SO SWEET AS MAGIC, PART EIGHT

"Do I look crazy?" was the first thing Jake said as he entered the Herald office.

"No more than you usually do." said Chris Madison.

"Good. Because if there's one thing I'm sure about, its that I'm not crazy."

"So - what happened to make you not doubt your sanity?"

****

"You certainly seem fascinated by that old painting." said Amanda, entering the living room to find Stark contemplating it once again.

"Art is - a serious hobby of mine." said Stark.

"Oh yes, Marly mentioned it." said Amanda.

"I have a feeling about this painting." said Stark, "I think it's been overpainted. If you were to get it cleaned, I think you'd find something very special underneath the surface."

"Um." Amanda was clearly not impressed. "Let's talk business."

Stark hid his annoyance under a bland smile.

*****

"And there's no way Vicky could have gotten upstairs from Donna's room without you seeing her?" said Chris.

"There's only one staircase." said Jake. "So, either I imagined the whole thing - which I didn't - or I saw Vicky go into Donna's room - only she didn't - or I saw somebody who Looked like Vicky."

Jake picked up the phone and dialed: "Vicky? It's me. Did you come over to the Herald about a week ago?"

"No, I haven't been there for a couple of months."she said.

"And, at Rachel's party, did you suggest that the two of us get naked in one of the Cory guest rooms?"

"No! What is this about, Jake?"

"I'll talk to you later." said Jake, and hung up.

"So, " said Chris, "What happened yesterday wasn't the first time?"

****

"After Lila marries Cass, I'm supposed to see Jasmine once a week." Matthew complained, "That's not enough!"

"Face it, Matt," said Sofia, "There's no way you can be a full-time father when Jasmine is livin' with her mother. Why don't you and me set a date for our weddin'? Then we can try and get custody"

"On what grounds?" said Matthew, "Lila is a devoted mother, and Cass can afford to give Jasmine a good home."

"There's gotta be some way you can get that baby!"

"I could always murder Lila."

"There's gotta be some other way."

"There's one." said Matthew.

****

"So, if Marly came out of Donna's room," said Chris, "It must have been Marly who went in there."

"Yeah, except when she went in, she looked exactly like Vicky." said Jake.

"I know Marly is pretty bitter about losing her looks," said Chris, "But shape-changing - that's heavy-duty magic. Do you suppose there's a connection between Marly and - what happened to Cass?"

"Let me think." said Jake, "In both cases, there's shape-changing, which means a wizard class magician is involved. Could be the same guy."

"Maybe we should call the BOW."

"Your investment is really going to put Cory Publishing back on top, David." said Amanda. "For a while, I was afraid we were going bankrupt."

"You were lucky to have an old friend of the family who was willing to help." said Stark.

"Who do you mean?"

"Mr Akageno."

"He's not a friend." said Amanda, "We only met him a couple of weeks ago."

"Really?" said Stark, "When I saw him downtown, having lunch with Rachel, they seemed on such - close terms - that I thought they were old friends."

"Why?" said Amanda, "What were they doing?"

"Nothing."

"They must have been doing something, for you to think that!"

"Nothing specific." said Stark, "It was just - their body language - they way they leaned across the table towards each other, the way their hands touched when he poured the wine - the way they were looking at each other - "

"Oh." Amanda was not happy.