Well let's use the hairs then.
+1
Yee, let's go! Use the hairs!
Having said that, I will +1 this post:
Well let's use the hairs then.
With hair in hand, there was nothing left to do but set up a tracking spell. I retrieved my handy-dandy wizarding equipment (actually just a really cheap compass) from my pocket and prepared it for the spell, taping the hairs to the bottom and muttering an incantation. The needle snapped around and pointed resolutely in an arbitrary direction - presumably towards Welverin’s location.
It was time for me to hit the streets. I strode downstairs to the front door and pulled it open, stepping out into the -
There was a pregnant pause as the two officers and I stared at each other in awkward silence. Then I spoke up.
“Officer Omroryn, what a pleasant surprise! How’s the family?”
Officer Talrene Omroryn refrained from returning the greeting. “When the call came in about a suspicious elf in frumpy robes breaking into a missing man’s house, I somehow knew I’d find you here, Aldryn.”
I put an affronted hand over my heart. “While your pattern-recognition abilities are impeccable, I’ll have you know my robes are not frumpy, officer. They are classic wizarding fashion.”
I paused for a moment.
“Oh, and I wasn’t breaking in. While that’s less important than defending my sartorial honor, I think it deserves a mention.”
Omroryn’s partner smiled lazily. He’d seen this dance before. I nodded politely at him and he nodded back.
“Kenval.”
“Navar.”
Talrene crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her other foot. “Xune hired you?”
“Possibly. Or maybe I just like rifling through missing people’s houses for the hell of it.”
She ignored my ironclad alibi of kleptomania. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yep. Couple of hairs.”
“Wonderful. Let’s go, you’re on the clock for us too now. We’ll explain on the way.” She turned and gestured for me to follow Kenval and her. I raised an eyebrow as I tagged along. I’d done work as a consultant wizard for the Coranzen Police Department before, but I’d never been hired by both the CPD and an individual for the same job at the same time.
Two clients, twice the pay. I wasn’t complaining.
We reached their car (which was much nicer than mine, not that I was comparing or anything) and climbed in. As we rolled out of the neighborhood, I turned my attention to the compass. The needle swerved slightly as the car moved.
“So what’s the situation? And why didn’t you just call my office instead of hunting me down in person?” I asked.
Omroryn glanced back at me with a frank expression. “We did call your office. Several times, actually. You weren’t able to take the calls because you were too busy snooping.”
Kenval turned in his seat and began expositing. “Khalazza went missing, you already know that. Two other drow have vanished into thin air in similar circumstances.”
Omroryn took over. “There’s a connection between all three. They worked -”
I cut her off, still looking at the compass. “Take a left up here.” She adjusted our course accordingly.
“They worked for Bakos Mining Corp, all at the same facility near the southern end of the city. Three engineers working at the same place all went missing in a matter of days.”
I frowned as I considered the new information. “Huh. Take a right.”
She pulled into the right-hand lane. As I watched the compass, the needle suddenly darted around, jittering wildly and alternating between two different directions. Something was either wrong with the spell or interfering with it (or I had made a boneheaded mistake somewhere along the line, but, as a mighty wizard, that was clearly out of the question). I glanced up at the two officers, who were waiting patiently for the next direction.
This could be a problem.