guff as I’d given Steele about the vittles, I did enjoy the rabbit. I’d never admit it to my elf-friend, though. The knowledge would just go to her head.
11
I belched as we entered the precinct.
“Excuse you,” said Shay.
I swallowed back a hiccup. “Ooph… Good thing I got that out now. Otherwise Quinto would know we went out to eat without him. He’d probably even know where. That guy’s a bloodhound when it comes to identifying the origins of bodily gasses. Sort of a belching savant, if you will.”
Shay shot me a disgusted glance. “Eww. Gross.”
“Hey, don’t look at me that way. I’m not the one with the oddly prescient knowledge of the human digestive system.”
We found Quinto at his desk chatting with Rodgers. The big guy did not look happy.
“You guys suck,” said Quinto.
I put on my best pained expression. “Why, Quinto, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Shay jerked a thumb at me. “It was his idea.”
“Hey! What the—wait a second!” I flapped my arms in distress. Shay’d sold me out—and so quickly! Never mind that we had, in fact, ditched Quinto. I just figured my deceit would’ve lasted a little longer.
Quinto crossed his arms and shook his head. “Not cool, Daggers. Not cool. Not only do you abandon me to canvas an entire apartment building’s worth of occupants by myself, but you have the gall to grab lunch without me?”
My eyebrows rose in surprise. Quinto’s nose wasn’t that acute, was it? “How did you…?”
“Come on, Daggers,” said Rodgers with a smile. “You’re not the only one here with a keen deductive sense. It’s well past one, which is your regular lunch hour. You’ve been gone quite a while, far longer than you would’ve needed to get to that book bindery and back. And you’ve got some sort of wine-colored sauce on the hem of your coat.”
I swore, then licked my thumb and tried to rub the stain off. “I knew we should’ve gone for a sandwich…”
Quinto frowned at me and shook his head. “I left something on your desk for you.”
I took a gander over at my own personal block of oak. The bloody stiletto from the crime scene lay there, resting on a square of black cloth.
“Ok, very funny,” I said. “Figured you’d make old Jake Daggers bag and tag the spooky, enchanted dagger, did you? Look, Quinto, I get that a little revenge is in order for the ditching and the lunch, but leaving that thing out in the open is dangerous. We don’t have any idea how it works. Somebody could walk by and get turned into a meat popsicle like that.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis.
Quinto was not amused. “I already tagged it.”
I took another glance. Turns out he had. I saw the paper slip peeking from behind the hilt.
“And that’s not why I left it on your desk,” finished Quinto.
“Then why did you?”
“Go touch it.”
“Are we really going to do this again?” I asked.
Quinto offered me an unsympathetic set of raised eyebrows.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “I already touched it once. I guess I’m probably not at risk of becoming a walking icicle.”
I sauntered over to my desk, snaked a hand out, and pressed my fingers to the hilt.
It was warm.
Well, not really. More like room temperature—but certainly not cold. I took a closer look and failed to see any ice crystals or shimmery fog on the blade.
“That’s interesting,” I said.
“Not cold anymore?” asked Shay.
I shook my head.
We both stood there looking at the blade for a moment. Then I snapped my fingers. “That’s it,” I said.
“What’s it?” asked Shay.
“It must’ve had a double enchantment. One to make it cold, another to wipe the cold away after a few hours. Devious. ”
“Or, it just warmed up,” said Shay.
“Possibly,” I said. “But you yourself said it at the apartment. If someone cooled this dagger before sticking it in our guy Terrence, it would’ve warmed up in ten or fifteen minutes. This thing lasted a lot
11
I belched as we entered the precinct.
“Excuse you,” said Shay.
I swallowed back a hiccup. “Ooph… Good thing I got that out now. Otherwise Quinto would know we went out to eat without him. He’d probably even know where. That guy’s a bloodhound when it comes to identifying the origins of bodily gasses. Sort of a belching savant, if you will.”
Shay shot me a disgusted glance. “Eww. Gross.”
“Hey, don’t look at me that way. I’m not the one with the oddly prescient knowledge of the human digestive system.”
We found Quinto at his desk chatting with Rodgers. The big guy did not look happy.
“You guys suck,” said Quinto.
I put on my best pained expression. “Why, Quinto, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Shay jerked a thumb at me. “It was his idea.”
“Hey! What the—wait a second!” I flapped my arms in distress. Shay’d sold me out—and so quickly! Never mind that we had, in fact, ditched Quinto. I just figured my deceit would’ve lasted a little longer.
Quinto crossed his arms and shook his head. “Not cool, Daggers. Not cool. Not only do you abandon me to canvas an entire apartment building’s worth of occupants by myself, but you have the gall to grab lunch without me?”
My eyebrows rose in surprise. Quinto’s nose wasn’t that acute, was it? “How did you…?”
“Come on, Daggers,” said Rodgers with a smile. “You’re not the only one here with a keen deductive sense. It’s well past one, which is your regular lunch hour. You’ve been gone quite a while, far longer than you would’ve needed to get to that book bindery and back. And you’ve got some sort of wine-colored sauce on the hem of your coat.”
I swore, then licked my thumb and tried to rub the stain off. “I knew we should’ve gone for a sandwich…”
Quinto frowned at me and shook his head. “I left something on your desk for you.”
I took a gander over at my own personal block of oak. The bloody stiletto from the crime scene lay there, resting on a square of black cloth.
“Ok, very funny,” I said. “Figured you’d make old Jake Daggers bag and tag the spooky, enchanted dagger, did you? Look, Quinto, I get that a little revenge is in order for the ditching and the lunch, but leaving that thing out in the open is dangerous. We don’t have any idea how it works. Somebody could walk by and get turned into a meat popsicle like that.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis.
Quinto was not amused. “I already tagged it.”
I took another glance. Turns out he had. I saw the paper slip peeking from behind the hilt.
“And that’s not why I left it on your desk,” finished Quinto.
“Then why did you?”
“Go touch it.”
“Are we really going to do this again?” I asked.
Quinto offered me an unsympathetic set of raised eyebrows.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “I already touched it once. I guess I’m probably not at risk of becoming a walking icicle.”
I sauntered over to my desk, snaked a hand out, and pressed my fingers to the hilt.
It was warm.
Well, not really. More like room temperature—but certainly not cold. I took a closer look and failed to see any ice crystals or shimmery fog on the blade.
“That’s interesting,” I said.
“Not cold anymore?” asked Shay.
I shook my head.
We both stood there looking at the blade for a moment. Then I snapped my fingers. “That’s it,” I said.
“What’s it?” asked Shay.
“It must’ve had a double enchantment. One to make it cold, another to wipe the cold away after a few hours. Devious. ”
“Or, it just warmed up,” said Shay.
“Possibly,” I said. “But you yourself said it at the apartment. If someone cooled this dagger before sticking it in our guy Terrence, it would’ve warmed up in ten or fifteen minutes. This thing lasted a lot
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