Easy Money

by Rik Hunik

  "Hermia? Why does that name sound familiar?"

  Orfeo looked at me through narrowed eyes. "Yesterday, after lunch, you were going to check out their temple, trying to figure out where that ring came from."

  "The ring." I raised my hand and saw a ring on my finger, which I had completely forgotten about, but now a sense of urgency filled me and I started to get up. "I have to get this back to Almina."

  "That can wait," Orfeo said, raising his hand, signaling me to stop. As I relaxed back into my chair his eyes narrowed and he took a long, close look at me. "So Berk, what did you do after lunch yesterday?"

  I didn't know what he was getting at but I searched through a mental haze and found some memories. "I was on a ship, and then I had a date. A dinner date. And then we went dancing." I rubbed at my temples, trying to squeeze out another memory.

  Orfeo was shaking his head slowly from side to side. "I have bad news for you buddy. That was the night before." His chair creaked as he leaned his bulk onto his desk. "Do you remember being arrested?"

  "No." But as soon as I said it I amended my answer because his mention of it had brought the memory back. "Wait a second, I do now."

  "Anything else?"

  I still didn't know what he was getting at so I sort of shrugged and shook my head at the same time.

  "Do you remember finding a dead body?"

  I started to say no, but said, "I do now."

  He kept nodding. "Somebody has been messing with your mind."

  That shook me but my head cleared a bit and my gaze was steady when I met his eyes. "I think you're right, I do seem to be missing some memories. I better get that fixed."

  "Right away, I think. Do you need any help?"

  I shook my head and stood up. "This isn't your field. I studied drugs and poisons in school. It's been a few years now but with a good reference book I'm pretty sure I can handle this, and then I think I'll be paying another visit to the Temple of Hermia. Thanks for all your help and don't forget to send me that bill."

  "Remember to pay it."

  # # #

  Out on the street I felt like immediately finding Almina to give her the ring but I had more important things to do so I fought off that compulsion. Even though it wasn't far to walk I felt compelled to hurry so I caught another cab to the local University campus. They teach a few first year magic courses and related subjects so their library contains a selection of basic magic books and common reference works. Access is restricted but I showed my Magician's License and they admitted me.

  I located the section on drugs and poisons and found the book I needed. Turning to the part on symptoms I looked up intense sexual arousal, post-hypnotic suggestion, and memory loss, with mild after effects. I found quite a few possibilities for each symptom, but I narrowed my lists down to those which were relatively tasteless, could be administered in wine, and acted fast, then eliminated the drugs that were only on one list.

  One drug was on all of the lists. Rare, extremely expensive, and incredibly difficult to make, it worked only on men and the victim seldom realized he had been drugged. Fortunately the memory loss was easy to overcome if the antidote was administered within twenty-four hours, so I wrote down the recipe and hurried to the nearest pharmacy.

  I had to show my magician's license before I could purchase some of the ingredients and none of them were cheap. I'm glad they were at Carina's expense.

  Cooking up the antidote in my kitchen stank up my whole apartment, my office, and probably the apartment upstairs as well, and left me with one pot I would never be able to use again. I choked down a large dose of the thick, foul-tasting liquid. It stuck to my teeth, coated my tongue, clogged my throat, upset my stomach, and gave me chills. The recipe said these symptoms would last two or three hours but I didn't have that much time to waste so I lay down on my bed with my head propped up on some pillows and used a trick I had learned in school, the opposite of what I'd done in that room in the police station.

  I started by entering into a light trance, breathing faster and faster, then concentrated to increase my heart rate by will power. To help me concentrate I recited a mantra in my head, over and over, faster and faster, then accessed some magic and sped up the rate of my metabolism. It's not a difficult technique but it's not without risk so I kept at it only until I had increased the rate of metabolism in my body by a factor of just about three, which should be fairly safe.

  From my position on the bed I could see the sunlight shining through my bedroom window onto the wall and watch the angle change. The shadow line crept slower and slower across the wall but time still passed the same for me. After about an hour of subjective time my stomach was cramping and I felt like I was immersed in ice water but the fog was drifting away from my memories, so I persevered. I recalled everything Orfeo had mentioned, the visit from my new landlady, the arrival of Aldwin's mistress Almina, finding Chad, talking to my mother, even my stakeout of the temple, but I still didn't remember anything that happened after I went inside.

  After another subjective hour of meditation and concentration my memories of the previous evening returned with full clarity, and I put them all in order. The wine had been drugged in the bottle. Adeela drank her wine so I wouldn't be suspicious, distracting me with her sex appeal until I finished my wine, after which I became too wasted to care.

  The sex, fueled by the drug, had been hot, passionate and prolonged. Before we started she had been a virgin, but that didn't mean she didn't know what to do. In fact, she knew exactly what to do. All in all it had been a delightful experience, and I was glad to have the memory back, but it wasn't nearly as good as being there, and didn't help with the case.

  Before I was overcome by the drug Adeela had told me the ring was never stolen, and she stated clearly that she wanted Almina to have it back. That explained why I had the constant urge to deliver the ring, but why did Adeela want Almina to have it? And what was it about Adeela's nose? It was familiar somehow, but where had I seen it before?

