Weapon of Blood by Chris A. Jackson Page A

arrived,
except—”
    Tamir’s voice overrode the wizard’s, and
he continued.  “—except the servants’ entrance.  When we questioned her again,
the housekeeper admitted that she’d found it unlocked this morning.  She
absolutely swears that she locked it on her way out last night.”  Tamir
consulted his notebook and checked something off with a pencil.  “She’s got the
only other key besides the one we found in Vonlith’s pocket.  But…”  The sergeant
paused dramatically and grinned at the captain.  “…remember the snifter on the
table beside Vonlith?  We found a matching one on the sideboard that still had
a bit of brandy in the bottom.  So, you were right about our victim having had
a guest.”  He made another checkmark in his notebook, and sat back.
    Norwood sank into his chair.  “So,
Vonlith probably knew his killer, let him in through the servant’s entrance,
and they had a drink...”
    “Not a colleague, however.  You would
receive a colleague at the front door, not the servants’ entrance.”
    Norwood nodded to the wizard; his
reasoning made sense.  “An acquaintance, then.  Someone known, but not a peer.”
    “Someone known well enough to share a
glass of brandy with, but not highfalutin enough to rate the front door.” 
Tamir added.
    “Or someone you didn’t want your
neighbors to see, perhaps.”  A thin smile spread across Master Woefler’s lips.
    “Or someone who didn’t want to be seen…”
    Quiet suffused the office for a long
moment before Norwood waved to Tamir to continue.  “What about the body?”
    “The stab wound to the back of the skull
was the only injury we found.  We’ll cut his head open later to see if there’s
anything odd about the death stroke, but I don’t expect to find anything.  It
seems like a straightforward hit.  There were plenty of valuables around, so
robbery’s not a likely motive.”
    “Unless the killer was after a specific
item that we don’t know about, Sergeant.” Woefler wagged a skinny finger under
Tamir’s nose.  “One does not recognize an item by its absence if one is not
familiar with its presence.”
    “What the hells is that supposed to
mean?”  The look Tamir gave the wizard could have soured milk.
    “It means, Sergeant Tamir, that something could have been taken.  Perhaps something that Master Vonlith kept on
his person, an amulet or ring, for instance, that required his death before it
could be removed.”  Woefler smiled as if proud of his deductive reasoning. 
“One must not jump to unwarranted conclusions.”
    “Don’t know why a thief would go to all
the trouble of putting a knife in the man’s head to take one thing and leave a
whole pile of fancy stuff just sitting there.”  Tamir shook his head and turned
back to Norwood.  “ Also , the method of the killing suggests a
professional assassin, not a thief.  My guess is that our victim pissed off the
wrong people.”
    “Thanks, Tam.  Let me know if anything
new turns up.”  Norwood turned to the duke’s wizard.  “Anything from your
perspective that stands out, Master Woefler?”
     “Vonlith was a
highly proficient runemage.  Invading his home would have been impossible, even
for a skilled intruder.”  He smiled pleasantly at Tamir.  “The magic on
the front door and the servant’s entrance is substantial.  Entry through either
of those portals could only have been gained through use of one of the
two existing keys, both of which bore subtle spells that would be recognized by
the spells on the locks.  Since both of those have been accounted for, the only
logical conclusion is that Vonlith did, indeed, let someone in.”
    “We already figured
that out,” protested Tamir.
    “But the locks inside the house were quite different.  There were no keys to lose for those.” 
Woefler’s eye gleamed with secret satisfaction.
    Tamir groaned as he
cast the wizard a chagrined glance.  “Yeah.  Unfortunately, you’re