Garnette Davis opened her briefcase and took out a bound report that was at least four inches thick. As she handed it to Adelaide the pages rustled. Adelaide put her hand on the cover as if to calm the pages within, then opened to the first page and read aloud, her clear aristocratic voice silencing even the recorded noises in the room.

“In the autumn of 2009, a committee was formed to investigate irregularities at the institution of Fairwick College, the village of Fairwick, and the outlying woods and farmlands. Because the last door to Faerie existed in the woods of Fairwick the area has long been a haven for supernatural creatures – fey, demon, and undesignated.”

“Could you please clarify what you meant by the term ‘undesignated’?” Loomis Pagan asked archly.

Adelaide gave Loomis a withering look, picked up a separate sheet and began reading aloud in a bored monosyllabic voice. “Vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, half breeds …”

Half breeds? I wondered. Wasn’t I a sort of half breed? I focused back on Adelaide who was still listing creatures who came under the undesignated label “… trows, poltergeists, revenants, zombies …”

“I think we get the idea,” Delbert Winters interrupted, glaring at Loomis Pagan. “Can we get on with this? I’m catching a plane to Iceland tonight.”

“I’d be happy to get on with it,” Adelaide replied, picking up the report and reading where she had left off. “For many years it had been thought the door was inactive, but when it came to our attention that the door was not only active, but that creatures were passing freely between worlds without any supervision, the Grove decided to investigate the nature of the college and community. We found that at least 353 undocumented aliens were living in the town, among them races known to feed on humans, such as incubi, lidercs, and succubi, and that numerous attacks had been made on humans.”

Liz cleared her throat. “Excuse me, Madame Chancellor. May I ask where you are getting your information?”

“Certainly. Because we wanted to be sure that there could be no accusation of bias, we subcontracted a report from an independent third party – the Internal Affairs Division of the Institute of Magical Professionals.”

“I was not aware that we were being investigated,” Liz trilled in full Jean Brodie mode.

Adelaide lowered her glasses and gave Liz a withering look. I would not have imagined that anyone could intimidate Elizabeth Book, but I saw her stiffen under my grandmother’s scrutiny.

“Your awareness of the investigation would have invalidated it. Dr. Greeley can attest that the investigation was conducted under proper IMP guidelines.”

Talbot Greeley adjusted the knot of his bow tie and re-crossed his legs without looking at Liz. “We’d had complaints, Liz. My hands were tied.”

Liz’s face had gone very pale and she was clenching her hands so tightly under the table that I saw her knuckles bulging. “I see. May I know what this agent discovered?”