There had been significant developments at Unseen University. A group of the student Wizards, led by Ponder and Hex had found a way to trace the whereabouts of 'The Colour of Magick'. Every magical object, including living objects such as the Wizards themselves, has a 'signature', or at least this was what the latest magical research suggested. The residual magic in the sub-dungeon was enough to work from but then how to then find and match it? You needed a creature capable of detecting magic and even better, one that already been in close proximity to the book they were after.
Ponder and two of his students had come down to Pseudopolis Yard to share their findings with the Watch, who had some ideas of their own.
Commander Vimes stared at the Octiron cage, "It's a cat." He said stating the obvious, "Weeks have gone by and all you've come up with is a cat?"
"You don't understand Commander, Doreen is the cat, the one from the red murder? We took her to the dungeon where 'The Colour of Magick' was housed and to the dorm where the Infra-black murder took place. In both sites she kept walking round in little circles, swishing her tail and meowing."
"Speak cat do you?"
"No Commander but seeing as she was doing the same at the red alleyway we thought we could try the orange and yellow scenes. If we get the same result we may be able to use her as a short range detector."
"Even if you're right, we'd still have to carry the cat all round the city on the off-chance we're nearby."
"I'll admit it doesn't seem much, but with some adjustments to the Octiron cage we can amplify the field so that it covers about 50 yards."
Vimes nodded, "That's more like it. If you can confirm the cat works then we can organise a search party. Meanwhile we also have something up our sleeves."
He patted the Pictsie Mark 2, "On loan from our friends at Flach and Chriek's. It can take pictures of the past apparently so we're intending to use it at all the crime scenes so far. There might be something we missed."
"May I?" Ponder took the iconograph and looked it over, "That's rather nifty, I might need to get one for the University."
"Let's just concentrate on finding your lost library book first eh?"
###
The other murder case; that of Larry Prosper, had come to a dead end. Lady Margolotta was genuinely surprised not to recognise the vampire in the picture but assured Vimes she would put her feelers out.
The Times had covered the story but did not refer to the Pictsie Mark 2. It was best the general public, or rather the generally criminal public didn't know about that particular trick. In terms of gathering evidence, being able to see what happened at a crime scene while it was happening, yet after the event, was a huge leap forward in policing. Why let the buggers know you were onto them, eh?
The other thing the general public were doing was moving on. The Rainbow Murders had stopped but Ankh-Morpork went on and so did the night life. People ventured out after dark again simply worried about the usual muggings and beatings rather than supernatural ones.
One of those people out after dark was Mr Dulling. He had spent the evening at the theatre and had been spellbound by a goblin recital led by 'Tears of the Mushroom' on the harp. Soft-hearted, Dulling had wept unashamedly at points. It really had been a wonderful way to spend his free time. He was planning to go again next week with a girl, Daysee, who had been coming in regularly to the shop. She was quite pretty and liked taking arty shots of her shoes, her puppy Norris and virtually every meal she ate. He was thinking about the abstract cheese and pickle roll shoot he'd developed for her earlier that day when he realised someone was in the shadows ahead.
He stopped still and the someone stepped out, now lit by a street lamp. He was hooded and he held a book. Dulling felt fear rise within him but he couldn't run, though perhaps he didn't need to.
"The book needs to be read," Dazzle said weakly, "but I…I can't go on." The wizard sank to his knees.
"Who are you?" Dulling asked, "I could get you some help? You don't need to do this."
"Yes…yes…help," Dazzle placed the book onto the ground in front of him like a shield, no longer able to hold it, "you can help me." He looked up at the Orc and smiled a humourless smile, "You are strong."
'The Colour of Magick' opened and shot green light across the ground to Dulling's feet. The green seemed to envelop him, surging through his body, into every cell, arcing from his fingers, spilling out of his screaming mouth. Then just as suddenly the book slammed shut and all was silent.
'The Colour of Magick' took it's keeper to the shadows leaving behind a body in a verdant place of rest.