16. A Haira Harean Heir?
Chapter 16
A Hair or a Hare or an Heir?
Sierra Escondida Police Department—The next night
“ W hat is that doing here?” Tig asked from the squad room doorway. Still in uniform, Jayden sat at the worktable, holding Petar’s magic rabbit and feeding it pieces of banana.
“Zeke couldn’t take her because his Maine Coon cat doesn’t play well with other indoor pets. Janey didn’t want her—I think she was jealous of how close Petar was with Ernestine.”
“Ernestine?”
“Yeah, the rabbit’s name. Anyway, she’s part of the evidence, so I figured we’d keep her here until we solve the case.”
Tig huffed. She had no idea how to care for a rabbit and didn’t like the distraction created by Ernestine living in the squad room, even temporarily. But her assistant, Maggie, would probably pitch in during the day to help with the animal, and from the adoring look on Jayden’s face as he fed the rabbit, Tig didn’t have a choice. Ernestine would stay for now.
She pulled out a chair at the worktable and eased onto the seat. “How is evidence analysis going?”
It’d taken them two twelve-hour shifts to process everything they collected at the hotel. Last night, they’d finished, and when she went to sleep at sunrise, Jayden was still analyzing what they’d found.
“No fingerprints on the phone other than Brucie’s and what I believe to be Petar’s.”
“What about the furniture?”
“Brucie’s prints were on the cabinet where Petar had taped his phone, but nowhere else in the room. Petar’s and Janey’s were on the bed’s header and footboard, along with some other prints. None of the unidentified prints match the rest of his cauldron, but it’s possible our killer wore gloves.”
Hmm . So Brucie hadn’t worn gloves, or he’d worn gloves, then removed them to retrieve the phone. Could he be that Machiavellian? Something to consider later. “Anything more?”
Jayden yawned. “I’ve lifted a full set of Petar’s prints from his belongings, since we can’t get them off his body.”
Poor Jayden. Did he get any sleep today? The bags under his eyes had bags. “How do you know they’re Petar’s?”
“We got lucky. I found complete handprints on some of the travel cases for his magic gear, so I used those for comparison. Through a process of elimination—and using prints on the toiletries in the bathroom—I’d say there’s a high probability they belong to Petar. Janey’s prints were on the magic stuff, too.”
“Great work. No others?”
“Aside from the bedroom furniture? None. I tried lifting prints off the sheets but got zilch. And we should sift through all the ashes soon.”
“Got it. If you need help, let me know. At least we have that curly white-blond hair. I hate interrupting their honeymoon, but Cerissa is the only person who can run the V-DNA test. She’ll probably want DNA from Brucie and the three stooges for comparison—”
Jayden’s russet-brown eyes looked confused. “The who?”
Tig laughed. “Sorry. I tagged them with that name when they first showed up. I meant Petar’s cauldron. And DNA from Janey, too.”
“But all of them have black hair.”
“I know—but we might as well do it now, in case we find any other DNA evidence.”
“I can get cheek swabs done later tonight.” Jayden set the banana peel aside and slipped Ernestine back into her cage, where she flopped over on her side, rattling the steel wires. “We can’t leave her in there all the time, so I’m going to cordon off a rabbit-proofed area of the squad room for her to run around in. She’s litter box trained. If I fill the box with hay, she’ll use that, and Zeke provided half a bale.”
“Whatever. You can deal with the rabbit later. Have you started the murder board?”
“Yup.” He woke the laptop connected to the interactive whiteboard and displayed the details. “The window of death is likely between three a.m. and eleven thirty p.m. We’re looking for possibly two people: a vampire who went to grade school between 1850 and 1925, based on the handwritten note, and a mortal, if Petar was subdued before he woke. Besides DNA samples, we need handwriting exemplars from Petar’s cauldron.”
Jayden really had done a lot of work while she slept. It almost made her feel guilty. Almost. Except she never felt guilt over things she couldn’t control. “Did Ari unearth anything yet?”
“I was about to call him.”
She tapped her phone for Ari’s number and put it on speaker. “Let’s see what he has.”
“Yo, chief.” Ari sounded distracted.
“I have Jayden here. We want an update.”
“Still trying to hack Petar’s phone. The back door I have for this model isn’t working. It may take longer.”
Dammit. Time was always the enemy in cases like this one. The sooner they cracked it, the less likely the killer or killers would cover their tracks. “And the Hill’s perimeter cameras? Did you catch anyone sneaking over the wall on the night of the break-in—”
“Nope. Not so much as a mountain lion chasing a deer. Quiet on all fronts. Whoever broke in either knew the location of our cameras or flew over as a bat. Even my tech doesn’t track something that small, or we’d get an alert every time a hummingbird crossed our borders.”
