AUTHOR'S NOTE: The story Seishiro mentions is called "The Invisible Man" and
can be found in the collection, The Innocence of Father Brown.

Hokuto wasn't exactly dancing on air as she returned home an hour after midnight, but it was close enough for her. She was clear-headed enough to be unsure if she was in love, but she was certainly at least infatuated with the gorgeous American. And he liked her too! All night he had been really interested in her, unlike most guys, who tended to talk about themselves for hours on end.

Rather than go back to her own apartment, Hokuto decided to stop in at her brother's. She wasn't quite ready to go to bed yet, and a cup of tea would really taste good. As usual, she walked right in--and surprised Subaru and Seishiro on the couch.

"Oops! Um, sorry, excuse me." She held up her hands and began to back out. Seishiro chuckled.

"Don't worry, Hokuto-chan; you didn't interrupt anything lecherous," he told her, smiling warmly.

"Really? I thought that you were more ambitious than that."

Seishiro raised the eyebrow over his blind eye.

"Perhaps I'm just biding my time."

Hokuto looked at him curiously. There was an odd intentness in his gaze, an intentness that his smile did not touch. Then, suddenly, it was gone, and his entire face was set in his usual pleasant expression.

"In any event, how did your date go, Hokuto-chan?" he changed the subject with the same speed as he changed expressions.

"It was wonderful! We had ice cream sodas at the Excite! cafe, then saw a movie, then danced for almost three hours! Next time, I promised to take Jack to sing karaoke."

"I'm glad you had such a great time, Hokuto-chan!" Subaru enthused.

"It's good that your romance is going well," Seishiro agreed. "It's not surprising, though. It's obvious that you would have no trouble attracting handsome and charming men." He glanced slyly at her twin and added. "Surely, you have the face for it."

Subaru smiled shyly at the implied compliment. Hokuto laughed heartily.

"Now that's more like our Sei-chan! Not wasting opportunities!"

"Hokuto-chan!" Subaru protested.

Hokuto hopped into a chair.

"And you! It took you almost an entire year to own up to your feelings, and you're still moving so slowly. Sometimes I can't believe you're my brother!" She thought for a moment. "It's this case, isn't it? I would have walked in on the two of you kissing, or worse, except that you're too caught up in this work that isn't even yours!"

Subaru nodded.

"In truth," Seishiro agreed, "Subaru-kun was distracted all night from our date by thoughts of work."

"I'm sorry," Subaru said. "I don't mean to be so unappreciative of your kindness, Seishiro-san; I just can't help from thinking about poor Mirei-san."

"No doubt reliving her death from her perspective with your spell brought the tragedy of it home to you more strongly than if you had only heard about it secondhand," his lover pointed out understandingly.

Hokuto whistled.

"I hadn't been thinking of that! I'm sorry about being such a pain, Subaru, when you've had to face that poor girl's death that way."

"You haven't been doing anything wrong, Hokuto-chan," he quickly reassured her, then leaned forward in his seat, resting his chin on his palms.

"What bothers me," he thought aloud, "is how the censer disappeared from Sakamoto-san's office without anyone noticing. The office workers all told the police that they didn't notice anyone go inside. The building security camera tapes showed no one unusual entering the building that day."

"There are magics," Seishiro pointed out, "that can conceal a person's presence, either through a visual illusion or by influencing the minds of people into believing that no one is there."

"'Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?'" quoted Hokuto.

"I know," Subaru said, "but Kigai-san let me check for evidence that such magic had been used, and I couldn't find any."

"That's a problem." Seishiro noted. "If the assassin is so skilled as to hide his or her presence so completely from you, then there would be nothing you could do. There can't be many magicians like that."

He and Hokuto glanced at each other over Subaru's head.

"Yet. . ." Seishiro mused, "there might be another explanation. In the onmyoujutsu of the head of the Sumeragi family could not detect the assassin's magic. . .then perhaps there was no magic."

"Sei-chan, that doesn't make sense."

"It reminds me of a mystery story by an Englishman, G.K. Chesterton. He wrote about a murderer who could deliver threatening letters, walk right by four guards including policemen, kill his victim, and carry away the corpse, all without being seen."

