Chapter ten: more things in heaven and earth Horatio
"We'll need masks," Sayaka says. They're sitting at Kyuoko's dining room table still, and they've gone through another three omelets.
"Why?" Kyuoko asks. "Magic fucks with cameras, remember?"
"Right," Sayaka says. "So you said, but there will still be eye witnesses…"
"I can just tell them to forget," Kyuoko cuts in.
"All of them? How will you know if you miss one?" Asks Sayaka. "Besides, there will be cameras outside the police station, and on street corners, and stoplights if we find a way around all of the external cameras. They could identify us, or at least narrow down the suspect list."
"Can't they track who buys masks?" Kyuoko is picking crumbs off her plate and eating them.
"Not if we use cash at a store that's far enough away that it won't be suspicious based on proximity alone," Sayaka passes the faux redhead her remaining half omelet.
"Ok," Kyuoko says, cheerfully picking up her utensils again. "We'll need the masks generic so they can't just go "who sells these, and we'll need to teleport in so that they can't use their outside cameras. We will probably need real generic hoodies too, right? Help hide the hair, and body type?"
"Yeah," Sayaka nods. "What could go wrong with it? They could see a bit of static or missing people where we teleport from, and maybe put it together from there. I guess we can solve that by teleporting from somewhere secluded where there aren't any cameras?"
"Another witch could pick a fight with us?" Kyuoko suggests. "Or a nightmare? We can use the gem that lets me see powers though. If there's a power, we leave?"
"Alright," Sayaka says. "Keep thinking about things that could go wrong. Let's swap cell numbers in case we get separated."
"We could also get cheap walkie talkies at target or something," Kyuoko replies, offering her phone. "That way they won't be able to trace the calls or whatever, and I'll just melt the walkies afterwards. Phone numbers can't hurt though."
"Alright." Sayaka taps her number into Kyuoko's phone. "Also, no killing."
"What?" Kyuoko exclaims. "How are we supposed to get your friend then?"
"You mentioned a gem that makes people do what you say?" Sayaka hands the other girl both phones. "Can you just say 'we're supposed to be here,' and 'this guy was never here,' over and over while I protect us with really really thick walls of ice?"
"It'll have to be 'we were never here,' or something," Kyuoko shrugs, and accepts the phones. "So they can't say 'two gals in masks magiced that dude out' if they're questioned. It's sound in theory though."
"Alright," Sayaka nods. "What can go wrong with that?" Kyuoko groans and drops her head to the table.
Two days later, the two CIM agents are standing in the Oval Office again. They have been collaborating with the president since his inauguration, but this is the first time since that first day that they carry thick envelopes stamped "classified."
"Mr. President," the big one- agent Jameson- says. "We've got something."
"Excellent!" Rushford says, and claps him on the back. "Stellar work! What is it?"
Wordlessly, agent Jameson passes over the packet. The president glances inside, and sees a photograph of a ruined ice cream shop. There is a hole burned into the floor, and melting piles of ice and snow. Three corpses lie strewn around the room- two corpses and a survivor, the next page informs him.
"We've got a witness?" The president asks.
"Had," agent Lang says. "He disappeared last night. The officers at the precinct remember transferring him to county, three days ago, when they picked him up, and the paperwork is all there, but no one at county yesterday has ever seen him before. Funny thing is though, two of the officers at county called in sick yesterday, and they remember him just fine. The interrogation tapes are missing too, and the security cameras show static for about half an hour yesterday."
"We can find him again," the president says. "Right?"
"No sign of him so far Mr. President," agent Jameson says gruffly. "We'll find him if it's possible though. We've got something else too. The ice cream shop had a security camera."
"So we know what happened?" The president grins hopefully.
"I'm afraid not," agent Lang replies. "We know there were five people at the shop around the time of the event, and we only know what happened to three of them. Two if you don't count the guy that got away. Mike Robertson, his name is. Had a falling out with his parents a few years back, and took up with a famous singer and her groupies- Sayaka Miki. Then there's the owner. He's dead, but there's no cause of death. Guy named William Coyne too. Same deal as the owner. He was part of Sayaka's group too. We were able to verify that miss Miki was there too, and a girl named Jeniffer Knox. As near as we can tell, those four are some sort of ruling clique. We don't know where Mike or Sayaka are, but Jennifer was in class when Mike disappeared. We brought her in for questioning, but we can't pin anything on her, and she claims not to know anything so legally, we can't hold her. We might be able to pull some kind of 'obstruction' charge if we really have to, and with your permission, we don't even need that, but…"
"I see." Rushford thinks for a moment. "Well, following her isn't illegal. What about the ice cream shop footage?"
"No audio," Agent Jameson says. "Near as we can tell, the owner got up to confront the four kids about spilled ice cream or something, then static for a few minutes, and when it clears, everyone's dead or gone."
"Well," the president rubs his eyes tiredly. "Follow the Jennifer girl. It's obvious she knows more than she's letting on. If Mike or Saya-whatever show up, let me know, and get some people following them, but don't try to approach them. If anyone's responsible for this mess, we don't want to put our agents in danger, and I get the feeling we'll learn more from following them anyway."
It's more of a lead than they've had in months, because most witches are metaphorical ghosts like Kyuoko, and very few of them are particularly close to humans' whose lives are so much shorter and so much more peaceful. This will change of course, in a few years, when the CIM discovers that humanity's positive emotions help their witches survive longer.
AN: as always, a huge thankyou to my three followers, and an even huger thankyou to foldedhands who is wonderful and reviews each chapter.
sorry this chapter is so short. the next one is about the same length (unless i wind up adding to it before i publish) so, sorry. Also, we're nearing the end of what i've got written, and though i'm trying to write quicker for this story (while maintaining whatever quality i've attained) but i am a pretty slow writer, so updates may slow down a bit. of course, reviews/follows/favorites are massively encouraging, and they will probably speed up the process, but i will not try to hold you guys hostage. if i can stick to the normal update schedule, i shall, follows or no.