Page 82 of The Dark Hiss of Magic
Dr Singh pursed his lips. ‘I couldn’t say.’
‘Simon Campbell’s body was brought here by the Redcaps even though other mortuaries are closer to where he died,’ I persisted.
‘It was an unusual situation. I believe the Redcaps who serve this establishment happened to be the first to attend the call for Mr Campbell. They probably brought his body here because this is where they work from.’
‘Specific Redcaps are assigned to specific mortuaries?’ I hadn’t been aware of that.
‘Yes. They are an independent organisation who assign groups to particular areas of the city. Each mortuary receives its own cohort of Redcaps – it’s easier when we all know each other. It’s not a perfect system but it mostly works.’
‘Who’s in charge of the Redcaps for this mortuary?’
‘Each group has a team leader. Ours is an affable fellow called Fitz Williams.’
Fitz was the Redcap I’d met at the Tweed. He hadn’t been affable in the slightest.
‘And it would have been his call to bring Simon Campbell here?’
‘I believe so.’
That wasn’t what Williams had told me; he’d said that they had beenorderedto bring Campbell’s corpse here. ‘Even though you were already very busy with other bodies?’
‘I wasn’t on duty at the time, Ms McCafferty. And anyway, the Redcaps are responsible for body retrieval and removal to mortuaries. We don’t interfere with their work and they don’t interfere with ours.’
Thane’s clever eyes continued to watch me. ‘Three victims,’he said quietly. ‘All friends but all from different parts of Coldstream, yet they all end up in this mortuary.’
Each body had been brought here by the Redcaps; not only that, but Fitz had used a nosegay. Why would a Redcap need something to disguise the scent of death when they already had access to the magical pills that Dr Singh had offered around?
I thought of something else and turned to Hightower. ‘Why did you think a vampire was involved in the murders?’
He blinked rapidly. ‘Each person was killed in a different way. Whoever did this to Adrienne’s poor friends understands death. Vampires are the very definition of death – they are the undead. It stands to reason that one of their bloodied ilk is involved.’
‘There’s nothing to indicate vampire,’ Thane said, glancing at Dr Singh. ‘Right?’
‘Nothing on any of the bodies,’ the pathologist agreed.
No, but vampires weren’t the only Preternaturals who understood death. Pathologists understood death; necromancers understood death; assassins understood death – and so did Redcaps. I thought of Trilby and their repeated comment that I didn’t ask the right questions. I’d fallen into that trap yet again.
‘I’d like to talk to Fitz Williams,’ I said quietly.
Adrienne had wrapped her arms around her body. Her face was pale and she looked deeply unhappy. ‘Why are we talking about fucking Redcaps?’ she muttered. ‘We’re here so I can see my friends.’
My eyes met Thane’s. ‘It’s only circumstantial evidence,’ he said.
Yep.
‘We’ve been wrong before.’
Also yep.
‘But something about this doesn’t add up.’
Definitely yep.
‘I’ll track down Fitz Williams,’ I said. ‘You two stay here with Adrienne. Keep her safe.’
Hightower scowled. ‘Who will keep you safe?’
‘I’ll be fine.’
