There was amusement in his eyes. I shook my head. “Such a taskmaster.” I looked at Tianna. “I just need to sign off on the paperwork?”
“Sure, if you’re done with your inspection.”
I hadn’t actually inspected the carriage. “I suppose I should have a look inside, see what kind of room is in there. The last time I rode in it, I was three months old and on my way to my naming ceremony. Can’t say as I remember much.”
Birdie leaned in. “Can I look inside too?”
“Sure. Sin, come with us. Might as well since we’re all here.” I glanced at Tianna. “How do we open the doors?”
“There’s a lever set into the chassis on both sides, but the livery will take of that for you on your wedding day.” She walked over and pulled the hidden lever.
With a little hiss, the door separated from the carriage and split at the midline, one side rising into the air. The bottom half lowered, opening into steps that descended from the silver cage the carriage rested in. They were embedded on the facing edge with more crystal.
“Very snazzy,” Birdie said. “Would it be okay if I took a picture? It’s not like I can post it to social media or anything. I heard there’s no connection up here.”
“There didn’t used to be,” I said. “But one of our engineers has been working on that. It’s a lot better than it used to be. At least in town. Sending texts and making calls beyond the North Pole is still questionable, though. Long answer to say, yes, a picture would be fine as long as you don’t share it.”
Sin held his hand out. “Why don’t you two go stand on the steps and I’ll take it?”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Sinclair.” Birdie handed her phone to him, then hustled over to the carriage.
I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You’re the best. Come join us when you’re done so you can have a look too.”
“I will.” He held the phone up to frame the shot.
Birdie was standing very still on the third step, facing into the carriage. Her expression wasn’t exactly one of wonder and delight. “Um, Princess?”
“On my way,” I answered as I made my way over.
She looked over her shoulder. “Good. Because I think you’re going to want to see this.”
“See what?” I asked.
Birdie pointed into the carriage. “Not really a what so much as a whom. At least I think that applies.”
“Huh?” I climbed onto the second step and peered past her only to suck in a sharp breath when I saw what she was pointing at. “Son of a nutcracker.”
A skeleton. On the carriage floor.
Constable Larsen made it to the Transportation Division in record time, but that was probably due to the police station being on the same side of town.
As I finished telling her how we’d discovered the remains, she shook her head. “This is very unusual.”
“I’ll say.” I didn’t think a skeleton had ever been found before in the NP like this. Or ever that I could remember, anyway. “Are there any missing-persons reports that might give us a clue as to who this is?”
“Can’t say without digging into those files, but it’s where I’m going to start.” She glanced toward the carriage. “Obviously, I’ll have the ME do a thorough investigation of the remains as well.”
“We have a medical examiner? I mean, obviously we have one. Who is it?”
“Dr. Charming. He should be here shortly. I called him right after Tianna called me. I figured if there was a body, no sense in wasting time.”
“I appreciate that.” The constable had come a long way in the last year. Increasing her budget had given her not only some much-needed help in the form of more deputies, but a real confidence boost. We’d even had an addition built onto the station that contained three holding cells. Three might have been overkill, but it made a point. “Isn’t he also a regular doctor?”
“Yes, but that’s because as the ME he doesn’t get much work.” She shrugged. “The man’s got to keep busy.”
“I suppose that’s true. Well, he’s going to be busy now.”
“He’s got a PA to help in the office, so if you’re worried about his doctoring getting in the way, it won’t.”
“I wasn’t, but good to know.” Okay, maybe I was thinking about the possibility that his other job might interfere, but Dr. Charming had a good reputation. I was sure he wasn’t going to slack when there were royals involved. We tended to inspire people to do their best.
Two of her deputies were cataloging everything on the scene. Taking photos, talking to the four of us, and making sure to partition the area off with yellow crime-scene tape that had probably never been used. Frankly, I was surprised the department had any. But there was little chance of the area being disturbed. No one came into this hangar unless it was for some official reason.
