Witch's Bell Book One

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    'Guests?' Ebony repeated, voice trilling even higher. 'Are you out of your mind? I put that man behind bars several weeks ago,' she gestured towards the gaunt man. 'For attacking that woman,' she jabbed a finger towards Cecilia Grimshore, who still hadn't moved a muscle. 'And you ask me what on Earth is going on?'
    'Put him behind bars?!' the Chief's voice boomed out, ringing with anger and disbelief. 'You are out of line, Bell, now get the out of here before I give you an official reprimand.'
    'What?' Ebony's stomach gave a kick, her palms starting to sweat profusely. What was going on here? What was the Chief playing at? Why was the gaunt man out of prison....?
    'Don't you mind us,' Cecilia Grimshore said, hands still clasped so primly, smile still as bright as a daisy under full sun. 'I'm sure your employee there is just a little confused.'
    'It can happen,' the gaunt man agreed, nodding affably and leaning forward in his chair. 'Sometimes people become very confused,' he repeated, eyes latching onto Ebony.
    'Confused,' the Chief repeated with a bluster, 'she'll be more than confused if she doesn't apologies this instant and get out of here.'
    Ebony's mouth just lay open, her skin tight with cold. 'This can't be happening,' she said out loud, more to the situation than to any of the three people around her.
    'Perhaps she is under stress,' Cecilia cocked her head to the side slightly, eyes still as bright as glittering diamonds. She looked, for all the world, like someone examining a curious painting in a museum. 'I do believe police work is stressful,' she added with a cute shake of her head.
    The gaunt man agreed. 'Very stressful. What, with all those criminals, and such – isn't it any wonder that she might become confused?'
    'Very forgivable,' Cecilia added with a smile.
    'Indeed,' the gaunt man agreed, leaning back in his chair.
    'You simply mustn't punish her for this, dear Chief Bates,' Cecilia smiled curiously.
    'Indeed,' the gaunt man had the hint of a smile on his lips, but his face still beamed out with general good cheer, 'not on our behalf. We are both, very much, not insulted by this. So we implore you to simply leave her alone.'
    'Oh,' Cecilia put up a hand delicately, 'and maybe give her a cup of tea,' she added brightly.
    'Excellent idea,' the gaunt man agreed,' tea.'
    The Chief grumbled for a moment, before finally taking a gruff breath. 'You are lucky, Bell. Now get out of here. I don't want to see you again.'
    With that, Chief Bates closed his door with a bang, leaving Ebony standing there staring at nothing but the grain of the wood.
    What had just happened?
    Cecilia, that man... what?
    Ebony blinked wildly, eventually reaching up a hand to rub her eyes. She couldn't believe this. There was the Chief of Police carrying on a conversation with the same man that she'd done for magical kidnapping and Death Summoning only several weeks before!
    And there was Cecilia Grimshore, sitting alongside her supposed attacker as if they were simply the most polite of friends.
    Ebony rocked backwards and forwards on her feet for several seconds, hearing nothing but the muffled voices from within the office.
    What should she do? Run down to the front-desk and raise the alarm? Scream for help? Had the gaunt man somehow escaped and cast spells over Cecilia and the Chief?
    Ebony rubbed at her face again. No, that didn't make sense. With the amount of magical protection on the station – the gaunt man, even if he was an accomplished wizard – wouldn't be able to hex the Chief.
    The Chief would know, should have known, that Ebony had arrested that very man for attacking Cecilia Grimshore almost... how many weeks ago was it now?
    Ebony tried to remember, but somehow the thought kept evading her grasp.
    The crypt, the kidnapping in the crypt... it had been....
    Ebony pinched the bridge of her nose and turned from the door, shaking her head as if to clear out the cobwebs.
    She took several steps down the hallway. The crypt, she kept repeating herself, the crime at the crypt.
    As she walked unsteadily down the corridor, her heels clicking against the clean marble, she simply kept repeating those words to herself. The crypt, the crime at the crypt. Even though she was having greater and greater difficulty trying to remember what it was all about, some part of her knew that if she kept holding onto those words, she'd remember.
    Ebony managed to make it to the stairwell, her hand still pinching the bridge of her