Tane looked at the bottle for a long time, and then put his glass down. “I think I’ve had enough. If we’re going to find who did this to her… I need to sleep. We can meet early—”
“Oh, I am staying,” Kadka said, utterly matter-of-fact.
Tane froze in his seat. “Kadka, you don’t think… This was nice enough, but we’re not…”
She laughed. “You have too much to drink, Carver. Not like that. In case mage comes looking.”
Tane felt his cheeks flush. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”
“Is fine. I know is not me you want in bed.” She raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Maybe tomorrow we impress Indree for you, yes?”
“That’s… She’s not…” But he couldn’t come up with a convincing lie, so he didn’t bother. “You don’t have to stay. No one is getting by my wards, and I don’t really have anywhere for you to sleep.”
Kadka shrugged and leaned back, putting her feet up on the desk again. “Chair is fine.” There was something about the way she said it that didn’t leave room for argument. And it did make him feel a little bit safer, having her there.
“If you say so.” He stood up, stumbled, and braced himself on the edge of the desk. The whiskey had hit him harder than he’d thought, and they’d been sitting a long time.
Kadka grinned. “Humans. Can’t hold drink.”
“Shut up.” He touched the glyph to turn off the magelight on his desk, and traced a slightly crooked path through the dark to the folding screen at the back of the office. But before he collapsed onto his mattress, he turned back. “Kadka?”
She was only a suggestion of a shape in the dark, leaning back in her chair. “What?”
“Thank you.” And then he let himself fall into bed, and remembered nothing more.
Chapter Ten
_____
“AND JUST WHERE are you getting this information?” Indree demanded, glaring at Tane with her arms crossed. She wasn’t wearing her constable’s uniform today, just a charcoal topcoat over a white shirt and dark trousers, with her hair tied back behind her pointed ears instead of pinned up to fit under her cap. Plain enough that she could ask around campus without drawing too much attention.
“Yes, Mister Carver,” said Dean Greymond. “You’ll have to explain how you arrived at the conclusion that our murderer is a student, after you defended Mister Thrung so effectively yesterday.” She sat behind her desk, frowning heavily. Indree had already been there speaking with her about the investigation when Tane and Kadka had arrived. “And while you’re explaining, what is Miss Kadka doing here? I understood that she had been relieved of duty.”
“She’s not—”
“Yes, I’m aware she isn’t here as a member of the Guard. What I am asking is, why is she with you?”
Tane glanced at Kadka for a moment, and shrugged. “Consider her… my partner, for now.”
Kadka grinned at that. “Needs someone to look after him.”
“A fair assessment,” Greymond said with a very mild smirk. “Fine. What about the rest of it?”
“A student just makes the most sense,” said Tane. “Before we even get to badges, the only people who could have gotten by the basic ward on that room are present and former students, faculty, staff, guard, and constabulary. We know it was a trained mage, so staff and guard are out—even if one of them had some latent gift, they wouldn’t know the lingua or how to use it. I’m certain the man we saw was younger, and his spells weren’t particularly polished, so student fits better than faculty or constable. I asked around with certain… less-than-savory contacts, and they tell me a man in a mask like the one Kadka and I encountered was seen buying black market components very recently.” Still best not to mention the scrollcaster, not until he heard back from Bastian. “They got the same impression—young, and probably a student, by the way he spoke.”
“Certain contacts?” Indree raised an eyebrow. “I need names if I’m going to use this, Tane.”
“If I gave their names to a bluecap, they wouldn’t be much good as contacts anymore, would they?”
“You expect me to just take your word?” said Indree. “Even if I was at all willing to do that, it isn’t much to go on.”
“Let me finish. We have to assume he wasn’t buying those components to use on campus—any new wards would have been noticed, let alone a portal opening in the dormitories. And I can’t imagine he found a way past the portal wards without some experimentation. He must have set up some sort of workshop in the city, and spent considerable time there. What we need to do is look for students who have been absent from class over the last few weeks.”
