The rat shifter sniffed. “I think itveryunlikely the IIT will miss anything.”
“The IIT do not have goddess-blessed knives sensitive to not only all forms ofhumanmagic, but also godly,” Mathi commented. “While it may be unlikely, we cannot discount the possibility of Bethany’s knives uncovering a thread or clue that has otherwise been missed by the IIT’s consultants.”
“Do you truly think they can find clues that the best witches in Deva cannot?” Bodhrán asked.
I met his gaze evenly. “I can’t guarantee it, but if a godly artifact is indeed behind?—”
“What makes you think it isn’t?” the convener cut in.
“What evidence is there that itis?” I countered.
“If you would just read the files?—”
“Gentlemen, I’ve been in Liadon’s realm the last three hours delivering my aunt to Borrhás, and I have the biggest fucking migraine as a result. Ithurtsto read. So please, do me a goddamn favor and just tell me.”
The convener looked briefly startled, then hastily said, “We were in the midst of a ratification meeting when we received an anonymous call?—”
“The council did?” Mathi said, straightening a little. “That’s rather unusual, don’t you think?”
“Yes. And no, we have no idea whether it was male or female, because they were using a voice modulator.”
“But the call was traced?”
“Indeed—to the café down the end of the street. Phone was left on the chair.”
“Too early for fingerprints then,” I said.
Mathi glanced at me. “If it’s been left, then it’s been wiped clean and means it’s likely a burner anyway.”
True, but that didn’t stop me from living in hope that just this once we might get lucky. “What time did you get the call?”
“Five minutes past nine. It took an additional five minutes for the message to be passed on to us. We, of course, called the IIT immediately.”
Andtheywould have responded in the same manner. “What did the message actually say?”
“That the Tylwyth Teg would be robbed at ten past nine and they will be using Aamon’s Pectoral to get in and out.”
“They were all but daring you to stop them,” Mathi said.
“That is also our impression,” the shifter replied. “There are some who get a rush from cutting their escape time down to the wire.”
I frowned. “It would have taken the IIT only a few minutes to get there, so our thief was likely still in the vault at that point.”
“Indeed,” Mathi commented. “But aside from all the usual bank security measures, there are two separate time locks securing that vault, and a backup power system that prevents the possibility of someone cutting the power and using the keycode to get in. All of which means the manager would not have had access until nine thirty, opening time.”
I raised an eyebrow, wondering how he knew that. He merely smiled.
“Even so, that still means he only had at most twenty minutes inside that vault, and I wouldn’t have thought that enough time to pry open all the security boxes, let alone rummage through all the assets contained within them.” I paused. “Unless, of course, he was after cash.”
“They do not keep cash in that particular vault,” Mathi said. “But I agree that he—or she—was likely after something specific, and was well aware of its location.”
“Whether that something was in the form of contracts or business papers, bond certificates, or family heirlooms,” the convener said, “we won’t know until all the owners have been contacted and an assessment done.”
I nodded. “Is there anything else we need to know?”
“No, but just remember, a good portion of Deva’s elite had property stored in the bank’s safe deposit boxes, so there is a major push to find the culpritandthe items he stole.”
My gaze found Bodhrán’s again. “I take it the Myrkálfar are already monitoring the black market?”