Yeah, that would be annoying. “What about the hotel records?”
“Are you two alone?”
Tig glanced over at Jayden. “It’s just us.”
“Great.” Ari’s voice suddenly came from behind her. “Let’s talk.”
Tig jumped from her chair, knocking it over with a clatter, and spun around. Instead of continuing the phone conversation, Ari had flashed in. He closed the door to the squad room.
Tig righted the chair. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you appearing out of nowhere.”
“How do you do that?” Jayden asked. “Tig didn’t explain how it works.”
“A crystal-controlled instantaneous transit device.” Ari bent his arm, twisting his wrist to show the watch he wore. “We call it flashing from one place to another.”
Then she noticed his red T-shirt. The words “Just Another Renfield” were printed in black gothic letters, and Tig wasn’t amused. She scoffed at him. “Now that you’re here, what did you find out?”
“This.” He held out his phone and played a video. Two people, either large women or medium-built men, walked down a hallway. They each wore a hooded sweatshirt, mask, and gloves. The videos were time-stamped 04:22 AM on the date in question.
Tig recognized the décor. “Hotel security cameras?”
“You got it in one guess.”
“Can we trust the time stamp?”
“Within reason. I found nothing to indicate tampering.”
“Are there any more videos?”
“Yeah, but the recordings are all the same. We can’t identify the perps, but at least one is a vampire, because the two went to the front desk and got card keys with no fuss. Wouldn’t have happened if both were mortal. The desk clerk would have hit the silent alarm for security if the person didn’t remove their mask and show ID.”
“Wait. Plural?”
“Yeah, more than one card. They went into a room together, then in the afternoon, one guy came out and went to Petar’s room. The second guy joined him after dark. They left together thirty minutes later.”
Poor Petar. Half an hour of torture. The guy didn’t deserve it. “Okay. Anything else?”
“The cauldron.” Ari played another video. “The four Keanu Reeves knockoffs arrived at the hotel long after the masked perps did, which was about thirty minutes before they arrived on the Hill. Brucie’s name is indeed on Petar’s reservation, and he showed ID to the desk clerk before she gave him the room card.”
“Then one of the four could have committed the crime with Janey or an unknown mortal accomplice, then left and returned with the others.”
“I don’t think so.” Ari tapped and played the video on his phone again. “The builds of the two perps are different from Petar’s cauldron—he liked his guys skinny and androgynous, and neither of the masked people is Janey’s size.”
Tig rubbed her eyes. Fatigue was wearing her down. “You’re right. What about the notepad? Were you able to decipher the code names Petar used for his clients?”
“I ran the standard cipher algorithms and no luck. I think they’re nicknames that Petar could easily remember. The sporting event and bet amounts aren’t in any kind of code.”
Frustration crawled under Tig’s skin like a snake through dry grass. She’d been hoping for more by now. She shuffled through the file and shoved three close-up photos at him—the markings from the stakes’ leather yokes. “Can you read these symbols?”
He wrinkled his brow at the images and pressed his lips into a white slash. “No. Let me try something.” He used his phone to record the photos and then tapped a few things. “Looks like cuneiforms.”
“Can you translate them?”
He laughed, still looking at his phone, scrolling through what appeared to be an encyclopedia article. “I’m not that old.”
She circled her hand in the air, encouraging him to keep going.
“Cuneiforms aren’t a language—they’re a system of writing employed from about the thirty-fifth century BC to the second century AD.” He continued scrolling. “They aren’t based on single letters—they don’t use an alphabet like we do. There isn’t one symbol for A. Instead, there’s a symbol for each syllable. If this were English, there’d be a cuneiform for ‘mur’ and a cuneiform for ‘der’ to form ‘murder.’ Get it?”
Tig tugged at her lip. Who in the hell was still alive and wrote using a system of symbols that had been obsolete for thousands of years? “Okay, can you run the cuneiforms through a program and have the inscriptions translated?”
“Simple answer is no. First, you have to know the language they were written in. During the four thousand years cuneiforms existed, various cultures, speaking a lot of different languages—and I mean a lot—lived in Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas. You need to know the specific language, and it helps to know the era too. This takes an expert, someone who can make reasonable guesses as to the author’s intent. I know one at the British Museum who might help.”
She could picture her department budget bleeding red ink. “And what’s the consultant’s fee?”
“A fifty-year-old bottle of rum. I know him through a club. And he’ll do anything for a finely aged rum. Should only cost you about two thousand dollars.”
