Grimoires and Where to Find Them

by Raconteur, Honor

  “I’ve heard of them,” she mused, her eyes trained on Clint. “Felixes, correct? The creation of Jules Felix.”

  “You’re well informed.” I approved of and was somewhat surprised by her knowledge.

  “Old people gossip all day. It’s all that we have energy for.” She lowered a hand and touched it lightly to the side of Clint’s cheek. He rubbed back, purring at her. “How soft you are.”

  He introduced himself. “I’m Clint. Pets?”

  “Oh! I didn’t realize you were sentient. How clever you are. Here, come up so I can reach you better.”

  Clint was amenable to this and immediately hopped up, getting situated and purring at her again as Lady Radman’s fingers stroked the top of his head.

  They fell to discussing things, such as what Clint did with a detective. Clint liked to tell all and sundry that he was a field cat. Tasha and Phil seemed content to let him explain, instead finding comfortable perches on our respective laps.

  Mildred came back in with the requested items. I accepted both from her, and under Lady Radman’s direction, opened the portfolio to reveal bills of sale or transfer of property notices for each volume. It was incredibly helpful because they had not only names but also addresses for each owner.

  Jamie looked over my shoulder and gave a low whistle. “Perfect. Exactly the info we need right now. Thank you, Lady Radman.”

  “I want this dastard caught,” she assured her flatly. “And I’ll aid you in whatever way I can to make sure that happens. You may take the portfolio with you, if it will help.”

  “If you don’t mind. I don’t want to try and copy important things here and now, only to find that I need more info later. I promise you, we’ll hand it back as soon as we’re done with it.”

  Lady Radman encouraged her with a wave. “That’s fine, take it. The diary I wish to keep here, you understand.”

  I did, and fully supported this. With one caveat. “Allow me to put a ward up around your safe, just in case. I do not wish to take chances.”

  “Oh, that’s kind of you, Dr. Davenforth. Please do. I’m not spry enough to fend off an attacker anymore, sadly.” A glint sparkled in her eye. “Although it might be fun to try.”

  This woman must have been a firecracker in her youth. I could see why she and my mother had gotten along.

  Looking down at the Felix in her lap, she added thoughtfully, “With Clint’s help, I bet we could drive off a thief.”

  Clint perked up immediately, whiskers twitching. “Sounds fun!”

  Oh, for the love of magic. These two were incorrigible.

  We spoke with Elfrida Bramwell after visiting with Lady Radman, but she hadn’t much more to add to the case, unfortunately. That put us wrapping up interviews a little past sunset. As riveting as the case might be, we stopped investigating after that. It was one of the harder things to learn about being a detective—when to stop and rest. Detectives could run themselves ragged, running around at all hours trying to solve a case. And the hours were strange, granted. But learning how to pace yourself was vital, or you burned out. I was fortunate in this because Jamie was experienced enough to know how to pace herself. I simply followed her lead.

  Since my sweetheart was once again translating something for Ellie Warner, I invited Seaton over to my flat for some magical tinkering. Jamie was right in that we often came up with excellent solutions while working together, and truthfully, I didn’t know what else to try at this point. I needed some outside perspective.

  Seaton came right at seven o’clock, oddly punctual considering he hadn’t been sure what time he’d be able to arrive. He swept in like a storm, as usual, all energy and motion, although he looked a bit tired. The makeup around his eyes was smeared and his tie loose around his throat, indicating he’d been tugging at it.

  Still, he greeted me warmly. “Davenforth, I must say, excellent timing. It’s all been political shenanigans at the palace recently. I could do with a breather.”

  Ah, that explained his fatigue. People could be exhausting.

  “I’m happy to have you. I honestly don’t know what else to try.”

  He set the light coat aside, making himself comfortable and dropping straight into his favorite chair in front of my coffee table.

  “Tea?”

