Nine of Wands

by Mark Hayden

  ‘Loads,’ she’d said. ‘I don’t know where to start. I still can’t believe you had the Morrigan in your garden and didn’t tell me when I was staying with you.’

  ‘You didn’t need to know, then.’

  She was struggling to accept this, and I hoped that she’d got the message about keeping everything about Project Talpa within the small group who were working on it.

  ‘Tell me one thing,’ she’d said. ‘You gave hospitality to the Morrigan. She always gives a gift in return. What was it?’

  ‘You’re well informed,’ I’d replied. ‘No one else knew that.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘It was personal.’

  It was actually a wedding cup, but no one else needs to know that.

  ‘Oh. Fine.’

  Mina and I skirted the wall and approached Merlyn’s Tower just as Saffron herself came through the security gate. She was wearing a bright blue floral summer dress and leather sandals. I only mention this because she’d had the dress made for her. Vicky had told me that Saffron had been on the phone while they carted Irina down to London. She had called her dressmaker and asked for a high-necked summer dress to hide the Mageburn. It had been ready for her next morning. I can’t wait to see where the Hawkins clan live.

  We greeted each other and went up the stairs to Tennille’s domain, then straight through the open door to Hannah’s office.

  Mina went first, then Saffron, and when all three of us were inside, Hannah stood up and led the rest of the room in a prolonged round of applause. I could get used to that.

  Like the Undercroft, Hannah’s office kept out the worst of the heat. Given the number of bodies in the room, that was a good thing. Tennille put cups of tea down at our places and closed the door behind her.

  The usual suspects were there: Hannah, Francesca, Cora, Rick James, Vicky, Desi and Xavi. To Saffron’s great embarrassment, they’d been joined by Auntie Heidi Marston herself. I wonder whose idea that had been?

  Everyone was dressed for the heatwave, according to their age and religion. This ranged from Hannah’s loose and modest linen suit to Rick’s shorts. He’s got the legs for it, according to Mina. I have one of the legs for shorts; no one needs to see the scars on the other one.

  ‘Good morning, ma’am,’ I said. ‘How was the holiday?’

  ‘Over. Mina, you start.’ There’s another reason Hannah doesn’t live in Israel. She gets very grumpy in the heat.

  Mina said her bit in the professional, forensic and eccentric style I love, then answered all the questions. With great reluctance, given the presence of Auntie Heidi, Saffron reported on the Battle of the First Mine.

  The only way to describe Heidi Marston is larger than life. She is large, for one thing, and makes sure that everyone knows about her omnivorous sexual appetites. No one knows of a more skilled human Artificer than Heidi, which is why she’s the Custodian of the Great Work at Salomon’s House. Cora had text me last night to say that Heidi had put herself forward for Warden, which made her presence today even stranger.

  The Custodian has a big following amongst the younger Chymists, all of them female. Vicky calls them Heidi’s Gang. She is definitely not a member, but her best friend, Desirée, is a fully paid-up fan.

  Saffron shifted in her seat and focused on Hannah. She peppered her report with lots of ma’ams and Constables, to the evident displeasure of Auntie Heidi. For a first time, Saffron did well. Much better than I would have done at her age. It was now my turn.

  ‘What have we learnt from Miss Ispahbudhan?’ said Hannah.

  I straightened up in my chair. ‘She is the closest suspect to the Codex to have co-operated with us. Not that we’ve learnt very much. I hope that the Custodian can tell us something more about Eilidh Haigh.’

  ‘What!’ boomed Heidi. ‘Where did that come from?’

  ‘She is one of the three sides of this criminal triangle.’

  Heidi looked outraged, confused and disbelieving all at once. It was the first time I’ve seen her at a disadvantage. Now I know why she’d been invited.

  ‘Are you sure?’ she asked.

  ‘Irina Ispahbudhan is terrified. She wants to be in the Undercroft because she’s scared of her co-conspirators. It’s in her interest for us to track them down as quickly as possible, and she named Eilidh Haigh. I believe her.’

  Heidi put her hands on the table. She has blacksmith’s hands. She drummed her fingers up and down in wave patterns and the table reverberated. ‘And Eilidh was the one who attacked you at Niði’s dock?’

  ‘According to Irina.’

