Chapter 13
Hermes and Jaro were just as adorable together as I had imagined. Jaro brought his toys to Hermes one by one, laying them at the winged cat’s feet before padding off to get another. Netherfield appeared to like cats too, because an elaborate cat tree appeared in one corner of the living room.
After Jaro had set all his toys before Hermes, he padded over to the door, tail wagging.
Netherfield swung the door open obligingly and Jaro looked back at Hermes expectantly, apparently wanting to show him the grounds.
The winged cat abandoned the stuffed toy he’d been pawing and pushed off the floor, wings flapping.
Jaro stilled, his eyes going wide as Hermes flew through the door.
He looked back toward me as though to ask, “Did you know about this?” before joining the cat outside.
Jane’s musical laughter filled the room, and I laughed with her.
It felt good to laugh after such a heavy day.
We sat together on the couch at a comfortable distance for conversation, which was not nearly as close as I wanted to be. I remedied the situation by stretching one arm over the sofa so my hand was in range for Jane’s smooth hair to brush up against it when she moved.
A few days wasn’t enough time to show Jane that I was serious about her, to reassure her that I was in it for the long run.
For forever. I would need to be proving that for a long time before I earned back her trust. But I was dying to tell her that I loved her even though now probably wasn’t a good time.
We were on the verge of having everything figured out and waiting to confront a killer wasn’t the romantic setting Jane deserved.
“Do you feel ready?” Jane asked.
The tips of my pointed ears heated. Had she guessed what I was thinking?
“I’m not sure.” My heart pounded, but if it was from the thought of spilling my heart out to Jane or from confronting Bill, I wasn’t sure.
She shifted, drawing one leg up on the couch so her knee was touching mine. “Do you want to go over the plan again?”
The plan. She was asking if I was ready to confront Bill.
Of course that’s where her mind was. It was where mine should be, too.
“I’m ready,” I said. “I’ll offer him some tea, which we have laced with truth potion.
Then I’ll ask him about the murder. The police will arrive about ten minutes after him, and once he confesses, I’ll convince him to turn himself in. ”
“And if he refuses?”
I frowned. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Are you sure you don’t want to help me question him? We made a pretty good team in New York.”
“I’m sure. If you want me there, then of course I’ll help you. But I think Bill is a lot more likely to open up to you if you’re the only person there. Besides, I’ll need to wait downstairs so I can let the police in.”
“Right.”
Jane placed a gentle hand on my knee, and I realized I’d been bouncing it.
“Nervous habit,” I explained.
“You’ve got this, Charles.” She squeezed my knee in what I’m sure she thought was a comforting gesture.
It did work, in that it took my mind completely off of the impending interrogation.
But it left me feeling anything but calm.
I gave in to the desire to touch her hair, running my fingers through it and watching the blush spread across Jane’s cheeks.
I leaned forward but paused when the doorbell rang.
It took my brain longer than it should have to drag myself back to the matter at hand. Bill. Interrogation.
Jane gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out the back door to check on the animals. I hurried over to the door.
Bill stood on the threshold, a volleyball in his hand. “I thought we might hit it around after we talked,” he said, tracking my gaze.
My heart dropped to the floor. Maybe I couldn’t do this. It was an effort to force a smile onto my face. “Yeah, that would be great.” It would be great if he wasn’t guilty and we could just play volleyball.
“Come on in,” I said, stepping to the side for him to enter. I shut the door behind him and led him through the grand entryway and toward the staircase. “Let’s talk upstairs in the library.”
“Your home is beautiful.” Bill looked up toward the vaulted ceiling. “Is that a birdhouse up in the rafters?”
“I think it’s a cat gym. Netherfield is enchanted and it gets creative sometimes. Jane just adopted a winged cat and the house has been trying to make him feel comfortable here.”
Bill’s face turned white. “Is the cat here now?”
“Don’t worry, Jane is outside with the cat and my dog.” Bill visibly relaxed. “Not a fan of animals, huh?” I asked, grateful for the easy segue into the questions I wanted to ask.
“It depends on the animal. I’m not a fan of predators.”
I’d never thought of cats and dogs as predators, but I supposed that they would be—to a bird.
I led him down the hall to the library and gestured toward an overstuffed leather chair. Caroline was a genius when it came to finding furniture that fit her vision but was also comfortable. Bill perched on the edge of his seat, clutching the volleyball.
I took a deep breath and thought of Jane and how if I could get to the bottom of this murder, she wouldn’t have to go in to be questioned again.
“Bill, I need to ask you some questions about the night Jeanine Curtwell died.”
Bill’s eyes darted to the door, and his posture took on such a birdlike quality that I probably could have guessed he was a shifter if I hadn’t already known.
Not just any bird, a frightened, caged bird.
Louisa’s image crept into my mind. Not in an orange jumpsuit, but the last time I’d seen her as a free woman; when Jane, Darcy, Lizzy, and I had confronted her about Easton’s death.
She’d lashed out like a cornered animal. How might things have been different if we hadn’t ganged up on her like that? If I had the chance to do it over again I would have been gentler, more compassionate.
I could do things differently now.
Bill picked up the cup of tea next to his chair and raised it to his mouth.
“Don’t drink the tea,” I blurted.
He startled and a bit of tea dribbled down the side of the cup. “What’s wrong?”
“I spiked it with truth potion.” I pulled the bottle out of my pocket and showed it to him.
Bill’s eyes grew large, and he set the cup down on the table.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I have some difficult questions to ask you about Jeanine’s death, and I thought it would be easier if I made sure you couldn’t lie.
