I repeated the question patiently. “So, what are you doing here, again?”
Sherard turned his head to pout at me over his shoulder. “I can’t believe you went on a case without me.”
“Sherard, since when do I take you on every single one of my cases?” I knew he was here for a reason, but I couldn’t seem to get it out of him. Which, conversely, made it all the more suspicious.
“The Atwoods were friends,” he told me, still wounded. “Of course I want to be in on their investigation.”
“Really? They’re friends with you too?”
“Well, I should say their children and I are. I know them better than the parents, but Mr. Atwood helped me with a few charities. He was a very generous man and I thought well of him. I don’t like that he’s been so brutally murdered like this.”
“So, you came to see for yourself what was going on.” Now that made more sense to me. “Well, I don’t see the harm in you staying here. In fact…” I trailed off, my mind spinning. Maybe his appearance here was godsent. At least for today. “There’s things afoot here.”
His attention sharpened on me. “Such as?”
“I went with Gerring to get some of the files from the station. On the way back, a police car tried to run us off the road.”
He stared at me, aghast, a man waiting on a punchline. “You can’t be serious.”
“Yeah, unfortunately I am. It rattled Gerring rather badly. Rattled me some too, won’t lie. Something is very not right in this town.”
A dark anger swept over his face. “It’s just as well I came, then.” He spotted the report on the desk nearby and waved to it. “You were writing a report on it?”
“Yeah, while it was still fresh. We’ll need to submit for an extension of a warrant, since the one I have is being thwarted. I thought maybe that report might help.”
“I’ll forward it on for you once it’s done.”
“You are the best.” Seriously, he was the best friend ever.
“Oh, it’s my pleasure,” he assured me darkly. “I had dinner with Davenforth last night. Deucedly rotten situation over here. I’m fully prepared to help you both get to the bottom of it.”
“And we’ll need it.” But speaking of Henri…I was incredibly worried about him and wasn’t sure what to do about it. He was set to go to the morgue with Weber, who had finally come in late last night. I’d passed him in the hallway last night, as his room was near mine, and was frankly glad to see him. But his arrival did mean Henri was about to do something heart-wrenching, and I didn’t like it. While I understood the necessity, it didn’t make this easier on him. People had a hard enough time just identifying loved ones. Examining them?
Henri was one of the gentlest souls I knew—incredibly tender-hearted. I couldn’t imagine what this would do to him, and I saw through that stoic expression he’d donned. I absolutely did not want him in that room unless strictly necessary.
How I’d manage that, well, I didn’t know offhand.
“Sherard. About Henri….”
He canted his head at me, still petting the kittens. They were puddles of fur and purrs, nothing else at this point. “What about him?”
“How much did he catch you up on?”
“I think most of it. We saw Weber as he came in, too, and Henri told him a little more. I want to help straighten out the Deems PD. Seems there’s some monkey business afoot there.”
I grimaced in agreement. “Odds are good. But listen, I really don’t want Henri going into the examination today. He’s already a little emotional about this case. How comfortable are you assisting Weber?”
Sherard abruptly straightened and faced me, his expression serious. “Of course I can help there. I think that’s actually the better option, to be frank. I could tell Davenforth was upset about all of this and trying to work through the emotion. I’m not as emotionally close to this case as he is.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. His timing really was a godsend. “Then please go in with Weber instead. We have enough to investigate today I think I can make the case with Henri for you two to switch.”
“You won’t need to.” Sherard’s expression suggested mischief. “I can pitch it to him that I need to see how the Deems PD handles our intrusion and what their daily operations are like in order to report on it later.”
“Actually, that’s even true,” I mused.
“You see? I know Weber intends to start immediately after breakfast, so let’s go down and head them off.”
“Okay.” I scooped up a furball, Sherard got the other two, and we headed down into the hotel’s dining room.
