Bonnie Glock: Magical Private Investigator

Chapter Nine

The Safe

"You can drop me off here," Bonnie said.

"Are you sure?" Moriano asked. "You should come with me to the hospital after I drop him at the station."

"I'm alright. That concussion grenade only got you, remember? I was protected by the door," Bonnie said.

"I don't see how, with you standing right next to me," Moriano said.

"You can drop me here and I'll get an Uber home. I know how crazy Nayoko would be if you took a detour to drop me off before booking a murderer," Bonnie said.

"He confessed everything to you?" Moriano asked.

"Yeah," she lied. "I mean we caught him red-handed. Once he wakes up, I'm sure you'll get what you need out of him." The spell rendering him unconscious would wear off soon and the Altoid she placed in his mouth already had a truth serum that was pumping through his veins. He would tell the cops what they need to know, and the MIA would take over.

"Alright. Whatever you want to do," Moraino said, pulling up to the curb. "I'll call you if we need you to come in, in case he doesn't confess."

"Oh, I think he'll confess alright," she said, stepping out of the car. "Oh, and Moriano."

"Yeah?" he replied, leaning across the middle seat.

"I'm sorry you missed your date with Cathy."

He grinned, "It's Caroline. And don't be. I would way rather eat pizza and catch a bad guy with you."

"Even though you were knocked out for most of it?" she asked.

He nodded, "Well the pizza was the best part, the rest was just work."

"Get yourself checked out. Talking like that, you might have a concussion," she said.

"Oh, I definitely have a concussion," he winced again.

Bonnie closed the door and stepped back, watching his taillights turn around the corner. Walking to the nearest bus stop, she pulled out her wand and transkipped back to her apartment. Exhausted from the day's events, she wearily contacted her friend in the MIA and notified him of her arrest. After giving him the full details, she shuffled to her bedroom.

The next morning Bonnie was eating an egg and cheese bagel and enjoying a fresh mug of coffee, when a text alert pinged on her phone. It was from Detective Moriano and read, "Mr. K confessed to it all. Wife didn't know until he took her there. Damion's out on bail. The picture and everything else checks out, except for the money Gibson gave you. Mr. K never paid the man. I'm not sure where he got it, but it wasn't from the Kishmans. My head checks out OK, too."

Bonnie set the phone down on her granite countertop and leaned back in her high-backed chair. Why did Gibson give me such a big stack of cash? she wondered. She still hadn't heard anything from her connection in the MIA if Mr. Kishman had an accomplice.

Unable to puzzle it out, she decided to turn her focus back to cracking the locket. She walked into her bedroom closet and opened the safe on the floor. She froze when she didn't see the gold locket. Bonnie reached inside and felt around for it, but it wasn't there. Her heart sped as she tried to recall if she'd taken it out. She distinctly remembered placing it inside the safe.

"Finna locket," she said with a flick of her wand.

Nothing happened. She tried it again, but still no locket. She checked on the spells she'd used to produce her protective wards around her apartment. One of them was down. "Shit," she cursed. The money, she thought. Gibson never gave me the money. He left, then a knock followed and I opened the door, but he was gone.

"No!" she shouted kicking over her chair.

This whole thing was just a ruse to get me away from the locket, she thought.

Attempting to calm herself, she breathed deeply, standing in the middle of her open living room. Her phone rang on the island. Grabbing it, she swiped to answer the call. "Moriano, what do you want?" she barked.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.

"It's not what got into me, it's who," she said referring to the break-in.

"Wow, that was too much information. What did you do after I dropped you off?" Moriano asked playfully.

"Get your head out of the gutter," she barked. "I have a case and, Moriano, I might need your help."