He ignored my comment and edged closer, until the same woodsy scent he wore during our first encounter flooded my senses. Damn him for smelling so good while I definitely smelled like a dank alley.
Bending his head, he spoke near my ear, “I expect to see you in my office to pay your fines this week, Miss Daniels.”
He wasn’t going to let me forget those. He might have dazzled me with his concern and pleasantly scented cologne, but they were just distractions from the truth. Argus had taken all of my money and upped his deadline, which meant I needed a new plan.
“I’ll be there, Detective. I always pay my debts.” My confident smile felt plastered-on, and I had no idea how to accomplish what he asked. I retrieved the wig and brushed past him, head high, shoulders straight, wig trailing in the gravel behind me like a dejected tail.
My escort hurried to catch up. I studied the young officer Derrick had assigned. He didn’t look like he could take a bribe—not that I had much to bribe him with—but he might provide an angle that would help me deal with the stubborn detective.
Keep your friends close, and your detectives closer.
After a few blocks, I offered him my most charming smile. “So…tell me, Abrams, what’s it like working for Detective Chambers?”
***
A mile later, I had my answer. I’d also learned a valuable lesson: Don’t ask questions you won’t like the answers to. According to Abrams, Derrick was a paragon of the community. His key qualities were solving crimes, helping old ladies out of carriages, and donating to kingdom charities. The list went on and on. He came from money, his family owned a fancy estate in the country, and he’d risen through the ranks to become the youngest detective the kingdom had ever seen. If Abrams told me the man spent his weekends rescuing kittens out of trees, I’d have keeled over from rolling my eyes too hard.
“Overachiever,” I muttered, kicking stones in my path.
“What was that?” Abrams paused in his praise of the famed detective.
“He’s achieved so much,” I answered, my voice nothing but sugar.
Abrams nodded, and a tangle of curly hair fell across his face. His woolen cap struggled to contain the unruly strands. He unlatched the gate leading to my shop, and his eyebrows drew together when he spotted the busted lamppost.
“Is everything all right?”
“What, the lamppost?” I chuckled. “A delivery cart backed into it. Drivers these days, huh? Anyway, you were telling me about joining the agency…?”
“Yes, well, Detective Chambers took me under his wing. I’m only a rookie officer, but he lets me help with cases. I plan on being a detective one day.” Youthful ambition flickered in his eyes, and I felt like a heel for wishing I could knock Derrick off his pedestal.
“That’s very admirable, Abrams.” I yawned as a wave of exhaustion washed over my body, muscles and joints sore from my encounter with Argus and his henchman. It had been a rotten couple of days. Everything I’d touched had ended in disaster. Ella was dead, my money was gone, and it seemed that by the end of the month, I’d be out on the street. It was as if my failure at magic had bled into every corner of my life. My mother would besoproud.
“Thanks for walking me home. It was unnecessary, but I appreciate it all the same.”
“It was my pleasure, Miss Daniels. But I disagree, it was necessary. A young woman shouldn’t walk alone at night. Not after the murder.”
“You’re probably right.” I hesitated, curious to see if he’d be as free with information about the case as he had been with the detective. “Did you attend the ball? Were you there when they found her?”
Abrams tore off his cap and twisted it in his hands. “Yes. Everyone at the agency was invited.” He leaned on the gatepost and lowered his voice. “The clock struck twelve, and not ten minutes later, the courtyard doors burst open. You could hear the screams over the orchestra.”
“Who found her?”
“A young couple taking a stroll around the garden. We cordoned off the fountain and waited for Detective Chambers to arrive.”
“I thought he was already there.”
“Oh, no. He made an appearance to satisfy his superior, but he left early. If you ask me, he’s afraid of getting roped into an arranged marriage by association.” Abrams laughed softly, his fingers clenching around his cap. “I’ve never seen a room filled with so many opportunistic social climbers before.”
“Isn’t it every young woman’s dream to marry a prince?”
“It doesn’t seem to be yours, Miss Daniels.”
“Me?” I scoffed. “Hardly. They look like more trouble than they’re worth. Besides, I don’t think the royal family would let me practice magic in the great hall.”
Abrams flattened his lips to contain a grin. “Detective Chambers was right, you are different.”
“Different? I guess a witch has to take any compliment she can get.”
