TWO

"Are you sure it's not hidden somewhere?" Piper asked as she moved to one of the trunks in the attic.

"I all ready looked," said Phoebe. "It's not here. Someone has taken it."

"That's just not possible," said Leo. "You know as well as we do that evil can't take the book. And I know the police didn't take anything out of the manor."

"Leo's right," said Victor. "I spoke to them after you destroyed the Nexus. They didn't take anything out of the manor. It has to be here somewhere."

"I've looked," repeated Phoebe. "If one of you didn't move it somewhere then someone else must have come in and taken it."

"But who?" questioned Paige. "It couldn't have been a demon. Like Leo said, evil can't even touch it. And the only ones who have been in the house since we 'died' were the police. Who else would have taken it."

"Any mortal could have," said Piper. "Maybe some demon conned some human to come in and get it for them. You know the Underworld would love to get their hands on that book. To keep it out of Wyatt and Chris's hands."

"What about Wyatt?" questioned Victor. "You did tell me that he liked to orb his toys to him. Could he have orbed it out of the manor?"

"I don't think so," said Leo. "He's too young to really understand just how important it is. If he was going to orb something out of the manor it's more likely he would have orbed one of his toys out."

"So who took the book?" Piper asked. "You said the Elders probably wouldn't have taken it."

"Yes I did," said Leo. "But it's also possible they took it to keep a demon from getting their hands on it. Unfortunately we have no way to find out. And if we did we'd let them know that we're still alive."

"We could scry for it," suggested Paige. "That wouldn't alert the Elders, would it?"

"Probably not," said Leo. "Scrying, like your illusion spell, uses very little magic. It should be safe to scry for it without too much chance of alerting the Elders."

"Don't forget," said Phoebe, "it's not just the Elders we have to worry about. We also have to worry about the Underworld. Right now they think we're dead. Which means no more demon attacks. If the Underworld suspects that we're still alive we might find ourselves fighting demons again."

"Paige, see if you can scry for the book," said Piper. "The rest of us will search the house in case someone moved it."

"Who would move it?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know," said Piper. "But we have nothing to loose by looking for it. Maybe one of the cops moved it for some reason. At any rate it won't hurt to check and make sure."

Everyone else began to head downstairs to search the manor as Paige got out a crystal and a map of San Francisco. It took a while to search the manor and when the group returned to the attic Paige was still scrying.

"No luck?" she asked as everyone else entered the attic.

"No," said Piper. "What about you?"

"Nothing," said Paige, putting the crystal down. "Not even a flicker."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Phoebe. "It's not like the book would try to hide itself from us."

"It might not be that," said Leo. "It might be magically shielded from scrying. Or it might not even be on the mortal plane."

"But demons can't touch the book," protested Piper.

"Demons aren't the only magical beings out there," said Leo. "There are other magical beings and some of them would like to get their hands on the book just as much as demons do."

"But if one of them took it that would mean they aren't evil," said Paige. "The book protects itself from evil, not just demons."

"And some of those beings aren't good, either," said Leo. "Some are morally neutral and the book wouldn't necessarily consider them a threat."

"So how do we find out who took it?" Piper asked.

"Well, there may be a way to find out," said Leo hesitantly. "But it's kind of risky. And we might need Victor's help."

"Dad, we can't let that book fall into the wrong hands," said Piper. "I know how you feel about magic and us being witches but this is really important. We have to get that book back."

"There's no need to convince me, honey," said Victor. "I may not be one hundred percent in agreement with you about magic but you know I'll do whatever I can to help. What do I have to do, Leo?"

"You have to go see a lawyer," said Leo.

"You really think this is a good idea?" Victor asked as he and Phoebe sat in the waiting room of the lawyer. "I mean, can you really trust this guy?"

"Yeah, I think we can trust him," said Phoebe. "If we don't have to tell him who I really am, all the better. But if we do I'm pretty sure he'll keep our secret."

Just then the secretary walked over to them.

"He'll see you now," said the secretary. "Thank you for being so patient."

"Thanks for getting us in without an appointment," said Phoebe. "We really appreciate it. It really is an emergency."

"We try to do our best to help our clients as quickly and as efficiently as we can," said the secretary. "You can go right in. He's waiting for you."

Phoebe and Victor walked into the lawyer's office and Phoebe closed the door behind her. She had dealt with lawyers before and she knew that confidentiality was the trademark of all legitimate lawyers. They walked over and stood in front of his desk as he stood up and smiled at them.

"Thanks for seeing us," said Phoebe. "We really appreciate you taking the time to see us."

"No problem," said the lawyer. "My secretary said your name was Bennet?"

"Yes," said Victor. "My name is Victor and this is my niece, Julie."

"Have a seat," said the lawyer. "My name is Peter Coleson."