In a low tone, Seaton leaned toward us, standing close to avoid being overheard. “One of the Kingsmen—Georg, actually—has a sweetheart, and it was she who bought the charm. There’s been flu going about and she didn’t want him catching it. A sweet sentiment, of course, but she bought the wrong charm. Georg, not knowing, pasted the charm up in the hallway near the front door. Everyone in the barracks, which is twenty-four men, are now very ill because of it. I had to quarantine the entire Kingsmen compound on the palace grounds to keep it from spreading.”
Jamie startled. “Wait, this charm caused them to be sick?”
“Yes, that’s what I feared.” Meeting her eyes, I managed a one shoulder shrug. “Part of the problem with using a printing press—”
Seaton slapped a hand on the car, his mouth loosing several foul curses strong enough to shame a sailor. “The devil you say! They couldn’t be that stupid!”
“Six printing presses in the basement,” Jamie stated sourly. “He’s quite serious.”
Spluttering with incoherent rage, Seaton stared at her. “Six?!”
“All of them in recent use,” I tacked on sourly. “You now understand my and Jamie’s concern. We’ve no notion if every charm they printed was of the same terrible quality, or if only some of them cause sickness like the one in the Kingsmen’s Barracks. I suppose I will spend tomorrow examining multiple charms in the effort to figure out if this is a result of poor training or negligence.”
“I’ll help you,” Seaton promised darkly.
“At any rate, I meant to say that it’s because of their usage of a printing press that caused issues; while the design might go on the paper quickly enough, you sometimes get splotches. Blemishes. Parts of the ink might be fainter than it should be. All of these discrepancies hinder the spell, and if you have enough imperfections, it will actually turn the charm into an antithesis of itself. None of the charms I examined today are to that point, but I saw enough in their methods to fear that at least a few would have this effect.”
Jamie’s golden-brown eyes shone as she put the pieces rapidly together. “You think they made a charm bad enough that it got someone sick. Mortally ill, even?”
“Healthy people do not typically think to buy anti-sickness charms. Such things are bought by those who are ill, or have a tendency to become ill easily. If you put a bad charm, such as the one in the Kingsmen barracks, next to a person already struggling with a serious condition…” I trailed off suggestively, not liking my own dark theory.
“They could very well have killed someone indirectly,” Jamie finished lowly. “Yeah, okay, that’s a good motive for murder right there. And it would explain why Timms got offed too.”
“‘Offed?’” Seaton repeated in amusement. “Is that really the term you use?”
She flapped a hand at him. “You know what I mean. I don’t think we can firmly call it just yet, as jealous people are not rational, and we could still be dealing with a scorned lover, but I’m ninety percent certain this was about the charms. Although how we’re going to narrow down the suspects is beyond me at the moment. Sherard, you don’t know this yet, but this is actually their second business. They had to shut the first one down and change to a totally opposite end of the city.”
Seaton’s dark eyes went black with anger. “I cannot state that I am surprised to hear that. Not with the charms I saw. But you’re correct in that it will leave us with a very wide suspect pool.”
“First step,” I encouraged them to load into the vehicles, “let’s do what we can to prevent more victims.”
We finished the day by gathering in Jamie’s kitchen. Even Gerring was invited, and the dark elf happily accepted. I had the notion that he’d overheard talk of his mentor’s cooking before and was ecstatic to finally be able to taste it himself. It made for an interesting crowd with myself, McSparrin, Seaton, and Gerring all gathered around the bar. Jamie didn’t seem to mind; in fact, a wide smile split her face as she pulled the ingredients from the refrigerator and started mixing things together.
Clint introduced himself to the group—I had to explain what he was to both Gerring and McSparrin—and then chose Seaton to perch upon. Seaton lavished both praise and affection upon the egotistical creature and soon enough Clint sprawled across the mage’s lap, purring loudly.