A very posh sort of place, this hotel. The carpets were plush, the trim having a gilded gold edging, with snowy-white tablecloths and fresh flowers in every vase. I’d feel a little guilty about staying in such a nice hotel, because the fees were surely exorbitant, but all the hotels in this area were apparently like this. Tourist trap. With the police department footing the bill, I wasn’t complaining. Far from it.
Weber sat at the table, already halfway through breakfast. He really did intend to get an early start. Gerring and Penny were just settling in with their own plates, and Henri hadn’t come down yet. I saw an open buffet table to the right and off-loaded Clint at the table, snagging a plate and loading up on what looked to be excellent fare. The smells, at least, were heavenly.
Retreating to the table, I requested hot tea of a passing waiter before settling. Clint rearranged himself to drape across my lap as I tucked in. “Morning, all. Weber, glad you could join us.”
He paused in eating to lift his head up and answer me. “Thank you. Sorry for the delay getting in. My train had a mechanical issue that required me shifting to a different line. It took hours longer than expected.”
“Ouch, that doesn’t sound fun.”
“Oh, it wasn’t,” he assured me dryly. “I met RM Seaton and Davenforth coming in last night and they briefed me a little on the situation. I understand absolutely no examination was done of the bodies?”
“Unfortunately, correct.”
Weber growled in the back of his throat and stabbed his eggs with more force than necessary. “I do detest incompetence. I’ll do my best, but with this much time having passed, some things might be past detection at this point.”
I could tell from Gerring’s face he wasn’t entirely following this, so I tacked on for his sake, “Certain poisons and drugs will fade within twenty-four hours. It’s why a quick examination is so critical. You have to draw the blood and test it before everything dissipates.”
Weber was quick to catch on and explained even further, “Certain magical potions have the same issue. They’re quick to dissolve in liquid, and blood is mostly liquid. Even preservation spells will struggle to keep these things in check.”
Gerring looked as if he were writing mental notes. “Is that why you were so upset their clothing and everything was intact?”
“Because it was obvious nothing had been done to preserve the corpses.” I gave him a nod. “And it was very obvious no blood had been drawn for toxicology.”
“Now I’m uncertain how much I’ll be able to glean from the bodies,” Weber added.
“Well, as to that, I’ve got good news and bad news for you. Good news is, Henri put a stasis spell over both so they’re perfectly preserved. He said that’ll help?”
Weber looked at me cautiously, a man ready for the other shoe to drop. “It certainly will. I’m glad for his quick thinking. What’s the bad news?”
“Coroner used a cleaning spell on the bodies so he could move them without getting his hands dirty,” I answered with a sympathetic smile.
Weber was back to stabbing at his eggs, looking as if he contemplated murder himself. I personally wouldn’t piss off a coroner. They knew how to leave no evidence behind. “I don’t know what they were thinking. Or how they’ll justify it later. There’s really no excuse for it. It’s like they had no intention of doing an autopsy at all!”
&n
bsp; Penny cleared her throat. “What Gwyneth Atwood told me was that they wanted all three children to sign off on an autopsy before it would be performed.”
Jaw slack, Weber spluttered out, “This is a murder investigation! You don’t need permission for an autopsy in this case.”
Penny shook her head and corrected him, “They’d ruled it a murder-suicide. The autopsy was a formality to them and nothing more.”
Weber spluttered some more, past words. He was definitely planning out funeral arrangements.
“You see why I asked for you specifically.” Henri approached the table in that stride of his that meant business. He didn’t look like he’d slept well. Dark circles lingered under his eyes. But his curly dark hair was combed perfectly, suit just so. Henri might be sleep deprived, but he wasn’t willing to let another second go by on this case.
Turning in his chair, Weber greeted him with a sour frown. “I do indeed. Now I really wish I had gotten here sooner. I assumed a certain amount of work had been done, something I could build off of. This is appalling, Davenforth, truly appalling.”
“I know. But I’ll assist.”
Sherard cleared his throat. “About that, Davenforth. I wonder if I could assist Weber instead.”
