Chapter 25:
A theft
Constantine:
I talked Daniel into coming to see Noah with me. Not that I needed much to convince him. Daniel loves to take an orange pencil, and doodle next to the young boy. When we go to the house, there is a police car before it. Angelica is lingering by the door, speaking with two men.
This must be a robbery. I wonder what was stolen? Seeing as there is only one car, whatever it was, must be a small thing.
I slither as far as the line will let me. Angelica sees me, and waves at me. Then, she and the police officers come to me. I do my best to smile, but the frowns on the police officers don’t give me any good vibes.
“Are you the one who was coaching Noah Daniels into bottling his emotions?” The taller of the two Naga asks.
“I was doing it, so I can get him to reconnect with his father. I haven’t asked for any money for my help, or sold any of his potions as my own. My name is Constantine,” I say, and then offer my hand. The stockier of the two officers takes my hand, and shakes it energetically.
“Constantine Angelid?” He asks. I nod at that. He pulls out a bottle with happiness from his breast pocket. I can recognize my handwriting on the sticker.
“I am a huge fan,” he says, as he shakes the bottle. “I can’t get through the week without a bottle of this. Usually, I work in homicide, you see?”
“Alfred, I am convinced that Mr. Angelid doesn’t care about that,” the taller Naga says.
“Oh, come on, Gabriel. When am I going to get another chance to meet a professional happiness bottler. Hey, can you tell me why you haven’t sold any potions recently? I mean, I have been trying to make this one stretch, but,” he pockets the bottle with a sigh.
“Alfred, be more professional,” Gabriel says, and then looks at me with a stern expression.
“Where were you, about eight in the morning today?” He asks.
“At home, bottling happiness. I was supposed to get to work, but there is an event this evening, and my boss said that I should prepare for it,” I tell the two of them. Then, I add. “I can take a truth test.”
“No need. We already ran you by it,” Gabriel holds up his phone. I see that there are only green dots on it.
“Hey, isn’t it unfair, for you to do something like that without his permission?” Daniel says from next to me.
“Are you... a human?” Alfred asks, and slithers closer to Daniel. “Look, Gabe, he has legs.”
“And you have a tail,” Daniel deadpans. Alfred chuckles.
“Huh, I was practically begging for that one. Anyway, were you with Mr. Angelid the whole morning, Mr...” Alfred lets his words trail off.
“Samkiel,” Daniel offers, and Alfred jots that down in a notepad. “Yes, we had breakfast, bottled some happiness, and then got the call that we are to go to a gala in the evening. What has been stolen?”
“A happiness potion. The strange thing is, that a couple of sadness potions, and a yellow one, have also been stolen,” Gabriel says, as Alfred nods along.
“Yes, the thieves don’t usually go for them. What makes me think, is, that, instead of in the Daniels’ household, they could have gone to the Angelid house, and gotten more stuff,” Alfred says.
“You think that it is connected?” Gabriel asks.
“Well, think about it. Most of the potions that end up getting stolen are made by Tine... I mean, Mr. Angelid,” Alfred says. “If the thief was trying to sample the potions of Mr. Angelid’s apprentice, then...wait a sec. What is stopping him from hitting the house of Mr. Angelid directly?”
“I have excellent shields,” I say, but the two police officers shake their heads.
“No offense, but the thief has been able to go into storehouses, that are so warded, you’d think that the national jewels were in them,” Gabriel says.
“Yes, T... I mean, Mr. Angelid. We are speaking about shields that are worth millions of Scales,” Alfred says.
“Scales?” Daniel asks.
“Our currency. Scales, made from gold, silver, and copper,” I tell him, and then turn to Gabriel. “Noah is not hurt, is he?”
“No, the child was asleep, during the theft,” the man says, and then looks to Angelica. “Can you tell us, again, what you saw? Perhaps, Mr. Angelid has gotten reports about something similar from the other robberies?”
“There was this cloud of dust, and a shadow of a man inside of it. But the man was strange. He had legs, now that I think about it,” she says, and Daniel and I share a look.
“Officers, what do you know about the Dimensional Theory?” Daniel asks. Both officers burst out laughing.
“Is that thing spreading into Earth? Only you, humans, would believe in it,” Gabriel says, as he wipes tears from his eyes. Angelica gives him a stern look.
“I am confident that, Daniel wouldn’t have mentioned it, if it wasn’t relevant,” she says, and Daniel clears his throat.
“We found a being that matches the description of what Angelica saw. In the dimension above, Dimension Beta. That is how the people in Manacom call it,” he is quick to clarify, when he is giving confused looks. Gabriel looks into his phone. When he sees that the screen is still full of green dots, his eyes go wide.
“Can you prove it?” He asks, the mocking gone from his voice.
“Well, we saw into the dimension thanks to a mirror, and Roddy is all locked up. That is the name of our piece building,” Daniel says. I not at him, trying to encourage him to speak further. “But we are going to have a showing during the gala. You are welcomed to come and see for yourself.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gabriel looks at Alfred, and then at the sky. “The aliens want our happiness potions!”
Daniel giggles at that, which earns him a glare from the tall Naga.