That really made the tape unnecessary, but I imagined the deputies were excited about getting to use it.
One of the deputies, Givens, approached me. He was a gnarled, older man who probably would have been a tinker or builder if not for his decision to go into law enforcement. I nodded at him. “Deputy.”
He gave a quick bow in return. “Princess. Quite the thing, eh?”
“I’ll say.”
“Hate to ask, but just wanted to double-check that your fingerprints are on file?”
“They are. Royal protocol. But I don’t think Sinclair’s had his done yet, and I know you won’t find my guest’s on file. Her name is Birdie Caruthers.”
He nodded and made a note of that in his book. “They’ll have to come by the station and—”
Constable Larsen interrupted him. “Givens, we can send someone to the palace to do prints.”
I knew how Birdie would feel about that. She’d not only want to go down to the station, but she’d probably expect a tour too. “We don’t need any exceptions made.”
Sinclair joined us just then. “Exceptions to what?”
“Exceptions to…” I thought a second. “Standard operating procedures, I guess. You and Birdie will have to go down to the station and be fingerprinted.”
At the sound of her name, Birdie headed in our direction.
He shrugged. “I have to do it anyway, right?”
“Yes, but that would have been done at the palace.”
The constable nodded vigorously. “Like the princess said, getting your prints is just standard procedure.”
“So you can eliminate our prints from any others you find,” Birdie added as she caught the last bit. “I know the drill.”
I grinned. “Birdie works at the Nocturne Falls Sheriff’s Department. She’s the receptionist and all-around information center of that place. Plus, her nephew is the sheriff, so she’s pretty versed in law enforcement.”
Birdie beamed. Her pride in her nephew, Hank Merrow, was no small thing.
The constable’s brows went up. “Is that so? Well, that’s good to know. In case we need to deputize you for additional help.”
I was sure Larsen was just being nice, since she had no idea what Birdie was capable of, but I couldn’t think of a better candidate for deputizing than Birdie.
“You just let me know.” Birdie leaned in to see the constable’s name on her badge better. “Constable Larsen. Happy to help.”
The constable nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that.” She looked at me. “I’ll keep you informed on what I find too.”
“And Dr. Charming’s discoveries as well,” I added. “As I’m sure you understand, a skeleton in the carriage is rather concerning.”
“Yes, absolutely. I’ll be in touch.” She went off to talk to her deputies.
Sin moved closer to Birdie and me. “Do you want to wait until the doctor gets here, or do you want to leave now?”
“We should go,” Birdie said abruptly. Then she kind of caught herself. “If that’s okay with you, Princess.”
“Sure. I’m definitely ready to go. Is everything okay?”
Birdie tipped her head dow
n and whispered, “Not here.”
That could only mean Birdie had information she wanted to share with us alone, but I couldn’t imagine what that might be. I waved at the constable. “Talk to you soon.”
Then I gave Birdie and Sin a look. “Let’s go.”
Once we were back in the crawler with the doors shut, I said, “Spill it, Birdie. What didn’t you want to say in there? And why didn’t you want to say it in there?”
Birdie, in the front seat again, turned so she could see Sin and me. Her gaze held concern. “I know those people are your law enforcement, but that one deputy was setting off my alarms. But that might just be because he reminds me of the last tourist Hank arrested for drunk and disorderly.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I wanted to keep what I found between us. Until you say differently, Princess.”
“What you found?” I was sure my brows were nearly touching my hairline.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a tiny scrap of fabric. “This. Does it look familiar?”
I took the postage stamp-size piece off her palm. “Looks like ivory silk with thin pearl and silver threads running through it. Very fancy. Definitely the kind of thing that someone riding in that carriage might wear. But I don’t recognize it beyond that.”
Even Sin seemed fascinated by it. “Couldn’t you go back through royal photographs and see if it matches something worn by someone who would have been in the carriage in the past?”
