Chapter 10 Sinclair
I muttered a soft curse, hoping Jayne and JJ couldn’t hear it. My ankle was throbbing. But the real issue was that I’d just fallen over a body. I shone my light on the body in the aisle. It belonged to an older man. “Let me guess. That’s Delton?”
When Jayne didn’t say anything, I shifted my light in her direction. Her eyes were wide, her arm hugging our son, and she was nodding slowly, her lower lip trembling. “Yes.”
I did not want her going into shock. “Hey, it’s okay.”
“He’s dead, isn’t he?” She swallowed and took a step forward, her gaze shifting to me. The strength I knew and loved returned to her eyes as they narrowed. “Are you hurt?”
“Might have twisted my ankle.” I was sure I had. I’d also whacked my knee pretty good on the shelves when I’d gone down, but I could live with the pain.
“Can you check him for a pulse?”
“I can.” I scooted toward him and reached for his wrist. He was ice-cold. Colder than the room somehow. “Sorry, Jayne. There isn’t one. We’re past the point of helping.”
“That poor man. What a nightmare.” She inched closer and shone her light on him. “Look at that. On his chest.”
I moved my light to have a look. He was in a button-down shirt with a sweater vest and sport coat, but his shirt and sweater vest had a large patch of ice crystals near the center. “What is that?”
“Unbutton his shirt so I can see his skin.”
“Do you think we should be touching a dead body?”
She sighed. “Probably not.”
“Hang on.” I grabbed the diaper bag I’d dropped and fished out the pen from one of the pockets. Why we needed a pen in the diaper bag, I had no idea, but now I was grateful for it. I stuck the pen into the button placket and lifted, shining my light into the gap. “Can you see?”
Carefully holding JJ, she got down on her knees and bent as far as she could. She grimaced. “Just as I thought. His skin is black.”
She stood back up.
“What does that mean?”
“Someone did this deliberately.” Jayne’s voice went soft. “Who would do this? He might have been a little cranky but nothing that merited murder.”
“How do you know that from the black skin?”
“It’s frostbite. Someone froze his heart.”
I frowned. “That sounds like a terrible way to die.”
“One of the worst.”
Then I remembered where we were. “Wait. Are you sure it’s murder? Is it possible that there’s something magical stored in these archives? Something that could have gone haywire?”
She thought a moment. “It’s only possible if a mistake was made. We have a vault for magical things. They’re kept under lock and key. You can’t just walk in there like you can the archives.”
“In that case, you’re probably right about this being murder. Unfortunately.”
“This is awful. Delton didn’t deserve this. We need to get someone. Like Constable Larsen.” She glanced behind her. “Delton’s office should be back here somewhere, and it should have a phone.”
“I’ll go with you.” I didn’t want to mention the murderer might still be here, but she had to be thinking it.
And if she wasn’t, that was even more reason for me to go with her.
This place was a maze. Now was not the time to get separated.
I used my good leg and a firm hand on the closest shelf to get up but not without wincing a few times.
“You’re not okay, are you?”
“I just rolled my ankle. I’ll be fine.” To prove my point, I put a slight amount of pressure on my other leg. Pain lanced through me, causing me to shudder. I sucked in a breath but held it together otherwise.
She gave me a look. “Sin.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay. Might be worse than I think.” I hated to admit that, but Jayne would figure it out.
“Sit down. I don’t need you falling over and making things worse.
I’ll go find a phone. Do not touch him and use your magic to see what happened.
The police can figure this out. I don’t want you shaving time off your life.
I need you around as long as possible. We have a son to look after, you know. ”
“I know, and I won’t.” I eased down to the floor. Motherhood had made her bossy. Bossier. I was okay with that. She’d done all the hard work of producing our child and bringing him into the world.
With a nod, she turned and went to find Delton’s office.
I sat back, leaning on the shelves behind me, and gingerly attempted to move my foot. I cringed immediately, my ankle no longer interested in obeying my commands.
A soft sound reached me from the opposite direction. Someone coming in? “Hello?”
No one answered me. Maybe it had been nothing.
I rested against the shelves again. I wasn’t about to break my promise to Jayne about using my powers, but I was genuinely curious to learn what had happened to Delton.
