Chapter 34

Two people see more than one person. Three people see more than two. But twenty people might see less than two. Don’t be afraid of more than one pair of eyes. Too many eyes on a case can just make for blurry vision.

DIC Manual

At DIC headquarters, Bryony walked into Master Investigator’s analysis room, what he called his war room, a place reserved for putting together information about complex cases. It was a moderately large space, brightly lit with what looked like daylight, but was the latest in Dragonkin magic lighting. Unlike many Dragonkin structures, it wasn’t walled in treated stone; instead it was paneled in some like colored finish that made it easy to pin things to. One wall had a large map of the world filled with different color pins pushed into locales. Except for that space, the walls were lined with tables with stacks of papers and evidence items, and behind them, lists, smaller maps, pictures of people and scenes. Each table had a label in a different color, coordinating with the pins on the map: Transportation, Pharmaceuticals, Exploration, Finance, Trade – each one of the great divisions of the Dragonkin way of business. There were two other tables. One was marked Unknown, but the final one was marked DIC.

“DIC included in your hunt, too, Master Investigator?” Bryony asked.

“Well, you know about the mess at Greshold’s Keep,” the older dragonkin said. “Not yet sure if they’re the only ones yet.”

Bryony nodded and moved to the center of the room, where there were a pair of desks facing each other, a table with a tea service, and another table filled with boxes of material and papers not yet processed. More boxes rested underneath it.

“You’ve been busy, sir,” Byrony said.

“It’s been a work in progress, as you know,” the older dragonkin said. “But lately it’s exploded. So I moved it here. And now I need you.”

Master Investigator poured himself a cup of tea from the tea service that was waiting on the table, then collapsed into his chair. “Help yourself to the tea if you want some. Won’t be as good as Tansy’s, but you can drink it in peace.”

Bryony smiled at that. “Sometimes, that’s a perk.” He looked around the room one more time. “You need me here? Does this mean you want me off the Xendo’s Freehold case?”

“Not fully. I’m pretty sure that case belongs on our list of things. And maybe a lot of what happened on the smuggler mission as well. Something’s going on here. I can almost see it.”

Bryony walked over to the map and looked where the pin clusters were densest. But even though there was a cluster in Harani, and another along the Border Lands, many of the pins were scattered in no real pattern across the map.

“Are you sure it’s all one thing?” Bryony asked, brushing a finger lightly over the city of Comrie on the map where a bright red tipped pin stood out. “I mean, couldn’t it just be a group of individual events driven by different actors with their own plans?”

“I won’t rule that out,” said Master Investigator. “Or the chance that there is one big connector that we’ve roped some extra events into. ‘Never go into an investigation with your mind already made up,” the manual says, and it’s always good advice. He rubbed the back of his neck. “But as I put the records together, it looks like something has been building for several years now. Five years ago, Sinter Acquisitions attempted to buy out the mine at Xendo’s Freehold. When they refused, there was an attack at the mine supposedly under a Gallu leading a band of Huwawa. Rumor had it that an ancient artefact had been uncovered. Sinter tried again with the new owners. Someone came in and killed them in suspicious ways.”

“That does get the investigation reflex tingling,” Byrony said. “Something’s definitely going on in Harani. But what about all these other pins?” He walked back to the desks.

“Well, right around the time Sinter started checking out Xendo’s Freehold, that’s when the first no space researchers started disappearing.” Master Investigator took a sip of his tea. “Every one of them were working on projects similar to jump stones. For a while we were wondering if B&F were trying to take down the competition.” He put his cup down. “Started maybe six years ago, with a couple of Dwarf researchers, Gareth and Sam Greengain. Their case just might have been an accident – they were looking for ways to improve moving mining ores and wastes more easily. Working in no space for the non Dragonkin can be really dangerous.”

“All the rest though were fairly well-respected researchers, if I remember right.” Byrony rubbed his chin. “They would have known about and expected the dangers of the work, and had the resources to set up safely, I would think.”

“Indeed. These people were not amateurs. One of them even disappeared from a Redsticks laboratory. First rate military installation. Mareth would have had all the protective spells set up in advance, with failsafes and assistants nearby, which made it especially surprising.” Master Investigator slowly shook his head. “None of these missing are Dragonkin, but anything that involves no space is something the DIC must look into.”

“Can’t have the non-Dragonkin doubting the safety of the Dragon Web,” Bryony said.

