redcap still locked safely inside the jar. It pressed its paws against the glass and snarled.
" If this works," Sandy said, "the glamour will be stored in there indefinitely, right?"
" That's the idea," Hollis replied.
The redcap watched intently from within the jar as she removed the candle. A long string of spittle hung from its lip to its foot.
Gretel carefully set the bowl on the floor inside the cage in front of the jar. She closed and locked the door, and Sandy went to the panel. She pressed a button, and the glow which had been surrounding the jar disappeared. It was the kind of glow that wasn't noticeable until it was gone.
The redcap instantly relaxed a little and mushed its nose into the glass with its tongue hanging out. Nothing seemed to happen to the milk, but in a few moments, it slumped back in the jar and burped. Sandy flipped the switch and the imperceptible glow resumed.
" That milk is empty. If you drink it now, it will be as water," Gretel said. "Many a time was I served food that had already been drained of its toradh. Or perhaps it was illusionary food. I never could tell; always I felt hungry, no matter how much I ate."
" What do you see?" Sandy asked.
" His aura is much more vibrant. He digests. Once it converts, he won't have anything to spend it on, trapped in that jar the way he is. So the glamour will remain trapped in there with him."
" When could we expect output?"
" Over the next few hours. Could be a day." Gretel picked up a notebook. "You don't have to wait here. I will record my observations."
" Nonsense. I've got till Jina gets home." Sandy picked up a notebook of her own and sat down in another wheeled office chair.
" Well, I'm going to get back to enzymes and photoreactive iron hydroxide. And fixing Wikipedia." Hollis pushed off a table and sent his chair spinning across the smooth tile floor back to his desk.
" Don't get too comfortable," Sandy said. "Next time Jina goes out, I want you to follow her. You said you're good at that, right?"
" I know exactly what you want," Hollis said. He wheeled away from the desk and looked at his phone, punching at the screen. "In fact, I can start now."
CHAPTER 7
----
THERE WERE FOUR TRADER JOES' in Seattle proper. If you count the three on the Eastside, the one in Lynnwood to the north, and the one in Burien to the south, that made a total of nine.
By process of elimination, Jina had to assume her Mystery Man spent most of his time in Seattle, since he had seen the flyer and attended the meeting in the city. So he either lived here, or worked here, or both. Few people on grocery store wages would live in the city and work in a suburb, so he probably worked at one of the four Seattle stores.
Actually, she only needed to concentrate on two. The Capitol Hill store already received her regular patronage, and she'd never seen him there. The University District store didn't have anything remotely like an alley; they kept their dumpsters in the attached parking garage. The Ballard store also didn't have an alley, unless you counted the driveway that connected the parking garage to the store. And there were no dumpsters there for a faerie to jump out of.
That left one store: Queen Anne.
How many trips to TJs would it take to find him? She didn't know his name, and she couldn't just walk in and ask for the guy who could see faeries. Which meant she would need to visit repeatedly until she found him. Upon a random visit, he may or may not be on shift. Then, assuming he was on shift, he could always be on break, be working in the back, or otherwise out of sight. He could work part-time. Worse, he may be a stocker, only on shift afterhours.
It would take a lot of visits to find him. They would be eating frozen spanakopita, raspberry chutney, and Thai lime almonds for a very long time.
She had already attempted one visit, with no luck, and now she pulled her reliable old maroon Toyota into the parking lot for another try. There were no
" If this works," Sandy said, "the glamour will be stored in there indefinitely, right?"
" That's the idea," Hollis replied.
The redcap watched intently from within the jar as she removed the candle. A long string of spittle hung from its lip to its foot.
Gretel carefully set the bowl on the floor inside the cage in front of the jar. She closed and locked the door, and Sandy went to the panel. She pressed a button, and the glow which had been surrounding the jar disappeared. It was the kind of glow that wasn't noticeable until it was gone.
The redcap instantly relaxed a little and mushed its nose into the glass with its tongue hanging out. Nothing seemed to happen to the milk, but in a few moments, it slumped back in the jar and burped. Sandy flipped the switch and the imperceptible glow resumed.
" That milk is empty. If you drink it now, it will be as water," Gretel said. "Many a time was I served food that had already been drained of its toradh. Or perhaps it was illusionary food. I never could tell; always I felt hungry, no matter how much I ate."
" What do you see?" Sandy asked.
" His aura is much more vibrant. He digests. Once it converts, he won't have anything to spend it on, trapped in that jar the way he is. So the glamour will remain trapped in there with him."
" When could we expect output?"
" Over the next few hours. Could be a day." Gretel picked up a notebook. "You don't have to wait here. I will record my observations."
" Nonsense. I've got till Jina gets home." Sandy picked up a notebook of her own and sat down in another wheeled office chair.
" Well, I'm going to get back to enzymes and photoreactive iron hydroxide. And fixing Wikipedia." Hollis pushed off a table and sent his chair spinning across the smooth tile floor back to his desk.
" Don't get too comfortable," Sandy said. "Next time Jina goes out, I want you to follow her. You said you're good at that, right?"
" I know exactly what you want," Hollis said. He wheeled away from the desk and looked at his phone, punching at the screen. "In fact, I can start now."
CHAPTER 7
----
THERE WERE FOUR TRADER JOES' in Seattle proper. If you count the three on the Eastside, the one in Lynnwood to the north, and the one in Burien to the south, that made a total of nine.
By process of elimination, Jina had to assume her Mystery Man spent most of his time in Seattle, since he had seen the flyer and attended the meeting in the city. So he either lived here, or worked here, or both. Few people on grocery store wages would live in the city and work in a suburb, so he probably worked at one of the four Seattle stores.
Actually, she only needed to concentrate on two. The Capitol Hill store already received her regular patronage, and she'd never seen him there. The University District store didn't have anything remotely like an alley; they kept their dumpsters in the attached parking garage. The Ballard store also didn't have an alley, unless you counted the driveway that connected the parking garage to the store. And there were no dumpsters there for a faerie to jump out of.
That left one store: Queen Anne.
How many trips to TJs would it take to find him? She didn't know his name, and she couldn't just walk in and ask for the guy who could see faeries. Which meant she would need to visit repeatedly until she found him. Upon a random visit, he may or may not be on shift. Then, assuming he was on shift, he could always be on break, be working in the back, or otherwise out of sight. He could work part-time. Worse, he may be a stocker, only on shift afterhours.
It would take a lot of visits to find him. They would be eating frozen spanakopita, raspberry chutney, and Thai lime almonds for a very long time.
She had already attempted one visit, with no luck, and now she pulled her reliable old maroon Toyota into the parking lot for another try. There were no
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