The Clockwork Wolf by Lynn Viehl Read Free Book Online Page B

“You’re going to show me this rat bomb.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    Two beaters stood outside the entry to my office building, and both came to attention as Doyle and I approached. I also saw someone standing at the corner; a short figure in a funny-looking blue cape.
    â€œAny activity?” Doyle asked.
    â€œWe’ve had a few of the tenants come by to ask what’s to be done,” one of the cops replied. “Not a happy lot, any of them.”
    â€œYou don’t want to go in there, sir,” the other beater said quickly as Doyle climbed the steps. “I tried to nick in round the back to use the facilities, but the air’s so putrid I lost me dinner.” He grimaced at me. “Begging your pardon, miss.”
    â€œNo worries, mate.” I wrinkled my nose back at him. “Sorry about your stomach.” When I glanced at the corner again the oddly-caped man was gone.
    â€œStand back.” Doyle took out a blade and used it to cut through the sealing tape stretched across the doors. As he opened them I covered my mouth and nose with a kerchief, but the stench I expected never came.
    Doyle breathed in several times before rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re sure no one’s slipped inside?” he asked his men.
    â€œLandlord locked it up tight, sir, and gave us the keys,” the first beater said.
    To me Doyle said, “Do you or any of the tenants have keys?”
    â€œOnly to our own offices,” I told him. “The landlord sends his man to open and close the building each day.”
    He took the beater’s lantern. “Let’s have a look in the basement, then.”
    I led the inspector downstairs to the Dungeon, which like the rest of the building held no trace of the noxious smell. I walked over to the workbench where Docket and I had examined the rat, but except for a few tools it stood empty.
    â€œDocket was working on the animech here.” I turned round to examine the floor, and pointed to a bare spot. “That’s where I left the bucket.” Like the rat and the stink it also had vanished. “This burglar would make an excellent janitor.”
    â€œI saw the spill here.” Doyle knelt down, moving some of Docket’s things aside to run his hand over the boards. “Bone dry.” He glanced up at me. “There’s not even a stain on the wood.”
    I crouched down and put my hand next to his. As soon as I touched the wood a dark stain spread out from my fingers.
    Doyle hissed something vile and snatched my hand back. “Magic.”
    â€œWon’t hurt me, Tommy.” Curious marks scratched into the boards also appeared, but they were unlike any wards I’d ever encountered. “It must be some kind of concealment spell.” I tried to take my hand from his but he held on. “You know I’m immune to magic.”
    â€œAnd how should I know that?” he demanded.
    He couldn’t, thanks to my time traveling. The cost of what I’d done to save Rumsen from invasion and bring Dredmore back from death was well and truly grating on my nerves now. “Uncle Arthur told you that my mother was a spell breaker, a gift I inherited from her.”
    â€œYou’re lying to me again.” A muscle twitched under his right eye. “You never sound more truthful than when you are.”
    â€œHow do I sound when I tell the truth? Like a liar?” I stood up and touched the workbench, but the rat didn’t materialize. “So they mopped up and took the mech. Why go to all this trouble?”
    â€œRemoving the evidence of their crime.” Doyle stood and scanned the workshop. “What I’d like to know is, why bother to erase the stench?”
    â€œTo prevent you from arresting me, or me from finding them,” I said without thinking. “Or my would-be assassin truly is a janitor and quite devoted to his calling to clean.”
    He