“If the Aos Si ever figure out how to use no space as well as we do, well that’ll be a whole other issue, but until then, we need to find out happened. And then there’s Gandaran. Whenever he moves in his sleep, something’s going on. Something bad. We know it’s not just a transport company taking out the researchers. That doesn’t break the pact, and Gandaran wouldn’t twitch a claw. But something going on is troubling him.”

“And so President Grimsbeard is breathing down your neck.” Byrony sat down across the desk from Master Investigator.

“And other eyes are looking, too. You know how my father was Master Investigator during the last Gandaran event. And how he missed the start of the the would-be rebellion.”

“People always talk, sir,” Bryony said. “We can’t stop them from being stupid. But we do need to provide some results.”

“Like breaking up Shulan’s ring down at Greshold’s Keep, perhaps?”

“That operation went very well, everything I could hope for, until Shulan took the coward’s way out.” Bryony looked at the folders in his hands, that he had brought with him.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“What do you have there?” Master Investigator asked.

“A couple of reports that came in while I was out. One’s kind of connected to Xendo’s Freehold. The manager of the explorations office that had made an offer on the mine before the murder...remember, he had stood me up and sent his second instead.”

“I remember your report,” Master Investigator said, nodding. He steepled his fingers. “Let me guess. He turned up dead.”

“And they’re trying to interfere with DIC investigating the death.” He handed the folder to his boss.

“Oh, we’re going to so put someone on this,” Master Investigator said, thumbing through it quickly. “Who do you recommend?”

“Maybe we should send Tansy,” Bryony replied. “She could wheedle out information out of a dead plant.”

Master Investigator flapped his wings and rolled his eyes. “If only. I was thinking of putting Asper Bloodstone on it after he gets back from Greshold’s Keep. He’s one of your team. Opinion?”

“That mess might take longer than you think to clean up. We’re going to want to reevaluate the entire DIC office there. He’d be really good at it working over Sinter, though. Maybe send Sandrock to get things started. He can be very intimidating. It sounds like intimidating might be useful. Sinter Acquisitions is a rather slimy outfit, even for a small on the edge Dragonkin company that has dreams of reaching bigger heights, and a little intimidation might do them some good. ”

“You might be onto something,” the older dragonkin said, nodding. He made a note. “What else do you have there?”

“Another missing person with no space connections.” Bryony handed the file to Master Investigator. “This one’s a Daoine who works for B&F.”

“Now that’s a different one,” Master Investigator said, looking over the papers in the file. “Maybe this will let us put the rumors about B&F to bed. Violetta Greenleaf. On vacation in...Harani? Last seen at Runi Blahn?”

“I thought that would catch your eye, sir.” Byrony said.

Master Investigator got up and walked over to the large map on the wall, picked up a purple headed pin, and marked a spot on the Harani section of the map. The area around Runi Blahn had collected a number of them.

“What is going on in this part of the world?” he asked.

“It’s going to take more than you and me to get to the bottom of this, sir. Let me put a small team together to help.”

Master Investigator nodded. “Be sure to include someone from Logistics. We’re going to need to have someone convince the bean counters at Willowick that it’ll take some gold. The president will have our back, but it’s always useful to have someone who knows the talk.”

“Good idea. I was thinking about some technical people, too.”

Master Investigator nodded. “Just be sure to vet them carefully. This needs to be a tight operation.”

“Maybe we should add a liaison from the White Circle.” Bryony felt his spikes flush as he made that request. “What I saw of them at the last operation let me know they run a first rate shop. And being Daoine, they might pick up on things we’d entirely miss.”

Master Investigator pondered Bryony’s ask for several minutes. “You have a point. And we promised them some feedback on our findings...Let me run this by President Grimsbeard. It’d take permission from him. Get the rest of your team together. Bring whoever’s ready to start here tomorrow. I’ll see what we can do.”

“We never stop investigating,” Bryony said.

Master Investigator gave him a toothy grin. “Never.”

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One of the good things about being an expert in Domestic Magic is that it made cleanup after eating much easier.

“Any more pie?” Gan asked Rob, who was taking the last bite on his plate.

“No thanks, Ma’am,” he said, pushing his plate away. “But that was really delicious.”

“I told you she was the best cook in the world,” said Dahlia, flying up to look the young man in the eyes. “Admit it!”

“She is very, very good,” Rob said. “But I haven’t eaten too many people’s cooking, so I can’t compare. Her pie is better than my mom’s usual,” he admitted.