I shouldn’t have even considered it.” I took a long drag from the bottle.
“I promise to be truthful to you. You’re my friend, and I hate doing this. ”
“Why get involved at all?” Bill asked, his voice quivering. “It’s not your job.” He clenched his fists, his eyes moving rapidly between me and the window.
“The police suspect Jane. I know she didn’t do it, and I want to clear her of any involvement.
I also want to help you work through this, because you’re my friend.
” I stood and he flinched at the movement.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, throwing the window open.
“I know you can shift into a bird. You can leave any time you want. But I’m asking you to please talk to me before making your decision. ”
His fear turned to amazement. “If you know I can shift, why offer me this easy escape?”
“My older sister was arrested this fall, you probably heard about it in the news. She accidentally killed a member of the royal guard, but then she doubled down and tried to kill Lizzy Bennet.”
He settled back into his seat, relaxing slightly, though he still appeared to be very alert. “Why?”
It was hard to put into words, to explain how she’d felt without making it sound like I thought her actions were justified.
“Because she loved our sister, and she thought she was eliminating a threat to Caroline’s happiness.
Louisa is the eldest and she’s always taken care of us.
Our parents weren’t really around a lot, and when they were they weren’t as nurturing as we needed them to be.
Caroline was struggling, and Louisa thought she saw a way to fix things for her little sister.
I don’t know if she really meant for Lizzy to die.
I like to think that she didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. ”
Bill blew out a hard breath. “What makes you think I killed that woman?”
I noticed he shied away from using her name. “I know that you changed into your bird form and flew through the chimney. I found your feather in the ashes.”
His face was white. “How do you know about my bird form?”
“Fae magic,” I said simply. He didn’t need to know that the magic was Jane’s.
“Here’s what I’ve put together,” I said.
“You knew Jeanine would be there and that she’d be the only person drinking coffee that night.
So you poisoned it and flew back across the street to volleyball practice before anyone noticed you were gone. ”
He didn’t confirm or deny it, so I continued. “What I want to know is, why did you do it? You don’t get along with the people at the animal shelter, so why would you care if the hotel chain tore it down?”
He straightened. “It was never about the shelter, it was about the wooded area behind it. I have an apartment next to the woods, but I don’t spend a lot of time there.
I prefer to be in bird form, in the trees.
Jeanine was going to sell that property to the hotel chain, and they were going to tear it all down. ”
“She threatened your home,” I said simply.
He nodded, rubbing at his face, the volleyball resting on his lap.
He glanced at the window again, then seemed to deflate, his shoulders slumping.
“I told myself that killing her was justified because of all the lives she would end if she destroyed their habitat. Humans, fae—all people have a habit of thinking that they’re the most important, that they’re the only beings who matter. But all creatures deserve to live.”
I nodded. “I’m sure that as a shifter, you understand that better than most.”
“I have many friends who are animals. That probably sounds stupid to you.”
“Not at all,” I said, thinking of Jaro and how I’d count him among my best friends. “So, Bill, what are we going to do now?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“You always have a choice. You can fly out that window, or you can surrender to the authorities.” I glanced at my phone. “I invited the police to come and Jane just confirmed that they’re here. My recommendation would be that you go downstairs and turn yourself in.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I have no doubt you could evade the police well, maybe even indefinitely. But you can’t outrun yourself.”
He shook his head. “Do you think your sister wishes she’d gotten away with it?”
“I don’t know.” Again, my thoughts drifted to Louisa. “I don’t think my sister would have been happier if she’d gotten away with it. I think it would have eaten her alive.”
Bill folded his arms tightly across his chest. “I rationalized my plan to myself for days before I did it. I was fully convinced that my actions were justified.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
“No,” he said softly.
He looked once more toward the window, then a muscle clenched in his jaw and he stood. The volleyball dropped to the ground and rolled across the floor. The sight of it sent a pang of sadness through me.
“I know what I did was wrong,” he said. “I’m ready to face it.”
I felt the muscles in my neck relax. I’d planned for this outcome, hoped for it, but then given Bill all the power to walk away from it.
Seeing him voluntarily face justice, watching him rise to the dignity I’d offered him—it was inspiring.
Maybe not everyone could be trusted all the time, but I really did believe that the good in people would rise up when given a chance and Bill had proved me right.
Bill’s voice was small when he said, “Will you go down there with me?”
I placed one hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Of course.”
His breathing was shallow as we walked down the stairs, but he held his head high. “I’d like to visit you—” I cut myself off before mentioning prison. “That is, If you’d want me to.”
“I’d appreciate that very much.”
Jane sat with Officer Herrera and his partner in the sitting room. They all stood as we entered.
Bill squared his shoulders. “I’m the one who killed Jeanine.”
I squeezed his shoulder once before stepping aside while the officers handcuffed him and read him his rights. I slipped my arm around Jane’s waist and she leaned into me, flooding me with comfort and relief.
When the police led Bill outside, Jane and I followed.
“Goodbye, Bill,” I said as they bundled him into the back of a police car.
“Goodbye, Bingley.”
“How did you get him to confess?” Officer Herrera asked as he shut the back door.
“I opened the window so he wouldn’t feel caged, and then I asked him about it. I tried to understand it from his point of view.”
He breathed a laugh. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
“What if he would have shifted and flown away?”
“I guess that would have made your job a lot harder,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
Herrera shook his head in disbelief. “Only you could have pulled that off, Bingley.”