Free The Collected Christopher Connery by L. EE Page B

back, so we should have privacy.”
    A few moments later, they were comfortably sequestered at
a corner table only inches from one of the wide windows. They were so far from
the rest of the diners that it almost felt like they had their own private
room, but through the window, Nia could still watch the finely dressed people
strolling past as the lights of the marquee flickered to life.
    “Mind if I take this seat?” Gail asked Arthur even as she
slid into the chair that put her back to the window.
    “There’s plenty of room on this side,” Nia said, shifting
over a little. “It’s quite a lovely view.”
    “Nah, I’m good. I don’t much care for it.” Before Nia
could ask what she meant, she smiled crookedly and added, “These tables are
usually reserved for rich and famous guests. I had a feeling you would qualify,
so I wrangled it.”
    “Oh, it’s lovely!” Nia burst out. “You can still hear the
music and –” You’re on the job, Nia, she reminded herself. Do try to
act like a professional. “That is, it’s most certainly private. Thank you,
detective.” She could feel Arthur smirking at her, but Gail just nodded and
opened her menu. Anyway, she was certain that Arthur was just as excited as she
was, even if he hid it better.
    They didn’t start speaking right away. First there was
dinner to consider. The menu had more pages than Nia would have believed
possible and the drinks especially had long bewildering names that made her
think she had opened a thesaurus by mistake, but they finally successfully
delivered their orders to the quick and quiet waiter.
    Then they got down to business.
    “So,” Detective Lin began. “Today was interesting.”
    “I thought so too!” said Nia. “Horrible as it was, the
magic employed was –”
    “Sarcasm,” Arthur murmured.
    “Oh.”
    Gail was watching her with a frustratingly unreadable
expression.
    “Well, I hope you understand what I meant.” She started
to twist her fingers in the tablecloth and quickly stopped herself. “It wasn’t pleasant by any means, but –” She met Gail’s dark eyes defiantly – “I’m sure you
find crime scenes interesting from time to time.”
    After thinking for a moment, Gail shrugged. “Maybe, but
my job is to work out how something was done so I can catch the bastard who did
it and make sure they don’t do it again, not so I can do it myself.”
    Nia’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t possibly think – I
have no intention of –!”
    “Wait, I wasn’t finished.”
    It was only with great effort that Nia managed to keep
silent. How could Detective Lin possibly think that any Academy magician
would employ such foul magic? Thatwasn’t the kind of magic they hoped
to learn from Connery. If Connery could perform such powerful and complex magic
for evil purposes then he very likely had also recreated spells that could be
used for good. That was the magic they were looking for. Not… not what they had
seen today.
    “All I’m saying is that whoever did the magic we saw
today committed murder three times over and tried to kill us in the
bargain. I got the feeling the magic itself wasn’t strictly Academy-sanctioned
either.”
    “No indeed,” said Nia quietly. Bringing someone back from
the dead was acceptable under a very specific set of circumstances, one of
which – the revival of a magician with important knowledge – she was currently
operating under, but those poor people… They hadn’t even been properly revived.
They had been puppets trapped in a mocking reenactment of their former lives
until triggered to attack, their bodies held together by only the thinnest
strings of magic. Nia remembered how the blood had burst from the woman’s
stomach as if from a broken pipe. She hadn’t seen that much blood since –
    “Whoever did it must have had a sick sense of humor,”
said Arthur.
    Both Nia and Gail stared at him.
    “What exactly did you find funny about any of that?” the
detective asked