The Light Who Shines (32 page)

Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

I walk into my office with Varg trailing behind me and some
documents I’d requested from Rubalia in my hands. I stop when I see a
beautiful, huge, dark brown leather dog bed surrounded by three bolstered sides
sitting next to the office window. I pivot right around and ask, “Rubalia, do
you know who put the beautiful dog bed in my office?”

Rubalia pushes her glasses down to the tip of her nose then
looks out them at me. “Well, of course I do. I did.” Then she returns to her
paperwork.

I move forward and lean over her counter while she
studiously pretends I’m not there. “Well, it’s absolutely lovely. Thank you! It
must have cost you a fortune. Can I reimburse you for it?”

She looks up at me and says, “Of course you can’t reimburse
me for it. First of all, it is not for you. It is for the beast, since he was
kind enough to intercede on your behalf the other day. Second of all, I did not
purchase
it. I made it.”

Then she lifts her glasses and looks at Varg through my
doorway. We both watch him sniff the bed and lie right down on it. With the
sunlight streaming through the window, hundreds of pieces of his fur are
visible flying through the air, swirling around with particles of dust from the
ventilation movement.

“Rubalia, both your work and your taste are impeccable, as
always, but you were exceptionally clever to make it leather. Now it can be
wiped right off.”

Rubalia puts her vibrant red, sparkly cat eye specs back on
the tip of her nose, making a lie out of her somber face as she says, “Exactly!
You will find the polish in the upper right hand drawer of your desk.” Then she
returns back to her work, with the corner of one side of her mouth drawn up, a
smile refusing to be completely suppressed.

I walk back in my office and set my papers down on the desk.
I sit down for no more than the amount of time it takes to check my drawer for
the polish when Rubalia buzzes me, saying that Gambino has arrived and is
waiting to see me.

Gambino walks in, today wearing a black suit, a crisp white
shirt, and a gray silk tie. It goes well with his graying temples and dark
hair. He looks fantastic and dignified, but he obviously forgot that I asked
him to dress casually. I chuckle at how he’s going to pay for that later.

“Good afternoon!” Gambino says as he sits down in my chair,
spreading out to take up as much space as possible as he usually does.

“Well, it’s been a good morning. The jury’s still out on the
afternoon.”

Gambino laughs and says, “Well, you look much better today.
Did you get any good info?”

“I did. But before we get into that, let’s try to narrow
down the probable suspect list.”

“Sounds like a plan. How do you want to go about this?”

“Let me handle Hilda Gunderson first. This one should be
easiest.”

I look at the documents Rubalia gave me, and I dial Zen Spa
and Salon. I put my finger to my mouth to shush Gambino and put the phone on
speaker.

A bright sounding woman’s voice answers, “Zen Spa and Salon.
Rebecca speaking. How may I help you?”

I say, “Hi, My name is Rose Smith, and I want to make an
appointment.”

Rebecca asks, “Who do you usually see?”

“I usually see Hilda.”

“Excellent. She has an appointment available on Tuesday at three
o’clock. Would you like that spot?

I say with as much ditz in my voice as possible, “Actually,
I always get my hair cut exactly five weeks apart. You know, otherwise it gets
unmanageable. But I forgot to write down the date of my last appointment. Can
you see if my name is on the books with Hilda for five o’clock on April 28?”

Rebecca says, “Sure, let me check.” A minute goes by and she
says, “No, it must have been another day.”

“Hmm, I was almost positive it was that day. Are you sure
you don’t have an appointment for Rose Smith, or Rosalie Smith. Oh, or check
Brittany Smith, that is my middle name. It could also be under Rose Phelps.
That’s my maiden name.”

Rebecca sound rather annoyed at this point and says, “Unless
your first name is Darryl and you were looking for a chest wax, I’m sure your
appointment wasn’t at five o’clock with Hilda on April 28.”

I affect dismay and say, “Oh, I wonder if I have the wrong
week. Let me look at my records again and call you back. Thanks so much!”

Rebecca says with a very tight voice, “No problem. Have a
Zen day!”

Gambino’s face is beet red, and he’s covering his mouth,
trying to hold his laughter in. He finally lets it out in a burst of noise that
sounds more like choking than laughing. I wiggle my eyebrows at him.

Amidst his laughing, he somehow barks out, “Very nice work.”

I flip him a smile and say, “Hopefully Hank went back to
work after the interviews and this one will be easy too.”

Gambino holds up one finger and says, “Just give me a minute
to recover.”

