Chapter 40: Chapter 39 - An Unusual Wager

It wasn't hard to track down Ellis Oliversen. All you had to do was ask a few witchly looking ladies if they’d seen her recently. It wasn’t long before we found one who pointed us toward ARC Hall.

As we neared the building, Jacky said, “I presume that when you told her everything, you also told her about the invisible thief?”

“Yes,” Olivia said.

Big Jacky hummed thoughtfully.

At that moment, Ellis Oliversen came out of the front doors. Officer Ansel was beside her. They both stopped short when they saw us.

Jacky stopped ten feet away from them, standing square to the door with his legs apart and his arms crossed. Olivia and I flanked him. Because I like a good dramatic show, and I could see that this was shaping up to be one, I put on my tough-girl face and also stood with my arms crossed. Olivia struck a different pose, but her standard no-nonsense expression was tough enough.

“Mistress Oliversen,” Jack Noctis, the embodiment of death, intoned, “I must have a word with you.”

And this—this—is how tough witches are:

Rather than stutter out an agreement, Ellis said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Noctis. I’m afraid I’m too busy to chat right now.”

“I will not beg an indulgence,” he said. “It’s not in my nature to beg. Nor do I want to waste time trying to convince you of the urgency of the situation. I think you already know. So I’m reduced to threats.”

Ansel scowled and took a half-step forward, but she was stopped by Ellis’s outstretched arm. When they looked at each other, Ellis shook her head. Ansel glared a moment longer, then stepped back and walked away.

Ellis didn’t say anything until Ansel was out of the courtyard.

“And how are you going to threaten me, Mr. Noctis?”

“If you don’t agree to give me fifteen minutes of your time, I will call Cosmo Uhler, explain the situation to him, and he will order you to give it to me.”

After a brief pause, Ellis said, “That’s an interesting threat.”

Her eyes narrowed as she regarded Big Jacky. They moved over to me—the girl who was friends with Cosmo Uhler—then back to Jacky.

“I assume you want this conversation to happen in private?” she said.

Jacky replied, “No, but I assume that you do.”

“Very well. Come inside.”

She turned back to ARC Hall. We followed her through the front door.

The lobby was designed with a modern layout, but all the details were done in colonial style. The ceiling above us was vaulted all the way up to the third floor, but the chandeliers that hung down were done in wrought iron and lit with candle-shaped light bulbs. The front desk was spacious, but the wood was dark and decorated with intricate carvings. It really was just another fancy lobby, but the fact it was also forbidden territory made everything seem delightful.

The witch at the front desk looked surprised to see her mistress back again so soon.

Ellis walked up to her. “I need to borrow an office. Is Mrs. Irvine in?”

“No, Mistress.”

“I’ll be in there. These three are with me. I’ll take responsibility for them.”

The woman nodded, and we followed Ellis deeper into ARC Hall.

I would’ve loved to explore the building, but before I could dodge down one of the long halls or step into a maze of shelves, Ellis turned and led us over to a nearby staircase.

On the second floor, she took us down a short hall and over to a dark-wood door. Beside it, fixed to the wall was a small hand-etched faceplate.

Irvine.

It was so elegant and understated, you knew that whoever Mrs. Irvine was, she had to be important.

Ellis walked in without knocking.

The office mimicked the style of the rest of the building: modern, but faking colonial. Ellis sat down behind Mrs. Irvine’s desk and motioned for us to take the other chairs.

Since there were only two of them, Jacky and Olivia sat down while I stayed standing.

Mrs. Oliversen crossed one leg over the other. “Now, Mr. Noctis, you have fifteen minutes.”

“I understand that Olivia has told you what we’ve learned in the course of our investigation.”

“Yes. You think there’s an invisible thief wandering around Craftborough.”

It said a lot about the seriousness of the situation that nobody cracked a smile when Ellis said that.

“I must correct you,” Jacky said. “I believe that it’s the invisible thief’s partner that wanders around. But I do believe that it was an invisible thief that broke into this building three nights ago. Or will you still insist that it was a false alarm?”

