by R. L. King
The book didn’t look like the typical magic tome, but rather a reference book. The page Eddie had opened it to showed a grainy, black-and-white photo of a white-bearded man standing in front of a bookshelf in a cramped-looking room. Below the photo were the words LEANDER MCGRATH. Several other photos showed the man in different poses—a couple obviously taken during his shows, a few in what looked like his home, and one next to a uniformed young man who was obviously his son.
Stone quickly scanned the text below them. “He was a magician?”
“Yup. Stage magician, sort of famous in the Midwestern part of the US during the early part of the last century. No ’Arry ’Oudini or anything, but ’e made a good living in the region. Retired after ’is only son was killed in World War I—’eart wasn’t in it anymore, I guess. After that, ’e devoted ’is life and fortune, such as it was, to collectin’ weird items.”
“And when he died, it was sort of like Drummond,” Stone said. “Nobody wanted his collection, so they auctioned it, and Drummond bought some of it.”
“It’s a surprisingly common occurrence,” Ward said. “Even if someone isn’t magically talented, they often pick up magical objects from unwitting heirs, auctions, or even junk shops, without ever knowing what they’ve got.”
“We don’t know if McGrath was actually a mage, though,” Eddie pointed out. “It’s possible ’e was. It’s also not uncommon, especially in those days, for mages to hide in plain sight, posing as stage magicians. It was a decent livin’, and there wasn’t much chance of gettin’ caught.”
Stone shifted his gaze between the pyramid and the entry on McGrath. “I wonder…” he mused, stroking his chin. “Here’s a challenge for you two: do you think you could find the auction catalog or the records for McGrath’s auction? I know it’s a long shot, but now I’m wondering if there might have been any other interesting things in his collection. If I’m right and there was another piece that goes with this pyramid, maybe it was there, and we can trace it.”
“You’re right,” Ward said skeptically. “That is a long shot. Tracing a fifty-year-old auction…”
Eddie grinned. “But it’s a challenge, too. And you know ’ow we love a challenge.” He clapped Stone on the shoulder. “We’re on it, mate. Leave that part to us. What are you plannin’ in the meantime?”
“Not sure, honestly.” Stone pondered. “I’d like to chat with the security guard to see if he noticed anything, though I doubt he did. And I’m still a bit nervous about the fact that the thief took the log sheet. That means he knows who else was in that storeroom.”
“Do you think he might believe one of you took it?” Ward asked.
“One of ’em did take it,” Eddie said. But then he sobered. “You’re afraid they might try breakin’ into these people’s ’omes or offices, lookin’ for it.”
“The thought crossed my mind.” Stone got up and began pacing again.
“Well, if they try breakin’ into your place, they’re gonna be in for a shock.”
“True. I’ve already altered my wards so anyone who tries to enter the house without permission will alert me and end up wandering about in the yard until I get home.”
“That’s assumin’ they’d even try. If the thief’s a mage, especially if they’re workin’ for a stronger one, they’re gonna know who you are. They’d be mad to try gettin’ into your place.”
“That’s true, too. But that doesn’t help Dr. Inouye, the other professor who was in there after I was. I’d hate to see her or any of her family get hurt over this. That thief has already proven he’s willing to kill over this. Greene got luckier than he had a right to that he wasn’t injured far worse.”
“Can’t exactly put wards around someone else’s house, though, can you?” Ward asked, frowning. “For one thing, it would take too long to do. Someone would notice you.”
“Unfortunately, yes. Even if I went over there in the middle of the night, my disregarding spell wouldn’t conceal me well enough to be sure no one would notice me. Especially not for that long.” He narrowed his eyes at Eddie, who suddenly appeared to be focused on something far away. “Eddie? Have you got something?”
“Maybe.” He glanced at Ward. “Remember that little thing we were faffin’ about with a couple months back?”
Ward looked confused for a moment, then smiled. “Ah. Yes.”