"How did he do that?" Subaru wondered.

"No one saw him, because he was someone whom the witnesses expected to see. He didn't seem unusual or out of the ordinary to them, so they didn't take any notice of him, any more than they would a desk or a street light."

"So who was he?" Hokuto asked.

Seishiro grinned at her.

"You're not going to tell me, Sei-chan?"

"I wouldn't want to spoil the story for you, Hokuto-chan."

"Ooooh! You're so mean!"

Subaru stood up.

"Eh? Subaru?"

He walked over to the phone as if he didn't hear his sister's voice. Subaru looked through his address book, found the number he wanted, and dialed. The phone rang a long time before someone answered.

"Detective Yamakawa? It's Subaru Sumeragi. I'm very sorry to be bothering you this late, but. . .Yes, Yamakawa-san, it's about the Kigai case. I have a question for you. . .Yes, that's right. . .Who found the body, Yamakawa-san?"

Seishiro tilted his head to one side and smiled at Hokuto, as if to say, "You see?" Hokuto, who was still annoyed with him about the book, stuck her tongue out at him.

-X X X-

Eiji Sakamoto, as always, arrived promptly for work at World Pacific International. His office, which had been sealed off by the police earlier in the week as a crime scene, was open now as the detectives and lab technicians had finished with their fruitless examinations. Only the spiritualist that Kigai had sent him for had discovered anything useful, and even so it had led to no arrests. Sakamoto still found it surprising that a modern corporation should consult the Sumeragi family so readily; he was having trouble adapting to this new information about his superiors. The thought that they, and police detectives as well, would consider magic to be a valid solution to problems was completely outside of Sakamoto's world-view about how things should work in the modern age. Thankfully, with his office open again, there was a good chance that in the coming days he could get back into the normal routine of his life.

Sakamoto opened the door, and his heart nearly stopped. Facing him in an arc in front of his desk were President Kigai, Detective Yamakawa, and Subaru Sumeragi. All three of them were glaring coldly at him.

"Come in, Sakamoto-san," Kigai told him, the stress in his voice revealing that he was barely controlling his emotions.

"W-what is this?"

"Why did you kill Mirei-san?" Subaru asked bluntly. "What did she ever do to you that you would want her dead?"

Sakamoto licked his lips nervously. He didn't do well when caught off-guard. He needed time to plan, to settle himself. They couldn't arrest him, could they? Murder by magic wasn't a crime that they could try and punish him for, was it? Besides, he hadn't actually done anything, not really. . .

Then his eyes took in Kigai's face, and he realized that, regardless of the legal outcome, Sakamoto's career was finished. His vice-presidency was doomed; he would be fired, blacklisted. He might escape the law, but not the truth.

Sakamoto sagged into his chair.

"I. . .I didn't kill her. I. . .he told me that all I had to do was put the censer in my office, light the incense, send Mirei in, and take the censer out again after she was dead. He said that I couldn't be connected to the crime. . ."

"Why?" Kigai asked, rage and sorrow mingling, wearing away at his control. "Why did you have her killed, Sakamoto?"

Sakamoto ran his hand through his thinning hair. He had not missed that Kigai had dropped the honorific this time.

"I. . .I was attracted to her; I made advances, and she rejected me." He raised his head to look Kigai full in the face. "She was going to tell you about it! I knew that if you learned I had treated your niece in such a way, it would have meant the end of my career advancement--I would have never been promoted if you knew that I was forcing my attentions on her. . .so I did the only thing I could think of. I couldn't kill her myself; I don't have the nerve. . .so I hired an assassin. I thought that by killing her with magic, it would be foolproof--but then you called in him!" He pointed accusingly at Subaru.

"You never understood anything," Kigai growled. "You were never in contention for promotion anyway, Sakamoto. You never had any ability to think creatively; without it, you were never fit for anything more than your current role. You murdered Mirei-chan for nothing."

While Sakamoto was reeling from this shock, Yamakawa stepped forward.

"Murder by magical means may not be recognized by the Japanese courts," he told the salaryman, "but it certainly is a crime to hire an assassin to commit murder, no matter that the assassin chose. . .unorthodox methods to use. We may, however, consider a deal if you are willing to give us the name of the person you hired."

