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Trying to cheer up both Merlin and myself, I said, “But haven’t there always been cheats? Otherwise, why would you need people like me?”
“Cheating among the magical is one thing, and usually done only for amusement and one-upmanship, considering we always get caught. Using the nonmagical for gain is entirely another. Check with Sales and see if that winery uses any of our spells for its business, and let Mr. Palmer know what you observed.”
He went into his office, and I got to work typing memos and reviewing documents for Merlin after sending an e-mail to Sales about the winery. The visitor arrived just before ten, and I escorted him into Merlin’s office. He looked like the kind of person who would need a particularly strong form of persuasion to get him to do something for the general good.
Merlin must have gone straight to work on him, for I had to ignore the occasional odd sound and flash of light that showed through the crack under Merlin’s door once the meeting started. As entirely nonmagical as I was, I could feel the tingle of increased power usage nearby.
I was just considering forwarding Trix’s phone to my office so I could shut the door and tune out whatever was going on in Merlin’s office when Owen came running into the reception area.
“Is he in?” he asked. He normally wasn’t that brusque, so something had to be wrong.
“He’s in a meeting. What is it, Owen?”
“I need to talk to him.”
“He said he wasn’t to be disturbed.” Just then, a particularly loud pop sounded from within the office, accompanied by a flash of light and an odd smell. We both flinched. “No, disturbing him probably isn’t a good idea,” I added.
He nodded. “You may be right, but this is pretty urgent.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think we’ve got a spy among us.”
“What makes you say that?”
He waved a handful of papers at me. “Because someone’s been into my notes on protective spells. Notes that were locked in a desk drawer, inside my locked office, inside our highly secured R and D department.”
“But they didn’t take them, right? How do you know someone was looking at them?”
“I, uh, booby-trapped the drawer before I left Friday. Nonmagically. And it’s definitely been disturbed. Each page was looked at, probably copied.”
“There’s no legitimate reason for anyone to have been in that drawer?”
He shook his head. “I have the only key—that I know of—and the office is both locked and warded. No one outside the company can get in there when I’m not there. The cleaning brownies even have to work in there during the day instead of at night.”
“Which suggests an inside job.”
“Exactly. Either someone here is helping someone get in, or someone who works here is doing some unauthorized snooping. So, you can see why I think this is important enough to interrupt a meeting. He needs to know right away.” There was another loud flash and pop that made us both jump. “Or I could wait out here until they finish killing each other.”
“Good idea. Have a seat.” He settled uneasily into the chair in front of Trix’s desk. “You said you booby-trapped the drawer. Did you already suspect a spy?”
He shrugged and looked uncomfortable. “I had a feeling.” Owen’s feelings were uncanny and tended to be accurate.
“Who do you think it is?”
“I have no idea. I hate to make accusations at this point, with so little evidence. We just need to be aware that something is going on.”
“It would explain how Idris seems to be right in step with us, like him coming out with a new spell as soon as you found the counterspell for the last one.”
“And since we beat him at that, I can imagine he’s keeping track of everything we do. That’s probably what he was talking about when he said I’d know what he was up to soon enough.”
“How’d you do it?” I couldn’t resist asking.
“Do what?”
“Booby-trap your desk.”
A faint pink stain appeared on his cheeks. It made him look even cuter than usual. “I set up some film canisters in the drawer. When I open the drawer, I use a stasis spell to keep them in place. But if someone didn’t know they were there and opened the drawer normally, they’d fall over. This morning they’d been disturbed. I also put a single strand of hair on each page, and they were all gone.”
