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Perhaps another researcher.” She paused and nodded toward my hand. “What’s that?”
    “Oh.” I unclenched my fingers and let it drop to the desk. “I have a feeling this is a mate to this one.” I dug out the hair Leaf had ripped from Alric’s head. “And I think both of them belong to the man who was here. The same man I brought in last night.” That thought didn’t make me happy. I may love finding answers, but I had a feeling his answers weren’t ones that would be safe to know.
    Covey’s bright golden eyes glowed. Whether from excitement at a new mystery to solve or annoyance at the man who had dared to ransack her place and steal from her I wasn’t sure. I was betting it was a little of both.
    “Tell me exactly what happened. Don’t leave out a single speck.” She grabbed an old fashioned quill pen and ink pot, flailing around until she found some paper to write on. “Well? Start. Everything.” She waved the pen at me. “You never know when something might be the keystone.”
    It took far longer than I wanted to tell it all. At least two hours went by as she picked apart each comment. What color was Alric’s shirt? Was the female guard part gnome? From which side of the street did the faeries fall into me after he’d shaken them? She was also fascinated with the goo, but set it aside for later uninterrupted researching pleasure.
    By the end of the two hours I felt like I’d been selling illegal gnome-weed to a junkie.
    “Excellent. So we have an intruder who steals what cannot be read, who is wanted by hoodlums, but doesn’t fear them. He’s hiding, but has been so for quite a while.” Covey tapped her pen against her chin in thought. “What did he use on the faeries and why did he want an unreadable scroll?”
    I rocked back in the chair I’d borrowed from a neighboring office. Actually, broken in and liberated by force would be more accurate. There was no way I could have told her anything in the piece of wooden evilness she offered visitors to sit in. “I was sort of hoping you might know.” I brought the front legs back to the ground with a thud, then winced when a few jars above her head shook around a bit. “About the sap at least.”
    Her eyes were starting to glaze over. Once I’d told her all I could, she forgot me. I’d seen her do this before. About a week from now, or whenever the mystery was solved, she’d come apologize, send over some fine ale, and all would be good. But for now she was gone.
    “Okay then, I’ll just show myself out.” I stood, waiting to see if she’d react, but a distracted wave was the best I got. “I guess I’ll just have to go look for another bounty job. Maybe just spend the day at the Shimmering Dewdrop.” When she didn’t even look up at that, I showed myself the door. Covey hated the Dewdrop even more than she hated when I had to bounty hunt. I’d agree with her on the bounty hunting, but not on my pub.
    The campus was a ghost town by the time I walked down the halls, my own footsteps the only thing keeping me company. I’d had a busy day—between the night before, my lack of sleep, and the parade of assorted visitors that morning—so it wasn’t my fault that I didn’t hear someone behind me until it was too late.

 
    Chapter 4
     
     
    “I normally don’t have a problem with attractive women following me.” The voice was rich, exotic, and not totally unexpected. I kept my eyes closed, but Alric clearly knew when I’d regained consciousness. The dull throb that slammed from the back of my skull into the floor boards told me he’d been far less gentle with me than I had with my capture of him.
    We’d see about settling that score.
    “But you keep showing up. You’re following me again, and I can’t afford to have certain people find me at this point.”
    I slowly tested my arms to see if he’d tied me up. My left hand quickly smacked into a hard metal something, but they were both free. I opened my eyes at the same time