Owen very deliberately finished chewing the bite he’d just taken, then took a drink of tea before answering. “I work in research and development for a company supplying specialized technology resources.” I tried to remember that description for future use. Saying “the Microsoft of magic” only worked when I was talking to people who were in on the secret.
Owen held Dean’s gaze, like he was waiting for a reaction. Dean was no dummy, but he’d never applied himself, so I knew he was well out of his league, and it looked like he knew it, too. I felt it was time to jump in. “So, big brother dearest,” I said, trying to sound fond instead of defensive, “does he pass muster? Or should I have held out for a medical doctor who went to Harvard?”
“That wouldn’t necessarily have been an upgrade,” Owen said with a raised eyebrow in my direction.
“Not Harvard.”
“I think he’s swell, Katie,” Sherri said. “Dean, you should lighten up. Does anyone want seconds?”
Before Dean could say anything else, I piped up again. “I was just admiring Sherri’s china. Did y’all get this recently?”
For perhaps the first time in my life, I saw Dean utterly speechless. His mouth hung open, and no sound came out of it. Sherri didn’t seem to notice. “It’s brand-new,” she said proudly. “Y’all are the first ever to eat off it.”
“Well, someone’s trying to score Brownie points,” I continued. “I noticed all that pretty new jewelry Sherri’s wearing. I guess one of your businesses hit the jackpot for you, huh?” Dean couldn’t resist a get-rich-quick scheme. He was the guy all those Internet spam “make money fast” ads were targeted to. And then, almost holding my breath in anticipation, I went in for the kill that was sure to get me a reaction. “It’s lucky you got all that stuff before someone knocked over the jewelry store. It would have been a shame if you’d gotten together the money to buy all these nice things, and someone had swiped them out from under you.”
Their reactions weren’t at all what I’d anticipated. Sherri couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, so I’d expected her to lean forward and whisper to us about buying everything cheap from a guy who’d offered a great deal. Or, if she was our wizard, she’d have started preening, gloating, and acting mysterious. Instead, she nodded sincerely and said, “Yeah, I know.”
Dean’s reaction was even more surprising. He went totally still, only his eyes moving as he looked between Owen and me, then he said in an ice-cold voice, “And I think it’s interesting how the biggest crime wave ever to hit this town just happened to strike the day after your boyfriend showed up.”
I wasn’t sure how to react in order to convey the maximum degree of innocence. Of course, Owen wasn’t the thief, but the mysterious crime wave was related to his visit. I tried for affronted girlfriend and embarrassed sister, which wasn’t much of a stretch.
Meanwhile, Owen went even colder than Dean had been, with the eerie kind of stillness that he got when he was absolutely furious. The last time I’d seen him that angry, he’d almost accidentally sent Grand Central Station plummeting three stories underground after generating a shock wave that could have undermined the foundation. “Are you implying anything in particular?” he asked, his voice even and conversational.
“Dean, don’t be rude!” Sherri said. “Like he’d need to come here to rob the town. If he was a robber, he could have robbed all kinds of places in New York. Now, you apologize right this instant.”
Dean and Owen remained in a staredown, blue eyes locked with green. Under normal circumstances, Owen might have been at a disadvantage because he wore contact lenses and would have to blink, but Owen was anything but normal. I had a feeling that if I’d worn Owen’s magic-detecting necklace, it would have been buzzing up a storm, just from the waves of anger that were coming off him. Dean’s high school portrait that hung on the dining room wall fell to the floor with a crash. There was a strong chance it was pure coincidence and caused by a slipshod job of picture hanging, but I wouldn’t have bet on it.
“Dean, I said stop it and apologize,” Sherri said again, her voice shrill. That broke the standoff, and for the first time since I met her, I actually liked Sherri. “You know he’s not the robber, and besides, your mom was talking about weird stuff happening days before he got here.”
Dean kept his eyes fixed on Owen. “Weird stuff isn’t the same as robbery.”