“What are you on about?” Stone shifted his gaze back and forth between then.
Eddie shrugged. “It was just sort of a silly thing, to be honest. I read an article about some bloke who kept havin’ ’is parcels nicked off ’is porch, so ’e rigged one with a camera and a glitter bomb. Thing went off on the thief when ’e tried to open it.”
“Yes, and…? Not sure how that relates to the subject at hand.”
“That’s because you don’t think like us anymore, mate.” Eddie’s grin widened. “You’re over there doin’ all that serious stuff—it’s like you don’t even remember the pranks we used to get up to during our University days.”
“Eddie…”
“Okay. Okay. So I got to thinkin’ about it, and wonderin’ if there might not be a magical use for the same sort of idea.”
Stone still didn’t follow. Normally, he enjoyed listening to Eddie’s farfetched thoughts, but right now he couldn’t stop thinking about the pyramid and Greene in the hospital. “A magical glitter bomb?”
“Not exactly. Just ’ear me out.” Eddie leaned forward, almost bouncing with eagerness on the old sofa. “You were just talkin’ about alterin’ your wards. What we were messin’ about with was the idea of makin’ a smaller ward that would go off when someone triggered it, coverin’ them with somethin’ that could be tracked. You know, magically.”
“Magical glitter.”
“Not glitter, precisely,” Ward said. “It sounds fanciful, but it does have practical applications. Think of it as more like adding a dye pack to a briefcase full of cash.”
Suddenly, Stone saw where they were going. Energized, he leaned forward. “You’re saying this…magical dye pack could be traced using a tracking spell.”
“Exactly!” Eddie looked pleased. “And the victim wouldn’t ’ave any idea it even ’appened. It’s not really a ward at all—more of a trap. And it’s so small and well-concealed, even a mage would ’ave a ’ard time spottin’ it unless they were specifically lookin’ for it.”
Stone looked at them in new light. “I’m impressed,” he said, and meant it. “And here’s me thinking you two are all about stuffy old research.”
“Well…we ’aven’t actually built any of these things,” Eddie admitted. “But we’ve got the plans all worked out. Did it one night while we were at the Dragon. Shouldn’t take long to put a few together, especially if you ’elp. We can pop up to Caventhorne—all the materials are there.”
Stone wasn’t sure he wanted to spend the time, but on the other hand, his friends’ invention might solve a problem for him. “Let’s do it. I can leave them at Dr. Inouye’s house and near the storeroom.”
“Brilliant,” Ward said. “And in the meantime, we can get started looking for any details about the McGrath auction.”
“See?” Eddie asked with a cheeky grin. “We’re good for more than research and gettin’ potted with.”
Stone mirrored the grin. “I never doubted you, Eddie.”
10
Three hours later Stone was back in California, where it was still mid-afternoon. He was grateful this was one of the times when the time-zone difference worked in his favor. He called Jason as soon as he popped back to his house.
“I need you to get me an address,” he said without greeting. “You can do that, right?”
“Uh…sure. Not technically legal, but…”
“I promise I’m trying to help someone, not hurt them.”
“Is anything wrong?”
“I don’t think so, but I’m trying to make sure it stays that way.”
“Okay, I guess. Who are you looking for?”
“Oh—right. The one whose signature was on the log sheet for the storeroom? Why do you need her address? And why can’t you get it from the University?”
“The answer to your first question is that I want to put a bit of magical protection on her home. The second is because I don’t want them to know I’m looking for her.”
“You think the thief might think she took the thing?”
“Well…they didn’t find it in the storeroom, so my guess is that they’ll either go back there for another look, or else they’ll check the sheet they took and assume one of us nicked it.”
“What about your place?”
“Already protected. And if they’re mages, they’d be fools to try breaking in there.”
“Good point. Okay, give me a couple minutes and I’ll look.”
