Page 52 of Wolfsbane Hall
“Please don’t,” Vivian said under her breath.
Everett wiggled his nose, ignoring his cousin’s—half-sister’s?—comment. He said in a thick Australian accent, “Blimey, what a mess. Everyone, stand aside.” He stretched his arms out as if he were holding people off, but there was no one to hold off, because no one cared. “We must examine the body. To my side, Celestine…I mean, Margot. Please assist.”
By assist, what he meant was to make him look good. Celestine had a feeling the Phantom didn’t give him nearly enough direction or lines, because Everett’s eyes were like a deer in headlights, and he bunched his hands into his pockets nervously.
It begged the question: Why even bother with this show today?
“I am already assisting.” Celestine motioned to the fact that she was already hovering over the body. “You may continue.”
“Right.” He knelt beside Celestine. “Umm, what do we do now?” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
“Gloves,” she whispered back.
“Righto.” Everett held up his hands and motioned for Celestine to do the same. Magic swirled around them, sticking and forming rubber surgical gloves, and a tweezer-like tool appeared in Celestine’s hand.
The visual examination came first. On the inner side of a wrist was a lipstick smudge. A different color from the color Lorraine was wearing on her lips.
Plum.
Like Irene’s.
So only Everett could hear, Celestine whispered, “A projectile arrow to the left abdomen, most likely piercing the stomach.”
Everett repeated her loudly and showily. The two of themoften did this during shows, so they were used to this dance. He was like Sherlock Holmes, and she was his Watson—if Watson was the one solving the crimes.
“One stab wound to the upper chest”—Celestine grasped the tweezers between her fingers, using them to displace Lorraine’s clothing and examine the wound closer—“piercing the lung.”
Everett repeated it.
“One stab wound to the middle chest.” She rolled the body slightly over as Everett repeated the words. “And one final stab wound to the back left… Probably the fatal one, if it had pierced her abdominal aorta. But of course, we can’t be certain of anything until the autopsy.”
Everett chose not to repeat the last bit, because he wasn’t overly fond of scientific accuracy like she was—or James was.
Celestine was about to stand, having gathered as much information as she could without a proper lab, but then something caught her attention. Red discoloration at the back of Lorraine’s neck, under her ear. Celestine stroked it with her gloved finger. A tiny prick.
“No one move.” Everett’s voice boomed through the room. “We must uncover all the evidence.”
Celestine stood and rolled her gloves off. She cocked her head, once again staring up at the balcony, measuring the angle of the arrow. She started to step in that direction, but Everett cut her off.
“I said no one move.”
“The arrow.”
“We can examine that later.” He waved his arms dismissively. “Right now, we must start the interrogations. Everyone, grab a chair and sit in a row.”
Celestine shook her head. Police didn’t interview suspects together for a reason. But it was Everett’s ineptitude that madehis performance charming. It didn’t matter how many times he played the role; he was always shit at it.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to move,” Dean said, raising one of his manicured eyebrows.
Everett rolled his eyes at his twin. “We must get to the facts.” He motioned to Babette and Frances, because he knew they would appease him—especially Babette. They placed their chairs in a row, looking at the dead body and the detective.
“What is this? The new group therapy thing that is all the rage in sanatoriums?” James asked. “I don’t particularly feel like being psychoanalyzed.”
“There’s not much to analyze in your head, brother. You’re a psychopath. You have no feelings and like to cut things open,” Vivian said, carrying a chair over to the row and sitting. “Perhaps we allshouldbe placed in a sanatorium, seeing our minds are all so incredibly off-kilter.”
“Sometimes, when dealing with our family, I feel like I already am.” Dean shared a look with Vivian and placed his chair beside her.
Everett chuckled.
