on the force and his guy never heard of an Inspector Michael Cornwall."
on the force and his guy never heard of an Inspector Michael Cornwall."
"No, there's no mistake," she said. "He checked. There's no record of anyone named Michael Cornwall
working for Scotland Yard, not as an inspector or any other kind of cop. What's more, they don't have
any adepts on their police force. None at all."
"Are you absolutely sure?" asked Loomis.
"Positive."
He turned to Paul. "What doyou know about this?"
Paul moistened his lips and shook his head. "I don't understand," he said. "There has to be some sort of
mix-up."
"There's no mix-up, Professor," Ginny said. "Your friend's a ringer. He's impersonating a police officer."
"But Chief Inspector Blood vouched for him," said Loomis with a frown.
"Are you sure it was Chief Inspector Blood you spoke to?" Ginny asked.
"Yes. I called the Yard and asked for him. Cornwall gave him as a reference . . ." He stopped abruptly,
then glanced at Paul. "You said this guy's a friend of yours. You went to school together."
"Yes, that's right," said Paul, feeling a tightness in his stomach.
"How long has it been since you've seen him?"
"Well . . . it's been a while, but—"
"You mean you haven't seen him since you were at school together, right?"
"Well . . . yes, that's true, I guess."
"That was the College of Thaumaturgy in Cambridge, wasn't it, Professor?" Ginny asked. "That's where
you went to school together?"
"Yes."
"That's interesting. Because there's no record of anyone named Michael Cornwall ever attending the
College of Sorcerers in Cambridge. Why is that? I wonder."
"That's impossible," said Paul, feeling the ground slipping out from beneath his feet.
"No, I checked," she said. "What's more, I checked with the B.O.T. in England and there's no
registration for an adept named Michael Cornwall. They've got two Cornwalls, one in Leeds and one in
Manchester. The one in Leeds is Sheila Cornwall and the one in Manchester is named Alastair Cornwall
and he's sixty-two years old."