“Ugh.” I pinched my nose as we approached the front door, the smell getting stronger. “How has no one come to investigate by now? This whole block is full of shifters. Surely they would have come over to complain about this stench.”
Lakin shrugged. “The smell’s not too bad from the street. He probably wasn’t incredibly friendly with his neighbors, and nobody cared enough about the smell to bother with it.”
“Yeah, well looks like garbage wasn’t his only problem.” I looked over at the overflowing mailbox hanging from the exterior wall to the left of the door. Grabbing a few letters, I noticed they were postmarked from the end of April. “I get the feeling the postman stopped delivering weeks ago .”
The front door was locked, so Lakin fished a set of lock picks from one of his pockets. I arched a brow as he jimmied one of them into the locks, and seconds later the mechanism clicked open.
“Didn’t know Inspectors were allowed to do that kind of thing.” I could pick locks with the best of them, but since I went after wanted criminals, breaking into their houses was a little different from doing it to someone who as far as we knew was innocent.
Lakin snorted. “You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve had to do this,” he said as the door swung open.
The rotting garbage stench was even stronger on the inside, and as we quickly discovered, came from the kitchen trash and the refrigerator, where months-old supplies of meat and dairy lay wasting away, covered with green and black mold. Gagging, I quickly closed the refrigerator and moved out of the room, wanting to get myself away from the awful smell as fast as possible.
“Lakin?” I called as I moved into the living room. Unlike Lakin’s it was fully furnished, but the surfaces were covered in a layer of dust. This guy definitely hadn’t been home in awhile, probably since he’d stopped showing up to work.
“In here,” Lakin called, and I followed the sound of his voice into Nevin’s bedroom. The space was half-bedroom, half-office, with a desk and a small filing cabinet located on the left half of the room, and a bed, dresser and closet on the right. Lakin was seated on the bed, peering down at some pieces of paper in his hand.
“Whatcha got there?” I asked, coming to stand in front of him.
“Ticket stubs.” Looking up, he handed them to me. “Take a look.”
I did, and then frowned. They appeared to be for some kind of betting event, though I couldn’t really tell what for. The name “The Dirty Habit” was scrawled across the backside of the ticket in cramped, messy handwriting.
“The Dirty Habit,” I murmured, the name tickling a memory in the back of my mind. “I think that’s a bar or nightclub of some kind.”
“Is that right?” Lakin stood up so he could look at the tickets over my shoulder. “I don’t think there’s a club by that name in Solantha, but it must not be too far from here.”
“I’ll ask Annia about it. She’ll probably know.”
“Annia?”
“She’s an Enforcer friend of mine.” I winked at the dubious look on his face. “Don’t worry, she’s one of the good ones.”
“Alright, well I trust you.” Lakin glanced at his watch. “I should get back to my house soon. I’ve got a meeting scheduled with one of my deputies.”
“Crap,” I muttered as I realized it was nearly noon. I had to get back to the Palace!
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.” But inside I was kicking myself. I hadn’t put any time into investigating the bank, or reading the book the Chief Mage had given me last night! “I’ve just gotta get back to the Palace now. I’ll catch you later.”
Somehow, I was going to have to figure out how to manage my time better. Otherwise I had a feeling I was going to end up in hot water again.
8
I arrived at the Palace with just enough time to grab a quick lunch before heading down to the Mages Guild. I walked into the large, open lobby that served as the reception and hub of the Guild, but stopped short at the sight of the Chief Mage standing there, talking with Director Chen.
Because the universe hates me sometimes, both of them turned to look at me just as I stuffed the last bite of my sandwich into my mouth. My insides squirmed at the thought of beautiful, perfect Director Chen staring at me while my cheeks were puffed up like a chipmunk’s, and I swallowed hastily.
“Miss Baine.” Something that looked suspiciously like amusement flickered in Iannis’s eyes, but it was gone too quickly for me to call him out on it. “I see that you’ve managed to be on time for once.”
“Yes, well I’m trying to act like a real grown up now.”
“I’m glad you made it,” Director Chen said smoothly, oblivious to the sarcasm in my voice. “I was actually going to request you join me in my office today, as I am backlogged and could use your assistance. The Secretary of Agricultural Magic tells me you’re quite good with paperwork.”
Oh for Magorah’s sake! The last thing I needed was to gain a reputation for being a good admin. The Mages Guild would never give me any other job! I tried to think of something to say that could get me out of this – I wasn’t really thrilled about having to spend the afternoon with Director Chen – but I was saved from having to answer as a courier rushed into the room.
“Lord Iannis,” he gasped, his round cheeks red with exertion – he was a gangly teenager, around Noria’s age. “There’s an emergency at the Firegate Bridge!”