Nocturnal (episode n. 1) (5 page)

This way, fake seers were able, with their silver tongues, to keep up a remarkable business, meeting with no serious resistance, as no magician would ever waste time discrediting someone who really had reason to be discredited, and to whom nobody really believed. True seers ended up having to work almost in disguise, mostly to do good and to use in some way the gifts they couldn't get rid of if they wanted, and only marginally to earn something from that.

Amanda knew several seers of both kinds, but there was only one she trusted. Meaning she had enough trust in her not to be afraid she would try to dig some dark secret out of her mind. The few she had, she'd rather keep for herself.

She stopped to buy something to eat along the way, then she went to Kate's place of work. It was, actually, a first-floor flat comprising only three rooms: an anteroom, a little study and a third one Amanda had never seen, and that she also thought could be a bathroom, a closet or both at the same time. Not that it was her business.

She pushed the door, which caused a little bell to tingle, so softly it could hardly be heard. The anteroom was empty, but the curtains of the study were closed, which meant someone was in and she had to wait.

The room, quite plain, was remarkably devoid of any of the weird decorations and odd items that could so easily be found in the studies of other kind of seers. There were four rows of chairs, two on the left and two at the right of the door, and two small tables displaying several magazines, ranging from classic gossip ones to specialized publication about seers. Once Amanda had tried reading one of the latter and she had felt like she had opened by mistake a paper coming from another world. She hadn't tried again since, only looking every once in a while at something less abstract and not too gossipy.

She hadn't been there long when the curtains opened and a short, large and quite bald man – almost like the extra-large version of a gnome – came out. The expression on his face was unreadable. Had he received good news? Bad ones? Neither of those?

Amanda virtually shrugged. She had other thoughts at the moment.

She stood up and went to the other room, barely noticing the bell meaning that the little man was going out.

Kate's study was less than half the anteroom. The walls were covered by light-blue drapes, creating sort of a relaxing mood. There were several bookshelves, but it took moving the drapes aside to see what was in them. The few titles peeking out between curtains were all about seeing, and Amanda could easily imagine that their contents were even more alien than those of the magazines on the tables.

A round table was in the center of the room, this too covered with a light-blue cloth. In front of it there was a chair, behind it there was Kate, sitting, all intent in gathering some cards scattered in front of her. She looked as sober as her anteroom, and she had nothing to spare with the typical image of the commercial seer. No veils, no ridiculously oversize or elaborate clothes, no noticeable jewelry, no colors assailing the onlookers. She wore a simple beige suit, which collar was barely brushed by her brown hair, long just enough to cover the neck and not much more.

When she looked up to see who was there, a smile lit her features.

«Mandy! So nice to see you!» she exclaimed, then a worried stare crossed her face «Did you sleep?»

«Not much and not good. Did you see that in your cards?»

«No, in your circled eyes.»

Amanda smiled. «Lately I get up more tired than I was when I went to bed. Maybe it's the season.»

«Quite weird, the season. Did you hear about yesterday night rain?»

«Firsthand I'd say. I got home I was almost dripping.»

«You? Really?»

«Why?» she asked, not seeing what her friend meant by that «What's weird? Do you think I'm waterproof?»

«Waterproof, no. Lazy, yes. What were you doing out so late at night? No... what where you doing out so early in the morning? Is there a man involved? Let me see...» she reached out to turn one of her cards

«Hands off!» Amanda replied, almost laughing «Another time, maybe, I'll give you the details... today I'm here for business.»

«Yours or mine?»

«Yours.»

«Fine then. I didn't do my homework.» She laughed. «Well then... sit down and tell me everything. What do you want to talk about? Love? Work? Money?» she winked «... sex?»

«Death.»

Kate's features dropped. «Are you sure you chose the right person?»

«Do you know Trey Parker.»

«Trey... Parker... who? No, wait, wait, you must have mentioned him... a colleague of yours?»

