Detective Julia (Jules) Morgan and I typically didn’t get along. Walking into her and almost knocking her over in front of her partner wouldn’t have helped the situation at all. Detective Morgan was tall, blond and full of the ability to put me in a headlock of the sort that I would never be able to remove myself of without her agreeing to it. She wore the clothes of a plain clothed detective. Button down shirts and slacks with flat boots that looked like they were made to stomp on things. She somehow always had a coat of some sort. Even in the warm summer months she wore a jacket to hide the side arm hanging from the shoulder holster under her arm.
“Geez Tyler, quit playing grab the detective that wants to lock you up and throw away the key. It’s a good way to make my day.” She shoved me hard enough to put me into the door, it’s metal handle digging into the small of my back.
“Sorry Detective Morgan.” I tried to not even really look at her and make myself scarce. I tried to duck out of the way as quick as I could. “Good Day to you, and you too Detective Jackson.” Detective Charlie Jackson wasn’t quite as much of a hard-ass as his partner was, but he didn’t tend to go in for any magical explanations I would give either. He was a grounded fellow and had the muscles to back up his point of view regardless of his sensibility. The muscles showed right through his suit and tie and wouldn’t have fooled anyone.
I didn’t fool them at all. So, I tried to stay out of their way. Occasionally that wasn’t possible. And when it wasn’t I kept my head down and tried to be as far away as I could physically be. Running straight into Jules was not one of the first things I wanted to do during this investigation. In fact, it would have been better if I hadn’t seen her and Charlie muscles at all for a good while after I finished the job as well.
I started to hurry my way down the sidewalk beside the building and towards the nearest exit from the city and possibly state when I heard Detective Jules Morgan call out my name. “Tyler, what on earth are you even doing here. I find out you were within twenty miles of my case and so help me I’m going to string you up by your ankles and leave you handing over the Mississippi overnight.” While I was fairly certain that could amount to a police threat, I was only half sure she would follow through on it. I didn’t look back and went straight for my favorite place on earth. Jail.
Okay, so it’s not my favorite place on earth, but I needed to see my client and this would be the only place to see her at least until they let her leave. This time I would have to check in. There was no way around it. I went in and did the security check thing. Thankfully I could even screw with their machines a little bit so that the sonic screwdriver in my coat never needed to leave my side. Imagine what they would say if I made a full on wizard staff to wield the power of eternity with. The desk clerk would go nuts and probably lock me up herself for even suggesting such a thing.
I didn’t bring a staff. I got through security easily enough. For some reason I always get the additional pat down, but the misdirection spell on my sonic screwdriver works on people as well as machines. The officers all gave me a knowing grin. Either they’d all heard Detective Morgan complain about me, or she’d warned them that I’d be coming by to see Mrs. de Levine. It didn’t bode well.
I sat down at the table in the jail cell interview room and waited. Rachel walked into the room in attire a far cry from what I’d met her in. Her makeup had been washed off and the wealthy appearance was replaced with the stoicism of someone that had endured hardship before. Perhaps I had underestimated the woman. She sat down, held her chin up and sat up straight and she made herself look like she was adorned in silks and jewels instead of a prison jumpsuit. It was really quite amazing, I almost certainly would be crying and possibly in the fetal position in a similar situation.
“Ahh, Ms. de Levine, I see you’ve gotten yourself into some situation. I trust they’re not giving you too much trouble in here?”
“Yes, Mr. Tyler, I should hope so.”
“Well, we should have you out soon enough I would think. I just have a few questions for you first.”
“Go ahead, I really have nothing to hide.”
“Did you know that when you went to meet your husband he was already dead?”
Her face faltered slightly from it’s stoicism. It showed a brief appearance of sadness, perhaps a longing for what was gone. “Of course, I had been to the morgue just before I went by the courthouse. I was coming here to ask the police to find my husbands killer. I didn’t know that I would be the subject of interest when I left your office.”
“Indeed, I must admit I didn’t really know why you hired me until I started looking for your husband. I found him right away at least. Although that is an image I won’t be able to forget.”
“Oh? Did you find him on the table at the morgue? I trust that is where found him?”
“Ahh, no, although I do find it interesting that you went to the morgue to see your husband before allegedly shooting him though. It really is quite the conundrum.”
She looked more shaken here than when I mentioned her husband being dead. “Yes. Now you see why I hired you.” Her voice lacked the cutting edge that gave her the natural certainty. “My fortune teller told me that I would be finding myself in a mystical and magical problem. So I opened up the phone book and there you were. You advertised as a wizard, it was like fate telling me who to call.”
“That wouldn’t be the first time that happened. Usually though it’s because someone lost a necklace, not a husband.” I’m certain a flash of embarrassment flashed across my face as I realized what I said. “Anyway, we need to try to nail down your time line if there will be any chance of getting you out of here quickly. Oh, and hire a good lawyer, because I doubt the police will accept any magical sounding answers I can give to them.”
My timing never lets me down either as I heard the click of the door shutting behind me and saw Rachel’s eyes flicker up to look behind me. I should have known, being a master of seeing fate and time and knowing what should come to pass, but I didn’t. That’s when I got whacked in the back of the head.
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