Page 86 of Slouch Witch
I thought about it. ‘Does it matter?’ I asked. ‘Whoever took it didn’t kill anyone. They wouldn’t have had time to read any of the spells before they planted it in Price’s desk. No wonder his desk was the only thing that Price bothered to ward. He must have put the spell in place after he found the Manuscript there.’
‘They might not have kept it for themselves but look at what happened as a result of their actions. Not to mention that whoever took the Manuscript tried to drown us, Ivy.’
Winter had a good point there. Yeah, it mattered. Even if I’d have to work that little bit harder to find them.
He continued. ‘Of course, all this is mere speculation. There’s no evidence.’
‘Of course,’ I responded drily. I looked at him. ‘When was the first time Price’s name came up?’
‘When we went to see him about Oscar Marsh.’
‘But we didn’t just go to ask him about Marsh, did we? Bethany the tea lady had told us about Marsh but she also told us that Price had been round at Geomancy looking for Diall. In fact, she’d made a point of saying that he’d seemed frantic.’
Winter raised his eyebrows. ‘What are you suggesting?’
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I jumped off the desk and made a beeline for the main desk. Price was sitting slumped in a chair with several red-robed witches staring hard at him in case he dared to try anything. I pushed my way through. ‘Price,’ I said, ‘listen to me.’
He didn’t even lift his head. ‘What?’
‘When you went to see Diall the first time after you found the Manuscript, did you go to Geomancy?’
He looked up blearily. ‘What? No, don’t be stupid. I went to his house. Diall never liked it if I acknowledged him when other Order members were around. If I’d gone to Geomancy, he’d have bitten my head off.’
I whipped round to run back to Winter but he was already there. ‘Bethany lied,’ he said.
‘She planted the first seed against Price. It was subtle, so as not to raise suspicion, but enough to make us wonder about him.’
Winter shook his head. ‘What is she? Neophyte? Zelator? She wouldn’t have the skills to pull off the theft.’
‘Not on her own,’ I said. ‘But maybe she had help.’ Winter gave me a questioning glance. ‘I saw her,’ I told him. ‘Yesterday when I was on my way to HR.’ I paused. ‘You know, when you dumped me.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘I didn’t dump you.’
‘Whatever. Anyway, she wasn’t alone. She was with Weathers, the receptionist from Geomancy, and Rebecca, the receptionist from HR.’
‘The one who never smiles?’
‘Right. Except she was. Smiling, I mean.’
Winter was silent for a moment. ‘We can’t interrogate someone for smiling.’
‘Nope.’ I waited.
‘But she would have good reason to be irritated with Price if she felt she was being held back in favour of others who were less skilled. And the other two would have the same reason to act against Diall.’ He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘What if the note about the sceptre we found in Diall’s home wasn’t written by him? What if it was writtenforhim? Maybe the trap in the sewers wasn’t for us at all. Maybe it was for Diall.’
‘And it was just our bad luck that we got there first,’ I mused. I glanced at him wryly. ‘All this from the man who doesn’t believe in superstitions or fitting evidence to theories.’
Winter shrugged. ‘At the very least we should find out where they all live and pay them a visit.’
I grinned. ‘Now? It’s the middle of the night. And we don’t have any proof of anything apart from a little lie.’
Winter licked his lips. He felt the same glow that I did. We were on the right track; I knew it in my bones. ‘You’re right. But it’s also time we finished this.’
I held up my palm for a high five. Winter stared at it as if it were a strange, alien thing he’d never seen before. I dropped my hand in disgust but I was still grinning. And this time so was Winter.
***
Weathers’ little flat was still and silent and Bethany’s was much the same. Winter’s magic assured us that no one was inside either of them. That just left Rebecca. As we reached her house in a small suburb not too far from the city centre, I felt the adrenaline pumping round my body. The more I thought about it, the more Winter’s theory seemed to be true.
