“Another piece of the pattern, I hope.” She shrugged. “It’s just a notion. Every piece of information we can pull together will help, I’m sure of it.”
“All right. That’s an intriguing enough suggestion. Let’s see if my old mirror engine can handle something as simple as gathering dates.”
“The larger accounts,” mused Lucas, as Alastair tinkered with the controls on his machine. “I doubt we’d be able to peer into the PCIB for the Arcvale bank. Too many safeguards. I know, because I put ‘em in there.”
“Bearing that in mind,” Alastair threw a switch, and his mirror engine began to hum, “we might reasonably assume that less-scrutinized accounts would make tempting targets?”
Lucas sighed. “I’d like to say yes, and I’d like to say that the PCIB wasn’t hit at all. But I can’t say yes to either at this point.”
“Well lad, once we solve this mystery, you can update your PCIB to prevent it ever happening again.”
“I’m already working on safeguards,” he tapped his head. “The minute this began and when the picture expanded.”
“Good.” Alastair’s machine slowed, and a small roll of paper started running through the machine. When it stopped, Alastair tore it off and passed it to Verity. “Here you are, my dear. Thedates of the deposits for the last couple of weeks, and the names of the accounts receiving the funds.”
Verity leaned forward and spent quite a lot of time studying the paper. Then she reached for her reticule and produced a tiny book, an engagement calendar favoured by those who had schedules to keep.
Lucas hid his smile. It was so like her to have on at hand. His was in his inside top pocket.
The quiet in the room was getting unnerving until Verity raised her head and looked at him, and then at Alastair.
“God help me. I think I know who’s behind this...”
Lucas straightened, and Alastair froze.
“You do?” The question was simultaneous, and equally shocked.
Verity nodded. “Alastair, if I’m right, I think we should alert the Ledger Office of the Civic Wardens. I believe they are the only ones with both the authority and the knowledge to handle a matter such as this?”
“I’ll take care of it,” he answered quietly. “Can you solve this today?”
“I believe I can.”
*~~*~~*
A few hours later, three people sat on a lovely bench in the Meridian Gardens. They were not alone, of course, since this spot had been a favourite place to relax, read, enjoy the sunshine, and maybe flirt a little as the sun set. There really wasn’t one time of day, or one time of year, when it wasn’t spectacularly colourful, and wonderfully restful.
Not far from them, a young man wearing the shorter cloak of a student, sat in a shady spot with a book, casually turning the pages, obviously engrossed in the story. There were several couples wandering across the pristine white gravel, the gentle crunch of their footsteps adding to the melodies of the birds that circled high above the many shady trees.
“I love this place,” sighed Verity. “No matter where I was, if you let me hear these sounds, I’d recognise them in a minute.”
“It’s so calm,” observed Lucas. “Even the couple of children way over there...” he pointed to the far end of the Gardens, “playing something or other, but no shrieks or screaming. Surprising.”
“Wait ’til you have children of your own, Lucas,” grinned Alastair. “You’ll spend a lot of time shrieking with ‘em.”
Lucas shot a meaningful glance at Verity, who completely ignored it. “Are you sure all the arrangements are in place?”
“Yes,” he answered before Alastair could do more than nod. “You’ve asked twelve times already. Stop worrying, please?” He covered her hand with his. “I know this is the most important thing any of us has ever done, and it’s going to be a day to remember, for certain. But knowing you were fretting through the morning isn’t the way to remember it.”
The bell tower on top of the Arcvale Opera House solemnly tolled three booming chimes.
They were on the end farthest away from it, but even so, Lucas swore it rattled his teeth. “I’m rather glad I live a good distance away from that monster,” he chuckled.
“Any time now,” Verity absently wiped her hands on her skirt. This had to work, had to be right. If not...well, that didn’t bear thinking about.
Two learned gentlemen strolled by, deep in a discussion of something intense by the looks of it. And a large trammelbuggyrattled along the lanes outside the park. Just another ordinary afternoon in Arcvale.
Except...