Slowly, Sakamoto nodded, overwhelmed by hopelessness, and told them. Yamakawa beckoned, and his prisoner went with him through the open door. The office staff, who had heard every word, could not help staring in amazement at their former boss.

-X X X-

Nabuo Taki lived in an ordinary home, not unlike the kind that many fairly well-off families throughout Tokyo inhabited. He had a wife and a three-year-old son, both of whom he loved and tried to provide the best possible life for. To his family, Taki's occupation was "consultant," an independent expert hired by corporations for specific jobs when their own internal resources were inadequate. The fact was, however, that the jobs he took invariably resulted in death.

Taki was busy in his private study that morning. His wife was out shopping; she had taken their son with her because when her husband was at work on a project he generally could not be interrupted to look after the boy. He could have explained to her the reason for that, the potential for disaster when certain spells and enchantments were left half-finished, but he preferred that she not know the truth about his life. She was a moral person at heart, and would not have understood or accepted the reality of what her husband was.

Taki's current project was the construction of a cursed amulet that would cause catastrophic mechanical breakdowns if placed into, say, the engine of an industrial earth-mover. Curses were very tricky things, because such maledictions also operated against their caster, rebounding upon them with dangerous, even lethal magical backlash. Thus, while creating the amulet Taki not only had to make certain that the curse was done properly but also that the backlash was channeled away from himself. He was capable of managing it, though; after all, he was a properly trained sorcerer and not an amateur.

"Nice workmanship," a faintly amused-sounding voice cut into Taki's concentration.

Taki's head spun around. No one should have been able to walk into his workroom uninvited; it was hedged around with kekkai, magical wards that not only prevented entry, but for anyone other than his wife and son would deliver a devastating, potentially fatal attack. Suddenly, horror flooded through the assassin, as he realized that the interruption had broken off his concentration on the amulet. The spell was coming apart, and when it did the results would be savagely violent--and directed against him.

"Oh, dear, I seem to have interrupted your little spell. That does look like it will be painful."

Taki wasted no time bandying words; he immediately began a shielding incantation to protect himself.

"Don't waste your time; I'll deal with that," the intruder said, his voice almost siblant in its mockery. He held out one hand, palm upwards; Taki could actually feel the gathered magical energies in the air lose their shape, swirling into a single incandescent point above the man's palm.

Then. the intruder closed his fist, and the energy was snuffed, gone like a candle flame doused by a puff of wind.

"See? No more trouble."

"Who--who are you?"

"A messenger. I just thought I'd tell you that the police will be on their way here soon to arrest you for murder. I must admit, it would make an interesting trial, but I'm not sure how the public would deal with it. Assassins who use magic to kill are certainly not the usual kind of thing to find on the front page next to political speeches and environmental disasters."

Taki snarled.

"So what makes you so eager to help me?"

"Help you?" The intruder blinked in surprise. "Oh, you misunderstand completely." His lips curved into a beautiful, mocking smile. "I'm here to kill you. Magic is really not a matter for the masses to worry about--and besides, the fact that you were willing to do the work of a toad like Eiji Sakamoto offends me. Even an assassin should have some pride, Taki."

Again, Taki wasted no time on words, but quickly began to incant a lethal spell, to conjure up his shikigami to fight for him. Fear had him in its grip, though; the level of power his opponent had shown, disrupting his kekkai and the chaotic force of the broken spell with apparent ease, was far beyond anything Taki could handle.

The intruder crossed the room and seized the assassin, tightly gripping the man's throat. Taki's incantation died away, the energies silenced by a rush of power from the man holding him. Helplessly, he struggled against the iron grip that choked him, but could do nothing as, silently, his captor bent forward and kissed him. His lips were like ice against the assassin's, spreading a numbing cold through Taki's form. Mirei's killer barely noticed, so dulled were his senses, as the man's right hand crashed into Taki's chest and ripped his heart out.

-X X X-

In the skies above Nabuo Taki's home, the shadowy form of a black eagle keened once, then spread its wings to return to its master.