The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans by Amy Crook Read Free Book Online Page B

time, I don’t mind,”
said Thomas, sipping his own coffee. His mug had a black, pixelated heart on it
that turned red when the coffee heated up the ceramic.
    Fischer looked annoyed, but didn’t protest. He had
his own coffee, in a mug with the police academy logo. “We’ll use this
room,” he said, leading them into one of the interrogation rooms.
    At least it was the comfortable one.
    The table in here was an oval with chairs all
around it, so the officer wasn’t forced to take an adversarial stance with
friendly witnesses or even suspects of some standing. Julian took a seat near
one end of the oval, to one side, giving Fischer no way to loom over him. He
smiled warmly when Thomas took the seat to his left, so the two of them were
presenting a united front. “How are you doing with the new Castles game,
anyway?” asked Julian, as though Fischer wasn’t quietly fuming as he set
up his folder and recorder.
    “Oh, it’s great! I’ve got two built, and I’m
working on a third one, but I keep running into monsters down in my mines. I
think you’d like it, it’s really pretty, even more than that Cloudfall one you
saw when you guys were over.” The best part about it was that Thomas’
enthusiasm was guileless and unfeigned, and Julian was actually interested.
He’d never really played video games before, but Thomas had started getting him
interested in the little ones you could play on your phone, and then he and
Alex had gone over to Thomas’ for pizza and he’d shown off his fancy gaming
setup.
    “It’s a different kind of magic, but it’s
still magic to me,” said Julian appreciatively. “We’ll have to have
another pizza night sometime, maybe we can get Murielle to come this
time.”
    “Not if we watch rugby again,” said
Thomas with a wry laugh. “But if it’s for something else, maybe.”
    “If you’re ready?” said Fischer grumpily,
tapping his pen against the sheet.
    “Oh, yes, of course, Agent,” said Julian,
with a sharp little smile. “Now, what did you need me to clarify?”
    “I’d like to go over the night before the
murder with you more closely,” he said, vaguely attempting to sound like
he wasn’t fishing for information on Alex. “When did you leave work?”
    “I open, so I don’t close, and I left about
three o’clock with Alex,” said Julian, thinking back to the day. The
afternoon had been sunny and hot, and he’d been looking forward to their plans.
    “Does he always pick you up from work?”
asked Fischer.
    “No, of course not,” said Julian.
“We had plans for tea with friends, and my work was closer than
home.”
    “Which friends?” came the sharp retort.
    Julian was glad he’d asked. “Our former
Guardians, James and Jacques, and Father Stephen, at the Temple of
Purification. We went early and did a purification before we ate.”
    “Do you go through a purification before every
meal with them?” asked Fischer, making notes.
    “No, but it had been a while and we both
agreed it would be nice,” said Julian. “Neither of us likes the cold
pool to start, but the rest of it is very calming.”
    “Cold pool?” said Fischer, distracted by
whatever notes he was making.
    Julian rolled his eyes, but this time Thomas took
up the baton. “Haven’t you ever done a purification? You have to do this
cold bath in mineral salts, and then a warm shower, but there’s more steps to
the one at the Temple. I’ve only done that once, but I had to get purified down
in the infirmary when I bumped into one of the knives during the Sheffield
case.”
    “Ooh, Alex told me about that, with the
daggers that made people kill their neighbours?” Julian sipped his tea and
gave his attention to Thomas.
    “Yeah, it was really dumb, I literally bumped
into one,” said Thomas. “Maybe I should go with you guys sometime to
the Temple, if it’s nicer.”
    “It really is, after the bath there’s a warm
shower, and then a steam room, and another shower, and then