The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

"Wonderful," I said. "Listen, Rose, dungs are liable to start felling on your head any minute now." I explained how and why.

She just took it in stride. I would have been surprised at anything less. Whatever needed doing, she'd take care of it as if Bea were standing behind her giving orders. We're unbelievably lucky to have her, and we know it When I was done, she said, I have two important phone messages for you. One is from Professor Blank at UCAC and the other is from a Mr. Antanas - is that right? - Sudakis at the Devonshire dump."

"Yes, Antanas is right. Thank you, Rose. We'll be back at the office soon, and I'll attend to the calls then. 'Bye," I said, and hung up. I'd been meaning to call Blank, and I wasn't all that surprised to hear from him first. But I wondered why he said it was urgent for me to call him back - nothing about his investigation of the Chumash Powers had been urgent up till now. And I wondered what had bitten Tony on the backside. Just my luck to be out of the office when two important calls came in.

Michael said, "Before we leave this site, I suggest that you examine it most carefully. I would be willing to wager the CBI has tried already, but if you find anything here which you can identify as belonging to Mistress Ather, the law of contagion may enable us - or the constabulary, or the CBI - to trace her present whereabouts. No guarantees, of course, sorcerous countermeasures having become so effective these days, but a chance nonetheless."

So I looked. God, did I look! Leaving something behind was just the sort of thing Judy would have done if she got the chance - anything to give us a better shot at finding her. I went down on my hands and knees and pawed through weeds and pebbles like a wino after a lost quarter-crown, hoping, praying, she'd managed to drop a button or something.

No luck. All I got was the knees of my pants dirty. Finally I admitted it, even to myself. "Sorry, Michael, but Acre's nothing here. In the adventure stories, people always manage to leave a clue while the bad guys aren't watching. I guess it doesn't work that way in real life."

"It would appear not to," he agreed. "This is my first encounter with a situation which might reasonably fall into that category, so my experience is as limited as yours. I suspect, however, that if real criminals made as many errors as those in adventure stories, virtue would triumph in the real world more often than it does."

"I suspect you're right," I said glumly, brushing at my trousers. Some of the dirt looked to be there to stay. I sighed, feeling useless and also, irrationally, as if I'd let Judy down.

"Let's head back to the office, then - we're wasting time here. From what Rose said, I've had a couple of calls that need answering right away."

"I also have other work upon which I could be usefully engaged," Michael said. That made me feel bad all over again; I hadn't even asked him what I was disrupting by dragging him up to the Valley again and again. But he went on, "Seeking information which will aid in the rescue of your fiancee necessarily takes priority over other concerns."

"Thank you, Michael," I said as we walked back to his carpet His glance over at me was puzzled, as if he wondered what I was thanking him for. Maybe he did. He thinks so well that I sometimes wonder about the rest of his spirit I noticed that he flew down Soto's to the freeway instead of going back to Winnetka. With Michael, I think it was gust for the sake of greater efficiency. I'd have done the same thing, but not on account of that I just wouldn't have wanted to swing back any closer to Chocolate Weasel than I had to.

When we got back to the Confederal Building, I bought something allegedly edible from the cafeteria; while I fought it down, I kept thinking about lamb with yogurt and mint leaves - sinful as bacon for me, but it sounded delicious all the same - and candied dates. Then, with my fireplace full of fuel - and with a heartburn to prove it - I went to my office and picked up the phone.

Professor Blank sounded blunter than phone imps could normally account for when he answered the phone, so I figured I'd caught him at lunch twice running, and probably a brown bag one. UCAC boasts better eateries than we have here, which meant he was either tight with a crown or else dedicated to what he was doing.

I'd been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt even before he said, "I'm so glad you returned my call, Inspector Fisher. I've been waiting here at my desk, hoping you would."