An automatic refusal on Henri’s lips never quite got voiced. He studied Sherard instead, as if trying to read him. “Why?”
“A few reasons. Jamie, tell him.”
I reaaaaally didn’t want to, but forewarned was forearmed and all that. “Gerring and I went to fetch the murder case files from the precinct this morning. On the way back, a police car tried to run us off the road.”
Gasps of outrage circled the table, and Henri went abruptly very, very still. A sure sign he was beyond pissed.
“You say almost, but they actually did,” Gerring grumbled. “Fortunately, the car wasn’t hit, and we’re fine. But it was a very near thing. It missed us by inches.”
Henri met my eyes, and I could tell instincts warred in his mind. The instinct to guard and protect someone near to him clashed with the desire to catch who did that. The second one won out. “Did you see anything that will help us identify who it was?”
“No. Unfortunately. But it came right after we butted heads with Lawler.”
“The officer who bungled the investigation?”
“Him, yeah. You can see why I suspect him.”
“I do indeed.” Henri’s hand landed on my shoulder, squeezing it gently. A silent gesture of comfort and relief that I was fine. His mind didn’t fixate on that, moving ahead. “Seaton. You wish to go to prevent such shenanigans happening to Weber?”
“That’s certainly part of it, but the main one is that I want to see for myself what the station is like. If I can serve as an eyewitness to how poorly they’ve treated this case, all the better.”
The protest cleared from Henri’s expression. “That’s an excellent point. Your word certainly holds more weight than ours.”
Sherard held up a second finger. “Second point. I know the Atwoods socially. You’re childhood friends with Irvine. They can accuse you of tampering with evidence, but they can’t me.”
Making a face, Henri grumbled, “Another sound point. Alright, I agree. Is that okay with you, Weber?”
“Perfectly fine.” Weber picked up his cup and gave Sherard a pointed look. “But I leave in five minutes.”
Sherard took the hint and started eating faster.
Penny glanced between all of us. “So, aside from checking the train station for a purse, what are the rest of us doing today?”
I made a snap decision then and there. “I want the two of you to go in with Sherard and get the records of the burglaries from the past year. He’ll be able to commandeer the files for you.”
Sherard snickered, already amused at the possibility of throwing his weight around. It was a good thing he normally used his powers for good and not for evil.
Gerring stopped eating to eye the cackling royal mage with some alarm. Justified alarm, granted. “Do you really think this is a robbery gone wrong?”
“I give it low odds,” I admitted. “But at this point, we don’t know enough to make any assumptions. We’ll have to explore every avenue, and I already know that house was broken into. That every house on that street has been. Besides, Lawler stopped us from getting the files for a reason. I’d like to know why.”
“I would as well. We have several possibilities ahead of us. Either the murderer has stumbled across the same method as the thieves who are burglarizing the homes,” Henri picked up smoothly, still standing at my side, “or the thieves were responsible for the murder. Even if those two possibilities aren’t correct, we do need to figure this out. The Deems PD is clearly incapable, and the thieves must be stopped before the burglaries escalate any further.”
Penny made a face. “I agree, but it’s going to be a nightmare working in there.”
“I wouldn’t actually suggest it,” I admitted to her. “I say take the files and run. You’re both police officers, so you can take the files out if you need to. In this case, you need to. Bring them back here to the hotel. They’ve given us a small conference room to work out of.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Penny admitted, “That sounds much better. I’ll do that.”
Henri’s hand rested on my shoulder, bringing my attention around to him. “And what about us, my dear?”
“There’s two things I want to try and run down today. First, where did Mrs. Atwood’s purse get off to? Second, where did the charms come from? Are they something you can locally source, or are they a special-order item?”
He frowned thoughtfully. “I’m not sure. That is a very excellent question. Let’s try and find the answer to it. I would like to go through the many court cases of Mr. Atwood as well.”