“I sent a note to my superiors and the other Kingsmen,” Seaton informed us as Jamie browned the beef on the stove. “I’ve no doubt that we’ll be issued orders for a dual investigation. Officer McSparrin, Officer Gerring, I included a formal request that you work with us. We need all hands on deck for this case, I think.”
Gerring perked up hopefully. “Truly, sir? I’m very happy to hear it. Detective Edwards has methods I’ve never seen taught in the Academy and I’d like to learn from her as much as I can.”
That wasn’t surprising. Jamie’s methods weren’t even from this world, after all. I decided to hold my peace, focusing on chopping an onion for Jamie instead, our elbows brushing together as I worked. The glance Jamie shot me said she knew very well I’d bitten my tongue and found it amusing.
“I’m inclined to think you’ll make a good detective,” Jamie informed the young man, and Gerring’s ears swiveled in a happy movement. “Penny as well. It’s why I’m glad I can pull you in on a case like this. It gives you both good experience and introduces you to colleagues you might otherwise not meet. Although, I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure what’s the best tactic from here. I know what I’d do in my own country, but not all methods can be translated over. Unfortunately. We have a huge suspect pool.”
Gerring blinked at her. “We do?”
Leaning forward, McSparrin shifted so that she could see around Seaton and explain to her colleague, “We found today that Timms and Garner actually had a charms business before this one on east end. They had to shut it down and start up a new one. There’s a lot of files that we still need to wade through, so we’re not sure why, but it doesn’t look like bankruptcy. I took a quick look at the ledgers on the way to the station and the first business was making good money.”
“Which means that it’s more likely they had a lot of complaints about quality, or something went seriously wrong,” Seaton inferred, hand still rhythmically stroking behind Clint’s purple ears. “I’m inclined to think both, considering the state of their charms.”
Clint reared up in his lap, tapping Seaton gently on the cheek with a paw.
“Yes, my feline one?” Seaton inquired in amusement, pausing in the petting.
“Sing to me,” Clint requested in a slight whine.
I stabbed the knife in Seaton’s direction. “Don’t you dare. That creature is incorrigible and has a terribly accurate mimicry ability. Whatever you sing to him, he will use it against you.”
Jamie snorted but notably did not disagree.
Foiled, Clint shot me a dark look before slinking back down in Seaton’s lap. He nudged the hand nearest to him to resume the petting. Visibly biting back a laugh, Seaton indulged the Felix with circular rubbing behind his ears.
“Speaking of,” I stayed paused in my chopping, not willing to lose a finger in pursuit of my question. “Seaton, you examined at least one of the charms. How thoroughly?”
“Not very, I’m afraid. I was more inclined to dash off and find the dastard who’d made it. I checked only for the maker’s mark and the store stamp to give myself a location. I barely paused long enough to put it under strong warding to prevent any other mischief.” Cocking his head in question, he queried, “Why?”
“I’ve a question that needs answering,” I admitted frankly, one eye on my partner. “I’m certain you’ve wondered this as well, Jamie. Are the charms intentionally terrible, or a product of negligence? Or perhaps they are a result of someone who is simply not skilled about their craft. I gave it a cursory inspection, but aside from it being printed on a press—”
“Don’t remind me of that,” Seaton moaned, the sound coming from his gut like a mortal wound. “The s
tupidity of that brings horror to my soul.”
“Some people just need a sympathetic pat,” Jamie soothed him mockingly. When he gave her a dark look, she grinned and finished, “On the head. With a hammer.”
“Anyway, aside from it being printed on a press, any number of errors could be involved, and it will take study to determine what exactly made it the antithesis of what it was designed to do.”
Jamie poked me in the side and I belatedly realized I had a half-chopped onion in front of me. With an apologetic glance at her, I went back to dicing it into small cubes.
