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“I do not plan on pursuing other relationships. The one was enough of a mess to nearly lead to the destruction of the school and the deaths of everyone in it.”
Enid had been preparing to go out when the topic had once again turned to Wednesday’s love life. So far Enid had been unsuccessful in attempting to convince Wednesday to try dating again. Enid had run out of argument time for the night as she was going to be late to her date with Ajax at the Weathervane if she didn’t leave now. Wednesday had won the night’s battle on dating and seemed to be winning the war. That didn’t stop Enid from making one last comment as she opened the door, turning to Wednesday, “I know you don’t really want to be alone forever, even if you’re hiding it.”
Wednesday would never admit to such a thing however, even if it had been true.
“Eeek,” Enid exclaimed when she turned towards the door to leave.
Ajax was standing there, holding his hat in one hand with the other hand splayed in front of him, almost covering his face. He apparently hadn’t been fast enough though. He was frozen in place.
“Ajax! No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening again!”
Wednesday had joined Enid by the door and was examining Ajax.
“I’m not sure why you’re this surprised. You know from experience that this is a possibility when planning with him.”
“We were supposed to meet in town, he shouldn’t even be here.”
“Perhaps he was feeling chivalrous and wanted to escort you into town.”
“Maybe, but he wouldn’t have taken off his hat like that, someone must have done this to him.”
The snakes on the top of Ajax’s head seemed to be hissing at something that was no longer there in the hallway. There was also nothing in that direction that was reflective enough for Ajax to have gazed into. Wednesday had to agree with Enid, this certainly did look intentional.
“Wednesday,” Enid looked at Wednesday expectantly.
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? You’re our resident detective, you have to find out who did this!”
She turned to look at Ajax once more pensively. “It will wear off on its own in time, won’t it?”
“Yes… but-”
“Then I’m not sure why I should spend what little free time I have investigating when he can simply tell us who did this when he unpetrifies.”
“But that could take hours or days, all the while someone out there is running around free to do it again to someone else.”
“Free to trick someone else into turning themselves to stone, temporarily? Those are quite the stakes worthy of an investigation.”
“Please, Wednesday…” Enid looked on the brink of tears. Wednesday did not like tears.
“I suppose that not every investigation a private detective undertakes must necessarily be life and death. They have to pay for their expenses somehow. This might be useful in making sure my novel is realistic, having experience with juggling various investigations in parallel. Very well, I will find the culprit and bring them to swift justice.”
Wednesday had found Bianca at one of the tables in the quad. Enid had asked Wednesday to reach out to Bianca, both because Ajax was a Nightshade member and for the usefulness of her siren song in an investigation. Only a few other students were in the quad; Xavier was working on another mural on the far side. Bianca had dismissed her singing group when she saw Wednesday approaching with a determined look on her face.
Bianca had been unconcerned though when Wednesday had informed her of Ajax’s current predicament. “Look, I know you haven’t been here that long but Gorgons getting stoned happens a lot. With so many living here at Nevermore, it’s honestly surprising it doesn’t happen more often.”
“This isn’t another case of Gorgons accidentally stoning one another or themselves. Whoever attacked Ajax removed his hat first. This suggests that Ajax was stoned by his own power. There were no reflective surfaces left behind, therefore someone removed whatever was used to cover their tracks. While it’s possible another Gorgon is still responsible and that the hat is a misdirect, we’re most likely looking for a non-Gorgon.”
“And why aren’t we just waiting for Ajax to tell us who did it when he turns back?”
“Enid asked me to investigate now,” Wednesday answered before quickly adding, “in case there is some kind of danger to the school. An accidental stoning is one thing. Intentionally causing someone to stone themselves is something else.”
Bianca still didn’t seem convinced. Wednesday didn’t need a siren song to manipulate someone however, “I thought the Nightshades were supposed to be protectors of the outcasts here. Or have you finally resigned yourselves to just being a social club?”
That hit one of Bianca’s nerves.
“Xavier,” she called him over. She waited until he was close enough to talk with them privately with no one within eavesdropping distance before continuing, “Wednesday’s just informed me that Ajax was stoned by someone on purpose. Are you up for a little Nightshade investigation with the two of us?”
Their interviews had managed to scare some of their fellow students but had led to no clues. Their remaining paths of investigation were the scene and Ajax himself, whenever he would finally recover.
Enid had stayed behind to keep an eye on Ajax, afraid of leaving him in his current state in case his attacker returned. When the investigative trio arrived, Enid unleashed a torrent of possible suspects and motives on Bianca, who did seem to be considering each and was making an updated list. Xavier was poking at the stoned Ajax’s snakes while Wednesday looked for any additional clues at the scene that she may have missed.
