Page 48 of Veiled Justice
By the time we’d finished the interviews with everyone, we had a similar picture to the one at Quintos’s affair: no one had seen or heard anything. It was like trying to get a statement from people on one of the rougher council estates: either they were wilfully ignoring the crimes, or, more likely, magic had been used to keep the sounds escaping from the area. If it were the latter, these crimes were premeditated. I’d have put good money on that being the case.
Louisa gave a delicate but exaggerated yawn. ‘That’s everyone, Inspector. I trust you can now make your way off the premises? You can leave that beefcake behind, though. I have never seen one so well-proportioned.’ She winked. ‘Makes you wonder about hishiddenproportions, doesn’t it?’
I gritted my teeth. ‘Give my best to your father. Shame he was taken ill and unable to attend.’
Her smile faltered. ‘Of course,’ she said when she recovered. She reached out and grabbed another flute of champagne. Her dress tonight was a dark navy, not as adept at hiding stains as black but close. I couldn’t see any blood on it but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
‘So what do you think?’ I asked. ‘Was your gala more successful than Quintos’s masquerade?’
She gave a tinkling laugh. ‘Why, of course it was! Just look around!’
To my total disgust, the party was still in full swing. Once the partygoers had gone from waiting to be interviewed to having been interviewed, they had continued enjoying themselves with gusto. To my poorly concealed outrage, it was apparent that some of them considered us part of their entertainment and were gossiping about who had interviewed them. The fact that there was a killer amongst them didn’t seem to worry them a jot. After all, the killer was murderingcreatures, not witches, wizards and elementals.
‘Can I walk you to the door?’ Louisa asked solicitously.
‘In a hurry for me to leave?’ I asked.
Her smile widened. ‘Not at all, but I’m sure you have a very busy night writing up all those interviews.’
Now that I’d done my job, it was apparent that my invitation to the party had been revoked. That was fine with me. Ignoring her, I stalked over to Krieg and Channing. ‘That’s everyone. Let’s go. Apparently, we’re cramping their style.’
I appreciated Channing’s visible disgust at their callous behaviour.
‘Give me your notes,’ Krieg said. ‘I’ll get Hanlon to type them up.’
After a moment’s hesitation, I fished out my PNB and gestured for Channing to do the same. ‘Go home,’ I said to my tired partner. ‘Get some rest. We’ll meet in the office first thing tomorrow morning.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
I watched him yawn as he climbed into a black Ford Focus and drove off. A flash of white caught my eye in the trees: Loki was fluttering nearby, keeping out of sight. I hoped he had some good news for me; Lord knows I could do with it.
Kate had just finished loading up the body as I went over to her. She flashed me a warm smile but her eyes were tired. ‘Long day?’ I asked.
‘And now a long night.’ She nodded at the van.
I sighed. ‘She can wait a while. Different wounds this time,’ I commented.
She brightened. ‘You have such a great eye! These wounds were made with a serrated knife and there were far fewer of them. Neither were there any defensive injuries on her hands.’
‘You think she was drugged, too?’
Kate nodded. ‘It seems likely. With all the greenery around her, all she needed to do was sink into a tree to be safe but instead she just lay there and died. I think she was unable to move for one reason or another.’
As Ed joined us, he caught the end of her comment. ‘I’m pretty sure the tiki torches have been enchanted.’
‘With what?’ I demanded.
‘I can’t be sure until they’ve been tested, but there’s a definite pull to them. I think they’ve had a siren song embedded in them.’
No wonder Ava had been pulled to them: they’d been spelled to do exactly that. ‘Get that confirmed, ASAP,’ I half-asked, half-ordered. ‘And test the torches from Helga’s murder scene, too.’
Ed clasped my shoulder. ‘You got it. With your brother on the line, it’s my number-one priority.’
Kate gasped. ‘Oh my goodness! How is he involvedagain?’
‘Rupert found the second body,’ I admitted. ‘Someone is setting him up as a fall guy, and I intend to find out who.’
Kate slammed her van door shut. ‘I’ll glug an energy drink and get right on this.’
