Now You See Me

You might think that being invisible would be great for a private eye. And, yeah, there are some ways in which it does really come in handy. Sneaking around, collecting evidence, eavesdropping.

But, it must be said, clients find it pretty disconcerting.

"It's just a curse," I said, trying to make my face look reassuring before I remembered that the man sitting across the desk from me couldn't see my face and that was the reason he needed reassurance in the first place.

"Does this kind of thing happen...often?" he asked.

"Well, not this, specifically, no. But, you make enough enemies in a town like this, you get cursed from time to time."

My invisible hand moved to the invisible scar on my invisible cheek. A crime boss called Greenstreet had cut me with his enchanted knife about a year ago. Part of the curse was that the scar would never fully heal. This was just one of the little souvenirs I had picked up since I had set up shop as a private detective in the Royal City of Brecken.

"But, that's enough about me," I said to the old timer who, I could tell, was still uncomfortable talking to empty space. "What brings you to my luxurious premeses today?"

I was, of course, being ironic. My office was a dingy, leaky cottage as far from the Castle as it was possible to be and still be considered in Royal City. My loft bedroom was upstairs and I saw clients in the main room downstairs. Outside, my shingle hung on a rotten piece of wood. Nothing fancy, but it said what was important:

RAGON THE DETECTIVE

Walk-Ins and Cash Payments Welcome

I got the one way more often than I got the other. Which was why I liked the look of my latest client. Between the way he was dressed (and how uncomfortable he clearly was in my office) I could tell he was used to the finer things, which meant he might actually have gold. It had been a while since I'd had a paying customer.

"Well," said Sayer (that was the name he had given me), "I was hoping you could help me find my daughter." I might have guessed. There was always a girl involved.

As a matter of fact, that was how I'd come by the invisibility curse. I'd met a woman at the tavern last night. Good looking, could hold her ale, nice enough company. But she was looking for something a little more long-term than I was. By which I mean when we kissed she tried to suck out my soul and add it to her collection.

Normally, I can spot a witch a mile away. I must be getting old.

I saved my soul (for whatever that's worth) but she'd hit me with this parting shot. Nothing deadly, of course, but kind of an inconvenience. And I'd been cursed enough to know that it would wear off in about a day. So, here I was, invisible for twenty-four hours, but I still had to make a living.

When Sayer came in to see me, it had been about nine hours since I had been cursed. Fifteen to go.

Sayer told me that he lived in one of the big estates closer to the Castle. He took the opportunity to namedrop most of the Royal Family and their inner circle (including Hammett, the Captain Of The King's Own Guard, which rankled me a little; fortunatey Sayer couldn't see my reaction to the name). Then he told me about his daughter, Collette. Thirteen, pretty, long auburn hair, blue-green eyes...at the time, I thought it was odd that the girl's father was only describing her appearance and not her personality, but I didn't say anything, for fear of my payday getting up and leaving in a huff.

"I passed by her bedroom last night," Sayer continued, "and saw her arguing with her governess."

"What were they arguing about?" I said, disconcerting Sayer furhter by filling and lighting my pipe, which now appeared to float and smoke all by itself.

"I have no idea. I didn't linger. None of my business, you know. Anyway, the next morning, she didn't come down to breakfast. I sent the maid up to her rooom and she said Collette was gone. I had the staff search the grounds thoroughly and, by the time I had finished breakfast, they told me she was nowhere on the estate."

"But, thank Glory, your eggs didn't get cold."

"Beg pardon?"

"Skip it. Does Collette have any history of this sort of thing? Running away, I mean?"

"Running away? Mr. Ragon, my daughter did not run away. She was taken!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"How can I...sir, do you not know who I am?"

"Well, you told me your name was Sayer, but beyond that..."

"I told you, you impertinent oaf, that my name was Lord Sayer. I am the second wealthiest man in Brecken, after the King himself. When my daughter goes missing, it is clearly for ransom!"