She whistled, then let out a relieved breath. Specialists could charge a lot more than that. At least they were closer to a usable clue instead of a bunch of cuneiform gobbledygook. “I’ll get Liza to approve the expense. Next. Can you run V-DNA tests? We found hair that might not be Petar’s.”
“Nope. You need Cerissa for that. We’ll videoconference. She has her portable DNA machine with her.” Ari’s phone was in his hand, and he called faster than Tig could object.
She’d planned on interrupting Henry and Cerissa’s honeymoon only once, but she supposed they were ready enough now.
“Hey, Ciss. I’m here with Tig and Jayden. How’s the honeymoon going?”
“We’re doing great.” Over Ari’s shoulder, Tig could see the vidcon screen. Cerissa looked lovely, wearing a lacy white blouse over satin and an emerald pendant necklace. “But there’s an unaffiliated vampire loose on the ship who’s using passengers as her own private blood bank.”
Ari scowled at the phone. “That’s not good.”
“We’re working on it with the ship’s doctor, who’s the mate to the San Francisco Lodge master. Anyway, why are you calling? Is everything okay?”
“Are you open for visitors?”
“Uh, we’re in the cabin and dressed, if that’s what you mean. Just me and Henry.”
Tig felt Ari’s hand land on her shoulder and saw his other hand wrap around Jayden’s biceps. Seconds later, she found herself in a luxurious living room on board a moving ship, the sudden stop jarring her body. The first couple of times Lux flash technology moved her across time zones, she’d been passed out in day sleep. To do so while wide awake still unnerved her. “I hate when you do that.”
“That was so cool,” Jayden said at the same time.
Cerissa laughed and rose to her feet. “You’re here. Have a seat.” She waved at the cloth-covered plaid armchairs across from the couch where she’d been sitting. “Can I get anyone some wine or a soft drink?”
Ari headed straight for the sideboard. “I’m always in the mood for wine.”
Jayden shook his head. “Can’t. I’m on duty. But if you have any cola in the cooler, I’ll take one.”
Once beverages were passed out, Tig sank onto a cushy armchair and, as gently as possible, told them about Petar’s murder.
As the story unfolded, Henry looked horrified, tears forming in his eyes.
Cerissa clutched at his hand, sitting on the edge of the couch and twisting in his direction. “Oh, Henry, I’m so sorry.”
“I cannot believe it. I’ve known Petar for over a century. When he offered to perform at the reception, I felt honored. Now I feel responsible for his death.”
“No,” Cerissa said. “It’s not your fault.” She laid a hand on his cheek, sweeping away a tear. “It’s the fault of the person who killed him.”
“I will pay for his memorial service. If his cauldron needs anything—”
“They’re on the Hill, staying with Liza,” Jayden said.
Tig gave them a few more minutes to get through the shock and initial grief. When they seemed to settle, she took back the reins of the conversation. “I am sorry to interrupt your honeymoon, but we need Cerissa’s help to catch the killer.”
Cerissa nodded. “Anything.”
“We found a few hairs,” Jayden said. “And a rabbit.”
Tig groaned. That was a horrible joke under the circumstances.
Except Cerissa didn’t laugh. “You found Ernestine? Was she okay? Where is she? Who’s taking care of her?”
Tig raised an eyebrow. “You’re on a first-name basis with Petar’s rabbit?”
“I babysat her when he first came into town before the wedding. The hotel refrigerator wasn’t big enough to hold all the produce she eats, so she stayed at our house. After Petar’s performance, he took her with him when he left. How is she?”
Tig sat at attention, listening closely. Cerissa might solve more than one problem if she’d adopt the rabbit.
Jayden’s lips quirked. “Ernestine is fine. And she’s at the station. I’m taking care of her, but Maggie is assisting.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Cerissa eased back onto the couch. “If none of Petar’s heirs want her, I’ll give her a home.”
“Wait.” Henry’s face clouded over. “We have a dog. We don’t need another pet.”
“We can’t abandon her to the pound. If no one claims her, she has a place with us. Bear got along nicely with her.”
Tig bit her lips together. As much as she wanted to return to a discussion of V-DNA, the rabbit needed a new owner, and if Cerissa volunteered, so much the better.
Henry sighed and rolled his eyes. “I did not realize marrying you came with a menagerie.”
“Two pets are not a menagerie.”
Jayden waved at them. “I’ll keep Ernestine if Janey and the cauldron abandon her. She’s fitting in nicely at the station.” He patted Tig’s thigh. “Consider her our mascot.”
