The Spell of the Black Dagger

She hurried on, saying, "Isn't it more likely that what Kallia saw was not Heremon, but an illusion of some kind? Magic is very good at creating illusions, as anyone who's attended a few performances at the Arena can attest.''

The smile on her father's face widened, and she saw, farther down the room, Kallia and Heremon suddenly look at each other in startled understanding.

"With that in mind," Sarai continued, "I went down to Wizard Street last night and asked a few questions of neighbors of both Kallia and Heremon, always pretending that I thought one of them to be lying, when actually, I had already decided that a common enemy was probably responsible. Some neighbors sided with Heremon, some with Kallia, and many didn't understand how either could be at fault in the case-and a few mentioned that a common enemy might indeed exist, a Tintallionese demonologist by the name of Katherian of the Coast, whose advances Kallia had reportedly refused, and who apparently felt that Heremon had treated him unfairly in business. Might I suggest, my lord, that this Tintallionese be found and questioned immediately?"

Lord Kalthon nodded, and turned to Okko. "See to it," he said. "Find this Katherian."

"If he hasn't already left the city," Okko grumbled.

That evening at supper, Lord Kalthon remarked, "It took a demonologist and two warlocks to bring that Katherian fellow in, and that's without counting that it was Okko's magic that found him for us in the first place."

Sarai looked up from her plate. Tired of the endless round of quarrels her father was asked to resolve, she had left around midafternoon, before the Tintallionese demonologist had been apprehended. "Really?" she asked.

Lord Kalthon nodded. "He was boarding a ship bound for Ethshar of the Rocks when the guard caught up to him-the ship's captain had hired him to fend off pirates, but I think he was just as interested in getting back to his homeland and away from here as in the wages."…

"What happened?" Sarai asked, putting down her fork.

"Well," her father said, with evident relish, "he conjured up a demon right there, a shapeshifter, so the guards all backed off-we don't pay them enough to fight demons, and we don't ask them to fight demons. We'd sent along that Rander of South-beach, who tried to banish the shapeshifter or conjure up something of his own, but Katherian was fighting his every incantation, and Rander was pretty clearly outmatched right from the start. Katherian couldn't call up anything else, Rander did that much, but he had that first one. Fortunately, one of the guards had the good sense to run to the I

"So what happened?" Sarai asked. "Did he do it? I mean, did Katherian rob Kallia of the Broken Hand?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Kalthon replied. "Okko couldn't do much with him, since he's a demonologist, but Rander and Mereth and a witch by the name of Theas that we found all swear it was Katherian's shapeshifting demon that robbed Kallia and killed her guardian."

"But he didn't confess?"

"No." Kalthon shook his head. "They rarely do, you know."

"Where is he now, then, in the dungeons?"

"Dead, I'm afraid," Kalthon answered. "With magicians, one can't take too many chances. Especially not demonologists. Witches are mostly harmless, so far as we know, and warlocks have their limits, and a wizard or a sorcerer can't do much of anything if you take away all his equipment, and the gods won't help a theurgist do serious violence, but demonologists-well, sometimes I think the Small Kingdoms that ban demonology outright have the right idea."

"You had him executed?" Sarai asked, startled. "So soon?"

"No, no," her father said, "nothing like that. He was killed trying to escape. When we had him brought in for trial he conjured a minor demon to distract us, right there in the justice chamber, and then ran for it. One of the warlocks burst his heart." He glanced at Kalthon the Younger, who was listening intently, and then added, "I told her to."

"What happened to the demon?" little Kalthon asked. "The one he conjured in the chamber."

"The guards killed it," the Minister of Justice replied. "Cut it to pieces with their swords, and eventually it stopped struggling." He sighed. "I'm afraid that Irith isn't very happy about it."

"Who's Irith?" Sarai asked.

"She's the servant who cleans the justice chamber every night," Lord Kalthon explained. "I told her that if she couldn't get the stain out, not to worry, we'd hire a magician to do it."

"Will you really?"

"Maybe," Kalthon said. "We've certainly used plenty of magic already on this case." He sighed. "More than I like. There are too damn many magicians in this city."

Sarai nodded.

"And that reminds me, Sarai," her father said, picking up the last drumstick. "Have you been dabbling in magic, perhaps?"

Sarai blinked, astonished. "No, sir," she said. "Of course not."

"So you really figured out that it was this Katherian all by yourself, then? Just using your own good sense?"

Sarai nodded. "Yes, Father," she said.

Kalthon bit into the drumstick, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. "That was good thinking, then," he said at last. "Very good."

"Thank you," Sarai said, looking down at her plate.

"You know," her father continued, "we use Okko and the other magicians to solve most of the puzzles we get. I mean, the cases where it's a question of what the facts are, rather than just settling an argument where the facts are known."

"Yes, sir," Sarai said, "I'd noticed that."

"Every so often, though, we do get cases like this one, with Kallia and Heremon and Katherian, and sometimes they're real tangles. They usually seem to involve magicians, which doesn't help any-such as the one where a man who'd been turned to stone a hundred years ago was brought back to life, and we had to find out who enchanted him, and then decide who owned his old house, and whether he could prosecute the heirs of the wizard who enchanted him, and for that matter we couldn't be sure the wizard himself was really dead…"He shook his head. "Or all the mess after the Night of Madness, before you were born-your grandfather handled most of that, but I helped out." He gestured at Kalthon the Younger. "Your brother will probably be the next Minister of Justice, you know-it's traditional for the heir to be the eldest son, skipping daughters, and I don't think Ederd's going to change that. But I think we could use you-after today, I think it would be a shame not to use wits like yours."

"Use me how?" Sarai asked warily.

"As an investigator," her father said. "Someone who goes out and finds out what's going on in the difficult cases. Someone who knows about different kinds of magic, but isn't a magician herself. I'd like to ask the overlord to name you as the first Lord-or rather, the first Lady of Investigation for Ethshar of the Sands. With a salary and an office here in the palace."

Sarai thought it over for a moment, then asked, "But what would I actually do?"

"Usually, nothing," the Minister of Justice replied. "Like the Lord Executioner. But if there's ever anything that needs to be studied and explained, something where we can't just ask Okko or some other magician, it would be your job to study it and then explain it to the rest of us."

Sarai frowned. "But I can't know everything," she said.