The law is the law. Maybe...

Chapter 21 - The lawyer

"Any news?'' Magnus poked his head into Ragnor's office.

"Nothing. I don't know where he is yet."

"We need some CSIs. Victor and I are going to Alec's apartment. See if we can find any clues as to who might have stolen his bow."

He didn't understand why this was happening to them. Since he met Alec, so much has happened. It was like he was drawn to trouble. Like fate was messing with them for some reason. He was sure he had nothing to do with the murders. He saw the sincerity in Alec's eyes when they handcuffed him, and he couldn't get the words out of his head as Alec was being forced into the car. "Magnus, Dad, help please. I swear it wasn't me!" He was terrified and Magnus couldn't help him. He would have rather knocked out the agents and not let Alec go. But he couldn't. The law is the law. He knew if he did anything stupid, it would only make things worse for Alec. And he knew he had to find the real killer fast. That's the only way to get him out. And somehow everything was against him. It's like it was part of an elaborate plan. It couldn't have been a coincidence. Who's messing with them? Maybe someone from Alec's past? He had no idea. He hoped they'd find some clues in Alec's apartment. When Robert arrived, his bow was there. Wait a minute... was it? Magnus wondered. He said it was under the bed. But he didn't take it out, they didn't check it. Either way, he had to cling to the glimmer of hope that they would find something, because the time was now his enemy.

"I'll give you a search warrant. Let's do it by the rules for now. How are you going in? Do you need a technician with you? Not that you can't break into anywhere if you want to...' Ragnor muttered under his breath.

"I've had a spare key to Alec's apartment for a while."

Ragnor nodded and handed Magnus the signed document.

When they arrived at Alec's apartment, Magnus tried to put the key in the door, but it opened by itself. It was open. Magnus and Victor immediately pulled out their guns and signaled to the CSI team to stay back. The apartment was empty. There was no one there. It wasn't ransacked, nothing seemed to be missing. Magnus checked under the bed. The bow wasn't there, of course. The CSIs worked quietly, while Victor and Magnus looked around. But all was normal. They dropped tiredly onto the couch while they waited for the CSIs to pick up the traces.

"Magnus, how did they know that Alec's bow was under the bed? Even if someone wanted to frame him, with a little searching on the web, anyone can find Alec's archery past. He's obviously not the killer. That never crossed my mind for a second. But nothing is ransacked here. If someone had stolen his bow, they must have known exactly where to look. And at the moment we can't even prove that there was a break-in, because apart from the door being open, there's no sign of anybody breaking in. There are no corridor cameras here. And I bet CSI can't find a single fingerprint in here. Even if someone did break in, how would they know where the bow was?"

"Victor, you're a genius!" Magnus jumped up and started searching for something like a maniac. Victor just looked at him in silence. He knew he was desperate for Alec. It was obvious. So he let him, hoping to reassure him that he wasn't sitting idle. But to his surprise, Magnus shouted triumphantly after a few minutes.

"You can't fool me, you bastards! Playing hard to get? I love a challenge." Magnus said as he pulled a tiny gadget from behind the lamp dome. It was a bug.

"That's why nothing is ransacked. Because they knew exactly what and where to look for, and when the apartment was empty."

Magnus handed the bug to the CSIs.

"Take it to pieces. I want to know all about it. Let's go back when you're done. Victor, you go home, you have an interrogation tomorrow." Magnus said in a tired voice.