SO SWEET AS MAGIC, PART TWENTY-THREE

"Good morning, I'm here to see Amanda Cory." said Stark.

Claudia squared her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Mr Halliday, but Mrs Hutchins' orders are that you are not to be admitted into this house."

"What - after Rachel and I spent such a pleasant evening together?"

"I don't know anything about that, Sir. I just know what Mrs Hutchins told me. You can't come in."

"Claudia!" said Amanda, coming down the stairs, "Let David in at once!"

"Excuse me, Ms Cory," said the housekeeper, "I work for Mrs Hutchins. I take orders from her." She turned back to Stark, "If you don't leave, I shall have to call the police."

"Mother must be out of her mind!" said Amanda.

"Well, since Rachel is being so unreasonable, perhaps we could have our meeting in my hotel suite."said Stark, thinking that Rachel's obduracy could actually be to his advantage.

"I'll get my purse."

****

"Do you have anything to say, Toni?" said Josie.

"What? You were right about Nick Hudson, and I was wrong, and now you want to gloat?"

"Look, I've done some stupid things myself - jumping to conclusions, judging by my prejudices instead of by the evidence - I dunno, maybe it was Joe Carlino's influence. But I'm determined that from now on, I'm gonna be the kind of cop Ryan Harrison was. I think you should make a fresh start too."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then, you don't have any future in this department."

(Privately, Josie thought that Toni had already gone as far as she was going to go in the BCPD. She just didn't have what it took for detective work. But there was no need to tell her that.)

****

Amand looked at the portrait hanging on Stark's wall.

"That's funny." she said, "She's wearing a gown exactly like the one you had me pose in."

"As a matter of fact, it was a copy of the gown in the portrait." said Stark, "I knew you would look as beautiful in it as she did."

"Who was she?"

"Her name was Amalie."

"Was she French?"

"Her mother was."said Stark, "She was born in England."

"That locket you gave me - it's just like the one she's wearing."

"It is the very same one. It's - a family heirloom."

Amanda fumbled at the back of her neck. "Then, I couldn't possibly keep it! It must mean a lot to you."

"Enough!" said Stark, and put her into a trance, "Amalie must live again! You will be the vessel of her new life! Just as Amalie gave herself to Jordan Stark, so must you give yourself to David Halliday!"

He took her in his arms and kissed her.

*****

Lila's eyelids fluttered.

"Lila?" Matthew took her hand.

"M-Matt?"

"Lila, you're in the hospital. You - had an accident. But you're going to be fine."

Lila's free hand fluttered up and felt the bandages covering her face.

"Mah - face?"

"Wizard Wallace has been working on you. He's the best." said Matthew, "He says you're going to be good as new."

"Whut - happened?"

"We can talk about it when you're feeling better."

****

"I have finished BEYOND IMAGINATION, and I'm not surprised that the book was banned." said Akageno, "It deals with the blackest sort of Black Magic: nothing less than a method of obtaining immortality by putting the soul into what Stark terms ' a fresh vessel', whenever the old one wears out."

Rachel thought about the implications: "If Jordan Stark put his wife's soul into an inanimate object, and if he's gotten hold of that object - maybe he wants to bring Amalie back to life - by putting her soul into Amanda's body!"

"It would explain his interest in Amanda." said Akageno.

"I'm getting my daughter out of this town - NOW."

****

Jordan Stark had managed to open the back of Amanda's dress - what did they call these fasteners? Zippos? - but now he encountered an impenetrable barrier, in the form of her brassiere. How the hell did the thing open? As he fumbled with it, his concentration slipped, just enough:

"What are you doing?" Amanda came to her senses, and found herself, half-undressed, in David Halliday's arms. She shoved him away.

"I - I don't know what came over me, David!" she said, hurriedly doing up her zipper, "I don't want - You're not my type!" She ran for the exit.

"Amal - Amanda! Wait!"

Too late! Stark's chosen prey had escaped before the jaws of the trap could close!

To be continued.