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Sue had classes in the afternoon but there were errands
to run some first. She knew Doberman took an early lunch.
Though his firm had closed he seemed to go to the office
every day. She peeked through the window and saw him
at his laptop. She sat on the ledge and went through
some lecture notes until she saw him leave the room.
When Doberman emerged in the street she flew down and
landed right behind him. "Hi!" she said loudly
and made herself visible a moment before he turned.
She knew that he was dismissive by nature and she hoped
the element of surprise would grab his attention. She
spoke fast.
"This is a video tape of you and your wife in
bed. You're wearing women's underwear, you're being
whipped, and you confess that you're planning to commit
fraud. Want a copy?"
His eyes narrowed but he had the sense to keep quiet
while he decided what to do. "It's a fake."
"We both know it isn't." She handed him the
tape. "Some friends of mine would like their severance."
She gave him the three names. "Remember, I have
more on you than this. For compensation I think you
should double the severance. No, triple it. Understand?"
She turned and walked away before he could answer. It
was only a few feet to the corner. As soon as she was
out of sight she turned invisible and floated a dozen
feet into the air. As she had expected, Doberman followed
her to the corner and looked cautiously around it, as
if he expected to see police cars.
She glanced at her watch and set off. She had hoped
to collect some information on Harker and the museum
at the newspaper offices but when she arrived she had
no idea where to look. She drifted around, idly reading
information from people's screens and listening to telephone
conversations. Then she went to an editorial meeting,
a new experience but not much fun. To really benefit
she would need a full day in the office and today was
not a good one to pick.
With an hour left she went to the Police Precinct.
She was lucky enough to find a group of officers in
a meeting about the museum. They discussed strategies
but didn't seem to have any actual results. She was
wasting her time.
She drifted out to the reception area. A telephone
was ringing and no one was there to answer. She looked
around and then crouched behind the desk and picked
up the receiver.
"Hello," she said, quietly. She wondered
how they were supposed to answer. Probably they gave
the precinct number and their name and rank. Sue decided
to call later and find out. This kind of information
was important.
"Is that the police?" It was the gruff voice
of an elderly man.
"Yes, Sir. How can I help you?"
"I want to report a missing person."
This was insane. Why had she answered?
"Can you give me the details, Sir?"
"It's my business partner. He went away six months
ago and I haven't heard from him. I'm worried."
"Do you know why he left?"
"Yes," said the man, sadly. "Our firm
lost some money and I, well, I accused him. But I found
out I was wrong."
"Did he leave a note?"
"He left a message to say he was leaving. That's
all."
A plan was forming in Sue's mind.
"Do you have any reason to believe he's in danger?"
"No."
"Sir, this is not a matter for the Police. May
I suggest a detective agency?" She gave the address
and telephone number of American Invisible.
"I see." He sounded disappointed. "Thank
you anyway."
That's very helpful, thought Sophie Smith. She had
followed Sue around all day, invisible but never far
from her side. She admired Sue's style. It was strange,
Sophie reflected, that she could see Sue despite her
invisibility spell, but Sue could not see her. She was
aglow with confident superiority. If there had to be
more than one witch in the city she wanted seniority.
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