  Then it hit me like a deluge of water from a bucket. I had touched Adeela last night, but at the time I had been so sexually excited I hadn't paid any attention to the underlying impression I got. Then of course the drug had completely wiped out the memory until now.

  My stomach was no longer cramping or churning and my chill had broken like a reverse fever, but I still felt queasy whenever I thought about my night with Adeela. I reduced the rate of my breathing, brought my metabolism to normal and came out of my trance.

  It was time to face Adeela again, but this time I would be more prepared. I had some very interesting questions for her.

  Chapter 17

  I was already heading up the street from my office when Carina's coach pulled up and stopped beside me. Her face appeared at the window. "I'm so glad I caught you here," she said, but she wasn't smiling. I leaned against the carriage to hear her better, and to shade my eyes from the sun. She started to pull her gloves off, one finger at a time, and said. "Aldwin's body was found last night. The police called me in this morning to identify him."

  I stood up straight. Just when I thought I had it figured this went and changed everything. "Aldwin's body? That can't be. Where?"

  "In the wilderness between here and the Hot Springs. Apparently he was beset by bandits who dragged him into the woods and beat him to death." Her hands crumpled the gloves into a ball and she sobbed.

  I massaged my temples with the heels of my hands. It just didn't add up. My recent certainty melted away and my mind threatened to spin out of control. I tried to think but all I could come up with was, "Are you sure it was him?"

  "I told the police it looked like him, but he was horribly disfigured and decayed."

  "So how did the police figure out that it was your husband?"

  "From his identity papers, a few pieces of jewelry, and a small tattoo on his left shoulder."

  I shook my head, not so much in denial as just trying to think it through. It smelled like a setup to me. "It doesn
't make sense. Why would robbers leave jewelry on somebody they had just killed? I better take a look at the body myself."

  "Why would you want to do that? Your job is finished, the case is over."

  "The police may think that, but I'm not so sure yet." I called up to the driver, "Take me to the police station." Carina didn't cancel my order so I climbed in and he drove off. Carina was curious but I refused to divulge anything until after I had examined the body. I wanted to be absolutely sure of what I suspected before I said anything about it to her.

  At the police station Carina waited upstairs while a cop escorted me down to the morgue, in a cold, dank basement that smelled of decay.

  The face had been beaten beyond recognition and most of the remaining body parts were bruised and battered, and it was all decayed, but not as much as I thought it should be for the length of time it had been out there.

  I shuddered, then steeled my nerves; this wouldn't be half as bad as touching Belita's body. I opened myself to impressions and lightly, briefly touched the hand of the corpse. It was enough. I caught a glimpse of the way the man looked in life and he most certainly was not Aldwin Nahasa. Magic, as well as brutality, had altered the corpse to resemble Aldwin. Who he was or where he came from I couldn't tell from my brief touch, but I could tell that he had died a natural death and all the alterations had been done posthumously.

  Back upstairs I took Carina aside and told her that, not matter what the police thought, the corpse was absolutely not her husband. She heaved out a long sigh of relief, then sucked in some air and looked at me. "But if that's not him, where is he? Have you found him?"

  "Well, not exactly. It's hard to explain. In fact, I'm not even sure I quite believe it myself." Carina's brow furrowed and she looked askance at me. I couldn't blame her for being confused. "Let me take you to somebody who can explain this better than me." I could use some explanations myself and I was curious to hear what Adeela had to say.

  Carina shook her head once as if to clear it, then said, "Yes, take me there."

  We were just starting for the exit when I heard my name called and turned to see Inspector Marco waving me to come over. I excused myself and we met halfway. He said, "I'm sure glad I saw you there. I want you to come along when we arrest the captain of The Lion Of The Sea. I know it's a bit earlier than I said but the warrant is all in order and the team is assembling. In fifteen minutes our only holdup would have been finding you."

  I slapped my forehead. Until he spoke I had totally forgotten about that because when I took the antidote I had been concentrating on remembering my encounter at the Temple Of Hermia. "I'm sorry, I fell victim to a drug-induced memory lapse. I'll be right with you. Excuse me for a minute."

  I left him with a confused look on his face and went back to Carina to tell her I had a prior engagement I had forgotten about. Her curiosity had been aroused and she wasn't happy about the delay, but it was unavoidable. I told her to go home and I would meet her there in a couple of hours.

  I returned to Marco and told him I was ready.

  "Not quite," he said, handing me a night stick and a form I had to fill out to borrow it. Marco had to fill out a form too, to authorize me to borrow it, so I couldn't complain about it very much.

  A police night stick is about two feet long with a handle sticking out at right angles five inches from one end. It can be held a number of ways and is good for striking, blocking or holding an opponent, at any time of the night or day.

  Five police officers in standard uniforms of brown and red joined us. Two of them carried small axes and the rest carried night sticks like mine, but every one of them, including Marco, had a sword belted around his waist, making me feel a bit naked in their company, even though I had never liked lugging that much steel around when I was a soldier.

