Witch's Bell Book One

while offering Ebony a calculating look. Then he checked his badge and gun were in place, still not taking his eyes off her. 'I think I know what your problem is,' he said eventually.
    Ebony wasn't that far gone to notice the sarcasm brimming in his voice, and she mustered just enough energy to stare back at him with a slightly defiant look. 'Is it the fact I've been unfairly punished for a crime I didn't commit?' her voice had half of her usual pluck, but she still managed to find something in her reserves of defiance to meet his unyielding gaze.
    'Hmm,' he nodded his head, then broke into a proper grin. It was the kind of grin you reserved for when you just found out you'd won the lottery – it was surprising, jubilant and....
    Ebony's eyebrows descended, her teeth clenching. What was this guy up to?
    'I definitely know what your problem is,' the smile stayed on his lips as he turned to follow the others through the door.
    'Hey,' she said, voice cracking louder than it had been all morning, 'what are you talking about, I don't have a problem!'
    'Yeah, you do. And I know what it is,' he turned to face her, walking backwards for a moment, grin still very real and very apparent.
    'What is it then?' Ebony crossed her arms, and flicked her hair to the side.
    'Oh no, I figured it out – now you've got to figure it out on your own.' He finally turned from her and then disappeared through the door without another word.
    If Ebony had a lollipop in her mouth, it would have fallen out by now, hitting the floor and smashing into little pieces. What? What was that idiot up to, she thought to herself, fists clenching. Why, that little blighter, she thought biting down hard, he was such a little sponge-head. She didn't have a problem! Well, apart from the obvious – but it was just cruel to point that out.
    Ebony stood there for several seconds, fuming like a chimney that had caught fire. It wasn't until Frank walked up behind her, offering a shaky cough, that she snapped back to reality.
    'Oh, Frank,' she said, finally unclenching her jaw.
    'Hello, Ebony Bell,' he used her full name, which summed Frank up completely. He'd been here so long that he'd seen Ebony grow up from a little bub. He still saw her father regularly too, and would always bemoan to Ebony, at any opportunity, how good her dad had been as the Detective Inspector. He had class, Frank would say, and heart. He was a good man. And you just didn't see that these days.
    Ebony offered her own small cough. 'So, where's my office? Ben said you'd show me there.'
    Frank nodded, his graying hair flopping on his head as if it was more of a cushion and less like it was actually attached to his skin. 'You are looking very nice today, Ebony Bell,' he commented with a gentlemanly nod. 'You're usually in those terribly big and pointy heels – but those are very fancy shoes you've got on there – very nice.'
    Ebony felt like taking a step back and shaking her head in disbelief. What on Earth was with these shoes?! While the rest of her outfit was attracting more boos than a pop song at a death metal concert, it seemed that old people thought her shoes were the second coming.
    Was she missing something? Were these the shoes of God? Had they starred in an awesome film in the 30's? Were they the shoes everyone simply had to have back when Frank was a boy?
    'Umm,' Ebony just put up a hand, making a strange face, 'o... kay,' she said finally, not wanting to be rude. 'Thanks... these shoes are pretty good.'
    Ebony made a mental note to go home and search through the rest of her wardrobe that night. There was bound to be an imp in there casting curious spells on her clothes – it was the only way to explain this.
    'Alright then, you follow me, and I'll take you to your office. I'll warn you though; it's a bit of a walk.'
    Ebony scratched at her nose, slightly confused. 'Umm, I thought I was just going to get a desk in here, with you guys? So I could stay close to the action-'
    'Oh, never any action in there, Ebony Bell,' Frank sniffed heartily as if that fact was a grim burden. 'Just coffee. Anyway, I thought, seeing as you are here to look through some old files for a while, that I'd put you with the files. Seems right, doesn't it?'
    Ebony made an unpleasant face, but quickly shifted to a polite smile. 'Really? There's an office down there?'
    'Oh no, not down there. The basement is where we keep all the mundane files. No, Ben wants you to look through the unsolved magical cases.