by C C Sommerly
He sure was defensive. I needed to tread lightly, or he’d kick me out and then I’d never get the answers I need.
“No, nothing of the sort”.
“Then, what do you mean? I certainly got that implication.”
“I want to help you. To do that, I need more information. I may be completely wrong, but I need to rule out anyone that had access to it.”
He sighed and settled back into the winged-back chair.
“Very well.”
I took out my notebook and waited.
“We have two staff on retainer at the moment. You met Hanz, who serves as our butler and assists with household tasks.”
“Does he possess any supernatural abilities?”
“Does he look magical to you?”
“What I think doesn’t matter. Does he?”
“Not that I’m aware of. He has served our family for decades and never once have I seen or heard about magical abilities.”
“Who is the other staff member?”
“Miss Tisley. She’s the maid and cook. And before you ask, she’s a brownie.”
“Thank you. Who else has access to your residence?”
“My son, Jasper, and our daughter, Eveline”.
Could this be the same Jasper that I met?
“Are they supernatural?”
“No, aside from my mother, God rest her soul, we are all magical duds.”
“Can I speak to Miss Tisley and your children”.
“You can speak to the staff, but unless it’s of paramount importance to this case, please leave my children out of this.”
“I will do my best.”
He seemed satisfied with my response. And, he didn’t notice that I never actually agreed or promised not to involve his children. I’d question them regardless of how he felt about it.
“Please take me to Miss Tisley.”
In the kitchen, I found Miss Tisley humming and polishing the already spotless fridge. She barely came up to my waist and had a crinkled appearance. Brownies were attached to either a family or a house. This one must have been with the Boldens for several generations. Perfect.
“Miss Tisley, this here is Marty. She needs to ask you some questions.”
To me, he said, “I assume you can be trusted to treat my staff with the deference and respect you’d give me.”
“Of course.”
“Miss Tisley, I’ll be in the back should you need anything.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
I waited for him to leave the room.
“Miss Tisley, will you sit at the table with me, so we can talk.”
“What do you need to talk to me about? I don’t know anything that you’d want to hear about. I just take care of the house.”
“Well, why don’t you let me be the judge of that.”
“Only if it won’t take too long. I don’t feel right sitting down when I could be helping with the house.”
She sat fidgeting and not meeting my eyes. Brownies were shy by nature, so this didn’t surprise me.
“I can tell that you care for the house and the people in it by how clean and taken care of it is.”
Miss Tisley blushed.
“Thank you. It’s my duty and honor to care for the Boldens and their residence.”
“Have you been with them long?”
“Yes, for two hundred years now.”
“That is a long time. You must be rather fond of them.”
If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I’d have missed the tightening of her face and the slightest of frowns that was there only for the briefest moment. Who didn’t she like in the household and why? It took a lot to earn the dislike of a brownie. Once they adopted your house and family, they were fiercely protective and doting.
“I wasn’t lucky enough to grow up in a house with a brownie. Our house always had cobwebs tucked into the corners and dust bunnies the size of a mouse.”
She gasped. “That is sad indeed, Miss. I am sorry for you.”
“I didn’t have friends growing up, so I stayed away from my house whenever I could escape. Looking at the love and care you take here makes me realize how much I missed out.”
“Those are kind words.”
“And, I meant them. Can you tell me about the people here at the Bolden residence?”
“I don’t want to talk about them with a stranger.”
“I’m not asking you to let any skeletons out of the closet or give me any information that would hurt them. Just who lives here, names, ages, basic information.”
“Okay, I’m alright with that. We have Mr. and Mrs. Bolden. They are both in their early fifties.”
“Any other relatives?”
“They have a son, Jasper and a daughter, Eveline. Both are in their twenties.”
Jasper again. He and I were going to have words.
“Do they all live here?”
“Yes, but some are here more often than others.”
“You must be close with the children. You’ve known them since their birth. What can you tell me about their magical abilities?”
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
“So they do have magic? Mr. Bolden said they were ‘duds’.”
“Eveline has magic, but she’s the only one.”
“Why don’t I smell my dinner cooking, Dad, has that brownie forgotten about my meal, again?” said a man’s voice.
Jasper, the same Jasper from Julia Huntington’s cabin, walked into the kitchen. He stopped talking to the brownie when he saw me. His eyes locked onto me.
“Well, who do we have here?”
The brownie was shaking. He sure was a slimy one. The ones that thought they were smooth and charming tended to be the slimy ones. And, he was a bully.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I was delayed. I didn’t forget, honest.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem, just relax Miss Tisley. You work so hard to take care of our every need even if you have small lapses like this. And, it’s obvious that we have a guest that detained you. I won’t hold it against you.”
The brownie jumped up and started pulling out the ingredients for a meal. Her movements were jerky and rushed. She was trying to stay calm, but failing.
