Yeah, well, I’d suspect she’d done it on purpose if I didn’t know she was too stupid to pull that off.
Wow. What a charmer.
The lizard coughed and hissed. My wife talked to a lawyer, they confronted Potent Potions, and they paid her off a huge settlement to keep her quiet. It’s why she can’t discuss the details with you.
I nodded. I’d guessed as much from my brief glimpse of the document Avery Ann had pulled out earlier. I opened my mouth to ask him about a cure, but he went on.
That, plus the extra money the other guy gave us for the remaining vials allowed us to move to this swanky joint. Eh, can’t complain, I guess. I mean, I am a lizard now, but I’d probably have been dead of my human illness by now so, what’re you gonna do?
I frowned. I had no idea what to say to that. But what did he mean by extra money? Did someone from Potent Potions pay you for the rest of the vials that turned you into this?
Peter cleared his throat, and I looked up. “What’s he saying?”
I held up a finger and turned back to John the lizard. I needed to get all this before Maria got back.
The lizard shook his head, the loose skin at his neck swaying. No, I don’t think the guy was from Potent Potions. They just wanted to throw money our way and shut us up. This other guy was a lot more intense, seemed very interested in the potion itself. He asked my wife a lot of questions about how it’d worked—course, she couldn’t tell him much. Neither of us had any idea how this happened—and as a lizard, frankly I couldn’t tell him anything.
The lizard blinked. That was a joke.
Oh! Ha! I slapped my thigh. Good one.
Don’t patronize me.
I sobered up. Do you remember the guy’s name?
The lizard narrowed its eyes. Hm—he was some lawyer, wouldn’t say who he was representing. Ronster… Rondtent? Mr. Ronstadt, that was it.
I frowned. Why did that name seem so familiar? Was he a lawyer I’d known during my career?
“Jolene!” Peter hissed and jerked his head toward the empty spot on the couch beside him.
I shot my head up and heard the clink of dishes.
“Sorry it took me so long, I had to grind the beans and—”
I leapt to my feet and had barely thrown myself down next to Peter when Maria shuffled in, a bamboo tray in her hands. Peter rose to take it from her, and she handed it over with a grateful smile. He set it on the coffee table, and I eagerly threw a few lumps of sugar in my cup with a splash of creamer, then wrapped my chilled fingers around the white mug and inhaled the earthy, rich aroma.
“Thank you.”
Maria beamed and nodded. “Of course.” She lightly patted her lizard husband. My mind still boggled that that had actually happened. It raised so many questions—how? How was Potent Potions still in business? And who was this other lawyer who’d bought the remaining vials of the potion from the Wus?
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help earlier.” She splayed her palms.
“I understand.” Peter gently stirred his cup of coffee, then set the spoon on the saucer and lifted the mug to his lips. After he took a swig, he turned the cup in his big hands. “Can you tell us where you were two nights ago during the Potent Potions summit when Pearl Litt was murdered?”
Maria paled, and her eyes grew wide. She licked her lips and her chest heaved. “Uh—sure. I was, um, I was out.”
Daisy wagged her tail. True.
Peter raised his brows. “Where?”
Her throat bobbed and she looked absolutely terrified. I studied her—that was interesting. She seemed so meek and unassuming—could she have sought revenge for her husband? From the way she’d described him and my own interactions with him, that seemed unlikely. I had no doubt she found him more pleasant to be around in lizard form.
“I was out shopping.”
Daisy growled. Lie.
Peter paused and leveled her a hard look. “My partner, Daisy, is enchanted to smell lies. She just indicated that that might not be the whole truth. Do you want to try again?”
Maria’s eyes darted to the German shepherd, but she shook her head. “That’s where I was.”
Daisy growled again. More lies. Her eyes slid to me. Who is she? You?
I rolled my eyes. Good one.
“We will be checking on your alibi. You understand?”
Her chest heaved, but she nodded.
Peter shook his head and set down his coffee mug. His quill and scroll appeared, magically hovering beside his head. “Fine. Do you remember any of the stores you stopped in at?”
She sucked on her lips and looked like she was about to cry but rattled off a few shop names. Why was she even bothering going through the motions if we all knew she was lying?
Peter rose after she finished, and I, despite the mild burning to my mouth and throat, chugged the rest of my coffee. It was a calculated move—I needed the caffeine more than I needed the taste buds. I stood and tugged up my jeans.
“We’ll be in touch, Mrs. Wu.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry—I just can’t tell you more.”
Daisy wagged her tail. True.
She showed us out, and with one last glance at John, the lizard, I followed Peter and Daisy out into the tidy street. We regrouped on the cobblestones, the gray dawn of light brightening the sky. I filled Peter in on my conversation with the lizard.
He dragged a hand down his face. “I can’t believe it. So her husband really was turned into a lizard by the potions?”
I shrugged. “That’s what he said.” I glanced at Daisy. “And this one didn’t cry foul.”
Peter nodded. “I didn’t know potions were capable of such things.”
I shook my head. “Me, neither.” Though I guess it shouldn’t have been such a shock. If a curse in the form of a potion had stripped me of
