Magic and the Shinigami Detective

by Honor Raconteur

  I looked to Edwards to see how she took this. She sat perfectly straight, anticipating, and appeared thoughtful, lips parted in a gesture of growing delight. “Cap. You mean I get to keep him?”

  Her obvious happiness in keeping me as a partner made me flush in turn. Did that mean I got to keep her, too? I strove to keep my tone professional, but I had a feeling I fooled no one at the table, least of all myself. “I certainly have no objections. We’ve worked well together.”

  “Regular Abby and Gibbs, that’s us.” Edwards did an aborted happy dance in her chair. “Although, that means you’ll be writing all the reports, at least for the foreseeable future.”

  I waved this away as an inconsequential matter. Reports were part and parcel of my duties, I thought nothing of it. “Gregson, this does bring up a valid concern: who will take over my duties? I can’t work both at once. And if you say Sanderson will cover for me, I will flip this table over.”

  Lifting both hands in a placating manner, he assured me, “Sanderson will not be required to do anything for you. Part of the reason why I’m suggesting this is because the precinct will be expanding. You’ve noticed, I’m sure, that the building next to us undergoing renovations? I didn’t want to say anything until it became official, but we’ve been approved for an additional twelve patrolmen, eight detectives, and another Magical Examiner as well as another coroner.”

  This was news to me, as for the past year we’ve been swamped with work and had no relief in sight. “How did you manage that?”

  “It came down to census numbers.” Gregson paused as our food arrived and smiled. “Steak? It’s steak night?”

  “It always is this day of the week,” I responded in amusement. “Why do you think I ordered the specials?”

  Edwards laughed, a warm, rich sound. “Of course you have their menu memorized. Pass me the sauce.”

  I did so, then prompted Gregson before he could get sidetracked by the food, “Census numbers?”

  “Census shows that we have about twenty people a day moving into our area,” he responded, eyes and attention on the steak under his hands as he cut it up. “Which doesn’t seem like a lot, but that means we’ve had over seven thousand people move in this year alone. They’re cramming people into every nook and cranny.”

  “And we do not have a large enough police force to handle that kind of growth.” I hadn’t realized the growth that high. I’d seen quite a few apartment buildings go up, and new faces come into the neighborhood. But seven thousand people? In just one year? “How long does city planning anticipate that this trend will continue?”

  “No idea. We have three major corporations putting their factories and main business buildings here, hence the boom, so we’re not quite sure how many people will move into Kingston. When the dust settles, it’ll be quite the boost in population, that we’re all sure of.” Gregson shrugged before putting the first bite of steak in his mouth and moaning in bliss. “No one does a steak better than here.”

  “Christopher’s comes close,” I disagreed. “Although it’s a close tie, I grant you.”

  Gregson’s expression clearly stated he did not agree but let it ride. “At any rate, if you both are good with it? Yes? I didn’t expect anything different. Then I hereby dub thee as partners,” he lifted his arm straight out as if it were a sword that he knighted us both with, fork still in hand, “that shall not be rent asunder.”

  Chuckling, Edwards played along with a gracious tilt of the head, as if she were some grand lady. “I thank thee, kind sir.”

  “Davenforth, you’ll have to play double duty a little for the next three weeks, then get the new man up to speed,” Gregson tacked on, as if doing two jobs at once was a matter of afterthought. “That alright?”

  I wanted to say no, I truly did, but then I thought of leaving my lab in Sanderson’s hands, or letting the new man be corrupted by that moron’s incompetence, and shuddered. “That will be fine. I’ll manage.”

  Gregson lowered his tone, focusing on Edwards. “How are the language lessons going?”

  “Better,” she answered, perking up with a proud smile. “Sherard’s been teaching me. I no longer butcher short sentences. My spelling’s still iffy, though.”

  I hadn’t realized she’d progressed that far. Our native tongue was not an easy one to learn. A thought I had entertained before came to me and I decided now might be the opportune moment to voice it. “Perhaps we can exchange lessons?”

