Page 7 of The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee

‘Well, I went to work, and when I came home I checked on the box that held the fire gem as I do twice a day,’ the witch said. ‘That is – was – my job and responsibility for the magic users group. But today it wasn’t there.’

‘The box, the gem or both?’ ‘Both.’

I nodded. ‘It was there this morning?’

‘Yes. I checked on it before work, same as always.’

‘What time did you go to work?’

‘Seven forty-five, same as always.’

I wondered if he would answer every question with ‘same as always’. Should I tell him that it was extremely annoying? ‘Where do you work?’

‘I do the books at Kamluck Logging.’

Same as always, I added mentally. I estimated he had a fifteen-minute commute. Not far. ‘Did you come home for lunch?’

‘I do sometimes, but not today.’ He looked miserable and his shoulders sagged; I wondered if he was about to break down and cry. I’d cry too if I had to tell Liv I’d lost something so important to the magic users.

I pushed on. ‘When did you get home?’

He cleared his throat. ‘Five-fifteen, same as always.’

The ‘same as always’ was back – I’d almost missed it. ‘Was anything else missing?’

‘I–I haven’t really looked. I freaked out a little and called Mr Mackenzie and then the Nomo’s office.’

‘That’s fine. We’ll go through the house with you and you can point out anything that is out of place or missing. Can you do that?’

He took a deep breath. ‘Yes.’

‘Good. First, show us where the stone was kept.’

Kostas appeared a little calmer now that he had a focus. He went to a walk-in closet in the corner and opened it. There was nothing inside it, save for a carved stone pedestal that looked like it weighed more than I did. The plinth was wholly incongruous in those surroundings. ‘This is where it was held,’ Kostas confirmed.

I made a move to lean in. ‘Stay back!’ he hissed, holding out a hand to stall me. ‘I haven’t dropped the wards.’

I frowned but let him push me back. If the wards were still active, how did someone steal the gem? I looked at Gunnar, who shrugged; he was frowning too. I reached up absently to scratch at my scalp, which felt itchy. If I had head lice, I’d die of embarrassment.

Kostas stood back so we could examine the area without touching the wards. I took several pictures then looked at the door lock. It wasn’t fancy; in fact, even without any training in lock-picking, I bet I could get in the closet in under five minutes with a credit card or a hairpin – as long as the wards didn’t fry me. Though given how jittery Kostas was, they would probably fry me sunny-side up.

Gunnar and I searched the whole place with Fluffy’s help as Kostas looked for anything out of place or missing. When we moved further away from the closet, the itching in my scalp stopped abruptly. Was I allergic to something in that area?

We found nothing; nothing was out of place or missing except for the box containing the fire gem. After we’d searched the modest home, we stood by Kostas as he carefully lowered the wards around the pedestal. He was sweating the whole time, and he swayed as they fell. The faint itching on my scalp stopped. Huh: could I somehow sense wards? Focus, Bunny! I told myself. This gemstone shit is a big deal. Worry about sensing wards later.

‘How close to the fire gem do the wards get?’ I asked.

‘They are only on the perimeter of the closet,’ Kostas said. ‘They’re gone now. You can enter safely.’

Before I could go in, Fluffy barrelled forwards. I shouted, but luckily he didn’t come to any harm. Silly pup, risking himself like that. Thank goodness the wards really were down.

He sniffed pointedly around the podium and the floor, gave two decisive barks and looked at me excitedly. He’d found a scent that wasn’t Kostas’s! ‘Where does it go?’ I asked urgently.

My boy put his nose to the floor, sniffed a few steps forward then stopped looking confused. He did that three times: got the scent, pointed and then … nothing. ‘Can supernats mask their scent?’ I asked. ‘He’s definitely finding something new and then it disappears.’

‘It’s possible,’ Gunnar confirmed.

‘But pricey,’ Kostas interjected. ‘Very pricey. No one up to anything good needs that potion. It’s difficult to make and even harder to buy – just finding the black market is tricky.’

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