“Invisible?” Rall said.

The moment I’d walked in the door, I ran back to the kitchen. Olivia was still perched on one of the tall stools at the kitchen island. Jacky had come up to her side. Rall was on the other side of the kitchen island, standing in front of the half-made waffle batter. I was at the end of the island, leaning on the counter and trying not to burst from repressed excitement and anxiety. It felt like I was trying to clutch a bubble.

Rall laughed and shook his head. Olivia rolled her eyes.

The bubble quivered.

“It’s not possible?” I asked.

“No,” Olivia said.

“I’m afraid I must correct you, Olivia,” Jacky said. “This world is stranger than you know. The more experience you have, the more you’ll understand that.”

Olivia briefly grit her teeth, then said, “Mr. Noctis, we’re not talking about some nebulous theory here—”

“But you are. Your assumption is based on the theory that there are only three general ways that invisibility can be achieved. If the magician used an active spell to affect his person or created a tool to cover himself, Nylah would’ve sensed the magic being expended, and if the magician cast a spell on the environment, it would’ve left strong traces.”

“That’s right.”

“Then you’re thinking like a witch.”

A faint pink color crept up Olivia’s cheeks.

Jacky continued, “Before we dismiss the possibility, we need to explore it fully.”

“Could there be some kind of invisible creature?” I asked.

“That’s an interesting question,” Jacky said, “but not relevant at the moment. The footprints found in the alley and at the doctor’s were human.”

Rall sounded thoughtful: “And they were bare.”

“If Emerra and Conrad’s theory is right,” Jacky said, “that would imply that the magician could only turn their body invisible—not their clothes. That’s another sign that some other method was used, as a standard spell would’ve had no trouble turning the clothes invisible as well.”

I was appalled, and I didn’t bother hiding it. “Are you telling me someone is out there running around naked? In this weather?”

“That’s what’s implied by the evidence.”

Geez. The thief was even crazier than I had imagined.

Olivia put her elbows on the counter and rested her head on her fingertips. Her wide eyes were glued to the countertop.

“Olivia?” Rall prompted.

Olivia raised her head and looked at Big Jacky.

“Have you thought of something?” he asked.

“I don’t have answers,” Olivia said.

“This case is short on answers and evidence. I’d welcome your thoughts.”

“If only their body is affected, that makes it sound as if the magic was done in a more invasive way. Could we be talking about some kind of potion? Something that changes them from the inside out?”

For a second, Jacky was still, and no one can do still like Big Jacky. When he crossed his arms, it was like watching a statue come to life. He tapped his finger bone on his sleeve.

“I wonder…” he said.

We all stared.

A few seconds passed, then Rall said, on behalf of all of us and with enough feeling to cover our combined anticipation, “Well?”

Jacky came out of his stupor and noticed he had an audience. “Forgive me. I was reminded of something that happened a long time ago. It took some time to retrieve the memory.”

“What did you remember?” Olivia asked.

“I remembered that the three journals were never found.” When he saw our trio of confused faces, he waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind. Olivia, your thinking is sound. The magic required does change a person from the inside out, but it isn’t a potion. At least, it isn’t only a potion.”

“You know how they’re doing it?” I asked.

“I know of a possible method. Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly how it worked. We never learned that. But we know that it worked only on living tissue, and that the change was permanent.”

“Permanent?” Olivia sounded horrified. “That’s transformation!”

I scooted closer to Rall and whispered, “Is transformation bad?”

“No,” he whispered back, “transformation is difficult.”

“Forget ‘never mind!’” Olivia cried. “What can you tell us?”

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Jacky said. “Most of our details come from a hearsay testimony made by Dr. Kemp—”

“Who’s Dr. Kemp?”

“He was”—Jacky hesitated—“an unwilling initiate. He told us what the magician had told him before the magician’s demise.”

“This magician would be the invisible man?” I asked.

“Yes. The magician in question was trying to find a way to reverse the procedure when the manure hit the propeller.”

I attempted to hold back my laugh, but it escaped as a loud snort.

“Did I say something funny?” Jacky asked.

Still giggling, I said, “Not at all.”

“Did I use the wrong idiom?”

“No.” I gave him two thumbs up. “It’s perfect. You’re perfect. Never change.”

Jacky’s eye socket lingered on me for a moment, then he turned to Olivia. “If it was done once, then it could be done again. Would a transformation explain our current difficulty sensing any magic?”

Olivia scowled. “The magic must have changed the way the living tissue functions in relationship to light. Someone could have sensed the magic being used to create the change if they’d been there at the time it was used, and there would’ve been traces left on at least the body, but they would’ve faded by now. At this point, there’d be nothing left to sense.”