“Before we got sidetracked by that, I meant to say that because they had a business over at the east end of Kingston, we have a very wide pool of suspects,” Jamie stated. She picked up a wheel of cheese and started grating in a smooth motion, the scent of fresh cheese mixing pleasantly with the grilling meat in front of us. Enough so my mouth started to water. “From everything you two have told me, it’s very likely that these bad charms have either made people deathly sick or possibly even killed someone. On the other hand, we know that we had at least a powder monkey and a mechanic involved in the murder. Possibly a third person with a gun. I’m not sure which is the best approach to start narrowing our suspect pool from. Do we try to eliminate by profession first? Do we search for deaths in the past six months that are related to charms?”
I did take her meaning. We could approach it either way and find both searches equally time consuming.
Gerring leaned a little closer to her across the wooden surface of the bar. “You don’t think it will be any faster to search for the powder monkey and then work our way out?”
“I think the powder monkey might be tricky to find,” she explained patiently. “You heard Drake as well as I did—a single stick of dynamite was responsible for the explosion. Odds are he’s not going to find any trace of it left to identify. We don’t have the technology for that. Now, think about this. How easy is it for a citizen to purchase dynamite in any quantity?”
McSparrin and Gerring shared a speaking look before Gerring offered slowly, “I would imagine difficult. He’d need a very good reason for it and it’ll surely be recorded somewhere that he purchased it.”
“Yes, exactly. So odds are this man didn’t purchase it. He’s a powder monkey, he has open access to his company’s supply of dynamite. It would surely be easy for him to fudge the numbers, especially if it’s only one or two. I imagine that they tested this at least once, to make sure it would work, so say he took at least two sticks. All he would have to report was that there was a weak charge with a detonation, it took two sticks more than he expected, and bam. Perfect cover.”
Seaton’s face screwed up in glower. “You’re making too much sense. But that’s likely what happened. Even a close audit won’t reveal this person if they did it that way.”
“I’m personally hoping for a stupid criminal,” Jamie admitted to him, stirring the meat to prevent it from scorching, “but frankly? I don’t give it good odds. We’ll still investigate every company that does demolition in the city to cover our bases. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Maybe if we cross reference?” McSparrin glanced between all of us. “Isn’t that what we did on the last case? We got a list of all the possibilities and started cross referencing. We narrowed it down that way to people who needed actual investigation.”
I had to admit, the notion was a good one. It would not be a quick method of investigation, but it might be the only viable option. “I am inclined to think that’s a good idea. But it would mean some of us are regulated to searching the morgues for histories on recent deaths, and there’s hundreds of those in the city.”
“Not to mention interviewing hundreds of powder monkeys to see who they’ve lost lately to compare names with,” Jamie sighed. “Good heavens, but that’s giving me a headache just thinking about it. You’re right, though, Penny. It’s the only way to do this. I’d kill for a computer right about now.”
I’d heard, of course, about this ‘computer’ contraption before. If we’d possessed the technology capable of making one, I had no doubt that Jamie would own a machine. As it was, I gave her a sympathetic pat on the back. “We’ll make do. Seaton, because this is now a Kingsmen’s case, does that mean we can call upon the Kingsmen to help investigate it?”
“My dear fellow, you think that you can keep them out of this?” Seaton retorted, rolling his eyes expressively. “They’re hot under the collar right now, make no mistake. They’ll leap at the chance to help investigate this. But with so many out of commission, I’m afraid we’ll be shorthanded. I can probably only spare three or four of them.”
“Even three or four would help,” Jamie mused. “Who all do you think can come?”
“Lewis, Evans, and Bennett,” Seaton rattled off immediately. “They made sure I understood that they would do everything in their power to help.”
The names meant nothing to me, but they did to Jamie. She perked up immediately. It was only then that I remembered Jamie had spent six months with the Kingsmen, in an unofficial capacity, recouping and learning all about this world from them. She had close ties to several of them, and regarded them as close friends. I’d heard her tell stories but I’d never actually made their acquaintance.
“Gibson?” she inquired hopefully.
“I’m sure if you ask, he’ll come,” Seaton answered wryly. “That man denies you nothing.”