“Now, that we’re actually getting some food around here, I believe it’s time we spoke, Marty.”
“After such a charming introduction at the cabin, you can imagine why I’m not happy with another opportunity to chat.”
“Yes, well about that. It’s unfortunate you didn’t get to see me at my best. But, we’ve been given a second chance.”
He pulled up a chair and scooted it closer to me. He draped his arm across my chair. I could smell the faintest whiff of body odor under the heavy dousing of cheap cologne.
“I like a dominant woman. So, you had to track me down, did you? Liked what you saw the other day?”
“Well, it takes a very special kind of guy to be able to handle me,” I purred.
He leaned in closer.
“Oh, I’m more than man enough to handle you.”
I shoved my dagger under his chin.
“You won’t be handling anything of mine. How about we chat? Seems we have a mutual acquaintance in common.”
He tried to talk.
“No, don’t bother talking. Here’s how this is going to work. I ask you questions and you shake your head yes or no. Do you understand?”
He didn’t move.
“I can tell that you’ll be a bit difficult about this.”
I pressed harder with the dagger and a small trickle of blood spilled down his neck.
“Do you understand me? If you do, shake your head yes or no.”
He nodded his head very slightly.
“Good, see that wasn’t too hard.”
Without turning I asked of the brownie, “Can you ensure we are not interrupted?”
“Yes Miss,” said Miss Tisley in a watery voice.
The poor thing needed a mental break after the trauma fro
m this.
“Do you have the necklace.”
Head shake, no.
“Do you know who has the necklace?”
Again, no.
“Do you have the grimoire?”
He didn’t answer.
“Do I need to make you truly bleed? Do you have the grimoire?”
He shook his head no.
“Did you steal it?”
Head shake yes.
“Did you read it?”
Head shake no.
“Did you give it to someone?”
Head shake yes.
“Mr. Bolden,” I yelled.
Jasper tried to jerk back, I punched him in the gut and followed it up with an uppercut to the chin. His eyes rolled. I shook him to keep him with me.
“What is going on here? I demand that you release my son. Your boss will hear about this,” said Mr. Bolden.
“Jasper here was telling me that he’s the one who stole the grimoire.”
“That can’t be right. He’s not magical and couldn’t break through the enchantments and wards.”
“Care to explain to your father how this was possible and what you’re going to do to get it back?”
“I will not have you man-handling my son.”
“I will not let him go until you hear from him about the grimoire.”
Jasper’s eyes pleaded with his father. Mr. Bolden straightened up.
“Is what she says true? Did you take the family grimoire?”
“You can’t tell me you believe her. She attacked me in my own home.”
“And you’re avoiding my question, but that already tells me what I need to know. You always were a horrible liar. Why did you do it?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Who has it then?” I asked.
“A mage. He put word out that he was looking for old family grimoires. That he’d pay handsomely for one. He taught me how to use blood magic to break the wards and gave me the spell to break the enchantment,” said Jasper.
Of course, it was a mage. The only people who knew about the grimoire was the immediate family and the person who took it. As for the necklace, only Julia Huntington and the thief knew about it. That had to be connected somehow. Either the mage was personally responsible for the missing items or he knew who took them.
“I need a name, Jasper. Who is the mage? And, how is he connected with Julia Huntington’s necklace?”
“I don’t have a name. He finds me. He pays and that was all that I cared about.”
“Speaking of pay, that will be $500, Mr. Bolden, while it’s been a pleasure dealing with you, I can’t say the same about your offspring.”
Mr. Bolden went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a large coffee tin. He brought out the money and slapped it on the table.
“Our business is done.”
“Actually, not quite. I want to know the next time he contacts you, Jasper. If not, I will report you.”
“He’ll do it because he needs to make this right. That grimoire shouldn’t be out of this house,” said Mr. Bolden.
7
I made my way back to the Agency feeling both satisfied and conflicted. I hadn’t really solved the case for Mr. Bolden because his grimoire was still missing and that didn’t sit right with me.
At my first sight of the Agency, my mood tanked. On the path in front of our building was a stranger, who was holding Rat off the ground. Rat’s face was reddening with the man’s grasp around the collar of his shirt. And Rat desperately kicked his feet.
No one was going to mess with my informants.
I jumped out of Betty without turning her off. She’ll take care of herself. I charged towards them.
“Does this belong to you?” said the strikingly handsome man standing before me.
He was the same man that I saw back on stairs at the Mage Guild Headquarters.
“I don’t own any people at the moment, so no.”
“I have to disagree with you, this fella said that he was meeting you, so he obviously knows you.”
“Can you let him down, so we can talk. I don’t want to have to call the enforcers because you detained someone.”
“No need to be nasty. We can handle this in a civilized manner,” he said.
“Civilized was off the table when you accosted him. Let. Him. Go.”
