Page 9 of Veiled Justice
I met Channing’s eyes and nodded to the guests: he was to continue the interviews without me whilst I took Krieg outside. He nodded briskly and turned to a woman near him, a stunning brunette with a body to die for and a dress that even I envied. I wore dresses at weddings and funerals and that was it, but I’d be tempted if I had a dress like that with its maroon lace and intricate cutouts. Her makeup was done to perfection and her heels skyscraper high.
As I walked out, she was draping herself over Channing like she was his coat. I waited a beat for his burst of authoritarian outrage but nothing came. He was just staring dumbly at her like Christmas had come early.
Fuck me. We’d have to have a conversation about his professionalism but I had more urgent things to deal with now, like the furious ogre next to me. I could feel waves of anger emanating off Krieg – and I didn’t even have an ounce of empathic powers.
I led him outside, down the lawn and into the ornamental gardens where Helga had been found. The ME had arrived and she and Ed were talking quietly as they worked together.
A small noise escaped Krieg’s throat, somewhere between a sob and growl; it was wholly animalistic and the hairs on my neck stood up. His strides lengthened as he made his way to Helga. ‘You’ve taken your evidence?’ he said tightly to Kate and Ed.
Ed nodded, eyes wide.
‘For now,’ Kate agreed quickly, pushing her transparent-rimmed glasses up her nose.
She and Ed scrambled backward to give Krieg space. He inclined his head in gratitude and then sank down next to Helga and gathered her into his arms. For the barest of seconds, his face was pulled into a rictus of agonising grief, his loss raw and palpable, but in a blink it was gone. His face was a blank mask as he pulled her onto his lap and gently kissed her forehead. He cradled her, rocking her like a baby. Despite his blank expression, his sorrow was undeniable.
After a few long moments, Krieg pulled the knife from Helga’s hip and cut his own palm then pressed the bloody blade into her hand and wrapped her lifeless fingers around it. He stilled as he noted her pinky finger was missing and gave a low, furious growl.
Still holding her, he turned to me. ‘This is not an in-house death,’ he snarled.
There were a couple of overriding principles for the Connection, one of which was the ‘in-house rule’: the Connection didn’t interfere with internal species’ politics unless it was asked to. It worked to keep the peace between thedifferentmagical species, so if a fire elemental killed a centaur we’d step in, but if two fire elementals killed each other it wouldn’t be any of our business unless we wereinvitedin.
With his words, Krieg confirmed that he believed another ogre had not killed Helga, and he was authorising me to investigate thedeath on behalf of the Connection. I battled to keep the shock off my face.
In all my years as an Inspector, I had never heard of an ogre requesting the Connection’s assistance. Regardless of who died and how, they usually claimed it was an in-house matter and served their own vigilante justice. There had to be a sting in the tail.
‘The ogres invite your investigation, Inspector Wise,’ Krieg said tightly. ‘But I will be assisting you with it.’
And there was the sting. There was absolutely no way I could refuse him and since I’d be locking horns with the movers and shakers of the Other realm, I could probably use his clout. ‘I appreciate the assist,’ I lied smoothly.
Krieg stood and lifted Helga effortlessly. ‘We will want her back,’ he said firmly to Dr Potter. ‘But for now you may continue your investigation. She will need a toxicology screen for potions in her bloodstream. Where shall I take her?’ He clearly wasn’t familiar with the Connection’s routine because he didn’t usually follow it.
Kate’s eyes were solemn and full of compassion. ‘Please bring her this way.’ She led him through the garden to the gravel driveway where her van was waiting. When she opened the back doors, Krieg gently laid Helga onto a wheeled gurney and carefully strapped her down, Kate made sure the wheels were secure.
‘Don’t put her in a body bag,’ he instructed her tightly. ‘She doesn’t like the dark.’
‘I’ll keep the lights on,’ Kate promised and touched his shoulder gently. He stared at her hand as if he’d never been touched beforeand she hastily yanked it back. ‘S-sorry, Your Excellence,’ she stammered, her eyes wide.
He waved her apology aside and turned to me. ‘I want to kill them all, tear them limb from limb for still laughing and joking whilst Helga bleeds into the earth.’
‘I certainly understand that impulse,’ I said carefully. ‘You have my word that I will do everything in my power to find out who did this and bring them to justice.’
He studied me for a long moment. I thought he was going to say my word wasn’t worth anything but instead he asked tightly, ‘What can I do?’
Time to put him to work. He needed to feel useful, and God knows I could do with the help. ‘I need to interview all the guests, but Quintos will have been calling my bosses to let them go home. I need more time.’
He pulled out his phone. ‘You will have it. Go!’ he growled.
I went.
Chapter 6
Before I returned to the melee, I rifled through the bins. There were no blood-coated clothes, no discarded murder weapon and no stray finger to be found. Well, I wouldn’t have expected it to be too easy.
After that failure, I waded back into the interviews with a vengeance. It was nearly 5am before we let the last of the partygoers leave. Only a small number of guests admitted to having seen Helga and supposedly none of them had witnessed a damn thing. They’d all waxed lyrical about the firework display and the food, but no one had paid attention to the ogre; she was acreature– a second-class citizen in their humanoid eyes.
The Other is a hidden magical realm that co-exists alongside its Common counterpart. The Common realm has no magic and only speaks of magical creatures that exist in fiction and in dreams; meanwhile the Other realm is all things magical. Its denizens are divided between the human side – witches, wizards, seers, werewolves, vampyrs and the like – and the non-human side, commonly referred to as creatures. The creature side includes your dragon-shifters, centaurs, ogres, dryads and trolls, to name but a few.
When we’re in the Other realm we are still visible to the Common realmers, but unbeknownst to them we have access to our magic. Regardless of what magical species you belong to, there is plenty of prejudice rolling around.
