“Do you know anything about the other robberies?”
“Now, now. You can’t accuse me of all the crimes in town. Well, you can, but it’s going to be difficult to live up to that kind of reputation.”
“That’s not a no.”
“What’s missing?”
“The Heartwood.”
“The pack’s heart?” He sounded startled.
“It was in their office at the quarry. Yesterday, or the night before, it was lifted. Since you’ve been out in the dead of night recently, did you see anyone or anything unusual?”
“Not saying I was, but if I were out, I didn’t see anyone stealing the Heartwood.”
“You did plant all those penguins, though.”
“That’s an awful lot for one man to do in one night, don’t you think?”
“Not a man like you.”
He touched two fingers to his forehead in a jaunty salute.
“Which is why I’ve decided you’re going to be the one to get rid of them at the end of the week. Every last penguin. Every last pebble. Shouldn’t be a problem for a man like you.” I smiled wide and batted my eyelashes at him.
He scoffed, but before he could say anything, I added. “Two robberies on my hands, remember? Plus the High Tea Tide, and suddenly, crowd control on an unplanned penguin event. You’re on clean up.”
He shut his mouth with a click. “What else was stolen?”
“Someone took Bertie’s Feather.”
He pulled up a bit and tipped his head to the side. That pose and look in his eyes was particularly crow-like.
“Her Feather.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Yes. But I’m…Valkyrie Feathers can’t be taken.”
“This one was.”
He shook his head. “No. You can’t steal them. I know—not because I’ve ever tried to steal a Valkyrie Feather.”
I gave him a hard look.
“Fine. I’ve never tried to steal a Valkyrie Feather while I’ve been in Ordinary.”
“When?”
“A long time ago. I was young. Nearly terminally curious.”
“Nearly?”
He laughed. “It was pretty close a couple times. One of those was when I tried to steal a Feather. They are almost impossible to pick up once they’ve been shed—and they are almost never shed. So just finding one took… Well, I spent a lot of years walking the worlds.”
I made a hurry up motion with my finger.
“The battlefield was still fresh. The war was still going on. And the Valkyries had descended.” He waved his hand through the air, as if wiping a screen clean so I could better see his memory. “That is a thing to see. The power of those women, those amazing warriors, screaming out of the sky and pulling the dead to their feet and up, up to Valhalla.” His voice was fond. “What a place. The movies have it all wrong. It’s more feet up on the table than polished marble floors. It’s a good place.”
