Shehmmmed, then dipped her chin. Her hands lifted, fingertips perching on the desk edge, gaze sharp. “That is correct.”
“If you know where the Feather is, why did you call it in as missing?”
“I called it in and requested you return my call. Which you have not done. Until now.”
“Valid. Do you know where the Feather is?”
“It is in Ordinary.” She didn’t sound the least bit worried.
“You know where?”
“I have a basic idea. Do you?”
There was something behind that, something I couldn’t read.
“I don’t have any leads. That’s why I came by today. It’s a little like Thor’s hammer, isn’t it?”
“It is nothing like Thor’s hammer,” she snapped. “Like a sorting hat of virtue.” She rolled her eyes. “Valkyries do not need an object to know the heart of any living being.”
“So you’re telling me anyone could pick up the Feather and walk off with it? That isn’t adding up. You wouldn’t display it in your office where dozens of people,” I held up the paper, “stream through. It wouldn’t be safe, and it wouldn’t be like you to do so.”
A very small smile drifted across her lips.
“I am not telling you any such thing. I would never leave myself unguarded. But Crow isn’t the expert he pretends to be. It isn’t the worth of a person that allows them to lift a Valkyrie Feather. It is a personal choice a Valkyrie makes.”
She was blushing. I’d never seen her blush in my life.
Did Bertie have a boyfriend—or a girlfriend? Was that who she was talking about?
I’d never asked about her private life, hadn’t wanted to know. I’d always seen Bertie as a perpetually annoyed woman—an unstruck bolt of lightning who got shit done.
“Personal because the Valkyrie likes them?” I asked, trying not to smile.
Her fingers drummed once. A warning.
“Or maybe it’s personal because the Valkyrie thinks of that person as…family?”
The drumming. Harder.
“No, wait. I’ve got this. It’s personal because the Valkyrie is actually quite fond of a person, might even love them a little, and so she trusts them with something precious?”
The drumming stopped. “That is all I will say on the subject.”
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. “All right, sure. Good. Will you say who has access to your Feather?”
“No.”
“Come on, Bertie. I need a list of suspects. Can you give me a hint? Or text me some phone numbers?”
“No.”
“Consenting adults can do whatever they please in Ordinary, as long as there are no laws broken.”
“I am aware.”
She wasn’t denying. She wasn’t affirming either. All I wanted to do was find out who she liked so much, she would allow them to burgle her.
“The Feather would not be moveable by most people in this town. Under certain circumstances it is possible a god might be able to move it, but that would be highly unlikely.”
