With a flick of his new Titian hair, Dickens admired his magical costume in the deli window. Kennedy bumped into the clueless page as she trudged up the sidewalk. Around the stream of passengers. Dickens scampered after her.

“Sorry, I’m just so pretty. I mean—handsome. I mean your spell is so well executed, Lady Kennedy,” Dickens stammered. “How’s it work again, Milady?”

Ignoring him, the tracker stomped away. She lifted the glowing moonstone over head and then checked out the derelict restaurant supply building. To the commuters hurrying to work the pair looked like tourists instead of a magical secret society m. Damn, wrong one! Kennedy scowled. Her research said Agent Plath’s visited a travel agency on this block before she died.

It seemed like the tracker was at another dead end. Hathaway ordered Kennedy to have Dickens, Plath’s grandson and Order acolyte, tag along. Blood follows blood, Hathaway had told her. Maybe the Order could find the missing MacGuffin if they could uncover how Plath found the powerful talisman.

“52, 56, 31! These numbers make no sense. There no number 648 on this street at all.”

Kennedy glanced over at Dickens. He was checking out his enchanted butt with his camera phone. Kennedy groaned. She started up the block again.

“Look page. The spell is fed by memory. My costume is my mental image of Marple and you’re Nancy Drew. But if you keep making out with yourself the glamour will get dog-eared and tear apart. You don’t want to be bare ass in Chinatown do you? Remember we are trying not to attract attention. Whoever stole the MacGuffin doesn’t know we know it’s missing,” Kennedy said.

“Of course Milady. Sorry. I’ve never dreamed of being part of quest, investing exotic storefronts and ramshackle cold water flats. I feel so Dashiell Hammett. Very Maltese Falcon in a miniskirt.”

Kennedy stopped.

“I know some streets get renumbered. Maybe we need to look up old postal maps?” Dickens said.

“Or maybe we need to look down. Like a basement apartment.”

The moonstone glowed bright in kennedy’s hand. Under the stone’s power the storm doors opened. A bright teal door winked in the darkness.

“Hey Milady does this basement make my butt look big?” Dickens said laughing.