Page 8 of Veiled Justice
Katz answered. ‘We went into the gardens at around midnight. Everyone did – Quinty had laid on a fireworks’ display. When we went back inside, I noticed she’d gone.’
‘And you didn’t think that was odd?’
Montague spoke up. ‘Not really. Even ogres have to pee, right?’
‘She was gone longer than a piss break,’ I pointed out. ‘But you didn’t raise the alarm?’
Squiggins smirked. ‘I figured she was powdering her nose. Or maybe she got her period, you know?’
I really wanted to punch the little gobshite in the nose. I resisted because I had to, but I gave him a hard enough glare that he sank back further into his seat. ‘You didn’t see anyone harm her or threaten her?’ I asked.
All three men shook their heads. ‘Frankly, her leaving me was dereliction of duty. I’ll have to see about getting my money back,’ Squiggins sniffed.
I went on the attack. ‘I understand that you were harassing a young woman and Jónson put a stop to it.’
He shifted in his chair. The poker face was gone, washed away in a tide of dark anger. ‘She was way off base pulling me up like that. Louisa issointo me.’
‘Not as much as she’s into Quinty,’ Montague sniggered. ‘Or, more accurately, his wallet.’
I ignored his comments and focused on Tom Squiggins. ‘Jónson pulled you up in front of friends and that pissed you off.’
‘Damn right it did! Ogre bitch telling me what to do! She was theservant.It’s not her place to tell me to do anything!’
‘So you stabbed her?’
Squiggins’ mouth dropped open and he blinked owlishly at me. ‘What? No!’ he blurted. ‘Jesus! I was pissed off but not like … murderous or whatever. I couldn’t actually kill anyone. I feel ill even cutting up sashimi.’
‘What’s this Louisa’s full name?’
‘Carnforth,’ Montague supplied helpfully.
She wasn’t amongst the women I’d interviewed yet. ‘Can you point her out?’
The men took a cursory look around the room. ‘Can’t see her,’ Katz said. ‘She must have left earlier.’ Possibly because of the sexual harassment she’d suffered. I’d check Channing’s notes and follow up with her tomorrow.
I noted the contact details of all three men then took the time to look the males over carefully. None of them had so much as a drop of wine on their tuxedos, let alone the spray of blood you’d expect from the scene I’d witnessed, but that didn’t preclude a change of clothes. I’d check the bins later.
The doors slammed open with a bang that reverberated through the room and in stalked Robert Krieg, the High King of the Ogres. He wore a black suit that might as well have been painted on him, and which accentuated his muscular arms, the right one of which was only marginally oversized for an ogre. His black hairwas tousled and his chiselled jaw clean-shaven; the main things that marked him as an ogre were his hulking size and the two tusks that protruded from his head, a small obsidian one on his forehead and a larger jagged one behind it. He stood well over seven feet tall. His grey eyes, almost a mercury-silver, swept the room.
They stopped at me.
Contained fury radiated from him like he was radioactive; frankly, I’d have rather taken my chances with uranium than an irate Krieg.
I prepared myself for our inevitable encounter, making sure no unease showed on my face or in my body language. For all he was a king, I was in charge here. I squared my shoulders and inwardly braced for his arrival like I would a tsunami, by silently saying my prayers.
The King of the Ogres stalked towards me like the deadly predator he was.
Chapter 5
The male in front of me made magical beings the world over tremble in their boots; I was no exception but I made sure that my trembling was on the inside. It was dangerous to meet and hold an ogre’s gaze for too long, so I fixed my gaze on his left ear. ‘Your Excellence,’ I greeted him calmly, even though my stomach was roiling.
I’d met him before, even got the impression that he might like me, but there was no hint of friendliness about him now. He was an avenging juggernaut, here to smash heads and exact revenge for the death of one of his people.
Around me, the room suddenly felt tense with cloying fear. Gone was the festival feeling that had lurked disrespectfully only moments earlier.
‘Inspector Wise,’ he greeted me, his voice only a shade above a whisper. He didn’t need to yell: the hall was silent, all eyes on him. ‘Where is she?’
‘Follow me,’ I instructed. It seemed prudent to lead the enraged man away from the gathered glitterati before he tore them apart limb from limb. The assembled guests were wealthy and powerful, and in the Other realm power meant more than being able to bribethe Symposium into obedience. Yet one of the most powerful men of all had just walked in and communicated simply by his presence that they were prey and he was a predator.Thepredator. Nobody liked being reminded of their impending mortality and the tension in the room rocketed even further.