He dropped Rat. When he landed, Rat hunched into a ball on the ground feinting helplessness. I knew that trick, but hid my smile. He was trying to appear as non-threatening and as defenseless as possible before he made a run for it. First time that I met him, he fooled me with that routine.
“I’ll come find you later,” I said to Rat.
He met my eyes with a calculating gleam, already considering his escape. Something in the changed body language must have alerted the stranger, who tried grabbing the scrapper. But Rat, like most of the scrappers, didn’t survive the streets without knowing how to evade people. He twisted away from the man’s grasping hand and was gone.
Now that Rat was out of harm’s reach, I’d deal with this creep. I was the only one who got to shake down Rat. He liked to play up his helplessness, but Rat trusted me or he wouldn’t have come here voluntarily.
“I’m not sure who you are to come here dragging around some helpless street person.”
He shoved a gold, shiny badge in my face that proudly displayed him as a part of the Wolf Agency.
“I don’t care if you were the mayor. You have no right. Get out now!”
He ignored me and casually walked into Agency. I ran after him. Callie stared wide-eyed from the desk, taking in the scene. Her normal mouthiness was silenced.
“If you don’t leave, I’m calling the enforcers. I don’t care who you work for, this is trespassing.”
I didn’t have time for this crap. I had an ever growing pile of cases and not nearly enough progress made on any of them.
I pulled out my dagger
“Callie, call the police.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Marty.”
“I could give a shit what you would do. And, how do you know my name?”
“The street person told me.”
He focused on Callie. “Don’t place the call,” he said, staring at Callie. As he stared at her, I saw her eyes glaze over.
Damn fae. He must have charmed Callie. She’d be useless until it wore off. Time to change tactics.
“Well, since you’re so insistent, by all means, let’s head to the office and talk things over like civil people.”
“Now, you want to be civil. Fine, lead the way.”
I stormed down the hall and he followed me, chuckling. I sat behind the desk and pushed the emergency alert button. Once the man was settled, I waited to see what he’d say. I didn’t have to wait long. He went through a lot of trouble just to talk to me. Besides, Sterling would be here soon. We all had a comm device that vibrated if the emergency alert button was triggered.
“I’m here about Julia Huntington’s necklace.”
“What makes you think I have it?”
“I know you don’t have it, but I know she hired you. Her fiancé had her followed to your Agency. He suspected something was amiss when she refused a social engagement. Society darlings, like her, don’t miss a chance to shine, so it raised a red flag.”
“My clients have confidentiality and I’m not about to break that any time soon. And, I don’t acknowledge having her as a client.”
“Actually, you just did.”
He made a gesture and a folder materialized in his hand.
“I’m willing to show you mine if you show me yours.”
He floated the manila folder to the desk. I snatched it, and as I read through the contents, I could feel my eyes widening.
“How certain are you about the contents in here?”
“Certain enough to stake my life on it.”
Fae didn’t joke about death, life, or anything like that. As near immortal creatures, they had an almost superstitious aversi
on to making references to death. As if talking about it made any difference. But like many superstitions, there tended to be a grain of truth to them.
“I opened the desk drawer and pulled out the case file I had on Miss Huntington. I pushed it across the desk.
He looked over the file.
“There has to be more.”
“I’m afraid not. In ten days, this is all you’ve managed to come up with?”
Actually, there was considerably more. Thankfully, I had the file in my room. He didn’t have to know that all I was showing him was the initial interview with Miss Huntington. I didn’t trust the fae, especially handsome ones. And, it obviously didn’t include the connection to Jasper and the grimoire.
“I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Lochlan. We don’t have to be adversaries. I propose a partnership.”
“You can propose all you want, but I don’t do partners.”
He snickered. “I’m afraid there isn’t a choice.
“There is always a choice. And, mine is no. If you’ll follow me, I’ll see you to the door.”
“I’m not giving up on this. Either we work together or we work against each other. I’d much prefer together.”
“I’m sure you would.”
“This isn’t over, Marty. Stepping on each other’s toes and duplicating efforts makes no sense. If it’s a matter of fees or pride, I’ll give you the credit for it.”
This guy was unreal. As if I needed his help or money. I had no problem solving my own cases.
After I saw Lochlan out, I stopped by Callie’s desk. She was still dazed and utterly useless. I went back and locked the front door. I grabbed Callie’s hand and pulled her up. She giggled. I escorted her up the stairs and tucked her in on the couch. I grabbed a blanket from my room for her. Until she came out of it, she’d be in this semi-drunken state. Lochlan was super powerful for her to be in this condition with such limited exposure. That heightened my resolve to have nothing to do with the man.
My day was pretty much done. I unlocked the door and sat down at the desk. We still needed to be open.
The front door burst open and a panting Sterling stood there.
“Do you have any idea what I just went through to get here this fast?”
“I’m sorry. It was an emergency.”
“You look unscathed. What was so dire that you had to activate the emergency alert?”
