first.

  ‘I heard it on the news,’ I said as soon as he picked up. ‘Are you at Witchfield now?’

  He let out a sigh. ‘Yip. Not that there’s much for us to find. Wanda, he died in his cell, not too long ago it seems, while he was completely alone. No one went near him from what we can tell.’

  ‘So … was it a heart attack or something? Maybe not a murder at all?’

  ‘Wouldn’t that be a relief? But you know what, even if it came back that he had had a heart attack or something seemingly natural, I’m not sure I’d believe it. I mean … this is Kilian Berry. Former head of the Berry coven. Hated by supernaturals everywhere. I can tell you one thing, though. He wasn’t strangled. Whatever happened to him, it doesn’t seem to be connected to Bess.’

  I glanced over at Terrence. He was hopping into my bag, getting ready for college. He had a little flask of hot chocolate in one hand, and my e-reader in the other. I’d lent it to him after he finished his last book and, from what I could tell, he was downloading even more books on dealing with grief. The latest I’d seen was called: Grief and the High Achiever – the quickest way to get over your grief and get on with your life.

  ‘And what about the piece of paper in Bess’s hand? Was it from one of the Bad, Bad Books?’

  The line went silent a moment, until finally Finn said, ‘It’s a definite no on that one. Adeline will show it to you later, if you want to pop into the library. I’ve left it with her. And we got the security footage back, too. There’s absolutely nothing we can pick up. It looks like Bess went in alone. We did find some footage from about two weeks ago, where we caught Bess on camera, stealing Adeline’s keychain. Adeline was in the midst of an argument with the Bookworms, so she didn’t notice. Bess returned the keys later that same day.’

  ‘You’re saying she had those copies for two weeks?’

  ‘That’s what I’m saying, although I don’t really understand how. Those keys of Adeline’s? We’ve examined them, and they’re not the kind of keys that can be copied. Not unless you’ve got some serious magic at your disposal, and Bess was just … average. Hey, don’t suppose you can take the morning off to come help us out?’

  I glanced at Terrence. I’d promised him I’d help him, and I would. But there were one or two things this morning that I didn’t want to miss.

  ‘I’ll have to take my first two classes,’ I said. ‘And then obviously I’ll have to stop for some lunch, because … well, it’s me. Wanda no eat, Wanda no function.’

  ‘Have lunch with Adeline, then. She can show you the page that Bess was clutching.’

  ‘Will do. And I’ll come over straight after that. Hey, I don’t suppose you’ve had any luck finding a house that’s had a recent fire anywhere around Luna Park?’

  Finn sighed. ‘No luck so far. But I’ve got Todge and Gretel looking into it. And I’m trying to arrange interviews with the members of the College Board, too, so we can follow up on your theory. We’ll find something, Wanda. I mean we have to get some kind of break eventually. Don’t we?’

  I forced a sunny tone into my voice and said, ‘We’ll crack it, Finn. We always do.’

  ≈

  I twiddled my thumbs through my Magical Law class. I’d been nerding my way through these textbooks for years, and I already knew everything we were studying. But even if I got one hundred percent on the next exam, I could still get docked points for poor attendance.

  There was another reason I wanted to be there, though. Some of the students in this class studied round the clock, and were regulars at the library.

  As we filed out, I caught up with May Redvein. She was the second geekiest girl in the class – a close second to me. Her aunt was a Wyrd Court judge, and both her parents were lawyers. She was determined to be just as successful, and she had a collection of pens and notebooks that would make stationery-obsessed Max salivate. Y’know, if Emily actually allowed him to like stationery anymore.

  ‘Hey, May,’ I said, giving her a friendly smile. ‘I have a big favour to ask. I zoned out a bit towards the end of that class. Could you remind me again what chapters we’re supposed to study up on?’

  Surprise filled her pale blue eyes, but she pulled out her notebook and opened it up. ‘I wrote it down here. I’m surprised you need to study any chapters, though. You’re top of the class.’

  ‘Only when I can pay attention fully, and my mind’s been kind of occupied by Bess since yesterday.’ I lowered my voice, and added a tremble. ‘I found her body, y’know.’

  May gave me a sympathetic nod. ‘I heard about that. It must have been awful for you. Poor Bess. She’ll be missed.’ She paused and cleared her throat. ‘Oh, who am I trying to kid? She was an awful library assistant. Last week there was a book on the top shelf of the law section, but she wouldn’t tell us where the ladder was or help us get it down. And you know Adeline has secured the library so you can’t just magic the books you need. She wants to know what’s borrowed, and rightly so. Anyway, me and Rosa Rundt finally found the ladder, and every single rung was covered in Bess’s mess. Cream and jam and cigar ashes and … well, the goddess knows what else.’ May quivered. ‘No wonder the board members were annoyed with her.’