I do a quick internet search on Mountain Paper Mill where
Hank works and the local recycling plant to gather some information. When
Gambino’s face reverts to a nice pink tone under his otherwise olive complexion
I set my plan in motion.

I dial, and a gruff male voice answers saying, “Mountain
Paper Mill.”

I say, “Hello. Can I talk to receiving?” The phone clicks
abruptly and I must have been transferred because I hear ringing again. A voice
answers, “Receiving.”

I say, “Hi, this is Susie from the billing department at the
Earth Center Recycling Plant. I’m looking at a shipping receipt from my driver
dated April 28. Do you show receiving a shipment from us on that day?”

The receiving clerk says, “Hold on.” Then after a moment of
silence, she says, “Nope.”

“No? Shoot! Well, you know, this is a serious issue. My
shipping receipt definitely says April 28 at five p.m. for a truckload of baled
cardboard, but I don’t show a copy of the original purchase order. We’ve been
having problems with this driver, and I need to verify this before we take any
disciplinary action. We also need to verify what happened so we can stop the
billing process. Can you check which floor manager was on duty at five on April
28?

A very annoyed clerk says, “Hold on.” Then after another
moment of silence, she says, “It was Hank. He came on at five. I’ll transfer
you.”

I say, “Thanks!” Then as soon as I hear the ringing again I
hang up.

Gambino, who has managed to maintain his Italian coloring
this time despite his Irish ways, says, “You are slick.”

I appreciate his appreciation of my skill of artful deceit
for the greater good. “Thanks! Now, Goldberg Jewelers is going to be a bit more
difficult.” I stand up. “We’re going to have to see Milton in person.”

Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

I stop by Rubalia’s desk and lean over it while Gambino
watches from the side with Varg. “Rubalia, your ring is costume jewelry, isn’t
it?” I know it probably is because she wears different jewelry every day to
perfectly match her outfit.

Rubalia huffs. “Of course. Do you think I could afford fine
jewelry on what the Bureau pays me?”

“No. That’s how I guessed. I can’t afford real jewelry
either. Do you mind if I borrow it for the rest of the afternoon?”

Rubalia peers at me from behind her specs again. “Why do you
need it?”

“I need to pretend I was told it was a real diamond while I
question a jeweler.”

Rubalia tilts her head down and peers at me over her glasses
and says, “If you don’t bring it back, things will be very unpleasant for you.”

I throw up my hands and say, “I promise! I’ll bring it back!
If I don’t, I’ll buy you two to replace it.”

Rubalia reluctantly hands me the ring, and Gambino, Varg and
I head to the jeweler’s in Gambino’s unmarked car. As he drives, he glances
over at me quickly and asks, “So what’s your plan for the jeweler?”

I look at him and say, “Well, you’re going to be my father.”

Gambino opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again, closes
it again, and then yells, “Your father!”

“Well, I told you to wear casual clothes, didn’t I?
Otherwise you could have been my boyfriend, or my friend, or my brother!”

Gambino tightens his fists on the steering wheel and his
cheeks redden a little.

I ignore his stress and continue. “My boyfriend gave me an
engagement ring, and we suspect it’s fake. We’re checking it out. I’ll get him
to confirm that it’s fake. Then I’d like you to direct him toward verifying if
he was in the store on April 28 at around five o’clock when the ring was
supposedly bought. You can say that you want to make sure that one of his
employees didn’t sell it.”

Gambino nods.

When we arrive a few minutes later, I ask, “Can you please
park directly in front of the jeweler’s window so Varg can watch me while he
stays in the car? Otherwise I’ll have to let him come in.”

I watch as Gambino’s jaw relaxes a little and he says,
“Sure.”

Varg hops up to the front seat as soon as we vacate and
watches as Gambino and I enter the Goldberg Jewelry Store. A tall, very fit,
and almost too pretty to be handsome man waits behind the counter. A woman is
working at the jewelry bench. I walk straight toward the man.

“Hello, are you Mr. Goldberg?”

The man says, “Yes. How can I help you today?”

I stand their awkwardly with my hands in my pockets and say
in a low voice, “I’m Stephanie Fisk, and this is my father, Timothy. This is
very embarrassing, but my boyfriend gave me this engagement ring, and I’m not
sure it’s real. He said he bought it from you and showed me a receipt dated
April 28. Can you tell me if this was your ring?”

Mr. Goldberg says, “Certainly. Let me look at it.”