“I guess that’ll do,” the little woman said, mollified.

“Now Dahlia, be nice. I like to cook and I like to feed people. Won’t be able to feed people if you chase them off,” Gan said.

“But, but…” Dalia said, horrified at the thought of losing Gan’s cooking.

“Come over here,” Seamus said to her. “I’ve got a little piece of apple I’ve been saving for you.”

“For me?” Dahlia fluttered, then went to sit next to Seamus, who graciously handed her the piece he had been saving.

Smiling at everybody happy in a warm after-eating glow, Gan began to clear off the table.

Rob stood up. “Let me help you with those dishes, Ma’am. My ma, she’d never let me live it down if she finds out I was invited to such a nice meal and didn’t help out afterwards.”

“That’s very kind of you, Rob, but cleanup is the easy part of what I do. Cooking and baking, now those are arts,” Gan said, “but I don’t waste much effort on the dishes.”

She gathered all the plates and saucers and moved them to a basin. Making a sigil in the air, she watched as a glow filled it, and one by one, the dishes, spoons and cups they had used at lunch lifted out of the basin sparkling clean and dry, ready to be put back in their cupboard.

Rob watched them rather dumbfounded. “How…”

“Domestic magic,” she said. “Why spend all that time with hot soapy water and wiping dry? I make my food the hard way, because I like to, but cleanup? I don’t like that nearly as much.”

The young man went over to the counter and looked at his soup bowl. It was spotlessly clean. “I wish I could do that at my ma’s house that way.”

“It does take some learning,” Gan replied. “Maybe I could teach you, if you’re really interested.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have much magic, and what I have seems to be all about growing things.”

“Is that why you’re working for Elaine as a gardener?” Gan asked. She quickly put the cleaned dishes away.

“I guess.” Rob, back in his seat, leaned his elbows on the table, and rested his face in his hand. “Some. She noticed me when I was tagging along with my dad. My dad used to be her chief gardener around the estate before his back got too bad. I probably got hired because of him, maybe. Still only an apprentice gardener, though.”

“Everybody has to start somewhere, I guess.” Gan closed the cabinet and grabbed a cloth to dust crumbs off the table when she noticed the look on Rob’s face. “Hmm. I take it there’s some more than just being an apprentice going on here, from your expression. You don’t like what you’re doing?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that. I love working the land and seeing things grow, roses or wheat or cabbages. It’s...I don’t know if I should talk about it.”

Rosebud flittered by. “He’s got a girlfriend,” she said landing on his head. “Over at Halfway. I saw them walking around Red Rock. And he...he...he kissed her, when he thought nobody could see them!”

“A girlfriend is it?” Gan asked, stifling a smile.

Rob sighed, and covered his face with his hands, nodded once.

“Have you two made plans yet?”

“Sort of. We’re unofficially promised to each other. I wanted to talk to her father, but I can’t yet. Not until I make full gardener.” He looked up, and his face was bright red with embarrassment. “But this isn’t anything you need to worry about, Mistress Gan. It’ll happen some day, I know it. Just waiting gets hard.” He stood up. “Excuse me, Ma’am. I need to check something around the barn area.” Grabbing his cap, he dashed out of the house.

“Waiting indeed is hard,” Gan said, looking at the closed door. “Maybe I should tell Elaine about our young man’s predicament.” She looked around the room at the pixies who were still in the room. It included Moxie and Arne, Dahlia and Seamus, Rosebud, Hilby, Bu, Gillie and several others. “How would you like it if we asked Elaine to lend us Rob every day?”

“Will he bring us cookies?” Moxie asked.

“Probably not, but if he can get the peach trees in good shape, I can make peach pie.”

“Peach pie sounds like a good thing,” Arne said. “Is it better than apple?”

“I think so,” Gan replied.

“Then let’s do it,” he said.

The rest of the pixies shouted out their agreements, except for Bu.

“Why do we need anybody else here,” he asked.

“Shut up, Bu,” said Gilly, flying over and swiping the feather out of his cap. “You never like anything new.”

Much to the amusement of the other pixies, Bu raced after Gilly in a wild chase that led outside. Most of the crowd followed.

“I guess that settles that,” Gan said. She got up and walked into another room where she had paper and ink. The pixies followed her, and watched as she got ready.

“Dear Elaine,” she wrote, “I’d like to borrow Rob Woodway for a while. And since he’s going to be my primary gardener, maybe it’s time to raise his status to full gardener...”