At around ten forty-five, Loomis got a call from one of the professors at the university. He sounded very

concerned.

At around ten forty-five, Loomis got a call from one of the professors at the university. He sounded very

concerned.

"Yes, Doctor, what can I do for you?"

"Paul Ramirez is a friend of mine and I happen to know he's working on those murders with you in his

capacity as a Bureau of Thaumaturgy official."

"Yes?"

"Well . . . I'm not really sure what this is all about, to tell the truth, but it seems there's a Bureau of

Thaumaturgy agent, a woman named Leary, who's been asking a lot of questions around here this

morning. I'm not sure if you have any involvement in this or not, but the sort of questions that this

woman's asking could be very damaging to Paul's reputation. And, potentially, to his career."

Loomis frowned. "What do you mean? What sort of questions?"

"Well, questions about his personal life. In particular, she's been asking about a young woman named

Kira, whom she apparently believes Paul is having an affair with. From her description of this person, she

sounds as if she might be an undergraduate and although I'm not personally familiar with anyone by that

name, I happen to know Paul extremely well and I know he has far too much sense to become involved

with a student. A university is a very small, very closed sort of environment, if you know what I mean.

This sort of thing could get around very quickly and it could hurt him. Now, I have no idea why a fellow

Bureau agent would be investigating him when there are these terrible murders to be solved, but if you

have anything at all to do with this, or if you have any influence, I sincerely urge you to do something to

stop these damaging and invasive inquiries."

Loomis gritted his teeth. "I didn't know about this, Dr. McManis, but you can rest assured that I most

definitelywill do something about it. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Loomis hung up the phone. "Damn it," he said. He shouted through the open door. "Velez!"

Sgt. Velez came in on the double. "You bellowed, Lieutenant?"

Loomis grimaced. "That B.O.T. agent, Leary, is over at the university, grilling people about Paul's

personal life. Get over there and stop it. Tell her that I want to see hernow . At"—he picked up the

printout Kira got from Paul's office and glanced at the list of Bureau agents involved in the operation and

where they were staying—"The Inn at Loretto. She'll know what that means. I'm heading over there right

now. If she's already left the school, she'll probably be there. If not, find her andbring her ."

"Got it."

Velez left and Loomis got up and reached for his hat. The damn woman was insufferable. He could see