Page 68 of Brimstone Bound
I drew in a sharp breath. ‘So he wasn’t taken completely unaware. He had an inkling of what was going on and that he was possibly in danger.’
‘That’s what it looks like,’ she said grimly.
I shook my head. ‘Why didn’t he report it? Why didn’t he take measures to ensure his own safety?’
Liza’s answer was quiet. ‘I have no idea.’
‘Was there anything else on his computer?’
She handed me a printout. ‘There’s this. It’s what he was working on last. As far as I can tell, it’s a list of all iotas – werewolves who are unranked.’
Rankings again. Why did that keep coming up? I frowned at the sheets of paper. There were a lot of names; the killer might well be one of them, but it would take a year to work through the list.
I sat down heavily. ‘How about you, Fred? Did you get anything on Tony’s neighbour?’
‘Not much. Will Jones. Divorced. Forty-four years old. Pretty boring guy, if you ask me. He definitely doesn’t like supes. He’s signed a few petitions to try and get both Lisson Grove and Soho cleared of werewolves and vampires. A couple of years ago he had an altercation with a gremlin that got out of hand when she pranged his car. But he is exactly who he says he is – he works a lot, plays golf at weekends and generally keeps his nose clean. He’s not the interesting part.’
I spotted a glimmer of excitement in Fred’s eyes. ‘Go on.’
‘I went to see if I could talk to Mr Jones in person. He wasn’t in, but I found something else.’ He swung his laptop round so I could see it.
When I realised what the image was, I held my breath.
‘There’s an ATM not far from Tony’s building,’ Fred explained. ‘And it has a camera installed. It’s angled in the opposite direction so you can’t see the entrance to the building, but you can clearly see who is walking nearby.’ He pressed a key and the video footage began to play.
I hunkered down for a closer look. ‘This is brilliant, Fred.’
His cheeks flamed red. ‘I thought you’d like it.’ He pointed at the screen. ‘Look, there’s Tony. From the time stamp, he left his flat just before eleven o’clock on the night he was killed.’
By that time, my throat had already been slit. Had Tony been lured out like me? Or had he been planning to meet me and merely been derailed?
I stared at his ghostly image as he strolled past the ATM camera. His expression was set, his eyebrows lowered, but he didn’t look particularly upset or afraid.
‘Obviously,’ Fred continued, ‘we don’t know exactly what time Tony’s flat was turned over. Between the time he left and the morning, only three more people walk by.’
He clicked on the laptop to show me. A bearded man, who was quite clearly drunk, staggered past just before midnight. He was followed by a late-night dog walker an hour later, and what appeared to be a homeless guy who was shuffling aimlessly.
‘Unfortunately, we don’t have a view of the other side and there are no cameras there. Whoever broke into Tony’s place either did so earlier in the day or came from the opposite direction.’
‘It makes sense that the perp gained access earlier, and Tony discovered the break-in when he returned home after work.’ I frowned at the screen. ‘That would explain why he went to spend the night in the DeVane.’
Fred’s expression was earnest. ‘That’s what I thought. I’ve been through the earlier footage, too. There are a couple of suspicious-looking characters. This one looks the most likely.’ He moved the mouse, clicking until he located the right part of the video. Liza and I peered more closely and watched a heavy-set man walk past. He glanced continually over his shoulder, as if he were afraid he was being followed.
‘He does look suspicious,’ I agreed. ‘But he might not have anything to do with Tony. I don’t suppose you’ve managed to ID him?’
He shook his head. ‘No.’ He brought the man’s face into clearer focus.
As he did so, I spotted someone else and my blood immediately chilled. ‘Wait,’ I said. ‘Zoom back out again.’
Fred glanced at me. ‘You think you have something?’
‘I don’t know.’ My voice was strained. ‘See what you can get of that woman. The one walking behind our Mr Suspicious.’
Fred fumbled with the keyboard. It seemed to take an age, and I felt myself growing more antsy by the second.
I stared at the flittering image. There was no doubt.
‘What is it?’ Liza asked. ‘Who’s that woman?’