"Was there a note?"

"Well...well, no. Not yet, anyway. But I'm sure there will be."

"Mr. Sayer..."

"Lord Sayer!"

"Right, sorry. Mr. Sayer, if you're so sure your daughter has been kidnapped, why not go to the King's Own Guard? Why not ask your buddy Hammett to look for her?"

Sayer was turning purple with rage. "Are you suggesting that I go to the Captain Of The King's Own Guard and tell him that my daughter was taken right out from under my nose? I would be the laughingstock of the court!"

I wanted to say something about his daughter's safety being more important than his reputation, but the more angry he got, the more he moved. And the more he moved, the more I could hear the coins jingling in his pocket. So, instead, I licked my lips then bit my tongue.

"Now," said my guest, calming down slightly, "are you or are you not going to help me?"

"For six silver a day, plus expenses, I'll help anyone...Your Lordship."

♦♦♦

Sayer Manor was just a stone's throw from the Castle, and I was mighty tempted to throw it. My cottage could have fit comfortably in their living room...twice. And part of me was glad no one could see me, since they had sofas that were better dressed than I was.

(Thank Glory the witch's curse had made my clothes invisible, too. Otherwise it would have been real uncomfortable. For everyone.)

Collette had been born before Sayer had inherited his title. He told me his wife had died giving birth to the girl, which may have been the last time she'd had physical contact with either of her parents. The place was lousy with servants. Butlers, maids, grooms, cooks, nannies, tutors, and one guy whose job it was just to go around changing candles. Like, that was literally his whole job. What's that about?

Based on my interviews, the staff had a great deal more affection for the girl than her father did. Lord Sayer was treating this whole thing like a burglary. Like someone had broken in and stolen a bronze bust from his study. But the nannies and tutors who actually saw Collette every day and spent time with her were damn near inconsolable.

And talking to an invisible detective was not putting them at their ease. I decided to keep the pipe in my mouth, just so they'd have something to focus on.

Last but not least, I spoke to Eularia. The governess who had argued with Collette the night she went missing. She was in charge of Sayer's daughter, in the same sense that the ostler was in charge of Sayer's horses.

"Collette is the most wonderful girl," said the governess, dabbing her eyes with my pocket handkerchief. "So full of life. Creative, curious, eager to see everything the world has to offer...if only she weren't trapped here all the time."

"Trapped?" I said.

"S--Lord Sayer won't let her off the grounds. She hasn't left this estate since the night she was born."

"His Lordship is convinced that this was a kidnapping. What do you think?"

"I...I don't know what to think." She handed me back the slightly damp handkerchief. "I just hope she's okay."

"Can you show me her room?"

There were no clear signs of a struggle, but that didn't necesssarily mean she hadn't been kidnapped. Maybe the person who took her was a friend or maybe she had been asleep.

"Nothing is missing, either," said Eularia. "If she had run away, wouldn't she have packed a bag or something?"

"Possibly, but not necessarily. Maybe she had an accomplice on the outside who had supplies all ready for her."

Now we come to the point where being invisible comes in handy to an investigation. Had she been able to see me, Eularia would doubtless have observed that I was watching her more closely than I was Collette's possessions. Another unexpected side effect of invisibility is that people, not being able to see another person in the room with them, tend to act, instinctively, like they're alone. The upshot was that Eularia was far less guarded than she would have been if that witch hadn't cursed me (twelve hours and counting). And I saw something in her eyes I hadn't expected.

Fear? Is that what I saw in those blue...or were they green eyes?

"Lord Sayer says you and Collette argued last night," I said. Something about her eyes had struck a chord, but I couldn't make out the tune just yet.

"Oh, he did? Well, I wouldn't say we argued as such. She, er, wanted to stay up and I told her no. She can be a very spirited child. Just like..."

"Just like what?"

