Since there was absolutely nothing in the last room, we moved on.

          “…Let’s go over the suspect list.” I rubbed my forehead. We cleared our area and the brats didn’t find anything in theirs.

          “We solved the first two cases, that counts as a clue right? We win, right?” Aena sat right next to me, completely removing the slight distance she put between us earlier.  She was a little too close though, I had to lean away so I wouldn't get slow cooked. Either she got over her mood, or she got scared.

          …not that we found anything for her to get startled over.

          “Sure.” The brats still weren’t back. The rats that went with each group reported that it would take them a while to regroup. “At the moment, the most likely suspect is Tavliel, though any angel with access to the building that the medallions is also a suspect, but since you don’t know where they belong we can’t narrow that down.”

          “Right, we might ask around and see who gets jumpy. That’s how I normally handled interrogations…though we did have a lot falsely accused now that I think of it…”     

          “Were any graves robbed that you know of?”

          “…Not that I can think of? Little Lacie would know if there was a recent robbery.”

          “And you’re sure you never stole one?”

          “Steal is such a strong word.” She always made fun of my “blank” face, but her smiling mask seemed just as weird to me. “No, I have not been able to successfully borrow a medal that rightfully belongs to my army.”

          “Hmhm.” With a quick double tap on the rim of my horn, I decided to just ask. She had calmed down a bit after all.

“Aena?”

          “Yes?”

          “Do you think that brat would do it?”

          “Tavy? No.” Her smile stiffened, “Tavliel? …maybe.” She sighed and just let her expression drop. “Babaris, you have to remember. Angels are far more attached to each other than demons typically are. We hold grudges, despite our Lord’s teachings. Tavliel, the first one, was especially so. The training to inherit a name can sometimes involve getting a little…brainwashed.”

          “…I see.” That did explain why it was so annoying to deal with the angels with the same name. I killed Sevriel at least 5 times, and every one of them had similar last words. They weren’t very smart.

          “You met Sevriel, several times I heard. While not all are as extreme as that particular family, it shows.”

          “…that, what I think the brat would say, is messed up.”

          “Though it can be rather fun to see a child you’ve never met crumple their face when they see you and turn to run at full speed.” Wryly smiling at an old memory, she stared off into air.

          “As far as names go, we only have Tavliel as a suspect then.”

          Her eyes asked me to drop it, so I held in the rest of my questions. I had more than I started with, but they could wait. She’d probably mention the rest if it was relevant.

          Tavliel was weaker than Aena, but he would still be able to find my low class summons and it was too dangerous to bring out my stronger ones.

          …too dangerous for the summons anyway. Getting more information about him would be troublesome. Still, something still told me he wasn’t the one.

          The brats finally came back. The first group to arrive was happily chatting, only to cut off abruptly when they saw us. Stiffening under my gaze, they tried to back away while also grouping together.

          When they were practically joined at the ribs, Aena jabbed me with her elbow.

          “Blackie, the children are about to cry.” She then reached over and pulled on my cheek. I relaxed my expression and a few of the brat’s legs gave out.

          “I thought we were goners” Gaffe muttered while the other one, his name was similar to his father’s so I really should remember it out of spite if nothing else, nodded rapidly from his spot on the moss.

          I ignored the impudence and held out a hand for the small mouse that followed them. After hanging around the angel brats, it was tired.

          “…do you need a report?” Whats-his-name, I think it started with an “R”, asked nervously.

          “No.”

          “I do!” Boney waved her hand, accidently smacking the side of my horn.

          “They didn’t find anything we didn’t. Just more of the same. They did miss a few rooms, but the mice were small enough to check on their own and didn’t find anything either.”

          “WE missed a few rooms?!” Gaffe scowled at the demons in his group.

          “Not your group, but the others. And it was usually because you angels wouldn’t listen to the trained brats and plowed ahead without checking the rooms properly.”

          “you angels?” Aena leaned on me, heat leaking through the clothes.

          “what? Would you rather I said, ‘you stupid tanned sun-stoned brats that can’t find a hidden door if you stepped on the trigger and it broke your nose’ or something?”

          “…yes actually, that’s far more entertaining.” She pulled away, just enough to easy the heat to a bearable amount. “But encourage the children that did well!”

          I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, “Congrats, brats. You didn’t fail utterly at your one assigned chore.”

          “Thank you, you old pair of skeletons.”

          I wondered if she was aiming for the same spot on purpose as the brat disappeared back into his wall, deepening the angel shaped indent that was slowly becoming a cutout.

          “Were you able to find anything, sir? We, well, we also, might have felt a slight, well, a tremor? Were you, I mean, did you maybe know, why?” The wraith kid asked nervously from his position at the front of the group. Several hands were holding him in place to keep him from running.

          “No.” Boney and I spoke at the same time, slightly too fast.

          They wisely dropped the subject. I directed them to clean up the corpse and we, or I, started to plan the next move.