Grimoires and Where to Find Them Raconteur, Honor (read along books TXT) 📖

part because I absolutely did not want to miss it. This promised to be highly entertaining.

Why? Well, I supposed that going to a noblewoman’s house and informing her we want her to host a possible stage for a caper would be entertaining enough. But that’s only partially why I held the opinion.

Edward Jameson. That was my main reason. He accompanied us on this trip.

I kept eyeing him sideways, not at all sure if I could trust him to behave. He looked respectable, at least. With the dark grey day suit on, his sandy-brown hair combed back, he looked like any other middle-class teenager. Not ugly or handsome, rather plain but nice looking. The type to blend in perfectly with a crowd.

Jamie swore him to be on his best behavior. Clint promised to keep an eye on him at all times. I still felt this was a bad idea. But, having been overruled, I steeled myself to curse him if necessary.

So, we knocked on the door to Lady Radman’s, three humans and three Felixes, all while I held onto hope that this would work out. And, at the very least, prepared to have an interesting story to tell later.

The same maid as before opened the door and let us in. She guided us into the same morning room, with Lady Radman in her chair, as if we were repeating the day we met her all over again. A very strange, surreal feeling, I assure you.

She greeted us with a smile that spoke of mischief.

“Come in, come in. Welcome. Your call promised something interesting, Detective, and I do hope you’ll deliver. You’ll discover that when you get to be my age, life becomes much too staid. Do tell me you’re here to give me something interesting to do. And who is this young man with you?”

Jameson needed no one to introduce him. He swept her a courtly bow, a roguish grin on his face. “Edward Jameson, at your service. I’m the Queen’s Thief.”

“Marvella Radman,” she replied, her smile just as impish and dropping ten years from her appearance. “Oh, it is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I do hope that after we get through business, you’ll stay and chat with an old lady. I’m sure you have many a good story to tell.”

“Do I ever,” he said, delighted by the invitation.

Did I trust him to sit and talk to her? And eat cookies, drink tea, and not take anything out of this house on a lark?

Sometimes, even when I intend a question to be rhetorical, it doesn’t come out that way. Putting an unapologetic thief and a bored noblewoman together couldn’t produce a good result.

“Business first, please,” Jamie inserted dryly. She sat comfortably in a wing-backed settee and drew Jameson to sit next to her. I approved of the firm grip she had on him.

I chose the chair on the opposite side, perfectly angled to intercede if necessary. Although he did seem to be making good on his promise. At the moment.

“Tea, please,” Lady Radman requested of her maid. Then she promptly turned back to Jamie. “Alright. You only hinted at what you wanted done. Do tell me the full plan now. I’ve been unable to focus for hours since you called.”

“It’s going to sound unorthodox at first,” Jamie warned her. “But hear me out. What we want to do is bait the thief into coming here so we can trap him. I want to noise it about that one of the people who owns a grimoire is interested in selling, and that you’re buying it back from him. You’re celebrating the return of the grimoire to the Radman family, so you’re throwing a party on the night it returns here. We’ll put many a plain-clothes detective into your house as party guests, and Eddy will serve as our expert, as I think it will take a thief to catch a thief.”

Far from being alarmed by this plan, Lady Radman was excited. She clasped her hands together, eyes wide with delight. “Oh. Oh, how splendid. My house will be the center of the action. And I do think it’s a sound plan. Although I’m not sure why you think a party will entice the thief to come.”

Jameson piped up. “Best time to nick something, m’lady. When it’s noisy and confusing, people coming in and out, easiest thing in the world to slip in with the guests. Pose as a caterer, staff, or even a chauffer, no one thinks anything of you being there. You walk right in and out like you own the place.”

She listened intently, wispy white brows furrowing. “I see. Is that how you operate?”

“No, m’lady, not really my style. I prefer it dead of night and quiet. That said, I’ve taken advantage of a crowd a time or two. It’s not a matter of one tactic being better than the other, it’s more about opportunity and what you’re more comfortable with. Me, I like it quiet.”

“Fascinating. We really must chat after this.” Lips pursed, Lady Radman considered. “I’m quite keen on at least trying it. I don’t at all like this situation, and if the thief is that elusive, baiting him might be the only option we have. That said, I do think Andrea Tilton is the person to draw into this. She owns volume two. She’s got nerves of steel, that one, and the poker face to pull this off.”

That had been one of our questions, who could pretend to give a grimoire over. I was glad Lady Radman had a ready answer for us.

Jamie pulled out her notebook from a breast pocket and made a note. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to her with you present so we can all discuss this.”

“Yes, of course. I’ll invite her over for tea tomorrow. We can sit and talk then.” Her thin lips pressed together. “Will you use the real grimoire for bait?”

I shook my head immediately.

“No, my lady, far too dangerous to do so. We’ll