I blinked. “That would be rude of me, not cleaning up after myself, since I’m a witch.”
Liv smiled. “So? Who cares? Be rude. If that’s what it takes to get some info that might help, do it. Does it matter what she thinks of you?”
“Hmm, I suppose not.” I turned and looked at Will. “But couldn’t I just be there during the interview when they ask for her magic signature? They’d have to make her cast a small spell to get it, right?”
“Yes, but they’ll cast a magic-dampening spell to make sure she doesn’t draw too much power—no one wants a suspect to go berserk and escape. That’s likely to affect your perception of it.” Will grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently, sincerity leaching from his gaze. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble making a mess in front of her.”
My mother laughed, and Liv snorted. I narrowed my eyes. “Very funny.” I twisted around and glared at my mother. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side?”
“I am on your side, but I’m also honest. You were always so messy. The number of times your father and I grounded you for not tidying your room…. And don’t get me started on what a grubby eater you were. I had to have a mat under your chair until you were twelve, and even then, you didn’t need to be a genius to work out where you’d sat.”
“Why did you hide that you were a witch back then? You could’ve just magicked it away instead of used the vacuum cleaner.” My mother licked her lips. This was a subject I hadn’t broached with her yet, and I was pretty sure now wasn’t the time, but my brain was slow to catch up. “Don’t worry, Mum. We don’t have to do this now. But be warned that I want the answer to that question when this is all over and done with. When my twenty-fourth birthday came around, it was one hell of a bad week.” Not only had my electronics gone haywire the day after my birthday—my phone didn’t work properly, my coffee machine died—but that was also the day I found out James was missing. I could safely say that it had been the worst birthday ever, and thanks to not knowing my mother was a witch, I’d had no warning.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I had my reasons, and I’ll be happy to share them with you later… when we have Angelica safe and sound.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t going to give her a hard time. None of us were in the mood, and Mum had been through enough. I didn’t miss the sympathetic look Liv gave me, though. It was nice that she cared.
Will looked at his phone. “Agent Tondato should be contacting me in about forty-five minutes to an hour, so let’s get Lily downstairs and fishing for some info. Mrs Dal Lago might go into hiding once they’ve spoken to her, so now’s our best chance.”
“Can I go with her?” asked Liv.
“Me too, please.” Imani smirked.
I squinted at both of them. “What gives?”
Imani answered, “We want to see you make a mess. It should be fun.”
My top lip hitched up at the corner. “Weirdos. Out of all the things you could be doing in Venice, that’s your choice?”
Liv nodded. “Yep.” She looked at Will. “So can we?”
He chuckled. “I guess so. But don’t look suspicious.”
Imani gave him a “you have got to be kidding me look,” then deadpanned, “I’m a professional.”
I jumped up. “Okay, then. Let’s get this over and done with. I reckon we head to the bar and order a milky cocktail. That should spill nicely everywhere, and it’ll stink if she doesn’t clean it up straight away.”
My friends stood, and we made our way to the door. “Ooh, I know!” Liv was a little too excited, so I was dreading what she was going to say. “Can you vomit at will? No one could ignore that.”
I looked at her as if she was one sandwich short of a picnic. “Ah, no. What the hell, woman? Maybe you could do it since you think it’s such a great idea?”
Her excitement disappeared. “No, no, it’s okay. I don’t know how to do that. The cocktail idea is fine.”
I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “Come on.” The trick was going to be finding Mrs Dal Lago. If she wasn’t around, we’d miss our chance. We reached the bottom of the stairs. We were in luck; she was manning—or was that womanning?—the small reception desk. I smiled. “Hi.”
Her return smile was subdued. “Hello. Are you enjoying your stay?”
Liv answered, “Yes, thanks. Venice is so beautiful, and your hotel is full of charm. How long have you had it?”
“Many years. This is our seventeenth year.” She frowned and looked down at her hands on the shelf on the inside of the reception desk. When she looked up again, her jaw bunched, as if she were holding something in. “Now I must run it without my husband. It will be difficult.”
“I’m so sorry.” Imani’s voice was gentle. “We’re sorry for your loss.”
Mrs Dal Lago gave us a sad smile. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to work.”
We said goodbye and strolled down the hall to the bar where we ordered our drinks, and I paid. We moved away from the bar and stood in the middle of the room. I made a bubble of silence. “So, she seemed genuinely sad, didn’t she.”
Imani nodded. “Yes. Although you’d think she’d be happy to be rid of him so she could enjoy her dalliances without his disapproval.”
She was forgetting something. “But they had an open marriage.” I sniffed my chocolatey cocktail. It smelled so sweet and yummy. I needed enough to make a mess, but surely I was entitled to a taste? I sucked a small amount through the straw. Oh my God,