“Mr. Noctis, I appreciate what you’ve done for my daughter, but whatever I insist, or whatever I think, it’s no concern of yours.”

“Did you find any evidence?”

“Excuse me?”

Jacky laced his finger bones together and put his elbows out on the arms of the chair. “Wasn’t that what you were looking for? The festival is outside, the Hall is all but deserted, and yet you and Officer Ansel were here together until only a moment ago. I assumed that when Olivia told you her suspicions, they sounded plausible enough to worry you, and you wanted to come back and cast a new eye over the scene.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

There was a short silence where Ellis eyed Jacky. I don’t know what she was trying to read in his face, but I don’t think she found it.

Her voice was hard and level: “No. There was no evidence.”

Jacky let out one of his nearly silent sighs. “That’s been our problem all along,” he muttered. Louder, he said, “Mrs. Oliversen, we have reason to believe they may try to break into ARC Hall again.”

Ellis Oliversen’s body stiffened, but her face never changed.

“Do you have any proof?” she asked.

“None. Only suppositions. But I would like to offer my assistance. I have certain resources and connections at my disposal, but as we have no evidence, I can’t reasonably expect to get a warrant, so our involvement must be welcomed by you.”

“It won’t be.” Ellis’s declaration fell like a hammer. “I’d be grateful if you’d tell me why you think they’ll try again, but my coven takes care of its own problems, and we’ll protect our property.”

Jacky leaned back in his seat. “I believe you’re ill-equipped to do that, Mistress Oliversen.”

I had to bite the inside of my lips to keep from snickering. Watching these two powerhouses interact was like watching two boxers taking turns swinging at each other and eating the unblocked punches. If I was a betting girl, I would have put all my money on Big Jacky. They both swung like heavyweights, but Jacky took the hit differently. To him, the only difference between a blunt statement and a subtle one was that the blunt statement was easier to understand, but judging by the faint hint of red in her cheeks, Ellis wasn’t used to someone saying something like that to her face.

Jacky went on, “You’re saying that you’d embrace the assumption that you, by yourself, can handle any circumstance, rather than welcome in a diversity of talents?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you’re as blind as a witch, and even less qualified to handle the matter than I thought.

The shade of Ellis’s cheeks darkened by a whole hue. If only I’d had some paint chips, I could’ve looked up the name of the exact color. It was probably something really romantic—like Inches from Murder.

Ellis said through grit teeth, “I have my reasons for doing things this way—”

“Is it because of your secrets?”

“What?”

“It’s a common refrain with witches, it always has been, but I doubt it’s the protection you wish it was.” When Ellis didn’t answer, Jacky added, “Something about the matter is touching on one of your secrets, and that’s why you’re refusing our help, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Then if I can prove to you that we already know your secrets, there would be no reason to exclude us.”

Ellis’s expression hardened. “If you knew my secrets, Mr. Noctis, I would want to know how you learned them.”

“We could tell you that. I propose a wager. It wouldn’t be a traditional wager—you lose nothing by it—but it might be more meaningful. I will hand you a piece of paper with something written on it. If what I write down is wrong, then it’s clear we know nothing, we’ll be excluded, and you can rest assured that your secrets are safe. But if what I write down is correct, you’ll allow us to help you, and I’ll tell you how we know.”

Ellis watched him without saying anything.

“Will you give me your word?” Jacky asked.

Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you doing this?”

“Olivia cares a great deal for Mr. Kirby, and I care a great deal for Olivia. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to help a friend—to have to sit there and do nothing—when you’re afraid that they’re in trouble. I would spare her from that pain if I could.”

I botched my assignment; my eyes flicked over to Jacky’s skull. There was old sorrow, written like a scar, on every angle of the bone. When I realized I was watching the wrong person I moved my eyes back to the witch behind the desk.

I might not have noticed the change in Mrs. Oliversen’s expression if I’d been watching the whole time. The difference was that small. When I’d looked away, there was nothing but cold displeasure and suspicion. When I looked back, the coldness was gone.