«More or less. He's dead.»

«Ah, sorry about that. How?»

«That's the point. I believe he was killed, but I don't know much, and the police doesn't seem to care too much.»

«I see... but I'm not sure I can help. It's not even something that concerns you directly...»

«You're not going to chastise me now...»

«No, really. I meant it's more difficult to see something for someone who is not involved. It would be easier if he were here... but then I wouldn't be, I'm not really eager to read cards to a corpse.»

Amanda shrugged. «Whatever you're able to tell me, it will still be more than I know now.»

«As you like», Kate replied as she shuffled the deck of cards and placed it on the table. «You know how it works.»

Instinctively Amanda reached out with her right hand to cut the deck, then stopped in midair before even brushing it. She pulled her hand back and cut the deck with the left before Kate could say anything.

The seer reassembled the deck and started putting some cards on the table. As usual, Amanda tried to decipher the expressions crossing her face as she looked at them. As usual, she failed.

«It seems there is a man after all», Kate said suddenly.

«Hey! Don't change the subject! That's not what I asked you to see!»

«Indeed I didn't mean that. ... ah, is really one there?» she grinned

«... may we go back to the cards?»

«Yeah, yeah... I was saying there is a man... more than one actually. Any chance your colleague was somehow involved with magic? I mean directly.»

«Parker? No... I don't think so, at least. It's not like I really knew him so well, but he didn't strike me like a magician.»

«Strange. Still...»

«What do you see?»

«Someone who is dead or about to die. But it seems he's a magician. And someone in the shadows, a manipulator. I'm not really helping, am I?»

«Still better than nothing.»

«It's just that the reading isn't very clear, there's something hazy in these cards.»

Amanda had no troubles believing her. That wasn't the first time she had Kate read cards for her, and usually she was anything but vague.

«I think that your colleague knew something he shouldn't have» she said at once, as if struck by a sudden enlightenment.

«Might he have been killed for this reason?»

«Maybe. I can't be sure. But I am quite sure you're putting yourself in a very complicated situation.»

«Did you need the cards to know that?» Amanda smiled like a kid caught red-handed stealing chocolate.

«Having a confirmation never hurts. Really,» she changed subject without a pause, «if he had been a magician, these cards would make much more sense.»

«I'm quite sure he wasn't... but let's pretend otherwise, what would they have meant?»

«That he lost control of something... someone... and wasn't ready to face the consequences.»

«Someone? Hypnosis? Mind control?»

«I'd rather say summoning.»

«Summonings are forbidden.»

«Did this ever stop anyone?»

«Might make sense.»

«Did you just remember that your Parker used to summon students when they skipped lessons?»

«He wasn't my Parker, and he had no lessons so I think that would have been useless... Thanks for all, I have to hurry?»

«There's something you don't want to tell me...»

«Maybe. Maybe not. I have to check. How much do I owe you?»

«Are you joking? And... wait a second, don't move.»

Leaving Amanda no time to reply, Kate stood up and disappeared into the closet-bathroom or bathroom-closet or whatever it was. Amanda was about to stand up in turn when she saw her come back. A flat round object, no more than ten centimeters wide, dangled from a string in her hand. It was a wooden circlet inside which many little strings where knitted in an elaborate pattern, almost like a web. From the outer brim some feathers and beads dangled. A true dream catcher. There weren't many around.

«Take this.» said Kate handing it to her.

«Should this help me to find the killer?»

«No, to sleep better. A client of mine gave it to me as a gift long ago... for the time being I think you need it more than me.»

«Well... thanks. I'll return it.»

Kate shrugged. «I'll probably sleep well anyway.»

Amanda took the dream catcher and examined it, losing herself for a second in its patterns. It was too fragile to put it into a pocket, but the string it was attached to made a loop, so she could wear it around her neck, letting it slide under her pullover.

CHAPTER 6

She wasn't yet in the street when she started rummaging into her bag, looking for the communication crystal. It took her some time to fish it out.