I hand him Rubalia’s ring.

Mr. Goldberg looks at it and immediately frowns. He then
goes to his drawer and pulls out a jeweler’s eye loupe. He puts it against his
eye and squints at the stone.

He puts the eye loupe back and turns back to me. He says,
“Stephanie, this certainly isn’t our ring. It’s a cubic zirconium in a gold
plated setting. We do not sell gold plated jewelry or cubic zirconium. We only
sell precious jewels and metals.”

I put on a sad face and say, “I was afraid of that.”

Gambino says, “Mr. Goldberg, when we tell him we know the
ring isn’t real, he’ll most likely say that you or one of your employees ripped
him off. Can you confirm who was working that day at five o’clock?”

Mr. Goldberg ponders the idea that one of his employees
might be running a scam, then seems to dismiss the notion and says,
“Certainly.” He opens up his phone and checks his calendar. “My assistant Julia
worked until five, as I had some personal business earlier in the day, but I
came on at five and let her go.”

“Well, it definitely would have been after five since he
works at the paper mill until then. And I definitely don’t think you ripped him
off. This certainly has been enlightening. I do appreciate your time, Mr.
Goldberg.”

Mr. Goldberg smiles and then he warmly embraces my hand and
says, “No problem. I’m glad you came in to check. I would hate to have it
thought I sold that piece. I hope we see you in here again.”

I smile and say, “You just might.”

Gambino holds the door for me as we exit and head back to
the office.

Bluebell Kildare: June 1, 2022, Red Ages

When Gambino, Varg, and I trail back into the office, I hand
the ring back to Rubalia and ask, “Is Jack available?”

Rubalia checks his phone light and says, “It looks like it.”
Then she hands me some papers. “These are the documents you requested earlier.”

I peruse them briefly and thank her.

Gambino, Varg, and I walk to Jack’s office, and as I raise
my hand to knock, Jack says, “Come in.”

I laugh at myself. I did it again.

Jack is lounging back in his chair feigning nonchalance as
usual. His catlike grace appears always on the verge of action. His long
fingers gently clasp the arms of his chair. He’s wearing a chocolate brown suit
today with a gold and green patterned tie. It makes his striking green eyes
stand out even more. His eyes quickly flick over me, and suddenly my mouth feels
so dry that it’s hard to swallow. I take the seat across from him, and Varg
lies next to me. Gambino sits next to me on the other side.

Jack says to me, “You’re looking better.”

“Alexis really helped me out.”

Jack nods and turns to Gambino. “Welcome, Gambino.” Then his
eyes sweep both of us. “So what do we know now?”

Gambino fills him in. “Blue called the businesses of Hank
Fletcher and Hilda Gunderson under false pretenses. We also visited Milton
Goldberg. In each case we were able to verify that they’d returned to work by five
o’clock on April 28. So unless they took Jason with them, it’s unlikely they
were involved.

Jack asks, “Do you think they suspected anything with your
questioning?”

Gambino inclines his head toward me as he says, “No. She’s
pretty gifted at this type of subterfuge.”

Jack lips twitch at that. “And what about Gerald Mack?”

Gambino says, “I was able to verify that he was called to
the fire and that he was there.”

Jack nods. “So that leaves us with Tobias Blackwater.”

Gambino inquires, “But how are you sure that it wasn’t any
of the participants in the interview rather than the interviewers themselves?”

Taking this as my cue, I interject, “Well, to answer that,
let’s review what we know.”

Both men turn to me to hear what I have to say. “Jason was
killed. His killer is not likely to have been the one to torture him because he
was seen at the pub just prior to the killing. A man in a dark red cloak was
seen at the Cock and Bull Tap just after the murder and was not seen there at
any time prior. His description was tall, about six foot; neatly trimmed, full,
dark brown beard; prominent, long nose; and thin face.

“Jason was found with a dark red thread caught under his
fingernail, and the amulet has a similar dark red thread caught in its clasp.
The amulet was found close to Jason. Someone has been searching for something
quite aggressively since, including while Paul, the killer, has been
incarcerated. So that someone could not have been Paul.”

Gambino says, “Agreed. There are definitely two parties: the
party who killed Jason and the party who is searching for something. Because
the evidence locker was the first place searched, I think we can assume that
the searcher was looking for something we would consider evidence. But since
none of the other evidence was taken, we can only guess that the purpose of the
searching was not to remove evidence. In fact I think as far as the searcher is
concerned, any evidence we have that links the death to Paul is a good thing
for them. So the only other thing they could be searching for is the amulet.”

