“Alright, is there anyone else you can think of?”
“Nah. It’s got to be the vampire. Rudoldir didn’t have a life outside of work. He was famous for it. He’d never even come to any of the elf community meetings or anything like that.”
“Ok, thanks,” I said, pointing my wand at the phone. It dropped right back into Jundordir’s hands, and he started tapping away on it like nothing had happened.
“I hope you find the killer. If it was that vampire, I don’t want him coming after me next,” Jundordir said without even looking up from his screen.
I nodded and made my way towards Fjordir who was on the other side of the room and had obviously been listening in on the conversation. Whereas Jundordir looked like a young elf, Fjordir reminded me a lot more of Rudoldir. He had the same long blond hair, and his dark brown eyes were filled with the depth that came from having lived on this earth for centuries. He nodded to me solemnly when I sat down at the chair across from his desk.
“Welcome. You are Althea, the witch who investigates things for people.”
“That’s me,” I replied. “I’m looking into Rudoldir’s death.”
Fjordir nodded solemnly. “I wish he had told me he believed he was in trouble. I have heard that you were hired to find the person who wanted to kill him.”
“Yes,” I replied. “That’s correct. Do you know who might have done it?”
Fjordir shook his head. “I have been on this earth for a long time. Not as long as Rudoldir had been, but long enough to know that I do not have the capacity to know who might kill another paranormal being. I have no idea who might have killed him. He was a good elf. A very good elf. The world is lesser for no longer having him on it.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I replied. “He did seem like a good elf. Was he a good boss?”
“Yes. He was insistent that we worked hard, but he was always fair.”
“I’ve heard he had problems with Andrei and Vernon. Is there anyone else who came in recently – in the last month or so – that Rudoldir had problems with, that you know of?”
Fjordir shook his head. “Sadly, no. I’m afraid I cannot be all that helpful to you.”
“I have to ask… are you really married to a vampire?” Inter-paranormal marriages were incredibly rare. While attitudes were slowly starting to change – I personally couldn’t care less what paranormals did in the comfort of their own homes – it was still very much a taboo.
“I am,” Fjordir replied, not a hint of shame or embarrassment in his voice. “Elvira and I have been happily married for two hundred and seventeen years.”
“That’s really cool, congratulations,” I replied. “It can’t have been easy having a relationship with a vampire for that long.”
Fjordir looked a little bit taken aback. “No, you’re right, it hasn’t been. Thank you for the kind words. It’s not often I meet a paranormal who is so open-minded as yourself.”
“Well, we’re all freaks in our own way. Who’s to say one paranormal’s freakiness is acceptable and another paranormal’s isn’t?” I replied with a wink. “Anyway, I’ll let you know if I have any other questions.”
Fjordir was still at the very bottom of my suspect list. After all, he and Rudoldir had been friends, they hadn’t had any work problems that anyone knew of, and it couldn’t have been his feelings of anger that Rudoldir sensed as he was also an elf.
Next up was William, the wizard who worked at the office. I had no idea what to expect from him, but the conversation with him ended up being quite productive.
Chapter 8
He was sitting in a chair, playing idly with his wand when I found him. William had a tiny, private office in the corner where he was sitting now. He pointed his wand at a pile of paperclips, which he turned into the shapes of a few animals. As soon as he saw me, the elephant he made fell back to the table, the paperclips spreading all over the place.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m William. How can I help you today?”
“I’m Ali Everwood,” I replied. “I’m investigating Rudoldir’s death.”
“Oh,” William replied quickly, sitting back down. “So you’re not here about a permit?”
“No,” I replied, looking around his tiny little office. The desk was barely big enough for a laptop, and the only other piece of furniture in the room other than William’s chair was a tiny cabinet on the floor. “What is it that you do here, exactly?”
“I do everything that involves a spell to cast. So, for example, when two parties have to sign a document, I have to cast a spell to make sure neither one of them is doing it under duress and that it’s of their own volition. That’s what I spend most of the day doing, really. There’s not a lot of other stuff here that requires magic to get done.”
I nodded. “Ok, so you’re involved in all of the official document signing?”
“Yeah. Every time a permit is given out, I have to be there.”
“What about when there’s a disagreement? Do you have anything to do with that?”
William shook his head. “No. That’s strictly Rudoldir’s department since he’s the head of it. He has to deal with all the self-absorbed paranormals who think they can do everything themselves. Honestly, a lot of the requests we get are half-baked from paranormals who don’t have a clue how to operate a business and who think that just because they own or rent a property that it’s their Rhea-given right to do whatever they want with it. They don’t have any concept of the fact that if it weren’t for restrictions and following the rules, this town would be ridiculous.”
“There would be nothing distinguishing the residential areas from the commercial areas, for example?” I asked, and William nodded.
“Exactly. Imagine how mad you’d be if you