“So it is possible?” I asked.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“It’s possible,” Jacky agreed. “The question now is whether or not it fits with the evidence we have.”

“It explains the bare footprints,” Olivia said.

Rall shoved the waffle batter aside. “It would explain how they got in without picking the locks. All they would’ve had to do is sneak in during the day while no one was watching.”

“But wouldn’t someone have noticed if a door opened all on its own?” Olivia said. “Maybe not at the Barlowes’ place, but Kirby would’ve heard the door open.”

It burst out of me: “Their partner! Their partner could’ve opened the door, greeted Kirby, and held the door open long enough for the invisible person to slip inside.”

“Oh, right,” Olivia said with all the sarcasm she could muster. “So now they’ve got a partner.”

“It’s difficult to be an invisible person in a visible world,” Jacky said. “If he had a willing partner, it’d make it much easier for their actions to go unnoticed. His partner could buy him food, interact with others, and help him get away after a robbery.”

“But if they’re invisible, why would they need help getting away?” Olivia asked.

“Remember, only the person is invisible. The objects he’s stealing aren’t.”

Rall added, “That would also explain why the thief waited until everyone was asleep before leaving. They didn’t want someone to see the objects floating through the air.”

Jacky stepped forward and laid his skeletal hands on the island top, his fingers spread wide. “Let us theorize. The safest method of executing their crimes would naturally be their preferred method. That’s most likely what’s already been discussed. They hide inside the building during the day, wait until late at night, then take what they want, and leave.”

I thought about the footprints behind the doctor’s office that ended at the street. “Their partner could be waiting outside in a car to pick them up.”

“That fits with Barnaby’s story,” Rall said. “There was no sign of a break in. The noise he heard would’ve been the thief moving around. When he checked, he didn’t see anyone and went back to sleep. The thief left without bothering to lock the door behind him.”

“It fits with the theft here too,” I pointed out. “And it would’ve fit Kirby’s, if Kirby hadn’t interrupted them.”

“When we got there, Kirby’s door was locked,” Olivia said. “At the other places, the doors were left unlocked.”

Jacky said, “If our assumptions are correct, then the theft at Kirby’s store went amiss. The partner probably came to help his invisible associate, and together they worked to cover their tracks. Part of that would include locking the shop to make it appear as if Mr. Kirby went on vacation.”

“And when they left,” I said, “they took the spare key with them.”

“Then why did they break into the hardware store and Doc Morgan’s?” Olivia asked.

“But that makes sense!” Rall said. “All three places were broken into on the same night! Our invisible friend would’ve only been able to sneak into the first place. They would have to break into the other two.”

“Yes,” Jacky muttered, “that is concerning.”

There was an uneasy note in his comment that made the small hairs on my arm stand up.

“Jacky?” Olivia said.

“One of them is invisible,” Jacky said. “Their preferred method of breaking in requires stealth and patience. When something went wrong, they were able to cover up what happened and were coolheaded enough to continue with their plans. There’s an intelligence behind this work. And forbearance. But the fact they left their pattern to break into three locations on the same night speaks of desperation and hurry.”

“We already wondered if it had something to do with the festival,” Olivia said.

“I understand that. But what if the stranger in Kirby’s alley was the visible partner? What if they were careful enough to test the wards at ARC Hall? The person who did that would be careful enough to plan so there would be no rush. What happened?”

Olivia groaned and put a hand to her forehead, shielding her eyes. “Mr. Noctis, we forgot about ARC Hall.”

“What about it?” I said.

The little witch let her hand drop back to the counter. “It doesn’t fit. Something must be wrong with our theory.”

“But—”

“Think about it, Emerra! Of all the places they’ve broken into, the Hall is the one they’d be most likely to sneak into during the day. Wards would work on an invisible person the same as it would on a normal person. Sneaking in the front door while the ward is down during open hours is practically the only way they could’ve gotten in! But if that’s what they did, why did the ward get set off during the night?”

“Could they have set it off when they were leaving?”

“Exiting a ward never sets it off,” Jacky reminded me.

“Maybe they tried to go in at night because they were afraid of hiding out in a library full of witches,” I said. “Maybe they thought someone might sense them.”

“Doubtful,” Jacky said.

“Why?”

“Because anyone who knows enough about magic to transform the matter of a living being would know about the traces such magic would leave. They showed no fear of hiding in a house full of witches when it came to stealing the blessed silver.”

“And they tested the ward,” Olivia said. “Remember? They knew it was there. Why would they test the ward, and then bumble into it the night of the theft?”

“Wait.” Rall waved his hand around. “Slow down a bit. I haven’t heard this. You think someone tested an ARC Hall ward? Is that why Ellis got that call at two in the morning?”