  “Bless you, yes. I could use a sugar hit. I haven’t had a chance to look much at what Jamie’s family sent over.” His eyes roved over the electronics displayed on the table. For this, I had pulled out a Kindle and her laptop. “Odd-looking things, aren’t they? So shiny and metallic.”

  “I thought so, as well, the first time I looked at them. I’ve learned how to use them some under Jamie’s tutelage, but it’s been a struggle. I can’t read the screens or the menus.”

  That formidable intellect snapped to awareness in Seaton’s eyes. The challenge had been presented. “No translation spells work, you said. At all?”

  “None at all.”

  I poured us both a healthy cup of tea and brought them over, handing him his cup and saucer. He accepted it with a murmur of thanks. I took a seat on the sofa, getting situated. This would take a while, after all.

  “I have found a workaround of sorts, at least for the audio on the laptop. I’ve placed a translation charm over the speakers—those little grills there on the side—so I can understand what’s being said. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to watch any of the movies Jamie’s shown me recently.”

  Seaton took a sip of his tea, staring hard at the inert electronics lying so innocent and docile against the wood surface. “But you can’t attach a spell directly to them?”

  “Not in any way, shape, or fashion. And it’s driving myself and Ellie Warner mad.”

  “Oh, I bet it is. She especially has been salivating over the idea of new tech.” A naughty smirk graced Seaton’s mouth. “It’s funny seeing her riled up about it.”

  “Funny for you, perhaps. Jamie’s spending half her evenings right now with Warner, trying to give her enough information to go on.”

  Seaton hooted with laughter. “I can practically hear the jealousy.”

  “I am not jealous.” I might have been a touch jealous. Really, who could blame me?

  “We’ll fix it so you can go back to spending all your time with your lover.” Seaton’s smirk was outrageous now.

  I regarded him with a bland expression and drawled, “I’d appreciate it.”

  “So, that’s still going well, then? The courting?”

  “It is.” I paused, trying to phrase this right. “I’m not sure why people keep inquiring.”

  “People either decide to marry or part ways after six months,” Seaton pointed out reasonably. “The two of you seem content to go at your own pace.”

  “Ah. I’m in no rush, truth be told. We barely get any private time to ourselves, anyway. I feel more like I’ve courted her two weeks instead of six months.” Although his observation was worrying. “Do you think Jamie’s also wondering about this?”

  “Jamie’s never been one to wait. If she wants something, she’ll go after it.”

  I nodded, as he was most certainly correct. And she needed that personality in order to thrive in a world not her own. If she felt a lack in our relationship, she’d let me know.

  “I’m glad we’ve found a way to put her back in touch with her family, at least. She’s been far happier.” Seaton waved at the electronics. “Even if they’ve handed us this headache.”

  Yes, back to that. I turned my mind to the problem at hand. “Something about Earthian products makes them impervious to magic. I have no idea what.”

  “Or perhaps it’s because our spells can’t recognize these objects?” Seaton mused as he sat back into the chair. “Think about it. The spells have directions in them, and they’re told to attach to such-and-such. But telling a spell to attach to a device from another world doesn’t work. The spell doesn’t know what that means. It’s not been developed with that purpose in mind.”

  Excellent point
. “I’ve tried altering the spells to ‘attach to what I’m touching,’ but that had no effect, either.”

  “Ah, so you did try simplifying the spells.”

  “I did. For all the good it did.”

  “Hmm.” He pondered some more.

  I sipped at my tea, waiting for inspiration to strike. It had failed to do so on many consecutive nights now, so it was about due, in my opinion.

  “You said the box with a translation charm inside worked for the audio…” Seaton said in a tone that clearly indicated he was thinking aloud. “Have you tried making a glass screen that goes over the device and attaching a translation spell onto it?”

  I stared at him without blinking for several seconds. Would that work?

  He stared back, dark eyebrow quirked. “You didn’t think of it?”

  “I didn’t,” I admitted slowly. “Jamie navigates the devices with her fingers, you see. She’s constantly touching the screens.”

