Chapter Ten
I paraded on with the rest of the officers, listening to the debriefing before heading to my office.
Channing hovered in the hallway and gave Loki a quick wave.
He’d given up stealth mode on the flight to my office, but I wasn’t sure whether he’d done so because he wanted Channing to see him or because he was tired.
‘You’ve got a visitor,’ my partner explained. ‘Mrs Marlow.’
I nodded. ‘Thanks Channing.’ I turned to Loki. ‘Keep out of sight and keep quiet.’
Channing blinked as Loki flickered out of view.
‘Huh,’ he said. ‘Now that could come in handy.’
I thought of the protestor outside covered in bird crap and smiled.
I knocked once on my door. Ada Marlow was seated across from my desk with her son taking the other chair.
Ada Marlow had the translucent hair of an air elemental, and it hung loose around her shoulders.
Her eyes were clear and unburdened by grief.
There was some sorrow there, I thought, but not the raw grief of loss you often saw in a spouse.
The boy, too old to be called a toddler, had sandy hair and his mother’s share of grief swimming in those big blue eyes.
Channing stood awkwardly while I bowed to Mrs Marlow, a hand to my heart. I didn’t say it was my honour to meet her, because the circumstances were far from ideal. She silently parroted my gesture, and I walked around the desk and sat in my chair.
I looked at Frankie Marlow, age four, with red eyes and trembling lips, and concluded he didn’t need to hear a single word of our discussion.
‘Channing,’ I said lightly, ‘why don’t you take Frankie to the cafeteria for a snack? They do a great toasted teacake,’ I said conspiratorially to the boy.
His lips tipped up. ‘I like those.’
‘Great. Channing will get you one.’
‘You’re going to talk about Daddy?’
‘We are,’ I admitted.
The boy fixed me with sad eyes. ‘Daddy’s gone now.’
‘I’m sorry. Yes, he is.’
‘Forever.’
I nodded.
‘He’s dead.’
‘He is. I’m sorry.’
‘Mummy said he won’t come back again.’
My heart gave a pang. Young as he was, he didn’t fully understand the import of the words he was saying. His mum had clearly told him those phrases, and though he was parroting them, he was too young to truly understand what death was. ‘No, he won’t,’ I said gently.
His slim shoulders slumped, and he pushed himself off the chair to follow Channing out. The moment he walked out, a strong breeze whipped around the office, and Ada Marlow’s hair rose as if she were touching a van de Graaff generator.
I cleared my throat. ‘Mrs Marlow, if you would.’ I gestured to the air swirling around me, sending the papers on my desk spinning into the air.
She flushed. ‘I’m sorry. My emotions are high. My control is usually impeccable.’ She took a steadying breath, and the cool breeze stopped, dropping the papers onto my desk in a fluttered messy pile.
‘These are less than ideal circumstances,’ I said kindly.
‘Yes.’ She laughed bitterly. ‘You could say that. My husband is dead. Although we have been separated for some years now.’
‘Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Theodore?’
She snorted. ‘Too many to name. Teddy’s recent vote pissed off a lot of people. I was getting it in the neck too. The last time we spoke, I told him to stop being an idiot and to vote for our people. I hung up on him.’ Her voice wobbled.
For the first time since I walked in, there was real raw emotion in her eyes, so I gently redirected her. ‘Tell me about the vote.’
She told me about the proposed bill and how Teddy had voted against the interests of the people he had a duty to represent.
‘Teddy and I own a very profitable wind farm,’ she explained.
‘It was one of the few areas of business excluded by the bill. We can continue with business as usual. But it’s his other firm that will really profit from the bill.
It’s an aerometric firm called Zephyr Metrics.
Teddy was obviously doing some succession planning, knowing his term was ending soon.
He got into bed with two other air elementals, Richard Ashworth and Crispin Pembroke.
Crispin has family money, and Richard’s the grafter.
He’s the one driving the project and pushing for the licensing.
If it gets licensed, then their company will be the only one to have jumped through all of the hoops and they’ll be ready to take huge government contracts.
Licensing would explode their business and their profit, while everyone else is left scrambling to catch up. ’
‘Are there any elementals I need to know about who were particularly loud in their fury?’
She shook her head. ‘None that I can think of. There was a general air of betrayal, and a small group was looking at trying to get him removed from his Symposium position immediately.’