She didn’t look very happy about it, but Indree had never been one to ignore a well-reasoned argument. “So you suggest we go over the attendance records for everyone who missed a class or two? We can’t question that many people without missing something important. One point of reference isn’t enough.”
Tane felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Despite everything, this felt like the way it used to be, sparring with her over magical theory or spell construction late into the night. The ideas on either side of those debates had always come out more refined than they had been going in. “You’re probably right. I can tell you I’m sure he was human or half-elf by build, and male.”
“Better, but still too many. If you’d said gnome, or dwarf, maybe, but human men leaves us with a list of near a thousand across all years, and hundreds will have missed a class recently.” Indree prodded the side of her cheek with her tongue, the way she did when she was thinking, and then, “Dean Greymond, does the University—”
“Yes, we keep a record of students who are related to members of the University Guard, at least for immediate family. There are tuition benefits involved. Shall I have them ready that along with the attendance logs?”
Indree nodded. “And a full guard roster, so we can compare surnames. Whoever did this, they needed access to a guard’s badge to get in, and they had to be able to get it back before anyone noticed it missing. That wouldn’t be hard for a spouse or relative.”
“Or a friend,” Tane pointed out.
“True,” said Indree. A pause, and then, “But the first… incident”—she tensed visibly there, even without mentioning Allaea’s name—“happened past midnight. Less likely for a friend to be in your home at that hour unobserved. And we don’t have any way to check for friendship. If this doesn’t turn anything up, then I’ll worry about expanding the list.” She was as competitive as ever—couldn’t let a point stand if she thought she knew better, which she usually did. There was something comforting about that.
“Fair enough,” said Tane, and started for the door. “Let’s go.”
“No.” Indree’s voice was firm, and when he looked back at her, she shook her head. “You’ve been… more helpful than I expected, Tane, but I don’t need you for this.”
“The more help you have, the faster it will be to compare those records. And I can be useful when it comes to the questioning. You know I’m good at reading people. Please, Indree. I want to help. Allaea was important to me too.”
Indree’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare use her to—”
“Is not like that.” Kadka didn’t flinch when Indree’s glare fell on her.
“You two met yesterday. What do you know about it?”
“Only what he tells me,” Kadka said gently. “Your friend is woman I am sorry not to meet. I see his tears when he remembers her. Carver is good liar, but this was not lie.”
Tane wasn’t sure if he should be grateful or embarrassed. And Indree was staring at him again now. “The thing is,” he said, “we’d been drinking—”
“Shut up, Tane,” Indree snapped, and then shouldered past him to the door, yanked it open, and marched through. It had nearly swung closed when she stopped it with one hand and peered back in, scowling. “Are you coming, or not?”
_____
Tane was beginning to worry.
They’d been
at it for most of the day, and made little progress. Even the narrowed list left dozens of students to interview, and most could account for themselves during one of the intrusions or the other. The few who couldn’t weren’t strong suspects—there was no reason to believe they’d been involved, other than that the timing worked. If we don’t find something soon, Indree will never take me seriously again.
“Who’s next?” Indree asked, stretching as they emerged from the invocation hall into the fading sunlight. They’d pulled the last student they’d interviewed from class within.
Tane glanced at the list. “Randolf Cranst. Not one of our better prospects.” They’d gone through the most likely names hours ago. “An average student, no standout subject that looks particularly suspicious. He missed two classes last week and was absent yesterday, but he’s far from alone there. Not registered as immediate family of any members of the Guard, but he shares a surname with one. Dedric Cranst. Could be cousins, if we’re lucky.”
Kadka yawned wide. “Maybe we break, yes? Eat something?” She hadn’t bothered to hide her boredom for the past few hours. Showing her teeth had helped get certain students talking a little bit faster, but otherwise there wasn’t much for her to do—especially not under the watchful eye of a bluecap.
