Page 64 of Mystic Justice
‘Okay. Kate, take him away and get me a positive ID. We think he’s Ruben Jones, a werewolf, but we need confirmation before we notify his next of kin and his pack.’
‘Two lives lost, then,’ she murmured. ‘Ruben and his wolf. I’ll prioritise confirming the identity of this body then continue working on Bogan.’
‘Thanks, I appreciate that.’
And in the meantime, I would prioritise hunting down Jane Calder, the only fire elemental who worked at Botany. There had to be other fire elementals linked to the club – regulars, perhaps – but I had no names to work with. Now I was replaying events in my head: the panic on Jane’s face the first time she saw the Connection at the door; the way she’d blurted the news of Moss’s death to all the staff, and that over-dramatic faint of hers. My gut said she’d been playing a role, acting. Badly.
Yeah, my gut liked Jane for this all right, and if she was the culprit then we had to stop her before we had a fourth goddamn body in the morgue.
Chapter Thirty
Two weeks earlier I’d received a note fromThe Mystic Informerasking me to spill the dirt on Quintos, Carnforth and Katz. I’d done so, sharing a little more than was public knowledge but nothing too sensitive. IfTMIwas going to be a fixture of the Other realm, I wanted to be on their good side.
In turn they’d shared names of some women who claimed they’d been raped by Thomas Squiggins, a rich elite prick I’d tangled with when investigating the death of an ogre called Helga. Squiggins hadn’t been arrested like the others, but I hadn’t forgotten about him. I’d been contacting these women in my spare time and compiling statements. I still had three women to speak to but then I’d be going after the bastard with everything I had. Since those names, I hadn’t heard fromTMI, so I was surprised when my phone beeped with an incoming message from them:Any comments on the Elemental Executions? We’ll be running a piece later today.
I grimaced and thought carefully about my reply. I didn’t want them to give the killers any more limelight, not yet, though there might come a time when that could be useful.
I replied:Hold the story for twelve hours, and you’ll get your comment. A full expose – if you just sit on it. We’re closing in but something from you might spook them.I hit send and hoped they’d hold the damn article.
As I looked at my phone, I noticed that I’d missed a notification from SPEL: a request for a meeting at my earliest convenience from DSU Thackeray. Shit. In Thackeray-speak ‘at my earliest convenience’ translated to ‘get your arse in here immediately’.
‘What’s up?’ Krieg asked.
‘I’ve been summoned to the station,’ I said grimly. ‘Thackeray wants to see me.’
‘I’ll drive you.’
‘You don’t need to. I thought you were due to do “you stuff” today. You said you freed up a couple of days and we’re on day three.’
‘I can give you another.’ He paused. ‘I want to see this through.’
I understood that. ‘This case may not have a fast conclusion,’ I warned.
He shook his head. ‘You have the scent now. You’re closing in on them.’
‘At best I’ve still only identified half of the killers.’
‘You’ll find the other one,’ he said. His absolute confidence in my abilities warmed me.
‘I will,’ I agreed, because there really was no other option.
‘Channing,’ I called. ‘Finish up here, secure the chain of evidence then meet me back at the station. Work with Ji-ho, dig into Jane Calder. We need to know about her family, her history – hell, get me her damned bra size. Anything and everything. You got it?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
I ignored the ma’am. We’d get there. ‘I’m going in to update Thackeray. See you back at the station.’
Krieg slung an arm around my shoulders. ‘Come on, let’s go.’ The weight of his arm around my shoulders was comforting and I let him leave it there, just this once.
I whistled to Loki and he joined us from the boughs of a nearby tree. I’d been expecting him to wisecrack about barbecues or something equally distasteful, but he stayed quiet. His energy levels seemed better but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with him. I’d find out what when I had some spare headspace. ‘You okay, Loki?’ I asked.
‘Added wolf to fire.’ He squawked and shook his head in disgust. ‘When we find bitch, we fight with fire. Burn, bitch, burn.’ He hummed ‘Disco Inferno’.
I could work with fire but air was the element that came to me most naturally. To work with fire I needed a match or a lighter, something to spark a flame that I could grow. Maybe Iwouldfight fire with fire. Maybe I’d grab a lighter later; it was better to be prepared.
My instincts were telling me that Jane was our killer but we had nothing to back that up: no forensic evidence, no witnesses, no CCTV. I needed to be certain before I meted out terminal justice:feelingpretty sure wasn’t anywhere near good enough, not when lives were on the line.
I needed evidence, and for that I needed a stroll into Jane’s house. What we currently had wouldn’t be enough for the Common police, but the Other played fast and loose with the rules. All I needed was Thackeray’s consent and we could rock and roll.