Stone paced his living room, followed closely by Raider, as he waited. The bag containing ten of the little devices he, Eddie, and Ward had built sat on his coffee table. It hadn’t taken them long to put them together, since his friends had already worked out the details in their usual meticulous way.
“Don’t look at these things as some sort of miracle device,” Eddie had warned when they finish. “They’ve got a lot of limitations. They’re bloody weak for one thing, which means any mage worth their salt will be able to neutralize ’em if they spot ’em. They are ’ard to spot and likely they won’t be expectin’ ’em, but keep it in mind. Also, once they trigger, the ‘ink’ won’t last long—maybe a few hours at most—and it’ll cut down your range considerably for trackin’ ’em.”
“So you’re saying that if one of them triggers, I’ll need to move fast.”
“Yes,” Ward said. “We could probably make something better, but it will take a lot more time. These are basically disposable.”
“Better than nothing,” Stone assured them.
“Al?”
He snapped back to the present at Jason’s voice. “Yes? Have you got it?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t that hard—not like she’s tryin’ to hide or anything.” He read off an address in Mountain View. “You need anything else?”
Stone almost said no. “Er—yes, but only if you have time.”
“It’s a little slow today. What’ve you got?”
He told Jason about Leander McGrath. “I’ve already got Eddie and Ward researching him, but maybe Gina could turn up the auction catalog or records if they’re online somewhere. Can’t imagine why they would be, but it’s worth looking.”
“Got it. Don’t hold your breath with something that old, but I’ll call if we find anything.”
Stone thought about waiting until after dark to go to Inouye’s house, but decided against it for two reasons: first, if she and her husband were both at work, they couldn’t catch him poking around outside their home. Second, he couldn’t shake the growing sense of urgency that the longer he waited, the larger the chance that the thief would try something.
To his relief, Inouye’s house was only a few blocks from a ley line, so he wouldn’t have to drive and risk having his car picked up by some stray camera (thanks, Jason, for making me bloody paranoid). He used his disguise amulet to make him look like a boring, middle-aged man and walked the rest of the way to the address.
Another lucky break: the house was a small, single-story ranch. Mountain View was expensive, even by the standards of the University’s generous salaries. The neighborhood was quiet this time of day, before most of the working people got home. There weren’t even any children out playing in their yards. Still, he’d need to do this quickly, since it would require an invisibility spell and he’d never been any good at maintaining those for longer than two or three minutes.
With one final thought that he was being ridiculous and the thief wouldn’t bother breaking into the house of an unassuming Anthro professor, Stone ducked behind a fence, pulled up his invisibility spell, and walked briskly toward the house.
The little trackers weren’t hard to set. He, Eddie, and Ward had built in a component so they wouldn’t trigger on a woman since they knew the thief was a man, but they’d still trigger on Inouye’s husband when he entered the house so there was no point in putting one on the front door. Instead, he placed one on each window, starting in the backyard, and one on the glass door leading to the patio. It didn’t look like the Inouyes used their backyard much, so he’d have to take a chance that nobody would exit through that door in the next few days.
By the time he finished, he was breathing hard with the effort of keeping the invisibility spell going. His Calanarian training had helped him a bit with it, but not much, and three minutes seemed like an eternity when it felt like you were holding your breath the whole time. He ducked back behind the fence barely before the spell slipped, and let his breath out in a whoosh of relief.
Leaving the tracker on the door to the storeroom at the University was much easier. He didn’t even need to disguise himself, since he had every right to be there.
When he arrived, he found a guard stationed at the door. Unlike Kelso, this one wasn’t patrolling, but merely seated outside messing with his phone.
The guard looked up quickly as Stone approached. “Help you?”
“I was looking for Mr. Kelso.”
“He’s not here. Got taken off the post after last night.”
“Ah. I’m sorry to hear that. I wanted to ask him something.”
“Sorry, man.”
Stone pulled out his university ID, noting that the log sheet hadn’t been replaced, and showed the man. “I suppose they’re not letting anyone in to examine the collection anymore, right?”