  For a moment, she didn’t catch my meaning, then her eyes went a little wide, head canting to the side. “You want to learn English?”

  “I’ve seen you write things in your native tongue several times.” I strangely felt like defending myself although not quite sure why. Perhaps because a small part of me felt like a boy wanting to learn a secret code. “It’s intrigued me.”

  This offer pleased her and even though she shrugged assent as if it were not an important matter, her smile grew. “I’m game if you are. We have twenty-six letters in the alphabet unlike your insane seventy-six.”

  Only twenty-six? “How in the devil do you manage to spell all of the words, with all of the necessary nuances and meanings, with only twenty-six letters?”

  Tone maddeningly dry, she drawled, “We manage.”

  Gregson watched us, his eyebrows slowly climbing, inferring things that had no business being inferred. Why did everyone look at me like that while I’m with Edwards? Of course I think she is an incredible woman, but that didn’t automatically mean that my feelings went off in THAT direction.

  People fixated entirely too much on romance.

  I steadfastly ignored the look on my captain’s face and started in on an immediately excellent dinner.

  “Well, Henri, your family is going to be pleased.” Edwards cut into her steak with obvious relish. “Your mother told me only yesterday that she hoped we’d stay partners.”

  I nearly choked on my steak. “When did you talk to my mother?”

  “Hmm?” With an innocent blink, she responded, “Over dinner. She took me to that wonderful place on Main. What was it called? Catherine’s?”

  “Catherine’s Tea Shop,” my mouth filled in automatically. Of course my mother had taken Edwards to a favorite restaurant.

  “That’s it,” Edwards agreed, quite comfortable being taken to dinner by a male friend’s mother. “She’s quite something, your mom. We laughed most of our way through dinner.”

  Gregson couldn’t keep a lid on his curiosity. “And, ah, was that the first time you met her?”

  “No, I had dinner with his family last week,” Edwards corrected easily. “Pass me the salt, will you? Thanks. We were celebrating his sister’s pregnancy. They’re all very excited about it.”

  “I have no doubt,” Gregson’s eyes cut to me in a meaningful look that I chose not to acknowledge, “as they’ve been hoping for grandchildren for nearly five years. Congratulations, Davenforth, I’m sure you’re all happy with the news. Everything’s going well so far?”

  “Fortunately. It’s too soon to do a gender reveal, so don’t ask. I’m sure my parents will do a grand announcement when we do know.” And when Emilia was a little further along. With a first pregnancy like this, it was best to give it time, especially after five years of struggling.

  “They might throw another dinner to celebrate our official partnership,” Edwards mused.

  No doubt about it. My mother would throw a dinner to celebrate a sunny day, after all.

  After a late night at work, I did not spring out of bed, trembling with energy. Quite the opposite. I dragged myself through the morning routine, grunting when I realized I had exactly three clean shirts left. Laundry. Laundry must happen in the near future. The consequences of forgetting such a mundane matter would become alarming in short order otherwise.

  Yawning, I made it out the door with keys in hand, promising myself a very large cup of coffee and three excellent cheese pastries. I’d need the energy at work. Today didn’t promise to be any
easier than yesterday. We were gaining an additional wing to the precinct, which everyone celebrated, but it did mean extra work on our end. We had to rearrange a few offices in order for demolition to start, and the work load got redistributed as a result.

  This on top of spending every possible moment studying the wards, working on other case files, and trying to track down the last of the rogue magicians. That alone was enough of a workload for three days, but I still needed to further research in order to solve the dilemma of Edwards’ core. There were simply not enough hours in the day and after three days of this, I felt more than a little ragged around the edges.

  The chill of the morning against my exposed skin helped waken me further. I knew better than to take in a deep breath of this industrialized air, but I did turn my face up to the sun for a moment once I reached the sidewalk. It actually had the reverse effect, reminding me of the warmth of my bed upstairs.

  Still feeling lethargic, I started walking to my favorite bakery. A voice I knew well, raised in song, reached out to greet me.

