The woman drove in and parked to the side of the drive just inside. The gate clanged shut behind her car. I stood there, fighting the urge to fidget, as she grabbed something out of the passenger seat and got out.
There was no way to know whether this particular Assembly enforcer was just a regular witch or one with ties to the Frankfords. I couldn’t exactly ask her.
She shut the door and adjusted her leather satchel over her shoulder. “Investigator Ruiz on behalf of the Assembly,” she said. “I believe you’re Lady Hallowell?”
“That would be me,” I said. “What’s this about? I didn’t know there was anything to investigate here.”
One of her thin eyebrows lifted. “Two witches with no relation to your family have recently disappeared from their homes—and we’ve determined arrived here. Their families are concerned. I’m simply here to make sure there’s no reason for that concern.”
Oh. I should have expected this. Ihadexpected a visit like this in the first few days after Lesley had turned up, but when no one had come calling, I’d assumed that was the end of it. Had it really taken the Assembly this long to figure out where she and Imogen were, or had their families been waiting for what they felt was the best time to prod me?
And if the latter, why had they chosen now?
I couldn’t exactly ask Ruiz either of those things. I gave her another polite smile and motioned toward the manor. “There isn’t anything to be concerned about, but why don’t you come in so we can talk. You can speak with the witches you’re here about too if you want. If they’re not up yet, they should be soon.”
Ruiz nodded and followed me to the house. I ushered her through the grand front hall into the less imposing sitting room off to the side. If it’d been a little later in the day, one of the staff would have ducked in to see if we wanted anything, but right now it was on me to act as full host.
“Can I get you some water or something else to drink?” I asked as Ruiz sat on the velvet cushion of the settee.
She waved her hand dismissively. “No need. I’d rather get out of your hair as quickly as possible. Let’s get down to business.”
I could appreciate that attitude. She didn’t seem accusatory so far. I stayed wary, but my fingers unclenched as I sank into the armchair across from her.
She opened her satchel on the mahogany coffee table between us and took out a computer tablet that she flicked on. As she tapped through to whatever files she was looking for, the corner of my lips quirked up. Most of the witching folk I knew were still stuck on pen and paper. Kyler would have liked this one.
“So,” Ruiz said, looking up from the tablet, “can you confirm that Miss Lesley Portsmith and Miss Imogen O’Brien are currently in residence on the Hallowell estate?”
“They are,” I said. From the hum of the pipes overhead, at least one of them was currently in residence in the shower.
“And on what date did each of them arrive here?”
I thought back and told her. Ruiz typed on her tablet’s screen.
“What reason did they give you for coming here?”
I paused. I didn’t want to get my guests in trouble—or Naomi, for putting out that whisper that the Hallowell estate was a good place to seek sanctuary.
“They didn’t feel safe, and they thought they’d feel safer here,” I settled on. “Maybe because I’m a young witch like them, managing the estate on my own? And because I made it through the trouble with my father.” I didn’t know how much the investigator knew about my arrest and the chase across the country last month, but Dad had been arrested by the main body of the Assembly. The Frankfords couldn’t have erased their memories of that.
“That’s all there was to it?” Ruiz said skeptically.
“I think if you want more details about their situations, it’d be better if you asked them directly,” I said. “I don’t know how much they’d want me to share. And that should be up to them, shouldn’t it?”
Ruiz considered me for a moment. I thought I caught a flicker of a smile. “I guess you’d be proving them wrong for coming here if you said anything else.”
“Is that a problem?”
She shrugged. “Not necessarily. I’ll see what they have to say for themselves. You hadn’t been in contact with them before they arrived here?”
I shook my head. “I met Lesley once or twice at functions in Portland years back when her family was visiting, but we never talked outside of that. I don’t think I’ve met any of the O’Briens at all.”
“And what have you done for them since they’ve arrived?”
“The usual things you’d do for guests?” I said. “Made sure they had a place to sleep and food to eat. Other than that, they haven’t asked for anything.”
“Hmm. Have you told them anything to encourage them to continue feeling they’re unsafe if they leave here?”
I’d told them I believed them, that I knew sometimes consortings were twisted for bad ends. I hadn’t volunteered any specifics because the oath stopped me from doing that. “I don’t think so,” I said honestly. “But I wasn’t going to turn them away when there’s no reason I couldn’t take them in.”