With Enid and Bianca still speculating, Wednesday suddenly drew the sword from her umbrella and pressed the tip into the center of a surprised Xavier’s chest, not enough to injure him but enough to back him into the dorm room.
“Wednesday, are you crazy?” Xavier panicked.
“Not at all, I’m finally seeing things clearly.”
Bianca looked ready to react but worried, not wanting to be around for another repeat of the Tyler incident. “Maybe lower the sword and explain things for the rest of us then.”
Wednesday obliged but didn’t take her eyes off Xavier or put the sword away.
“It occurred to me when Xavier was standing next to Ajax that Ajax’s snakes were looking up at his assailant. There are few at this school with his height, but even fewer that know Ajax well enough to have a potential motive to sabotage his date.”
“What, so being tall is a crime now?”
“That’s not a denial.”
“You want a denial? Fine.” Xavier looking down to meet Wednesday’s gaze, unblinking, as he continued, “I didn’t attack Ajax. I didn’t take his hat off. I didn’t cause him to stone himself.”
“Then why are you being evasive?”
“Because evasive is the natural response to having a sword pointed at you. I-”
“Whoa. It’s like a giant photo, but in 3D.”
The four Nevermore students turned towards the door, where Ajax was standing. With Ajax.
“This is so cool.” Ajax had turned to face the others but was pointing to the stone Ajax with his thumb. “Where did you get it?”
“Ajax, is it really you?” Enid asked, tentative relief on her face.
“Who else would I be?” Ajax asked, looking confused.
“Ajax!” Enid exclaimed, running over to him and wrapping him in a hug.
It was then that Xavier burst out laughing.
Enid had filled Ajax in on the investigative efforts that had been undertaken to find out who had supposedly attacked him.
“So you weren’t standing me up?” Ajax asked.
“No! Why would you think that?”
“I thought maybe you were trying to get back at me for our last date.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” The two were staring at each other affectionately. “I really do just want to go on a date with you.”
“The Weathervane’s still open, do you want to go now?” Ajax offered his arm.
“I would love to, Ajax,” looping her arm into his.
“So this was all a prank?” Bianca asked.
“Yep.” Xavier was smiling.
Enid and Ajax had talked briefly before leaving the three of them to deal with the fallout. Wednesday looked mildly amused but Bianca looked like she was bordering on furious briefly before she composed herself.
“That’s it, I’m out.” Bianca rolled her eyes. “Let me know if something real comes up that the Nightshades need to deal with.”
With Bianca gone, Xavier was left with just Wednesday. Her expression had returned to a neutral stare. Xavier still looked smug though. “You have to admit, it was pretty good.”
“The coordination required to pull off this prank without being discovered is, admittedly, impressive. As is the level of detail on the sculpture. I must ask though: how did you get the sculpture all the way up here? Stone is notoriously heavy and your arms are remarkably weak.”
“Ouch.” Xavier reached out a hand and the statue came to life taking a few steps in place before settling again with a smiling wink and single finger-gun towards Wednesday.
“Your control has improved. You’ve been practicing.”
“I don’t just spend all day drawing, painting, and shooting arrows.”
“No, I suppose you don’t. Too bad a bow won’t save you in close quarters combat.” Wednesday raised the umbrella sword towards Xavier once more.
“What?” Xavier’s expression quickly changed from amused to fearful.
“There’s still the matter of what you did to Enid.”
He began to plead with her, “I didn’t expect her to still be here. It was supposed to be just you. I really didn’t intend to mess with their date. I’m sorry.”
Wednesday seemed satisfied and lowered her weapon.
“Without Enid, how did you expect to trick me into getting involved?”
“Are you kidding? Curiosity. We both know you wouldn’t have been able to resist a mystery that just turns up on your doorstep.”
“You’re correct. That makes me worry that I am becoming too predictable.”
“I wouldn’t say that you’re too predictable. You just have some friends who know you.”
Wednesday turned away from Xavier, examining the statue of Ajax one more time.
“What do you plan to do with the statue? I don’t believe it is the right type of stone to survive the elements and replace the gargoyle that Rowan attempted to murder me with.”
“I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about that. Gorgon’s aren’t usually vain enough to keep a statue of themselves around so I don’t think giving it to Ajax would work. Maybe we could put it in one of the hallways?”
Wednesday thought for a moment before the faintest trace of a slight smirk appeared briefly on her face. “We could run additional investigative tests with it. Strictly to make sure the Nightshades are keeping their edge, of course. Starting with Kent, perhaps?”
Xavier smiled at Wednesday. He reached out to control the statue, having it give her a mock salute as they began walking it to another dorm room door. “Sure… that’s totally why we’re doing this.”