William lounged on top of the wagon soaking up the sun as Wilma guided it back through the crowded streets of the city. Bruno kept a watchful eye out for the occasional thief, his wand and hand crossbow out and displayed.
“So, how did you figure it out?” Wilma asked as she guided the wagon through the crowds.
“Nothing to it really.” William replied with a smile. “You could have found the thief as well with your spell set. Of course, it helped that you and Bruno did a great job distracting our clients, so they didn’t pay attention to my spell casting. Thanks for that by the way.”
Bruno glared at a young thief eyeing the gaudy wagon before replying. “Glad to be a successful distraction, but I’m with Wilma. How did you find the thief?”
“Let me ask you a question or two instead. Normally, what spells would you use to find a missing item?”
“Locate Object, of course.” Wilma quickly replied. “It’s great if you have a good description of the item and it’s in range.”
“So, what would prevent you from finding the ring with that?”
“His boot heel was lead lined which foils most divination spells. As were the little pouches his boss gave him for other jobs. In fact, any professional thief will have something like that just to prevent the local mage tracking them down.”
“Real pain.” Bruno muttered.
“Ah, but there’s a way around that limitation, you know.”
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“There is?” Both detectives spoke up at once. “How?”
“Instead of looking for the item, look for containers meant to conceal instead.”
Wilma and Bruno shared a look as she guided the horses through the gate into the compound behind the office. “How?”
One of the advantages of Magi-Tech is I can more easily tune spells to specific purposes, but even without that, you could still do it. Consider, how does Locate Object really work? Bruno?”
The big half orc, stretched as he climbed down from the wagon. Then he reached up and helped Wilma off the top. “Well, basically you form an image of the item in your mind and then project it out with the magic looking for resonant feedback. My mark of finding makes that easier for me and extends my range.”
“Correct. So, Wilma, consider this. A box designed to conceal an item has a distinct purpose. And it’s meant to conceal any object placed inside. But what doesn’t it conceal?”
Wilma watched the groomsman unharness the horse and lead it into the barn while she thought. Suddenly her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, “It doesn’t conceal itself! So, if you look around for items MEANT to conceal, you’re only going to find a few which you can then examine!”
“Exactly!” William smiled as he zoomed down the wagon and over to them. “So, with you successfully distracting the mage, I was able to cast my version of Locate Object and find the few such concealment items in range. I then checked them out and quickly found the proper one using Detect Thoughts to confirm my choice. Dylan was extremely nervous and hoping no one found the ring concealed in his boot heel.”
“That’s genius!”
“And Magi-Tech!” William exclaimed as he gave a small bow and then raced ahead of them to report their success to M’Craft.
Bruno blinked at the after image of the tiny Blur and then shook his head smiling. “I’m looking forward to working with William. I have a feeling our success rate is about to go way up.”
“As well as our bank accounts.” Wilma commented as she calculated how much their two percent commission on Magi-Tech sales was going to net them on the side. Then following their pint-sized companion, she and Bruno headed in to see the boss, a jingle of coins in their pockets.