‘Who?’
‘I don’t know. As you can imagine, being his wife – even if only on paper these days – means people don’t speak freely around me about such things.’ She rubbed tired eyes. ‘Teddy was the love of my life once, until he showed his true colours.’
‘And what were they?’
‘His true colours? They were power-hungry, lecherous, with a side of misogyny. He was always king of the backhanded compliment, liked to make others small to make himself feel big, but the affair was the final straw. Truly, I’m grateful for it now.
It exposed him for the man he was. And I left.
Took Frankie and went to live back down south, where my family is.
Frankie will be raised by me and my family now, not by him.
’ She closed her eyes. ‘That’s not to say Teddy didn’t have his good points.
He did. He could be very magnanimous, generous to a fault, and he was good at seeming interested in what you said.
Always quick with a smile. It was only later that I learnt about the punch that could follow it.
Not physical,’ she added hastily. ‘Emotional. He never hit me, but he knew how to lay me low.’
‘Not all domestic abuse is physically violent,’ I said gently.
‘No,’ she said, ‘I know. I’m glad I found the courage to get away when I did.
I’m sorry Frankie won’t have his dad growing up, but I can’t say I’m sorry Teddy’s gone.
Teddy and I fought a lot. I didn’t want him around Frankie, didn’t want Teddy to mould Frankie into a mini version of himself.
Teddy believed in power. In those who had it and those who didn’t.
He wanted to have it, and I truly don’t think he cared who he hurt on the way to get it.
I want Frankie to aim for happiness, not power. ’
If that was right, then I’d find more people with issues with Teddy, more people he’d trodden on to get ahead. ‘Besides upset voters, is there anyone else who’d want to hurt Teddy?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I’m sorry. I’m sure he had enemies, but our lives diverged when Frankie was one, just before he took office. I haven’t kept up with his shenanigans. Didn’t want to.’
‘You were separated for a while. Was he seeing anyone?’
‘If he was, he didn’t tell me. We didn’t share that level of honesty any longer.’
‘Are you seeing anyone?’ I asked lightly.
She hesitated. ‘Yes, actually. The CEO of my company. Tyler Carter.’
‘Did Teddy know about the relationship?’
‘No. No one does. We’ve kept things … discreet.’
I nodded, but I knew that as subtle as we all tried to be, there were always tells. Hints we dropped without realising. Someone in the company knew about them. I’d bet my last pay cheque on it.
‘I’m going to need to speak with Mr Carter.’
She winced. ‘I suppose you will. All right. I’ll facilitate it.
He travelled up with me – moral support – but he went to meet some potential investors while I came here.
We’re looking to expand,’ she explained.
‘Everyone wants good energy now, sustainable energy, and we can offer that. And unlike our Common competitors, we can guarantee every day will be windy.’
‘It definitely gives you a competitive edge.’
‘That it does.’ This time when she smiled, I could see the razor edge to it. Ada Marlow was far from soft.
And because she wasn’t, I asked, ‘Who stands to inherit? No doubt Teddy was paid well as a Symposium member.’
‘I honestly don’t know. I cut him out of my will, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did the same to me. Though I do hope he included Frankie. You’ll have to ask his lawyer.’
‘And who is that?’
‘GV Law, if he’s using the same people he used to. He might have changed.’ She shrugged.
‘Thank you. That’s helpful.’
She looked at me, eyes narrow and shrewd.
‘If the protestors outside and The Mystic Informer are to be believed, then you’re dating an ogre.
’ She held a hand up before I could protest. ‘I don’t give two hoots about who you shag, Inspector.
You get your rocks off however you need to, but the ME said the wounds were caused by ogre tusks.
Does that represent a conflict of interest for you?
Because no matter how bad a husband he was, I do want justice for him. For Frankie.’
I nodded once, keeping my face a calm mask. ‘I’ll do my best to get justice for him, Mrs Marlow. One way or another.’
‘And if there’s a conflict?’
‘There won’t be,’ I said firmly. ‘Lady Justice is blind, impartial, unbiased. She doesn’t care about your wealth or your politics – only that the truth is served.
There is no conflict in seeking it. There is only truth and lies.
I will find out who killed your husband, and then I will give them my judgement. ’
She stood, satisfied. ‘See that you do.’