The team emerged from the second hallway. “Well, those rooms were a waste of time,” Miles groused. “We learned there’s a nanny, and two young twin boys, and none of them have any money, or do anything interesting.”

“That’s all about to change,” Noninja hinted. “Brace yourself; we don’t even know if Lady Medochre fled the house.”

He slowly turned the handle on the door, then quickly poked his head inside; the room was empty. He exhaled with relief and walked in, the others following.

They split up and looked around. “Huh,” Clancy observed. “This looks like a mirror image of the lord’s suite…almost as if the architect just made a copy of it and flipped everything widthwise.”

“Not very creative,” Lorarona jabbed.

“The wand is still here!” Noninja announced, fetching it from a drawer.

He examined it closely. “Same symbol that was on Lyle’s correspondence.” Lorarona and Clancy gathered around to look.

Lorarona pulled out her sketch. “Yep…dead ringer.”

“This could be important evidence,” Noninja declared. “Clancy, see what you can figure out.”

Clancy took hold of the wand and twiddled his fingers; they began to glow. “This’ll take a minute or so,” he predicted.

“Hey Noninja,” Miles called from the closet. “Do you want to try picking this lock, or should I use my ‘universal key’?”

Noninja waved in his direction dismissively. “Knock yourself out.”

“This is definitely a wand of some kind,” Clancy revealed.

Noninja rolled his eyes. “Oh, great. You’re sure earning your portion of the haul.”

A loud crashing sound rang out from the closet. “Ow!” Miles shrieked; Noninja and Lorarona both facepalmed. “Well, what you do you expect?” she grumbled. “We met in a city work-placement department, and teamed up so we could skip ahead in line.”

“Definitely a magic wand,” Clancy continued.

Noninja snorted. “I’m going back to work.” He resumed searching the area near the bed.

“Uh, Lorarona?” Miles called from the closet. “When you get a chance, I could use that purse of holding. There’s a lot of jewelry in here.”

She sighed. “On my way.”

“Huh…would you look at that,” Noninja observed, crouching near a vanity. “I wonder if the lord’s desk had a similar button.”

With a soft sliding sound, a secret door opened in the wall near the lady’s bed. “Jackpot!” Noninja trilled.

Clancy’s head shook with strain, then he turned away. “I can’t name the spell,” he admitted. “It’s some sort of compulsion magic, but the spell itself is strange. Nothing I’ve seen before.” He blinked a few times. “It feels really old.”

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“We’ll have to find someone else to look at it,” Noninja snapped, snatching the wand out of Clancy’s hand. He leaned in to look Clancy in the eye. “Someone a little higher level.”

“What do you want from me?” Clancy complained, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m fresh out of school!”

“Want to stash it here?” Noninja turned to see Lorarona holding open the purse of holding; Miles trailed behind. Noninja nodded and placed the wand in the purse.

“Now,” he trilled, “let’s see where the secret door leads!” He began to stride toward it, then turned around. “Miles? You OK?”

“Sure!” he boomed.

“You look a little green,” Noninja declared.

“I’m fine,” he asserted. “Some of the debris hit me when I smashed open the chest. Wood splinters can be sharp!”

“I guess,” Noninja muttered. “OK! A secret door awaits!”

The inside of the door had a handle; once they were past it, Noninja tried closing it and reopening it. “Just what I thought,” he confirmed. “It’s easy to open from this side.” He closed it again.

“Great plan,” Miles chided as he contemplated the sudden darkness. “We can see so much better this way.”

“One light spell, coming up!” Clancy chimed.

“No! Wait” Noninja commanded. “Don’t you see that?”

“Oh, yeah,” Miles observed. “What is it?”

Noninja slowly approached the glowing square on the wall. “It’s a peephole,” he announced. “I can see a combination kitchen and dining room.”

Clancy snickered. “Really? Why would they need that? Don’t they have space for separate ones?”

“Not if it’s the servant’s quarters,” Miles pointed out.

“Wow, Miles!” Lorarona trilled. “I’m surprised at you!”

“What?” Miles protested. “I wasn’t trying to put anyone down!”

“No,” Lorarona corrected. “I mean…that was actually thoughtful and insightful. I’m genuinely surprised!”

“Aw, go to the devil,” Miles seethed.

“There’s a bunch of these!” Noninja continued. “This one looks into a den!” They heard him round a corner.

“Well, he’s having the time of his life,” Clancy grumbled. “Must be nice to have darkvision.”

Miles and Clancy felt someone gently take their arms. “Not to worry, gents,” they heard Lorarona say. “I’ll guide you. Just walk with me.”

“Really?” Clancy fretted. “You’re not worried about springing a trap?”

“I’m sure our resident ninja will smack into them long before we do,” she pointed out.

Miles snickered. “Perfect.”

“You have to see this, guys,” Noninja suddenly revealed. “You won’t believe what’s through these peepholes.”

They followed his voice and looked through the faint glowing squares. “It just looks like someone’s bedroom,” Clancy noted.

“Exactly,” Noninja chortled. “The lord, and maybe even the lady, are voyeurs. Perhaps more.”

“Oh, wow,” Lorarona cackled. “Nobility canoodling with the help? There’s a society-page scandal for you!”

“One way to find out,” Noninja announced. “Let’s see if the other side leads to the lord’s suite!”

They heard him run up ahead; Lorarona escorted her two dim-sighted humans along the passage. Long before they reached the end, they saw a light bloom down the hall.

“It sure does!” Noninja called out. “Can you see better now?”

“We sure can!” Miles returned, striding quickly to join him.

Clancy smiled in Lorarona’s direction. “I’m happy to stay here with milady, if you are,” he beamed.

He felt her drop his arm. “No, I don’t think that’s needed,” he heard her state simply as she headed toward the light.

Clancy sighed. “Shot down again,” he said quietly to himself.