The Grimms watched Tom and his coworkers enter the coffee shop, then they turned back to Ms. Rose.
"Briar, a few people at our party have had some things stolen from their homes," Uncle Jake said. "I don't want to pry, but if something were missing, we suspect it would be something magical. Have you or your fairy godmothers been robbed?"
"Mallobarb and Buzzflower don't let their magic wands out of their sight, and all I have at home are a few magic seeds. Everything is accounted for."
"Perhaps I should come over some evening and just make sure," Uncle Jake said with a grin.
"You never quit, do you?" Ms. Rose said with a laugh. "Maybe you should ask Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus. Her office is right next door."
"Good idea. Kids, do you want to go do that?" Uncle Jake said, winking at them. Sabrina didn't have to be a mind reader to know he was trying to get a little alone time with the princess.
"Sure, we'll go take a look," Sabrina said, pulling her sister and Puck along. They walked next door and spotted a sign on the building that read dr. f. pfefferkuchenhaus--dentist.
On the front door was a painting of several happy children with enormous, toothy smiles. All of them were saying, "Everyone smiles for Dr. P!" in a big cartoon balloon.
"What's a dentist?" Puck asked.
Sabrina cringed, imagining the cavities the boy must have. "There's a question you don't ever want to hear someone ask you."
The lobby was clean and neat, with paintings of dancing teeth all over the walls. A thin receptionist with eyeglasses that made her look like an owl sat at the desk filling out paperwork.
"Welcome to Dr. P's," she said when she looked up. Her glasses were so thick, Sabrina wondered if the woman might be able to see through her. "Do you have an appointment?"
"No, actually we were hoping we could talk to the doctor. Tell her that Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are here. She'll see us."
The receptionist picked up the phone and tapped a few buttons. "Dr. P, I'm sorry, I know you're with a patient. There are three children out here who say they know you. They say their last name is Grimm... really? Of course."
She hung up the phone and got up from her seat. "She'll see you.
She led the group through the hallway past several open doorways. As they walked past, Sabrina could see patients sitting in dental chairs getting their teeth cleaned. The high-pitched squeal of drills filled the air. Somewhere, a man let out a painful groan.
"Is this a torture chamber?" Puck asked eagerly. "Listen to all the suffering! Isn't it cool?"
"This is a dental office," the receptionist explained. "People come here to get a healthy smile."
There was another groan.
Puck laughed. "Sure! That guy sounds like he's smiling, all right! Are you hiring?" The receptionist brought them to a room where they found the gingerbread witch probing the teeth of a very nervous man in a chair. Sabrina had read the story of Hansel and Gretel and knew the witch's reputation, but at the same time she knew Frau P occasionally came to the family's assistance. Was she one of the good guys or a villain? Sabrina couldn't be sure. She had certainly never suspected that the woman's day job was dentistry. Hadn't she once had a house made out of candy?
"Mr. Easy, can you feel that?" she asked her patient. He had a suction tube in his mouth and Dr. P's fingers on his tongue.
The man said no, though with some difficulty.
"What about that?"
"No!"
"Good, and what about this one here?" The man cried out in agony.
"OK, looks like you need some more gas," the witch said, covering Mr. Easy's face with a mask connected to a tank by a long tube. The man took several deep breaths and his tense hands relaxed their grip on the sides of his chair.
"Hello, Grimms. What can I do for you?" the witch said. "I'm having a special on root canals."
"We'll pass," Sabrina said. "We're investigating a series of crimes. Maybe you've heard about Morgan le Fay and Baba Yaga's problems?"
"Indeed I have," the witch said. "Let me finish up with Mr. Easy here, and I'll be right with you."
Dr. P picked up a tiny drill and turned it on. It whined loudly, and then she went to work on the poor man's teeth. The gas she had given him must have been wonderfully strong, as he barely even noticed the awful crunching noises.
Puck pushed his way in front of the girls to get a better view of the procedure. "I think I know what I want to be when I grow up," he said.
"Oh, there's lots of money in dentistry," the witch said over the noise. "People just can't get enough of the sugary sweets and they rarely floss. I've got appointments backed up for months."
"You mean, people pay you to do this to them? I thought you had captured these people and brought them here against their will. How do I become a dentist?"
"You have to go to school," Sabrina said, hoping the thought of an education might deter Puck's sudden career choice.
"You do?" the witch said, eyeing Sabrina. "I didn't know that."