Heartbreaker

CHAPTER 3

  Shim Stonehand arrived at his office in the early hours of the morning, as he was used to. He didn't do that just to be a good example for people who worked under him. Actually he loved that particular time of the day in which night-shift officers were about to go off duty and the daytime ones weren't still there – a kind of temporal limbo in which you might almost expect that the day would be quiet and no one would blow his cellar in an attempt to become a makeshift alchemist or try to destroy the city with a hurricane.

  Rarely such an expectation wasn't disappointed. In spite of this, Shim loved his job and everything that it represented. Being the head of the Magic Control Department wasn't something that happened to anyone. To be clearer, right there and till then it had happened to him alone.

  Slightly more than fifty years had passed since the adoption of the Magic Code, born from the new awareness that magic was now part of the everyday life even for those who couldn't use it on their own. Several more had passed from the day in which some magicians, realizing that – in a world in which dragons were no longer sitting on treasure mounds, but on the presidential chair of some import-export company – the secrecy and confidentiality aura surrounding their practices had completely lost sense, had started crafting small magic artifacts to be sold to the larger public to provide to some everyday need. In a short time, what till then had been an arcane art for a few selected people, had changed into a business which turnover had hugely increased over a relatively short period of time. New schools of magic had been established, where apprentices were trained to specific tasks, such as replicating artifacts to allow mass production. Magical research had taken paths as yet ignored, having always been deemed of scarce practical value, that in the light of the new opening to the outside world had suddenly earned a primary importance. That had been the so called Magic Revolution, which soon led everyone to possess at least one artifact making their life easier. Light-generating items, available in an almost endless range, replaced torches and lanterns, just like old fireplaces and heaters were replaced by new models which could create flames or even just heat with no need of anything to burn. In time, magic had extended to any and all part of everyday life – traveling, information, communications – allowing common people to do things that not so long before were unthinkable, or seen as incredible wonders. It had gradually become common and available to anyone. Basic courses of practical magic and other no-longer-mysterious arts had been added to the plans of the main schools, mainly to select more gifted people which would be able to start a career in that field.

  The quality of life, and life in general, had greatly improved. The other side of this particular coin was extremely dark, however, because magic in the wrong hands could become a huge threat, and if anyone could obtain it, it was unavoidable for this to happen sooner or later.

  For this reason, the main world governments had come to the decision of creating boundaries to what was happening, which led to the creation of the Magic Code, so far the only collection of laws in force in all states and continents, with slight variations, if there were any at all, from place to place. The Code did not rule crimes performed with magic, which after all weren't that different from those in which it hadn't been used. It rather regulated magic itself, specifying which kinds and usages were allowed, and which weren’t. Among other things, it forbid summoning, large-scale weather alterations and almost all flavors of necromancy, only allowing its usage for a very limited number of scopes, and only provided the user had requested and obtained a specific license.

  Almost a decade had to pass before the rulers of the time had started to understand that the Code alone was a very limited instrument while there was no one who had the precise task of enforcing it. Security forces were not up to the task, as they lacked the needed knowledge, and the situation had to be fixed by creating specialized squads, seamlessly integrated into normal forces but trained to face, understand and contrast arcane arts.

  The Department Shim commanded had been one of the first experiments of this solution. Integral part of the police, made up by specifically chosen officers, heavily trained, which results had been approved and appreciated by the people in charge, today it was one of the landmarks of that field of expertise.

  Although it was mainly a monitoring unit, it also had several more functions, including investigating on all events concerning the use of magic in violation of the law, and was invested with an autonomy and an access level to information far greater than those of the remaining departments. It would have been wrong to say it hadn't ever failed – there was still a certain share of unsolved crimes and more or less clamorous failures – but the scale leaned undoubtedly from the side of success, and more so than for any other similar corps. A large part of this remarkable curriculum had for sure been deserved thanks to the man – or rather the dwarf – sitting on the leader's armchair.

  That must be a particularly unlucky day, because when Shim crossed the common room from which all offices could be reached, he almost immediately met someone that wasn't used to be there at such an early hour at all.

  Celendlinis Delmenar, head of the first homicide squad, watched him going by as if he had left the comfort of his bed only for the purpose of seeing that show. It was almost impossible not to read in his eyes an underlying note of acrimony toward Shim, something that had nothing to do with the well-known difference of opinions of their respective races, and was instead deeply personal.