Gibson…Gibson…the name rang a bell with me. “Wasn’t he the first Kingsman to respond after you escaped Belladonna?”
Jamie gave me a quick nod, pleased. “You’ve a mind like a steel trap. Yup, that’s him. Cool guy, Gibs. He’s the biggest teddy bear I’ve ever met in my life, right up until you cross him. Then he’s like an enraged grizzly bear on steroids. He spent the first four months after I met him kicking out reporters and making sure I could breathe. He’s the big brother I never had.”
“He’s also one of the people with a texting pad,” Seaton hinted strongly with a wink at her.
“Oooh, is he really? Wait, how come I didn’t know this?” Jamie demanded.
“Likely because he only acquired it this morning.” Tapping a thoughtful finger to his mouth, Seaton glanced to the policemen on either side of him. “Really, I think we should see if Warner has anymore to spare. If we’re going to be divided up all over the city, it will aid us if we can stay in constant communication with each other.”
I thought that a splendid notion and said so. “If she has any on hand, we should acquisition them. I’m sure in this case she won’t mind, even if it’s temporary to this case.”
“No, likely not,” Jamie agreed. Taking the onions from me, she started mixing cheese, spices, and meat together in a blur of efficient movements.
Wisely, I stepped out of her way and joined Gerring on his side of the bar. At this stage, I would be more hindrance than help. Previous experience had taught me that quite well. “Seaton and I will start tomorrow by examining the charms, then. Who wants morgue duty, and who wants to interview the powder monkeys?”
Gerring and McSparrin stared doubtfully at each other.
“Rock, paper, scissors,” Jamie instructed.
We all stared at her in confusion. She’d said it in such a manner that it seemed obvious to her what it meant, but I couldn’t begin to fathom her meaning. Sometimes I could infer, but this was not one of those instances.
“Right,” she groaned, head tilting back to stare crossly at the ceiling. “You don’t have that game here.”
“Explain,” I requested of her. It always intrigued me when she taught me something of her world. It inevitably made my own perceptions of this culture broader, more enriched.
“It’s a simple game, really. Your hand conforms to different shapes,” her free hand rose in demonstration, changing shape as she said each word, “rock, paper, scissors. You play opposite someone else and choose a shape on the count of three. Each one trumps another. So, rock beats scissors, paper b
eats rock, scissors beat paper. Whoever wins chooses what to do.”
I believed I followed the rules of the game, if not the logic. Why would paper beat rock? I would think it quite the opposite. “And this is a method you use to divvy up duties and so forth?”
“Right,” she confirmed easily. “Is there a Kingston equivalent?”
“There is.” I paused as she slid the prepared enchiladas into the oven to bake. “Sails. A challenger starts, they do a brief chant of ‘Choose, oh choose which way the wind blows,’ and both players turn their hands as they chant. The players both flip their hands horizontally or vertically. If they match, the opponent wins. If they don’t, the challenger wins.”
“Huh.” Jamie pointed at her two underlings and instructed, “Okay, then, you two plays Sails. The winner gets to choose.”
Gerring faced McSparrin forthright and said, “I challenge you to Sails. I choose powder monkey.”
Nodding, she twisted on her barstool to face him, raising both hands in front of her. Seaton leaned back so they could properly see each other without straining, and they performed the chant in perfect unison, ending with their hands in the horizontal position. Gerring groaned, slumping forward.
“Sorry, I can take morgue if you rather,” McSparrin said kindly. “I know the smells make your eyes water.”
“No, fair’s fair,” he responded, resigned. “I think it more suitable you take the demolition companies. They’ll likely tell you more. Strangely enough, people say more to a female police officer than they would a male.”
I’d noticed the same strange phenomena. People were always more amiable about sharing details, gossip, and other bits of information to Jamie than to myself. With me, they were strictly business. But with my partner, they were more inclined to shoot the breeze. It was fascinating psychology to say the least, although tiresome at times, as it left Jamie the onerous of interview duty.
Charms and Death and Explosions Page 6