“Yeah, me too. But that information hasn’t come in yet.”
“I’ve no doubt Mr. Drummond would have access to some of the files. We might need to take a quick trip up to Jordane ourselves to fetch them.”
Now that was a good thought. “It would certainly be faster. Okay by me.”
Henri grabbed the last clean plate from the table and paused before admitting, “I’m of two minds doing so. I know Irvine, Gwyneth, and Ruthe want to help. This was something we asked of them. I don’t wish to step on their toes if it’s not necessary.”
Erk. I didn’t think of that, but now that he said that… “Yeah. Um, maybe let’s check in with them first. We can hit everything here in town today and give them more time to come up with all the info.”
“I think that’s a better approach. We just can’t give them too much time.” With a sigh, he headed for the buffet and muttered, “We’ve lost too much time on this case as it is.”
Sadly true. I watched him go and hoped eating something would put him in a better mood. It generally did.
A delicate little paw touched my thigh, and I looked down into Phil’s inquisitive face. “What is it, buddy?”
“Henri sad?” Phil asked, all cute and worried.
I wanted to hug the stuffing out of him. It was criminal to be that cute. “Yeah, Henri’s a little sad right now. You give him lots of cuddles, okay? It’ll make him feel better.”
Phil gave me a serious nod and sat still, waiting for Henri’s return. As soon as my partner gained his seat, he found himself with a small lapful of kitten. He didn’t seem to mind it much, a faint smile on his face as he stroked Phil’s back. Phil curled into his thighs and purred at him loudly enough I could have heard it outside the building.
It was too cute for words. Seriously, where was a camera when I needed it?
Phil chose to ride on my shoulder as I made use of the hotel’s telephone. I wasn’t sure why he was so keen on me. I did like his company, however, and was grateful for it. His presence and content purrs soothed me in a manner that was hard for me to quantify. I thought I now understood how Clint emotionally supported Jamie.
Private telephone booths with glass doors stood r
ight off the main lobby. I slid into one of them and dialed the operator. “Irvine Atwood residence, Jordane.”
“One moment please.”
I waited for the phone to ring. I believed Irvine would be home, as he wouldn’t go into work while grieving. I was proven correct a moment later when the man himself answered.
“This is Atwood, who’s speaking?”
“Irvine, it’s me.”
“Oh, Henri. Thank deities, I was dying for an update but unsure if I should bother you.”
“Wise, as we’re running about a great deal in this investigation. I’ll tell you what I know, but unfortunately, it’s not much at this stage. First, let me ask you a question. The court history your father was involved in, what progress have you made in collecting it?”
“I’ve contacted our family solicitor, and he’s gathering it all up now. I think I can send it down with tomorrow’s train. Is that soon enough?”
I breathed out in relief. “Yes, perfectly. I’ll be on the lookout for it. Alright, there’s a great deal wrong here. I’m glad you called us in. The investigation was so slapdash that we’re struggling to get a good footing. But I want to clarify a few key points. First, the wards around the property were still up and showed no signs of being either breached or forced. I tested them myself to make sure, and they’re operating perfectly.”
Irvine sounded incredulous as he demanded, “What are you suggesting, that my parents knew their killer?”
“Hmm,” I responded noncommittally. “The bypassing of the ward is frankly strange to me. Especially as all the neighbors have similar wards up and are still being burglarized.”
“Oh. Oh, yes, I’d forgotten that for a moment.”
“I’m delving more into that, I promise you. I have a suspicion of how it was managed. Right now, my colleague Dr. Weber is going in to perform the medical autopsy. He’s being assisted by RM Seaton.”
I could hear Irvine’s puzzlement. “I’m sorry, did you say RM Seaton? Sherard Seaton?”
“The same. He took the news of your parents passing with much upset. He’s here as a witness to the Deems PD incompetence and to assist in any way he can.”
Three Charms for Murder (The Case Files of Henri Davenforth Book 5) Page 13