  When the Magic Control Department was created, only two people were in the list of candidates to be appointed head of it, and the elf had already established that the place would be his. He wasn't even able to see a reason why it should be given to Shim, especially given that he had some natural affinity to magic, while the dwarf, like any other member of his race, had none at all. When the choice had been made, and not in his favor, he had accused Shim of any kind of subtlety and mischief, from corruption to kidnapping firstborns, being soon forced to stop in order not to change a missed appointment into an actual sacking. Still, he had never changed his mind, in spite of having to show otherwise, and kept dealing with his colleague with an arrogance far greater than that he used with anyone else, although it was quite hard to notice any difference.

  On the other hand, Shim reserved to the elf an affected courtesy and an extremely polite attitude, treating him not with warmth but without any trace of despise or lack of respect. Partly he did that not to give him any kind of excuse to start quarrelling, but mostly he did because he knew how much that upset him.

  «Good morning», he said even before his colleague could think about greeting him. «Early start today? I hope there is no emergency.»

  The elf looked down at him, not a difficult thing to do as there was at least half a meter between their heights. Actually, Celen was very good in the not so easy task of looking down at anyone, even creatures he could have looked in the eyes only with the help of a ladder.

  «I've been here since yesterday», he replied with an acrid tilt in his voice, that was to say in his normal tone. «I spent all night on a case and now I have been ordered», he made sure that that single word carried all of his scorn for the simple idea that someone could order him anything, «to give everything to you.»

  Shim looked at him, unsure about what to think of that. It was fairly unusual for an homicide to be assigned to his department. Not that homicides by magic were rare in themselves, it was just unusual that investigating on them was up to him. If the case was assigned to him, it had to be more than someone who had simply been killed with a spell or an enchanted weapon, it had to be a more complicated matter.

  «What's it about?» he asked, genuinely interested.

  «I have been told to give you the file, not to report to you», the elf grunted in reply, handing him a folder. Shim opened it. He barely had the time to put the portrait of the victim into focus when Celen, in spite of what he had just said, started talking again.

  «It seems that someone took fun in ripping out th
e heart of a man without even bothering to slice his chest open first. Very fancy, but I don't think it is something that should concern your department.» He pronounced the word your with an ironic tilt, as if to stress out how deeply unjust it was that such a definition could be used in that case.

  If Shim noticed, he pretended not to, and just checked the papers in his hands, as if to look for a confirmation to what his colleague had said.

  «Necromancy», was all he said after perusing the brief file. The folder included a complete transcription of the autopsy report, but for the moment he ignored it, he would watch the recording later.

  «Whatever», replied the elf, making him scowl this time.

  «If there is a necromancer working without a license in town, this is a concern of mine. And to be honest... I don't think anyone has issued a license to rip hearts out.»

  Celen was about to say something, but he didn't gave him any more time. «Have the corpse sent to my department's morgue, I have to arrange a complete autopsy.»

  «Crew already did that, if you had read...»

  «Crew did his job, now I have to do mine. If the necromancer left a signature on the body, it is not Crew the one who can see it.» He didn't left the elf a chance to reply and quickly went to his office, where he wanted to check a list of known necromancers while waiting for his men to arrive. He could have stopped the night-shift officers, but since there was no real emergency yet, he preferred not to. A few minutes weren't going to make any difference, especially if he didn't spend them doing nothing.

  The elf too got back to his office shortly after. He sat at his desk and put one hand on the communication crystal.

  "Doctor Crew, this is detective Delmenar."

  The voice of the doctor replied in his mind a second later, "Yes, tell me detective."

  "I need deeper examinations to be performed on this morning victim, that Rupert. You have to do all possible tests on the magic used on him."

  "I thought I had to send the body to Owlfeather", Crew remarked.

  "No, not now. It's an homicide, so it belongs to the homicide squad. Sent me the report at the soonest."

  "As you wish", the doctor replied, ending the conversation. He didn't think it was too logical to perform examinations that usually belonged to his colleague, regardless of the reason why they had to be performed and of whom had to investigate on the case, but he wasn't used to contest his orders, so he started working.

  In his office, Celen took a relaxed posture, which in his case was all but indistinguishable from a tense one, and told himself that this time he would show without any doubt who was the one who had the more right to be head of the Magic Control Department.