“Good. Glad I didn’t imagine it.”
White made a vexed sound in the back of her throat. “And why won’t Walis make his pet powder mage go into hiding or just have him killed?”
“Because you don’t up and kill an asset like that. And he’s probably already in hiding. No,” Adamat said, “there are far easier options available to a man like Walis.”
“Like?”
“Well, he’ll check with his second cousin, the commissioner, and find out that we’re on a special assignment for the crown. He’ll panic when he thinks you’re on his trail, and then he’ll do the logical thing.”
White was growing impatient. “Which is?” she demanded.
Adamat adjusted his hat and gripped his cane by the head, walking toward their cab. “He’ll have me killed.”
Adamat and White were together in the Public Archives later that day when four constables arrived with a warrant for Adamat’s arrest.
Adamat noted that a reporter from the Adopest Daily was hanging around the front of the Archives when he was trundled out the door in irons and into the back of a police wagon. He was joined a moment later by one of the constables. He heard an interchange between White and one of the men outside.
“I’m going with him,” White said.
“This isn’t your arrest, love,” the officer said.
“He’s my partner.”
“Not my problem. You can visit him in Sablethorn if you want.”
The arresting constables had not, it seemed, been informed of White’s status. He could practically see the coldness seeping into her eyes as the man spoke just outside the wagon.
“Give me a ride back to the precinct building, then,” White said.
“Fine, fine. But you’ll have to ride inside. Nothing funny from you, hear?”
The door opened and White climbed in to sit beside Adamat.
“Interesting plan of yours,” she said as they began to move.
Adamat glanced at the arresting constable. Someone from the First that he didn’t recognize. Likely someone chosen by the commissioner. “Honestly,” Adamat said, “I’m surprised by their restraint. I expected someone to come and try to stick a knife in my back. Someone who doesn’t know about you. We’d capture them, find out who hired them, then … “ he trailed off with a shrug.
The arrest would complicate things. But what did the commissioner have on Adamat? He hadn’t done anything wrong. White had barely left his side in the last two days.
“And what if they had just had their friend put a bullet through your skull from a thousand yards?” White asked. “Or sent him after your wife? These aren’t the kind of people who play by your rules.”
“My wife,” Adamat said, “is visiting family out of the city for the next few months.” Adamat felt a bead of sweat roll down the center of his back. The former notion was not a pleasant one. It hadn’t even occurred to him. How daft could he be?
“Well,” he said, licking his lips, “looks like they haven’t.”
“Yet,” White responded.
They were taken to the precinct building and immediately up to the second floor, where the commissioner had a spacious office that overlooked the public square. It was easily eight times the size of Captain Hewi’s office and decorated with foreign trophies, maps of the city, and done out with fine ironwood paneling.
Commissioner Aleksandre sat at his desk. Adamat was surprised to find Captain Hewi standing just over the commissioner’s shoulder, hands clasped behind her back. She looked less than pleased. The constables escorted Adamat inside and immediately withdrew. White entered the room a moment later.
“I’m assuming you have a good reason for interrupting our investigation,” White said. She matched Hewi’s attentive stance, looking for all the world like she was in charge of what happened within this room.
Commissioner Aleksandre was not taken in by the performance. “We did, Attaché White,” he said. “We regret to inform you that you’ve been working with this man under false pretences.”
White raised her eyebrows. Adamat took a step forward. “Excuse me?”
“Is this,” Aleksandre said, his eyes moving slowly toward Adamat, “your pocketbook?” he asked.
Adamat looked down to see a brown leather pocketbook resting beneath the commissioner’s thick fingers. SCDA was monogrammed in the upper corner. “It is,” he said. “It was pickpocketed from my jacket sometime yesterday afternoon.”
“Did you report the theft?”
“I hadn’t yet had the chance. I’m not certain this is relevant to our investigation?” Adamat’s mind raced, trying to keep up. Where was the commissioner going with this?
Aleksandre lifted the pocketbook and spread it open with two fingers, holding it forward so that Adamat and White could see the contents. It was fat with what looked like several thousand krana worth of bank notes. Aleksandre plucked a folded piece of paper out from among the bank notes.
“We took this off a pickpocket who was brought in by routine just this morning,” Aleksandre said. “We were surprised to find this much in cash, for a constable like yourself, but even more surprised by this.” He waved the paper in the air. “Do you mind telling me what it is?”
Adamat approached the desk warily and took the paper with his manacled hands. His throat went dry. “It appears to be a cheque, made out from Ricard Tumblar to myself.”
“Found in your wallet,” Aleksandre said. “Hewi admitted to me that you are friends with Ricard. She gave you his case as a favor, thinking you above petty bribery. Thinking it would give you the chance to see your friend cleared and that if he was guilty, you’d either do your duty or recuse yourself”
Adamat felt his jaw drop. “Excuse me? I have not seen this before. And I’ve never so much as seen that much money, let alone carried it in my pocketbook.”
“And yet it was there, along with the cheque,” Aleksandre said.
Hewi spoke up. Her voice was low, full of disappointment. “Ricard Tumblar denies having written it. But it comes from his own cheque book, the one found in his hotel room. And we’ve already checked with the bank. The signature is his.”
“Forged, likely,” Adamat snapped. “This is preposterous. The cheque book was in custody, here at the precinct building.”
“Constable Jain says you were alone with Ricard Tumblar for several minutes yesterday morning at the crime scene. He says you sent him away.”
“I did,” Adamat said, “to get information from the hotel staff.”
“So you don’t deny it,” Aleksandre said. “And you don’t deny that you’re friends with the accused?”
Adamat wanted to reach out and put his hands around the commissioner’s thick neck. He was getting close on this investigation, he could taste it. He was going to catch both this powder mage and the people who hired him, and they knew it. He looked at White, who’d remained silent through the entire exchange. She looked back at him, her eyes unreadable.
“I’m sorry, Attaché White,” Aleksandre said. “But in light of this discovery, we’re going to terminate Special Detective Constable Adamat’s employment with the Adran police.”
“You can’t,” Adamat said. He stepped forward, jerking at the wrist-irons. Everything was crumbling around him. His job, his reputation. If he didn’t wind up in prison he would be ruined.
“I can,” Aleksandre said. “You aren’t under arrest. Not yet.” He rolled his eyes. “Captain Hewi has insisted we investigate further before throwing you in Sablethorn. But you’re not to leave the city until we have reached a conclusion. We’ll keep an eye on you.” He removed the banknotes from Adamat’s pocketbook, collecting them with the forged cheque, and tossed the pocketbook on the edge of the desk. “The constables outside will release your wrist-irons. You’re free to go.”
Adamat took his empty pocketbook. “You believe this?” he asked Hewi.
“The evidence, as you’ve so often said, is there.”
He took a deep breath and turned to White. Surely she should see the absurdity of it all? The timing? How fortunate this was for Aleksandre and his silent allies? He’d expected someone to put a knife in his back. Nothing this insidious.