The Unskillful Thaumaturge

XXX

Lillian pressed the call button and held the phone to her ear. Diane finally answered on the third ring.

"Who is this?"

"Hi, it's Lillian. I was just wondering if you had any news on the interview."

"Oh, hi, Lillian. Sorry we didn't call you yet. We didn't really gain anything from the interview, at least not much. We found out for sure that the dead kid had purple eyes, and we figured out where we'd have to look to talk to the person who tipped off the police, and the funeral home that was in charge of the burial. We had a meeting this morning and I suggested looking at some other people too."

"Who?"

"Like getting re-interviews with some of the people who were involved with the Thaumatogenesis. Obviously not Raleigh, he's dead, but like some of the other officers, or whoever used to own the property. Oh, and also- is it possible for us to talk to your parents?"

"Yeah, sure, if you can figure out who they are." Lillian snorted.

"No, I meant your adoptive parents."

"Oh, yeah, Morgan and Chris."

"Do you... do you know where they live?"

"Diane, you have to remember, I'm only fifteen. Yes, of course I know where they live. I went back to visit over winter break. We're close. I know it sounds like we're not- only, they were very straightforward, ever since I was a little kid, about me being adopted. They know they're not my real parents, and I know that, and so I don't call them Mom and Dad. I don't even really think of them as my parents. They're just the people who brought me up, you know? They live over in Eugene."

"Do you think they knew about you?"

"What, you mean who I was? No, I doubt it. They're always super honest. If they knew I think they would have told me."

"You sure?"

Lillian cocked her head. "Yeah, pretty much."

"You think they'd be okay with coming in for an interview?"

"I think they would."

❧☙

Dakota pulled a box of granola bars out from under his desk and rose from his chair, walking over to the file cabinet, where he meticulously opened the top two drawers. He held the box carefully over the top drawer, then slowly lowered it in, letting go after a few seconds. A thud rang through the office, and he quickly withdrew his hands, closing the top drawer and withdrawing the box out of the next-to-top drawer. Eagerly, he opened the package and wolfed down one of the granola bars, then walked back to the desk and carefully maneuvered the box back under the desk until he was satisfied it was out of sight, throwing the wrapper into the trash bin next to his desk.

Abruptly, the door opened, and a face peeked in. Dakota recognized it as the girl who'd come to his office hours the previous week. Dakota nodded, swallowing the last of his granola bar as he motioned for her to come in and sit down.

"Hi Dakota," she said quickly. "I just had a question on the homework... right here, where it says to compare omniscience with convenience, what do you want us to compare?"

Dakota bent down to look over her homework. "Oh, that. You're just supposed to talk about the difference between the definitions, the different units, that kind of thing. Do you have any other questions?"

"No, I'm just generally confused. It's really difficult to conceptualize."

"I know, I've been trying to go over more examples of applications in class. I'll keep trying to work on that as we go on."

"Okay, thanks," she responded, taking her homework and walking out of the room. She let the door bang shut behind her.

❧☙

Galena set down the phone, looking directly at Diane. "That's different than what I got."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when I tried to call her, it was clear that she just wasn't taking the call. I didn't get an error message."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it was just like when you call someone and they decline the call. There was no voice, other than the one telling me to leave a message. You don't have that option on your phone."

"Huh, I wonder why that is." Diane stood up, her heels clicking against the tile floor, and peered closely at the phone. Galena started at the sound of Diane's shoes against the floor.

"What is it?"

"My first day," Galena said. "On my first day, she tried to call, and-"

"And I blocked her number," Diane finished. "Yeah, I remember that. This is a weird phone system, do you think that might be why we haven't been able to get in touch?"

"Yeah, that might be it. Listen, can I borrow your phone for a second?"

"Sure." Diane handed over her phone. Galena tapped the screen several times, then held it to her ear. Seconds later, she handed it back to Diane, disgusted.

"Same thing that happened when I tried to call her. She just didn't take the call."

"Huh, that's weird."

"You know how some of us were going to go to Eugene for a couple days, meet with the funeral home and the police department and talk to Lillian's parents?"

"Yeah, but we haven't figured out who's going."

"Well, I'd say definitely me and Rolf, and- do you want to come?"

"Actually, I think I should really stay here. Janelle was saying she'd stay this time, but she's going to be too busy to watch the building. I just want to sit and watch the security cameras, make sure everything's okay this time so we don't have another break-in."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good. Anyway, I was going to say, I think it's probably a good idea if we start thinking about going to Roseburg as well as Eugene. My mother's been really evasive, and I'm a bit disconcerted."