Don’t get me wrong—there was still a mountain of displeasure. But there was also a softness in her features that hinted at sympathy.

“Olivia,” Jacky said.

Olivia reached into her pocket and passed him her notepad and pen. I didn’t want to ruin the moment by craning over to see what he was writing, so I kept my eyes on Ellis. She was watching Jacky. A second later, Jacky ripped the top page free, folded it in half, leaned forward, and held it out over the desk.

“Do you give me your word?” he repeated.

I had wondered why Jacky insisted on writing it down when he could’ve simply said it, but when I saw Ellis Oliversen’s eyes fix on that folded bit of paper, I thought I understood: there was a mysterious allure to tangible bait.

Ellis didn’t move, but I could sense the tension straining the space between her and the paper. She didn’t have to take it, but until she did, it would be there, tempting her. Jacky was a man of endless patience. He could wait.

Being a far less patient person, I was about to snatch the darn thing out of his hand and read it myself when Ellis finally leaned forward.

“I give you my word, Mr. Noctis.” She reached out.

Before her fingers could close over the sheet, Jacky said, “You’ll allow me to direct and use all my resources as I see fit?”

“I suppose it won’t make a difference. If you can prove you know my secrets, and you tell me how you know, I’ll agree to your terms.”

He relinquished the paper.

Ellis leaned back and opened it. There was a split-second where I could see her emotions—see them, not try to read them from her expression. Surprise had cracked her mask wide open, and behind it there was a thick cloud of frustration, rolling with exhaustion, laced with a fine ribbon of anxiety. The vision was gone as fast as it had appeared.

Her lips tightened, and when she raised her eyes, they didn’t go to Jacky—they went to me.

And I knew that she knew I’d seen something.

A shiver ran down my arms.

She tossed the open paper on the desk. “How did you know?”

Jacky said, “You mentioned a wardsman to Olivia—”

“Not about that. The inner wards are an open secret. Considering the number of wardsmen we’ve had over the years, I’m surprised it’s not common knowledge. How did you know about the grimoires?”

Grimoires?

Olivia and I did our best to keep our faces straight and act like this wasn’t news to us.

“Ah,” Jacky leaned back in his chair and once again laced his finger bones together. “That would be the list.”

“What list?”

“The list that was sitting on the desk in your office the morning after the thieves’ first attempt. It was a list of the most famous and talented witches throughout the history of your coven. The check marks next to their names made me suspect that you, or someone else, had been using it as a checklist. You must have wanted to make sure that nothing had been stolen, so all that remained was for me to figure out what kind of item would be collected and preserved from each of the most talented witches. They couldn’t be tools—some witches don’t make them. And they wouldn’t be spells, since those are more likely to be stored by type, not by the author. The only reasonable thing I could come up with were their grimoires.”

Ellis’s cheeks pulled back in a faint grimace. “You guessed,” she said.

“I did.”

She glared at Jacky. If he felt uncomfortable, not even my magical eyes could pick up on it.

“What I wrote down was correct,” he said, “and you gave me your word, Mistress Oliversen.”

“I did,” she said.

“Good.” Jacky reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Then we can get started immediately.”

“Who are you calling?”

Jacky must have had whoever he was calling on speed dial. He pressed one button and put his phone to his ear.

As the call went through, Jacky said to Ellis, “You said that I would be allowed to use my resources as I see fit. My contacts are part of my resources.”

The hand Ellis had left on the desk clenched, and I wondered if she would object, but then she uncurled her fist, and let her fingers fall to the desktop, drumming them in an abrupt four-tap rhythm.

“Mr. Noctis,” she said, “for all your guile, you seem like a frank man. Perhaps you’d be willing to answer another question.”

“What is it?”

“How did Olivia and Emerra get into coven headquarters when it was supposed to be locked?”

Jacky sounded confused, like he couldn’t understand why she’d ask something so obvious. “Through the door.”