  “Look there she goes, that girl is strange, no question~” Edwards sang cheerfully, her voice growing stronger as she grew closer. I couldn’t see her yet, but I could certainly hear her. “Dazed and distracted, can’t you tell? Never part of any crowd ’cause her head’s up on some cloud, no denying she’s a funny girl~”

  People turned to see who was singing, and their faces expressed incredulity at what they saw. I could only catch glimpses of a familiar head of dark hair, but if the onlookers’ reactions said anything, Edwards provided quite the unusual sight. Finally, enough pedestrians moved that I could see her properly. When I did, I become instantly convinced it must be an illusion. An outfit like that simply didn’t exist, for one, but her chosen activity didn’t make sense, either. Who chose to run along the city streets at this early hour of the morning?

  Seeing me, Edwards waved and then stopped, right in front of me. “Morning, Henri.”

  “Morning?” I offered, eyes roving over her from top to bottom. She had her hair up in a high tail, the end of it still swishing a little like a pendulum. I didn’t find that particularly strange, but the rest of her…she wore a very loose, baggy shirt with a stretched-out hem, a pair of loose pants in a material I’d never seen the like of, and what was on her feet? I’d never seen footwear like it.

  “Oh, these?” She asked, as if I had voiced a query. “Tennis shoes. You know, when people think about traveling to another planet, and what conveniences they’d miss, and the things they’d have to invent, they never think of tennis shoes. I certainly didn’t until I got a load of a woman’s shoe store. Yeesh. I thought shoes on MY planet were toe-pinching uncomfortable. Kingston’s shoe industry takes it to a whole ’nother level.”

  I decided to ask her more questions about the shoes later, when my mind would cooperate. “What are you doing?”

  “Jogging,” she said as if this were perfectly obvious.

  Shaking my head, I repeated, “Jogging?”

  “Why does everyone look at me like that?” Edwards asked rhetorically to the world in general. “Exercise, man, we all need it. Jogging is a good way to get the cardiovascular system going. You should join me, it’ll be good for you.”

  I would pencil that in on the twelfth of never. “I find it curious that you jog like this even though you have enhanced stamina and speed.”

  “None of which would do me any good if I don’t stay in shape.” She beamed at me, still apparently oblivious to the looks we garnered. “We’ll discuss it later, okay? I want to get cleaned up, ready for work. You heading for the bakery?”

  I ripped my eyes away from her outfit again. Had she asked me something? “Ah, yes.”

  “Good, get me a coffee and two cinnamon rolls, will you?” Clapping me on the shoulder, she bounced up the stairs and into our apartment building.

  Where did she get all of that energy? This woman worked the same long hours I did yesterday. I barely had the willpower to get out of the building, and she was out here running around on the streets. Shaking my head in disbelief, I refocused.

  Coffee. Deities preserve us, did I ever need it now.

  “Remind me to clarify next time with Cap,” Edwards told me, rather, gritted out between clenched teeth as she grimly hung on to her smile, “that when I ask for eight officers to augment security with, I do not include myself in that number.”

  “Trust me, I’ll remind you.” I did not look forward to the next eight hours. Today was worse than yesterday. Even Edwards’ boundless energy wore off at noon. My only reprieve came from Penny McSparrin—who could work three men into the ground—covering for me long enough that Edwards and I could at least sit down for a half hour and have lunch.

  Edwards did a half-turn, taking in the main floor of the Royal Museum with cool assessment. At this time of the evening, all of the patrons were at their own homes, leaving this place with a kenopsia feeling to it. Most of the exhibit’s lights had been turned off, leaving only the security lights on, so that half of the floor lay in dim shadows. There was no clear line of sight from one side of the room to the other which made all of us twitchy.

  The only ones that didn’t react like squirrels with the hives were the regular security guards, whom were used to the restricted lines of sight. They went about their patrol route with alertness, but with less obvious twitches at every sound. One pair went by, routinely checking each window and entry point as they went past.

