As they prepared to part ways, there was a sharp knock at the side door. Roam motioned for everyone to stay back while he checked who it was.
"Ms. Coal?" called a falsely cheerful voice they all recognized. "It's Tandy Keyes! I see your office is closed, but I simply must speak with you about a private matter. It's quite urgent!"
Evangelina rolled her eyes. "That woman has been trying to sell me a larger consultation space for months." She moved toward the door but paused when Bartie suddenly fluttered in agitation.
"I don't like this," the bat whispered. "Something feels wrong."
Roam signaled for silence, then called through the door. "Ms. Keyes, Evangelina is very busy. Perhaps you could make an appointment."
There was a moment of silence, then Tandy's voice came again, noticeably less cheerful. "Oh! Detective O'Reilly. I didn't realize you were here. Yes, of course, an appointment. It's quite urgent and pertains to... property vulnerabilities that Ronald might exploit. I thought Ms. Coal might find it relevant to her research."
Evangelina and Roam exchanged meaningful glances.
"I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow," Roam called back firmly.
"Very well." The distinctive click of her high heels retreated down the path.
“That was suspicious,” Honey said.
“Very,” Roam agreed. “I’ll look into exactly what Ms. Keyes has been up to today.”
As they opened the side door cautiously, Maisie suddenly stopped. “She’s lying,” she said quietly. The sour smell of deception was unmistakable now that her senses were clearing---Tandy reeked of it.
“What?” Honey asked.
“Tandy Keyes. When she said it could wait… I could smell it. She was lying.” Maisie looked surprised at her own ability. “That’s… kind of cool, actually.”
“Your first successful use of vampire detection,” Bartie said proudly. “Though technically, you’re smelling lies, not vampires.”
“Still counts,” Maisie said with a small smile---the first genuine since she arrived in Cauldron Falls.
As they left through the side exit, Evangelina watched them go with a thoughtful expression. She had her own suspicions about Tandy Keyes, and now she had research to conduct that might confirm them.
Commission Impossible
Cauldron Falls trembled on the edge of chaos. The giant cross towered in the town square, its shadow stretching ominously across the cobblestones. Tandy strutted toward it in her designer pumps, carrying a clipboard she'd hastily labeled "OFFICIAL STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT" in glittery purple ink.
"Coming through! Professional with construction experience!" she announced to the workers, flashing a laminated business card as if it were an inspection badge. "Just need to make sure this baby won't topple over and squish anyone important---I mean, anyone at all!"
The workers exchanged dubious glances but stepped aside. One leaned to another and whispered, "Isn't she just a real estate agent?"
"Yeah, but she keeps saying she used to be in construction," his colleague shrugged. "And honestly, none of us knows what we're doing either."
Tandy circled the massive cross, making exaggerated hmm-ing noises and scribbling nonsense on her clipboard.Occasionally, she'd tap a support rope, squint dramatically, and mutter something that sounded vaguely technical.
"This northernmost support needs additional... tensional... counterbalancing," she declared, pointing to the very rope she intended to sabotage. "The gravitational... load bearing... tensility is clearly compromised."
As Tandy examined the rope, a memory flashed unbidden through her mind---herself at thirteen, standing before the Cauldron Falls Witchery School examination board. The test had been simple: light three candles. The other students had completed it with ease, their candles flaring to life with confident gestures.
When her turn came, she'd tried so hard---concentrating until her head pounded, whispering the incantation perfectly. But only the faintest wisp of smoke had appeared on the first wick. Nothing at all on the other two.
"Perhaps," the head examiner had said with poorly disguised pity, "you should consider a career that relies less on innate talent. Real estate, perhaps? My cousin did quite well in that field despite her... similar limitations."
The laughter had been soft but unmistakable---the kind adults use when they think children can't recognize mockery clothed in politeness.
Twenty years later, the memory still stung. She blinked it away, focusing instead on the sabotage at hand.
"Is that even a word? Tensility?" one worker whispered behind her.
