Page 33 of Mystic Justice
I blinked in surprise. What on earth was going on that Thackeray would summon our admin assistant as well? That was beyond weird. I used the toilet and quickly hustled upstairs.
The brass had their own floor separate from the rest of us hoi polloi. You generally got summoned up for a benediction or a bollocking; given that I had two dead bodies and no leads, I guessed I was about to get the latter. I wished I wouldn’t have an audience for it.
I knocked once on Thackeray’s door and strode in. Sitting on one chair was the beautiful blonde PC Kara Frost and next to her was Detective Sonia McCaffrey from CID. Sonia was a natural redhead. Her hair was tied back neatly in a bun and she was wearing minimal makeup, just some mascara. Laura was there, too, as were Elvira and Bland.
I kept my surprise off my face. Everyone present was Other. Gathering all of us like this was highly unusual because normally the objective was for the cross-over staff to blend in, not be singled out. That Thackeray had done so made me tense. I could tell that this would be more than a dressing down but I had no idea what it would be.
I stood to attention. With all of us in there, the spacious room felt crowded. Thackeray finally looked up from the paperwork on his mahogany desk. ‘At ease,’ he said. ‘Wise, run it down for everyone.’
‘Yes, sir. Moss Hollings, a twenty-year-old dryad from the Sefton Park Grove, went missing in the early hours of Tuesday the first of July as she left her place of work. Detective McCaffrey and her team tracked Miss Hollings’ CCTV progress and she was not seen again after she arrived at Botany at the beginning of her shift. Given the marks found around her wrists, we believe that she was kidnapped and held against her will. She was found dead on Sunday the sixth of July at 5am by Common witnesses, Fred and Kai Cornel. Both were wiped by Witterhall and escorted off the scene by PC Frost, who had secured the scene expertly prior to my arrival.
‘I arrived at 8.30am and Detective Channing at 8.40am. When we got there, the corpse was hidden by a willow tree but we could ascertain that the deceased was a dryad. Rather than compromise the scene, we requested assistance from a local grove. Jude Jingo, who is currently wearing the form ofAsh Aspen of Grosvenor Grove, attended together with Fern Bellvine.
‘Ms Bellvine persuaded the tree to relinquish the corpse, at which point it became clear that the likely cause of death was drowning. Miss Hollings was tied up securely and had been held under the water until death – that is notable because Miss Hollings was known to be extremely frightened of water. Two sets of footprints were found at the scene, one larger and one smaller. At this time we are postulating a two-person team was responsible for the kidnapping and murder. I consider it likely a male and female duo are responsible, but it could also be a male and a younger male acolyte.’
Thackeray interrupted. ‘You were at a known fishing site, yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘So the prints could be from MOPs?’
‘I don’t think that’s likely, sir. A line between the sets of prints had been gouged into the dirt and I believe it was made by Miss Hollings dragging her feet and resisting being taken to the water. That marries up with her fear.’
Thackeray nodded at me to continue my report.
‘At noon we passed the death message and spoke to a former lover of Miss Hollings – he was at work at the time of death, and that has been substantiated by CCTV footage. The ME, Kate Potter, has determined the time of death to have been between 1am and 1.30am on the morning of Sunday the sixth of July. The victim’s father doesn’t have an alibi for that period. The mother took a sleeping potion that would have knocked her out across the relevant period – the father confirmed that she took the potion.
‘Kate Potter also found runes on the body, but they’re not ones either of us have seen before. They were not visible on inspection of the skin but seem to have been branded onto Miss Hollings’ bones. When the ME lit them up, she suffered severe energy loss.
‘We interviewed the staff of Botany, who were largely co-operative. Our notes tally with those made by McCaffrey – my review of the file acknowledges the excellent work that McCaffrey and her team have done. After the staff interviews, we identified a further discrepancy. One of the staff, a witch called Sandra Jaxim, claimed she was at work until midnight whereas an off-duty staff member saw her at their coven residence at 10.30pm. We are in the process of verifying that with the coven tower CCTV then we’ll bring in Ms Jaxim for questioning. We also still need to speak to the bar owner, a vampyr known as Gideon Merrick.’
I took another breath. ‘At three minutes past midnight on Monday, Jude Jingo notified us that a body had been found at Grosvenor Park. It appeared to be that of a male centaur who had been dropped from a significant height and died instantly. The body is with the ME, but currently it still hasn’t been identified. The ME immediately noted similar internal runes to the ones that were found in Moss Hollings.’
A grimace crossed Thackeray’s face as he leaned back in his chair. ‘Two kills in twenty-four hours.’
‘Yes, sir. I suspect the kidnappers waited to kill Miss Hollings until we were approaching the full moon. We now have two more days when the moon is at its fullest.’
‘Why take her so early?’ he asked. ‘They took her days before her death.’
‘Maybe an opportunity arose that they couldn’t resist,’ I suggested. ‘Or the excitement just got to them.’
‘You suspect they will kill again?’
‘Yes, sir.’ I hesitated but then decided to be open about my current theory. ‘Miss Hollings was killed by water and the centaur by air – or perhaps earth, depending which way you look at it. However, I lean towards air as it is falling that will have caused fear. The runes sucked at the ME’s magic when she litthem up, so I believe they are there to harvest fear and life force and enhance the killer’s own magic.’
‘An evil witch or necromancer, then,’ he muttered. ‘You believe there is an elemental aspect to these murders?’
‘I do. I suspect the next victim will be killed by fire or by earth.’
‘Two more deaths?’ Thackeray posited. ‘Let’s catch the bastards before they carry them out.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘At ease, Wise.’ He looked at us all then steepled his fingers. ‘I know you’ll be wondering why I’ve gathered you here. It’s because you’re all going to be part of a new task force. We are in the unique position of having some Other folks currently in charge of the Common police force, so we are setting up a task force that is wholly Other.’
His eyes locked pointedly with mine. ‘We have worked in a solitary manner for too long. There is a reason why the police force operates in teams, and we’re going to emulate their model. We’re setting you up with your own Other police station with Other-appropriate interview rooms and cells. There’ll be no more of this cloak-and-dagger BS. Wise will run the unit with Garcia as second.’
His tone brooked no argument. ‘Wise excels at murder investigations, Caffrey at tracking down missing persons, and Bland is an expert at solving thefts. Frost and Channing will continue on-the-job training and you will all be supported by our admin assistant, Laura. You will be facilitated directly by our Other SOCO team, Edward Pembroke and Samuel Radcliffe, and the ME, Kate Potter. Witterhall will support you when you need clearings.’