Chapter 25:
A theft
Constantine:
I talked Daniel into coming to see Noah with me. Not that I needed much to convince him. Daniel loves to take an orange pencil, and doodle next to the young boy. When we go to the house, there is a police car before it. Angelica is lingering by the door, speaking with two men.
This must be a robbery. I wonder what was stolen? Seeing as there is only one car, whatever it was, must be a small thing.
I slither as far as the line will let me. Angelica sees me, and waves at me. Then, she and the police officers come to me. I do my best to smile, but the frowns on the police officers don’t give me any good vibes.
“Are you the one who was coaching Noah Daniels into bottling his emotions?” The taller of the two Naga asks.
“I was doing it, so I can get him to reconnect with his father. I haven’t asked for any money for my help, or sold any of his potions as my own. My name is Constantine,” I say, and then offer my hand. The stockier of the two officers takes my hand, and shakes it energetically.
“Constantine Angelid?” He asks. I nod at that. He pulls out a bottle with happiness from his breast pocket. I can recognize my handwriting on the sticker.
“I am a huge fan,” he says, as he shakes the bottle. “I can’t get through the week without a bottle of this. Usually, I work in homicide, you see?”
“Alfred, I am convinced that Mr. Angelid doesn’t care about that,” the taller Naga says.
“Oh, come on, Gabriel. When am I going to get another chance to meet a professional happiness bottler. Hey, can you tell me why you haven’t sold any potions recently? I mean, I have been trying to make this one stretch, but,” he pockets the bottle with a sigh.
“Alfred, be more professional,” Gabriel says, and then looks at me with a stern expression.
“Where were you, about eight in the morning today?” He asks.
“At home, bottling happiness. I was supposed to get to work, but there is an event this evening, and my boss said that I should prepare for it,” I tell the two of them. Then, I add. “I can take a truth test.”
“No need. We already ran you by it,” Gabriel holds up his phone. I see that there are only green dots on it.
“Hey, isn’t it unfair, for you to do something like that without his permission?” Daniel says from next to me.
“Are you... a human?” Alfred asks, and slithers closer to Daniel. “Look, Gabe, he has legs.”
“And you have a tail,” Daniel deadpans. Alfred chuckles.
“Huh, I was practically begging for that one. Anyway, were you with Mr. Angelid the whole morning, Mr...” Alfred lets his words trail off.
“Samkiel,” Daniel offers, and Alfred jots that down in a notepad. “Yes, we had breakfast, bottled some happiness, and then got the call that we are to go to a gala in the evening. What has been stolen?”
“A happiness potion. The strange thing is, that a couple of sadness potions, and a yellow one, have also been stolen,” Gabriel says, as Alfred nods along.
“Yes, the thieves don’t usually go for them. What makes me think, is, that, instead of in the Daniels’ household, they could have gone to the Angelid house, and gotten more stuff,” Alfred says.
“You think that it is connected?” Gabriel asks.
“Well, think about it. Most of the potions that end up getting stolen are made by Tine... I mean, Mr. Angelid,” Alfred says. “If the thief was trying to sample the potions of Mr. Angelid’s apprentice, then...wait a sec. What is stopping him from hitting the house of Mr. Angelid directly?”
“I have excellent shields,” I say, but the two police officers shake their heads.
“No offense, but the thief has been able to go into storehouses, that are so warded, you’d think that the national jewels were in them,” Gabriel says.
“Yes, T... I mean, Mr. Angelid. We are speaking about shields that are worth millions of Scales,” Alfred says.
“Scales?” Daniel asks.
“Our currency. Scales, made from gold, silver, and copper,” I tell him, and then turn to Gabriel. “Noah is not hurt, is he?”
“No, the child was asleep, during the theft,” the man says, and then looks to Angelica. “Can you tell us, again, what you saw? Perhaps, Mr. Angelid has gotten reports about something similar from the other robberies?”
“There was this cloud of dust, and a shadow of a man inside of it. But the man was strange. He had legs, now that I think about it,” she says, and Daniel and I share a look.
“Officers, what do you know about the Dimensional Theory?” Daniel asks. Both officers burst out laughing.
“Is that thing spreading into Earth? Only you, humans, would believe in it,” Gabriel says, as he wipes tears from his eyes. Angelica gives him a stern look.
“I am confident that, Daniel wouldn’t have mentioned it, if it wasn’t relevant,” she says, and Daniel clears his throat.
“We found a being that matches the description of what Angelica saw. In the dimension above, Dimension Beta. That is how the people in Manacom call it,” he is quick to clarify, when he is giving confused looks. Gabriel looks into his phone. When he sees that the screen is still full of green dots, his eyes go wide.
“Can you prove it?” He asks, the mocking gone from his voice.
“Well, we saw into the dimension thanks to a mirror, and Roddy is all locked up. That is the name of our piece building,” Daniel says. I not at him, trying to encourage him to speak further. “But we are going to have a showing during the gala. You are welcomed to come and see for yourself.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Gabriel looks at Alfred, and then at the sky. “The aliens want our happiness potions!”
Daniel giggles at that, which earns him a glare from the tall Naga.