  She took her hands off the table. ‘You know she’s one of the Haighs of Dumbarton?’

  I looked around. Everyone else was nodding. It was news to me. ‘The only Scottish Mage I know is Lady Kirsten, the rich one who throws epic parties.’ I said.

  Heidi snorted, and Vicky looked uncomfortable. She’s been to one of the parties.

  ‘You could say that,’ said Heidi. She looked at Vicky. ‘I couldn’t possibly comment.’ Vicky looked at the table, and Heidi continued, ‘Lady Kirsten is of the Darrochs of Stirling. They may be richer and more powerful than the Haighs of Dumbarton, but the Haighs are older. Eilidh is from a junior branch. A bit like me.’

  Saffron was busy making notes, and ignored her aunt.

  ‘What is Eilidh Haigh doing down here?’ said Francesca.

  Heidi became serious again. ‘She wouldn’t say. I know she’s not welcome north of the border because she told me so, one night when she was drunk. When she dropped out of sight, I thought she’d been forgiven and snuck back to Scotland with her tail between her legs. I should point out that the Hawkins family and the Haighs are not connected in any way.’

  ‘Good to know,’ said Hannah dryly. ‘What’s she like as a Mage?’

  ‘What is she alleged to have done, Conrad?’

  ‘Ran a forge Reducing gold.’

  Heidi whistled. ‘No … Seriously?’

  ‘Someone’s been doing it. I’ve seen the product.’

  ‘She’s good. With the right Work, definitely, but I can’t imagine where she got it.’

  ‘She got it from an unknown male,’ I said. ‘Irina calls him the Master, but I won’t. Never glorify the enemy. I’ll call him the Apex, as we’re talking triangles. According to Irina, the Apex put the conspiracy together. He supplied the ancient knowledge and took the Reduced Gold away to enrich it somewhere. All Irina could tell us was that he wore a mask and that he’s fully human, young and a prodigious talent. He’s tall, thin and probably from South Africa. She doesn’t even know whether he’s of African or European descent, or something else entirely.’

  Heidi and Saffron both frowned, and for the first time looked at each other.

  ‘Ring any bells?’ I said.

  ‘Mmm,’ said Saffron. ‘There was a postgrad student at Salomon’s House when I was in my first year. Willem van der Westhuesen. He was expelled, wasn’t he, Custodian?’

  Heidi nodded. ‘Unauthorised biological experiments. Sent straight back to Johannesburg with no references.’

  ‘Any other leads?’ said Hannah.

  ‘Do you have Eilidh’s phone number?’ I asked Heidi.

  ‘Hah! I do. Surely she won’t have kept it the same.’

  ‘Only one way to find out. I also have the location of the drop-off point in the Old Network, and the key to open it. Irina’s phone records, too.’

  Rick James had been following everything closely. ‘Who’s the father of her child?’ he asked.

  ‘She says it’s a cousin, but Mina doesn’t believe her.’

  ‘No,’ said Mina. ‘The Ispahbudhan clan are Zoroastrians and mostly mundane. That’s why I could look into them. Cousin marriage is strictly against their faith. That’s one of the things I think she is lying about.’

  Hannah looked at Mina. She tipped her head to the side. ‘What’s the other.’

  ‘The obvious one. She has a stash of Gold somewhere and wants to pick it up when s
he is released.’ Mina looked around the group and shook her hair back. ‘I should know. It’s what I did, except that I spent the money on maxilo-facial surgery.’

  Hannah coughed. ‘Thank you. Any more questions?’

  I asked a couple more about the Haigh family, and Heidi wanted us to go back to Irina with questions about the nature of the Alchemical Gold. Hannah said no.

  When it had gone quiet, Hannah picked up her pen. ‘This is what we’re going to do. All mundane information, including Eilidh Haigh’s phone number, can go to Ruth by email. She’s the best person to pick that up. Vicky, can you explore the drop-off point next week? I need you and Desirée to carry on with your research and help out down here. I shall get in touch with my Scottish Depute and ask him to make discreet enquiries with the Haighs. Francesca, you’ve got a friend in South Africa, haven’t you?’

  ‘I have.’

  ‘Ask her about van der Westhuesen. Conrad? I need you and Saffron to cover the Mercia Watch, for all sorts of reasons.’