“That is a very good point,” I say. “Now, we know there was
a second individual. We can suppose it is this man in the red cloak. The person
who’s been looking for the amulet has the ability to move through portals, as
the places he’s searched were heavily warded on the exterior. This person wears
finely made trousers as evidenced by the scrap of fabric found in my apartment
during the first attempt on my place. So this is a man of wealth or position or
both.

“Now, the amulet itself is the key to a book of
extraordinary powers. The person searching for such a key would be someone who
had a desire for power. Jason had a desirable power. He had the ability to
magnify magic. So any magic that someone wanted done would be magnified with
Jason’s help.”

Jack’s green eyes flicker first to me, and then to Gambino.
“That is a highly desired power. I’ve done a little research on this, and only
a few people in history have had such a power. It is certainly motive for a kidnapping.”

Gambino thoughtfully rubs his chin at this. I let him ponder
for a moment before I continue. “Jason was tortured and running naked through
the streets, so we have to assume that he was not conceding to whatever was
asked of him. I believe he had the amulet on his person when he was hit by the
car, and it flew out of his hand and into the bush. This is an amulet that has
been hidden for centuries, and suddenly it is found in the hands of a boy who
had the ability to magnify magic.”

Jack sits up straight and looks at me keenly. “What do you
think this means?”

“I believe that Jason’s particular brand of magic was
required to locate the amulet and that the man seeking the amulet had been
looking for just such a power for a while. I think the interview was just one
of several screening methods he used to search for a power that could be used
to locate the amulet. When he saw Jason’s power displayed at the interviews, he
knew he could use it to meet his ends, so he kidnapped him. I do not believe
that someone participating in the interviews would have been in a position to
see the powers of each individual because they were not called to perform
together. They were called to perform one at a time with only one interviewee
allowed on the island at a time. The only people who would have seen Jason’s
power in action were the interviewers.”

I pause for a moment and watch as that fact settles over
Gambino and Jack. Then I take one of the pieces of paper that Rubalia had given
me earlier and flip it over on Jack’s desk.

I say, “This is Tobias Blackwater. As you can see, he is
wearing a deep red cloak with a suit underneath in this photo. You can also see
he has a blackish-brown beard, neatly trimmed. He fits the description of the
man in the Cock and Bull Tap.”

Gambino doesn’t even look at the photo. I assume he knows
what Tobias Blackwater looks like from seeing him at city meetings. He seems to
play something in his head, and I see his eyes widen in recognition of the
truth when he comes to it. He looks back at me with a grim expression.

I pause a moment, then I say, “He’s been watching me. I’ve
seen him twice.”

At that Jack sits up and growls menacingly, and all
pretenses of nonchalance flee. His eyes rake me up and down as if to make sure
I have no new damage. He demands, “I saw him talking to you at the Gala. When
was the other time?”

I tilt my chin up a bit and say, “On the day I found Varg.
He was the man who grabbed me behind my building. I knew I recognized his soul
at the Gala, but I didn’t recall from where until Chief Mack gave me the list
of names. Then I started to put it together.”

Varg growls at this. There seem to be a lot of growling
males in this office.

“I also have had the distinct feeling of being followed, but
I can’t say for sure if Tobias or Schmidt was stalking me.”

I continue, “Tobias is a man of power, and we’re looking for
a man who’s greedy for power. He’s a man who delights in power over others. I
got that from him at the Gala as he looked at the Belladonna Necklace.” I
shiver slightly at the memory.

Jack pounds his fist on the desk and says, “We still don’t
have any evidence as to where he took Jason, or even that he did take him.”

“We do have the thread from his cloak. But I agree. We need
more.” Then I frown and say, “But there is more. I’m just not sure that it will
lead us to the evidence we need.”

Gambino says, “Well, let’s have it.”

I say, “LaRoche recalls him at the Pemberton Estates auction
looking at a Truth Ring. Milton Goldberg ultimately won that. At the
Lawrenson’s Estate Action, LaRoche saw that he was interested in a singular
scrying mirror.”

I then explain for Gambino’s benefit, “Essentially a pair of
mirrors is intended for agreed communication between two parties. One mirror
not in a set could be a mirror intended for looking, not communicating—spying,
if you will, or perhaps for finding. He was also at the Glenwood Charity Gala
and Silent Auction looking at the Belladonna Necklace, as I’ve already
mentioned.