  At the dock we found The Lion Of The Sea getting ready to cast off, days ahead of schedule. Marco had the warrant out as he hurried up the gang plank to be met at the top by an illiterate burly sailor determined to stop him. With his night stick held along his forearm Marco deflected the sailor's punch, jabbed him in the ribs with the short end, spun it around on the handle and conked him on the temple with the long end. The burly sailor dropped to the deck and the skinny sailors behind him backed away a few steps, some putting hand to knife, but nobody drawing a weapon.

  Marco stepped onboard the ship and held up the warrant while the rest of us boarded and spread out beside him. In a voice that carried the length of the deck he asked, "Anybody else want to obstruct justice?" Nobody stepped forward. After watching their strongest companion dispatched in short order by one old man they weren't inclined to tackle a small squad of police on legitimate business. "Then I suggest you all get back to work, while we talk with your captain."

  Although most of the crew dispersed a few of the crewmen still looked ready to jump us, watching our every move, but we stayed alert and they didn't cause an incident. If they had all massed together they could have made short work of us but most of them didn't want to tackle the police, at least not without a direct order.

  I led the way to the captain's cabin. Marco rapped on the door and presented the warrant to the captain, a hearty looking fellow with a neatly trimmed beard that was getting to be more gray than brown. He calmly read the warrant and then laughed loudly, too loudly I thought, and said, "Stolen jewelry? I think not, but do come in, see for yourselves. And when you're done I'll sue you."

  Marco smiled and said, "We'll see."

  Two policemen stood guard outside while the rest of us crowded into the cramped cabin, which was barely big enough to hold five people. It was neat and clean and well-organized until Macro and the other police started searching. I stood in the middle of the room and tried to calm myself so I could get an impression in the midst of all this chaos, but I had recovered my mother's favorite necklace so many times that it didn't take me long to make a connection.

  I turned slowly until the necklace was right in front of me and found myself facing a five-foot-tall cabinet. I began searching it. Marco knew about my talent and joined me, but we found nothing and the others also came up empty handed.

  The captain smiled and said, "See, I told you so."

  "Move that cabinet," I said.

  "But it's screwed to the wall."

  Marco smiled and a policeman handed him a screwdriver. A few minutes later we pushed it aside to reveal an expanse of wood panelling. The captain looked smug until I grabbed an ax.

  "You better be right," Marco muttered.

  The impression of the necklace was so strong I could damn near see it. I reached out and touched a spot on the wall. "Right there, just behind the wood, is my mother's necklace. I'll bet my reputation on it."

  "You are," one policeman said.

  I ignored him and swung the ax a couple of times about a foot to either side of the spot I'd touched. The thin wood splintered and I tore it away to reveal some shelves with bags made of leather or thick cloth on them. Marco opened one and pulled out a colorful handful of unmounted gems.

  The captain said, "That's my personal stash and it was all bought legitimately."

  Nobody said anything but nobody believed him. Marco opened another bag to reveal bracelets, rings, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry. I identified my mother's necklace and declared it stolen. "That's good enough," Marco said. "One stolen item is all we need to confiscate the lot and stop this ship from sailing until we search it. Take him away."

  Police officers grabbed the captain and took him away.

  Macro turned to me. "Thanks Berk. Give us a couple of hours to take care of the paperwork on this haul and then you can pick up your mother's necklace at the station. I'll make sure it's ready."

  "Great. I'm glad I could help, but I have a woman waiting for me. Strictly business," I added quickly, before he could come out with a smart remark. "The woman you saw me with at the station."

  "She looks loaded."

  "Yeah, she paid good, I just have to get back to
her and wrap up the case. I'll see you later."

  Chapter 18

  In Carina's coach on the way to the Temple Of Hermia I took the opportunity to give Carina the results of my investigation. I still had unanswered questions myself so my story didn't sound like it amounted to much, especially since I left out so much Adeela would be able to explain so much better then I could.

  When I told her about the Good Fortune Company with its vanishing funds she said, "I suspected Aldwin and Cal were up to something, but there was always enough money to run the house and keep me happy. I knew they wouldn't leave me with nothing, so I didn't worry about it, but I did wonder."

  That showed a lot more faith in human nature than I possessed but I didn't say that out loud. I fidgeted with Aldwin's ring, still suppressing the urge to drop what I was doing and bring it directly to Almina. I pulled it off and showed it to Carina. "Do you recognize this ring?"

  She nodded without reaching for it. "Aldwin used to wear it. How did you get it?"

  "Do you know where Aldwin got it from?"

  "He told me it was a gift from a grateful client. I always suspected it was from his mistress."

  "Ah, that makes this next part easier to explain." I told her how Almina had come to me with the ring, how I followed the trail to the temple, confronted Adeela and got drugged. I left out the part about the sex. "I had just recovered after administering the antidote when you showed up with your news, which threw me for a loop, I must say. But this visit should explain everything."

  As if on cue the coach stopped. When I opened the door, Carina saw the Temple Of Hermia and shot me a look asking why she was here, but I kept my lips sealed and led her up to Adeela's room. I tapped lightly on her door, hoping she was in.

  Half a minute later it opened. When Adeela saw me her face changed color and fell apart, but she picked up the pieces pretty quick and put them together in a glare that didn't fool me.