Goblin Precinct (Dragon Precinct) (12 page)

Grovis frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Part of the terms of the marriage was that the Cynnis family would invest in the bank. Obviously, with the family having moved to Iaron under a cloud of scandal, that was no longer possible.”

“Oh dear.” Grovis frowned.

“I’m sorry,” Dru said, “but what does that have to do with the security?”

Again, Martel sighed, which he’d done so much that Hawk was now pretty sure he could enumerate everything the bank manager had eaten that day. “The security requires a monthly fee to be paid to the Brotherhood of Wizards for its use. The fee is considerable, but one that the bank could afford easily
before
the recent troubles. Now, however, in order to maintain customer satisfaction—”

Dru chuckled. “You mean in order to be able to actually
fulfill
a withdrawal request?”

Shaking his head, Hawk said, “See, this is why I ain’t trustin’ no bank with my money.”

Martel was just looking sick now. “It was a
temporary
situation until Mr. Grovis was able to find more investors. Indeed, Lady Meerka informed Mr. Grovis that she would match the stipend that comes with being a member of the court, as long as he used it to reinvest in the bank so—”

Dru held up a hand. “Okay, enough, we get it. No security, so these guys just waltzed in and took the money. We’ll need to talk to whoever was here.”

Hawk looked around and saw Jared, one of the guards assigned to Dragon Precinct. “Jared, c’mere a minute.”

“Yes, sir, Lieutenant,” Jared said as he approached, “what can I do for you?”

“Find a kid from the youth squad, and get ’em to head to the castle to be bringin’ Boneen here.”

Dru looked down at Hawk. “You crazy? Boneen’s only just back, he ain’t gonna—”

Hawk regarded his partner right back. “You even listenin’? Lady Meerka’s gonna put her hard-earned gold coins into this here bank, and now it got robbed twice? We’ll be needin’ a peel-back, and damn fast.”

With a sigh, Dru said, “Yeah, you’re right. Fine, let’s do that.”

Jared nodded. “Right away, sir.”

“All right, it’s prob’ly gonna be as useless as it was the last time, but let’s talk to some witnesses,” Dru said, “and see what we got until Boneen gets his bony ass down here.”

The sun was setting by the time Boneen deigned to arrive. In that time, Hawk had interviewed nine people, all of whom had stories that varied even more than the ones he heard at Frannik’s.

There was only one consistency in the testimony: everyone commented on how
calm
the thieves were. Hawk was surprised to hear that, and even more so, when he, Dru, and Grovis compared notes after interviewing all thirty people who were present in the bank at the time of the robbery.

As Boneen waddled down Axe Lane to the entrance, Hawk smiled. “Good of you to be showin’ up, Boneen.”

“It was, I assure you,
not
my first choice. In fact, I almost turned the young man who was sent to summon me into a newt simply to teach him a lesson for rudeness.” Boneen scowled. “However my incantation was interrupted by Sir Rommett, who insisted that I proceed immediately to Axe Lane to perform Inanimate Residue on a bank, the precise request made by the young man who came within a hairsbreadth of living his remaining years as a lizard.” He held out his hands, which were smudged with herbs. “So here I am. Please have your thugs remove all persons from the bank.”

Martel stepped forward. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, as someone
must
be present when—”

Hawk was looking forward to watching Boneen tear the bank manager apart, but Grovis stepped in, ruining his fun. “Than, I’m sorry, but the magickal examiner
cannot
cast his spell if there is anyone in the bank. You must evacuate it, and I mean
now
.”

“Bank policy is that—”

Grovis then did something Hawk had never seen him do: he got in someone’s face. “Bank
policy
? My good man, bank
policy
is not to be
robbed twice in one day
! Now then, Boneen—a mage on loan from the Brotherhood of Wizards—is here at the specific request of
Lady Meerka
. Are you telling me, Than, that you intend to deny him the ability to perform the very duty he was sent here to perform by
Lady Meerka
? Well?
Are
you?”