"Nothing." But I knew it was not nothing. Something had upset her and she nervously ran her hand through her hair...her auburn hair...auburn hair, blue-green eyes...

"Excuse me a moment," I said, and stepped out of the room and into the hallway. I looked around to make sure that I was alone and took my handkerchief out of my pocket. It was damp in places where Eularia had dabbed her tears...except...

I smelled the handkerchief. I may not be the best detective in the world, but I pride myself on having the best nose in Brecken, and I could pick up lots of distinct scents on that square of fabric. But one thing I couldn't smell was salt. Which means Eularia hadn't been crying when she borrowed it.

I turned around to go back into Collette's bedroom, when Lord Sayer barged in. "Ragon?" he said, looking around the room.

"He's not here," said Eularia. "He's out in the hallway. Should I...?"

"No!" snarled Sayer, and he shut the bedroom door...thankfully not until after I had managed to slip inside. I quickly shoved the handkerchief and my pipe into my pocket. Now I was completely invisible. I tried hard not to make a sound.

"What did you tell him?"

"What you told me to, Sayer."

"Do you think he suspects anything?"

She paused before she answered. Then, defiantly, "How should I know?"

"Hey! I'm doing this for your benefit."

"Don't give me that! You're doing this for the same reason you do everything. Because it's what you want and the rest of the world be damned!"

"That's not fair. It's not...you...you mustn't think I don't care for the girl."

"Oh, come on! You never cared for Collette a day in your life."

"That's not true. I care for her...in my own way...but a man of my position can't be..."

"Yes, I know, Sayer. Oh! Sorry. I mean," here she made a big show of curtsying, "your worshipfulness!"

"You can't possibly understand the pressures my title puts me under."

"Oh, I'm sure all those banquets with the Royal Family are torture. You know, in the servant's quarters, we often have to fight the rats for our dinner."

"This was your idea!" Sayer bellowed. "All of it was your idea."

"No, Sayer. Not all of it."

"Okay," I said at last, "I think I've heard enough."

"Ragon?!" They both said at the same time.

"Yeah, it's me. And I hate to break up this cozy little scene, but I was just wondering if you could tell me where your daughter is. And, by the way, I'm looking at you, Eularia."

♦♦♦

It had been Eularia's eyes that had first made me suspicious. They were blue-green, just like Collette's. Her hair was also the auburn Sayer had described in my office. That made me think they were related in some way. On the other hand, the fact that the "tears" on my handkerchief had been fake--I figured Eularia just licked it a few times--didn't add up. If they were related, why wouldn't she be more upset about the girl being missing? Obviously, because she knew something about it. And then there was the way Eularia had said "since the night she was born." Most people would have said "the day she was born." Unless they knew for a fact that it had been nighttime when the child was born.

That sounded like a detail a mother might remember.

I had been on the point of saying as much to Eularia when Sayer had cut me off. After hearing the two of them bickering, I understood what had happened.

Sayer had...let's be nice and say "dallied" with Eularia, a humble servant, and Collette had been the result. Glory forbid a man like Sayer should be part of such a scandal, so he and Eularia created a fiction that would save his reputation. Collette would grow up beleiving her mother was dead while, in actual fact, her mother was raising her in the guise of a governess. Then, thirteen years later, something changed. Who knows what? Maybe Sayer wanted to get married and have a legitimate heir. Maybe a woman who could stand lying to her daughter for thirteen years just couldn't stand doing it for one second longer. But the arrangement was over.

Now I understood why Sayer didn't ask Hammett to find his daughter. Because she was never abducted.

Mother and father staged Collette's disappearance. Just hid her away and hired a detective to look for her so that, later, they coud claim they did all they could to find her. After some time had passed, Eularia would resign, too broken-hearted to keep serving in Lord Sayer's household. Then she would collect her daughter (and, I venture to suspect, a large cash settlement from his lordship) and disappear. Maybe even leave Brecken entirely.

