The Magpie Effect - The Magpie Chronicles Book 1 (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 15.1

It was twenty minutes before the police arrived - or, at least, who I'd presumed would be the police. The knocks on the door were staccato and clear, and Vivian jumped up from the sofa to answer it with more verve than I'd ever seen her exhibit.

She hadn't stopped crying since I'd run down the stairs screaming about what had happened. After inspecting the scene herself, she'd burst into tears, ushered me into the living room, and cordoned off the stairs with a length of ribbon that she usually used to decorate birthday cakes. Her eyes were still glazed over with too much moisture.

When Vivian opened the door to reveal Ivana Burr standing on the porch, I had to suppress a gasp. She looked like an ice sculpture, with her signature white coat and her frost-kissed skin. Behind her were two police officers, one of them middle-aged and balding, the other young and scrawny, smiling with such fervour that I couldn't help imagining it was his first day on the job.

Ivana smiled, reached up to balance her sunglasses on top of her head, and spoke. "Hello, Mrs Sweetman, I presume? May we come in?"

"O-of course," my mother stammered, stepping aside. She eyed Ivana with a sense of complete befuddlement. "W-who are you, exactly?"

"Oh, yes, how rude of me," said Ivana, stepping over the threshold and into our living room. She surveyed the room and her gaze found me. Her eyes twinkled. When she spoke, she seemed to be addressing me alone. "I am Ivana Burr, the recently appointed First Councillor for Magpie's Nest. I was at the station when you called, and I thought I'd accompany Officer Burke and Officer Toland in their investigation. It's important to me that I become familiar with the townspeople, especially in light of recent events."

"R-recent events?" Vivian enquired.

Ivana tore her eyes off me. "Were you not aware of the string of missing persons across the county recently, Mrs Sweetman?" Her voice seemed to emit something on par with condescension. "Grant Jenkins, Kitty Stringfellow, Dale Treharne and the latest, of course, poor little Lucy Lidlow?"

I recalled the mosaic of the missing on the noticeboard at work, the painted newspaper faces, the colour of memories and the past. A spattering of goose-bumps exploded across my skin.

"Oh, yes, I didn't realise-"

"It's quite alright, Mrs Sweetman," said Ivana, dismissing my mother as she turned back to me. My feet felt suddenly heavy, as though they were weighted down with lead. "And you are Sapphire, whose bedroom has reportedly been ransacked?"

I nodded. While her eyes were on me, I found myself unable to speak.

"Yes," said Ivana, her expression sparkling with an all-knowing familiarity. "I believe we have met before, at least from a distance. You were in a spot of bother, were you not?"

My mother shot me a glare.

"Mrs Vanderbilt truly does run a fine establishment," said Ivana. "I thought it quite necessary to familiarise myself with the most esteemed school in the county. And, of course, it is where my son, Jet, is attending. I think he may have mentioned you, Sapphire, only he calls you by something else."

"Saffy?" I whispered. The thought of Jet mentioning me to his mother made my intestines squirm.

Ivana nodded, her smile widening. "Yes, that's it," she said. "Anyway, shall we have a look at this alleged break-in that has set you so on edge?"

Her general air of indifference remained, seeping into her words in a way that made me want to scream at her. I stood up, numb and zombie-like, and made my way up the stairs. Ivana and the two police officers followed, tailed by my mother.