Mid-morning, someone knocked at the gate. On the camera they saw an attractive lady waiting.
"Mrs. Wen!" Lu Shen exclaimed. "I forgot to tell her to come another day."
"Do you have to meet her for work?" Zeyang asked.
"I have to deliver some spells."
"I'll take care of it."
After a moment's hesitation, the sorcerer nodded. He went to the study and returned with a small package.
Zeyang went outside and approached the woman.
"Where is the sorcerer?" she asked him.
"He apologizes, but he can't come."
"Is he well?"
"Yes, ma'am. Everything's fine."
She looked past his shoulders toward the house, then handed the money to Zeyang and took the package. "Tell him I'll come back next month."
"I will." He waited until she got into the green sedan, then went back inside.
"Shen, what spells did you give Mrs. Wen?"
"Car protection."
"Are they complex?"
"No, not at all."
"Did you know Mrs. Wen is a witch?"
"What?"
"Yes."
Lu Shen did not speak.
"Do all those who possess magic learn spells?"
"Yes, it's our basic training: we have to learn to manage power or we risk hurting someone—or ourselves."
"How long has she been your client?"
"Almost since I opened the business. She comes once a month…"
"Can I run a background check on her?"
The sorcerer nodded. She had always been courteous, had never caused trouble, and had always requested simple spells. Why, if she was able to cast them herself?
Seeing his troubled expression, Zeyang smiled at him. "Maybe she's just in love with you!"
He widened his eyes.
The policeman laughed. "It seems that scares you more than when burglars broke into your house."
Lu Shen shot him a glare.
---
The following day, as soon as he returned to the office, Zeyang searched for information about Mrs. Wen Ming. She turned out not to exist.
He called Lu Shen and asked whether he had the recordings from the previous day, had him send the part where the woman appeared, then brought everything to Liam. "Find me her identity."
"In what case is she involved?"
"None. It's a personal matter."
"Okay," his colleague replied. It was the first time the detective had asked him for something like that, and he wondered what was behind it, but since he had complete trust in him, he set to work identifying the woman.
In the meantime, Zeyang had gone to Lombardi's office.
"How's the sorcerer?"
"Alive. I should have been more cautious."
The werewolf studied him. "Li, there were no grounds to assign him protection."
Zeyang began to spin the pen between his fingers without answering. "Any news?" he then asked.
"None. On the other hand, we have the army's help monitoring the access routes to the city, so the three suspects won't be able to leave."
"Does General Lu have that kind of power?"
Lombardi nodded. "He's a big shot at the Ministry of Defense. He can move any of us as he pleases."
"What kind of man is he?"
"You wouldn't get along with him: rigid, authoritarian, not at all open to dialogue or discussion."
Zeyang thought of Lu Shen and wondered how difficult it must have been to live with a parent like that, and how much strength it had taken to break away. His respect for him grew.
With a nod of farewell, he stood and returned to his office. Andrea was sitting with Matt and they were drafting the report of the last resolved case. He was truly happy for her.
---
Liam knocked on the door and Zeyang gestured for him to come in. Seated in the armchair, he was tapping his pen against the notepad in front of him.
"I found her."
The detective straightened and leaned over the desk to take the papers the officer had printed.
"It wasn't easy. It's as if she or someone else tried to make her disappear. Her real name is Mo Yiran. She was affiliated with the sorcerers' guild. A few years ago she canceled her membership. She currently owns and runs an herbal shop in the old part of the city." Liam paused and Zeyang looked at him.
"What else?" he asked.
"She was married to General Lu Wei and is Lu Shen's mother."
"Are you certain about this information?"
The other nodded.
"Thank you. Don't mention it to anyone."
Liam nodded again and took his leave.
Zeyang flipped through the file, then stood up, took his jacket, and left.
---
"It wasn't necessary for you to come," Lu Shen greeted him, ushering him in. "I'm fine, and you've been away from home for three days."
Zeyang smiled at him. "I was hoping you'd offer me dinner."
"I'll be glad to. Ling prepared quite a few things. He's a better cook than I am, I hope that's all right."
"Perfect."
At the end of dinner, Zeyang was about to stand up, but Lu Shen stopped him. "Now tell me what you want to talk to me about."
At the other's questioning look, he explained, "You've been preoccupied since you arrived. I attribute part of it to tiredness, but there's something else."
Zeyang couldn't deny it: he had come there to talk to him about Mrs. Wen, but he couldn't find the right words. "I did some research on your client…"
"Mrs. Wen?"
"Yes, but that's not her real name." He looked at the face marked by bruises and hoped that what he was about to say would not be an even deeper wound. "Her name is actually Mo Yiran."
Surprise crossed Lu Shen's eyes, then Zeyang saw him press his lips together.
"You already know who she is?"
Zeyang nodded, hoping that his intrusion into his family sphere would not upset Lu Shen.
"Do you also know that she left when I was two years old and never showed herself again?" His voice was hard, sharp.
He shook his head. "Shen…"
The sorcerer stood up. "My mother abandoned me and my father tried to use me for his own ends. The result is me," he concluded with a hard smile.
Zeyang reached him but did not touch him. "The result is admirable," he replied with a smile.
Lu Shen looked at him, taken aback, not knowing what to answer.
Zeyang, instead, began clearing the table.