  “Ah. So, it won’t work, then. Confound it.”

  An idea started to take hazy shape in my mind. “Wait. Wait, don’t dismiss that so hastily. I think you’re onto something. Have you ever seen that setup where a large magnifying glass is attached to a spring-loaded arm? One that can be moved about so a reader can easily read the fine print on a page?”

  Seaton sat up sharply, setting the tea down. “Yes. Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Something like that here?”

  “It won’t be the most eloquent solution, but wouldn’t that work? At least until we can come up with something else.”

  He sprang up, a man on a mission. “We need glass. What glass do you have?”

  “For this, we can rob a picture frame.” I was very intent on seeing for myself if this would work.

  I sprang up as well, going for an older picture displayed on a bookshelf, one of me in my childhood. My mother had insisted on putting it there, and I only looked at it when it needed dusting. A noble sacrifice for the cause, I think. Besides, it was the perfect size to cover the Kindle. I dismantled it without even a twinge of sentimentality and carried it back to Seaton.

  While I was gone, he’d grabbed four short glasses from the kitchen—a handy way for us to prop the glass up. I barely had it resting on top of all four glasses when Seaton had his wand out and a spell rattling off his lips.

  “See what is, reflect what the viewer needs, translate all that is viewed through this pane.”

  I powered on the device with a touch of a button, waiting anxiously for it to boot up. It did so—and for once, the loading screen looked different. It was no longer in English, but in Velars.

  I hissed in excitement, clenching my hands on my knees. “Yes! Alright, that’s a good first step.”

  “How does it look when there’s a book pulled up?”

  An excellent question. I had to bend a little awkwardly to get a hand under the glass, but I managed. I used a finger to pull a book up at random and started reading it aloud with no issue.

  “The Thin Man, chapter one. ‘I was leaning against a bar in a speakeasy on Fifty-Second Street, waiting for Nora to finish her Christmas…’ Is that how you say that word?”

  “Who cares!” Seaton laughed in delight. “It worked, and that’s what I care about. Alright, so putting something over the device works. This method is entirely slapdash, however. Surely we can craft something better.”

  I had a different take on this. “My dear chap, neither of us are craftsmen. Why don’t we take this to Ellie Warner, have her craft something? She’ll do a far better job than we could.”

  He pointed a finger at me, delighted. “Excellent point. And she’s probably the most motivated of us all.”

  “Arguably, yes.” Jamie might be her equal at this point in time. Although for different reasons. “And I think if nothing else, giving this solution to Warner will save both women quite a few headaches.”

  Seaton was back to smirking at me. “I think you have a different motivation.”

  I refused to rise to the bait. The man was enjoying ribbing me entirely too much. I reached for the pad lying nearby and wrote a quick message to Jamie.

  We have a solution. The Kindle can be both read and operated.

  The response was nearly immediate.

  I will love you forever if you bring that solution to me right now. Ellie’s whining is something else.

  I chuckled and teased back, Only forever?

  Get over here, you brat.

  “We apparently have our marching orders.” I stood, carefully gathering the glass. “Fancy a trip to Warner’s workroom?”

  “I would, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever been in it.”

  “It’s a bit hazardous,” I allowed, “but fascinating to see her projects in process.”

  “I bet.”

  We left the flat—I locked up behind us—and strolled down to the main street, where Seaton had parked his car. He’d acquired it recently, since he was constantly travelling, and it was a fine one—cherry red in color with butter-cream seats. It must have been custom made, as I’d not seen another one like it.

  I slid into the passenger seat, settling as Seaton revved the engine up and entered traffic smoothly.

  “How goes the case, by the way?” he asked casually. “I don’t know much, only that Gibson mentioned Jamie had found a good training case for the junior kingsmen. He was quite pleased about it.”

  “Ah, well, the case has some very dangerous undertones to it. Are you familiar with the Reaper’s Set? The grimoires made by Kerey Radman?”