Birdie nodded. “That’s a great idea. And if they’re not missing, then they might be the killer.”
“First of all, that’s kind of a leap. Secondly…” I glared nicely at both of them. “These are my relatives you’re talking about, you know. I don’t think any of them are capable of murder. Okay, maybe my father. Never mind, forget I said that. Thirdly, we have no idea what the cause of death is yet. Could be natural causes.”
Sin tipped his head with obvious skepticism. “Sweetheart, who dies of natural causes in a carriage like that? Not to be indelicate, but there was no sign of decomposition. And wouldn’t they have had to been naked? There were no clothes on the skeleton. Just bones.”
“Right. Which would be weirder yet.” I couldn’t really think of any normal reasons for a person to be naked in the royal ceremonial carriage. Just really not-normal ones. “I’m just saying we don’t have all the facts.”
Birdie’s smile was meant to be calming, I was sure of it. “No, we don’t, so we shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions. It’s such a tiny scrap. It could have come from anywhere. There’s more of a chance it’s not related to the skeleton at all.”
“Exactly.” But there was something about her tone that said she was holding something back. I sighed. “Where did you find it?”
Birdie pursed her lips. “Under the skeleton’s foot.”
My mouth fell open. “You moved the skeleton? Isn’t touching anything at a crime scene forbidden?”
“I didn’t move the skeleton. I saw the fabric peeking out, and I grabbed it.” She shrugged. “It seemed important.”
Sin nodded. “If it was under the skeleton, I don’t think we can rule it out as not being evidence.”
I sat back. “I guess not.” I frowned. “I can’t believe anyone I’m related to could be involved in this.”
Sin twisted around farther in the driver’s seat. “I don’t think they are. It’s more likely that skeleton was put in the carriage to hide it. Nothing about the interior of that carriage looks like a murder scene. But just for the sake of conversation, who else might have ridden in the carriage besides one of your relatives?”
“I don’t really know. But Tianna would be able to pull up the records on that.” I sat up a little straighter. “Actually, Ezreal could access them a lot faster.”
“Who’s Ezreal?” Birdie asked.
“The palace steward,” Sin answered. “And a really good guy.”
I looked at Sin. “We need to get on top of this before any rumors start.”
He faced forward and grabbed the wheel. “Hang on, ladies. We’re about to see just how fast this thing can go.”
Sin wasn’t kidding about seeing how fast the crawler could go. He put the pedal down, and we made it to the palace faster than I thought possible. It was clear he enjoyed the drive, especially when his face lit up at the snow plumes the crawler sprayed out going around turns.
We practically skidded to a stop at the south entrance, which wasn’t where I’d hoped to end up. I’d wanted to bring Birdie in through the front because it was the most impressive, but given the circumstances, I didn’t think she minded.
Ezreal greeted us as we walked inside. “Welcome back, Princess, Consort. And a very special first-time welcome for our royal guest, Ms. Caruthers.”
I didn’t know how he knew we’d be arriving, but he was just good like that. A bellman with him carried a silver tray bearing three cups of steaming hot chocolate. With a little bow, the bellman offered us the drinks. We each took one.
“Hi, Ezreal. Thank you for the hot chocolate.” I put my hand on Birdie’s arm. “I’m pleased to introduce you to my friend, Birdie Caruthers. Birdie, this is Ezreal, the palace steward. He’s pretty much capable of anything.”
He laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I do try.” He gave her a big smile. “It’s our honor to have you here, Ms. Caruthers.”
Birdie swallowed the mouthful of cocoa she’d just taken. “Oh, honey, call me Birdie, please. That Ms. business is too stuffy. I know this is a palace, and things are done a certain way, but that’s one formality I can do without.”
“As you wish.” He liked her. I could tell by the smile in his eyes. “I’ve arranged for your quarters to be in the same wing as Princess Jayne and Consort Sinclair. I’ll just direct the bellman to take your luggage there, then I’ll join you to make sure you have everything you need. Unless there’s anything I can get you now?”
