Strike at Midnight(14)

No. No way. I would just take the stairs, thank you very much. Even if it did mean my chest would most likely collapse in on itself when I reached the top.

It took me ten minutes to climb up, and I was breathless when I knocked on the door to an open-plan workspace. A pair of slightly annoyed eyes met mine when I pushed my way in, but the lack of air in my lungs hindered my apology.

“You really…” —must breathe— “…need to…” —got to breathe— “…get a doorbell,” I said, rolling my hand over as if that could get my words out faster.

“I have the cage,” she said, before disregarding me and going back to her documents. The spare chair in front of her desk beckoned, and I basically fell on it.

“That thing is lethal. It shook all over the place last time.”

“It’s safe enough.”

There was no energy left for me to roll my eyes, and I just sat there until I could get my breath back.

She had redecorated since the last time I had visited. Pretty floral pillows now sat upon a cute little sofa to the right of me, and flowers were in vases all around the circular office space. Rapunzel loved her flowers.

She had some weaved into her hair right now, and I wondered for the hundredth time how she managed to carry around all that hair. It was cleverly wrapped into a triple braid, but I knew it would swirl around the floor should she decide to let it loose.

I had asked her about it once, but all she told me was that she had no choice in it. I hadn’t pushed—not with my history—but it had made me wonder.

“So, what brings you here?” she asked, finally looking up from her parchment

“A job,” I replied, with as much innocence as I could muster. “Ten percent of the fee.”

She tapped her quill to her lips as she leaned back in her chair. She was wearing a rustic brown-and-gold gown today because, unlike me, she played to the rules—most of the time.

“Tell me the details, and if I agree, twenty percent.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Fine,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, then she went back to her writing.

“Fifteen percent,” I said through gritted teeth, but I wasn’t really bothered. She could have the twenty if she pushed hard enough.

“Seventeen,” she said without looking up, and I hesitated to make her feel like she had gotten herself a deal.

“Fine,” I said, and she put her quill down to give me her full attention.

“So, what’s the job?”

“A Knight of the First Order came to see me about an imposter portraying himself as the Duke of York. It turns out his suspicions were correct, and we have the imposter in custody.”

“And the problem is?”

“All the imposter said was that he paid for the privilege of becoming the duke, but he won’t give them anything about the real duke’s whereabouts.”

“And you’ve been charged with finding him?”

“That’s right. And we determined it would have to be someone orchestrating this behind the scenes. Or a kidnapper. But it feels more like someone who would have approached this guy to take advantage of the likeness, not the other way round. That means it has to be someone who moves in those circles, or who works regularly within them. They didn’t know about the father-son relationship he had with the knight, so we think he was targeted because he doesn’t have much in the way of family. The knight was the only one who became suspicious regarding the duke’s change in behavior towards him.”

“That’s going to rouse a lot of suspects.”

“And that’s why I need you.”

“Why? I don’t move in those circles.”

“I know that, but I also need a background check on the duke. His family, his upbringing, any distant relatives, his movements the past few months. And your expertise on this will help. I can target some of the people who operate in his world, as the knight, Sir Raymond, is going to provide me with a list of anyone he thinks would be good to go at first.”

“I’ll need that list.”

“I’ll get you a copy.”

“Okay,” she replied with a nod. I could almost see the cogs turning in her brain. She could never resist a new challenge. That was one of the reasons why she was so good at what she did.

“We’re dismissing magical means at the moment. No one who was regulated with the MLO would have been able to pull this off.”

“What about outside of the MLO?”

“Illegal magic hasn’t really been an issue since the banishment. But maybe check out the journals to see if something like this has happened before. It would take a lot of balls, money, and magic to pull this off, and the motive seems out of place for that. He may be a duke, but that’s all he is. He has no direct power as such, and only socially to some degree. Magic doesn’t make sense.”

“Very well. I’ll check it out. But I’ll start with the duke,” she said. “I can go down to the Hall of Records and find out his birthplace and name of his parents. His genealogy records should also be listed in City Library, and I’ll go and interview his staff. Do you have the name of his estate?”

“Erm…York?”

She smiled. “I got that bit. I mean the actual title of his deeds. His address.”