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For Debbie Chester, who taughtAnd forI really needed to know about living I miss you dad

Chapter One

I heard the mailman approach my office door, half an hour earlier than usual He didn&039;t sound right His footsteps fell uy He whistled his way to hed

Then he knocked

I winced My istered I get a really liood news I got up out of my office chair and opened the door

The new s and a sunburned, balding head, was chuckling at the sign on the door glass He glanced at , right?"

I read the sign (people change it occasionally), and shook my head "No, I&039;m serious Can I have my mail, please"

"So, uh Like parties, shows, stuff like that?" He looked past er, or possibly so around hed, not in the ain, and reached for the mail he held in his hand "No, not like that I don&039;t do parties"

He held on to it, his head tilted curiously "So what? Sos?"

"No," I told hied at the mail

He held on to it "What are you, then?"

"What&039;s the sign on the door say?"

"It says &039;Harry Dresden Wizard »

"That&039;s rinning, as though I should let him in on the joke "Spells and potions? Deer?"

"Not so subtle" I jerked the mail out of his hand and looked pointedly at his clipboard "Can I sign for rin vanished, replaced with a scowl He passed over the clipboard to let n for the mail (another late notice from my landlord), and said, "You&039;re a nut That&039;s what you are" He took his clipboard back, and said, "You have a nice day, sir"

I watched hio

"Typical," I muttered, and shut the door

My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden Conjure by it at your own risk I&039;o As far as I know, I&039; professional wizard in the country You can find es, under "Wizards" Believe it or not, I&039;m the only one there My ad looks like this:

HARRY DRESDEN - WIZARD

Lost Ite Advice Reasonable Rates

No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment

You&039;d be surprised how many people call just to ask s I&039;d seen, if you knew half of what I knew, you&039;d wonder how anyone could not think I was serious

The end of the twentieth century and the dawn of the newof a renaissance in the public awareness of the paranormal Psychics, haunts, vampires - you name it People still didn&039;t take thes Science had promised us hadn&039;t come to pass Disease was still a problem Starvation was still a problem Violence and crime and ere still probles just hadn&039;t changed the way everyone had hoped and thought they would

Science, the largest religion of the twentieth century, had beco space shuttles, crack babies, and a generation of complacent Americans who had allowed the television to raise their children People were looking for so - I think they just didn&039;t knohat And even though they were once again starting to open their eyes to the world of ic and the arcane that had been with theht I must be some kind of joke

Anyway, it had been a slow month A slow pair of et paid until the tenth of March, and it was looking like it ht up for this month

My only job had been the previous week, when I&039;d gone down to Branson, Missouri, to investigate a country singer&039;s possibly haunted house It hadn&039;t been My client hadn&039;t been happy with that answer, and had been even less happy when I suggested he lay off of any intoxicating substances and try to get sos otten travel expenses plus an hour&039;s pay, and gone away feeling I had done the honest, righteous, and i I heard later that he&039;d hired a shyster psychic to come in and perforhts Some people

I finished up my paperback and tossed it into the DONE box There was a pile of read and discarded paperbacks in a cardboard box on one side of led I&039; the pile of unread books, considering which to start next, given that I had no real work to do, when

I stared at it in a so After the third ring, when I thought I wouldn&039;t sound a little too eager, I picked up the receiver and said, "Dresden"

"Oh Is this, uetic, as though she were terribly afraid she would be insulting ht It&039;s Harry Dresden the, ah, lizard Harry the wizard is one door down

It is the prerogative of wizards to be gruative of freelance consultants who are late on their rent, so instead of saying so smart, I told the woman on the phone, "Yes, ma&039;am How can I help you today?"

"I, u, and I thinklost articles is a specialty," I said "What would I be looking for?"

There was a nervous pause "My husband," she said She had a voice that was a little hoarse, like a cheerleader who&039;d been working a long tournaht of years in it to place her as an adult