I got a call early Monday morning telling me to bring my bag and meet them at The Happy Peanut as soon as possible. I grabbed a package of trail mix and a protein shake to eat on the way. I was out of breakfasts I could heat up quickly and the store was across town. The Happy Peanut was a fancy confectionery. I’d been in it a few times but it was too high priced for my salary. A group was waiting for me outside. I was surprised to see Chief Thompson there. He approached my car as I parked. I glanced to see if Roy was missing. He was talking with what looked like a sales clerk. “No one’s gone in,” Thompson told me. “Someone cast here. I want to know if it’s the same people.” “They wore masks, so I can’t guarantee it’s them, but we can get a pretty good idea by their build and how they walk.” Thompson nodded. “Close enough.” He glanced at my drink. “Is that all you had this morning?” “I had some trail mix. You said to hurry. It’s enough for a spell.” “What about two spells? If it’s not too hard on you, I’d like you to cast a spell to detect magic so I don’t have to admit how I know magic has been cast here.” I hesitated, evaluating my strength and the toll the two spells would take. I nodded. “I think so. I’ll risk it.” “No. Maybe you can use a fake spell and then say magic was cast. You wouldn’t be lying.” “Roy’s heard me casting it a few times. He may realize I’m faking it. Then he’ll wonder how I know since he knows I can’t lie.” Thompson sighed. “Cast the detection spell. Then we’ll see how you feel. We don’t need to see the whole theft. Just enough for us to familiarize ourselves with what they look like.” I nodded. “And I mean it. Sam told me you like to push it.” Sam was the head of forensics. He was usually at the scenes when I cast. Roy joined us before I could respond. “Everything okay?” “I was making sure Sean ate enough to cast the spells we need.” Roy glanced at the drink in my hand. “What did you eat?” “Trail mix and this.” I gestured to the shake. “Not great, but he should get through one spell. I’ve got a breakfast burrito for him in my car.” I sighed. “I am an adult capable of making my own decisions.” “But you still make bad ones,” Roy claimed as he followed me to the door. “I do what’s necessary to get the job done.” I glanced at Thompson. “Within the law.” There have been a few questionable spells I’ve cast, but I’ve used them with Thompson’s permission. I consider that within the law since there are no laws truly restricting magic. The shop’s employee was still talking to one of the other officers so I didn’t interrupt. Instead, I cast the spell to detect magic. As Thompson said, someone had used magic to open the door and it was humans. I told them my findings. “Are you okay for another spell?” Thompson asked. I nodded. “I think so.” He glanced at Roy who shrugged with one shoulder. Was his arm bothering him again? The officer and the employee joined us. I was surprised to see who the employee was. “Marie.” I nodded. Marie raised an eyebrow. “Sean, what are you doing here?” “I’m a consultant. I’m going to help them see what happened.” She frowned. “We were robbed.” As if we were here for the sweets. “We’re looking for details. Can you tell me what time you close?” “We’re open until ten. People like to get stuff to sneak into the movies.” She gestured to the theater across the street. “But the closing manager is usually here until eleven. She likes to do admin stuff then.” “Are you sure she was gone? Someone was at another location that was robbed and they drugged him.” Marie nodded. “I spoke to her this morning. “ “Is there any way we can get an ending time?” Roy asked. He was thinking all night was too long for me to cast the spell. I agreed. “Let me check something.” She hurried next door and was back quickly. “Juan comes in at four. There was no one here then and he keeps an eye on things. He’s not fond of being here alone so early.” Starting the spell at four was better than at seven when Marie had called it in. I cast the spell. We saw Juan arrive, then there wasn’t much to see. A few birds landed in the area and were chased off by a cat. I considered asking the cat for information but I’d have to find it. Marie frowned at what she saw. “You didn’t tell me you could do stuff like this,” she claimed. “Don’t interrupt the spell,” Thompson said. “You didn’t do something like this after we left, did you?” She demanded. “Ma’am, Sean can’t talk while he’s casting,” Roy explained. “And the spell is too hard on him to do for fun.” Finally, the thieves’ car appeared. That was a first. Usually, we were in the wrong place for that. Multiple people checked out the car. It was pretty generic. Unless the make was readable, it wouldn’t help much. Roy was trying to see the license plate. There was too much iron in the car. It blurred the plate. As we had speculated, there was a fourth person. Whoever it was, cast and got back in the car. Moments later, one of the other thieves brought out a box and gave it to the driver. I swayed and the image flickered. “Sean, that’s enough,” Thompson warned. I delayed stopping the spell. I wanted to see the mage. Whoever it was opened the box and started eating. It appeared to be candy. The spell might have been too much for him. Roy moved to look through the window. He would have had to take off his mask to eat. “Sean, that’s enough,” Thompson insisted. “We’ve seen them.” Roy looked up at me and nodded. “That’s enough.” Reluctantly, I ended the spell. “Were you able to see him?” I asked. “Her. And not enough. She only lifted the mask enough to eat.” “Why would they steal candy?” Marie asked. “Quick energy to help recover from the spell,” I explained. Roy handed me the burrito. I took it with a frown. “Don’t start,” he warned. "I live closer than you and it was on the way.” Although I wasn't happy about him thinking I needed watching over, the frown wasn't about that. He was favoring his arm. I didn't correct him and point it out to everyone. Reluctantly, I ate it washing it down with one of my Powerades. Marie joined us while the forensics team went over the place. “Don’t you need to go in too?” “If they need me. But I need to finish this first. Don’t want to risk it contaminating the scene.” The lawyers didn’t like me eating anything at the crime scenes but they allowed the candy and drinks since the spells were so hard on me. “You two know each other?” Roy asked. I nodded as I finished the last bite. “We met at the Blue Rose. She and a friend were having trouble with an ex.” “And you stepped in.” I nodded. “The bouncer was useless. Lorraine asked me to help.” Roy nodded. Most likely he’d guessed I’d invited them both back to my place afterwards. I wasn’t going to bring it up and make Marie uncomfortable. She was focusing her attention elsewhere. I might brag, but I didn’t name names. Thompson saved us from any further worry as he asked us to join them. It was clear the thieves had been primarily interested in the candy. Marie confirmed no money had been left in the store overnight. The computer and security cameras had been taken of course. “Did they use the front door at the other crime scenes?” He asked. Roy shook his head. “No, always the back.” “The front door seems risky. Why the change?” Thompson looked at Marie. “Is there any reason they couldn’t use the back door?” Marie shook her head. “Not that I can think of. There’s less visibility back there and it’s not blocked. It’s a similar lock too.” “Can you show us?” I asked. Marie led the way into a back room. The shelves there were fairly empty too. “Was this all stocked?” I asked. Marie nodded. “Someone wants diabetes.” “Eating the candy right after casting doesn’t affect blood sugar like that unless you already have a problem. But it does seem excessive.” Opening a few doors shouldn’t require that kind of carbs. Were they planning on something bigger? “This is the door.” Marie gestured to it. “Well, that explains it. It has brass on it.” It had a large brass kick plate, push bar, and even a nameplate. The hinges looked brass too. Marie frowned “So? Brass has antimicrobial properties.” “It’s also a copper alloy. Copper blocks human magic.” “The mage may have tried to open this door first and it failed,” Thompson speculated. “It might be why she was so desperate for candy.” “Should we find out?” I suggested. “By you casting again?” Thompson guessed. “No. It’s not that important and it doesn’t look like you can handle it.” He gave me a slight nod. He could sense the magic on the door. We left a short time later allowing forensics to do their work.