"At first," Eularia said, "Sayer was going to just pay me off to take the girl and leave. Maybe it would have been better if I had. But I was young and angry and I said, 'No! You are responsible for this child. You have a duty to her...and to me.'"

"And I fulfilled that duty," said Sayer, as cold and distant as ever. "Collette grew up in my home, bore my name and wanted for nothing."

"Except a father," I said. "Or freedom."

Incidentally, Collette had been hidden in the basement. She'd been there the whole time, reading books and waiting for her mother to come see her. Of course, now I knew what she and Eularia had really argued about the previous night.

"So," said Eularia, her arms around her daugher, "what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know my secret," said Sayer. "You know I was never married. That my daughter was born out of wedlock."

I was about to say that "my daugher was born out of wedlock" was a funny way of saying "I forced myself on an employee and knocked her up," but now that the kid was actually in the room, I decided against it. I figured she had enough on her mind without me piling on. I looked at her, and gave her a friendly smile...before I remembered that she couldn't see it.

But then...you're gonna say I'm nuts or I just imagined it...I swear she looked right at me and smiled. Like she really could see me. Yeah, I know, she was just looking in my general direction. It would have been impossible for her to actually see me. Then again, I've read about invisibility spells and one thing they have in common is that you can be seen by other invisible people.

I figured if anyone knew what it was to be invisible, it was Collette Sayer.

"Fortunately for you, Mr. Sayer," I said, "I don't actually care enough about you to ruin your reputation. You hired me to find your daughter, and I did. She's right there, next to her mother. Now, just pay me my fee and you'll never have to see me again."

"Very well," said his lordship, taking out his coin purse. "What did you say? Six silver a day?"

"That's my fee for being a detective," I said with a smile I wished the old man could have seen. "My fee for keeping my mouth shut is significantly higher."

♦♦♦

Being Captain Of The King's Own Guard is a demanding job, and Hammett didn't get back to his room until after sundown. When he did, he was not alone.

"Hi, Big Brother," I said.

Hammett jumped about a foot in the air, lit a candle and searched the room for me. "Where are you?"

I took out my pipe and lit it.

"Ragon," he said, "why are you invisible?"

"Not important. It's gonna wear off in about four more hours. Which is lucky, because I knew the only way I could get in to see you was if the other guards couldn't see me."

"What do you want?"

"A guy can't invisibly drop in on his beloved older brother? He has to want something?"

"So, you don't want something?"

"No, I do. But it hurts that you would jump to that conclusion."

"What is it?"

"It's about Lord Sayer. I have reason to believe he raped one of his servants thirteen years ago." At which point I told him all about the case. When Sayer and Eularia had been arguing, not knowing I was still in the room, something Eularia had said had stuck in my teeth.

"This was your idea!" Sayer had said.

"No, Sayer," Eulria had replied. "Not all of it."

Did I feel guilty for breaking my promise to keep my mouth shut? A little. But then I remembered who I had made that promise to, and suddenly my guilt vanished into thin air.

"If what you're saying is true," said Hammett when I was finished, "he's going to spend the rest of his life in the dungeon."

"In that case, I'll talk to Greenstreet. See if he can't get some kind of life-prolonging potion for me to slip into the old guy's food."

Hammett smiled a little. He hardly ever did that anymore. Not now that he had such an important job. But it reminded me of the Hammett I used to know. The one I had grown up with. My big brother. My best friend.

"Go see Eularia in the morning," I said. "She'll tell you everything you need to lock up that pile of frenner slime once and for all."

"Thank you, Ragon. I know we don't always see eye to eye, but...you're a good detective. And I'm proud of you."

It must be pretty weird to be hugged by someone you can't see. But he got over it quick and hugged me back.

"Hey," I said, "as long as I'm still invisible, you want to go around the Castle and make people think their dogs can fly?"

"Yes," said Hammett, the Captain Of The King's Own Guard. "Yes, I do."