Page 28 of Veiled Justice
He seemed determined to ride shotgun on this case and I didn’t have the political clout to dissuade him – and anyway, I didn’t have my car with me – so I simply climbed in. Loki flew in and settled on ‘his’ headrest at the back.
‘Thanks,’ I said evenly. So far Krieg’s presence hadn’t inhibited my work and having a driver was handy; besides, his presence might be helpful with the interview. I had no doubt he had intimidation down to an art form.
‘Volderiss said Verona and Ludwig are in the office today and we’re okay to interview them.’ I clicked on my seat belt as Krieg started the car.
His eyebrow twitched in a minute movement, which was all that betrayed that he was surprised. ‘Accommodating of him.’
‘Not everyone is an arsehole.’
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘But most people are.’
I shot him a sideways glance. ‘Your world must be a dark place.’
‘And yours isn’t?’ He sounded surprised.
I considered the question for a moment. ‘No, it’s not. I see dark things, but most people are aiming for good. Sometimes they miss, but most of them are only trying to do the right thing. It’s just thatdefinitions vary – their definition of the right thing isn’t necessarily the same as yours or mine.’
‘And killing Helga?’
‘I saidmostpeople aim for good. Every society has its bad apples and it’s my job to weed them out. One way or another.’ The Connection wholly endorsed – if not encouraged – the use of deadly force in the pursuit of justice. In a world full of deadly magical beings, it had to be the deadliest.
The Inspectors had a Latin slogan:Pro iustitia non dubitamus,which meant ‘for justice, we do not hesitate’. In other words, lop heads off first and ask questions later. That attitude had been embraced by some of my predecessors, like Inspector Stone. He had been the Connection’s bogeyman: any time they’d needed a deadly result, they had sent him. But now that he was MIA, the rest of us were getting pressure from on high to make sure that the Other realm didn’t think that his absence had weakened us.
We were actively encouraged to use lethal force when possible. Paperwork, jails, appeals – all of that was a hassle the Connection would prefer to avoid, and petty crime was mainly dealt with in-house by the various magical factions. We were the worst type of police force but I hoped that – eventually – by being a part of the problem, I could one day become a part of the solution.
‘And what are we going to do when we findthisbad apple?’ Krieg’s tone held no censure, only genuine curiosity.
‘We’ll bring them to justice.’
‘But what does thatmean?’ he pressed. ‘What is justice for you?’
‘It isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. When we find the killer and we knowwhythey did it, we’ll know how to deal with them.’
Some killers, the ones who wouldn’t stop and who would thrive in prison, I would put down without hesitation. For others, the confinement of prison would be a worse punishment than death so I processed those and locked them away for a very long time. Not everyone deserved death; some deserved to suffer.
The Other didn’t give you a jury of your peers; there was no day in court in front of an impartial judge. Justice started and ended with me, but for my own sake I had to know I was doing thingsright.I approached every case as if I would arrest the perpetrator and gather iron-clad evidence to strengthen my case. I couldn’t work and live amongst my human police counterparts and do less than that.
And because my justice could be deadly, I had to besureit was meted out to the right person. For my own sanity.
‘You fascinate me,’ Krieg murmured. ‘You and your idea of situational justice.’
Before I could reply, he pulled out his phone and set the handset down so I could see who he was calling: Amber DeLea. Then he hit speakerphone.
I guessed that, like me, he had his own witch contacts. I’d met Amber briefly but she wasn’t someone I was warm and fuzzy with like Kass, and Amber certainly didn’t owe me any favours. Still, I could see the value of having Krieg and his contacts by my side on this; Amber DeLea was the newly appointed Crone and presidedover the Coven Council. Like him, she was a mover and shaker; she would get results and probably faster than Kass could.
‘Yes?’ Amber answered the phone brusquely.
‘Imbarum,’ Krieg said, meeting her brusqueness and raising her with some extra brevity.
‘What of it?’
‘Where do I get it?’
‘Youdon’t.’
‘Someone used it on one of my ogres.’
She huffed a breath. ‘That’s a problem. Are they okay?’