  I was disappointed not to be following up the other leads, but Hannah had done exactly what I’d have done in her situation. I turned to Saffron. ‘Do you mind slumming it in Clerkswell?’

  My jaw dropped when she said, ‘Do I have to?’

  ‘Not unless we’re on a mission, no.’

  ‘Then I’ll stay with my family in Oxfordshire, if that’s okay. It’s near enough to the M40.’

  ‘Fine. One less for Myfanwy to cater for.’

  She tried a diplomatic smile. ‘And I’m rubbish at cricket. It’s all you lot seem to talk about. That and village gossip.’

  Hannah shook her head. ‘I don’t know how they stand the pace of country life, Saffron. Good. I need to see Conrad and Mina, but all of you in the Watch can have the rest of the day off. Those at Salomon’s house can go back to work.’ She smiled. ‘Ah Gutten Erev Shabbos, everyone.’

  Saffron gave me a funny look when she was dismissed along with the others, especially when Vicky gave me a hug and said, ‘See you soon, Uncle C.’

  I said I’d call Saffron later, and when everyone else had gone, the three of us settled in the comfy chairs. Hannah brought over a stack of papers from her desk, and I recognised the one on top: it was Mina’s application for the maternity cover downstairs. This did not look good.

  ‘Another group reduced to a smouldering wreck,’ said Hannah. ‘First the Arden Foresters, now Clan Flint.’ She said it with a rueful smile. ‘They’ll be on their best behaviour in Mercia with you around.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  ‘What happened to the clan after you left?’ she asked.

  ‘Wesley offered his neck.’

  You might have realised that Gnomish politics can be brutal. You don’t resign as clan chief, you offer your neck to the axe. It’s up to the clan second whether the axe is used to cut off your chain of office or your neck.

  ‘And?’

  ‘Lloyd let him live. The clan will choose a new chief tomorrow. I’m not sure if Lloyd will stand or not.’

  Hannah nodded. ‘How’s your wound, Mina?’

  ‘In here, it is very itchy because there is so much magick. I am wearing jeans so that I can stick my hand in the pocket and stop me scratching it.’

  ‘My head is the same in this weather. You did excellent work in Earlsbury, Mina, and we both know that the bloodletting has left an even bigger problem up there than who gets to be clan chief.’

  ‘Yes. The Gold.’

  Hannah picked up Mina’s application form and held it out to her. ‘You’re overqualified for this job. I’d like to offer you a better one: Peculier Auditor.’

  Mina took the application form and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. ‘I had no idea such a thing existed.’

  ‘It didn’t until this morning. The Cloister Court will have to decide who owns that Gold, and I know of no one better to advise the Court than you. It’s a three year contract and you can work from wherever you want.’

  Mina looked at me in disbelief. ‘Conrad? Did you know about this?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘There is one condition,’ said Hannah.

  Mina tipped her head on one side. ‘Only one, Constable?’

  ‘Only one that matters. You have to stay out of my Watch Captain’s combat operations unless I authorise it personally.’

  Mina’s skin colour (if you’re interested) is a little towards the fairer end of the spectrum for Indian women and the lightest spot is the nape of her neck. That’s where she blushes, and she was blushing now. ‘All of them, or just Conrad’s?’

  ‘All of them. He wouldn’t say no to you, but I have to. Sorry, but that’s the condition.’

  Mina moved her head around in a snakey sort of way. That meant she was about to lie. ‘Good. I have no desire to witness any more decapitations. Once was too much.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Hannah. ‘You’ll be paid by the Watch, and I’ll be your line manager, but you’ll be an officer of the Court. Both of you need to be in the judge’s chambers at the Royal Courts of Justice at eleven o’clock.’ She put on an innocent face. ‘Have you been there before?’

  Mina lifted her hair away from her neck. ‘No, so that’s another one I can tick off my list of courts. Does my status mean I don’t have to wear a uniform? Shame.’

  ‘Don’t rub it in, Mina. I might get you to wear a deputy bailiff’s uniform.’

  ‘Why am I going to see the judge?’ I asked. ‘Not that I don’t want to.’