The sweat, Hawk noted, was now pouring down Martel’s face, and he decided that this was even more fun than Boneen’s scathing wit would have been.

Martel swallowed twice, then muttered, “Yes of course,” and went into the bank.

Hawk looked over at Jared. “Go be givin’ him a hand gettin’ everyone out.”

Nodding so enthusiastically his blond hair flopped, Jared said, “Absolutely, sir.”

“A fine guard, that one,” Grovis said, nodding at Jared. “I like the cut of his jib.”

“I’ll cut your jib in a moment,” Boneen muttered. “I truly do not have time for this nonsense. There’s unlicensed magic going on, and my services are required to investigate that, not deal with imbeciles who steal money from banks.”

Boneen continued muttering and moaning for the next thirty minutes. Hawk could hear him through the bank’s front door.

Once the half-hour had passed, he exited the bank.

“Uh oh,” Dru said.

“What’s wrong?” Hawk asked.

“Boneen.” Dru shook his head. “Usually, when he’s done with the peel-back he’s either pissed and cranky, or tired and cranky. But look at him now.”

Hawk regarded the wizard more closely. “He looks—I dunno, concerned?”

“Yeah.” Dru folded his arms over the gryphon symbol on his chest. “Can you think of any way that Boneen looking concerned is a
good
thing?”

“There were four thieves,” Boneen said as he waddled up to the lieutenants, “and they were using glamours.”

“Yes, we’re
aware
of that, Boneen,” Grovis said haughtily, although this was their first confirmation of the number of thieves. “As they did at Frannik’s Lane. But surely you can see through them.”

“Under normal circumstances, I could easily see through a glamour—particularly cheap store-bought ones as these were.”

Hawk let out a Martel-like sigh. “So why ain’t these circumstances normal?”

“Because these thieves also had magic coursing through their bloodstreams.”

“How is
that
possible?” Grovis asked.

Boneen shook his head. “Based upon my examination of Elthor lothSerra, I can say with surety that all four of your thieves were high on Bliss when they robbed the bank.”

Dru looked at Hawk. “Well, that explains that.”

“Explains what?” Boneen asked testily.

Hawk said, “The witnesses was even more useless than usual, but there was one thing they
all
be sayin’ in common. The thieves, they was
calm
.”

“I’m sure it made for a most pleasant robbery,” Boneen said witheringly.

Grovis’s mouth was hanging open the way it did when he was confused, which was, Hawk thought cruelly, most of the time. “I’m sorry, Boneen, but I’m afraid there’s something I don’t understand.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Grovis,” Boneen said. “There are many things you don’t understand. From which of that legion of items do you wish to inquire at present?”

Drawing himself up to what passed for his full height, Grovis said, “I see no reason to stand here and be insulted!”

“Then I’ll leave.” Boneen started to turn around.

“No, wait!” Grovis cried. “I simply wish to know why you can’t see through the glamours!”

Hawk nodded. “That’s true, you ain’t been explainin’ that.”

“Of course I have,” Boneen said testily. “As I said, they were high on Bliss.”

“What’s that got to do—” Dru started.

But Boneen interrupted, waving his hand back and forth. “Right, of course, I forgot, you three weren’t there. When I examined lothSerra’s body, I discovered that Bliss was created with magic. And quite powerful magic at that—enough so that it distorts the peel-back and makes it impossible to poke through the glamour. I’m afraid the thieves’ identity will have to remain a mystery until
you
three can find them.” Boneen then smiled. “Which means it may well stay a secret until the end of time.”

Dru snorted. “Yeah, real funny, Boneen.”

“Thank you,” Boneen said with no sincerity whatsoever. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m long overdue for a nap or three.”

Boneen headed back toward Meerka Way.

Hawk stared after him. “He
is
tired, if he ain’t teleportin’ back.”

