TANSTAV part 18

Chapter 5 part 4

"Nice outfit," I said as I slid the door shut behind me.  "It really brings out your eyes."

The outfit in question was a loose-fitting, unflattering gray jumpsuit, the attire of all prisoners, so my comment could only be described as sarcastic.  Jessup recognized me at once, of course.  For a brief moment, his expression darkened in anger, and his hands clenched, as if they would love to be wrapped around my throat.  But I knew I was safe.  I could see the pale blue lines of the spell holding him in place, gripping his wrists and ankles.  There was no chance of his getting loose.  And even if he did, well, I wouldn't mind a good scrap with him.

However, Jessup was just as quick to regain his composure.  His face relaxed into its typical sardonic expression: eyes drooping lazily, mouth curled upwards into a sideways smirk, one eyebrow half raised.

"Well, if it isn't Detective Wormwood," he murmured in his soft, silky tones.  "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, just thought I'd drop in, see how life is treating you, maybe bring some news of the outside world," I replied.

"I'm honored."

I came closer, looking Jessup over just as closely as he was scrutinizing me.  Prison life had made him a great deal thinner, and he’d lost a bit of muscle, but he was still in comparatively good condition.  I suddenly jabbed him in the leg with one claw.  Flesh and blood, and cloth.  He really was there; no illusion.  So how had he gotten out of the cell and back in?  Had he even left?  It was possible to make molds of feet.  Maybe the tracks had been faked?

Jessup was smirking.

"Trying to see if I'm really here?  You're getting too paranoid, Wormwood."

A sudden impulse led me to ask, "You won't mind, will you, if I have a look at the bottoms of your feet?"

Jessup looked startled by this; however, since he is an expert liar and actor, I took his expression cum grano salis (for you non-Latin speakers, that means "with a grain of salt".  I took a course of that in high school too; it was required in order to graduate).

"What?"

"You heard me."  Without further ado, I crouched down and began to inspect them.  Sure enough, in the cleft of his hoof, I found a blade of grass.  Retrieving my tweezers, I tugged it free, placing it in a ready baggie.  On his claw, I found traces of earth, which I added to the baggie.  Standing up, I waved it under Jessup's aristocratic nose.

"Care to explain these?"

The demon shrugged as best he could with the restraints.

"I'm a criminal, not a horticulturist."

Rolling my eyes, I placed it in my pocket, with the other baggies.  As I looked down, I saw- another piece of black and red magic!  It was lying just below Jessup.  Was the magic coming from him?  That didn't make sense; he didn't have any magic powers, except a small ability to make people do what he wanted, and it wasn’t as effective if they knew about it.  I bagged the magic, and then demanded, "How have you been getting out?"

Jessup smirked again, and said snidely, "You're the detective.  You figure it out."

I flapped my wings, lifting myself into the air until I was eye to eye with the demon.  This took a little effort, since I am only 5'9", and he was about two feet off the ground already.

"I will, Jessup.  And when I do, maybe the higher-ups will reconsider whether or not you deserve the death penalty."  With that, I floated to the floor, turned away, and left.

At least, that was my plan.  I did the floating-down and turning-around part perfectly, but before I could do the leaving part, Jessup's query of "How's your girlfriend doing?" stopped me in my tracks.