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"Gask," came the human PI's rumbling tones, "A heads-up for you." "Go ahead," I said cautiously. "I started asked questions about the cameras. And I seemed to have kicked off a storm of responses." "Ah, interesting," I answered, gesturing to Campsie to come over and listen to the phone as well, "Go on." Gumshoe told me that he had rapidly discovered that there was a major theft of camera devices just like the one I had presented to him - together with a vast array of other miniature electronic devices - from a shipping container. The container had been filled and officially sealed at the factory in China, then taken by road and rail to the shipping port. There, it was loaded onto a container ship with thousands of others, ending up packed surrounded entirely - top, bottom and all four sides - by other containers. When the ship had docked in Los Angeles and unloading started, this particular container was found with its seals broken, and the doors unlocked and flapping open as winch hoisted it up. It was entirely empty, of course. So, the goods had vanished in a way which defied the understanding of the human authorities, the shipment having just disappeared in a way which looked impossible - one which looked, in fact, like magic. Magic indeed. This kind of "locked room" trick was popular once upon a time, when some of the criminal elements from the Lower Realms carried out thefts and even murders in a way which was impossible without the use of glamours of some kind, so much so that elaborate ploys had to be introduced to show how a crime had been committed without using magic, at least to the satisfaction of the human police forces. These kind of crimes had dried up in recent decades, as Goblin gangs realised that their crimes would be much less carefully investigated if they were carried out in a way which did admit to a mundane explanation. Besides, humans put surveillance cameras everywhere these days. So, this was certainly a plausible way in which a gang of Goblins could have got their hands on the kind of stuff which had turned up in the Stalactite Saloon. In particular, why had they made it so obvious that magic was used? Another mystery, at least for now. "Let me know if you discover anything else," I asked Gumshoe when he had finished his report. "Sure," he said, then hung up. I looked at Campsie and then at my watch. I stood up. "Time to take in an early visit to the Stalactite Saloon," I announced.
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Part 19