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The corridor where Thornfield’s quarters were located was eerily silent, with only a prefect standing guard outside the door.

Cecillia thanked him and dismissed him with a nod.

“James Thornfield shared his rooms with another student, Geoffrey Hunniford,” she explained as she unlocked the door.“Hunniford is currently being questioned by Professor Dearmont.”

“I’m sure that’s going splendidly,” Rufus remarked dryly.

Evander turned to Shaw.“I’d like you to speak with the housemaster and the students on this floor.Find out if anyone heard or saw anything unusual not just last night, but in the past week.”

“Yes, your Grace.”

“I’ll help Shaw,” Rufus volunteered.

Evander nodded.“Very well.Leon and I will examine the rooms.”

Thornfield’s quarters consisted of a modest sitting room with two desks, bookshelves, a sitting area with a fireplace, and doors leading to separate bedchambers.The chamber was neat but looked lived-in, papers and books stacked on both desks and a half-played game of chess abandoned on a small table between two armchairs.

Evander released a faint pulse of magic.It failed to pick up anything untoward.

“Which side belongs to Thornfield?”he asked, scanning the room.

“The desk by the window and the bedchamber on the left,” Cecillia replied.

Chapter15

Evander movedto the desk first.

The surface was meticulously organised.The notebooks were arranged by subject, the quills were lined up by size, and the reference texts were stacked in neat piles.It spoke of a methodical mind.

Evander opened the topmost notebook.He frowned as he skimmed the contents.

“What is it?”Leon joined him.

“Thornfield was writing a thesis on elemental transmutation theory.”Evander flipped through several pages of precise diagrams and equations.“Quite advanced work for a student, even one under Whitley’s tutelage.”

“Walter said he was the most brilliant student he’d had in years,” Cecillia commented.

Leon began examining the reference texts, his fingers trailing along the spines of the tomes before he opened them.

“It seems he was looking into rare magical phenomena,” he observed with a frown.“Many of these texts are restricted at the Paris Institute.”

A chill settled in Evander’s stomach as Leon passed him one of the books.

“Thornfield was researching the same subject Whitley and Chevalier were investigating?”He glanced at Cecillia.

“Who’s Chevalier?”she asked, her confused gaze swinging between Leon and him.

Evander checked the door was closed before answering.

“Please keep this a secret for now,” he said steadily.“Professor Henri Chevalier is an advanced Elemental Magic specialist at the Paris Institute for the Arcane.He was Whitley’s French collaborator.He went missing four days ago.”

Cecillia gasped, the blood draining from her face as she brought a hand to her mouth.

“Could Thornfield have been aware of Whitley’s collaboration with Chevalier?”Leon pressed her.

Cecillia hesitated before shaking her head.“I—I’m not sure.”She swallowed nervously.“But they’ve been working very closely, so it’s possible Walter told him in confidence.”Her eyes widened as she recalled something.“In fact, I think that’s likely.James often assisted the professor with his correspondence.”

Evander’s misgivings deepened.It was becoming clear that Whitley, Chevalier, and probably even Thornfield had been watched for some time by whoever had kidnapped them.