CHAPTER Five

“Sir, there are some reporters waiting to see you, ” his secretary

said.

Akiro looked pained. “Outside? In the office?”

“No, sir, down in the lobby.”

“Newspaper reporters? Or television?”

“Both, I think. Should I tell them that you’re out?”

“Yes, please do, ” said Akiro, relieved that whoever was on duty

at the desk downstairs had not allowed them to come up. If they’d

been in the outer office, he would have had to use a teleportation

spell to duck them and he didn’t like to do that. Teleportation spells

required a great deal of energy and they took a lot out of him. They

always left him feeling tired and somewhat nauseated.

“Tell them they just missed me. I’ve gone out to pursue the

investigation and you don’t know when I’ll be back. You know the

sort of thing. On second thought, no, wait. Perhaps it would be

better if someone more official were to speak with them. Is Mono in

his office?”

“Yes, sir, I believe he is.”

“Would you ask him to step in for a moment, please? And then

you might as well go to lunch.”

He had known that this was coming. It was inevitable, of course.

There would be no way to keep the story quiet now, but he simply

wasn’t up to facing them. Newspaper reporters were bad enough,

with their badgering questions, but the television people were even

worse. There was a technique that television reporters frequently

used. They would ask a question, and if the answer that you gave

them was too short or didn’t satisfy them, instead of going on to

another question, they would simply stand there, with the

microphone pointing at your face, waiting silently while the camera

rolled on. It was a way of trying to make the subject talk more. If

he didn’t, it had the effect of making him look uncomfortable,

incompetent, or uncooperative, as if he had something to hide. Few