“I had a conversation with Mrs. Glenwood, and she believes
that Blackwater goes to auctions for the purpose of looking at items but not
bidding. She provided me with an example of his bids. He bids so low that he’s
sure not to win. He’s essentially combing auctions looking for the correct item
but not buying it. I have a copy of her report.”

Gambino frowns and asks, “How does all this help us?”

I say, “I believe that he may not be winning the items in
bid, but he’s still obtaining them. He peruses the auctions and selects the
items he wants. He places a very low bid since he was obviously observed
looking at the item. He watches to see who wins the item, then he uses his
portal ability to obtain it. This single scrying mirror could possibly be the
tool that, along with Jason’s magnification ability, allowed him to find the amulet
that had been hidden for so many centuries. LaRoche has assured me that the amulet
was so carefully guarded that it must have been heavily warded from scrying,
but with Jason’s help, I believe Tobias finally found it.”

Gambino said, “That is a lot of conjecture with no basis.”

“Yes. I know.” Then I turn to Jack and ask, “Since these are
all magical artifacts, if they were stolen would they have been reported with
the Supernatural Investigation Bureau or the precinct?”

Jack says, “Unless there’s evidence of a Supernatural
activity involved in the perpetration of the crime, they would be under
jurisdiction of the precinct, though that should change. Clearly the precinct
is not able to evaluate a pattern in the theft of magical items since they
don’t have a good understanding of the items’ capabilities.”

Gambino nodded in agreement. “Let me call the precinct and
ask for a list of all the magical items reported as stolen in the past few
years.”

While we wait, Jack nods at Varg and says, “I wonder what he
is exactly.”

I pat Varg on the head and say, “He is obviously a wolf.”

Jack scoffs, “He’s more than a wolf. He appeared out of
nowhere just as Tobias was attacking you. He knew to keep Tobias away from you.
He keeps you guarded at all times. He seems to actually understand at least
some of what we say.”

I ponder this a moment. “This is true. But perhaps he is
just exceptionally intelligent and protective.”

Jack continues to look thoughtful.

Then I say, at great risk of my reputation, “Then there is
the fact that he grows when he fights.”

Jack swivels his gaze to me and raises his brow. I shrug my
shoulders, neither able nor willing to explain more.

Rubalia comes in with the fax from the precinct. Gambino
reads it, and it’s his turn to raise his eyebrows. He says, “Last September, a
single scrying mirror was reported stolen. Last April, a lie detector ring was
reported stolen. Yesterday, the Belladonna Necklace was reported stolen.”

We all sit there quietly for a moment. We now all know he’s
our man, but we lack evidence for the torture.

Gambino says, “We’ll have to check with the owner of every
item on this list that was reported stolen and determine if it was purchased at
an auction of some sort or otherwise displayed publicly shortly before it was
stolen. Then we’ll have to confirm that Blackwater was present at the public
viewing. That is just to start.”

Then Gambino looks up sharply. “Is the amulet still safe
now?”

“Yes,” I say. “It’s in the original location I placed it.
It’s on holy ground so he cannot scry it or portal there.”

Gambino looks satisfied at this.

Jack says, “This corroborates what we suspect, but it
doesn’t provide evidence for Jason’s capture or a clue to the location where he
was held.”

I agree and lay out my next step. “Tomorrow I’m going to
return to the scene of the crime to see if I can get any ideas.”

Gambino looks at me with a puzzled expression. “It happened
a week ago. What evidence could still be there?”

“The location and the surrounding area. Can you run a search
of any properties that Blackwater might own?”

Gambino says, “A search like that would set off too many
alarms and might get back to him and get us shut down.”

Jack says, “I can have Rubalia run that search on our
system. I’ll have her use stealth mode, though I highly doubt Blackwater has
any insiders in the Supernatural Investigation Bureau.”

Gambino gets up. “I’ll get started on my part as well.”

I nod. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then. Hopefully we’ll
find something.”

I get up to leave with Gambino, but Jack clears his throat
and says, “A moment?”

I sit back down and face him as I hear the door swing shut
behind Gambino.

Jack says, “You know, Blackwater has his eye on you. He
thinks you have the amulet.”

I fidget with my hands in my lap. “I know.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

I look up at him. “I’m visiting Maud, and then I’m spending
the rest of the night at home.”

Jack nods. “Good.”

I still don’t know what to say to him about last night. I
think he doesn’t want me to say anything. So I don’t. I quietly get up to leave
with him watching me all the while.