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Physical contact with an illusion often shattered it. If someone had created an illusion capable of withstanding touch, investigative work became problematic in a hurry.
The last thing I needed was advanced magic hampering an already complicated investigation.
As there were so few locations all the women went to, I would begin there. The grocery store would be difficult to monitor. Without knowing how long it took each woman to shop, I would have to make trips at overlapping windows, record everyone I spotted, and begin making use of public databases to learn if anyone with a violent crime record went to the same stores.
As I needed to get into better habits, I decided I would start mixing work and my private life. I wouldn’t be accepting their offer to remove the yellow dragon cop from his clothes, but I would shadow the women’s activities in a way that might draw the attacker’s attention to me, although I wouldn’t be working the brothel house.
I would just make it look like I might, given time and motivation.
In good news, Garnet would appreciate the time spent at home, and except for my Friday excursions to help earn my keep, I would meddle in the affairs of dragons.
I would just have to hope my meddling didn’t result in having my flesh devoured while my bones were used as toothpicks.
* * *
Tuesday, April 21, 2167
The Gray Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
As grocery stores did not appreciate animals within their aisles, Garnet transformed into her wisp form and rode on my shoulder. Her presence offered warmth, and while I did a full inspection of every shelf in the store, I kept an eye out for who was also shopping. I pretended to use my phone to check a shopping list, and to add credibility to my work, I filled a cart with a mix of perishable and shelf-stable foods.
I took the time to explain the food options to Garnet, and she’d found the idea of hot sauce to be fascinating, resulting in the purchase of four different bottles. Her method of communication, which involved a mixture of mews, chirps, squeaks, and flashes of light, did an excellent job of reminding me there was one ruler of our household, and it wasn’t me.
As I couldn’t just feed my kitten hot sauce, I purchased a variety of items for her to try. I might miss the money later, but I would wait to explain the realities of life to her until I needed to return to my stingy ways.
I would work hard to make certain she never experienced the general uncertainties of my life.
While the hot sauce held most of her attention, Garnet flitted around the fruits and vegetables, investigating everything. Pineapples intrigued her, so I got one for her to try. I indulged as well, buying a few plums.
The trip down memory lane might leave me bruised and verging on broken, but one day I would heal.
Erik loved plums, too.
Between Garnet and the people shopping, I managed to take over a thousand photos on my new phone. Once home and with my groceries put away, I would review each one, create a file for the people I observed, and return to the grocery store in a few days at the same time to take another round of shots. Thanks to catering to my kitten and needing an excuse to take a long time in the grocery store, I required a cab to get everything home.
My landlady waited for me on the steps, and I smiled at her. “Coming in?”
“If you have the time.”
“I do.” I ferried everything to my door before unlocking it and letting Cecilia in. After encouraging Garnet to shift back into her kitten form to go play and waiting for her to bolt for her favorite tree, I went to work putting the groceries away. “I’m working on investigating places with common overlap right now. I have a lot of photographs I’ll be cross-referencing with the internet and image searches to see if I get any hits. Has anyone else been attacked?”
“Fortunately not, but we’re taking precautions.” Cecilia stepped to the side to get a better view of Garnet. “I’d heard rumor of your new pet, but she’s even cuter than I thought possible.”
“Her name is Garnet, and she discovered pineapples and hot sauce today at the grocery store.”
My landlady laughed. “It’s good for you to have company. I took the liberty of speaking with our favorite cop gentleman for you, and he is of the opinion that any suitor must be willing to share you with your carbunclo. He had heard of carbunclo before, but we were not aware of how wretchedly cute the kittens are. Can I take some pictures of her?”
The poor yellow dragon would be in for some serious heartache if he wanted to add me to his cuddle conquests. While willing to share my sinfully cute kitten with a man welcomed into my life, I refused to share my man.
In that regard, I was a proper dragon, and a proper dragon refused to share her hoard.
As I couldn’t tell Cecilia any of that, I replied, “Sure, go ahead.”
In the fifteen minutes it took me to put my groceries away, the woman had been suckered into playing with one of the sticks with a string, serving the kitten’s needs. I snapped a few shots before saying, “What can I do for you?”
“Mostly, I wanted to check in on you. The rumors have been flying among the dragons, and I wanted to find out what was going on.”