Swordplay

Part 1

Moira yawned; it was only her second nightshift and her body hadn't adjusted yet. At three in the morning, it preferred to sleep, no matter how eager she was to help examining a burglary. She blinked to get rid of her tiredness and wiped the sweat from her brow. Inside the car, it was even hotter than outside.

"We're nearly there." Buds turned a corner so fast, the centrifugal force pressed Moira against the door. Buds didn't care. "You'll take the cases, Moira."

"But don't go close to the scene," Semra added and clung to the grip over the passenger door when Buds sped around the next corner.

Moira didn't answer, she had enough trouble to cling to something. Absentmindedly, she stared out of the window at the deserted streets of Salthaven. The all-round green light on the car's roof bathed the usually friendly, multilevel sandstone buildings of the city center in a haunting glow. Once in a while, Moira discovered the glowing net of a protective spell covering one of the many shops. Luckily, we won't have to pass the tavern district. The way Buds drives many of the late night guests wouldn't stand a chance.

With squealing brakes, Buds stopped in front of the National Museum. The four story building was illuminated from below. With its pillars that reached from the classical roof to the ground, it seemed even more intimidating than during the day. As fast as she could, Moira got out of the carpisto and opened the trunk. She took great care not to touch the flying carpet's fringe that hung down freely under the bumper. Back when she took driving lessons, she had ruined a brand-new carpisto that way, and she didn't fancy repeating this. She hoisted the heavy bags with the crime scene investigation tools out while the Gendarmes Buds and Semra already hurried up the wide staircase to the entrance of the NationalMuseum.

A second patrol carpisto stopped, two young gendarmes got out and began to put up the obligatory barrier.

"Hurry up, Moira!“ Buds didn't turn back to her.

Moira pretended she didn't mind this impolite behavior. She sucked in her lower lip and followed him, hauling the two heavy bags up the seemingly endless stairs. Sweat burned in her eyes, and she wished she could use a hovering spell. The last time she had tried, the cases had exploded. Why does it have to be so hot? She sighed. And it won't be any better inside the museum due to the climate control spell.

At the entrance, a slim but small night-watchman waited for her. He hopped from foot to foot, so the pale-blond ponytail under his red uniform cap bobbed up and down. Moira had hardly reached Buds and Semra, when the night-watchman led them through the big glass doors inside. A heat wave suffocated Moira in the NationalMuseum's entrance hall. I hate climate control spells. She frowned. Still loaded with the heavy cases, she fell behind. Sweat flowed over her body like water. Her breathing sped up, the faster she hurried along the gallery of the old masters. Due to the reduced illumination at night, most pictures in the high-ceilinged rooms were lost in the dark. The security spells' glow wasn't strong enough for Moira to see more than the shapes. But she had been to the NationalMuseum's art gallery so often, she knew the pictures hung in a seemingly unsorted manner all over the walls.

Even Mona Beth, the world famous portrait, hung hidden between several landscapes and a couple of paintings with bony, naked women. She looked for Buds and Semra. They were standing in front of a door labeled 'private', talking to the night-watchman without taking any notice of her. Moira dared to stop for a second to catch her breath. Although she knew exactly where Mona Beth hung, it took her a while to make discover the hand sized, magically enhanced painting. The young woman in the picture winked at her and stuck out her tongue. Surprised, Moira raised her eyebrows. Until now, Mona Beth had never winked before. She set down one of the cases and wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. For a fleeting moment, she envied the gendarmes for whom the climate control spell felt cooling. Should I tell them? She gazed at Buds and Semra again. Better not. How am I going to explain that a magically enhanced painting sticks out her tongue at me where everybody else sees a mellow and mysterious smile. She picked up the case again and walked to the gendarmes who were still waiting in front of the heavy iron door with the night-watchman.