  My partner must have seen something that I did not, as she observed, “You can tell they’ve been working together for three days. They have most of the kinks worked out when it comes to patrolling.”

  I made the same sweep with my eyes. Edwards had been more involved in setting up the security detail than I, and this was the first time I had been in the building since our last visit. “We’ve got one security personnel and one policeman at each entrance, too, which is good. Chief Slade’s idea?”

  “I believe it was.” Edwards walked toward the front door and offered a hand. “Gerring. Glad you’re here.”

  “Thank you, Detective.” Gerring beamed back at her, handshake firm.

  I read the name tag on the security guard’s pocket and offered a hand. “Harlan, is it? I’m Dr. Henri Davenforth.”

  “Pleasure, sir.” Harlan responded. He, like his chief, was a stocky dwarf with a beard any lion would envy, red and bushy. I couldn’t even see his mouth when he spoke. “Think we’ll get any action tonight?”

  “From tonight until Bind Day will be the most opportune time for the thieves to strike,” I answered forthrightly. “The wards start weakening tonight and that will continue through Bind Day night.”

  Harlan gave a grim nod. “We’ll keep a sharp lookout, then, sir. Detective Edwards says there are at least four thieves.”

  “We’ve seen four,” I corrected. “One was killed. There’s quite possibly more, as we suspect a rogue magician is involved with them somehow.”

  Gerring, having more information on this case than most of the beat cops, blinked. “First I’ve heard of a fifth person, sir.”

  I exchanged a glance with Edwards on this and she gave me a small dip of the head, encouraging me to go ahead. “We believe they have a rogue magician in their midst. Or at least, someone with the magical talent and slapdash schooling necessary to pull this plan together.” Neither man liked this answer, and I didn’t blame them.

  “As soon as you see any suspicious activity,” Edwards instructed, “immediately sound the alarm. I don’t care if you’re not certain. I don’t care if it turns out to be a false alarm. Do not take them on without every person in this building available as backup.”

  Getting grave nods, I relaxed a fraction. “Good. I’ll spread the same instructions to the others.” As I walked away, I whispered to my partner, “You didn’t mention that to them?”

  “As you said, we haven’t seen the magician in the previous thefts. I didn’t give it good odds he’d show up tonight.”
>
  “There is a seventy-five percent possibility he’ll be here tonight.”

  Edwards hissed in a breath, like a surprised snake. “What? Why?”

  “Because it’ll take a magician’s know-how to create and dismantle the Sink.” I paused and waited for the obvious to hit.

  For a half beat she paused, eyes taking in all of the priceless artifacts, some of them magical, on display all around us. This floor alone took up most of a city block and there were another four stories above our heads, not to mention a basement below our feet storing even more. “Crap. If they took a Sink through the wards, it would destroy everything in the building they came to steal. They’ll have to dismantle it.”

  “Correct. It’s also why you are allowed to be on guard here. A Sink has a limited range, even a powerful one that the thieves concocted. Still, I advise you to not get closer than ten feet if it is active.” All of this was why I didn’t fight the order to come and stand guard tonight. I’d likely be here tomorrow night as well. I didn’t dare leave this to regular policemen, not with these odds.

  She slowed and came a step closer to me, our shoulders brushing, her voice so low I could barely hear her. “Henri, I’ve been afraid to ask, but I think I better. If I get too close to the Sink, will it tear my magical core a new one?”

  “In essence, it will drain you like a black hole.” Which was another reason to be here with her instead of in my bed tonight.

  Regarding me thoughtfully, she pondered that for a moment. “Is that why you volunteered to be on duty tonight? To protect all of us?”

  “I did not volunteer, I was voluntold,” I informed her, chin coming up.

  “Uh-huh. Riiiight. And I’m Mother Theresa.” A fond smile on her face, she continued walking to the side door and the guards on duty there.

  Alright, perhaps I’d mentioned to Gregson that someone of magical training should be on guard here. Just in case. How had she learned to read me so well in a month, anyway?