It seemed awfully coincidental that we’d come to talk to him about the Naming Day guest list only to find him dead.
If life—and being able to speak to the dead—had taught me anything, it was that very few things were actually coincidences.
But Jayne was right. The police could handle this. Murder was firmly in their wheelhouse. Although using my abilities would undoubtedly make it easier to solve. I could touch Delton, bring him back to life, and simply ask him what had happened.
But for every minute he was alive, I’d lose a minute off my life. I’d gain another streak of silver in my hair, too. With a son to think of, I was a lot less inclined to give away a single second of the years I had left.
I shone my phone light on Delton, looking for anything else that might tell us what happened. Nothing looked amiss that I could see.
Next, I scanned the floor around him, then the shelves in this section. If he’d been killed here, it was possible there was something on one of these shelves that someone had wanted. Maybe he’d stopped an intruder from taking something?
The books and boxes were neat. Precisely arranged on the shelves so that the spines and exterior sides of the boxes were all lined up. Delton must have taken great pride in this place. Not a single one was a centimeter closer or farther away from the edge than the next.
Except for four shelves up. A slim black book, the lettering on the spine too small to read, was recessed a half-inch back from the rest.
Was that something? Or just me wanting it to be something?
And where was Jayne? I’d expected her to at least call out that help was on the way.
I tried to gently flex my ankle again. Instant pain. So much for that. But I was still curious about that book. Using the shelf for support, I got upright again and pivoted toward the opposite shelf.
I was about to hop closer when I was bathed in light.
“What are you doing?”
I smiled into the light. “Saw something that might be something. Did you find a phone?”
“I did. I called the police department. Someone’s on their way. I also called—”
“I’m here! Princess? Where are you?”
I used the distraction to grab the book and tuck it into the diaper bag still hanging off my shoulder.
“Ezreal,” Jayne answered. “We’re in the aisles. Not sure where exactly. Do you know how to turn the lights on in here?”
“Just a moment,” he called back.
Ten seconds later, the chandeliers above us flared to life. A few seconds after that, Ezreal appeared at the end of the aisle. “There you are. Prince Consort, I understand you’ve hurt your ankle.”
I nodded, unhappy. “I can’t put a lot of weight on it.”
Ezreal crouched down and lifted the leg of my jeans to have a look.
“Oh, boy.” Jayne grimaced as she glanced at my leg. “Your ankle is all swollen.”
“Already?” Now I was unhappier.
“We’ll get a doctor to have a look at it immediately.” Ezreal straightened. “You might need X-rays.”
“Not what I was hoping for.”
“I’m sure,” Ezreal said. He shifted his attention to the body on the floor. “I don’t think Mr. Tinselwick was hoping for what he got either.”
“No,” I said, immediately grateful a bum ankle was all I was dealing with.
Ezreal came around and looped my arm over his shoulders. It was like holding on to a statue. The dude was surprisingly muscular. “Lean on me and we’ll get you to the chair at the front desk. Crispin should be here soon.”
“Who’s Crispin?”
“Crispin Vale. He’s Delton’s apprentice. He takes classes in the morning, then he works with Delton the rest of the day. He should be able to answer any questions the constable has about the archives.”
The next hour or so was a whirlwind of activity.
Constable Larsen herself arrived, followed by Crispin Vale, who was on the verge of tears over Delton.
He stood to one side, cleaning his glasses and looking deeply upset.
He could have been a younger version of the man currently sprawled on the floor of the archives, right down to the sweater vest.
Constable Larsen immediately took charge of the scene. After cordoning off the aisle where Delton’s body was, she took a statement from me, making the medics who’d shown up to tend to my ankle wait, which made Jayne mad.
Constable Larsen relented after Jayne intervened. Unfortunately, that meant I got loaded onto a gurney and taken to the med center in the palace, leaving Jayne and JJ all alone.
I didn’t love that. As I was being wheeled away, I dug out my phone. The screen was cracked from me falling on it, but thankfully, it still worked. I sent a group text to Jack Sr. and my dad.
I figured between the two of them, they’d make sure Jayne and JJ were taken care of.
I lay back and watched the ceiling pass by above me. I couldn’t imagine why a guest list would drive anyone to murder.
I could only hope the book in the diaper bag might give us a clue.