I could tell Birdie wanted to ask for something but was hesitant, so I took over, since I had a pretty good idea of what that something was. “I think we could all use a little snack. Some cake, maybe?”
Ezreal smiled. “Tea will be ready in the library in twenty minutes, but I’d be happy to move everything to one of your rooms, if you’d rather have it in a more informal setting.”
I looked at Birdie. “What would you like?”
“I think tea in the library sounds wonderful. Then I can see some more of the palace.”
“Absolutely.” I nodded at Ezreal. “Twenty minutes is great. Just enough time for us to get settled in, then walk over.”
“Perfect. See you shortly.” He left us to oversee the bellman getting Birdie’s luggage, so we headed for the elevator.
As we got into the car, Birdie leaned in. “Is your tea like the English high tea?”
“You mean, will there be food?”
Sinclair laughed knowingly. “Winter elves put the British to shame when it comes to the food served at tea.”
Birdie’s eyes lit up. “I really am hungry.”
I nodded. “Ezreal is out to impress you. There will probably be more food than what we’d normally have, and we normally have enough food that tea could be considered dinner. Probably nothing hot, though, and definitely heavy on the sweets. Remember, this is winter-elf country. There aren’t many folks who like to eat more than we do.”
Birdie let out a little sigh of relief. “Good. Because werewolves have pretty healthy appetites too.”
Sinclair shook his head, still smiling. “You’re going to do just fine up here, Birdie.”
Somehow, as we strolled down the hall toward our apartments, Ezreal stepped out of the door that led into Birdie’s rooms. He smiled at us, hands clasped before him.
“Wow,” Birdie said. “You’re fast.”
He bowed his head. “Just doing my job, Miss Birdie.”
She patted his arm. “Well, Mr. Ezreal, you do it very well.”
He gestured through the open door behind him. “May I show you your quarters?”
Birdie peeked in. “Is this a whole apartment?”
“Yes, Miss Birdie. There are no single rooms on this floor.”
She looked back at me. “Now you’re just spoiling me.”
“Too much?” I asked.
“Nope.” She smoothed the front of her coat and walked in. “Let’s have the tour, Mr. Ezreal.”
With a little chuckle, Sinclair put his arm around my waist. “She might never leave.”
“Not with a grandniece and grandnephew in Nocturne Falls, but I figured if she’s comfortable, we’ll get to keep her a little longer.”
He kissed my temple. “Good plan. How are you feeling?”
“About the skeleton?”
“About having her here. How’s your stress level?”
“All things considered, pretty low. But some of that might be because finding a skeleton in the carriage has pretty much taken over the thoughts in my head. Not much room in there for wedding stuff now.”
“I’m sure. Still, I’m hoping the missing-persons list will turn up something, and this will all be solved in short order.”
“That would be good.” But I also had a feeling we were hoping for the impossible. After all, things had a way of getting complicated around me. And with Birdie here, it was inevitable. But I wasn’t going to let it bother me. We’d figure it out, like we always did.
And then we’d tackle the wedding stuff.
Ten minutes later, the three of us were headed down to the library for tea. Birdie hadn’t stopped talking about how much she loved her rooms since we’d met her in the hall.
I was tickled. I’d wanted this reaction, and she hadn’t disappointed me.
We took the long way to the library, which meant forgoing the elevator to walk through the halls and down the main stairs. That gave me a chance to give Birdie a mini tour. I pointed out little interesting facts about the palace, as well as told her who the portraits were of as we passed them.
Here and there, Sinclair added a few tidbits of his own, proof that he’d been paying attention in his classes. I was impressed. He was a fast learner with great retention.
Birdie’s excited inhale as we entered the library brought a new smile to Ezreal’s face. He stood near the door to greet us, but several footmen were on hand to serve as well. I knew he was following protocol, but we didn’t need that much help.
Miss Frost Says I Do: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 7) Page 3