It was a flat, oval stone, larger than the palm of her hand, in a stupid shade of pink. Even though she knew that latest versions were able to store the same power in a much smaller crystal, and even though she really hated that color, she had never made up her mind to change it. Although a new crystal would have been lighter and easier to carry around, it wouldn't have been as easy to single out among the many knick knacks she used to bring along, especially if she was in a hurry... nor as good when it came the need to use the bag as a blunt weapon.

If some day a new one which could be activated without physical contact was made, for sure she would buy it. Too bad that, as poor as her understanding of magic was, she knew it was really unlikely.

She was finally starting to understand, though vaguely, what was happening, and now she could no longer go on on her own, not without a little help at least.

She held the crystal in her hand a little more than needed and focused her thought towards the person she wanted to reach, hoping he hadn't disabled his in spite of the situation. A detective should always be reachable, shouldn't he?

"Shim, that's Amanda."

Nothing.

"Come on, Shim, answer!"

"Manda, it's not a good moment", the dwarf's voice rang loud and clear in her head as if he were right next to her. "Whatever you are doing let go, barricade into your house and stay safe, everything is going for the worst."

"Just a second, Shim..."

"A second more? By the way, your rector, that Parker... heart stroke, no homicide."

"Are you sure?" Amanda was quite certain that Parker had died in his office and brought outside afterwards. If his had been a natural death, who would bother dumping him in the courtyard instead of calling for help? "Can't it have been caused by someone?"

"No. Autopsy revealed no traces of drugs, poisons or spells. Now I really have to..."

"Wait, wait, wait... you have a list of weather controllers, don't you?"

Silence. At least he hadn't broken the contact.

"I guess you do. And I suppose you wouldn't give it to me."

"Not for the life of me."

"And for the life of a lot of other people?"

"Manda..."

"Listen, we need to keep them under surveillance, they are..."

"What do you think my men have been doing ever since the first threat came in?"

True. Shim for sure didn't need her advices when it came to police business. The problem was that he didn't know what he was looking for. Neither did she, frankly, but she was beginning to get there.

"At least could you tell me if anyone of them is used to make summonings?"

"Are you kidding? He would have been fired long ago!"

"Then someone who was fired for that...?"

Silence again. Amanda was about to push when Shim anticipated her.

"One."

Obviously he had checked somewhere before answering.

"And you can tell me who he is." Hers wasn't a question.

"I could, but what are you planning? Anyway he doesn't remember a thing, you know how it works."

"I know how it should work. Come on, Shim, what does it matter?"

"Go home Manda."

"How do you know I'm not?"

"I'm a detective, remember?"

"Give me his name and address and I promise I will go."

"You will go home."

"Yes."

"No, I want you to say it."

"I promise that if you give me that name and address I will go home and lock myself in, OK now?"

Even though sighs couldn't be broadcast telepathically, Amanda was sure Shim had sighed right before sending her the name and address he must have recovered from his archives.

"Perfect, its along the way", she lied. "I will visit while I go back home. See you!" She absently throw the crystal back into the bag and set out.

"Manda! Man..." «Damn it!» Shim slapped his desk with a hand, making it tremble.

That girl was going to get herself in trouble. Again.

He wasn't really worried about the fact that she was going to act like a lunatic at the home of a magician. One with a criminal record, sure, but basically harmless. That was nothing. The real problem was that if... when... the threats of the blackmailer where going to become true, she would have been in the middle of the street, and of the raging hurricane.

He couldn't send someone from his squad to look for her, they were much too busy trying to save the day, or what could be saved of it. He had to go himself, or prepare to feel guilty for her death for the rest of his life. And even though he didn't know where she was, he knew well where she was going to be soon.

Using the portal of the central was out of the question, there were too many explanations to give, and he didn't have any real justification. It would take too much time on foot. That left only one thing.