“Yeah.” Drew clapped his gloved hands. “Actually, we oughtta be followin’ him to the castle. We need to report to the captain and figure out our next move.”

“I’m tellin’ you what our next move oughtta be,” Hawk said. “We got us two banks that got hit and two banks left.”

“Uh, okay,” Dru said slowly. “Not sure what—”

“I’m thinkin’,” Hawk interrupted, “that these folks’ll be hittin’ the other two tomorrow.”

Grovis put his hand to his chin, in what Hawk could only assume was an attempt to look thoughtful. “They might not even wait that long.”

Dru shook his head. “Nah, if these guys were capable of breaking into a locked bank, they woulda done it last night. They hit both banks when they were open.”

Nodding, Grovis said, “Perhaps, but it would, I think, be wise to have guards from Dragon on both the Auburn Way and the Hranto’s Way branches.”

Martel was hovering on the periphery of their little impromptu gathering, and he raised a hand and spoke. “Excuse me, but I think we should have guards on all four.”

“They’re not gonna come back to where they’ve already hit,” Dru said impatiently, “they already proved that when they hit this place.”

“We’re talking about Bliss addicts, Lieutenant.” Martel suddenly remembered what class he was, and started speaking haughtily again. “I doubt that rational logic will apply to them.”

Somehow, Hawk managed not to say what he wanted to say, which was, “As opposed to irrational logic?” Mostly he just didn’t want to talk to the irritating bank manager any more than necessary.

Dru looked at Grovis. “You mind headin’ to Dragon and talking to Sergeant Kel about settin’ that up?”

Grovis nodded. “Of course.”

Hawk looked over at Jared. “You stay on point here ’till your shift’s endin’, all right?”

“Not a problem, Lieutenant,” Jared said eagerly.

Then Hawk looked back at Dru and Grovis. “I’m thinkin’ tomorrow, you and me, Dru, we stake out them other two branches.”

Shaking his head, Dru said, “Even guys hopped up on Bliss ain’t gonna hit a bank that has a guard standing right outside it. And we can’t exactly hide wearin’ full armor and a big-ass Cloak.”

Hawk shrugged “We just gotta ask the cap’n for a coupla glamours.”

“Yeah?” Dru snorted. “What’s the backup plan for after he laughs in our faces?”

“You kiddin’?” Hawk pointed in the general direction that Boneen had wandered. “This case was enough to get Boneen down here when he wasn’t in no kinda mood to move, and you
know
how hard it is to be gettin’ his tiny legs movin’ when he don’t wanna.”

“Yeah, okay, we should be able to get glamours.” Dru turned to Grovis. “What time do the banks open?”

“Sunup, generally—isn’t that right, Than?”

Martel nodded. “Assuming Mr. Grovis doesn’t decide to shut them down.”

“He ain’t,” Hawk said, “’cause we ain’t lettin’ him. Since the M.E. couldn’t find nothin’, only way we’re gonna catch these shitbrains is in the act.”

Again, Dru clapped his hands. “All right, Grovis, you take care’a Dragon. We’ll head back to HQ.” He grinned. “Betcha a copper we catch up to Boneen before we cross back into Unicorn.”

 Hawk grinned right back. “He wanted that nap too much to move slow, and you walk too damn slow anyhow. I’ll take that action.”

TWELVE

EVER SINCE HE WAS A SMALL BOY GROWING UP IN TREEMARK, SAM Brindl wanted to be a bard.

His family owned the Goblin’s Teeth Tavern in the heart of Treemark, and Mother and Father had groomed him to take over from the moment he was tall enough to see over the bar.

But try as his parents could, they were never able to get him to be enthusiastic about tending bar, or serving customers, or doing the books, or any of the chores associated with keeping the Goblin’s Teeth going.

Oh, he
learned
those tasks, as he was always a dutiful son. But he never embraced them with the enthusiasm that Father and Mother had hoped he would.