“Nope. They’re moving it in couple days, after that guy nearly got killed in there.”
“Bloody shame. He’s a friend and colleague of mine. It’s terrible what happened.” He leaned against the wall near the door. “They haven’t caught the thief yet, have they?”
“Not that I know of. They don’t tell me much, you know?” He rose from his chair. “Hey, you probably shouldn’t be here. Nothin’ to see in this building.”
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll be on my way. Be careful.”
“Yeah. They got new cameras set up, and anyway I doubt whoever broke in’s gonna come back.”
“Probably not. Have a good evening.”
Mindful of the cameras, Stone kept the smile from his face until he was outside the building. His little trap wouldn’t work if the guard had access to the storeroom, but he didn’t think he did. But if anyone else tried to enter before the move, he might be in luck.
11
Nothing happened for most of the following day. Neither Jason nor Eddie got back to him regarding Leander McGrath, and his more in-depth perusal of the auction catalog didn’t turn up any other objects that looked like they fit together with the pyramid. He spent the next early afternoon on campus, teaching one class of his own and taking over Greene’s.
MacKenzie Hubbard caught up with him as he headed back to his office. “You talk to Greene at all?”
“Visited him at the hospital a couple days ago. He was very lucky.”
“No shit. He could have been killed. Good thing I have no curiosity, I guess, or it could have been me in there.” He shot a sideways glance at Stone. “Or you. You were in there before he was, weren’t you?”
“Yes. And the thought had entered my mind.”
“Yeah, I’m thinking I’ll give this one a pass. Are you planning on checking out the auction? I know you collect crazy stuff like that.”
Stone shrugged. “Haven’t decided yet. There are some interesting pieces, without a doubt. I wish I could have had more time to examine them, but—”
He stopped as an odd buzzing sensation went through him. It felt like when he had his phone on vibrate, but in a whole-body way.
“Stone?”
“Er—sorry, Hubbard. I’ve got to take this.” He yanked his phone from
his pocket, carefully keeping it turned away from his colleague so he couldn’t see it wasn’t ringing. “Will you excuse me?”
“Sure, I’ve got a meeting coming up anyway. Talk to you later.”
As soon as Hubbard had moved on, Stone put his phone back and hurried off the path. The buzzing was unfamiliar, but he knew what it was: Eddie and Ward had told him that would be the warning he’d receive when one of the trackers went off.
Since he was close to the storeroom, he checked that first. When he got inside, he found the same guard seated in the same chair, still scrolling on his phone, looking as bored as ever. The guard glanced up, nodded to Stone, then returned to whatever he’d been reading. It certainly didn’t look like anyone had caused any recent trouble there.
That meant it had to be Inouye’s house.
Don’t get your hopes up, Stone told himself as he strode toward his car. It could merely be Inouye’s husband deciding to exit the house through the glass door to do some late-afternoon gardening or something. But still, this was the first solid lead he had since this whole thing had started.
He was tempted to travel home using the ley line, but didn’t. He’d need his car once he discovered the location, and he’d have to move fast. Even though Eddie and Ward had said he’d have at least a few hours, he didn’t want to let any of that time get away from him. Still, he was almost running when he reached his car.
As soon as he arrived home, he swept upstairs, ignoring the indignant Raider, and began customizing the circle in his workroom. The little trackers worked the same way as a standard tracking spell: he had a bit of the same material used in the device, which would allow him to locate its counterpart out in the world. There was no way to tell which tracker had gone off, though.
It was already getting dark by the time he began the ritual, but the actual process didn’t take long. The spell went off exactly as expected, sending its seeking tendril out in search of its mate. After only a handful of minutes, he had a location. “Got you!” he whispered, calling up the map on his phone to pinpoint it. Because it was so close—only a few miles away—and the tracker had been optimized for the purpose, he narrowed it down to a bar on Castro Street, a couple miles from Inouye’s home.