“We’re almost through the list,” said Tane. “Only a few names left.”
“Then we keep at it,” said Indree. “Where do we find Cranst?”
“No classes just now, it looks like,” said Tane. “He has a room in the dormitories.”
“Come on, then.” Indree headed across the campus center toward the northeast corner, where the dormitories were located.
The campus wasn’t as quiet as it had been the day before, but it wasn’t near as lively as Tane remembered either. The guards were still checking badges at doors, and beyond that, there was a new presence that he hadn’t expected: the Mageblades, elite guardians of the Protectorate. A handful of them were scattered around campus at strategic points, imposing in brass cuirasses engraved with the Protectorate’s gryphon over blue and white uniforms. Glyph-etched sabers and dual ancryst pistols hung at their sides.
Trained to wield magic in combat in a way few mages could, the Mageblades were utterly loyal to the Protector of the Realm, and their abilities were legendary. By reputation, they could best anyone with spell or sword, and make impossible shots with their ancryst guns, guiding the ball’s path with magical fields. Tane had known that Lady Abena was concerned about what had happened in the workshop, but even so he hadn’t expected such a strong gesture. She hadn’t sent many, but even one would have been a powerful deterrent against anyone looking to cause more trouble. Passing by a towering ogren in cuirass and uniform at the entrance to the dormitories, Tane felt oddly compelled to avoid eye-contact, as if the Mageblade might see everything he was hiding at a single glance.
Cranst shared a room on the third floor with another student—a dwarf by the name of Heln Stonehand. It was Stonehand who answered the door when Indree knocked, and only by a crack, just enough to peek through. Tane could only tell it wasn’t Cranst by height. “Yes?”
Indree showed him her badge. “Constable Inspector Indree Lovial. I’m looking for Randolf Cranst.”
Stonehand sighed, and opened the door wider, revealing a wide-nosed dwarven face half-hidden by a bushy auburn beard. “What did he do?” His eyes fell on Kadka, and widened. “Oh.”
Tane raised an eyebrow. “Oh what? You think he did something to Kadka?”
“I thought… she’s orcish, and Rand… he’s been talking a lot about magical superiority lately. Some people, they take a first year magical history class and suddenly every conversation ends with ‘maybe the Mage Emperor wasn’t so wrong’.” Stonehand turned to Kadka once more, obviously concerned. “He didn’t try to hurt you, did he?”
“Don’t know,” said Kadka. “That is why we come. To find out.”
Indree peered over Stonehand’s head into the room. “He’s not here, I gather.” It was fairly obvious: the room was just large enough to fit a bed and desk on each side, all of it visible from the door.
“No. He hasn’t been sleeping here much the last few weeks.” Stonehand stepped aside. “You can look through his things if you want. Honestly, the way he’s been talking, I’ve been wondering if I should tell someone.”
Indree was inside before he finished inviting her. “Which side is his?”
“There.” Stonehand pointed to the right side of the room.
Indree set to work immediately, opening the top drawer of Cranst’s desk and sifting through papers and trinkets. Tane followed her in; Kadka closed the door behind and leaned back against it, guarding against interruption.
Tane picked up a small pamphlet from the top of the desk, clearly printed on some basement press. Magic for the Magical was the slogan stamped crookedly along the top, followed by a screed about the superiority of mages. The Mage Emperor’s staff and crown was emblazoned in the middle of the page. “Look at this.” He showed it to Indree.
He recognized the glint in her eye—the same one he’d seen there a hundred times before, when the solution to a problem was coming clear. But aloud, all she said was, “It could be something. But not by itself.” She started digging through the next drawer down.
Tane sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at Stonehand. “Any idea where he’s been, if not here?”
