Chapter 27 #2
It made Uncle Alexander chuckle. “I am not the one in your family to come to for personal relationship advice. Apply to your parents. Or Ursula, for that matter. Giles and Kate or whoever else suits. But I will say that I trusted your father well before I figured out why I did. It was entirely annoying. If you need someone to talk to about that, and I have time in my day, you may do so.”
Edmund had to smile at that, not least because he’d known from Uncle Alexander’s comment about Berlioz that he certainly had opinions.
But it brought him back to the larger question.
“We’re not entirely sure what to do next.
Major Manse was doing some additional investigation for me, but of course he’s busy. And Mama already did the obvious bits.”
“You believe there’s something magically questionable going on.
” Uncle Alexander glanced toward the door.
“I have seen my own evidence of that. I can ask Gabe to have a look quietly, if you like. Or Claudio.” The Penelopes, Albion’s investigators of complicated magic, kept their own particular records and also were well-suited to this sort of problem.
Though none of the current set had a direct connection to the Academy. Aunt Cammie might be a help there.
“If they think it's worth their time?” Edmund said after a moment. “It feels like smoke and mirrors.”
“You spent nearly two years immersed in all the ways smoke and mirrors are used and misused. Your instincts are better than many people, certainly most others your age without the same sort of background.” Then he raised an eyebrow. “Miss Stirling?”
Edmund coughed. “Major Manse confirmed my guess there on Tuesday. That was the easy reply, it turned out. Bletchley Park, from the time she left school until the spring of ‘46.”
“Well.” Uncle Alexander leaned back, tapping his fingertips together. “As you say, clever in ways you are and ways you are not. One more point in favour of your skills in evaluating people if you sorted that out yourself before the confirmation. I assume she didn’t say.”
“No, not at all. Other than the interest in cryptography, and— I don’t know. I was there as a visitor a few times. I had the feel of the space she wasn’t talking about.” Edmund shaped his hands to enclose a globe, then shook them out, a little frustrated.
“Right. What do you know about this Cecily Styles, then? I will look at Lizzie’s notes when I get back, with your permission.” Mama would have them all tidily arranged, Edmund knew that.
He laid out what they knew, what he’d noticed, and added a couple of comments he hadn’t passed along to Mama yet.
“The men she’s been associated with— photographs in the papers from notable events— are all non-magical, well-off families.
Second sons, third sons. Not the heirs, mostly, but that might be just who’s up right now. ”
“Or that she didn’t want to attract that kind of attention from others or the relevant families.” Uncle Alexander frowned. “Do you have a photo or anything here?”
Edmund had tucked one into the back of his journal for safekeeping, taken from the paper after the party. He rummaged for it. “Does she look familiar to you?”
“I’ve not seen her. As you say, notable for someone with competent magic. There’s something about the stance, though. I might need to ask Isembard. He’s got a finer eye for that. Are there other photos in Lizzie’s files?”
Edmund nodded. “Yes, sir. Not many, but enough for that. Thank you, Uncle Alexander. What should I do going forward?”
“Get some actual rest, please. I’d like a little time to look into this and talk to Gabe. I think you’re right that there’s nothing the Guard can do without more information. But we should be able to better define what information would be needed.”
Uncle Alexander looked at him now, straight on, before continuing.
“You’re an adult. You are a man of good sense, with a care for the world around you.
I will not forbid you to investigate this.
But do so with continuing good sense, please.
Let your magic replenish a bit. Come back to Ytene for the afternoon, Saturday or Sunday.
Punt on the river with no magical enhancements.
Sleep in— never mind, you won’t do that.
You are your father’s son that way. I do not understand the desire to see dawn when it’s not actually necessary. ”
“Just for that, I’m tempted to come back home overnight on Saturday so I can go on about the New Forest at dawn at you. When you finally turn up for breakfast, hours later,” Edmund said. Now, he felt rather a lot better, enough to tease like that.
“You are a menace. In an entirely different way than Ursula is a menace.” It was absolutely affectionate, though. “All right. Let me run you through spotting that bit of listening magic. Then we’ll wander through the halls and take the long way to the portal and see whether we find any others.”
The actual trick of it was not terribly hard— it was, in fact, similar enough to following a thread in conversation and hearing how truthful it was.
This was more like realising something was lurking just out of sight or hearing range.
As they went back around to the upstairs door of the library, through it, and back down, Uncle Alexander found two other hints of the same thing.
He left those in place. Edmund knew well enough what to do with that, which was to be careful where he talked to Pen again. Or at least about what they discussed.
This time, Uncle Alexander asked to skip ahead in the queue, after Edmund promised to follow instructions. He thought he would in fact go home on Saturday night.