“No,” I explained. “This was earlier, by at least a few days.”

“Were they testing an inside ward or an outside ward?”

Despite his mellow voice, Rall’s question had the stopping power of a ton of dynamite. Jacky, Olivia, and I all stared at him. The room seemed to stare at him. Heck! If I’d thrown googly eyes on top of the waffle batter, they would’ve stopped googling long enough to fix two tiny black beads right on the old man blinking back at us with innocence beaming out of his face.

Olivia was the one to break the silence. “Did you mean the front ward or the back ward?”

Rall’s brow crinkled. “No, I meant inside or outside. Oh! You’re thinking of the front outside or the one around the back of the building! So they were testing one of the wards outside?”

Olivia lunged to the front of her stool. The sudden movement made it tilt. “There are wards inside ARC Hall?”

Rall leaned away from the sudden teenage onslaught. “I certainly thought so.”

“How do you know this?”

Rall gave her a pitying half smile. “I’ve been married to your mother for a long time, pumpkin. I was bound to learn something.”

“What can you tell us?!”

“Nothing! It’s not like they confided in me. I picked it up from listening to general conversation. Honestly, I don’t even know if I’m right.”

Jacky said, “You sounded more certain when you asked your question.”

“Well, I was! You know how you pick things up and they become facts in your head, but when someone asks you how you know, you’re stumped?”

“No,” Jacky said.

“He really doesn’t,” I told Rall. “Don’t worry about it. I understand.”

Rall addressed the rest of his comment to the one who could sympathize: me. “It’s one of those things. I’m pretty sure there are wards inside ARC Hall, and Ellis thinks they’re the important ones.”

Olivia, Jacky, and I turned to each other.

“If Mr. Axton is correct, then things make more sense,” Jacky said. “The invisible thief was able to get inside by sneaking past the open front ward, but they tripped the ward inside because they, like us, didn’t expect it to be there.”

I added, “And maybe the witches powering the wards outside aren’t wardsmen, but the ones powering the wards inside are.”

“They’re probably on duty for longer,” Olivia said, “so that fewer people would be needed to keep the secret.” Her body suddenly went rigid. “But if Daddy’s right, that means the thief was inside.” Her eyes widened. “They could’ve looked up anything! They could’ve taken anything!”

“Anything that wasn’t behind a ward,” I said.

“And only if your father is right,” Jacky said.

We turned on Rall again.

He raised both hands in surrender. “If you’re looking for more information, I can’t help you!” He lowered his hands. “But I think I know someone who can.”

“Who?” Jacky said.

“Nylah.”

Honestly, I didn’t know how loud a scoff could be until I heard Olivia’s.

“Nylah won’t help us,” she said.

“Don’t be too sure, pumpkin,” Rall said.

When Olivia looked away from her father, I glimpsed her expression. Part of her lip was lifted, as if she was trying to sneer, but the rest of her face was slack with grief. She managed to keep her voice even. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, Daddy, but Nylah hates me. What makes you think she’d help?”

Rall’s shoulders drooped and his eyes softened when he heard that blunt announcement. I thought that in the face of such brutal realism, he’d be forced to abandon his baseless dream that his daughters could learn to get along.

Little did I know, it wasn’t entirely baseless.

“Because she was asking questions about you and Kirby last night,” Rall said.

Olivia’s whole face went blank.

Rall crossed his arms. “She asked me how long you and Kirby had been friends, and if I'd heard anything about him being missing.”

Now, I was pretty darn sure that I hadn’t told Nylah Kirby’s name. Which meant that she must have found out about him from someone else—Ansel, probably. But that meant this wasn’t some casual comment made to her father in passing. She’d put actual effort into asking questions.

Rall added, “I can’t speak to whether or not she hates you, but I think she’s at least curious.”

At close to the pace of resin hardening into amber, Olivia’s blank expression morphed into cold anger. She turned on her stool so her whole body would be facing me during The Glare.

I squirmed. “Ah, ha! Yeah…about that.”

“What did you tell her?” Olivia demanded.

I decided to go on the offensive.

“You’re welcome!” I blurted.

Her eyes narrowed. “Welcome?”

“Clearly, I told her just enough to pique her interest, and hey! Now we can go ask her some questions! That sounds useful.”

Olivia opened her mouth to say something else, but I hooked my arm through hers and dragged her from the stool. “And there’s no time like the present! Rall, do you happen to know where Nylah was going?”

“She was going to help with the festival. She’ll probably be in Town Park, but—”

Jacky nodded to him. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Axton.” He followed me and Olivia.

“Of course!” Rall cried to our retreating backs. “But what about breakfast?”

“Another time!” Olivia called.