Chapter 3 #2
‘Well, it was as you noted in your report – good work by the way, Channing.’
‘If we can cut through the mutual appreciation society and get to the point?’ I grumped.
Kate grinned at me, unrepentant and unfazed. ‘You got it, Stacy. As you suggested, Marlow’s diaphragm and lungs were pierced. There was a massive haemorrhage with aortic involvement. Death came quickly.’
‘The murder weapon?’
Kate grimaced. ‘Well, as Elliott said in your report … ogre’s tusks. It’s very distinctive from other types of gouges.’
I’d known it, but it still sucked to have it confirmed.
‘Time of death was likely between 4 and 5am,’ Kate continued.
‘No defensive wounds, nothing under the fingernails. Marks on the ankles and wrists are consistent with being restrained, but there are no abrasions, suggesting the restraints weren’t worn for a prolonged period.
I’ve sent the blood to Dave in toxicology, but I don’t think you’ll get any hits there.
I’ve run a histology test, and there’s evidence in his muscle tone that he was tasered, and you noted the entry wounds on his torso.
I agree with your assessment that a short burst was used to disorient him.
The discharge was delivered from a distance using prongs – no direct-contact application and no burns or damage from the barbs are evident. ’
All of this I’d suspected, and while it was good to have confirmation, I really needed something more. Something new. ‘Nothing else for me to run with?’ I pressed.
‘I didn’t say that.’ Kate’s eyes gleamed and she led us over to an area with some petri dishes and a microscope. ‘Take a look,’ she suggested.
I did so, not quite sure what her point was. The slides showed some dead cells. I said as much.
‘Yes!’ Kate said excitedly. ‘But not newly dead cells. The cells here have been in the grave for a week or more. The nuclei are all but gone. We’re looking at widespread karyolysis.’
‘All right, I’m being dense here. You just said the time of death was 4 to 5am.’
‘Right.’
‘But you have cells that have been dead longer than that?’
‘Exactly!’
‘Vampyr cells?’ Channing suggested.
‘Great idea,’ Kate said warmly. ‘Although we call them the living dead, their cells are still in working order until they get staked, their heads are cut off, or they’re burned. Even more, their cells are actually working overtime to give them that youthful glow.’
‘Ghoul?’ I suggested.
‘Could be,’ Kate conceded. ‘Though they too are living. They simply consume dead flesh, so if one of them had feasted on a week-old corpse they could have left traces. It could be,’ she murmured again.
Then she shook her head. ‘No signs of nibbling on this corpse though, so I can’t work out how those cells were present in Marlow’s sternum. ’
‘So we could be looking for two suspects?’ Channing asked. ‘An ogre and a ghoul?’
‘Could be,’ Kate said again, her tone unconvinced. She bit her lip. ‘Could also be someone is playing games with the evidence.’
‘You think the killer planted dead cells there to muddy the waters?’ I asked sharply.
‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘All I know is it doesn’t make sense. Unless Marlow has somehow died twice, something weird is going on here.’
‘The gouges, were they straight?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ she studied me. ‘Why?’
I shook my head, not quite sure. ‘Marlow was at a really odd height for an ogre to use his tusks on. Why not just use a mace to cave his head in? That’s their MO too. Using tusks, it’s personal. You get blood all over. Something about the set-up isn’t jibing for me.’
Now she was frowning too. ‘You’re right. I should have caught that. It is an odd height for the killer to have used tusks.’
Like me, she had no explanation for the oddity. Time to clutch at straws. ‘Aura-wise,’ I asked carefully, ‘you got anything for me?’
Kate shook her head. ‘Nothing but pain and the shock of it. Fear. Plenty of fear.’
I winced. Reading that aura must have been horrible. I reached out and touched her hand lightly. ‘Sorry Kate.’
‘I’m used to it.’ She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal but the shadows in her eyes told a different story. Doing the job she did, and being sensitive the way she was, had to be hard. Day in, day out, that shit wears on you unless you find a bright spot in your life.
‘Hey,’ I asked impulsively. ‘You ever go out with the sexy merman?’
Her cheeks heated. ‘I told you, we’re just friends.’
‘Uh-huh. So did you?’
She smiled. ‘For dinner, yes, but just as friends,’ she repeated.
‘Who are you trying to convince?’ I teased, bumping her hip lightly.
‘Definitely me.’ She laughed. ‘Troy is out of my league. Way out.’
‘He is not! You’re beautiful, smart and insanely kind. If anything, you’re out of his league.’
‘You’re sweet.’ She paused. ‘But utterly delusional. Now you’d better head out. Mrs Marlow is due soon.’
‘Okay, thanks for your time, Kate. Appreciate you fitting us in so quickly.’
‘Anytime.’
We headed out, but Channing waited until we were in the car to say explosively, ‘I’m sorry, you’re telling me mermaids are real!’
I couldn’t have stopped the sudden grin that tore across my face if I’d tried. ‘Oh, yeah. That. The Connection doesn’t formally recognise the existence of mermaids, so you don’t get taught about them at the academy.’
‘Why the hell don’t we recognise them as real?’
‘Why does the Connection do anything? Politics. The mermaids snubbed the Connection at the time of its formation, said it would never last and it was a ridiculous pursuit. Since they refused to join, we refused to admit they were real.’
He gaped at me. ‘That’s absolutely absurd. The dragons didn’t join, nor the ogres, and we admit they’re real. They’re not getting snubbed.’
‘They’re deadly. Try telling one of them they don’t exist and they’d raze us to the ground.’
‘Are you kidding?’
‘I wish I were. The Connection is savvy about who they bully. Ironically, the mer have the IR too, and what really gets the wizards’ robes in a twist is the fact that they don’t need to go to the Common to charge their magical batteries.
So even though they’re largely humanoid, they fall on the creature side of the fence.
’ I grinned. ‘They love to pose as wizards though, so they often draw the Other symbol on their foreheads while they’re strolling around the Other. ’
‘They … draw it on?’
‘With eyeliner,’ I confirmed.
He slid me a sidelong glance. ‘Is this an initiation prank? Are you taking the piss out of me, boss?’
I laughed. ‘I swear it’s true. The really funny thing is, it’s just makeup, so on the rare occasions they do it, Common realmers can actually see it. They just dismiss it as weird cosplay. Thank goodness for the surge in the fantasy fandom.’
Channing shook his head. ‘I honestly thought I’d got a solid grasp on who was what and where.’
‘You’re doing good, Channing, but I’ve been in the Other realm for most of my life, and I’m fully aware that I still don’t know half of what there is to know about the Other. The Other denizens love their secrets. Remember that and you’ll be okay. Always be ready for anything.’
‘That’s pretty broad advice,’ he complained.
‘And it’s completely true. Now come on, it’s time for us to go speak to a ghoul.’
He shuddered. ‘They really do eat the dead?’
‘Oh yeah, and trust me, you don’t want to see it. That shit will give you nightmares for weeks.’
‘Can’t wait,’ he said faintly, looking so green I half-expected him to photosynthesise.
I grinned. I was starting to enjoy this partnering thing.