The next morning, we were called to Proton Microcenter. It was another community outreach program. Local and even national businesses had donated computers to make a free public computer lab. It had several mid to high-end computers. Anyone could use one if they wanted. I stopped just inside the door. “They didn’t take the children’s computers.” One group of computers had been designated for kids to use. Their screens were all within view of the staff’s desk. “The kids’ computers have security to limit what they can do,” one of the staff explained. “That might reduce their value.” “Or make it harder to fence.” Stoll reasoned. “They steal such a variety of things, it’s amazing they found someone to fence it,” I said. “Are they fencing it?” Roy asked. “Has anything turned up yet?’ “Nothing so far.” Roy glanced at me. “Do you think you might find the stuff like you did Lorraine’s phone?” “How sick am I allowed to get?” I asked. “Why? How sick were you last time?” Adler asked. “Convulsions, vomiting, and I passed out. Connie needed to heal me.” I didn’t bother explaining who Connie was. “No,” Roy said flatly. “Roy’s right,” Adler agreed. I nodded. “I would need an approximate location to start with anyhow.” “How did you know that for the phone?” Adler asked. “We knew it was near a unique Christmas decoration. We knew where that was. There is a spell I can cast that’s easier on me and could give us the approximate location of the stolen items or at least one. But I would need a specific item not just something that has thousands of duplicates all over the area. It needs to be unique. I couldn’t use a cell phone this time unless someone had customized it.” “And this spell is safe?” Adler asked. “Safer. All magic takes a toll. Since I don’t have to be in a certain location, I can get away from iron to help.” “We’ll talk to the chief. If he allows it, we’ll go through the list of stolen items to see if anything will work for you.” “And hope it helps,” Roy added. “Until then…” he gestured to the room. “It helps forensics.” “So would security cameras,” I pointed out. “They either take or disable the cameras.” Stoll reminded me. “What about all the webcams?” I asked. “People are always claiming the FBI is watching through them. Call Agent Brandt and see if he can help us out. Or call Northridge. I can’t imagine they aren’t watching the town where I was found. Gillman, call me,” I said into the air. My phone rang and everyone jumped. I pulled out my phone. I wasn’t surprised to see it wasn’t Gillman. That was too fast. It always took time for him to get back to me. Instead, it was Thompson. “Hi, can I call you back? I’m just about to cast.” “Yeah, I just got a message from White Witch.” “I’ll call as soon as I can,” I promised. I cast the spell and we watched them disconnect and take half the computers. They were quick and efficient. But they were careful not to damage anything. They knew what they were doing. “They wear masks. Why worry about cameras?” Stoll asked. “They didn’t check to see which computers were for the kids,” I pointed out. “How did they know? It’s not like they look any different.” “You think they’ve been here before,” Roy guessed. “They had to have cased the place. They’re hoping to keep us from looking at old recordings. I can check earlier times, but I don’t want to hear about me getting sick.” “This is a state-of-the-art facility,” one of the staff claimed. “Our security videos get backed up online. We can download a copy and look through it for anyone that isn’t a regular patron.” “We know the build of these guys. That should help us narrow it down.” *** In the car, I called Thompson back. “Sorry about not being able to talk.” “I understand. I got a message from White Witch. She said she thinks there might be more than one mage. She smelled different magic at a couple of the places that were hit.” “Probably me. I’ve cast at every location.” “I made that suggestion. She insists it’s not you.” “Did she say what this one reminded her of?” “Pennies and cookies.” I smirked. “At least it wasn’t donuts.” Roy gave me a confused look. “What?” Thompson asked. “Metal and baked goods are often law enforcement.” “You think it’s a police officer?” “It could be. Or it might be a fed, a security guard, or even a crossing guard, anyone charged with making sure rules are followed.” “That doesn’t narrow it down much.” “It’s not a welder or a seamstress.” “There’s another mage?” Roy asked. “It looks like it. Whoever it is has been to some of the crime scenes.” I put the phone on speaker. “How common are human mages?” Roy asked. “They’re rare,” I assured him. “But there are four involved with this case?” “Some humans may have the potential to become a mage but never realize it. Most people don’t even believe magic is real.” “Yeah,” Roy agreed. “Some won’t even believe elves are real when they’re looking at one.” I frowned at the reminder. “So this new mage might not be casting?” Thompson asked. “Maybe not. They may also not be involved. Some of these places are open again. It might be A customer. Did White Witch say if it was at The Lucky Apple when she noticed the other magic there?” “It wasn’t there,” Thompson assured him. “I asked since she hadn’t mentioned it the first time.” “You asked?” Roy demanded. “I thought she’d only speak to another mage.” My mind raced to come up with an explanation I could tell him. “Sean got the mage to talk to me,” Thompson explained. Roy looked at me. “You did?” I nodded. “I did. Just online though.” Roy nodded. “Good. If we don’t need to go through a messenger, it will save time.” “Is there anything else you need?” Thompson asked. I glanced at Roy. He shrugged. “Actually, there might be something. The last place was a computer lab. We figure they had cased the place ahead of time. All the computers had webcams. With the rumors of aliens in the town, the nearby military base might be watching.” Thompson’s frown couldn’t be clearer if we were face to face. “You want me to talk to Gillman and see if he’ll share any footage.” “If we knew what they looked like, it might help.” “I’ll talk to him, but it’s unlikely he’ll be willing to share.”