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And then quiet. I imagine Beatrice scrutinizing the room, trying to figure out where the key that she wants so badly is. The sound of searching commences again.
The little voice gets up from the bed, opens the door and walks to the open doorway of the office. The light is on inside. I am clearly visible, just standing there.
Even so, Beatrice does not notice. She is on her knees, picking up books one by one to rifle through the pages and then tossing them aside.
The room is in disarray, the contents of the shelves now on the floor, the desk and chair askew. On the floor a large mirror is propped a up, leaning against a wall. Above it, on the spot where it had hung, is a hidden wall safe, now revealed. Its door is open.
Beatrice clearly had the combination to it. I wonder how she got it.
The little voice clears my throat, and Beatrice’s head jerks up. She twists around towards us. When she sees that it is me, she looks almost relieved. She gets to her feet.
“What are you doing here?” she says.
“I hope you don’t mind,” the little voice says. “I was so eager to begin the search that I persuaded Storm to lend me a house key. But I’m surprised to find you here. I thought you were an intruder there for a minute.”
She glances at my hand, looking for a phone. The little voice holds my hand up, showing her it is empty. “Oh, I never called anyone. I heard you talking so I realized it was only you. But what are you doing here?”
“Same as you,” she says. “I was so intrigued that I couldn’t resist beginning the search already.”
“I’ll help. I’m pretty good at this stuff.”
Beatrice watches me as I pick carefully through the things that she has discarded from the wall safe. The little voice sees it the same instant I do. It looks like a circular pendant that someone could wear on a necklace. It is made from a piece of smooth silver, and when the little voice picks it up it feels as comforting and heavy as a flat stone.
On both sides are those etchings, engraved sigils that look remarkably like the ones on the Grey Queen’s symbol, but on closer inspection the pattern is different. It looks like an ordinary thing, to have cost so much.
“I think this is what you’re looking for,” the little voice says.
Beatrice Grictor had stayed where she was, watching us. She takes a step closer to me now and scowls at the silver pendant I have picked up.
“You said a key. The key to a safe deposit box.”
“But this is a key. You recognize it, don’t you?”
“It’s the key to a water sprite’s collar. It’s useless.”
“Not to the water sprite it belongs to.”
“What do I care about a water sprite?”
“True. And anyway, you’re not really after a key, are you? What you want is the money.” My hand holds up the silver disc. “This is the money. Doesn’t look like much does it?”
“What are you talking about?” she says through gritted teeth. She is looking at the object in my hand as if it is a piece of rubbish.
“All the money that Raif embezzled from your charity, and that he got when he sold your business properties without your permission.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Sort of. He used all of that money, millions, to buy this thing.” The little voice tosses it. It spins end-over-end in the air like a coin and then lands back in my hand.
“Is this some sort of trick?” Beatrice demands. “Why would he do that?”
“Because this key belongs to a special water sprite, one who apparently is the property of the Grey Queen.”
Beatrice scoffs in her little breathy voice. “The Grey Queen isn’t real.”
“I have it on good authority that she is.”
“Raif would never spend that much money on one key. Why save one sprite, when he could save thousands? Raif was all about saving the world. Otherworld, to be specific.”