The last thing the station needed was a mascot. And pets weren’t her jam. The only animals the Maasai had when she was mortal—over four hundred years ago—were goats and cattle, which supplied milk and meat. On the plains of Kenya, rabbits were wild, and her people never hunted wildlife for food and never kept pets.
Tig swallowed hard. As much as she hated the idea of adopting the rabbit, for Jayden, she’d make an exception.
Cerissa looked disappointed. “If you’re sure…”
“ Querida , we can speak of this later,” Henry said. “I don’t think Tig is interested in the disposition of Petar’s rabbit right now. They want to know if you can test the hair—not the hare—for vampire DNA.”
Tig brought a fist to her lips, squelching her groan. “Exactly. Can you extract V-DNA from a hair?”
“I’ve perfected that process,” Cerissa replied. “Do you have anything with Petar’s DNA on it? That way, I can run a comparison and make sure the V-DNA isn’t his.”
“In theory, it can’t be Petar’s, because the hair we found is curly white-blond, and his was wavy brown.”
Cerissa nodded. “But you’ll want a profile of his DNA in case it becomes relevant, so I might as well test for it now. A toothbrush or a comb would probably work.”
Jayden finished his cola and set the empty glass on the tray occupying the leather ottoman. “I’m sure a toothbrush was on the evidence inventory log I prepared today.”
Cerissa looked hopeful. “Do you have the hair with you?”
“No.” Tig shook her head, thinking through the next steps. Ari had whisked them away before she considered all the implications. “The fundamental problem is the chain of custody. If you do the tests while you’re away, we can’t use the results until you return.”
“Could you ship the evidence overnight? Or ship an overnight envelope with nothing in it, just so there’s a record? In four nights, we’ll arrive in Hawaii. I’m sure the hotel will hold the envelope until then.”
Tig tapped her foot as she chewed over the plan. It had risks, but they were minor. If the envelope got lost in the mail, she’d claim it was something else. “That works. We’ll put together the evidence we have, and Ari can bring it to you tomorrow.” She glanced over at her computer expert, who shrugged his agreement.
“Actually, there’ll be five more DNA samples,” Jayden said. “I’m collecting them from Petar’s cauldron and his mortal mate, Janey, later tonight.”
“Make that six more.” Tig explained how the gold pinkie ring had preserved a layer of tissue. “You’ll need to test the skin, to confirm the corpse is his.”
Cerissa shrugged. “I can get those done easily enough.”
“Thank you. One more question. Have you ever mapped Petar?”
The startled look on the scientist’s face almost made Tig laugh.
“Um, why would you ask that?”
Ari snorted. “He didn’t set a password to unlock his phone. He used face recognition, and we need access.”
“Oh.” Cerissa took Henry’s hand and turned to him. “No, I’m sorry, I never mapped him. I wish I had.”
“It is all right, querida mia .”
Tig nodded. At least she’d tried. Since that wrapped up the main reason for her presence, she caught Henry’s eye and raised a different topic. “How is the situation with your problem feeder?”
Henry furrowed his brow. “She has caused no permanent harm so far. But the doctor is having trouble concealing the pattern of patient visits. If we need assistance, we’ll let you know.”
“Works for me.” Tig rose to her feet. “We should be going.”
“Uh, before you do, I have something for you. I’ll be right back.” Cerissa opened her watch crystal, touched the face, and disappeared.
“That is just so cool,” Jayden said. “Can we get one of those?”
Ari chuckled. “Not in this century.”
Cerissa reappeared holding a small, latched case. “I meant to give these to you, but with the wedding, and then taking off to San Francisco for the cruise, well, I forgot.” She looked a touch embarrassed. “Agathe had the tech modified for you and Jayden.”
Confusion pinched Tig’s eyebrows together. “I thought she was concerned—”
“About exposure? Yes, always. But it’s similar enough to what mortals already have and won’t cause any harm if it falls into the wrong hands.” She opened the case and pulled out two white bodysuits.
Tig accepted one. The material felt like silk woven with a stretchy fiber and looked like thermal underwear. “What’s its purpose?”
“You know those bulletproof and stab-proof vests? This is like that, but more effective and lightweight. Wear it underneath your clothing and it’ll stop a bullet or a stake.”
“Thank you.” Tig gave a tilt of her head. The bodysuits would be a major improvement over the bulky vests. “Please tell Agathe that we appreciate her generosity.”
“I’m not sure it’s motivated by generosity. She’s convinced you’re central to the future of the Hill and wants nothing to happen to you. When she saw the silver stake being opened at the sangeet party, she realized how vulnerable all vampires are and had the bodysuits manufactured that night.”