Page 68 of Veiled Justice
‘Please,honey,’ I snorted, enjoying tossing the patronising moniker right back at him. ‘It’s too late for that. The best you can hope for is to give me enough on Quintos and Carnforth so that the CPS let you plea-bargain in exchange for your evidence.’
He licked his lips. ‘I want total immunity.’
‘I’m sure you do, but that’s not how this works,honey. We need to know what you’ve got before we agree to anything.’ His lawyer would have told him that was total BS, but in his naïve arrogance he hadn’t hired one. ‘Lay it all out for me, Caspian. When did Quintos first approach you?’
Katz swallowed hard. ‘We were in Nocturne, drunk. It was just drunk talk – or so I thought at first. Quintos was showing off the way he always does. He likes to boast and we indulge him because he’s wealthy and powerful. He loves filling the books inPride. He’s part of the elite and we were thrilled when he started hanging out with us. Dad says he’s got no class, that he’s first-generation wealthy – but that’s what makes it fun, you know? Quintos doesn’t have the airs and graces that we’ve been raised with. It’s been eye-opening, spending time with him – he made us realise how much power we have.’ He looked smug.
‘You, Tom Squiggins and Jameson Montague?’
‘Yeah. So this one time, we were shooting the breeze, talking about his charity masquerade. He said he had a bet with Louisa about who could throw the best party. He wanted to make his event stand out, and he said wouldn’t it be juicy if there was a murder? People would talk about it for years. Quintos said that he knew he was so rich he could get away with murder.’
That old excitement was creeping into Katz’s eyes again, the forbidden thrill. ‘We were just talking hypotheticals, of course, but we came up with a whole plan.’
‘All of you?’ I affected surprise.
‘Just me and Quintos.’ Katz snorted. ‘The others have no vision. We talked about killing someone and in particular a creature, because … you know.’ He waved a hand.
‘They’re just animals.’ I kept my voice as even as I could.
He shot me a relieved look. ‘Exactly. You get it. No different to killing a pig or whatever. Easier to get away with, rather than starting with a human.’
I kept my expression blank but I swear I could feel Krieg’s eyes boring down on us through the two-way glass.
‘So you decided to hire a creature to kill a creature?’
‘Spot on! How beautiful, how elegant.’ He kissed his fingers like a chef congratulating himself on a well-cooked dish. ‘We wouldn’t even get our own hands dirty buteveryonewould be talking about it.’
‘It’s not your fault if two ogres or two dryads go at it and kill each other.’ Faux understanding dripped from my tongue.
‘Exactly!’ He beamed at me. ‘And it’s already making a splash. It’ll go down in history! Especially the way the kills were back-to-back like that. The whole thing was inspired – they’re calling it the Masked Murderer because the first death was at a masquerade ball and the killer’s identity is unknown. They were wearing a mask,’ he explained, as if I wouldn’t get it.
‘I got it,’ I smiled. ‘Your dad is sure to give you the business now!’
He frowned. ‘You’d think so, but he’s furious about the whole thing. Said I was reckless.’
‘You weren’t reckless, you were clever! You even signed the contracts yourself to keep the clients safe!’
‘Exactly!’
‘And you didn’t get your own hands dirty.Youdidn’t kill them.’
‘Exactly!’ he repeated with a grin.
I smiled. ‘And that’s why we’ll charge you with conspiracy to murder, rather than just plain old murder.’
His smile slid off his face. ‘Wait. What?’
‘Conspiracy to murder. Accessory to murder. Assisting or encouraging murder. You’ve been a busy boy.’
He paled. ‘I didn’tdoanything! I didn’t drug or stab anyone!’
‘You said it yourself – you planned it all.’
‘Hypothetically! I didn’t know Quintos was going to actually follow through with it.’
‘A jury might have believed that, but I don’t. And you don’t get a jury here.Yousigned those contracts.Youhired the ogre and the dryad.’
‘ForQuintosandCarnforth!If anyone is the murderer here, it’s them.’