  Seaton shot me a startled look. “I am. We’ve a volume of it in the palace library. I borrowed it once for a read and stayed up three nights in a row thinking about it. Don’t tell me your crime involves the Reaper’s Set?”

  “Unfortunately so. We’ve confirmed three stolen volumes at this time.”

  Seaton swore, loudly and creatively. “This is not good, my friend.”

  “We know it. We’ve got a list of all the owners of the individual grimoires, and we’re contacting each of them—plus every book broker in the city—in an attempt to stop the thief in his tracks. The hope is that someone has been stupid enough to try and sell the grimoires back to another book broker.”

  I personally gave it fifty-fifty odds, but who knows. We might, for once, be lucky.

  “But no real leads?”

  I shook my head in frustration. “No. One of the owners hadn’t even realized he’d been robbed until we showed up at his door. The thief was clever about how he got in and out.”

  “Great dark magic, I don’t like this one bit.”

  Another concern crept into my mind. “Seaton, you’ve got access to the palace library. Do us all a favor and confirm it’s still there, would you?”

  He shot me an alarmed look. “You don’t really think someone stole something off the palace grounds, do you?”

  “It’s an insidious little concern. Remember that time when Edward Jameson kept sneaking into the palace grounds, and we were constantly tampering with the wards? I can’t help thinking about that time. If Edward Jameson got in, maybe someone else could figure out the same trick.”

  He groaned, a man pained. “I do not like that idea whatsoever.”

  “I can’t say I’m overjoyed by it myself. For my peace of mind, check?”

  Seaton snorted. “For my own peace of mind, I’ll check.”

  This relieved me. I’d sleep better knowing at least one copy was still under high security.

  We pulled into Ellie Warner’s parking lot a few minutes later. I took the glass pane and my pad in with me and we entered through the side door. One should knock, I suppose, but doing so rarely got anyone’s attention. With all the fabrication noises going on in the building, there was no chance of anyone hearing something as quiet as a knock.

  I’d been in here often enough that I knew where Ellie’s workroom was, so I led us confidently down the left hallway and into the back corner of the building. Her room was massive, which made sense, as
this had once been a factory building. She’d converted it for her guild’s use.

  Both women were perched on stools, chatting, as we came in. Jamie’s head turned first—it normally did, as she could hear an approach far more quickly than the average person. She lit up, a delighted smile on her face.

  “What’s the solution?” Warner demanded, practically bouncing in place.

  “For now, a workaround.” I came directly forward, as the Kindle sat on the scarred worktable between the two women. I placed the glass on top, letting it rest without my holding it for a moment.

  Seaton waved to it as he explained, “We spelled the glass. You’ll need to craft something to hold the glass in place—much like a magnifying glass—but you can operate the Kindle perfectly and read it without a hitch.”

  Warner promptly propped the glass up with one hand, the Kindle with the other, and tested the theory. She had a struggle trying to do things with her thumb, but she managed more dexterously than I would have. Her delighted smile grew.

  “Oh, this is excellent. I can read every word. Well done, gentlemen.”

  I gave her a little bow. “I trust you can craft one for me as well? And the laptop?”

  “Yes, give me the dimensions. I haven’t seen more than a glimpse of it yet.”

  Jamie snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me in, tilting up enough to press a chaste kiss against my mouth. I warmed under the touch, and my expression was undoubtedly besotted as I looked back at her.

  “I knew you would figure it out,” she praised. “You and Sherard are a good team that way.”

  Seaton asked almost rhetorically, “Does that mean our work here is done?”

  “It does in my book.” Jamie looked between the three of us, eyebrows lifted. “Dinner, anyone?”

  We’d had a late lunch, which threw off my normal eating schedule. A dinner with friends sounded quite splendid to me. “I’m all for it. Christopher’s?”

  “Oh, yes. This is definitely cause for a celebration.”

  “I’m parked outside, I can drive us,” Seaton offered. “And perhaps on the way, I can make my case to Ms. Warner about what I want invented next.”