  ‘They were?’ The confusion on my face was real. ‘I thought they were the ones who hired her. I thought it was Adeline who wasn’t happy about it.’

  She shrugged. ‘It sure didn’t look like that from what I saw a couple of weeks ago. Not the way Will Berry was laying into her. I saw them in that little yard at the library’s side entrance, where she’s always puffing away. He was practically screaming in her face. Telling her that if she couldn’t get the job done, he was going to have to hire someone else.’

  I began to feel a little bit faint. Will, arguing with Bess. I knew he was on the College Board. Why hadn’t it occurred to me that he was one of the people who hired her? ‘You said this was a couple of weeks ago?’

  ‘Yeah, about two weeks.’ May lowered her voice. ‘It was late, too. Probably around midnight. I shouldn’t have been trying to get in to the library at that time, I know. But I’d noticed Bess going in after-hours a couple of times, and I was going to ask her if I could study while she was there. I’m sharing a room in Doolittle Dorm with Jessica Berry. She’s always having a party so … I needed somewhere quiet.’

  I grunted. Of course Jessica was having a steady stream of parties. Everyone at college was busy partying their brains out and not inviting me. But this wasn’t about me being the oldest, least popular student on campus. I cleared my throat. ‘So … did Bess let you in to study?’

  May shook her head. ‘I didn’t ask her that night because … well, I didn’t really want to get in the middle of the argument between her and Will. It looked serious. But I asked her the next morning and she got really ratty with me. Told me that she never worked late, and that I must need some new glasses. She was … well, she was even ruder than ever, actually.’

  I scribbled down the chapter number we were supposed to study, even though I’d already made note of it. ‘Well, sorry she was so rude,’ I said. ‘I hope you find somewhere quiet to study soon. I know exactly what it’s like to live in a noisy place.’

  Except, I thought as I waved and walked away, the noise in my house wasn’t down to some raucous partying. It was down to Emily, shouting at everyone and throwing Wreck-Tech at innocent robots.

  ≈

  I thought a lot about whether to fill Finn in on what May told me. In the end, the Wayfarer side of my nature won out.

  ‘I still haven’t managed to get in touch with most of the College Board,’ Finn said once I’d spilled my guts. ‘But Will’s been very helpful. And before you ask, he was nowhere near Bess when she was killed, either. He was in a morning meeting with Candace Plimpton, about her Head it Like a Boss courses. Candace confirmed his alibi. She wants to rent the function room in his biggest hotel for a course at the end of the month, apparently.’

  My mood warmed up at the mention of Candace. She’d only recently turned eleven, and yet she was running a mini-empire. One of her many businesses was Head it Like a Boss, where she gave lectures to the heads – or wannabe heads – of covens, teaching them how to be better leaders and how to run a more successful coven. Smug little witch though she was, I loved her to bits. And I also knew that when it came to wrong and right, she was straight down the line. If Candace said Will was with her, then he was definitely with her.

  ‘Oh, that’s such a relief,’ I said.

  ‘Relief?’ Finn sounded perplexed. ‘Having absolutely no suspect is a relief? Or not being able to get in touch with any of the other board members is a relief? Ah. Will Berry not being a suspect, that is a relief where you’re concerned. So … is something happening between the two of you, now that he’s a single man and you’re a single lady? Personally, I always thought you’d end up with Max, but I can definitely sense the chemistry between you and Will. You’d have very cute children. Bright eyed and dimpled.’

  I let him go on for a little while more, just because he seemed to be enjoying himself so gosh darned much. But when I saw that it was time for yet another class with the lovely Professor Shannon, I bid my old boss a pleasant goodbye.

  I was three minutes early for Defensive Magic – a record for me. I didn’t exactly expect Erik to clap his hands and throw me a party, but I did expect he might be slightly less irritable than usual. But as Candace Plimpton would say, expectation is the broom that lets you down over the deepest ravine. When Erik Shannon arrived a few minutes after me, he was in his worst mood yet. He strode into the class in his big boots, glaring around at the students. ‘Don’t get comfortable,’ he said. ‘Because you won’t be staying long.’

  He pointed at Jessica. ‘You. Miss Berry. You practise last night?’

  Jessica nodded eagerly. ‘Of course I practised. After two hundred attempts, I managed to freeze my little brother while I was inside the kitchen and he was in one of the billiard rooms.’

  Wow. So Will wasn’t the only member of his coven with a seemingly endless amount of billiard rooms. Good to know.

  ‘Well I hope you did a good job on your little brother,’ said Erik. ‘Because you’re about to try it on Wanda. Let’s see if you can freeze Wanda while she’s underneath that great big ugly spire in the human part of the city and you’re in here.’ He turned to me, a wicked grin on his face. ‘Go stand under the eyesore, Wanda.’