  Hannah stood up. ‘You’ve been a naughty boy, that’s why. Ah Gutten Erev Shabbos. Both of you.’

  For the first time, Hannah embraced Mina. They both looked like they meant it.

  15 — Oath of Allegiance

  We caught the river bus back to Blackfriars and wandered up Farringdon Street, then along Fleet Street to the Royal Courts. We don’t always hold hands when walking through London. Only when there are no clothes shops.

  ‘What do you think of Saffron?’ said Mina.

  ‘You’re not sure about her, are you?’

  ‘Most people are complicated,’ she said. ‘Especially women. I don’t understand everything about Vicky or Myvvy, still less Hannah, but I get them. I know where they’re coming from. Saffron, not so much.’

  ‘She’s coming from incredible wealth, power and influence. What’s not to get?’

  ‘Oh yes. That much I get. So wealthy that Elvenham House is beneath her. So why is she in the Watch? I am not getting a strong sense of duty from her.’

  I mulled it over. ‘For the rush. For the badge. In one weekend, she acquired the power to arrest any Mage in the country, including her cousin. If she’d stayed at Salomon’s House, she’d be Auntie Heidi’s young apprentice.’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘We’ll see how she gets on next week. The life of a Watch Captain is not all sword fights and plunder. Here we are.’

  We stood outside the impressive Victorian facade of the Royal Courts and looked around. Like the Old Bailey, you get a strong sense of immovable state power from buildings like this.

  ‘I had hoped to see the Cloister Court itself,’ said Mina. ‘Myvvy says it’s full-on creepy and ancient.’

  ‘So I’ve heard. It’s also very expensive, and doesn’t sit that often.’

  The Cloister Judge is also a judge in the mundane Court of Appeal. She uses her maiden name there, so I wouldn’t bother trying to look her up.

  We did security, we did directions, and we soon found ourselves high up at the back of the Courts being shown into the judge’s rather cramped chambers. That’s the price you pay for being a part-timer, I suppose.

  The Honourable Mrs Justice Bracewell stood up to greet us. There is rather a lot of her, both in height and width. You could say that she is a solid presence. Her face was dominated by large framed glasses in a delicious red-blue combination that made it hard to tell her age, which could have been anywhere over fifty. Her brown hair was tied back, presumably ready to don the full wig that was
resting on a stand nearby, next to the voluminous red robes. I say that her wig was resting. It definitely looked more like an exotic animal than a fashion statement.

  There was no comfy seating area, so she waved us into two well-padded chairs in front of her desk and sat back down behind it. ‘Thank you for coming, Miss Desai,’ said the judge. She sat back and rested her hands in front of her. ‘If I know the Constable, she will have offered you this post.’

  Mina looked wary. ‘Yes, my lady.’

  I half expected the judge to say call me Marcia, but she clearly preferred to be formal. ‘The Constable does not run the Cloister Court, even if she’s the only one with the resources to hold investigations. The Peculier Auditor will be a sworn officer of the Cloister Court. Tell me, Miss Desai, why should I trust you?’

  Mina gave the slow Indian nod that means she’s thinking. ‘You should trust me today because you trust the Constable. After that, you can judge for yourself, my lady.’

  The judge didn’t nod, she blinked. ‘And there won’t be a conflict of interest? Neither with the Constable nor with the Watch Captain at Large?’

  I am the Watch Captain at Large. Mina allowed a smile to twitch the left corner of her mouth. ‘With the Constable, no. With the other officer, all I can say is that I will do my best to keep him in line and make sure he doesn’t slack off too often.’

  The judge did her best to stifle a smile. ‘Good luck with that.’ She picked up a brief, loosely tied with purple tape. ‘This is going to be monstrously difficult to sort out. The Gnomes want the gold, the Crown wants the gold … and no doubt more parties will crawl to the surface. The Constable tells me you cracked this using accountant’s intuition. I didn’t know there was such a thing.’

  Mina lowered her head. ‘Some of us even read poetry, my lady.’

  ‘Hah. Well, you can’t use intuition in evidence. I want it all tied down with names, dates, transaction details and paperwork. You’ll need warrants for that, and I’ve got a bunch here for all the main players. Just remember, you don’t work for Iain Drummond, still less Annelise van Kampen or the Gnomes. Got that?’