24. Quoth

"Is the car here yet?" Mina appeared behind me.

Heart pounding, I folded the letter and shoved it into my pocket. Whoever was responsible for Iwan's death and the wedding sabotage, they weren't done yet. And now that we knew Wayne and Dorothy Ingram were seeing each other, and both had alibis for Iwan's murder, we had no clue who they could be.

"Quoth?" Mina's mouth twisted. "Is something wrong?"

I bit my tongue until I tasted blood. I wanted to tell Mina. I didn't like that she didn't know the whole story. But I wanted to speak with Heathcliff and Morrie first, in case they'd found something at the bothy that could solve the whole case without any fanfare.

"Quoth?"

"It's nothing. I'm just excited about tomorrow." I slid my arm through hers, hoping that she couldn't sense my trembling. "The car's waiting for us at the top of the street."

I got in the front while Mina climbed in back and settled Oscar into the footwell. The driver was new to us, and he made a face about the dog, which thankfully Mina didn't see, but he knew the rules about allowing service animals and pulled away without incident, dropping us off outside the art school ten minutes later.

We wandered through the vibrant art studios. Students were frantically trying to finish their end-of-term assignments. The place reeked of paint fumes and solder, smells that immediately made me feel right at home. The radio was blaring with more depressing news about the Crixley escapee and impending climate doom.

I knocked on Marjorie's door and called out who we were, since we didn't have an appointment. She flung open the door, a huge smile spreading across her face, a hot glue gun in her hand dripping clear blobs on the floor. "Allan? Mina? I'm surprised to see you here. Aren't you getting married tomorrow? Oh no, I didn't get the date wrong, did I? Don't tell me I missed the wedding. I'm so tied up in my latest project that half the time I forget to eat."

"No, you got it right. The wedding is tomorrow." I got a different kind of flutter in my chest at the thought.

"But we may have got ourselves embroiled in another mystery," Mina said with a hint of sheepishness. "And we think you might be able to help us. Quoth said that you keep ducks as pets?"

"I do." Marjorie beamed. "Birds are incredibly intelligent, especially ducks. Some researchers think they might be as clever as dogs. I wonder if one day we might be able to have guide ducks as well as guide dogs. In the meantime, Waddles and Lily give me a lot of joy. Come in, come in. Did you want to know something about ducks?"

Marjorie ushered us inside her noisy office. The metal windchimes that she made filled every corner of the room, and they tinkled and clanged from the crisp breeze blowing in the open window. I steered Mina around Marjorie's latest creation – a large chime made from recycled aluminum cans and other rubbish hanging from a frame in the center of the room. Mondrian lifted his head from under the desk, regarded us with a stoic glance, and then went back to sleep.

We took a seat on a sofa crowded with Braille pages and boxes of rubbish. Mina described where she'd got to on the case so far, and how all her leads had turned into nothing. I watched her in awe. To everyone else, this case was silly, but Mina took James Pond's disappearance as seriously as any murder case we've ever worked on.

The note burned in my pocket.

How could someone want Mina to suffer? How could anyone wish to deny this special woman anything she wanted?

Marjorie tapped her chin. "You know, I don't think that James Pond has been duck-napped at all."

"He hasn't?"

"You said that the wire was cut all rough and crooked? If it were cut with pliers, the cuts would be smooth, right?"

"That's what Morrie said, but I figured it would depend on how skilled the person was at cutting wire. I'd probably cut it like that!" Mina laughed.

"I don't think a person cut the wire at all. James Pond is a drake. People don't usually keep a drake as a pet when they have a single duck, because although some of them are lovely, they can become aggressive and try to dominate their human, especially if they don't have females around for mating." Marjorie rubbed her hands together. I think she was enjoying being part of one of our mysteries. "I think James Pond cut himself out of his pen."

"He cut through wire?"

"Ducks have sharp beaks. If the wire was thin and he was determined enough, he could do it."

"Maisie said that James had never tried to escape before."

"This might be him trying to assert his dominance, but more likely, I'd say that James is looking for a girlfriend. He'll roam far and wide looking for a female to mate with. I'd check around local ponds, bird shelters, or any place where ducks might normally hang out. Duck mating can be quite violent, so you may also find areas of disturbance, dirt tossed around, trees pulled up, etc."

"Thanks, Marjorie. We'll do that." Mina stood up. "Well, we'll see you at the wedding."

"And your book launch? I've got an invite to that, too, if I'm not mistaken. I'm so proud of you, Mina. I can't wait to read your book. I hope you do an audiobook version soon. I can get Alexa to read the ebook version aloud, but it's not the same."

"Oh, actually…" Hurt flashed across Mina's face. "You must not have seen my announcement. I've decided to cancel the book launch?—"

"Oh, I got the notification. But I was hoping to convince you that you've made a mistake." Marjorie's voice turned stern, reminding me of when she would scold me for not pushing the boundaries of form and color in my work. "Mina, sit down. I think we need to have a talk, artist to artist."