Grimoires and Where to Find Them by Raconteur, Honor (best affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📗

“Oh. It’s rather a long list. I didn’t really make a secret of it.”

“Tell me anyway. Too much information is better than none at all.”

It started with his maid’s name. Then family and friends, branching out into colleagues and the book broker who had been interested in purchasing it.

By the time we got through all of them, Niamh had arrived. She knocked at the door and Henri popped up to let her in.

“Ah, Kingsman Niamh, I’m happy you got here so quickly. This way, please.”

Niamh sailed through with a feline grace. Despite her height, she could move so silently she barely stirred the air. I’m told I move like that now, after Belladonna’s enhancements, but it’s hard to see it in yourself.

Niamh greeted Jere with a polite nod. “Hello. I’m Kingsman Niamh.”

“Pleasure, Kingsman. Jere Mortimer, at your service.” Jere looked at her with a sort of masculine awe, as if she’d stunned him on some level. She probably had.

I indicated the open cabinet on the other wall. “The grimoire was stored in there. I’m afraid it’s been about thirty days since he last handled it, so we’re not sure when it was stolen.”

Niamh’s expression turned pained. “I’m not sure if I can pick anything up if it’s been that long. But the theft may have occurred more recently, correct?”

“Correct. Just try. I don’t know how your tracking ability works, so if you can pick something up, that would be awesome.”

She approached the area, eyeing it from every angle, and explained as she went, “My people don’t rely on a singular sense in order to track something. It’s part scent, part visible aura, and part instinct that’s hard to describe to the other races. You don’t really have a sense like ours.”

Of course Henri had to ask, “If you were to attempt to explain it, how would you do so?”

Pausing, she cast him a glance over her shoulder. “Which way is up? Which way is down?”

Henri pointed up then down with his finger.

“How do you know?” Niamh asked with a wry smile. “You see? It’s something you instinctively know but there’s no way to explain it. It just is.”

“Ah. An excellent explanation, thank you.”

“Thank you for asking.” She rolled her eyes. “It gets irritating when people assume I’m omniscient. Now. As for this case….”

I stood well back to give her room to work. It was one of my pet peeves, having someone hanging over my shoulder while I was trying to work. I tried not to do it to other people.

Niamh looked the scene over carefully, stepped back several times, and even turned and stared hard at Jere for a moment. Then she turned back and shook her head.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m not picking up much. There have been three people near this case who interacted with it recently. I’d say within the past three weeks or so. I can barely discern one aura from another, and Detective Edwards’ presence is the strongest. Also the most recent.”

“Because she opened the case today.” Jere let out a low sigh.

As little information as she’d given us, it interested me. “You said three. If we rule out Jamie and Jere’s maid, that still leaves one person.”

“Quite probably our thief,” Henri mused. “And you said within the past three weeks? Is there any way to narrow that down further, I wonder?”

It was a good question and one I didn’t have an answer for.

“Niamh, you said you could barely tell the three auras apart. If I put you in front of someone who had been here, could you identify their aura?”

“I think so. But I can’t make promises. It’s very faint.” She shrugged, expression screwed up in a half-grimace.

“No harm in trying. Assuming I can figure out who that third person is.” I half-turned to look at Henri. “We’d better go and talk with Lady Radman and Elfrida Bramwell. At the rate things are going, those two might also be missing their volumes. Or in danger of losing the one they’ve got. We’ve got to call anyone who has one, really. I’m afraid of who else might be missing one at this point.”

He didn’t look too happy with the idea, but he didn’t argue against it, either. To Jere, he swore, “We will figure this out. I don’t think the thief really understands how to handle the grimoires properly. Although, at least yours was stolen with the protective box.”

“No,” he sighed. “It wasn’t. That cabinet is the protective box. I made mine larger so I didn’t get into the habit of carting it about.”

I looked at the cabinet with dismay. “Oh, dear.”

Henri looked outright pained. “No individual box for yours? Truly, you just made the cabinet?”

“It seemed a good idea at the time.” Jere grimaced in a deeply pained way. “Oh, past self, that was a really stupid decision.”

I’ll say. I very kindly did not agree with him out loud. Instead, I said, “One way or another, they’ll leave a trail.”

Jere didn’t look reassured by this—rather the opposite. “I agree that’s the case, but Henri—that means some very dangerous fireworks will likely erupt at some point in Kingston. This many grimoires without protective cases? It’ll be a disaster and will likely harm a lot of people. I’m not sure if I can wish for that.”

Now, there’s a mental image for you. And I was with Jere on this one. That did not sound like my idea of a good time.

We drove to Lady Radman’s next, as she was logistically the next choice. I maintained the right to drive, which amused Jamie, but I didn’t trust her lead foot on these rain-slick roads. It had stopped raining for the moment, at least.

Niamh chose to continue helping Foster track down book brokers, so it was just us and the Felixes in the car. For once, the felines were curled up in their basket between us, taking a chance to nap. With such little sunlight today, they might well be operating