The dwarf shrugged. “He stays with his cousin sometimes. In Greenstone I think, not far from the Conservatory off Rosepetal Park.” Rosepetal Park sat on the edge of the Citadel Court at the center of Thaless, but it was a large park, and the Conservatory of Magical Beasts was situated at the far southern end, bordering on a much less affluent district—better for animal noises to wake some poor miner in the night than the Rhienni ambassador. “If you want me to guess… what if he found some like-minded people? Maybe having some sort of meetings? That could get dangerous.”
“His cousin,” said Tane. “Is that Dedric Cranst? From the University Guard?”
“That’s him.”
Again Tane caught Indree’s eye, and saw the same understanding there. This was easily the best lead they’d found all day.
But there was something strange about it, too. “Would you call Randolf a gifted student?” Tane asked. “Did he have any particular insight into magical theory?”
Stonehand looked at him incredulously. “Rand? No, not at all. He’s studying invocation, but he’s average at best. I’ve had to help him with some pretty basic concepts.”
The records said much the same—sometimes tests and grades didn’t tell the entire story, but in this case it seemed they did. So how did he find a loophole in the portal wards that I can’t see?
Indree was on the last desk drawer now, and she’d only had it open a moment when she frowned and drew out a crumpled piece of paper.
“Tane.” She showed it to him.
A schedule of student and faculty hours in the primary artifice workshop.
“Well that’s definitely something,” said Tane.
“The cousin,” said Indree. “Is he on campus now?”
Tane looked over the guard roster. “He should be on duty.”
Indree’s eyes went unfocused a moment, and then, “I’ve sent to Dean Greymond. She’ll have him waiting for us in her office. Come on.”
When they were outside, away from Stonehand’s ears, Kadka said, “This is him, you think?”
“It makes sense,” said Tane. “Lady Abena is supposed to share the airship designs with the Continent as a gesture of goodwill. That might look like a sign of weakness, if you were interested in magical superiority. He might have gone after the plans in the hopes of finding a way to sabotage tomorrow’s launch.”
Indree was several steps ahead, and walking fast. “He could also just be one of a hundred harmless idiots who thinks a first-year class was enough to show him how the whole world works. What we need to know is whether he could have taken his cousin’s badge. H
urry up.”
Greymond’s door, as usual, swung open before they knocked. She was waiting behind her desk. In a chair at the side of the room sat Dedric Cranst, a broad-shouldered human man with thinning brown hair, dressed in a University Guard uniform. He looked up nervously as they entered.
“Inspector Lovial,” said Greymond, and gestured at the guardsman. “As requested.”
“What is all this?” Cranst asked.
“Mister Cranst, I won’t waste time,” said Indree. “Your cousin is Randolf Cranst, correct?”
“Y—yes, Inspector.”
“Did he stay at your home the night before last?” It was new, seeing Indree like this—every inch the no-nonsense constable.
“Yes he did. He does sometimes, when his roommate is… you know, with someone. But what—”
“Would he have been able to take your badge between midnight and two o’clock the night before last, and again just after noon yesterday?”
“What? No, he wouldn’t do that.” Dedric’s eyes widened. “Wait, those times… you don’t think he—”
“Answer the question, Mister Cranst. Not whether you think he would or would not, but whether he had access to the badge.”
“I… I suppose while I was sleeping. And I wasn’t on duty yesterday. I was out in the afternoon. Listen, Rand is a bit hot-headed, but he would never… what happened to that poor girl, that wasn’t him.”
“Do you know where your cousin is right now?”
“I don’t… I haven’t seen him today.”
Indree was almost certainly using a truth-spell herself, but even so she glanced at Greymond, who gave her a slight nod. Tane didn’t raise an objection—it didn’t sound to him like the man was lying, and two divinations were probably enough.
“Then we’re done here,” Indree said. “Dean Greymond, please make certain that he is kept under watch until the constables arrive to take over. I don’t want him getting word to his cousin.” She didn’t hesitate a moment before heading back out the door. Tane and Kadka hurried after.
The Flaw in All Magic (Magebreakers Book 1) Page 10